Chapter 2

Esme rounded on her. "Marjory, girl, you have just GOT to tell us what that was all about! It sounded so weird, what you were saying, that we must know what the other end was. It sounded like your fella was on his knees!"

Marjory started to tell her sad tale, about falling for her Derek, and making love with him, in the expectation that he was the love of her life and they would get married eventually. She had had a series of shocks. It was a shock to discover how unyielding her parents were. It was a shock to later find out she was pregnant, then Derek saying he had two other girl friends and did not intend to give them up. She explained how she had then departed, determined to get as far away as possible, and finding that Rehome was a possibility.

Just as she was thinking she might be able to fit in here, Derek phones with an abject apology, and a willingness to marry her, but still saying he loves his other two girlfriends as well.

Marjory ended by saying, "I don't know what I should be saying to him, ladies. He loved me without revealing he had two more girlfriends, so is he a cheat? Or was I being naive? Is he just being a man?"

As she spoke, there came a knock on the door, and it opened. "Hi, girls! How are things?" Esther had arrived.

Ruth welcomed her in. "Hi, Esther. Who have you got with you?"

"I dropped off Usgar at Jeannette's home, so I have Jenny and Tuchgar. I am supposed to take Tuchgar to Margo, but I see you have a visitor. Perhaps your friend would like to meet them." She stepped into the living room, followed by two five-year-olds.

Jenny came forward, and stared up at Marjory. "Hello. Who are you?"

Marjory responded, "My name's Marjory. I have not long arrived on Rehome, so everything is new to me. I didn't know about Malans until today. Jenny, is it? You are the one who is new at being a Malan?"

"Yes. I was a human being until recently, but a funny-looking one. I was run through all sorts of tests by adults called scientists, but that stopped when The Personalia rescued the three of us: Me, Mummy and Mommy Charlie. I used to call her Aunt Charlie, but now they are married, it is Mummy Charlie."

"That must have been exciting; being rescued."

"It was. Mummy and me were grabbed from our room in the base, and taken on a cart into the night outside, and onto a flying machine of some kind. They called it a Landership, whatever that means. It took us up and passed us to another bigger ship. It had a little train that we rode to get to the place where the seats were. That was my first time in a train of ANY kind. Usgar took us to see a train station today. There was a real train in the station, and it was really BIG!" She realised she had gone off the subject, so switched back.

"That bigger ship took us to Rehome, and then we had to go into another Landership to get down to the ground – and it was on a beach! I had never been to the seaside before, and Mummy had promised to take me to the seaside, so it was exciting to be there so quickly. You could hear the sea; you could smell it, too! It was a lovely, interesting smell ... sort of salty, I thought. We had to walk on the sand; it was terribly slippery – the sand kept moving under your feet as you tried to walk. Mummy said it was because it was dry sand."

Esther intervened. "Jenny, that is enough of your chattering for now. Let Marjory get a word in, please."

"Oh, sorry, Marjory. I love all the new things I have found here. Everything is so open. You can do what you like, without adults telling you "you can't do that". It is wonderful!" She glanced at her mother in contrition. "Sorry, Mommy; Sorry, Marjory."

Marjory grinned at her infectious enthusiasm. "No, it is all right, Jenny. I love to see young people getting excited by life and all the new discoveries you make about it. Rehome seems to be conducive to that sort of response. What was it like, discovering there were other people like you?"

Jenny spread her hands wide in the air above her. "It was WONDERFUL, AMAZING, Marjory. I thought I was weird, strange, not like anybody else, and then I met other children just like me. It was an incr ... a ... an incredible experience. I am not alone, any more. Oh, I don't mean anything against my Mommy: she has been a great Mommy all my life. It was being alone, as a person of my looks. That is what I meant."

Marjory was effusive in her compliments. "That must have been a terrible trial for you, Jenny. You are a very brave girl to have come through that and still be the lovely little girl that you are."

Ruth made a decision.

"Jenny, Tuchgar, Nargo and Amech: please take yourselves to Mother Margo's flat for a little while, while we adults discuss a matter which does not concern you. Tell her we need her here, for a serious discussion. We should only be half an hour or so. Thank you, children."

The youngsters dutifully went out the door on their way to the flat of Tuchgar's mother, and the adults sat down once the door was closed behind them. A moment later Margo arrived, and was brought up to date.

Ruth gazed at Marjory, and announced:

"Now, we have to help Marjory decide what she wants to do. She is pregnant. Her baby's father, having originally rejected her, and admitted he has two other serious girlfriends, has phoned her a few minutes ago and apologised. He says he loves her passionately, but also loves the other two girls and wants to keep seeing them. He is willing to marry whichever girl will accept him as he is."

Ruth could see Esther and Esme nodding their understanding. "Girls, I can see that you are thinking what I am thinking, but this situation is slightly more complicated. The three girls don't know each other. Suggestions?"

Marjory was looking at the three women in puzzlement. What were they thinking of, she wondered?

Esme made a proposal, and found Esther nod in agreement.

"Get the girls over here to Rehome, and let the three of them meet and discuss things. Let them make up their own minds, once all the facts are available to them."

Esther added, "The other two should be invited by The Personalia to come here and spend some time thinking over their life options. They can be told they are not alone in facing this problem. They should be advised it is a one-time option, and that they can be returned a couple of days later: like a weekend away."

Marjory like the idea, but pointed out, "I don't know their names, so how can that be done?"

"Simple. Tell Derek he must give you their names and addresses, if he wants you to take him seriously."

"But will The Personalia take ME seriously? Would they do this, just for me?"

Ruth patted her shoulder. "Marjory, this is not for you. It is for all of you. The idea is for you to discover if you like each other. That is all. Don't tell Derek what is happening; just get the data for us."

Marjory got out her phone and put through a call to Derek.

"Derek, this is Marjory. Before I can make up my mind about you, I need to know more about these other girls. Give me their names, addresses and phone numbers, so that I know who they are. I need to speak with them. This will help me to consider them as individuals, not just names."

After some humming and hawing, Derek acquiesced and imparted the information requested. She had set her phone to record the call, so did not need pen and paper. Derek appealed to her: "Marjory, I am relying on you not to be nasty to these girls: no abusive phone calls, please!"

"Derek, I promise that will not happen. I just want to talk with them, to settle my mind about them."

She chatted about inconsequential things for a little longer, then said goodbye. Closing her phone, she switched on the recording, and gave the data to Ruth to put in her phone.

Now Ruth dialled The Personalia, to Marjory's surprise. She didn't know they could be phoned, just like that.

Ruth explained to The Personalia the need to get these two girls to Rehome for a meeting, and explained the circumstances and wording required. The Person on the other end was happy to oblige, and said they would get on to it right away.

Marjory remained a trifle confused. "Ruth, what am I supposed to do at this meeting?"

Margo offered the response. "Marjory, you have to deal with a number of factors. Firstly, what kind of husband would Derek make? My own husband on Earth was a fine lover, but he was a slacker when it came to anything important, and he was also a spendthrift. Any money he had, he spent. He could never save anything for the future.

Secondly, he said he loved these other girls. That may be so, but do they love HIM, or is it one-sided? You have to find that out.

Thirdly, you have to take into account the laws of Rehome. You obviously have not taken on board a salient fact: multi-spouse marriages are acceptable here. For example, Usgar's mother, Jeannette, is shortly to become Tom and Enid's second wife."

Marjory's mouth opened and closed, then she found words.

"You mean ... you mean for all three of us to marry Derek? Is that what you are proposing? Really?"

"It is up to you girls. You have to believe you can put up with each other for a lifetime together, like sisters, married to the one man. That is what the meeting is mostly about, in my mind: can you get on together, to make it work, to share your man. But first, you need to know if Derek is worth it. Will he make a good husband and father?"

Marjory suddenly became aware of what she had failed to ask. "I have no idea how old the other girls are! Will it matter much?"

Ruth told her, "If they are as committed as you are at your age, there would be a problem on Earth, but here, as long as you are mature enough to make a rational decision about marriage, your age doesn't matter, provided you are through puberty. Being pregnant, you certainly are!"

"Should I ring them to ask their ages, Ruth? Margo? Esther? I need advice."

All three agreed that it would be a good idea. Ruth opined, "It gives you a chance to introduce yourself, Marjory. Tell them who you are and what age you are."

Referring back to her recording, Marjory got the first number, for a Gemma Deacon, and tried it. A female voice answered. Marjory asked,

"Is that Gemma Deacon?"

"No, but I can get her for you. This is a bedsit, dearie."

In a few moments, another voice said, "Hi, Gemma here. Who's asking?"

"I'm Marjory Phelan, one of Derek's girls."

There was a hiss of indrawn breath, then Gemma said slowly, "Then what Derek admitted to me is true, is it: he has another two girlfriends on a string? Has that got something to do with this meeting on Rehome that I am invited to attend?"

"Yes, Gemma. I am pregnant, and left him when he refused to marry me, saying he had two other girls that he loved. Today I persuaded him to give me the names and addresses, so I could contact you and arrange a meeting."

"Pregnant? That was careless. How old are you Marjory, may I ask?"

"Sixteen and a half: old enough to get pregnant, not old enough to be savvy enough to avoid that. I am getting good advice from some older ladies here in Rehome colony. You might benefit from their advice also.

Do you know the other girl – a Grace Robertson? – Oh, and how old are you?"

"No. Never heard of her. I am eighteen, studying mechanical engineering at Liverpool Uni."

Marjory told her, "According to the data Derek gave me, Grace is studying for a nursing degree at Liverpool University. You probably live not far from each other."

"Not necessarily, Marjory. We don't all have homes in Liverpool. I have digs here during term time, but my parents live near Coventry. That's where I met Derek."

"I see," Marjory ruminated. "I lived at Banbury, and met Derek in one of the shops in town. He is studying Ethical Hacking and Network Security at Coventry University, apparently, if he is telling the truth."

Gemma confirmed her information, "Yes, that's where he is studying. It was his excuse for meeting me only every couple of weeks. Presumably the rest of the time he was with you or what's her name - Grace."

Marjory wanted to conclude the call. "Well, Gemma, if you can take a couple of days to come here and have a meeting of the three of us, we can talk over about Derek, to see where we stand."

"What? Do you not want to just dump him, and have done with him?"

"Is that what you want to do, Gemma?"

"Well, I do love the man, but I never once thought he would be cheating on me like this. I am inclined to cut the rope and let him go, but he tells me he still loves me. I don't know if I believe him."

"Gemma, come to Rehome and we can thrash this out between us, and see what our options are. That is the advice I have been getting from the ladies. I need to call Grace and see if she will meet us as well. Please come, Gemma. At a minimum it is a rather special free holiday. The Personalia are offering free transport here and back. But please keep it to yourself, Gemma. This is an unusual occurrence. The Personalia don't normally offer short trips to Rehome, and they would not want it to get around."

"O.K., I'll come. I want to meet you and Grace and see what attracted Derek to you both." She described the directions she had been given, to meet the Landership.

Marjory next called Grace Robertson. Once again, she was at her lodgings in Liverpool. "Hello? Who is calling?"

"Marjory Phelan here, Grace, calling from Rehome Colony. Have you heard of me at all?"

"No. Should I have?"

"It could be important, seeing I am one of Derek's girls."

"Damn!" said Grace. "I hoped he was having me on, to tease me; the bugger."

"There are three of us, Grace. I am sixteen and a half, Gemma is eighteen – at the same University as you – and you are studying nursing, I am told. What age are you, then?"

"A year older than you, Marjory. I am trying for a B.N. degree. How come a youngster seems to be in charge of this "Get Derek" operation? And why are you on another planet? How can you phone from there? Is it for real?"

Marjory explained, "Yep, it is for real. Phone calls are easy, thanks to The Personalia and their communications system. I ran away to Rehome when Derek said he couldn't marry me as he had two other girlfriends. I am pregnant, Grace; and my parents would be shocked if they knew. They are quite strict. I was all for escaping, but now Derek has phoned me to say he still loves me and wants to marry me."

"Bugger! He has knocked you up, and now he wants to marry you? What about me? He claimed he loved me, damned duplicitous Derek!"

"That is a question we want to sort out, Grace, just between us three. There are complications, but if we can get together, there is an outside chance of a simple and satisfactory solution. Can you come to Rehome for our meeting? I guarantee it will be a trip you will not regret taking, and it is free, courtesy of The Personalia, who may have already contacted you."

"Yeah, they did. I said I would think about it. I wondered if it was a scam."

"No scam, Grace. The invite originated from me, on the advice of several wise and generous ladies I have met here. Say you will come, please."

"All right. I thought I loved the bugger, but I am not so sure now. At least he has had the decency to tell me today about his shenanigans. Does he know about this meeting?"

"Nope, and please keep it that way. We want to sort things out without him interfering, Grace. Please keep all this quiet, for now."

"All right. I can go along with that. At least I am not pregnant: I took precautions. The Personalia guy asked me to meet the ship tonight, where Queens Wharf meets Kings Parade, near the bus stop. That is next to the sea."

"Ah, you will probably meet Gemma there. I understand you will both be picked up tonight. You will have to climb over the railing to get nearer the sea, I expect, or so Gemma told me. The spaceship lands on water."

"Well, it sounds like an exciting trip, if nothing else, Marjory. See you on Rehome?"

"Yes, someone will meet you. It might be me. Bye for now."

It was mere hours before the two girls were picked up by Landership on the seashore next to the road, to the surprise of a pair of passers-by walking their dogs. The appearance of a massive vessel close to the road was a surprise. It was even more of a surprise to see two teenage girls wearing rucksacks clamber over the railing and climb into the vessel. A couple more hours or so, and they were landed on Rehome, at the Metropolis beach site.