The Peacock 1401

"Carl is a poor rich boy. He was born into inherited wealth in the Netherlands. When he was twelve his parents divorced. With his younger sister Melissa, he would spend summers at the mansion here in BC. His great grandfather built it near the First World War. When he was fifteen or sixteen he became a drug addicted gay prostitute in Amsterdam and was rescued three years later by a British transwoman sex worker. He got off drugs and returned to his mother who sent him and his thirteen year old sister back to the mansion where they stayed with their father who that same summer was killed under dubious circumstances. Carl and his sister feared for their lives and excaped. Back in Europe they lived with their mother in a Christian cummunity that she was leading in Switzerland. He studied jounralism and now publishes an online magazine. They returned here to Canada and took over the operations of the mansion and with help and oversight from a priest, turned it into a Christian retreat centre. And that is where we met two weeks ago." The British transwoman, did he happen to tell you her name?" "Stella." "I know her", says Erik.