We left our hero last time working as a bouncer-or door security, as we now call it. He has found his way to the Fur and Feathers. A local nightclub for  the LGBT community. He has met Jo Jo, a drag Queen and a number of other folk who were trying to find a way of Being in a world that all too often rejected them. Bo understood their problem. He was 30 years old and had  been a soldier since his teens. He had few marketable skills. Most organisations weren’t keen on employing a man who listed “silent killing” as one of his skills. (These days one could kill off a business rival much more simply by sending them a computer virus. Quiet. Effective. And just as deadly as cutting a man’s throat.)

So it was that Robert Peep ended up managing his parents’ farm. There was a lot to learn. But he was used to hard work and learned quickly. The flock of  Jacob’s sheep grew steadily. His cows regularly produced healthy calves which fetched a good price at market. In five years Bo had turned the farm around. He was good at it. Well known in the farming community. Respected in the wider community. And a regular visitor to “Fur and Feathers” where he was welcomed warmly. And the only place where he allowed his old nickname to be used. So it was that Little Bo Peep became associated with the LGBT community. (He caused much bewilderment when he joined the club for one of the early Gay Pride marches. At 6’3” and now 15 stone, he was hard to miss.) If he felt self conscious he showed no sign of it. Nor did his friends. Whatever Little Bo wanted to do was fine with them. He was, after all, one of them. Although firmly straight. Much to the disappointment of  Jo Jo and one or two other club members.

Dylan sang of the changing times and warned that we ignore them at our peril. Little Bo’s world was changing. He’d been seeing s therapist for a while  for what was thought to be PTSD. During one session the therapist asked if Bo “felt comfortable in his own skin.”. He ignored the question. What on earth did she mean? His skin just was. Like breathing. It just was. Wasn’t it? When he asked her what she meant she replied with a question of her own .”What did he think she might have meant?” (It’s infuriating when therapists do that!) Bo told her what he thought and what he thought of her reply. She looked unfazed. Just smiled at him and sat back in her chair waiting for him to continue. 

It was from this conversation that Little Bo began to think about who he was “inside”. He asked his Fur and Feather friends about their sense of self. When did they know they were Gay? What was it like to feel both male and female? Which version of himself / herself did Jo jo prefer? (The answer is unprintable!) It was Jo Jo who archly asked Bo if he was going to start batting for the other side. Bo gave him / her a look. Jo Jo was also unfazed,

But the seed had been planted. He talked about it with his therapist. She invited him to reflect on his choice of career. What happened to his “feminine” side? Bo didn’t know. It wasn’t something he thought about. “Why not?” she mused. He didn’t have an answer. The average S.A.S. soldier doesn’t question his identity. The team is his identity. And their mission.. 

There isn’t time or room to describe the next years of Bo’s life.That needs a whole book.Suffice it to say that the next decade of Bo’s life saw some major changes. It was during this time that a new Little Bo Peep legend emerged. This time claimed by the LGBT community of whom Bo was now a signed up member.