Chapter 263.
Later that evening Bobby and Tim and May and Jessica went out to eat at a local restaurant.  Bobby in his new persona.  It was to be the first of many such forays.  On that first outing Bobby attracted attention, all right – all from young guys.  Whenever this happened Tim, who spent most of the evening staring at his friend adoringly, became ridiculously jealous, and found himself holding Bobby’s hand, or putting his arm around him protectively, much to the amusement of the girls.  As for Bobby, he exploited Tim’s feelings continually, driving him to distraction by flirting with every other male he encountered.  He had finally realised the overwhelming power of being a pretty girl, and practised his sly glances and mascaraed flutterings at every opportunity…
The boys were fully booked the following week, and slightly downcast at the news the wedding had had to be delayed.  Tim’s lunchtime appearances in his emasculated state engendered general mirth, several memes, and for Tim himself, severe embarrassment.  Ellie told him he had a weekend booking, perhaps trying to cheer him up, but pretended ignorance of the booker, whilst Bobby found out his fate from Mélisande by text first thing Monday morning.  Her text began with emojis of a pony and a heart, followed by the news that “on Saturday me and mummy will meet you in stable 13 at 6am”, and promising him a proportion of the take from the pony rides on Sunday at the rate of “20p a ride!!  The rest will go to charity – but maybe you’d like to donate your 20ps as well???”  Bobby sighed.  
“Ellie?  Is this true?  Do I really have to do pony rides on Sunday?”
“Oh yes.  Miss Poole wants to make it a regular thing.  There’s a lot of interest, especially since she announced the idea in the monthly newsletter.  Ever since the show people are speculating on the identity of the boy dressage pony.  Now they have the opportunity to come and actually ride him!”
“But…suppose they find out it’s me…”
“Don’t worry.  You’ll be masked up, so no-one will know.”
“Mélisande’s gonna be riding me all Saturday, then I’ve got to give rides to a bunch of kids Sunday…  It’s too much…”
“Oh, not only kids, Bobby.  Miss Poole set the maximum weight at fifty-five kilos.  Why, I’m on about fifty…  Maybe I’ll come an have my fifty pence worth too…”
“What?  Fifty-five kilos?  That means most of the girls here…”
“Quite.  You’ll have a busy day…”
With full bookings the week sped by.  The boys were in pessimistic mood Friday evening, and went to bed early in anticipation of a difficult weekend…
Saturday morning.  Bobby was up with the lark, and had left before Tim was awake.  Ellie roused him at eight.  He blinked at her with sleepy eyes.
“So…who is it?”
“Who is it?”
“You know what I mean!  Whose booked me out for the whole weekend?”
“Oh, well…  Actually it’s, er…Serena.”
“What?”  He leapt out of bed.  “Why didn’t you tell me?  What does she want wiv me?”
“Tim…calm down.  I have no idea.”  She stifled a laugh.  “Well, actually, I think she wants to introduce you to  her mother…”
“Tim stared.  “’Er muvver?”
“Yes.  Don’t ask me why…  Oh, that’s the door.  That maybe her now.  Early…”
“I’ll get dressed…”
“Don’t bother.  She said she’s bringing your clothes with her.”
“What?”
It was indeed Serena, in jeans, ankle boots and a tweed jacket, and accompanied by two other women in their twenties.
“Hi Ellie.  We’ve come for the boy.  I’ve brought reinforcements just in case he tries to resist.  These are my mum’s work colleagues, Carly and Doreen.  Ladies, this is Ellie, the boys’ manager.”
Greetings having been exchanged, Serena looked around.
“So where is he?”
“You’re early.  He’s only just woken up, and it sounds like he’s in the shower.”
“Perfect.  Here’s his outfit.  Will he put it on without any argument, do you think?”  She handed Ellie a big pink carrier bag.
“He’ll do what I tell him.  Take a seat, ladies.  Make yourself coffee.  I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She went back into Tim’s bed room and unpacked the bag onto his bed.  A little pink skirt, a Hello Kitty T-shirt, white socks, pink trainers, and a girl’s bomber jacket.  And a couple of pairs of stretchy satin panties, one pink and one yellow, with little bows on the waist.  She chose the pink ones, to match his skirt, and zipped the other pair into his jacket pocket.  She smiled, and waited for him to emerge.
He wasn’t happy, but he knew he had no choice.  Ten minutes later he was standing in front of the three visitors, being inspected.
“You’re a cute one,” remarked Doreen, surveying him with an experienced eye.
“You better watch ‘er,” laughed Doreen, pinching his cheek.  “Bit of a cradle-snatcher, ‘er.”
“Thanks a million, Ellie,” said Serena.  “We’d better get going.  Tim’s got an appointment at nine-thirty, and I need to get home and make the food for lunch.  “See you in a couple of days.”
The three woman marched him up to the car park.  Tim kept his eyes fixed firmly on the ground, but he could hear the gasps and giggles as he passed by the stables.  Would he ever live it down?  His worst nightmare – dressed as a girl.  For Bobby, fair enough.  For an alpha male like him…  Disaster!
Serena drove an orange Porsche.  Doreen sat in the front, Tim and Carly in the back.  
“So Tim – do you like your outfit?  How does it feel?”
He knew better than to object.  If he wanted to survive the weekend, he’d have to pretend compliance.  
“Okay…”
“You look really nice…”
She drove into town, and stopped just off the high street.
“Okay, off you go,” she said.
“Where are we goin’?” whimpered Tim, as her friends got out and pulled him from his seat.
“Your nails are a disgrace.  Before I introduce you to my mum, you’re going to have them sorted out.  Girls – see you back at the house, yeah?”
For Tim, it was a walk of shame, through the middle of town, busy with shoppers.  The women walked side by side and made him walk ahead of them.
“Good boy.  It’s only a few minutes’ walk,” said Carly, in a motherly tone.  “Sahana’s is the best nail salon in town.  Serena said you can choose the colour too – so long as it’s bright and glittery!”    Of course few people actually noticed the boy neatly dressed as a girl.  But for Tim, it was a big ordeal – so much so, that when they finally arrived at Sahana’s, he was actually relieved…