IDENTICAL TWINS

 

IDENTICAL TWINS

 

An unlikely tale by strzeka (07/23)

 

            – All children are unique. That goes without saying. Daniel and Leonard Davison were especially unique. They were identical twins born in different years with different personalities and preferences. They were born healthy to affluent intelligent parents but within four short years, both boys would become orphaned amputees. Tonight, on the inauguration of the Davison Foundation, let me quote the oft-repeated adage that every cloud has a silver lining. I believe that never before has such an old saw held more veracity. And now, I would like to relegate the floor to our founding members, Daniel and Leonard Davison.

 

The hall broke into applause which intensified as the twins strode onto the stage. They were both dressed identically with the exception that Daniel’s dinner jacket was tailored to accommodate his short prostheses. Leonard stood by his side, almost imperceptibly repositioning his peg legs during their entire response. They both took hold of microphones and waited for their audience to quieten.

 

            – Thank you everyone for your support. We both feel it necessary to remind you all that The Davison Foundation grew from necessity due to political decisions. We urge everyone to consider this simple truth at the ballot box this spring. We are providing assistance through our Foundation to disadvantaged children who ought to be assured of help from society. That was how things were before. It is how things should be again.

 

More applause. Several members of the audience stood. Daniel quietened them by raising his hooks.

 

            – We have started out with two centres, one in Basingstoke and the other here in Wigan. Not the most prestigious of addresses, perhaps, but easy to reach from most locations both north and south and besides, the rents are cheap.

 

Laughter from the audience. It was not merely a joke, it was true.

 

            – But with your support, for which we are extremely grateful, we expect to start smaller regional centres in four or five other locations around the country. God knows the need is there. I hope we might bring a little sunshine into lives from which optimism and hope has been missing for too long.

 

The audience stood and applauded. The founders bowed and waved in acknowledgment and were escorted off the stage by the speaker who made a few conclusive comments and invited the assembly to congregate in the conference room for refreshments where they would be able to talk to the Davisons in person.

– – – – – – -

The Davisons were, as already noted, an affluent family. They were accustomed to travelling south for holidays. Three weeks in Tenerife or on Capri was much to their taste. With two toddlers at home, they had not ventured far from home for three years and so decided to take the boys on their first long‑haul flight to Trinidad & Tobago for three weeks of September sunshine and relaxation.

 

September twenty-nine was the fateful day. On his wife Eve’s recommendation, Caleb Davison rented a seven metre yacht for three days with the intention of testing the local fishing waters. Eve imagined herself relaxing with a drink and enjoying the sun, although she realised well enough that there might not be so much relaxation with Dan and Leo on board. For the time being, they contented themselves with watching their father casting his line in the hope of catching something impressive. For some still unknown reason, the yacht suddenly capsized. The cause lay below the surface. Perhaps an inquisitive whale or orca was a little careless. There was next to no wind. Other yachtsmen further off noticed the yacht keel over and watched, expecting its crew to right it. After a couple of minutes, two yachtsmen fired up their Evinrudes and rushed to the Davisons’ boat. Caleb was trapped by his legs, entangled in rigging and drowned before being discovered. Eve was never found. The two boys were spotted further off, splashing and gasping in panic. The sea was red with blood. Leonard was pulled aboard first, revealing two bleeding stumps. Something had severed his calves. Daniel was lifted aboard another boat, shivering in shock, holding his arms in front of him, both severed halfway along his forearms.

 

The rescuers, a Swedish couple and a German family, indicated the way back to town by sign language and the boys were tended to by the women. A third yacht had arrived on the scene to continue searching for other victims.

 

The boys were treated in hospital in Port of Spain, the Trinidad capital. A long correspondence with the British Consulate followed about the boys’ repatriation and eventually, they were escorted back to the UK by a member of staff who handed her charges over to a representative of an orphanage in Bedford. The boys recovered from their physical and psychological trauma there. Leo learned to walk on his knees and Dan began to use his short forearm stumps in place of his hands.

 

Their situation improved after their case was reported by a national tv broadcaster. Offers of adoption flooded in to the orphanage and after many interviews, a suitable couple from Norwich was selected, the Deckmans (of Deckman Décor fame). They had twins of an almost identical age, a boy and a girl, and the two young invalids would grow up in a healthy rural environment with peer support. Eve’s sister oversaw the legal practicalities of selling the Davison house and insurance compensation for the boys, all funds to be held in trust until they reached the age of majority.

 

The Deckman children had the final say on whether they wanted two new brothers whose mummy and daddy had died when they were on holiday. Julia Deckman explained that their new brothers were also twins and they were special because they were identical twins and also because they had been badly hurt but they were better now, except that one brother had no feet and the other had no hands. The Deckman twins, Ella and George, were fascinated by the idea of not having feet or hands and pumped their parents for more information about how it was possible to be like that. Derek Deckman gently explained how the twins were thought to have lost their limbs and that they would soon have artificial limbs, which meant feet and hands which were made specially for them and which they could put on and take off when they wanted. The twins still had no real idea what their new brothers might look like but they promised mummy and daddy that they would be kind to them and help them if they had trouble doing something. It was exciting to think they would have new friends living with them always.

 

Derek and Julia Deckman left the twins with a neighbour and drove to Bedford to collect the boys. Leo had his own wheelchair already and was learning how to use it but Daniel still relied on his forearm stumps. Papers were signed, hands were shaken, and the twins sat in the back seat with Julia in the middle holding onto her precious cargo with a hand around the boys’ shoulders. The clunky wheelchair fit easily into the back of the Range Rover. Julia explained to the boys that they were going home. It was a new home but they would always live there and never had to go back to the orphanage again. Leo and Dan were a little sad because they had some friends there but they made no mention of it. Julia told them about her own children who were the same age almost and they would have a lot of fun between them. Julia was intrigued to learn that Daniel had been born on December thirty-first at twenty to midnight and Leonard at half past midnight on January first. Such a unique occurrence. But everything about the twins’ life was turning out to be a series of unique occurrences. She hoped and believed that she was doing the right thing. The bright‑eyed boys, both cruelly maimed, would have a wonderful life ahead if she had anything to do with it. She loved them already.

 

Derek was much of the same opinion. He loved his wife and his children with a passion greater than he would have believed of himself. He wanted more children. The arrival of twins four years previously had been a wonderful surprise. He saw himself surrounded by offspring, a much beloved patriarch. He was thirty-five years old, a successful manufacturer and businessman, head of a company which produced minor interior decor, many of the articles designed by his wife, who had a degree in industrial design. The Deckman line of interior lighting had recently been featured prominently in a popular TV sitcom, quite unexpectedly driving up demand. He felt confident of the future and after initial doubts about taking on the responsibility for two bilateral amputees, he was encouraged by his wife to agree to expanding the family. Instead of being the patriarch of a family of children of regularly increasing ages, his children would all be the same age. Two sets of twins. He glanced in the rear-view mirror frequently on the drive back to Norwich and loved his wife for her joy at holding the two beautiful vulnerable boys.

 

Derek lifted Leo into his wheelchair and Julia rested a hand on Dan’s back as they entered their home. It was a solitary Georgian building in its own grounds which in practice meant that it had a band of grass around it. There was a twenty metre driveway leading to the house and one of Julia’s steel sculptures rusted in a suitable spot near the entrance. The previous owner of the building had made alterations to the grounds and ground floor making access possible for an aged invalid in a wheelchair. They served equally well for a four year old in a wheelchair. The new family entered the contemporary interior and went straight to the kitchen cum living space, where Julia brewed a pot of tea and served the boys fizzy drinks and some biscuits. She asked if the twins would like to look around their new home and the boys nodded enthusiastically. When the tea was drunk, Derek pushed Leo as his wife showed the twin’s playroom, the downstairs bathroom, the main living room and patio. The Derek carried Leo upstairs and they looked at their brother and sister’s bedroom which they would share and the bathroom and the room which was for Mr Deckman. It was his business room and very private. But there it was.

            – How do you like it so far, boys?

            – It’s lovely. Where does my new brother and sister live?

            – Oh Leo! They live here too. They’re with our next door neighbour while we came to collect you. Shall we go and get them? Derek love, would you mind going round to Mrs Hawkins?

 

Twenty minutes later, George and Ella ran into the kitchen to meet their new siblings for the first time. They had been warned ahead of time that their new brothers were disabled, which meant that they were missing their legs or their hands but it was still a shock to see for themselves. The boys looked at the newcomers in trepidation, unsure whether they would like them or not. They stood staring at their faces, both the same, turning their heads trying to see some difference. How was it possible for two people to be so alike? Then they stared at the stumps. It was true what mummy had said. This new brother had no hands, just little rounded arms and the other one had no feet. His legs just ended halfway. It was all very strange. Leo and Dan watched George and Ella appraising them. They had seen other people doing the same thing. They were already beginning to realise they were different from other people. But it was fun to see how peoples’ faces changed when they looked at them.

 

            – Hello. Have you come to live with us?

            – Darling, these are your new brothers we talked about, do you remember? This is Leo, who has a wheelchair because he has no feet, and this is Dan. And they’re twins just like you are, except they’re special twins because they both look just the same, don’t they?

            – Yes but one has no arms and one has no legs.

            – That’s because of the accident they had. But do you remember when I told you they will have artificial arms and legs? Ones they can put on and take off?

            – Yes, I remember, mummy. Hello, my name is George and this is Ella. She’s a girl. Mummy, is it that I have two brothers now and one sister?

            – That’s right, my love. And Ella has three brothers.

            – She’s lucky. I wish I had three brothers.

            – George, don’t be nasty.

George jumped up from his toddler’s stool.

            – Would you like to see my cars? They’re in the playroom. I can show you if you want.

Two identical faces with shining eyes looked at Julia for permission.

            – It’s alright. You can go with George if you like.

Leo slid out of his wheelchair and followed Leo and George on his knees. Ella watched his stumps in amazement.

            – Mummy, does it hurt them?

            – No, I don’t think so. Don’t worry about things like that. Why don’t you go along and see what the boys are doing?

 

Ella had mentioned something which Julia had herself wondered about. In the days since receiving notice that they would be adopting, she and her husband had read a great deal about amputees and the phantom pains which so many seemed to suffer. The twins’ amputations were still recent but the stumps appeared healthy. She wished the boys might soon have their first pairs of artificial limbs. They had been advised that the first fitting could be eight weeks hence. Derek had already contacted two or three prosthetists in and around Norfolk.

 

Derek and Julia sat quietly in the kitchen, listening to the sounds from the other room of children playing. Julia reached her hands out for reassurance. Derek held them and smiled at her.

            – It’s going to be alright, isn’t it, Derek? We have done the right thing, haven’t we?

            – Very much the right thing, my love. Everything is going to be fine.

 

– – – – – – -

 

It took only eleven days before Daniel called Julia ‘Mummy’ for the first time. She was inwardly delighted and relieved that the boys were settling in so well. She had fed Dan his breakfast and left him to finish his milk, which he insisted, correctly, he could manage himself. Leo and George had already been excused and were both kneeling beside George’s race track, carefully positioning the grandstand and a filling station alongside it.

            – Thank you, mummy.

Julia turned to look at Dan in surprise. He was holding his empty glass out between his stumps. Julia took it.

            – Why don’t you go and see what your brothers are up to?

Dan gave a radiant smile and slipped off his chair, arms held out for balance. The boys were a little taller than her own children, judging by Dan’s stature and size. She assumed Leo would be the exact same height on his own legs. The boys’ appearance was no longer so shocking to her or to George and Ella. They had been quick to accept the amputees, regarding them as new playmates who did things a little differently sometimes. They were inquisitive about Dan’s arms. Ella wanted to know if he could still feel things. He said he could. Ella was becoming quite a tomboy with three brothers. They always let her into their games. George might not have wanted to but Dan and Leo were both too naturally considerate to exclude her.

 

Saturday evening was bath time. Derek was in charge of proceedings and allowed his own two children to play together in the bathtub before giving them a wash with a big soft sponge and drying them off. He sent them off to their mother for inspection. The boys got the same treatment. They sat facing each other, Leo’s stumps resting on Dan’s thighs. Derek inspected all the stumps when washing them. He had been advised by the prosthetist he had made appointments with to ensure that the stumps continued healing well and to alert him if there appeared to be bruising or reddening around the sutures. The boys quickly cottoned on to what he was doing and as soon as their water games were over, they both thrust their stumps towards Derek. It felt nice to have Daddy’s big warm hands holding their stumps, looking for this or that. Their new daddy was bigger and hairier than their old one. Derek sported a full beard with an almost bald pate. His arms were sleek with black hair.

            – Inspection complete! At ease, gentlemen.

The amputees giggled and Derek realised that he loved them as much as his own children. He would do anything to ensure that despite their considerable disabilities, they would have the same opportunities as his own children.

 

The time came for Dan’s and Leo’s first fittings. Prosthetist John Fullerton ran his own clinic in King’s Lynn. George and Ella wanted to come along but their father explained that what was going to happen would take a long time and they would become very bored and want to come home very soon. Julia tried to explain that the boys might prefer to be alone with the doctor. There were some things when people preferred to be in private, on their own. The children nodded, vaguely understanding that it was something which did not involve them. But they would hear all about it later when Leo and Dan came back. Julia kept them occupied by baking a couple of loaves and giving the children their own dough to make into whatever shape they wanted.

 

Fullerton had studied prosthetics and orthotics and started his own clinic affiliated with one of the giants of the business with money received from an inheritance. He worked alone, sometimes up to sixteen hours a day, and believed passionately that his patients deserved the best possible prosthetics for their individual situations. He greeted his new clients with a pot of coffee and orange juice for the children. Derek preferred to carry Leo piggy‑back style but today, Leo was in his wheelchair. His brother had hooked a stump around the armrest and walked along beside him.

            – Welcome. It’s good to meet you all. Hello, boys. How are you?

The boys were a little too shy to reply but watched Fullerton with inquisitive eyes.

            – Let’s sit down here for a minute or two. Mr Deckman, I have a few questions which would expedite matters.

            – Yes, of course.

            – When were the boys’ amputations done? Do you know the name of the surgeon?

            – Twenty-ninth of September was the date of the accident. I assume the amputations were undertaken the same day.

            – So three months, more or less. Good. Children as young as these two heal quickly and soon learn to overcome their trauma.

            – These two have, for sure.

            – That’s very good to hear. Now, with children this young, we have two choices. We can offer prostheses which represent the most modern solutions but which, of course, need to be renewed frequently as the children grow. The alternative is something simpler, less expensive, which serve their purpose as the children accustom themselves to wearing prostheses. Now, for Leonard, I believe a basic pair of composite legs will fit the bill. They are one piece legs, with the ankle and foot part of the lower leg. The feet will accept normal footwear and the overall appearance is completely normal. With Daniel, body-powered prostheses are the way to go and the choices he has are mainly what terminal devices he wants to wear. Do you have any preferences yourself?

            – No, none at all. The boys will have what they like. These are their first artificial limbs and I certainly don’t want to discourage them from adopting them because they don’t like them.

            – Absolutely. Shall we get started? Who wants to go first?

Leo and Dan stared at each other before pointing at Dan.

            – Good show. Come along then, young man. Let’s go into my studio and start making you some new arms, eh? Are you looking forward to them?

Dan craned his neck to look up and nodded once. His dad and Leo followed. They went into a room with lots of funny metal furniture. The doctor picked him up and put him on a high chair.

            – I’m going to take your shirt off, OK? And then you can have a sheet over your legs so they don’t get splashed otherwise your mummy will be cross with me.

 

Fullerton casted Dan’s arms the old-fashioned way. BE sockets were more forgiving than BK equivalents but he took care to make certain of a comfortable fit. He maintained a quiet conversation with the toddler, explaining what he was doing and why. Dan looked at the plaster casts on his arms and felt their unexpected warmth as they cured. The doctor eased his stumps out of them and washed them with warm water and a big sponge. Then he got his T-shirt back and was lifted down to rejoin his dad and brother. He felt very accomplished at having been treated first. He had shown Leo that there was nothing to be afraid of.

 

Leo’s stumps were far more demanding. Fullerton inspected the stumps and the boy’s knees, concluding that BK legs supported on the patella would be more suitable for a growing lad than full‑length legs requiring thigh corsets. Once again, Fullerton made sure that his young patient understood what was happening. Leo swung his casted stumps while waiting for the plaster to dry. Fullerton removed the casts, washed the stumps and carried the boy back to sit with his brother and father. It was time for Dan to choose his terminal devices. Fullerton picked out three pairs, two steel hooks for a child, two junior rubber and aluminium claws and two small artificial hands with movable thumbs and laid them on the table. He explained as carefully as he could what each could do, so that a four year old might understand. Derek urged Dan to pick the ones he wanted most. He was confused by the different shapes. He could understand how the hands worked but he could not imagine how he could open one of the steel hooks, although they looked nice and shiny.

            – I want this one and this one.

He stood and nudged the left hand and the right hook with a stump.

            – Actually, that’s not a bad choice, although for the first set of prostheses, we usually recommend that both terminal devices are identical.

            – Are you sure you’d like a hook, Dan? It would look very special with the hand, wouldn’t it?

            – Yes but that’s alright, isn’t it?

            – Of course it is. OK, those are the ones you shall have.

Fullerton made notes and reminded Derek that the next time Leo came for a fitting, he should have a pair of boots or trainers with him, size five. Some kind of footwear which would not slip off an artificial foot. The session ended. Leo pulled himself back into his wheelchair while Derek helped Dan into his winter jacket. The sleeves were rolled back to expose the tips of his stumps. The adults shook hands and Fullerton promised to give priority to the lads. With any luck, they might have their limbs by Christmas, two weeks away, but certainly by the new year.

 

The Deckmans had left Christmas shopping until the last moment, never knowing what their children might like. They had enough toy cars and the model farm with all its animals which Ella loved to play with. This year it was even more difficult to decide on gifts. Julia felt they should treat the twins equally. Derek suggested they give at least something which gave the boys hope for the future. Like a football for Leo. Or a colouring book with some colourful felt-tip pens for Dan.

            – Isn’t that a bit too obvious, Derek?

            – Love, they’re four years old. They don’t do hidden meanings.

Julia laughed.

            – No, I guess not. We’ll have to make time during the week and go into Norwich. I don’t want to take the children with us while we’re buying their gifts but I don’t want to dump four youngsters on Mrs Hawkins.

            – Look, why don’t you ask her round for supper and a glass of sherry in the week. She can meet the boys and form her own judgment of them before you hint that you want her to take care of them for an entire morning.

            – Oh so I have to do the asking? Right! Well, of course I will and I’m quite sure Mrs Hawkins would look after the kids anyway without being bribed but I agree that it is a gentler way of introducing her to Leo and Dan than simply turning up on her doorstep with two double amputees plus our two.

            – It would be quite a shock, wouldn’t it?

            – The poor woman would probably keel over. OK, I’ll go around in the morning and explain the situation.

 

Mrs Hawkins, the closest neighbour, lived in the first of a row of eighteenth century thatched cottages which were almost lost from view behind rhododendron and wild roses. She was a widow of ten years at fifty‑six and her own daughter had long since flown the nest. She and Julia had been friends since they first met one rainy morning soon after the Deckmans moved to the area. Mrs Hawkins was bent over her shopping trolley just outside her gate when Julia approached in the Range Rover. She stopped and asked if she could be of any help.

            – The wheel’s just come off. Such a nuisance and I have so much to carry home.

            – Can you lift the bag off and leave the frame? Jump in and I’ll drop you off.

            – Oh, that’s very kind of you.

Mrs Hawkins detached the shopping bag and climbed up into the big car.

            – Where were you going?

            – Just into the village.

            – Oh. I’m going into Norwich to the big supermarket. Would you like to come with me? I’m sure you can get everything you need in there.

            – That would be lovely. I don’t often get into Norwich these days after they cut the bus service.

            – Norwich it is then. How do you do, by the way. I’m Julia Deckman and I think we’re neighbours.

The two women bonded via the unspoken ties which unite women as well as by their experiences with young children. Mrs Hawkins offered to look after the Deckman children whenever Julia needed time off for a few hours. She had done so only twice, not wanting to impose and both times the children had returned full of enthusiasm for the things the nice auntie had done with them and shown them. A glass of sherry was the least they could repay her with.

 

Julia strolled down the road early the next morning before Derek left. The cottage’s front window was lit with yellow light from inside. It looked beautiful on a dark chilly morning.

            – Hello, good morning, Mrs Hawkins. Sorry to bother you at this ungodly hour.

            – Come in, Julia dear. What on earth is the matter?

            – On, nothing’s wrong. It’s just that this is the only chance I’ll have today to pop round. What I wanted to ask is if you’d like to come to ours this evening for dinner and a couple of drinks. You see, we’ve adopted a pair of twins and we’d love for you to meet them.

            – How lovely! Thank you so much. That would be such a pleasure, I can’t tell you. Yes, what time?

            – Dinner will be at seven but do please come earlier to meet the children.

            – I shall. Is five o’clock too early?

            –No, of course not. Perfect! I must get back now because Derek’s alone with the children and wants to get to the factory. So I’ll see you this afternoon.

 

It was only when she was walking along the driveway and almost home that she realised she had completely forgotten to mention the boys were disabled. She stopped and considered her options. She could return immediately or mention it when Mrs Hawkins arrived. Rain spattered more heavily on her umbrella and made the decision for her. She hurried inside.

 

The sky cleared by midday, leaving puddles which reflected the pale winter sky. Julia sat with the children in the playroom, helping Ella’s farmyard animals return to the buildings for their dinner and plucking fluff from the wheels of the boys’ toy cars. Dan watched Leo and George fighting it out, hugging one of Ella’s teddy bears with his stumps. Dan broke Julia’s heart every time she watched him. He had suffered such a huge loss and yet showed no sign of despondency. Leo was by far the better equipped to face the future. He was young enough to learn to walk on artificial legs well enough so that no‑one need ever know. Dan’s disability would always be immediately obvious to everyone who met him.

 

Mrs Hawkins knocked gently on the front door at five. She brought two bottles of her elderberry wine which she was proud of and did not share with everybody. Julia answered the door and George poked his head around the playroom door to see who had arrived.

            – Nanny’s here!

He ran around in a tight circle and jumped in the air. Ella watched him showing off and the boys watched in amazement. Who was nanny? Why was George so excited?

            – Let me take your coat, Mrs Hawkins. Are these for us? Thank you so much.

            – Oh Julia, why don’t you call me Janet? I’m sure we can be on first name terms by now.

            – Yes, of course. Janet. Come and sit down. I’m just finishing the salad but everything else is either ready or in the oven so there’s nothing for you to help with. Just sit down and relax.

            – Where are the children? And your new children?

            – Janet, there’s something I should explain. I meant to tell you this morning but I forgot. We adopted a pair of identical twin boys the same age as our two but I have to warn you—they’re both disabled. They’re amputees.

            – Oh good heavens! Disabled at that age? That is awful. Well, don’t stand there! Bring them in!

She laughed at Julia’s trepidation. She could deal with an amputation or two. Julia knocked on the playroom door, the only way to teach the children to always knock before entering, and invited her four children to greet nanny in the living room. Dan and Leo looked at each other for reassurance and saw how happy George and Ella were. Leo walked on his knees and Dan followed Ella to the dining room across the hallway. Mrs Hawkins looked at the arrival of her children, one by one. George rushed across to give a sloppy kiss and bounced up onto the sofa next to her. Ella ran across to hug her. Dan waited by the door, wondering who the old lady was. Mrs Hawkins glanced at him and saw his arm stumps.

            – Hello, my dear. We haven’t met before.

She held her arms out, fingers splayed. Dan broke into a grin and lifted his stumps to copy her. They hugged. Mrs Hawkins hugged his head and gently placed him to one side to meet his legless brother who stood on his knees before her. She leant down and plucked him up, lifting him onto her lap. She placed a hand across the tips of Leo’s stumps to hold him.

            – Hello. Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.

            – I’m Leo and this is Dan. He’s my brother.

            – I see. And you’ve come here to live now, is it? That’s lovely that you have a new brother and sister all at the same time.

            – I know and they have two new brothers. That’s me and Dan.

            – It’s lovely to meet you and I hope we can be friends. I’m sure we will. I live just down the road in one of the cottages. Have you seen them?

Leo looked doubtful and shook his head.

            – Oh, in that case you must come and visit when George and Ella come next time. And you too, Dan my love. We don’t want you getting left behind.

The children snuggled closer to the old auntie whose heart was bursting with love for the new family especially for the two amputee boys who deserved better than the rough start they had had in life.

 

Julia opened one of the bottles Mrs Hawkins had brought and sniffed it warily. It seemed alright. She poured a drop into a glass and tasted it. It was smooth with the unmistakable taste of elderberry but there was a definite kick of alcohol. For home‑made wine, it was rather good. She poured two glasses and went to the living room. The children were almost on top of her guest who seemed to be enjoying every moment.

            – Children! Let Nanny breathe! George! Come and sit over here nicely, and you, Ella.

She dare not reprimand the boys yet. Leo was in Mrs Hawkin’s lap and she was whispering something to him. Their foreheads were touching. Leo nodded and giggled. It was an opportune moment.

            – Janet, I hope you’ll forgive me for serving you your own wine but I gave it a taste and it’s delicious.

She handed over a glass of the pale yellow liquor and Leo carefully slid off her lap so she had more room.

            – Children, don’t crowd Mrs Hawkins now she has a glass in her hand. Leo, why don’t you sit on the floor with George and Ella? Cheers Janet! Welcome to our home.

            – Oh, this did turn out rather well, didn’t it? You can never tell with elderberry. It either ends up tasting quite nice or like petrol.

She knew quite well that this batch was well above her usual standard. She had already tasted one bottle and was pleasantly surprised. She had read a tip in some magazine that adding honey to the mash worked wonders and raised the alcohol level. She had enjoyed a couple of tipsy evenings at home a couple of weeks previously, although she would not call herself a drinker.

 

The front door opened and Derek arrived home. He sensed immediately that it was not an ordinary evening. There was a delicious smell from the kitchen and none of the children had run to greet him. He poked his head around the living room door and saw the reason why. Mrs Hawkins had arrived and was surrounded by adoring children. Julia spotted him, put her glass down and rushed over to kiss him. She pulled him out into the hallway and whispered.

            – Don’t disturb them. They’re all quiet and completely infatuated with her. How was your day?

            – Fine. I got away a bit earlier than usual.

            – Yes. I love you.

            – I love you too.

They hugged. Derek held his wife’s head in his cool hands and kissed her in the way she knew promised more later. She chuckled.

            – Go and join the others. I have things to do in the kitchen.

He swatted his wife’s buttocks with his scarf and appeared at the living room doorway. He laughed at the way poor Mrs Hawkins was almost smothered by his children.

            – Hello, Mrs Hawkins. Thank you for joining us. I see you’ve met the whole family.

            – Yes! We’re getting along like a house on fire, aren’t we? Oh, and my name’s Janet.

            – Good to know. Welcome to our place. We felt that you have helped us so much that we wanted to show a token of our appreciation.

            – You’re too kind. Who would not want to help out when the children are as lovely as yours. And you have two more boys. They are both perfect. I’m sure they’ll bring you much pride.

Derek was taken aback by Mrs Hawkins’, Janet’s, words. She made no mention of the boys’ obvious limb deficiencies. To her, they were all just children.

 

Derek fed the children their supper in the kitchen. Mashed potato and peas with fish fingers, which were their children’s favourite. Dan and Leo ate everything they were offered. They had learned in the orphanage that it was useless to expect being able to choose. They had to eat what was placed before them. There was nothing else. Derek fed Dan. Dan had experimented with holding a spoon between his stumps but did not yet have the necessary dexterity. The meal over, Derek stacked the plates in the washer and left the children to their own devices in the playroom. Julia took over and made the finishing touches to a fillet of beef, roast potatoes, roast bell peppers and placed a bottle of red wine on the living room table. She invited Derek and Janet to seat themselves and brought the food in.

 

Julia mentioned how they had both been remiss yet again this year and left their Christmas shopping until it was almost too late. They really ought to get into Norwich one day during the week. Mrs Hawkins understood immediately what Julia was hinting at.

            – Julia dear, let me know half an hour beforehand and bring the children round if you need a few hours off. I’d love to have them.

            – Oh Janet, you are such a lifesaver. Where would we be without you? Thank you so much. Derek, what day shall we go? Is Wednesday alright? I really don’t want to leave it too long.

            – I suppose Wednesday is OK. I don’t think I have anything special planned.

            – Very good. That’s settled then. Bring the children around about nine. We’ll have a light lunch around midday, you know, sandwiches or a piece of pie.

            – That would be such a help. Thank you, Janet.

Julia was hugely relieved that it had gone so easily. The truth was that Mrs Hawkins genuinely delighted in the company of children.

            – We have to go into King’s Lynn in a couple of weeks too. The boys are getting their first prosthetic limbs, just in time for Christmas, I hope.

            – That will be exciting for them. I suppose Dan will be having a pair of hooks, will he?

            – He chose an artificial hand for the left and a hook for the right.

            – Good lord! That will look very unusual. And Leo will have a pair of toddler’s composite legs, I assume.

            – Yes, he will. Quite right. Janet, you seem to be rather in the know about such matters.

            – I suppose I am. You see, my late husband was an amputee. A double above knee amputee. He drove an articulated lorry, delivering foodstuffs to supermarkets, that sort of thing. One day in two thousand fourteen there was a terrible smash-up on the motorway and as a result he lost both legs. Well, he was never the kind of man to sit around feeling sorry for himself. He was on stubbies two months after the accident and had a pair of long legs six months later. He walked rather well, although he always used a walking stick. We spent many years together—he was retired from his job, of course. I lost him ten years ago… Anyway, that’s how I know about amputations.

            – How awful for him. And for you.

Mrs Hawkins picked up on Julia’s concern.

            – Julia, don’t fret. Neither of your boys are as disabled as my Peter was. They’ll do fine with artificial limbs, especially when they’re a little older and have more advanced equipment. You wait and see.

 

– – – – – – -

 

Leo did not want to be in his wheelchair.

            – I can walk on my knees, daddy. Honestly.

            – I know you can, but I was thinking that Mrs Hawkins might not be able to pick you up all the time.

            – I can manage.

Derek dared not argue. He knelt and Leo launched himself onto his back and the three other children followed behind and piled into the back of the Range Rover. Ella put on her serious face which she often adopted when tending to Dan and fixed his safety belt. It was amusing to see but Derek was grateful that his own children had accepted their new brothers with such enthusiasm and joy. Mrs Hawkins hugged her children and carried Leo into the kitchen to wipe his knees clean.

 

Derek sped back to the driveway, where Julia was already waiting.

            – Everything’s fine. We really are very lucky to have someone like Janet who can help us out, aren’t we? I was thinking—shall we invite her for Christmas? Or Boxing Day? I mean for the whole day, not just for a meal.

            – Are you sure? I’ve been thinking the same. I don’t know if she has family who might visit or who she might go to but when we pick up the children later, we can ask and invite her. I don’t know how we’re going to fit seven people around our table.

            – We’ll just do what we did the other night. The kids can eat first—I’m sure Dan will still need some help even if he has a new hook.

            – Yes, that sounds like a sensible way to do it. And either day is fine with me. We have quite enough food already.

 

Mrs Hawkins had the children at the kitchen table concentrating on making Christmas decorations from strips of coloured paper made into loops. Dan could not participate in the manufacture but dictated how the coloured links should be joined together. After the first few, he decided he preferred alternating colours and there were shortly several quite professional chains. The children worked for two hours, tongues between lips in concentration, and finally Mrs Hawkins allowed them to decide where she should hang them in her small and cosy living room. The end result was charmingly childish but festive and it was almost time for lunch. She had spent the previous afternoon making a kilo of meatballs and the potatoes were ready for boiling. She had also found an old dessert spoon from a mismatched set she had inherited from an old neighbour and had managed to twist the bowl through ninety degrees so the young boy without hands might be able to hold the florid handle between his stumps and feed himself.

 

The Deckmans spent two hours in Norwich, selecting the toys which the children had said they hoped Father Christmas would bring them. Julia also bought four colouring books for each of them. They dropped by the art supplies shop to buy a set of twenty-four professional quality felt‑tipped pens. If Dan had his hook by Christmas Day, the children would receive the gift then. Otherwise she would hold it back until Dan had been fitted.

            – Oh good grief! I just remembered.

            – What?

            – Dan and Leo’s birthday. Birthdays. New Year.

            – Oh yes. How are we going to celebrate that? Two different days?

            – It’ll have to be two days. They know when their birthdays are, Derek. You can’t lump them together.

            – No, I suppose not. You’re right.

 

Julia fretted about returning as soon as possible. Derek talked her into taking her time.

            – Let Mrs Hawkins enjoy the children, love. They’re having lunch there, she said, so there’s no reason to hurry back. Let’s have lunch in town. Do you fancy a pizza?

Julia laughed. It must have been at least four years since she and Derek had last shared a pizza together.

            – Let’s put the shopping in the car first, eh?

 

It was fun eating out together in the middle of the week. The pizzeria was busy with midday diners.

            – I was thinking about Leo’s new boots. I think I’ll take a pair of George’s so Leo can walk out wearing them and we’ll go straight to a shoe shop and pick out a pair he wants.

            – That sounds like a good idea. George has a pair of trainers he doesn’t wear. Take those.

            – Why doesn’t he wear them?

            – I don’t know. He likes his other pair better, I suppose.

 

They motored home slowly, enjoying an hour or so of rare solitude. Derek said he would go into work for the rest of the day after collecting the kids. There was always a lot of clerical work at the end of the year and he wanted to keep abreast of things. Julia knew better than to argue with him.

 

Mrs Hawkins delivered her young charges and assured Julia that they had been angels. She pointed out her decorations and the two women chuckled together. Julia carried Leo back to the Range Rover and Mrs Hawkins was left in peace. She had accepted the Deckmans’ invitation to spend Boxing Day with them. Derek would collect her and take her home again at the end of the day.

 

A week later, Derek received a brief text message from John Fullerton.

            –  all prostheses ready for first fitting. welcome any time until 24.12. Noon

He conferred with Julia and replied that he and the boys would arrive the next morning at about nine fifteen. Fullerton replied with a thumbs–up emoji.

 

He broke the news later that evening. The family was quiet after a normally hectic day. Ella and Dan were spread out on the floor looking through a coffee table book of Animals on Safari. George and Leo were in the playroom reconstructing the crane which lifted cars from the rooftop garage onto the race track. Derek watched the two children until Dan looked up.

            – Dan, come over here. I have a secret to tell you.

He rolled over and twisted himself to his feet.

            – Sit up here. You remember when we went to see Doctor Fullerton and he made you those white plaster casts?

            – Yes. He said he was going to make them into arms.

            – That’s right. And guess what? He’s done it. And tomorrow morning we’re going back there to get them. You’re getting your new arms tomorrow.

Dan was speechless. How else would a toddler react to hearing that his first pair of prostheses were ready?

            – And the other thing is that Leo’s new legs are ready too. He’s getting his new legs tomorrow as well. Do you want to go and tell him or shall I?

Dan crawled off the sofa and ran to the playroom. Derek and Julia listened carefully, grinning, not knowing what to expect. Moments later, Dan returned with Leo walking on his knees.

            – Is it true, Daddy? I’m having my legs tomorrow?

            – Yup. From tomorrow, you won’t have to walk around on your knees any more. You’ll have your new legs and Dan will have his new hands.

            – Yippee! Are we going in the car?

            – We are indeed. You and Dan and me, off to get your arms and legs.

Dan and Leo stared at each other. Somehow they were communicating. There was meaning in the stares. They broke into giggles and Leo crawled back to rejoin George. Ella asked if Dan wanted to look at another book. He nodded. Ella closed the big heavy book about animals and found a book in the bookcase called The Wild West. It had photos of deserts and strange rocks and mountains, all taken in the wild west which was in America. Ella made sure that Dan had looked at all the pictures before she turned the page because he could not turn them himself.

 

Fullerton greeted his clients and took them directly to the lab. Leo’s new legs lay on the table and Dan’s arms were spread alongside. The boys looked at them. It was so odd to see two legs on the table like that. And the pink arms looked just as strange with all the straps on them. The boys looked up at Daddy and then to the doctor.

            – Now who wants to go first?

The twins wordlessly decided that Dan could go first again. Fullerton took the prostheses and explained them to Dan. How they were held on to his arms with thick socks called liners. How the straps, called a harness, went over his back. And these metal wires, called the cables, would let him make the hook and hand work.

            – Do you want to try it on? OK. First we put the liners on. Hold your arm out straight for me.

Fullerton rolled a thick liner onto Dan’s left stump.

            – Now the other one. Jolly good. Now comes the hard part.

Fullerton arranged the arms facing away from them.

            – You have to make sure the straps aren’t tangled up. They should look like this. Mr Deckman, would you take a look at this too, please? The stumps have to be inserted between these straps with the cable on the outside.

            – Yes, I see why that might be the case.

            – Good. Well, we’ll practise it a few times but it’s good if a young amputee has someone he can turn to. Sorry Dan. I was talking to your daddy. You see this triangle of straps? There’s one here on this side, and another one on this side. You have to make sure you put your arm through here so that this metal cable part is facing away from you. Do you see?

Dan nodded.

            – Don’t worry if you’re not sure. We’ll practise first, OK? Well, put your arm down here and push it into the arm.

Fullerton held the socket in place while Dan pushed his stump deep into the prosthesis.

            – That’s right. And now the other arm. Push hard. Good boy. Now, what comes next? We have to get all these straps to go behind your back. Lift your arms in the air for me, that’s right, a bit higher—good. Now duck your head down under all the straps so they go around the back of your neck. That’s the way.

Fullerton made a few adjustments to how the harness lay across Dan’s shoulders, judging the fit and tension of the harness. There was room for improvement but the cables were tight with a little room to manoeuvre. Fullerton returned his attention to his patient who now sat wearing prosthetic arms. The terminal devices were in his lap.

            – How does that feel? A bit strange, I expect. Is anything hurting?

Dan shrugged his shoulders and felt the straps move. He lifted his stumps and looked at his new arms.

            – No, nothing hurts. What do I do next?

            – Well, next you can start using your hand and the hook.

Fullerton went through the two methods to operate the terminal devices. Leo and Derek watched Dan flailing with his steel hook which looked so alien and grown‑up. It opened wide and Fullerton encouraged Dan to try again. Soon it was the turn of the left hand. It looked like a hand at first but it was too pink and too shiny. And only the thumb moved. Dan practised opening the thumb and watched how the appearance of the hand changed. The doctor wanted to see if Dan could open the thumb and the hook at the same time. He stretched his arms forward and both devices operated simultaneously. Fullerton made an imperceptible alteration to one of the straps on Dan’s harness and placed his hand across Dan’s shoulders.

            – Do you want to wear them or shall I take them off and wrap them up?

            – Wear them!

            – Good boy. They’re yours now. Let’s see to your brother next. Leo, your turn. Sit on this chair first.

It was Fullerton’s office chair with castors. When Leo’s prostheses were fitted, he would push the boy over to the parallel bars, already lowered.

            – You get to wear the same kind of thick socks as Dan. First of all you have to roll them up like this so you can see the inside. Then you put it over your leg and unroll it like this all the way up your leg. Does it feel OK? A bit strange, I expect. Good boy. Let’s try again with the other leg. Here we go. Roll it up, put it over the end and then unroll it all the way.

Fullerton checked that the liner was tight and even.

            – Now the legs. Lift this one up for me.

He slid the prosthesis onto Leo’s left stump until it reached the patella.

            – Now the other one. How does it feel? Not hurting anywhere? Alright, good. Now if you stand up for me.

Fullerton held Leo’s hands as he slipped off the chair and stood on the floor. Leo looked around in wonder at being tall again.

            – Can you try to jump? Try to push your legs down more. That’s it. Good boy. Now the next thing to do is to pull the top of the socks down so they go over your false legs. That keeps them from falling off and we don’t want that, do we?

He gripped the liners carefully and turned them over the upper edges of the prostheses.

            – Did you bring a pair of boots?

            – I have a pair of my son’s trainers which should be the right size.

Derek took them from a plastic bag and handed them over to Fullerton who set about inserting the rigid feet and ankles into the white trainers.

            – All set and ready. Would you like to try walking, Leo? Sit up on the chair. Here we go. Now I want you to grab hold of the rails like this and stand up, OK?

Leo leaned forward and rose to his prosthetic feet. He grinned at his Daddy and Dan.

            – Hold the rails and take a few steps.

It felt really strange to try to walk without toes. The ankles were stiff. He picked his knee up and kicked his artificial leg in front of him. He leaned forward again and pulled the other one forward in front of him. And again. The legs felt really funny. It was like he was trying to balance in the air. He pulled himself along and reached the end.

            – Turn around and come back, Leo.

Turning around was really hard. The feet would not turn themselves. He had to lift his knee and twist his thigh. Lots of times. Now he could walk back. It was easier if he leant a bit to one side and then to the other. Yes, that was the way. The feet lifted up more easily that way.

Fullerton and Derek swapped glances. Fullerton nodded approvingly. Leo turned himself around again and swaggered along the bars. First one, then the other, then the first one again. And so on. This was quite easy, really. He could see himself in a big mirror. It looked funny to have two legs again. Fullerton took his hand and they slowly walked back to rejoin Daddy and Dan.

            – I’m not sure whether to offer crutches or not. What do you think? Does it look like he’ll need them? If he were older, I’d offer a walking stick but it always looks so odd to see a toddler with a cane. Leo, would you like a pair of crutches to help you walk?

            – No, thank you. I can walk OK now.

            – Yes, I think you can. Well, just get in touch if you think crutches might be needed. Now, I think we need to give Dan a few lessons just to make sure he knows how to use his terminal devices. Dan, will you come over to the other table? Good boy. Now see if you can pick up these Legos and put them on top of each other.

Dan stretched out with his hook and stabbed at one of the oversized Lego pieces.

            – Do you want to make the hook open up? Alright. All you need to do is move this shoulder forward, like you were nudging someone. Give it a try. That’s right. You saw how the hook opened up? Try it again and keep it open.

A couple of minutes later, Dan knew how to open the hook with his shoulder or simply by stretching his stump. It was easy to stack the Lego and then he had to make a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces had little knobs on the top so he could pick them up if he was careful. He used his pink metal hand to knock the pieces so they would fit. It was quite easy. The hook looked so strange but he could already make it work and he thought it was quite good. He liked it. The hand was a bit more difficult to use because only the thumb moved but he expected that he would soon learn to use it.

            – Well done, Dan. I think you have the proper idea. Do your arms hurt anywhere?

Dan looked at his hook and metal hand and shook his head.

            – OK, jolly good. Mr Deckman, I have to say that your boys are quick learners. Ordinarily, a bilateral arm amputee would have much more coaching and training but I’ve noticed with young patients that they learn to use their prostheses independently. It’s rather like learning a new language for them. An adult needs to be taught all the grammar and syntax, whereas a young child picks it up quite naturally. It’s the same with learning to use artificial limbs. They learn much faster on their own than if we adults bombard them with theory. I’m sure your boys are clever enough to manage on their own.

            – Yes, I think you’re right. Is that it?

            – Apart from the paperwork, yes.

Fullerton handed over a thin folder which contained general descriptions of both boy’s prosthetic equipment, including detailed diagrams of how Dan’s prostheses should be donned.

            – If you have any trouble, call me. I know it’s Christmas, but it doesn’t matter. Just call and I’ll do my best to help.

            – You’re very kind. Thank you for coming through for my kids in time for Christmas. It must have made a lot of work for you.

            – Don’t mention it. Goodbye then. Happy Christmas.

Derek took Leo’s right hand and Leo’s metal left and they returned to the Range Rover.

            – That was fun, wasn’t it? What shall we do next? I know. Let’s go to the shoe shop and find a pair of boots for Leo, shall we? Come on, then.

Leo fastened Dan’s safety belt for him and secured his own. His false legs poked into the air behind Daddy’s seat. They were the same colour as Dan’s arms. Neither boy saw anything of the scenery on the way back. They were staring at their artificial limbs and Leo was proud of his new yellow Timberlands.

 

Julia heard the car’s motor and went to the front door to see the boys’ return. Derek got out and lifted Leo onto his feet. Leo waved his arms to find his balance and struck out towards Julia. Leo looks so different, she thought, standing as tall as his brother again. He looked quite normal in his smart new boots. His legs looked no different from any other boy’s. But his gait was definitely odd. He was not exactly struggling but obviously had to put some effort into walking. She held her hand out to help Leo up the slope, bent down and kissed him.

            – Well done, Leo.

Derek and Dan walked back together. Dan held Derek’s hand again with his own child‑sized prosthetic hand. The steel hook on his right looked shocking, totally unexpected at the end of an almost five year old’s arm.

            – Don’t you look grand? It must be nice to hold daddy’s hand at last. Let’s go and have some elevenses. There’s cake!

 

Leo was allowed to wear his boots inside the house. The soles were soft and the artificial feet were moulded so that a heel was always necessary to keep Leo on an even keel. George and Ella warily inspected their new brothers in their new guise. George looked up at Leo standing an inch or two taller than himself and wondered at the reversed roles. Ella took hold of Dan’s prosthetic hand and was shocked that it was cold and hard. She was unsure about the hook on Dan’s other arm. It was ugly. She had never seen anything like it before. She thought that Dan was going to have new hands. These were nothing like hands. She was so sorry for him.

 

– – – – – – –

 

The first days wearing prosthetic limbs coincided with Christmas. Julia was busy in the kitchen. Derek played with the children in the playroom, sitting on the floor cross-legged helping Ella rearranging her toy farmyard or fixing the myriad tiny faults with the boys’ racetrack. He held back from suggesting things to help Dan, rationalising that it was better if he discovered what his hook and hand were capable of. Dan was full of enthusiasm at being able to pick up a car to look at it more closely but he was surprised that even his new hand had no feeling. He preferred the hook. It looked more grown‑up. He had never seen another boy who had a hook. He was quite proud of it.

 

On the evening of the Eve, it began to snow gently. Instead of sitting around inside, Derek suggested they all go out for a walk. The children had made a tea cosy for Mrs Hawkins from pieces of coloured felt although mummy had helped a little with the difficult bits. Ella had wrapped it carefully and tied it with a bow of wool and all the children had signed a Christmas card with heart shapes next to their names which mummy had written for them. Dan was carrying the package in his hook and Ella had the card in her teddy bear backpack. Daddy said they could take the things to Mrs Hawkins this evening so she would have something to look forward to opening in the morning.

 

The real reason for the visit was that Derek wanted Leo to practise walking. He had managed to get his legs and liners off the previous evening while Derek helped Dan and to don them this morning. Derek checked their fit and asked Leo if he had remembered to push his stumps into the new legs as far as they would go. Leo assured him that he had. But for the rest of the day, the children had had little exercise. It would be fun to pay a surprise visit to Mrs Hawkins, who was due to stay with them the whole day on the day after Christmas. The whole family set off warmly wrapped in winter gear for the quarter mile trek to Mrs Hawkins’ cottage. Leo found his rhythm soon enough and kept pace with the others. His new Timberlands had a really good grip and they looked smart. He held Derek’s hand just in case he slipped. Derek was tremendously impressed with Leo’s progress. The boy faltered a little, understandably with rigid ankles and feet on an uneven surface, but the look of determination on his face was heart‑warming. He was going to make it. Dan’s artificial hand was held by Julia. The inert hook gripped Mrs Hawkins’ gift. Time would tell how well the boy learned to use his prostheses. Derek was of the opinion that the hand was little more than decorative. Before long, Dan would ask for another hook. It was obviously more practical but he would wait until Dan himself brought the matter up.

 

Mrs Hawkins was delighted to see the family and invited them in. Julia made the excuse that it was too much effort to undress the children and dress them again, which Janet understood. Ella rummaged in her backpack until she found the envelope with the Christmas card and Dan held up his hook with the present, now slightly soggy from the snow. He opened his hook at the very instant Mrs Hawkins took the package. Everyone noticed although they said nothing. He was pleased with himself. Janet mentioned that her daughter had promised to pay a quick visit the next day but she would be with them on Boxing Day morning at about ten o’clock. They expressed their good wishes and made their way back.

 

            – How do your legs feel, Leo? Are they sore? That was quite a long walk to Mrs Hawkins, wasn’t it?

            – My legs are alright but it sort of hurts up here.

Leo indicated his buttocks.

            – Oh, I thought maybe that might happen. You see, Leo, you don’t have ankles now so the rest of your muscles have to help you balance. And they haven’t done that since you had the accident in the summer. So your muscles are a little weak now and when you walk a long way, they will feel a bit sore. But don’t worry. They will stop aching when you walk after a bit. Until then, it’s just something you have to get used to. It doesn’t hurt badly though, does it?

            – No, not really.

            – You’re a good boy. It’ll take a little while to get used to wearing them, Leo, but soon they’ll feel just like your ordinary legs and they won’t hurt at all. It’s just because they’re new and they feel a bit strange.

Leo nodded his head sagely. He already knew how he had to rock from side to side and kick his stumps. It felt strange to do but it was how the new legs worked. It was alright. He would soon get used to it.

 

Christmas Day. The children were awake before six and were bursting with excitement. Julia, always a light sleeper, opened her eyes and looked at the peaceful face of her handsome bearded husband. How beautiful his eyes were, even closed. She felt lucky. More than that, she was happy. She could hear Ella shushing the boys in the next room, telling them not to make a noise. She imagined Dan and Leo waking limbless and rose quietly, putting on her dressing gown and cinching it closed. The house was always cool in the mornings. She knocked quietly on the children’s bedroom door and opened it. The children were all sitting up in bed and looked at her expectantly, hoping they were not in trouble for waking mummy up.

            – Oh, look at you! All awake already and it’s not even light outside.

She walked from bed to bed, kissing each child and wishing a Happy Christmas. She dressed Dan in a clean T‑shirt, picked up his stumps socks and liners and helped him. The prostheses were hanging from a wall hook. She placed them at the foot of Dan’s bed. He knew how to don them himself. She turned her attention to Leo, who had already donned his own liners. His legs stood pigeon‑toed at the foot of his bed. Julia placed them closer. Ella and George watched Leo’s transformation from the legless boy they had known into a carbon copy of Dan. The children put on their own dressing gowns and scooted off to the bathrooms, her own children to the one downstairs, the amputees to the one opposite. She waited until Leo returned. Perhaps she was a little over‑protective but she wanted to hold his hand going down the stairs. Dan returned first and Julia helped him dress in clean clothes. His artificial arms looked surprising, shocking even, and they probably always would. Dan could wear one of George’s pullovers, an off‑white polo‑neck. She worked the thick woollen sleeves along the prosthetic arms and settled it around Dan’s shoulders.

            – Don’t you look handsome? Shall we go and have some breakfast first, and then we can open our presents afterwards, if Daddy has got up by then. Here comes Leo.

Leo could dress himself. Shorts, T‑shirt, pullover.

            – Let’s get some breakfast, Leo. Will you hold mummy’s hand going downstairs?

 

Cereal and milk and toast and coffee and juice, the same as every morning. With everyone served and Dan able to feed himself toast which Ella buttered for him, Julia crept upstairs again to check on her husband. The children’s gifts were in the closet. Derek was awake, enjoying the luxury of solitude in a warm bed on a cold morning at the start of day which promised to be one of the good ones. Julia leaned over to kiss him.

            – Good morning, lover. Happy Christmas. Are you getting up? The children are impatient to open their presents. We’re waiting for you. Come and have some breakfast.

            – Ah well. No rest for the wicked.

Julia laughed.

            – Come down when you’re ready and bring the presents.

            – I will. I love you.

 

Derek appeared twenty minutes later. He had quietly placed the big bag behind the lounge door and joined his family.

            – Happy Christmas, daddy!

            – Happy Christmas, everyone.

He could see how excited the children were. Even Leo and Dan had cottoned onto the unique Deckman family tradition. Last year their presents were waiting for them at the ends of their beds when they woke up. This year they had to wait for daddy to have his coffee. At last he put his mug down and slapped his thighs.

            – Shall we see if Father Christmas came by last night? I’m sure he has. I could hear reindeer bells.

The children were astonished. How had they missed hearing the bells?

            – I think he went into the lounge. Let’s go and look.

The children scrambled to their feet and waited for Leo to join them. The whole family moved into the lounge and Ella found the big black bag of presents behind the door.

            – Who wants to hand them out?

It was another family tradition that each present was offered individually and had to be opened and appraised before the next present was delivered. Julia had been subjected to the same torture as a girl and thought it instilled patience in children, although she remembered the associated frustration too. Dan and Leo sat on the floor watching the proceedings. Julia knew what was in the packages, having spent a couple of hours late at night during the week wrapping them. She gave the first to Ella. It was a board game. You had to move your pieces around a board to the goal to win. Dan got the next one. Everyone watched how he used his metal hand and hook to tear the wrapping paper off and to hold up his gift. It was a model Aston Martin in racing green for George’s race track. Now he had his own car—and the headlights actually worked. George was next. He had another game. It was a frame and you could drop coloured discs into it. You had to get four in a row, like noughts and crosses but four. He had played it at a friend’s house and boasted about how he had won the most times. And the next gift was for Leo, who was torn between interest at seeing what the others got and anxiety that Santa had forgotten him. When he opened it, his mouth dropped open. It was the best present he had ever got. It was a radio‑operated drone, eight inches across with four propellors and it was grey and chrome with red and white stripes.

 

There were other presents, not such fun to open. All the children had new beanies which matched although they were different colours, picture books about wildlife, the weather, steam trains and the planets. It was almost obvious that the games had been chosen because they required a little manual dexterity. It would be good practice for Dan. Leo’s drone would require him to walk a good deal outside, learning to adapt to his rigid lower legs, stomping through rough parkland with his eyes on the drone flitting above his head.

 

The children played with their games until they napped after an enormous Christmas dinner. Julia cut everything on Dan’s plate into bite‑sized pieces which he could manage with a fork which Derek placed between the prongs of his hook. Dan was proud of himself at being able to eat independently again. Slowly he was learning the advantages of his hook. The metal hand was not such a useful thing.

 

Mrs Hawkins arrived the next morning with a basket brimming with presents. She thanked the children for the very useful tea cosy which she genuinely admired although she doubted its efficacy. Julia called her into the kitchen, reassuring her that there was absolutely nothing left to be done. She closed the door and the two women caught up with each other’s news in peace. Derek and Leo were playing Four in a Row, Dan and George were racing their cars. Ella sat at the table, slowly looking at the new picture books all four children had received.

            – Shall we go out this afternoon and fly your drone, Leo? We ought to test it outside.

            – Yes please. Where will we go?

            – We could take it into the middle of the park and try it there.

            – Will we go in the car?

            – Yup. Unless you want to walk.

Leo looked to see if his dad was joking. It was a long way to the park. It took a long time in the car.

            – How are your legs, Leo? You’re very quiet about them. You don’t say anything. Do you like being tall again? Same as your brother?

            – I’m not sure. Sometimes I think I’m like I was with my own legs but then I try to move my feet to be in a more comfortable position but I can’t do it. And I don’t like that.

            – You can still feel your feet and toes, can you?

            – Oh yes. I can wiggle my toes but nothing happens.

The feet on Leo’s prostheses were toeless.

            – That’s the way it is now, I suppose, Leo. If you get a new pair of artificial legs, you don’t have toes any more. It’s what you call a compromise. You can have some things you want but you can’t have everything. But you like having legs again, don’t you? You wouldn’t like to be on your stumps again, would you?

            – No, the new legs are OK for walking with but it is nice to take them off and see my stumps. They get itchy sometimes so it’s nice to scratch them and take my liners off.

            – I expect so. You know Leo, it’s very difficult for us grown‑ups to know what it’s like to have no legs. You know much more about it that I do, or mummy does. We can sort of think about what it’s like, but only you can know for sure. So if anything feels wrong or starts to hurt with your new legs, you will tell us straight away, won’t you? It’s quite important. You see, your stumps are more important that your artificial legs.

            – Yes, I see. Alright, I’ll tell you if they feel funny. So it’s OK if I can still wiggle my toes?

            – Wiggle them as much as you like, Leo.

 

Christmas was over. The next cause for celebration was the twins’ birthdays. Janet had come up with a brilliant plan regarding birthday cakes for each of the boys. Julia did not want to have the children gorging themselves on cake for two consecutive days.

            – Why don’t you make an ordinary sponge cake and cut a smaller piece out of it? Then you could serve the smaller cake one day and the ring the next.

            – Oh Janet! What a super idea! Yes, that’s what I’ll do.

 

With a few extra shopping days, Julia persuaded Derek to take an hour off and ferry her to town to seek out a couple of warm pullovers for each of the boys. Their wardrobe had been sparse when they arrived from the orphanage. Slowly they were accruing the clothes they needed as they needed them.

 

It was Dan’s birthday on December thirty-first. New Year’s Eve. No-one had mentioned anything about his and his brother’s birthdays. Julia and Derek had kept it quiet, hoping it would come as a surprise. The amputees knew they had birthdays soon after Christmas but were not sure of the exact day. When the children came downstairs for their breakfasts, there were three cards and a small oblong box where Dan usually sat. He picked up the cards one by one in his hook and held the envelopes in the metal hand while ripping along the seam with his right hook.

            – happy birthday! you are five!

The cards had pictures of puppy dogs or ducks with five ducklings or a big red bus with a number five on the front. They were from Mummy and Daddy, Ella and George and Mrs Hawkins, who signed her name as Nanny. There was a hush as Dan opened the package with his prostheses. Inside was a plastic container with a black base and a transparent top which revealed its contents. It was a wristwatch. It was yellow and green and red and the hands were blue.

            – Would you like to try it on, Dan? It will fit around your left wrist and if it slips off, we can find a dab of glue to make sure it stays in place.

            – It’s super. I’ve never had a watch before.

            – No, I expect not. We’ll have to show you how to tell the time, and then everyone can ask you what time it is.

All the children would receive different versions of the colourful quirky wrist watches for their next birthday. Their parents knew that most young people could not read analogue clocks. Their own children would not be so deprived.

            – Do you know how to tell the time, Dan?

            – No, not really.

            – Daddy will explain later on.

Derek sat with his hairy arms crossed in front of him with a big smile on his face behind his beard.

            – Let me put it on for you, Dan. Do you want it on your left arm or your right?

He touched the left and right prostheses as he spoke. Dan looked at his artificial arms and lifted the metal hand.

            – This one.

            – The left. Hold still.

Derek altered the hands to display the correct time and fixed the watch around Dan’s wrist under the cable. It would probably need a dab of glue or some two‑sided tape but there was time enough for that. Dan held his prosthetic hand out to the others so they could see the watch better. Everyone thought it looked very grown‑up. Dan was as proud as punch. Later in the day, Julia served the centre part of the sponge she had made and decorated. She had covered it in light blue icing with a big blue number five in the middle. There were five candles which she lit and asked Dan to blow them out and to wish for something. He did as asked and came out with something unexpected.

            – I wish, I wish I had two hooks.

Julia and Derek were both dumbfounded. It had not been more than two weeks since Dan had received his prostheses and he had already discovered that his prosthetic left hand was impractical for what he needed a prosthesis for.

            – I thought this might happen. I’m surprised it’s taken so little time. Dan, do you mean you don’t like your metal hand? Would you like another hook there like on your other hand?

            – Yes. I can’t do anything with the hand thing. It doesn’t work like a hand or like my hook and I can do everything with my hook. It would be nicer if I had two hooks instead.

            – Well, in that case, young man, you shall have another hook. Not today but very soon. Is that alright?

            – Yes. Thank you Daddy.

Overcome by emotion, Dan burst into thankful tears. Julia pursed her lips at the sight and her children looked on in dismay, not quite understanding. Only Leo understood. He swung his prosthetic legs to and fro under the table, wondering why it had taken so long for Dan to speak out. He had known for ages that Dan did not like his metal hand.

            – Don’t cry, darling. It’s not good to cry on your birthday.

Julia hugged his head, his body and kissed him. She wiped his tears with her thumb and kissed his forehead.

            – I know it’s hard, my love. Very soon you will have two hooks, I promise.

A more surreal sentence had never passed her lips. The boy ceased his sniffles and returned to his seat as if nothing had happened.

 

Derek waited until almost midday before calling Fullerton.

            – Happy New Year! Derek Deckman here. Listen, you said something about calling if there was a problem.

            – Yes, of course. Is there a problem?

            – Well, nothing’s wrong with your handiwork, don’t get me wrong. Everyone is happy as far as that’s concerned. It’s just that Dan said something at the breakfast table which surprised us, although I had a suspicion it might crop up. You see, he’s noticed that his hook is much more practical than the artificial hand. And today is his birthday, so when he was blowing out his candles, he blurted out that his wish was to have two hooks.

            – Oh good grief! I guessed he would.

            – Yeah, so did I.

            – So what do you want to do? I have a left hook in the lab right now. If it’s the lad’s birthday, I reckon we ought to make the boy’s day and get it for him.

            – Mr Fullerton, you are a godsend, and I’m not a religious man. Where do you live? Maybe I could collect you on the way.

Fullerton told him.

            – I’ll be there about a quarter to one. Thanks for helping out.

            – No problem. I wasn’t doing anything.

 

That much was true but Fullerton had dressed himself in a pair of steel and leather orthotic leg braces which made his knees and ankles completely stiff. He was, to all practical purposes, paralysed and needed crutches to walk. He had several pairs. He was using his favourites, full‑length axillary crutches of a varnished yellow wood on which he heaved himself around the apartment. Reluctantly, he disengaged the leg braces from his stiff polypropylene corset, fell across his bed and began the process of removing the orthotic equipment from his body. Fullerton had always wished to be limbless since he was a young teenager. He did not care how many limbs he lost. He knew he could have any of them replaced and had spent his time in university and afterwards learning the trade. He was a registered prosthetist and orthotist, and assumed that he was one of the few around the world who fetishised his equipment. He had once spent a week in Switzerland with a Zurich‑based prosthetist who shared his fantasies and they had toured the country by rail, heaving their useless legs around on crutches and availing themselves of every service open to the disabled. His friend used prosthetic arms over his own, his hands squashed into the sockets terminating in hooks. It did no harm.

 

He was ready and his orthotic equipment concealed when Derek sounded his horn a little later. Fullerton owned an electric microcar for his commutes to and from work, a distance of about twenty miles. But it was grand to travel in a large car, high off the ground with a view of the landscape, chauffeured by someone else. Derek was talkative, unusually. Apart from a brief description of Christmas in general, he concentrated on his amputee sons. He was trying to encourage Leo to use his legs by giving reasons for him to get outside and had bought several games which required manual dexterity to encourage Dan. In fact, he said, it was probably because Dan had noticed the disparity in the efficacy of his limbs while playing the games that he, Dan, had realised the left hand was doing him no favours.

            – To tell you the truth, I thought that at the time. Those hands are sometimes bought as items which their children can wear when they visit relatives or their grandparents. You know, they don’t look as disturbing as a hook.

            – But the hooks are much more practical.

            – Of course they are. Is Dan getting along with his?

            – Well, I wouldn’t like to put myself in the lad’s position but as far as I can tell, he’s doing brilliantly. He can feed himself, Julia still helps him with his liners and stuff but he can more or less dress himself now.

            – That’s good to hear. You know, it’s not so much the case with youngsters but so many older amputees get artificial limbs and wonder why they don’t do anything. The kids get stuck right in and find a way to do everything they want to.

            – I’ve heard that. It seems to me that Dan has already reached that stage. I have another suggestion though. There is a time and place for the sort of hand Dan already has. When it might be advantageous to have two artificial hands, in order for his hooks not to distress people.

            Derek swung his car into Fullerton’s orthopaedic centre’s car park. There was a smattering of snow on the ground which their footsteps melted.

 

            – Look here. It’s a hook which will screw into Dan’s left arm. You have to disengage the cable first.

            – Yeah, I know. I’ve seen enough videos to know how the different systems work. It’s good you chose the half inch screw. It makes life a bit easier.

            – And less expensive. The connection system on the other devices is almost half the cost of the entire prosthesis. Copyright stuff, you see?

            – I assume you’re not offering the new hook out of the goodness of your heart. How much is it?

            – If I remember correctly, it’s seven twenty.

            – OK. Can you send an invoice? And if you have a right hand, the sort he doesn’t like, give me one of those too.

            – Ha! I see what you’re getting at. Good idea. I approve fully. Let me get it for you.

Derek took the box containing the right metal hand. The left hook was in his pocket, unwrapped, ready for use with three rubber bands. His own preference was to see Dan with two steel hooks. That was what he would use as an adult and the sooner he learned to use them, the better. He was five today. There was time. The two men returned to Derek’s Range Rover and this time Fullerton described how he had become interested in prosthetics and a few anecdotes from his training. Some of it was true. Derek arrived back mid‑afternoon when the children were napping. He showed the fruits of his journey to his wife.

            – Keep them hidden until we’re having some birthday cake. Dan is going to be so happy.

 

Within the hour, four young children had regained their energy and were pestering their mother for more birthday cake.

            – Not quite yet, darlings. Why don’t you pass the time playing Kimble?

Ella pulled her brother back to the lounge and pulled the game out of the bookcase. The four children sat around the board cross-legged. Leo had learned how to pull his prostheses towards him so he could sit like the others. He had taken to wearing his artificial legs better than either Derek or Julia had dared to hope. He wore them from sun up to sun down, occasionally removing one or the other during the day to scratch his stump. He was used to donning the legs again and the children were amused by the farting sound it often made.

 

Julia laid the table for four. There was orange juice and lemonade, biscuits and Jaffa cakes and in the middle was the remaining half of Dan’s birthday cake. Julia had been strict earlier about not eating all of it at once. Everything was ready at last and she called the children when their game was over. Ella led Dan by his hook to the table and wriggled up onto the chair next to him, ready to help. Julia poured the drinks and sliced the cake into four pieces. The children had spoons to eat it with. It was too soft and sticky for Dan to manage with a hook so Ella alternated between tasting her own piece and feeding Dan. The cake was gone but there were still biscuits. Dan could manage them on his own. Julia and Derek stood nearby watching Dan stretch his arm out to open the hook and gently nip one of the biscuits. The hook closed and he brought it to his mouth. His metal hand rested on the tabletop. He had not attempted to use it for anything. Derek approached and placed two more loosely wrapped packages in front of Dan.

            – Happy birthday, young man. Here are your presents. I hope you like them.

 

Dan had not expected to get anything else for his birthday. He looked up at his new mummy and daddy and thanked them. Now he used his hand to steady the box containing the right metal hand while he ripped the wrapping paper off. He opened the hook slightly and slid a finger under the lid and pulled it open. The pristine right hand glinted up at him. Dan was surprised and a little disappointed at the same time. His head drooped and he looked suspiciously at the other package, a misshapen bundle of wrapping paper. He held it steady with his hand and ripped at it with the hook. The paper opened to reveal what he wanted. Another hook. Now his face shone with joy. He looked at his terminal devices and back at the new hook, then up at daddy who was grinning back at him.

            – Would you like to try it out, Dan?

            – Yes please!

Derek held Dan’s left prosthesis and detached the control cable. He unscrewed the metal hand and replaced it with the hook, reattaching the cable. It might need adjusting slightly but that could come later. Dan lifted his two hooks in front of his face and beamed at them. The others watched him. They knew how important this was to Dan who had had to do almost everything with one hook ever since they came home with their new limbs. On his fifth birthday, Dan had achieved the configuration he would sport from now on for the rest of his days. Bilateral hooks.

 

After the birthday celebrations were over and the table cleared, the children played another round of their game. Dan could not concentrate on it. He was much more interested in discovering what his left hook could do. Derek had adjusted one of the straps for him so the hook was more responsive. He loved the way he could use either hook now. His harness stayed tight across his back, right where it should be. It used to get pulled out of place because he never used the metal hand.

 

The next day, New Year’s Day, was Leo’s birthday. The children were again treated to some cake mid–morning. It was a funny looking cake, like a ring of cake. Mummy was clever to make a cake like that. Derek and Julia had worried for hours over a suitable birthday present for a legless boy. They decided that several pairs of football socks might be useful. He could wear them under his prostheses if they felt loose or over them to hide their unnatural pink colour. The children were still too young to have formed any allegiance to a football club. Leo’s socks were a general off‑white with green red and blue stripes around the tops. He thought they were very smart and was pleased with them. Derek and Julia were relieved. Any other child would have been disappointed to receive socks for their birthday but Leo could not wait to see what his legs looked like with the tall socks on. Derek helped him put a pair on and succeeded in getting the Timberlands back onto the protheses. In his shorts and T‑shirt, Leo looked ready to run out to join a junior football team on the field. But Leo’s embryonic interests already lay in things other than sport. Dan’s new hook yesterday had strengthened his conviction.

 

– – – – – -

 

The Deckman children celebrated their own fifth birthdays in late February. Their parents spent considerable time researching the quality and availability of places in local schools. The closest which met their standards was over three miles away with no school bus service. It was inconceivable to expect any of their children, especially Leo, to walk that distance to and from school. Another renowned school, seven miles distant, already had a bus catchment area which encompassed their address. The nearest pick‑up point was in the village, a mile away. A couple of phone calls to the relevant authorities assured Julia that the bus, which already travelled down the road outside their home, could stop to collect and deliver four children from the end of their driveway. It was an ideal situation and Derek readily agreed to pay the monthly fee for the transport.

 

The Deckmans had to fight for the right for their amputee children to be accepted into primary school. There were doubts about their abilities and whether they would be able to keep up with the other children. Julia assured first the headmistress and then other educational authority figures that all four of her children played and behaved exactly as all five year olds. Her children forgot that Leo’s legs were not really his own and they saw past Dan’s hooks, watching rather what he was doing, not how he was doing it. The headmistress, always sympathetic towards disadvantaged children, persuaded her superiors to allow the amputees to join along with their step-siblings. Permission was granted and on the third of September, the four children waited with Julia at the end of the road for the school bus. They could hear it before they saw it. George laughed with joy when it appeared. It was a vintage bus, seventy years old, restored and maintained by its driver, Peter Sanderson. The bus was painted in the same livery as it had in the sixties when it ploughed to and fro between Frinton-on-Sea and Jaywick Sands via Clacton town centre. Its downcast radiator gave it an ugly frontage, a welcome sight through the decades to its passengers. Julia waved her hand to signal a halt. The front doors hissed open and Sanderson called out a welcome to four new faces. Julia made sure that the bus really was going to her children’s school and asked what time they might be back. Three of her children had already disappeared upstairs. As the doors slammed closed, she saw Leo hanging onto the railings, forcing his artificial legs up the steep steps to join his brothers and sister.

 

There were already a dozen or so children on the top deck sitting neatly on the maroon leather seats. Most of them had noticed Dan’s hooks, not least because of the metallic sound when he gripped a pole. They were confused and disturbed. They had never seen anyone with steel hooks for hands. Was he going to be in their class? One lad could contain his curiosity no longer.

            – Hello. I’m Billy. Can I sit here?

Dan looked at him and steeled himself for the questions. Leo smirked next to him. He was wearing his long football socks and his prostheses were invisible.

            – What are those? Why have you got them?

            – What do you mean?

            – I mean on your hands. Instead of hands.

            – I didn’t like my hands so I changed them for hooks. Do you like them?

            – Really? How did you do that? They look ever so special.

            – I’ll tell you later.

Dan made a short demonstration of how the hooks worked for Billy. He opened his brand new school satchel and rummaged around inside. He had sandwiches for lunch and a pencil case with special pens in it which he could hold in his hook. He and Leo had been practising writing at home with Ella and George. They had already learned the alphabet and could read some words if they were not too long.

 

It was fun riding on the old bus. The motor made wheezing noises instead of being quiet like a normal bus. They had rarely travelled on the upstairs deck and now they could do it every day. It was nice looking down at the cars and people. The bus came to a stop outside a low building with a playground and the driver opened the doors. The children stepped off, not really knowing where to go or what to do, searching each other’s faces for reassurance. A lady wearing a white dress with black dots walked towards them.

            – Good morning, children. Is it your first day? How lovely! I’m your new teacher. My name is Mrs Mitchell. Hold each others’ hands and we’ll go into the playground.

 

She watched the children organise themselves into pairs clinging onto each other and shepherded them into the yard. There was a jungle jim and hopscotch markings painted on the ground. Other new children stood watching the new arrivals. She had been forewarned about Leo and Dan’s disabilities without spotting them. But of course! They were identical twins. There they were. She watched them closely. Ah, the boy with the hooks—Daniel, if she remembered correctly. His brother walked on artificial legs. She wondered if she should introduce them to the rest of the class, when they could explain their artificial limbs to everyone at once instead of explaining twenty times. She would have a word.

 

At nine o’clock sharp, a bell rang and the older children made their way into the school. Mrs Mitchell rounded up her twenty‑five new pupils and led them to her classroom. There were lots of desks and chairs, just the right size for five year old children. Dan found a place to sit and shrugged his satchel off. It could be on the floor, he thought. Leo sat nearby, legs outstretched, his feet pointing up. Billy found a seat in front of them and turned around to stare at Dan’s hooks.

            – Let’s see if the whole class is here. I will call your name and you must put your hand up so I can see where you are.

She went through the register in alphabetical order. The four Deckman children were near the top of the list.

            – Daniel Deckman?

Daniel lifted a hook into the air. There were gasps and odd noises from some of his classmates.

            – Thank you, Daniel. Ella Deckman?

The job was soon done. Mrs Mitchell put the register in her desk drawer and came over to Dan’s seat.

            – Daniel, everyone is wondering about your hands. Would you like to show us what they are and how they work? Then you won’t need to tell everyone one by one.

Mummy had said at breakfast that he and Leo might be asked to tell his classmates about their special limbs so he nodded at Mrs Mitchell. His hooks drummed against the desktop as he pushed himself to his feet. Mrs Mitchell held out her hand and he put a hook into it. They went to the front of the class.

            – Children! We have two new classmates who are a little unusual and very special. This is Daniel and he has two hooks instead of two hands. Were you in an accident, Daniel? What happened to your hands?

            – We were fishing and we all fell in the water. Then a big fish bit me and Leo—that’s Leo there. My brother.

Dan stretched a hook towards Leo.

            – He doesn’t have feet. And then in the hospital they gave me hooks instead of hands and now I use them instead.

            – I see. They don’t hurt, do they, Daniel?

            – No, of course not. They can’t feel anything.

            – Oh! Well, thank you for explaining to us. Leo, would you like to come up and tell us about your legs?

Leo grinned. It was just like mummy had guessed. He had folded the tops of his socks down so his knees were visible. He could take a leg off if they wanted to see his stump. He would not take the liner off, though. He rocked up to join his brother and they stared at each other, communicating. The teacher was talking.

            – Would you like to show the class, Leo?

            – Not really. It takes a long time to take my artificial legs off and put them back on again. But if I roll my sock down you can see my leg.

 

He did so and the other children craned forward to see the unnatural pink conical leg. Leo noticed their interest and rolled his liner up, allowing the leg to detach. Dan stood by him for support. Leo eased his right stump out of his leg and held the prosthesis above his head, complete with football sock and Timberland boot still attached. He held out his stump with its greyish beige liner for everyone to inspect. The class was becoming noisy as children made comments. Mrs Mitchell thought she might have gone too far in asking for a demonstration but, unintentionally, she had done the boys a favour. They had not only been brave enough to face the rest of the class, winning their admiration, but they had also gained many potential new friends, who would help them and whom they could rely on. Leo leaned against Dan as he painstakingly walked one-legged back to his seat, allowing classmates to touch the artificial leg on the way. Mrs Mitchell inwardly despaired. Hardly anything else she had planned for her children’s first day could top their first exposure to artificial limbs.

 

– – – – – -

 

Ten years passed. Leo and Fullerton had formed a close bond, with the full knowledge and approval of the Deckman parents. Leo’s suggestions for various leg prostheses were enthusiastically received by Fullerton. He had already made a pair of stump shields which allowed Leo to stump about and a pair of extra long prostheses which increased the thirteen year old’s height by twelve centimetres. Fullerton assured the Deckmans that there would be no charge for the unconventional prostheses. They were experimental and extremely useful in order to acquire first hand experience of equipment which most amputees would not consider wearing. Leo had persuaded Dan to have a pair of basketball hands made, large curved paddles which screwed into his sockets. Now fifteen, Leo came up with his most outrageous suggestion yet.

            – I want peg legs, John. They can be a bit longer than my usual legs, I don’t mind.

            – That sounds interesting. Have you made any drawings?

Leo reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a sheet of paper with precisely drawn quarter‑scale technical drawings. The pegs would require new sockets and if possible, the peg would be part of the carbon fibre leg, rather than a steel pylon. Leo had drawn three versions of the tips, from standard sized ferrules to something five inches across and nearly a foot high. It looked grotesque. Fullerton was fascinated.

            – You reckon you could walk on two peg legs?

            – Of course I could. Where’s the problem?

            – Have you talked about this with your mum and dad?

            – Not really. They know where I am, if that’s what you mean.

 

Leo had ridden his ebike to Fullerton’s home. He had visited many times before. Fullerton welcomed him because Leo had accepted that Fullerton too wished to be disabled. Fullerton always wore his hkafo’s with shorts when Leo was coming by. Leo found it amusing that the otherwise healthy prosthetist enjoyed crippling himself with all the leather and steel equipment he wore and how he needed to expend so much effort hauling himself around on crutches. Fullerton trusted Leo implicitly not to divulge his fetish. The pair of them were the best of friends, despite the thirty year age gap. Fullerton respected Leo and could see that he might have a future in prosthetics. He already had a sound understanding of the physical aspects of various amputations which they had discussed at length and Leo’s unique willingness to experiment might make him a valuable assistant in a few years.

 

Leo’s previous casts were already over a year old. Fullerton recasted the stumps for the new peg legs and ordered a quantity of carbon fibre. Leo’s pegs tapered towards their tips, ensuring maximal strength from the material. They decided on the medium sized ferrules. Three inches wide at the base, seven inches tall. Leo’s new peg legs would give him at least six inches extra height. The boy never wore long trousers. He usually wore shorts which came to his knees or three quarter length camo cargoes. He had worn Dr Marten’s boots for several years. They were light and had soft soles. His latest pair reached up his prostheses quite a way.

 

Leo returned to try out his new peg legs two weeks later. Fullerton had ensured beforehand that Leo was arriving alone and answered the door wearing his latest carbon fibre hkafos. His neck was supported in a Minerva which formed part of his upper shell. The rear section extended up his neck to support the back of his head. His leg braces were clamped to the shell and he was wearing a built‑up boot on one leg and an extension on the other brace which held his unshod foot four inches above the floor. He manoeuvred himself slowly and carefully with crutches. His arms were encased in rigid carbon fibre braces which allowed him no movement. The angle had been measured precisely to let him to hold the crossbars and little else.

 

            – Everything’s ready, Leo. Let’s go into the workshop. Sorry if I’m a bit slow today. You’ll have to do everything yourself, I’m afraid. I’m a little inconvenienced at the moment.

They laughed at the understatement. Fullerton found the entire situation intensely satisfying. He was not only pretending with his most extreme equipment but he also had an appreciative audience. He was almost completely paralysed and helpless. Leo spotted his new peg legs, already fitted with the big ferrules and grabbed them greedily. He rolled his liners up to gain access to his prostheses and allowed them to slide off his stumps. The peg legs slipped on easily. He needed another liner or another sock. Fullerton heaved himself around to face the cupboard where he kept a selection of liners for existent patients. He told Leo which ones he needed. Leo replaced his prostheses and fetched another pair of liners. A couple of minutes later, he tried his first peg leg again. He had to press hard to get the socket up to his knee. The other leg was a little easier. He looked down and took in the appearance of his over‑long pegs. He looked crippled in the same way as, a century ago, impoverished unemployed men did, who resorted to peg legs because they had no access to prosthetic legs. On a modern teenager, the pegs looked surreal, fantastic. He pushed himself up and tottered about, finding his balance, making sure his stumps were firmly encased. He stepped forward purposefully and strode out across the room. Four steps. He spun himself around on the tip of a peg and returned. He set out on a tour of the room. Fullerton watched, entranced by the sight of a young man wearing such primitive prostheses, rocking it. The hard rubberized tips clunked against the wooden floor. Leo stood opposite the carbon fibre cripple and teetered slightly, lifting and repositioning the ferrules to maintain balance.

            – You know something, John? I’m never going to wear anything but peg legs again.

 

As if to emphasize the point, he left his artificial legs with Fullerton and rode home wearing his new pegs. He was quite unable to put them on the pedals. They were too long. He would be the tallest man in the house. Julia was annoyed at Leo’s assumption that he could do whatever he wanted without discussing it with his parents first but silently respected her son for his growing independence and technical skill regarding his and others’ prosthetic limbs. She decided to accept the situation. Derek was far more jovial about it and poked fun at how the boy’s peg legs stuck out when he sat in an armchair. They had a great rapport. Leo took no offence from his father’s jibes.

 

After a week’s experience on his long peg legs, Leo called Fullerton to ask for a normal sized pair. The long pegs were fine at school but shorter ones would let him fit in with his siblings again. Dan was troubled by seeing Leo towering over him. One evening when they were sitting together, Dan knocked one of Leo’s peg legs with a hook.

            – You need to get shorter ones, mate. Why do you want to show off?

            – I’m not showing off. Oh, alright. Maybe I am. If I get peg legs so I match up, will you be happy?

            – Yes, I’ll be happy.

Fullerton was not surprised by Leo’s request.

            – Are the sockets on your pegs a good fit, Leo? If they are, I can make new sockets and fit steel or aluminium pylons. That way, the pylons can be transferred to new sockets. What sort do you want?

            – Have you got red anodized aluminium?

            – No but I can get some.

            – That’s what I’d like, if possible. And the same size ferrules as what I’m wearing now.

            – Are you wearing the pegs now?

            – I always wear them. I told you, I’ll always be on pegs from now on.

            – You amaze me, Leo. What about at school? Do they allow it?

            – They don’t have much choice, do they? I change into my fake legs if we have sports but that’s the only time I wear them.

 

Leo had volunteered when the school’s football team urgently needed a replacement for a striker who had broken his ankle. The P.E. teacher had been more than dubious about allowing a double amputee onto his team but he had seen how Deckman played football in the playground at lunchtimes and, more out of desperation than conviction, invited him to join the team. His team mates were all familiar with Deckman’s fake legs but their opponents were not. Leo made no effort to disguise his beat-up prostheses on the field and demonstrated several times in every match that he was a formidable striker. The additional kinetic energy provided by his rigid ankles and feet propelled the ball further and faster than most players had seen. Leo was not fast on the pitch but when he had control of the ball, his team mates learned to move farther forward for the advantage.

            – OK Leo. I’ll make a start. It won’t take long to rustle up a couple of sockets but you’ll have to call in so I can make the alignments.

            – Great, thanks John. I have another idea I’d like to try out too but I want your opinion because I’m not sure about the suspension.

            – Hmm. That sounds interesting. We’ll talk about it when we meet. See you, Leo. Take care.

 

Dan was amused by the way Leo wanted to play around with his artificial legs. Both boys had a large collection of discarded prostheses, from Dan’s tiny metal hands which he had worn only when the Deckman’s relatives arrived for a visit. The child’s hooks still fit onto his current sockets but looked ridiculous. He had adopted adult hooks when he was ten and gradually their size became more suitable for the growing boy. Dan had been offered electronic arms several times but knew that they posed more restrictions than body‑operated hooks and anyway, he liked the way his hooks had a certain shock value, far more so than a pair of fake hands. He was intensely proud of the way he had mastered his hooks. He had seen other amputees quickly removing their stumps from artificial arms to manipulate something but Dan’s stumps were too long to let him remove his sockets quickly. He wore his hooks from six in the morning until bedtime and rarely thought about them unless someone drew his attention to them. Despite that, Dan did everything he wanted to, not always in the same manner as his brother, but he never needed assistance with anything, although he usually accepted it with polite gratitude if it were offered.

 

– – – – -

 

Another Christmas passed. It meant another double birthday. Dan had long since agreed to celebrate his birthday together with Leo on New Year’s Day. This year was special. The children would all become legally adults within a few weeks. The amputees would receive access to their legacy and insurance money. It was a respectable amount by any standards. The Deckman’s own children had not been told about the considerable wealth which Dan and Leo were due during their childhood but now the secret was out. Derek’s solicitors had drawn up an unofficial certificate handing over the accrued inheritance to both recipients with a detailed summation of the amount.

 

The money was an abstract entity. Both twins had everything they needed and wanted. Deckman Décor had gone from strength to strength as the new government had forged ahead with the Three Million Homes program and new young families moved into and furnished their new apartments. Deckman’s stylish and inexpensive lighting proved popular and the results were unostentatiously enjoyed in the Deckman household. For the twins, it meant they had access to all the prosthetic equipment they wanted. Derek Deckman never tried to dissuade either of his adopted boys from trying any prosthetic device they were interested in. He approved fully of Leo’s decision to adopt peg legs permanently. In the two and a half years since he got his first pair, Leo had developed a remarkable sense of balance. He walked elegantly on his rubber ferrules, silently keeping pace with his siblings. The red pylons flashed where his ankles should be. Leo usually wore long trousers now but never failed to roll up the hems to expose his pegs.

 

Leo was especially pleased to have access to his bank account because it meant that at last he would be able to acquire the pegs he had suggested to John two or three years previously. John had been impressed by Leo’s imagination and daring but had explained that the prostheses were too complicated and expensive to produce and that Leo would have to pay for them himself. Leo’s enthusiasm had never waned, especially when John was wearing his hkafos with the built-up boot and its accompanying extension.

 

Leo wanted a pair of protheses which extended to his groin. His thighs would be clad in carbon fibre sockets like for an above‑knee amputee. Leg braces similar to those which John wore would be attached to the sockets. The knee mechanisms would be lockable and the lower sections should also connect to carbon fibre sockets with steel extensions supporting him at his desired height. The extensions should be adjustable. A fat rubber slab under each extension would make walking more secure. Fullerton explained that both legs would be completely rigid from his groin to the floor and Leo grinned and nodded.

            – You’re crazy, Leo. Do you know that? You’ll be on crutches, you know? You can’t possibly walk on two peg legs like that.

            – I know. I just want to know what it feels like to be legless.

            – Haha! A man after my own heart. Alright, you can have the materials. But, and it’s a big but, you have to make them yourself. Don’t panic! I’ll teach you. But these leg brace peg legs will be all your own work. You just pay for the materials, OK?

 

There were still the exams and two months before school ended for good. Exam results were obsolete. Nothing which had been taught in school could benefit the new economy. The subjects gave a cultural background which could be built upon if there was any interest. Ella and George were financially secure through their father’s business. Dan and Leo were secure for the time being by their inheritance. Two weeks after they left school for the final time, Fullerton made Leo an offer.

            – I’d like you to learn the profession. If you’re interested in manufacturing prostheses and orthoses for invalids like yourself, and I think you are, I’ll offer you a going wage while you’re learning and after two or three years when you know what you’re doing, you can take over. The reason is that I’m not so young as I was and I want to spend as much time as I can in my minerva kafos. I want you to make my orthotic equipment for me, Leo. You have an imagination like no other. You will make wonderful things to make me ever more disabled and at the same time you will learn how to make ever better prostheses for your fellow amputees. Are you interested?

            – So you want me to work here and learn the business? And make all kinds of crazy stuff? Alright! It’s a deal.

Both of Fullerton’s arms were encased in sockets terminating in rigid mittens but he raised an arm and Leo shook it.

            – Can you start on Monday? Go to the lab. Don’t come here.

John heaved himself around and rocked himself carefully towards the living room. His arms were raised in front of him, his hands hidden from view inside the mittens. He stopped by his drinks cabinet and instructed Leo to open it with a key and pour them two glasses of vodka. Leo did so.

            – Your very good health, Leo. Welcome to the company. Will you lift the glass to my lips, please?

Leo teetered almost imperceptibly on his peg legs and the two men drank a toast to Leo’s new job.

 

Derek pondered Dan’s future for many weeks. His own children had found creative niches, far from the capabilities of artificial intelligence. It was possible for the boy to work at the factory but there were no practical jobs available. Perhaps he could take over a supervisory position, ensuring that materials were ordered on time, inventoried accurately, and would personally be responsible for general upkeep and maintenance in the works. He discussed his requirements with Dan in private on a Sunday afternoon when Leo was at John’s.

            – It’s not a prestigious job, Dan, but you’ll see how the entire factory works and you’ll make a contribution. If you organise the cleaning and recycling, we can say goodbye to our cleaners and save some money.

Dan gave it some thought. He had not been active in seeking employment because firstly he did not believe employers wanted a bilateral arm amputee and secondly because he had no financial incentive to do so. The following day, Dan reminded Derek of his offer and said he would be proud to help. Derek kissed his forehead and the two men shook, hand to hook.

 

– – – – – – -

 

Two years later, Dan was in charge of general inventory and work flow for new projects and products. Leo had progressed so well that John called him a prosthetist. Leo already had a small clientele who admired his knowledge and reassurance, not surprising when they saw how their prosthetist balanced on two peg legs. Leo always changed from his jeans into a pair of short shorts when he arrived. His hairy thighs contrasted brilliantly with his unnatural red peg legs. He wore a white lab coat which revealed his naked legs only rarely. The glimpses were both enticing and shocking. Several teenage amputees swore they wanted to use peg legs like Leo. He advised them to learn how to walk on a normal prosthesis first. He always offered a composite one‑piece prosthesis as the first leg, avoiding expensive copyrighted components from international companies.

            – Don’t worry. If you can walk on this, you can walk on a peg. I should know. Trust me.

Leo trained his patients to walk on their rigid feet with the rigid ankles.

            – It looks fine. Of course you limp a little. Embrace it! Show it off! People will notice and show more interest in you. What more could you ask for?

Faced with a fellow amputee wearing two peg legs, few new amputees had any doubts regarding Leo’s claims.

 

Fullerton spent ever less time at the workshop. He trusted Leo implicitly to operate the facilities responsibly, occasionally visiting at ten day intervals to check the books and review the latest prosthetic work which Leo had designed and manufactured. He was gradually becoming more disabled as Leo created different versions of the leg braces. The latest pair had moulded built-up boots inside which Fullerton’s feet were suspended. His weight was borne by his hips. The legs were rigid and a detachable link along both inner thighs ensured that the legs could not move independently. John heaved himself around on long crutches, his head held motionless by his Minerva. He felt himself to be legless but yearned for ever greater invalidity. Only his bachelorhood and solo status at home prevented him from wearing his most extreme gear round the clock. There were times when housework needed attention.

 

Dan was becoming bored with his rôle at Deckman Décor. Derek appreciated his accuracy balancing the supply of inventory and his unusual ability to rationalise manufacturing processes. Leo had recently mentioned that Fullerton had not made a visit in person for over three weeks and the place felt a bit lonely unless there was a patient present. Dan put two and two together and suggested that he transfer to Fullerton’s workshop. The pair of them had individual skills which any small company could appreciate and their personal situations recommended them to work in the field of orthotics and prosthetics. Dan brought the matter up with Derek on Friday afternoon after the rest of the personnel had left to start the weekend.

 

            – Dad, there’s something I want to talk to you about. Have you got a minute?

            – Sure. What’s on your mind?

            – I’ve been talking with Leo and he says it’s getting a bit on top of him now that Mr Fullerton has become disabled himself.

            – Oh really? I hadn’t heard. What’s happened to him?

            – I don’t think anyone knows but he needs leg braces to walk and his head is in a neck brace—you know, the sort that cradles your chin.

            – Yeah, I know what you mean. So I guess he’s no longer active in his workshop.

            – No. So if it’s possible, I’d like to join Leo there.

            – You want to leave us, Dan? Is that what you’re saying?

            – Yeah, I suppose so. I’ve more or less learned everything there is to know about organising this place and inventory and so on. I could use the same knowledge at Fullerton’s. And I’ve picked out a suggestion for my successor, so I wouldn’t be leaving you in the lurch. You know Mick O’Toole? He’d be keen to take my job.

            – OK, I see. I like Mick. Careful worker. Well Dan, there’s no way I can stand in your way if you want to join your brother. It’s understandable, I suppose. When might this be happening?

            – As soon as possible, really. End of next week?

            – OK. Make sure Mick is up to speed and send him in for a chat on Monday. Are you more or less ready? Get your jacket and let’s go home.

 

– – – – – – -

 

Fullerton was delighted to have Dan on his team. The twins made a completely reliable pair of workers. From the start, Dan made alterations to inventory rotation and orders and made a suggestion which surprised Fullerton in that he had not thought of it himself.

            – We should offer orthotics to wannabes, in my opinion. Sort of hush‑hush. We wouldn’t advertise the fact but word will get out and before long we’ll have more business for leg braces and pretender amputee arms with hooks than we do for genuine amputees.

            – Good grief! How have I never thought of that?

            – Because you were busy working alone on prostheses for people like me and Leo, John. That’s why. With two of us in the lab, Leo can concentrate on manufacture and I can handle the rest. And you have the very best assurance that you will have a loyal team after everything you’ve done for us over the years.

            – Alright. I’m game. Draw up a game plan and let’s see what you come up with. I’m interested to know how you’re going to get the word out.

            – Oh, a few posts on social media should get the word around. You’ll see. What sort of a business plan do you want? Will an A4 be enough or do you want the full works?

            – Ha! An A4 is good enough for me to get the general idea.

 

Fullerton lifted himself carefully on his crutches and turned slowly to face the door. He had started injecting ethanol into his thighs in an attempt to numb his nerves. His legs were already senseless. He could move them but not feel them. His feet hung useless inside the facsimiles of built-up boots. He would do the same with his arms but for the fact that he still needed them to operate crutches. Fullerton exited the building and dragged himself to his adapted car. It was operated by a joystick which could be held in a hook. He leaned his rigid body against the car and released his crutches. With much effort and repositioning of inert legs, invisible to him due to his Minerva, he released the locks at his hips and fell into the driver’s seat. He adjusted his carbon fibre braces, pressed the start button and drove slowly back to his home leaving the two bilateral amputees to run his company.

 

– – – – – – -

 

There were several enquiries from leg brace users after Dan posted photos of his brother’s pegs, which he had made himself under Fullerton’s direction to look like steel leg braces with extensions. Leo’s legs were footless but the general effect was apparent. Anyone wearing such braces would in effect also be footless and severely disabled, permanently requiring crutches to walk unless they had superb balance and could manage peg legs as well as Leo. Two weeks later, there were nine orders and enquiries about the availability of built-up boots, some with a lift as high as thirty centimetres. Dan made detailed calculations concerning the cost of production, added twenty percent and quoted the price of each kafo. Eight of the nine prospective customers accepted, paid and Leo began crafting the customers’ orders, working from a series of individual measurements. Thigh and calf cuffs were printed in polypropylene, avoiding expensive specialist leatherwork. All closures were Velcro.

 

Several customers were eager to try their new kafos immediately after completion. Two had ordered a pair of the extended kafos and spent up to an hour in Dan’s company learning to balance on the rubber bars at their base and walking with crutches. One asked if Dan was genuinely an amputee or if his hooks were for a pretender. Dan assured him that he had lost his hands as a child. The customer was intrigued by the hooks and asked if it was possible to have a pair of almost identical artificial arms made into which he could insert his own hands. He became the first customer to receive pretender arms. Leo made carbon fibre sockets from printed copies of the customer’s arms, generated from supplied measurements.

 

Fullerton made one of his infrequent visits while Leo was completing some pretender arms. He had fantasised about being encumbered by a pair of hooks but his association and friendship with young Dan had prevented him from going ahead with something which the youngster might misconstrue or view with distaste. But now his reluctance was overcome.

            – I’d love a pair of those for myself. I watch Dan and try to imagine how he manages. I’d like to experience it for myself.

            – Well, why don’t you order a pair? Nine hundred quid each. A pair for seventeen fifty.

            – That sounds like a reasonable price.

            – Dan worked it out. It has a twenty percent markup on it. Shall we say fifteen hundred to you, sir?

            – Who shall I make the cheque out to? Myself? Look, I’d like a pair. No great rush, you understand.

            – As long as they’re ready as soon as possible.

            – Exactly!

 

Fullerton had adopted his extended kafo and fake built-up boot permanently. He had become adept at manoeuvring his rigid body on crutches, head held high and immobile. As the months passed, the familiar old longing returned. How to feel more disabled? His new hooks were a relief but as a severely disabled man, he found he was too reliant on crutches to walk and the pretender hooks made it impossible. He imagined other ways to achieve permanent disability. Complete leglessness would be one way, of course, but he could not think of a way to persuade a surgeon to amputate and he was reluctant to travel abroad under the auspices of a gatekeeper. One sleepless night when was flicking through tv channels in search of anything vaguely interesting, he came across a news report about a sudden spate of bilateral amputations in Los Angeles. Four young legless wheelchair users described how they had overdosed on fentanyl and fallen to their knees where they remained for at least twelve hours, senseless to the world. Circulation to their legs had been cut off, resulting in eight amputations above the knee. Fullerton realised that he could do the same. His legs were already completely without sensation. There would be no pain. Over the next few days, he arranged his affairs so he had a few weeks furlough and at midnight one day in mid‑May, he kneeled on the hard living room floor wearing only underpants and his Minerva shell. He felt nothing but his legs looked squashed and colourless. There he remained until one o’clock the following afternoon when his legs were discoloured and immovable. He phoned for an ambulance. It arrived two hours later and the invalid was delivered in short order to an orthopaedic surgeon and his team, who amputated Fullerton’s legs mid‑thigh.

 

Dan and Leo were used to long silences from Fullerton. They continued producing leg braces for pretenders and a pair of below‑knee prostheses for a young guy their age who had come off his motorbike and slid under an eighteen‑wheeler. He had the shortest BK stumps Leo had ever seen. His artificial legs were suspended with thigh corsets, almost identical to the ones Leo produced for his pretender clientele. Experience from one set of customers bled into that of the genuinely disabled.

 

One morning, Fullerton swung his legless torso from his car and handwalked into the facility. Dan stared at him in shock. It was difficult to imagine a more severely disabled man. He grinned at Dan’s expression.

            – I’m back. Had a revision done. Is Leo around? I want to discuss an idea or two.

 

Leo was working on biceps cuffs for a pair of below‑elbow prosthetic arms. He stared at his boss crawling towards him. Before Leo’s face disappeared from his line of sight, he stopped and greeted Leo.

            – I hope you won’t think this is a case of one-upmanship, Leo. I had an accident at home and cut off blood circulation to my legs. By the time I realised what was happening, it was too late. They tried to save my knees, apparently, but went for AKs instead.

Leo glanced at Fullerton’s drooping shorts. His stumps were about half the length of his thighs.

            – So I was wondering if you have enough time to fit me in for a new extension. I want two stubbies, permanently moulded to the lower section of my shell. They will narrow to ovals, fifteen centimetres long, and they will have curved bases.

            – You’ll be on short crutches. Don’t you want to use your stumps to walk on stubbies?

            – Of course not. I want a pair of peg arms. Once my arms are inside the crutches, I’ll haul myself around on the rigid little stubby legs.

            – I understand. You’re going to be somewhat disabled.

If Fullerton could have thrown his head back, he would have done so. Both men laughed at Fullerton’s outrageous intention to turn his arms, his only functioning limbs, into pistons for a pair of crutches. He had already succeeded in turning his lower limbs into unfeeling extremities. His amputations had been completely painless neither had he felt phantom pain. His stumps were destined to hang unused and unusable inside the lower section of his Minerva socket, hidden inside rigid hollow stubbies which themselves had no movement.

 

– – – – – –

 

One of the government’s first new towns was nearing completion near King’s Lynn. The area had been used by a logistics company handling European imports. It had lain derelict for a decade, over a square mile of useless infrastructure. A grid of sixteen tower blocks, each twenty‑five storeys high, had grown at record speed thanks to prefabrication. The apartments were all identical. Fifty‑eight square meters, comprising a combined hallway, dining area and kitchen, a separate living room with a large glassed balcony and one large bedroom. The architecture and design was foreign, the town planning was foreign and the construction methods were foreign. A narrow gauge tramline connected the new town, dubbed Lynnton Forest, to King’s Lynn and commercial services were planned and under construction along its route. It sped between King’s and Lynnton, where it looped around the entire estate so none of the towers was more than fifty metres from a tram stop.

 

Dan had followed the new development’s progress from its approval onwards. He had occasionally cycled out to see the curvaceous new buildings rising behind the trees and then above them, with rails for the tram sneaking through parkland towards the road. He and Leo would both benefit from living in Lynnton. Fullerton’s workshop was along the tram route. The situation would be perfect. The brothers applied together for separate apartments, having decided that if either of them were granted an apartment, they would share it.

 

– – – – – – -

 

Fullerton received his lower half. Leo had spent many hours tweaking John’s existing files to accommodate the new stubby legs but the resulting virtual model was too big to print in one piece. Eventually, Leo cast his boss’s stumps the old‑fashioned way and made the lower shell from carbon fibre. He designed compatible latches, allowing the stubbies to fit onto the hip locks but ran into a problem. It would be impossible for John to bend at the waist allowing him to sit without exposing a good amount of buttock.

            – I suppose I could use underwear under the shell. The only place I need to sit is in the car.

            – John, I think you’re going to have to give up the car. I suppose it might be possible to devise some kind of holder that you could slip into to hold you in a position where you could see forward and drive with a hand but your hands are so disabled now that I really don’t think it’s practical.

 

Fullerton continued using ethanol to deaden his nerves, most recently in his arms. His hands had been useless for any practical purpose since he adopted peg arms and soon he began the process of killing the nerves in his arms. After two years, his hands were shrivelled claws and he was in negotiation with a gatekeeper to have the things amputated. His live‑in carer, a powerful muscular Jamaican called Tyrone, took care of every detail of Fullerton’s daily life, allowing him to delve ever deeper into the unrelenting eroticism of limblessness.

 

Fullerton travelled to Cuba via Miami, Mexico City and Havana to meet with an excellent surgeon in Santa Clara. The surgeon was curious to learn more about the odd Englishman, the first he had ever met, and to learn how he led his life as an entrepreneur of a prothetic limb facility. Fullerton explained how he had been interested in limblessness from young childhood and had forged his way into dealing with amputees by becoming a prosthetist and founding his own business. The surgeon looked at his prospective patient, loosely dressed in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, and took in the rigid stubbies and peg arms which he used to move his immovable head to experience the world.

            – Señor Fullerton, I wish to suggest that you want to be limbless. For the same money, I will amputate your arms so you have tiny stumps at your shoulder and you will have no stumps of your legs.

Fullerton had no idea that his desires for extreme limblessness might be understood so completely by a professional. In fact, the surgeon had performed hundreds of voluntary amputations on Norte Americanos, from the enemy and from Canada. Often they returned with prosthetic limbs made in Cuba. He offered the same service to Fullerton.

            – Will I be able to use my crutches?

            – No, señor. You will be legless, no stump. Your arms will be stumps, like the size of an orange.

Fullerton found the idea to be intensely erotic, the zenith of masculine perfection. He could not imagine how he would be able to return to King’s Lynn as a limbless torso, embedded in a torso socket, unable to even turn his head.

            – Very well, sir. I am ready.

Fullerton spent three months in Cuba. His amputations were undertaken one by one. He was pampered because he was an Englishman and everyone wanted to learn how to speak the language without sounding like an American.

 

He lay on his bed, his lower torso comprising only his genitals, his upper body naked. He swatted at flies with his tiny stumps, both well healed, beautifully rounded extensions of his shoulders. He would wear artificial arms again but his stumps would no longer power them. His assistant assured him that everything was ready for his return the following day. His exit visa had arrived the previous week. Fullerton would not have been sorry to continue living in the sheltered accommodation in which he had spent the last eight weeks. He had to pay for it, naturally enough. Food and board was fifteen pounds a week. Beautiful young men and women washed and cleaned him, fed him, kept him company as he taught them to pronounce British English. His arms would be delivered very soon. They were on the way.

 

Fullerton’s lower section had been adapted to allow the man to use a wheelchair. The stubbies were sawn off and a section of recycled tyre was attached to cover the holes. It fit perfectly. The tyre was heavy but allowed Fullerton to move silently, until he lost the use of his peg arms. After the amputations, he was able to change his position by rocking slightly from side to side. The tyre squeaked but the rocking motion forced it to advance a few centimetres at a time. Fullerton spread his almost non‑existent arm stumps for balance. His admiring students watched the torso, then scooped him up and returned him to his room.

 

His artificial arms were delivered in a Buick from 1957. Little if anything remained of the original car. The driver held the arms from the middle of the harness, letting the sockets clack together. The surgeon signed for his delivery and took the prostheses to his patient.

            – These are the best we make in Cuba. I think they are the best in the world but as good as Americano.

He pulled Fullerton to a sitting position and lowered the artificial arms over his shoulders. It was an odd material, not pink, not grey, but something oddly between. It looked thick and stodgy, not smooth and sleek like a Western prosthesis. The surgeon fitted the tight warm sockets over his remaining stumps. The terminal devices were not hooks but pincers of black plastic.

            – It is easy to open, señor. The hand is always open. If you want to close, you move this shoulder. If you want to open, you move again. Simple, eh? Try now. I see you before you go, OK?

 

Voluntary closing pincers were completely new to Fullerton. He had only ever dealt with voluntary opening hooks. Once again, in the new extremity of his limblessness, he found a new pleasure in the need to reorganise his way of living. The claws helped maintain his balance as he slowly rocked himself across the floor to sure everything was packed. He could use his open claws to hook various items into the case without expending extra energy.

 

He sent a text message to Tyrone from Miami, asking to be met at Heathrow. Tyrone replied that he was unable to do so but would send his two meter tall Ukrainian friend Bogdan. Tyrone had taken another job during Fullerton’s long absence although he was still nominally in Fullerton’s service. Bogdan had arrived in England to be fitted with an artificial leg several years previously and had been granted indefinite leave to remain. Despite his injury, he returned to his profession as soon as possible and was currently caring for other more recent limbless victims of the war. Tyrone handed the keys over to Bogdan, who immediately set out on the long drive to the airport. Bogdan settled himself in a place where he would see arrivals and Fullerton knew to be on the look‑out for anyone two metres tall.

 

They found each other without trouble. They were both distinctive figures. An airport customer assistant pushed the legless figure wearing black claws out past passport control into the public area. Bogdan approached and raised a hand.

            – Mr Fullerton? I am pleased to meet you. I am Bogdan. Mr Tyrone sent me. We go in your car, yes? It is outside. I will help you.

Fullerton called out thanks to his assistant who raised a hand. Fullerton could not see the gesture.

 

Bogdan wheeled Fullerton out to his car on the third level of the car park. He carefully lifted the diminutive rigid figure into the back seat, secured the safety belt and stashed the travelling bag alongside him.

            – Five minutes I am gone, OK.

Bogdan rolled the wheelchair back to the terminal. In Ukraine, he was a member of a clique which indulged in minor fraud and theft. After his injury, he had been rejected by other members as useless. Since his rehabilitation in England, he had discovered satisfaction and pleasure in helping others rather than trying to swindle them. It was more thoughtful to make the extra effort to return the chair rather than simply leaving it in the car park so that is what he did. He chuckled after he had walked fifty meters—he could have quite reasonably have sat in it himself and wheeled along more quickly. He returned to the car and squeezed himself into the driver’s seat. He used his hands to stretch his long artificial limb deep into the leg well and started the vehicle. The joystick controls looked childish in his large hands.

 

Fullerton was tired after his long flight and not in the mood for conversation. Bogdan was content with the silence. The electric car emitted little noise and the sounds from the tyres on different road surfaces were the only music. Fullerton closed his eyes and slept. Bogdan noticed and slowed the car. He was in no hurry and enjoyed operating an electric vehicle with such a unique control system. What must it be like to lose both legs and rely on artificial arms? What had happened to the man? He was grateful to have a stump. It was something people were interested in. He had often taken his leg off when he was wearing shorts to let them see a truly impressive artificial leg, the longest anyone had ever seen. He waggled his stump, the remaining third of his upper leg. The long prosthesis was his leg now, not something foreign and separate. Without his injury, he would probably have remained in the Ukrainian forces and be dead by now. Instead he had his stump and a new life, if he wanted.

 

It was almost midnight when they arrived at Fullerton’s home. He was still asleep, erect in his rigid shell, legless, armless, unable to move his head or to feel anything. The lack of sound penetrated his consciousness and he awoke to see an unfamiliar face watching him in the near darkness. Then he remembered.

            – Are we home? Ah, I must have fallen asleep. Sorry.

            – It is the best way to travel, Mr Fullerton. I help you now, OK? We go inside.

 

Bogdan extricated his artificial leg from the car and placed it outside. It would have been easier if his passenger had a wheelchair available but Bogdan thought he could carry the man without much trouble. He reached in carefully and eased the prosthetic torso into such a position that he could pull it out. After several gradual manoeuvres, he held Fullerton in both arms and strode across to the entrance to Fullerton’s home. He lowered the torso onto its base and returned to the car. Fullerton jerked his body inside the shell, forcing it to rotate on the old tyre so he could watch. Bogdan retrieved his bag and brought it closer and sat back in the car and drove it to the parking lot. It was only when Bogdan returned that Fullerton noticed the unmistakable gait of an amputee.

 

            – Are you an amputee?

            – Ah, yes. Is it OK?

            – Of course it’s OK. I didn’t realise.

            – I walk very well.

            – Yes, you do.

Bogdan opened the door to the building and lifted Fullerton inside. The bag came after. Bogdan looked at the black claws on Fullerton’s arm prostheses and suggested he carry his bag. Bogdan would carry them all to Fullerton’s apartment. Fullerton carefully threaded a claw between the handles of his bag and twisted his shoulder. The claw closed and Bogdan carried his load into Fullerton’s apartment, recently cleaned and aired as agreed by Tyrone.

 

Two meter tall Bogdan looked at the meter tall torso he had carried in. Fullerton was rocking his shell in order to better see the legs and body of his new assistant. The knee area of one of his jeans legs was more worn than the other.

            – What you want me to do? I will help.

            – Take me to the living room, please. Sit opposite me so I can see your face.

            – I understand.

Bogdan heaved the torso onto his shoulder and carried Fullerton facing backwards onto his sofa and positioned the limbless torso’s claws beside his shell. He pushed an armchair nearer to the sofa and stretched his arms behind him as he collapsed into it. The two men, strangers, grinned at each other waiting for the other to speak.

 

            – You have been very kind. Thank you for helping me. I wonder if you know—where is Tyrone?

            – He is helping in the invalid centre. You know, the place which helps refugees. There are many from my country. They need like this…

Bogdan rapped on his thigh socket.

            – … protez. What do you call it?

            – Prosthesis.

            – Yes. I cannot say it. There are many men who need protez so I am there to help. Now is Tyrone there and I am helping you.

            – I understand. Thank you, Bogdan. Now, I must sleep. Will you take me to bed?

            – Yes, I will take you. I will clean your teeth and make you pee.

            – Haha! That is exactly what I need, Bogdan.

 

Bogdan removed the lower section for access to Fullerton’s catheter and emptied the bag. He found the electric toothbrush, unused for four months, and guided it around Fullerton’s teeth. He carried Fullerton to his bed, broad and long, once covered in decorative cushions, now sparse with a light duvet which truncated limbs could handle. With Fullerton’s genitals protruding from the base of his shell, he was placed on his back and the two halves separated. Bogdan lifted the top half off and wondered how to lift the torso from the rear section. With a brief apology, he pulled Fullerton onto his belly and removed the rear section which encompassed the back of his skull. He pulled the torso onto his back again and stood thinking. Such a man needed another to be nearby. There was no alternative. There was no other bed. Bogdan returned to the toilet and cleaned his mouth as well as he could without a toothbrush and returned to Fullerton’s bed. He sat to remove his leg and let it drop to the floor. He slid onto the bed and plucked at the duvet, hoping he might cover a little of his body. The apartment was not warm.

            – Hold me.

 

Bogdan reached for the limbless torso whose arm stumps rotated in an attempt to hug the giant blond, imagining holding such a handsome man, a one‑legged amputee in the prime of his life. Every nerve in his body strained in non‑existent limbs in an attempt to embrace the stranger but it was too late. He had nothing. It was enough. Their mutual warmth was enough. Bogdan’s arms embraced the torso all night and he dreamt of other men, compatriots, whose amputations he had envied.

 

Fullerton’s new routine in the morning was familiar to Bogdan. After bathroom functions, Fullerton returned to his Minerva with the tyre tread base. Bogdan offered to fit the prosthetic arms but Fullerton told him not to. Bogdan was pleased simply because he wanted to see the diminutive arm stumps. It was no effort to feed the limbless man his breakfast and morning coffee.

 

            – After breakfast, I want to visit my company. I have been away for many weeks and I need to review the books.

            – I understand. Can I help you?

            – Yes, you can help if you want. You could drive me and take me inside. My assistants will do the rest. Please give me my claws now—the arms, Bogdan.

 

Bogdan lowered the device onto Fullerton’s shoulders. The torso was severely limited in his range of motion. The claws were really little more than psychological support. Fullerton made a few attempts to raise and lock his right elbow. His upper arm remained stationary, being an immovable part of the shoulders. The arm eventually clicked into place and further efforts succeeded in closing the claw. Fullerton was trying to estimate if he would be able to drive using his car’s joystick and concluded that he would not. He would need completely new prostheses if he were ever to regain any arm function. He would discuss the matter with Leo.

 

Bogdan drove and Fullerton directed him from the back seat. Dan and Leo were surprised to hear the door creaking open and turned to see John’s unclad carbon torso socket and his new artificial arms being carried by an immensely tall blond man. They were too shocked to speak. Bogdan looked confused, suddenly confronting two identical faces. John broke the silence.

            – Put me on the table, Bogdan.

Fullerton wriggled to turn the torso socket slightly.

            – I’m back. How are you? I’d like you meet my new assistant, Bogdan. He’s Ukrainian.

            – Hello Bogdan. Good to see you. John, what happened?

            – I had a holiday in Cuba. Lovely country. I had my stumps disarticulated at the pelvis and my arms are now short stumps, the size of an orange, as my surgeon put it.

            – Can you use those claws?

            – No. I want to discuss them with you. I want to drive. It’s not fair to have Bogdan drive me everywhere.

            – Where’s Tyrone?

            – He’s at the rehab centre. He was supposed to collect me yesterday from the airport but he sent Bogdan instead. Bogdan, do you want to go back to the rehab centre to work or do you want to stay with me to help?

Bogdan was surprised. It was such a significant enquiry in the middle of ordinary chat. Bogdan looked at the black plastic torso with inoperative claws and met Fullerton’s narrowed eyes. After the previous night’s intimacy, Bogdan was in no doubt that not only had he met his ideal man, he also wanted to see the meagre arm stumps and the rounded legless torso stump every day.

            – I want to stay.

            – Good. We will arrange it today. Dan, will you help us contact the centre and arrange the transfer?

            – Yes, of course.

 

Leo returned to his work long enough to complete the stage he had reached. Fullerton rocked himself around on his tyre to watch. The claws trailed across the table’s surface. Everyone broke for elevenses, a few minutes early, but they had other business. Dan saw to coffee and emptied a packet of biscuits onto a plate. Bogdan lifted Fullerton onto a chair next to him and discovered that Leo was wearing a pair of peg legs. He had seen old cripples in Ukraine with thick wooden peg legs but Leo’s were red and narrow and he was intrigued to know how Leo could walk on two. He also wondered if it were possible to fit a similar peg to his own socket.

            – You know I also have protez? I show you.

Bogdan lifted his trouser leg to show his mechanical shin.

            – Oh! I didn’t realise. You walk very well.

            – Thank you. You walk very well also, I think. It is interesting to see your…

            – Peg legs. They’re called peg legs. I’ve been walking on them for ten years.

            – I would like also to have peg leg.

Leo glanced at John, who had a knowing smile on his face. He closed and reopened his eyes slowly to confirm his agreement.

            – OK, Bogdan. We will make you a peg leg.

Fullerton turned to business.

            – Dan, I need to look at the books for the past four months. Let’s go into my office. Bogdan!

I want to go to the office.

Bogdan picked Fullerton up and carried him carefully and respectfully in both arms. Fullerton directed him and was settled in an office chair facing backwards. The slight tilt of the seat would allow him to see papers on the table in front of him. Dan would handle the papers as necessary. Bogdan lifted the claws to rest on the tabletop. They were useless impediments.

            – You have two hours with Leo. Tell him that I want you to have a peg leg today.

            – Thank you, Mr John.

 

Leo was carrying folders into Fullerton’s office and heard.

            – Come with me, Bogdan.

They went to the fitting room.

            – Take your trousers off and let’s see what sort of prosthesis you have.

To Leo’s surprise, it was a standard health service model. He was very familiar with its design and manufacture. It would be a simple matter to replace the prosthetic leg mechanism with a peg which attached to Bogdan’s existing socket. They could be exchanged easily with an Allen key. Leo detached the leg and measured its impressive length. He would need an aluminium pylon seventy-eight centimetres long to replace it, taking the thickness of the ferrule and the depth of the upper fitting into account. The material was delivered in metre lengths. Three awaited deployment in the store room. Leo collected a suitable fitting and found a hefty rubber ferrule which he pushed onto one end of the pylon.

 

He cut the aluminium to a suitable length. It could be shortened slightly if necessary. He filed some burr off and carefully screwed the fitting onto the pylon. Fullerton had taught Leo how to use a laser for alignment. Bogdan stood and received his peg for the first time. Leo told him to stand up straight, to turn and stand straight again, then back. He could see the laser light but knew better than to look at it directly. He had learned that on the battlefield. Leo was pleased with the result and tightened all screws on the fitting.

            – It’s yours, Bogdan. Take small steps first.

Bogdan remembered very well the painstaking frustration of learning to use his current prosthetic leg. The mechanism was reliable and sturdy, quite trustworthy, but it required a muscular stump for it to work. It had no electronics in it. Neither did the shiny new peg leg. Bogdan swung it around in a circle to feel its weight and to judge how it would affect his balance. He stood on it and took a few determined steps. He limped a little, expecting it perhaps to buckle under him. But it held him securely. He crossed the room and collected his trousers. It was a little awkward to get a trouser leg over the peg. Leo helped. Tomorrow he would place the prosthesis into the trouser leg first and then put the trousers on.

            – Thank you, Leo. This is very good. Now I feel like a man again.

            – I know exactly what you mean, Bogdan.

The two men laughed quietly together, brothers in amputation.

 

Leo returned to work on his project. He assumed that when Dan had finished reviewing the books with John, they would go out for lunch. Bogdan continued strolling around, admiring his reflection in the mirror, sitting down and contemplating the extreme length of the rigid peg leg poking into the room, then standing again, balancing on his sound leg until the ferrule struck the floor. He could feel the vibration quite well in his stump. The peg was more responsive than his protez.

 

Fullerton was completely satisfied with the company accounts. Dan was fastidious about accuracy, recording everything in a timely fashion, never assuming he would remember some minor item several days hence. Fullerton compared the diary of customer visits with production figures and consumption of materials. Before returning the folders to where he kept them, he enquired what Leo had needed for Bogdan’s peg and added the entries. Bogdan went to the door of the office where Fullerton still sat motionless staring at the empty tabletop. He was sensing his leglessness, concentrating on the lack of movement when he fired the muscles he used to kick. He had tried the same with the new arm stumps too but they had sufficient length for there to be considerable movement and sensation. Fullerton wanted to encase them in prosthetic arms but wished they had more function than at present. When they returned from lunch, he would discuss an idea he had with Dan.

 

Out of convenience for the others, Fullerton allowed himself to be placed in a manual wheelchair and pushed by Bogdan the three hundred metres to the local pub where a weekly menu offered quite acceptable pub grub. Today was steak and kidney pie followed by vanilla cheesecake with ice cream. Dan and Leo watched Bogdan tenderly offering Fullerton his lunch before tasting his own. There was greater attention and care in Bogdan’s movements than Tyrone had demonstrated, although he too had shown exemplary service and tirelessness in a demanding job. Before breaking for lunch, Fullerton had dictated an email to the King’s Lynn rehab centre requesting that Tyrone take Bogdan’s position permanently, for personal reasons. They had almost identical qualifications. He was expecting a reply at any time. Until it came, he wanted Bogdan by his side and in his line of sight. The man looked utterly masculine and powerful on his new peg. For the first time in his life, he believed he had found a companion.

 

They made their way back slowly to the lab. Leo watched Bogdan’s progress carefully, with a prosthetist’s trained eye. Although Leo had taken the thickness of the sole of a boot into account when calculating the length of the peg, he was satisfied with the way Bogdan walked on it. He had already discovered the slight arc when swinging the peg forward and had found the ideal step length so the ferrule was on the ground when he leaned onto it. His gait was even and regular. He had no trouble pushing Fullerton’s chair. Fullerton was strapped in and faced forward, only his eyes capable of movement.

 

            – I want to talk to you Dan, and you too, Leo. I hope you’re not too busy at the moment. This won’t take long. Let’s go into the lab and sit down.

Bogdan stood by after positioning Fullerton so he could see his employees.

            – Thank you, Bogdan.

Bogdan left and closed the door.

            – I want you to design and manufacture an arm prosthesis with which I can at least feed myself. Unfortunately for you, I have very short stumps. Your job is to use them to their best advantage. I need only one arm, you understand. I am not asking for the impossible. These claws are quite ridiculous. They require far more muscle power to operate than I have available.

Dan asked if he could remove the prostheses so they could see the size of the problem.

            – Go ahead.

The Cuban surgeon had gone against his better instincts but had obeyed what the Englishman had specifically asked for despite being advised several times against insisting on such short stumps. Fullerton’s ideal was to live life limbless. The surgeon had refused to disarticulate his arms, although his thigh stumps had engendered no such protest. Instead, Fullerton and the surgeon had agreed that Fullerton would have eight centimetres of humerus padded with muscle tissue. His shoulders would remain wide but his arm stumps would hardly play any role in operating conventional prostheses. In spite of that, he now requested his employees to do exactly that.

            – Can you still move your shoulders, John?

            – Yes, within reason. They are a little restricted by my socket because of the Minerva.

            – Maybe we could redesign the Minerva socket to give you a greater range of shoulder motion to operate an arm. You know ordinary hooks like mine work by tensing the opposite shoulder. I was thinking that it might be possible to use your stumps individually to operate an elbow joint and a hook separately.

            – You mean the left would lift the elbow and the right would open the hook? That sounds quite feasible. I would appreciate something like that. Do you think you’re up to it?

            – I don’t see why not. I think that the arm prosthesis will have to be an integral part of your Minerva, though, otherwise you won’t be able to generate enough tension.

            – Would the upper arm part be permanently fixed to my Minerva? Is that what you mean?

            – Yes. We could make it at, say, a forty‑five degree angle, something which in itself is useful without needing to adjust it with your stump.

            – That sounds intriguing. Yes, I agree. Let’s do something like that. I should mention that I want to be able to drive my car again. Bear that in mind.

Fullerton closed his eyes and imagined a partly immovable prosthetic arm. Not only was he limbless, even his sole prosthetic limb would be disabled.

            – I don’t want to keep you any longer today. Make time for me in the next couple of weeks and let me know the date. I’ll need a new torso socket, so you’d better book the whole day. This adaptation the Cubans did is quite a good idea but I’d like something more solid as a seat.

Dan twisted a pen in his hooks and scrawled a brief note to himself.

 

Fullerton and Bogdan took their leave. Bogdan took his artificial leg to the car first and returned to collect Fullerton. A problem which should have been obvious arose. His peg leg was too long to fit in the foot well of the car. Bogdan laughed and explained as best he could to Fullerton.

            – Take your peg leg off, Bogdan.

            – I must take my trousers off!

            – Very well. No-one will see you.

As quickly as he could, Bogdan furtively allowed his trousers to drop and released the vacuum in his socket. He sat in the driver’s seat, slid his peg between the seats and drove them back home. It had been an eventful day, one which marked the start of new lives for all four amputees.

 

– – – – – -

 

Fullerton’s old data was still valid for the top half of his Minerva. The area around the shoulder was lowered in front, allowing Fullerton to push each shoulder forward. Because the right upper arm was part of the torso socket, Leo asked if Fullerton might like to have a matching left stump. It would be completely inert but the stump would poke out of the sleeves of a T-shirt and provide a little visual balance. Fullerton thought it was a good idea and agreed.

 

 

Leo worked on the prosthesis over a period of three weeks during which time he also completed a pair of artificial arms with hooks for a teenager and three AK leg prostheses.

 

The base provided the greatest challenge. Leo imagined a raised bar in the centre on which Fullerton could balance but which was narrow enough to rock the torso socket from side to side, letting him turn himself and even move forward, albeit very gradually. Studs at all four corners prevented the socket from leaning too far and causing Fullerton to topple. The rear section of the torso socket held the artificial arm, the prosthetic stump and all the cabling necessary for the prosthetic arm to function. It was fitted with one of Dan’s old hooks, bearing two rubber bands. It was effortless to open.

 

A month after placing his order, Bogdan strutted in with Fullerton sitting in an U.S. Army surplus rucksack on his back. When they went out, Bogdan placed Fullerton into it and hauled him about. Fullerton’s view of the world was the reverse of everyone else’s. He enjoyed feeling different cadences as Bogdan stepped first on his natural leg and then his peg. Bogdan struggled out of the rucksack and lowered it carefully onto a chair. He lifted Fullerton out and placed him on the table. Leo and Dan stood in front of him and he fixed them with his eyes.

            – I have an announcement. Two, actually. Bogdan and I have married. He is my husband and I am his husband.

            – Wow! Congratulations!

            – The other thing is that if the new socket and arm is satisfactory, I shall retire. Ten years early, perhaps, but there is no time like the present and Bogdan and I want to travel a little and see some of the world before it becomes too dangerous to do so. As you see, we have already invented a practical way for us to travel together. Anyway, in connection with my retirement, I want to offer you the opportunity to buy my business. I think you both know its commercial value and prospects for expansion. No need to give an answer now. Think about it and we will discuss it when you feel ready. And now I am ready for the first fitting. Bogdan?

 

Fullerton was carried and laid on the bench in the fitting room. Leo removed the front section of the socket and Bogdan turned his husband onto his front so Leo could ease off the rear section. The new socket awaited nearby. Dan hooked the back section up and placed it next to John. Bogdan again turned the torso and lifted him carefully into the new socket. Two silicon‑covered loops were placed onto John’s stumps, their cables leading out through guides drilled into the socket. The artificial arm extended from the right shoulder at a pronounced angle. The artificial stump extended from the left. Leo lifted the front section on and aligned it. He ratcheted the parts together, forming a sturdy containment for the limbless man. Bogdan raised John to a vertical position and carried him to the table. The slightly raised horizontal bar across the base allowed John to alter the direction he faced.

 

            – I don’t think I need to explain how the hook works, John. Your right shoulder operates the elbow. The left works the hook. Give it a try and we can start tweaking.

Fullerton could barely see his hook in his peripheral vision. He shrugged his right shoulder forward and saw the forearm rise into view. There was no locking mechanism yet. He pushed his left shoulder forward and saw the hook open. The artificial stump remained motionless. He relaxed his left shoulder to close the hook and pushed more on the right. The hook approached his lips and finally touched them.

            – Well done, John. Now you can feed yourself.

It was an optimistic claim but the potential was there. Fullerton looked up at his husband.

            – What do you think? Do you still love me with a limb?

            – Of course. Thank you Leo. Thank you Dan.

Leo made two slight adjustments to the elbow cable.

            – I think it’s ready. We’ll get back to you about that other business.

 

Bogdan set to placing Fullerton into his backpack. He swung it over his shoulders and took the two halves of Fullerton’s old socket. Taking care not to knock his head on the door frame, Bogdan pegged out.

            – Well, what do you think of that? Shall we buy it, Leo? Work for ourselves?

            – Do you think we can afford it?

            – If the price is realistic, we can. I don’t think he’s a greedy man, do you?

            – No.

            – I’ll do some sums and draw up a proposal. Leave it to me.

 

– – – – – -

 

The amputees received notice from the local authority’s housing association that they had both been awarded the opportunity to rent an apartment in Lynnton Forest. The development was ready to receive its first inhabitants from the first day of December and if an advance viewing was required, there was a fully furnished apartment available to view in Tower One on the third floor. All apartments were identical in all sixteen towers, so future residents could use the apartment to measure for curtains or carpets. Dan had been awarded 2512, Tower Eleven. Leo’s address would be 614, Tower Six. Neither of them owned furniture yet.

 

The Deckmans were delighted for both boys. Ella had already moved out, sharing with college friends in Cambridge. George was home most nights. Only Dan and Leo regularly spent time with their adoptive parents, although some evenings they arrived home fairly late if there was work to be done. There was no pressure on any of their children to move out. The three brothers shared a large bedroom but none of them had ever demanded their own room. Ella had had her own bedroom since she was twelve, a small, delicately coloured sanctuary away from her brothers.

            – Are you going to view the demo? I must say, I’d love to take a look myself. I’ve seen Lynnton on news reports but I’ve not been there. You have, haven’t you, Dan?

            – Yeah, I’ve been out there a few times. It’s great the way they kept as many of the trees as possible between the towers. It’s a cross between living in town with the tram and the shops nearby and out in the forest with trees all around you.

            – Derek, let’s go and have a look, shall we? We can take the boys and they can see their towers.

            – Alright. Sounds good to me. When? Saturday morning? OK, let’s do that.

 

Fullerton and Bogdan became closer. Fullerton recovered psychologically from his amputations, accepting his physical limitations but never despairing of them. He appreciated his total leglessness most of all. He was completely enchanted with the shape of his lower body, its new curves and form, its redistribution of muscle tissue to pad bones exposed for the first time to pressures and sensations they were never evolved to feel. He loved to kick. He imagined himself running, alternating powerful thigh muscles and kicking a football high into the air, seeing it disappear into the atmosphere. The muscles in his torso stump twitched in response. He put other muscles to practical use. Bogdan allowed his husband to massage his chest and back with his tiny stumps after a long day. Bogdan placed Fullerton onto himself and closed his eyes, enjoying the limbless torso’s squirming across the broad expanse of his back or chest. After several years’ incarceration in his torso sockets, Fullerton’s skin was hypersensitive. His hirsute husband provided unspoken pleasure as Fullerton moved across his body.

 

Fullerton had gradually become more proficient in deploying his prosthesis. He had learned how to move the forearm and hold it while manipulating the hook with his other shoulder. It was advantageous that his body was held rigid and immovable inside the torso socket, especially his head. It was far easier to allow the only parts of his body he could freely move full reign over his prosthetic limb. He was capable of feeding himself food which he could grip in a hook but the plate had to be positioned precisely for the hook to descend onto it. The arm had no lateral movement. Bogdan helped by moving the plate, watching the struggle the rigid torso underwent. Bogdan’s admiration never ceased for his husband whose respect and gratitude had become unending love and whom he also wished to emulate. While waiting for that uncertain future, he would experience it vicariously with the man who had already achieved nirvana.

 

Dan completed his estimates of the economic value of Fullerton’s company. He had compared a decade’s turnover and profits covering the time when Fullerton worked alone and the previous two years when they had taken over as employees. Turnover had improved considerably, for reasons unknown. Perhaps because two workers were more efficient than one or because the lab had gained a little notoriety among wannabes who were enthusiastic at being outfitted with orthotics by genuine amputees. Dan showed his calculations to Leo and they discussed a fair price to offer Fullerton. Not wishing to insult the man, they also devised a strategy to acquire the business with a lifelong guarantee of free prosthetic care for both Fullerton and Bogdan. Over the decades to come, the value of such a service might accrue to hundreds of thousands.

 

The tramway was inaugurated in the last week of November. The trams had flat floors, completely accessible for wheelchair users and were intended to run at eight minute intervals day and night. The flat fare allowed quick round trips to town and back or to one of the megastores along the way. The track wound along the edges of fields, through copses and emerged into Lynnton Forest across parkland, intended for residents’ recreation which had a request stop in the middle of it. The Deckmans approached Tower One and parked off‑road nearby.

 

The show apartment was decorated in an odd mixture of contemporary and traditional. The living room had a three seater sofa from the Art Deco era and three inflatable armchairs from the Sixties. A zebra print mat covered part of the parquet floor. The bedroom housed a large bed and featured built‑in closets on two walls. The kitchen opened onto a glass brick‑walled area, separate from the living room but in view of it. Light from the living room window reached the kitchen through the glass wall. The demonstration kitchen had a high table bolted to a wall, surrounded by four tall  steel stools, illuminated by a Deckman Décor ceiling lamp which hung low.

            – This is definitely the sort of interior you ought to aim for. Look at this!

Derek tapped the lampshade with a fingernail.

            – Hmm. I don’t mind that. But I don’t go much on the other stuff.

They toured the rooms. Leo was pleased to see sturdy railings in the shower stall and Julia Deckman appreciated the generous built-in closet space in the bedroom and entry hall. They looked at the view of the park from the balcony and left when another keen couple arrived to view the place. Deckman toured the entire estate, finding exactly where towers six and twenty‑five were situated. Residents could collect their new keys from a temporary office next to a tram stop near Tower One from the first of December.

 

– – – – – -

 

Fullerton’s company transferred to the twins’ ownership  with the assistance of solicitors, two different banks and Bogdan who signed everything on behalf of his husband. Fullerton might be able to grip a pen if it were placed into his hook but he was completely unable to write or sign anything. On March tenth, ownership passed to Leo and Dan.

            – We ought to rename the company, you know. The website needs updating too, don’t forget. And we ought to have our own channels on social media. Not trivial stuff, but regular updates on how to peel an apple with hooks or tie a shoelace with hooks or comb your beard with hooks.

            – Ha! It sound like I’m going to be in all the videos.

            – Well, I have to hold the phone, you see.

            – I might be able to hold it long enough to make a video called “How To Stagger About On Two Peg Legs”.

            – I do not stagger.

            – No, you don’t. For what it’s worth, I think it’s a good idea. Have you ever thought we could use our original names for our new business? I mean, Deckman is a well‑known name already. We couldn’t use that.

            – I can’t think of any other companies called Davison. I’ll have to check, though. Davison Prosthetics and Orthotics. Mmm. Has quite a ring to it.

            – I know. It’s hopeless. Just call it P and O.

            – People would be calling about their retirement cruise.

            – So ask them if they need a prosthetic limb. O and P. Can’t go wrong with O and P. Davison O and P.

            – OK, Davison Orthotics and Prosthetics it is. Shall we ask the guy who does the website if he can come up with a snazzy logo? We could put one on all our gear. Nothing too big and show‑off, of course.

            – We could do that. Alright, I’ll register the new name and we can get started.

 

George had a close friend who had made several handsome websites for various friends and recommended that Dan contact him. The friend, known only as Spud, combined a baroque capital D with the silhouette of a leg stump to produce an elegant logo, perfect except for the irregularity. Circular stickers featuring the logo would adorn new prostheses, unobtrusive but distinctive. The new website went live a month after the official name change and the amputee twins began to think about a video channel or two to advertise their existence. Dan shot a two minute video of Leo walking across the park to the tram stop. The new channel was called YouDOP and the first upload had twenty thousand followers after the first week. Leo’s peg legs were certainly popular. He videoed Dan doing simple tasks with his hooks. After the first two videos, Dan ordered a thousand small round transparent logo stickers which could be applied to their sockets. They featured in all future videos and the logo was included in the closing titles.

 

Dan had seen other amputees on the platform, including one from Central America who used conspicuously short arm prostheses. The user, an ex‑soldier, had very short BE stumps and his prostheses were little more than rigid stump shields which held his stumps at about forty‑five degrees with standard hooks. Dan’s stumps were longer and his sockets compensated for the loss of his lower forearms and hands. He told Leo to cast him for a pair of short forearm sockets. They could turn the entire process into a series of videos for their channel.

 

Leo took his time setting up his mirrorless camera to record the process. Spud promised to edit the video and upload it. Dan’s fifteen centimetre stumps were ideal for the new shorter prostheses, long enough to be practical and short enough to make a conspicuous statement. The hooks were attached to a flat steel connector and, although Dan could twist them mechanically, they could not pronate. His very first artificial arms had been the same, a quarter century ago. Since then, he had been able to turn and tilt his hooks where he needed to. His new short arms made him feel disabled again until he adjusted.

 

Spud produced four videos from the weeks of material which Leo offered him. It was a simple matter of editing out the uninteresting sections. The surprise came at the end when Dan donned his new prostheses for the first time. Only then did it become apparent that their length was something exceptional. Dan himself felt like a new man. His prostheses worked perfectly, they looked good and would certainly prove useful. But it looked shocking to see an amputee with such short artificial arms. Why were they so short? What kind of disability could the man have to require such deviant devices? Dan was immediately delighted with his new appearance. The short arms seemed more responsive and more intimate. They felt less like artificial arms for an amputee and more like a pair of hooks specifically tailored for Dan Davison’s stumps.

            – I remember when you said you’d never walk on anything except peg legs. These feel so good that I’m never going to wear long arms again.

            – You have a new pair of peg arms.

            – Stump hooks. I have stump hooks.

 

Dan’s next idea was to have his entire arms casted in order to wear a pair of arms with rigid elbows. His hooks would point forward at ninety degrees with no other position possible. Leo made the prostheses from two sections which slotted together laterally. Dan was frustrated that he could not wear them more often but when Leo called in for a couple of beers after work or when he went out to dinner with a friend, Dan often wore the immovable rigid arms and allowed himself to be fed and watered by his companion. He had all his clothing altered to suit the stump hooks including his collection of motorcycle jackets. It was only when Leo saw three adapted jackets hanging from the railing in Dan’s entry hall that he was convinced of Dan’s intention to adopt his stump hooks permanently. He loved his macho jackets too much to mutilate them on a mere whim. The Deckmans were surprised to see Dan additionally handicapped when they met him for the first time wearing his new prostheses. Dan simply stated that they were more responsive and he felt himself less disabled. Derek and Julia accepted it. Dan was an independent adult and free to configure his prosthetics as he wished.

 

– – – – – -

 

Business flourished. Dan videoed Leo again, a three minute long demonstration of him walking outside on the full‑length kafo peg legs. There were a hundred thousand views within a week, suggesting that with twenty‑five thousand subscribers, some people were watching it again and again. Enquiries began to rain in from all over the world. Dan designed a downloadable PDF which allowed people to order customised versions for themselves. Despite the high cost of customs clearance and despatch, Leo was kept busy and discussed recruiting a couple of additional technicians who might ease the work load. Dan agreed and two recently qualified prosthetists joined Davison O & P. Keith Payne and Darren White both owned motorbikes and both commuted long distances each day.

            – It’s been difficult finding a placement recently. The demand for artificial limbs has dropped recently. I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to how much. But now that kids are exempt and there’s a thirty percent deductible on adult prostheses, a lot of amputees are stuck with using crutches.

            – What? When did this happen? Are you sure?

            – Yes, of course. It was one of the last spiteful things the last government did. They claimed it was not the government’s job to fund artificial limbs. Adults have to pay a third, youngsters have to pay the whole lot. I suppose statistically it makes sense. In reality, it means there are lots of teenage amputees on crutches or with empty sleeves.

            – I had no idea. Leo and I rarely get to see a news broadcast. And it’s not really the sort of subject matter which attracts clickbait. Well, Keith, I assume you are familiar with the old style kafos, steel struts and so on. We print the sockets rather than relying on leather but for our customers, it’s more than adequate.

 

Dan was disturbed by what Keith had told him. It was a disgrace that there were prosthetists without work when there were limbless children whose families could not afford artificial limbs. He talked about it with Leo after Keith and Darren had left.

            – Did you know about this? That limbs aren’t being supplied any longer?

            – No. I haven’t heard anything about that. I suppose being independent suppliers ourselves, our customers aren’t concerned about it so they wouldn’t mention it. It does seem odd, though. It must have been sneaked in very quietly.

            – I’m not surprised! It’s a national shame. Leo, what if we started a fund or something to collect money to support limbless kids? Put five percent on our prices but let people know the situation.

            – We could do that. Or we could start a charitable foundation. Something online explaining the problem with a few amputee kids before and after.

            – The trouble is that if national prosthetics clinics are turning kids away, who’s going to make the prosthetics?

            – It would be up to independent providers like us.

            – Are you game?

            – You bet!

 

Dan called Fullerton to explain their ideas and asked if he might be interested in supporting their efforts somehow. One of the most important aspects was to discover exactly how great the need was. Fullerton assured Dan that he had a broad network of fellow prosthetists he could contact for information about the change in demand. On that basis, they could make an estimate of the number of children who were in need of prostheses. Fullerton thanked Dan for his call. Unexpectedly, the limbless torso had a purpose in life again. With Bogdan by his side, he started his research.

 

Dan and Leo contacted regional councils in or near major population centres enquiring about recently defunct clinics, cottage hospitals or similar premises which could be converted to prosthetic and orthotic clinics to produce prosthetic limbs for children. They explained their own situations, being limbless prosthetists themselves disabled very young and concerned about a new generation of amputee children growing up without prosthetic care. Most of their enquiries received sympathetic replies with regrets that no suitable premises were available. However, there were two positive replies. Manchester City council directed them to the local authorities in Wigan and Southampton replied that it could not help but that it knew Basingstoke was about to close a health centre which might be suitable. So it was.

 

Leo and Dan visited both councils in person. Leo drove since Dan’s stump hooks no longer reached the car’s joystick. They visited the premises with representatives from both council authorities who were enthusiastic at hosting new industry and promised a meagre amount of financial support for the first year of operations. They also offered to seek out unemployed prosthetists through employment agencies and disabled minors in their area.

 

Davison O & P also prospered to such a degree that new premises were needed. There was a one storey building on the tram route which had been intended for a supermarket. The chain had gone bust before the store opened. The building was an inconvenient size for most prospective retailers but ideal for a prosthetics manufacturer. Dan and Leo put in an offer to rent it and three months later, the company moved in. The D logo was created in a two metre wide white neon sign and placed at the end of the building.

 

Two more prosthetists were taken on to help out with the unending demand for kafos, with and without extensions, and for prosthetics for the genuinely disabled. Wigan and Basingstoke came through with funds to support conversion work.

 

The flood of applications for free artificial limbs for children shocked everyone concerned with the project. Some teenage amputees had never used a prosthesis and required professional guidance to learn to use their new limbs. Several volunteers provided assistance. Leo insisted that the prostheses were as simple as the ones he had learned to walk on as a toddler. There would be no expensive articulating ankles. Lower legs would be one piece, attached if necessary to above‑knee sockets with mechanical knees of an originally Japanese design which were in many ways superior to bionic versions. Young men with chins sprouting their first beards bounced with joy like children at Christmas at testing their new legs. They were almost unanimous in declaring that they had no great desire to hide their unavoidable amputee gait. Youngsters equipped with hooks were grateful for the chance to reintegrate into normal society again. News providers around the country occasionally featured the stories of youngsters who had been cruelly maimed and then helped by Davison O & P.

 

It was far more difficult to start the charity. It was a nightmare of auditing and inspecting the books. Dan met every official in person and ensured that everyone knew their entire history from the moment they were disabled to their modern reality with deviant prostheses. Dan’s stump hooks fascinated and horrified their visitors but they left with an understanding of the importance to amputees of custom prostheses. Permits were gradually approved and granted. The working title for the new charity had been simply the Davison Foundation. Now it was official.

 

– – – – – -

 

Dan and Leo had a few moments alone in the conference room before the onslaught began. They stood opposite each other, staring into each other’s eyes, communicating. Wry smiles crossed their faces. Their time had come.

 

IDENTICAL TWINS