‘Hey, off the court, you two!’ someone protested.
‘You’re wanted in the office!’ someone else yelled.
‘We know,’ Bridie yelled back. ‘We’re on our way!’
In through the front door, down past the senior classrooms and out into the internal courtyard they ran. Ruth’s heart dived when she saw two young nuns walking towards them.
‘We’re wanted, sister,’ Bridie called, not slowing down, ‘in the office.’
‘Oh,’ the nun’s face registered the import of this. ‘You two are the girls who …’ But the other nun was looking at them severely.
‘You’re heading the wrong way,’ she said.
Ruth’s instinct was to stop and try to explain, but Bridie pulled her on impatiently.
‘Come on!’
They ran through another corridor and then out to the back of the school. All the buildings were shabbier. There was a toilet block and a sports-equipment shed with a wire gate, but apart from an old man pushing a full barrow there was no one about.
Bridie led the way towards a building with steam and noise coming from its wide-open door. Ruth’s eyes took a few moments to adjust, but once inside she saw that she was in the convent’s laundry. The clunking noise was coming from two huge washing machines. At least a dozen washing baskets lined the walls. On one side they were loaded up with piles of clean white shirts; on the other, mountains of soiled ones.
Near the window, an old Chinese woman was working an industrial iron. She was wearing a dark dress covered with a big work apron and her short, straight grey hair stood out from her head almost at right angles. When she saw Bridie her face broke into a warm smile.
The old woman stopped what she was doing and held out her arms to Bridie. Her face was very round and red, there was sweat dripping from her forehead and patches of it under her arms, and her hands were as rough and big as a builder’s.
‘This is my friend Ling,’ Bridie explained, hugging the woman fiercely.
‘My baby girl,’ the old woman laughed. She put a large hand to Bridie’s neck and drew out from beneath her shirt a tiny gold dragon threaded onto a fine chain.
Bridie held it out for Ruth to see. ‘She gave me this when I was three.’
Ruth took a closer look. The work was very old and fine.
‘It mean Good Luck.’ Ling smiled at Ruth through gold front teeth.
‘We have to get to the infirmary, Ling,’ Bridie said. ‘Can you show us?’
‘Why you go there?’ the old woman asked after a pause, shaking her head.
‘No time now.’ Bridie grabbed her arm. ‘Please, Ling.’
‘Okay,’ Ling laughed noiselessly, ‘but so bad …very naughty.’
‘I know, Ling.’
Ling led them through the back of the laundry and then through another door. She opened it, stuck her head around for a quick look and, seeing the coast was clear, pushed them out into a lobby area and pointed them towards a staircase.
‘There,’ she said, ‘go up to the top. Then across to where nuns live. From there more very thin stairs and at top you find the sick room.’
‘Thanks, Ling.’ Bridie kissed her.
They both ran for the staircase. It was made of polished, carved wood and was very wide. At the top there was a long light-filled corridor.
‘Got a feeling if we can get over there we should be okay,’ Bridie whispered.
They started, and were halfway across the long, semi-exposed walkway when they heard voices, and ran back. Two nuns came into view, walking straight towards them.
‘Quick.’ Bridie pulled Ruth behind the nearest pillar. They waited a while before venturing out again.
Eventually they made it to the end of the corridor without meeting anyone else, and came out into a small lobby with a flight of narrow stairs leading up. Suddenly a shrill alarm went off and both girls jumped. It was just like a fire alarm and it didn’t stop.
‘That’s the emergency bell,’ Bridie explained. ‘It means the whole school is on alert.’ She smiled nervously. ‘Everyone knows we’re missing now.’
‘Never mind!’ Ruth said gamely, but the shrill noise was terrifying. ‘So where to now?’
‘I reckon the infirmary is up there.’ Bridie pointed to the narrow flight of stairs. ‘In fact, I’m sure of it.’
But before they were even able to get to the first stair, another door into the lobby silently slid open and there was … oh no! Ruth gave an involuntary gasp. Sister Gregory!
Like an apparition she stood there, dark and ominous, as menacing as a giant, over-fed crow. Ruth and Bridie stared back at her in shock.
For a big woman, Sister Gregory could move fast. She grabbed each girl tightly by one arm without even uttering a word. Her fingers were like steel rods. So it was over. Ruth’s heart took an almighty dive. What terrible luck! They were caught just before the finishing line. What would happen now? What was in store for them? More slaps? Whippings? If she was sent to Barrytown she’d never get back home. And what about Bridie?
Not once in all of this had Ruth thought she would never see her family again. A mysterious force sputtered to life in her chest and ran like electricity down her legs and into her arms, even into her fingers. She had no idea what it was or where it had come from, but suddenly she felt strong again. She knew with everything in her that she must not give in without a fight.
‘Let go of me!’ She twisted her body around sharply and kicked the nun in the shins with her heavy shoes. ‘Take your hands off me, you bully!’
To say that Sister Gregory was not used to being kicked was the understatement of the decade. In her shock she lost her grip on Ruth’s arm. Ruth was free but Bridie wasn’t, and as far as Ruth was concerned nothing was going to happen without her. She grabbed hold of Bridie’s other arm and began to pull her away from the nun.
‘Come on!’ she yelled. ‘Fight her!’
Bridie seemed to find her inner force, too, because she struggled hard; but, although she was doing her best to get away, she couldn’t break the nun’s grip.
Ruth had an idea. With her free hand, she caught hold of Sister Gregory’s headdress and tugged hard. First the outer veil pulled loose, and then the white, starched fabric around the nun’s face came away, revealing stiff steel-grey hair cut close to her head. The nun was beside herself. Sobbing with rage and humiliation, Sister Gregory let Bridie go and clutched at her wimple.
Ruth took a last look at the dishevelled nun and ran for the stairs.
‘Come on!’ she yelled.
But Bridie was rooted to the spot, staring at Sister Gregory in shock.
Ruth ran back, lunged for her hand and pulled her up the stairs, three at a time. Sister Gregory, holding the bits and pieces of her wimple in one hand, wasn’t far behind. At the top was a dusty little landing. At first it seemed there was nothing else. Ruth looked around wildly. Behind them, the heavy footsteps of Thunder Guts were getting closer.
She looked helplessly at her friend. Maybe Bridie had imagined the whole thing. But Bridie rushed past her and pushed open a dark wood door that Ruth hadn’t seen. They ran through into a strange world of white. White walls. Six white beds with white coverings. And in the beds, six old ladies in little white caps and identical white nightgowns.
A young nun dressed in a normal black habit but with a large white apron tied over the front was tending one of the old women. She turned and looked up when Ruth and Bridie entered the room and her mouth fell open.
‘What in God’s name!’ she exclaimed in a thick Irish brogue, too surprised to be cross. ‘Is that you, Bridie Fallan? In the name of the Lord, what are you doing here?’
‘Sorry, Sister Anne,’ Bridie said, gasping for breath. ‘Can you tell us where … I’ve forgotten … where that little red door is?’
The nun pointed to a corner of the room and, much to the Ruth’s relief, there it was: a small red door! To the side of the mantelpiece over the filled-in fireplace, just as Bridie had remembered.
They grinned at each other in relief and made a dash for it just as the furious figure of Sister Gregory appeared in the doorway.
‘Catch those girls, Sister Anne!’ she bellowed. All the old nuns sat up to see what was going on.
Ruth and Bridie were already at the red door.
‘You first,’ Ruth yelled, opening the door. ‘Just jump. It’ll be okay.’
Bridie stared down into the darkness fearfully.
‘But … there’s nothing there!’ she wailed.
‘I’ll go first and show you.’
Ruth held out a hand to Bridie. But then to her dismay Sister Gregory appeared behind her friend.
‘Quick, grab my hand and we’ll go together!’
Ruth managed to clutch one of Bridie’s hands, but Bridie couldn’t move because Sister Gregory was pulling her the other way.
‘Let her go,’ Ruth screamed, ‘you great stinking bully!’
But Sister Gregory had no intention of letting go. She might have lost the battle, but she was determined not to lose the war. When she jerked hard on Bridie’s arm, Ruth suddenly lost her balance and tipped backwards and … fell.
Down, down, down she went, into the deep blackness.
‘Bridie!’ Ruth screamed. ‘Bridie!’
17
Ruth landed hard on her behind, her whole body jarring on impact.
Ouch! That hurt. She shook her head and tried to get her thoughts in order.
She was sitting on the bank next to the big rock, with the curving expanse of brown water only a metre away. Her bum really hurt where she had landed on it and she had grime and dust all over her clothes. And … there was no Bridie.
‘Rodney!’ she shouted. ‘Rodney, where are you? I just know you’re here somewhere!’
But all was quiet and there was no sign of the rat.
Gradually, as the full extent of Bridie’s plight hit Ruth, she became more and more upset. Against all the odds, within just a few hours they’d become such good friends. In fact, Bridie was the nicest person her own age that Ruth had ever met; and more than that, she desperately needed help, and much more than that, Ruth owed her! It was Ruth who had enticed Bridie into risking everything with promises of a new life, and then at the very last moment only Ruth had been able to escape, leaving poor Bridie behind! What a dog act! And Ruth wasn’t the only one to blame.
‘That creepy little … rat!’ Ruth muttered furiously under her breath. ‘He knew something like this would happen. I just know he did.’ Her anger towards the rat mixed with her concern for Bridie until fury was rolling through her in giant waves. She’d asked for no family and been hurled back to a virtual jail in the 1950s! How dumb was he? Or perhaps he’d meant to freak her out. Whatever the reason, there was no way she could leave Bridie in such a dire situation. No way in the world!
Ruth picked up a few stones and flung them into the river. She must find a way to get back to that place and time. She didn’t care if she had to stay there forever. Well, she did care, of course, but … she was prepared to do it.
She sat staring in front of her for a while until the thick anxious feeling rose up and blocked her throat. This time she couldn’t do anything about it. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She wiped them away with both fists but more arrived to take their place, until her whole face felt like one hot, sore bruise. She knew that she probably looked a fright, too, but she didn’t care. If only Howard would come back; at least she’d have someone to tell.
What to do? She knew what she should do, but without the rat what could she do? Returning to that school would be impossible without him. She hadn’t planned on spending the rest of her life back in the twentieth century, but if that was the only way she could save Bridie then she’d do it. Her mum and dad had been kids not so long after that time and they’d survived, hadn’t they? If both Bridie and she ended up at Barrytown for the rest of their lives, then so be it! They would manage somehow. They almost managed to get away once, so who was to say they wouldn’t manage it again?
But she couldn’t do anything without Rodney. Ruth gave a deep sigh. The sun had come out from behind a cloud and the warmth comforted her a little.
Suddenly she heard a slight scratching sound. She held her breath and waited to see if she had imagined it. No. There it was again, followed by a couple of polite throat-clearings. Ruth turned around quickly and … there he was.
Rodney was leaning up against a nearby rock looking sheepish.
‘Well, hello there,’ he said in an unconcerned tone. ‘I take it things were not exactly to your liking?’
Ruth stared at him furiously, not trusting herself to even speak.
He looked different this time, fatter and sleeker and more arrogant. A quick, sharp boot in the backside might take that gloating look off his face! And something else was different too.
‘I’ve got glasses,’ he said, as though able to read her mind, pointing proudly at the wire-rimmed spectacles sitting on the tip of his nose.
Ruth shrugged. As far as she was concerned they looked completely ridiculous, but she didn’t bother saying so. She wanted to tell him that rats didn’t wear glasses and that he should go get himself a life, but she knew she’d better stay cool and keep him onside if possible. She needed to give herself the best chance of getting what she wanted.
‘I don’t know if I told you that I had trouble reading,’ Rodney prattled on. ‘When I got these everything became clearer.’ He smiled at her, probably able to tell that she was on the point of exploding. ‘And I can read perfectly now.’
Ruth grimaced and turned away. One of Marcus’s favourite lines popped into her mind: Tell someone who cares!
‘Please cut it out, Rodney,’ Ruth said. ‘I need to go back there.’
The rat frowned, shifted about awkwardly on his two hind feet and tried to look as though he didn’t know what she was talking about.
Ruth peered at him. She could swear that he was faking that deeply serious expression. She took a closer look. Yes, there was a smirk hanging around the corners of that mean little mouth. The idea that he was finding the situation funny made her see red.
‘Listen, I’m deadly serious,’ she said. ‘I’ve thought it all through. I want to stay there.’
The rat walked down to the river and put his toe tentatively in the water and then pulled it out quickly.
‘Freezing,’ he muttered.
‘Will you listen to me!’ Ruth exploded. ‘I demand to go back.’
‘But what about your friend here?’ he said lightly.
‘He’ll be okay! You promised he would be. It’s Bridie I’m worried about!’
With both paws clasped behind him the rat began to walk around in circles. After a while he stopped and folded his front paws over his bony little chest, and looked away into the distance.
‘No can do,’ he muttered eventually.
‘What!’ Ruth stood up.
‘Absolutely not on.’
‘Rodney, did you hear me?’ Ruth said tersely, taking a few steps towards him. ‘I need to go back there.’
He cleared his throat. ‘That is not really possible, I’m afraid. Sorry about that.’
‘It has got to be possible! I left a very special person back there who –’ ‘Look, why don’t we sit down and discuss this reasonably?’ Rodney said in a firm, kind voice.
‘Right,’ she said through gritted teeth. How dare a sneaky little rat patronise her!
Rodney scooted over to the rock that she’d been sitting on and jumped up onto it.
‘Do you think we might have something … to eat while we talk?’ he suggested. ‘You’ve got an apple, haven’t you?’
Ruth was actually starving, but she decided not to oblige him. She needed to keep him on track and show him just how serious she was.
‘We’ve got business to attend to,’ she snapped. ‘When we get that sorted, then we’ll eat.’
‘No point doing business on an empty stomach.’
‘I’m in a hurry, Rod
ney.’ Ruth sat down on a patch of grass.
‘Aren’t we all?’ the rat sighed.
Ruth was finally beginning to understand that Rodney simply didn’t have the power to send her back to save Bridie. She lay on her back on the grass and closed her eyes. What a mess! What a complete disaster she had made of everything.
‘So, you’re telling me it’s a total impossibility?’
‘No repeats, unfortunately,’ Rodney said.
Ruth sighed miserably. What would be happening to Bridie right at that moment? Sister Gregory’s face rose to the surface of her mind. Those mean eyes and the steel grip of her fingers. Ruth lifted her hand to her cheek where the nun had struck her and shuddered.
Rodney cleared his throat a couple more times.
‘You do have one more wish,’ he said quietly. ‘I realise that –’ ‘No way!’ Ruth cut him off. ‘If there’s no chance of going back to save Bridie, I’m not even going to think about using that third wish! It can just stay right where it is.’
‘I think that is a mistake.’
‘But I’ve messed up Bridie’s life,’ Ruth wailed. ‘Totally! If only I could undo that.’
‘Ah well, I might be able to help you there,’ Rodney said.
‘How do you mean?’ Ruth sat up quickly.
‘I’ll have to check,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘but I think I might just be able to undo what happened from the time you got there. Nothing else, mind … just the section of time you were there, but I need to get some independent advice on it.’
‘Who from?’ Ruth asked sharply.
‘From my Uncle Siggy. He’s an expert in that kind of thing. Of course, I would prefer not to contact him, but if you’re absolutely adamant that you …’ ‘Ask him!’ Ruth commanded loudly. ‘You must ask him! Please.’
Rodney winced. ‘No point getting flustered.’
‘I’m not flustered!’ Ruth snarled, on the point of tears.
‘All right,’ Rodney was pointedly polite, ‘but I’ve got to find him. I’ll be as quick as I can.’
‘Okay,’ she agreed. What choice did she have?
Careful What You Wish For Page 15
