by Renee Duke
“As soon as they’ve sorted things out?” Mr. Hargrove gave his sister a quizzical look.
“I’ll explain later, Quentin. It’s all to do with a Barnardo benefactor. A very generous benefactor, with some rather peculiar ideas.”
The Hargroves lived near the centre of town. A manservant came out as soon as the carriage pulled up before the large wood and brick house. He informed Mr. Hargrove that Mrs. Hargrove was awaiting them in the parlour.
The thin, pale woman was seated in a high-backed armchair with a rug tucked around her. She smiled as they entered.
“Hello, Winifred. What a long trip you’ve had. We expected you much sooner. This must be Prudence. Welcome to Canada, my dear. I’m so pleased you could come to spend Christmas with us.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Aunt Louella.”
“And this is Elizabeth, Louella,” said Mrs. Bathurst, again pushing the girl forward. “She’s a good, obedient child who I’m sure will be of help to you.”
“I’m sure she will. Her little friends must be the Barnardo children you were escorting.”
“Not all of them. These three are here to help find a suitable home for the little boy and his sister. Yes, I know,” she added, seeing her sister-in-law’s expression. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you more about it later.”
Yeah, when we’re all out of the way and you’re free to complain about our weird upbringing, thought Paige.
Once the children had been taken off to the kitchen to have something to eat, Mrs. Bathurst did exactly that. She was still expounding on the theme when the housekeeper took them up to their rooms and they had to pass by the parlour again.
“I’d heard this Mr. Hollingsworth had some strange ideas, but giving children the power to oversee the well-being of other children? It’s utterly ridiculous. I’m amazed Barnardo’s went along with such an odd request. Of course, some people think Dr. Barnardo is a bit odd himself. I blame that on his poor hearing. It makes him seem abrupt and impatient, which he isn’t really. I’ll admit he doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but why should he? He has such important work to do. He devotes every waking moment to improving the lives of children in unfortunate circumstances. He’s always so pleased when he hears that one of ‘his’ boys or girls are doing well. And so distressed if things go wrong for them.”
“Well, we shall endeavour to have things go right for Elizabeth,” said Mrs. Hargrove. “She seems an amenable little thing.”
“Looks like you fell on your feet, Lizzie,” Hetty commented as they started up the stairs.
“Maybe. They seems nice enough. But I really miss me ma and pa. I was seven when I went to ’em. I don’t hardly remember being anywhere else. I thought I’d be living with them forever. Ma says they wanted to adopt me, but couldn’t afford to. They got paid an allowance for having me, see, and it would have stopped once they took me on as their own.” She brushed away a tear. “Expect they’ve got another little girl with ’em now.”
“In a few years, she’ll have to move on too,” said Paige. “It’s not right.”
“No, it’s not,” Dane avowed. He paused, looking uncomfortable. “But it’s like Dad said, institutions had to let some kids go in order to take new ones in. It was the only way to help as many as possible.”
“Still a bit hard, once you’s used to folks,” said Hetty. She stopped outside the room the housekeeper indicated she was to share with Paige and Jane. “Me and Pip misses our Old Rosie, too, Lizzie. Even though we had to fend for ourselves a lot, she were always there for us to go to. And she was, well, ours.”
“She still is,” Paige assured her. “That won’t change. Even though you’re miles away, you’ll always belong to each other.”
“Not the same as being with each other though, is it?” Hetty fingered her brooch. “I thinks of her every time I looks at this, same as I did when we was on the streets. You got anything to remind you of your ma and pa, Lizzie?”
Lizzie fished out a locket. “There’s this, with both their pictures. And locks of their hair. They’ve got a lock of mine, too. They said I’d always be their girl and they’d be writing me regular. What about your people, Jane?”
“I haven’t any. There was just me, Mum, Dad, and my little sister, Selina. They all died of a fever. Since I was the only one left, I thought I might as well start out fresh in Canada.”
It was the first time the Barnardo girls had really talked about their old lives. As they got ready for bed, Paige could see they felt sad, lonely, and very far from home. She began to feel depressed herself. It was a long time since she and the boys had been with their own families.
In the morning, things seemed better. Though still “blooming cold”, by Hetty’s standards, the day was bright and sunny. The children spent it exploring Kingston with Miss Elwood, who was keen to see it herself.
Free of the creepy feeling of being watched that they had experienced in London, Paige and the others gradually began to relax. By late afternoon she had begun to share Hetty’s conviction that they were no longer in any danger.
“I guess all we have to do now is find you and Pip a good home,” she told the younger girl.
Other people were working on that too.
“There’s been a message from Hazelbrae,” Mrs. Bathurst told her niece when she returned to the house. “The news was very pleasing. Two of their waiting families live in a village quite near here. One of those families—I believe the name is Meadowbrook—is willing to consider more than one child. They, along with a Mrs. Hutchins, will be coming here tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty
The visitors arrived just after one o’clock, their every movement watched by a nervous little group gathered at an upstairs window. As soon as they stepped out of the carriage, the man and his wife, a pleasant-looking couple in their late thirties, scanned the front of the house in what appeared to be an attempt to catch a glimpse of what might be their children. Paige thought that was a good sign. Especially since, upon spying them all at the window, they both smiled. The man even waved. The middle-aged woman accompanying them followed his gaze, and nodded in a friendly manner.
The grown-ups spoke together for almost half an hour before Miss Elwood was asked to bring Hetty, Pip, and Jane down to be introduced to their prospective parents.
Before taking them downstairs, she turned to Paige. “While I am aware that you and the boys are to have some hand in the proceedings, this initial meeting is not the time for you to be offering up your opinions.”
Dane drew in his breath. He knew that, if they didn’t like these people, his outspoken sister and precocious cousin would offer up opinions regardless. But would anyone listen? Uncle Clive’s letter notwithstanding, how much say could they expect to have in an era where children were supposed to be seen and not heard?
Fortunately, the meeting went quite well. Pip was his usual wary self, but the Meadowbrooks did not seem to mind that he hid behind Hetty and would not say anything. Hetty, of course, spoke up well enough for both of them, and Jane brightened as soon as Mrs. Bathurst told her that Mr. and Mrs. Hutchins ran a general store.
“I have informed Mrs. Hutchins of how you used to help your parents in their shop. A book shop, wasn’t it? Books and stationery?”
Jane nodded.
“I’m afraid we don’t carry much of either,” said Mrs. Hutchins. “I like books, though. Do you?”
“Oh, yes. I love to read,” Jane replied.
“Our boy Elmer doesn’t. He only reads what he has to, for school. And he’s getting mighty surly about that now he’s past twelve and the law says he doesn’t actually have to go to school anymore. Not like my sister’s little fellow. I’ve never known such a child for books.” She turned to the adults. “My sister and her husband adopted a Barnardo boy back in the spring. He’s been such a joy to them I managed to talk my husband into doing the same. Not that he was against it, mind. We’ve both always thought it would be nice to have a little girl as well as Elmer
.”
“And is Jane to your liking?” inquired Mrs. Bathurst.
“Yes. Yes, I think she is.” She smiled down at Jane, who smiled back.
“And what about you?” Mrs. Meadowbrook inquired of Hetty. “We don’t have a store, but we do have a nice house. And we’d very much like you and your little brother to come and live with us.”
“Think we’re right for you, do you?” said Hetty, looking not at her, but at her husband.
He returned her steady look. “Yes, we do.” He smiled. “We saw a golden eagle on the way here. It flew above us for about a mile. We took that as a good omen. And in addition to a nice house, you’d have puppies and kittens and assorted other animals to play with.”
“Horses?” Pip whispered.
Encouraged to have had a response from him, the man leaned forward and spoke to him directly. “Yes. We have two horses. The one that brought us here and one I ride out on to see my patients.”
“You a doctor, then?” Hetty asked.
“Veterinarian—a doctor for animals. And if you like horses, Pip, I’ll get you one of your own. A little pony to start.”
“A pony?” said Pip, his eyes widening in disbelief.
“A pony. We’ll get it in the spring. I’ll teach you to ride. By the end of summer you’ll be tearing around the countryside on him. Do you think you’d like that?”
Pip nodded wordlessly, and stepped out from behind Hetty.
“Well, that’s him in,” said Hetty.
“And you, Hetty?” Mrs. Meadowbrook prompted. “What might persuade you to come with us?”
Hetty gave a mock shiver. “Can you get it to warm up outside?”
Both the Meadowbrooks laughed. “Sorry,” said Dr. Meadowbrook. “You’ll have to wait until spring for that as well.”
“Thought as much.” Hetty glanced over at her three friends. “Being with Pip’s the main thing. S’pose we could give it go.”
“That’s settled then.” Mrs. Bathurst smiled at Mrs. Hutchins and the Meadowbrooks. “I’ll get their things ready. I expect a worker will pay you a visit in the next few days to sort out the details.”
She seemed to have forgotten that decisions regarding Hetty and Pip were not exclusively hers to make. The Meadowbrooks obviously hadn’t. They turned and glanced nervously at the three children who had the power of veto.
Paige was wearing the medallion. She could feel it tingling, and knew that they were now supposed to return home. But she was not quite ready to do that. Even though she had a good feeling about the Meadowbrooks, she wanted to be sure.
“Could we visit too, just to see how things are going?” she asked.
“Of course,” said Mrs. Meadowbrook. “We’ll have someone come for you.”
“That won’t be necessary,” said Mr. Hargrove. “I’ll bring them to you. I have to go out your way at the end of the week anyway.”
“Really? Well, thank you.”
“Do you have to start off immediately, or could you stay for some tea?” asked Mrs. Hargrove.
“That would be lovely. But I think my husband would like to get going directly after, so we can do at least part of the journey in daylight.”
The children’s Barnardo trunks were brought downstairs while everyone was having tea and cakes. Hetty, Pip, and Jane did not eat much. Later, as they were driving off, Paige wondered if Hetty’s sudden shiver might be due to as much to apprehension as a sudden drop in temperature.
Two days later, it was even colder. Mrs. Bathurst made everyone wrap up warmly before setting out to check on Hetty and Pip.
“Why are you taking their luggage?” she asked Mr. Hargrove, who had placed their valises in the back of his carriage. “They were not invited to stay overnight.”
“Young Jack said their godfather’s business associate lives out near the Meadowbrooks. They thought they should go on to him today, to save me making another journey.”
“That’s right,” Jack confirmed. “And he’ll see to everything from here on in, so you won’t have to bother about us after today, Mrs. Bathurst.”
“Hmph, well, you weren’t very much bother. I might even miss you. Good-bye,” she added as they scrambled into their seats.
“Good-bye,” they all chorused.
It took a couple of hours to reach the Meadowbrooks’ small community.
About halfway, Dane spotted an eagle. “Look. A golden eagle, just like the Meadowbrooks said they saw. Maybe it is a good omen.”
The Meadowbrooks lived on the far side of town, but Mr. Hargrove didn’t have to go any farther than the main street to find them. The couple was standing outside a small store with Hetty and Pip, and Dr. Meadowbrook hailed Mr. Hargrove as soon as he saw the carriage.
Both Hetty and Pip were smartly dressed. Except for Hetty’s hat, they were wearing clothes the others had not seen before. The hat was the one Old Rosie had made for her, and she now obviously felt much safer than she had on the streets of London, for she had her Keeper brooch pinned to the front of it.
“Well, this is lucky,” Dr. Meadowbrook said, as Paige, Dane, and Jack climbed down. “We were expecting you today, Mr. Hargrove, but thought we might have time to come into town before you arrived. My wife doesn’t think the children have quite enough of everything yet. We shop daily—whether from necessity, or merely to be sure that all her friends get to meet them.”
Mr. Hargrove laughed. “My wife doesn’t get about too much at this time of year. She hasn’t introduced our Lizzie to many people yet. Maybe by the time she does, Lizzie’ll like us a bit better. She seems to be having trouble settling in.”
While the grown-ups were talking, the children moved to one side to have their own conversation.
“So, how’s it going, Hetty? Do you like it here? Aside from the arctic temperature, of course,” Jack added, clapping his mitten-clad hands together.
“Yeah, well, they been telling us it gets downright blistering in summer, but I don’t know as I believes that. Guess we’ll find out.”
“We got horses,” Pip informed them. “Their names is Sampson and Sadie. When I gets my pony, I’m gonna call him Malachi. Papa knows a bloke what has nothing but horses and ponies on his farm.”
Paige raised her eyebrows. “Papa? And Mama, too, I suppose.”
“They wants us to call ’em that. Said they always wanted kids. It just didn’t happen. They’re right chuffed about getting us. And I shouldn’t think our own mum and dad’d be that bothered about it.”
Hetty tried to sound off-hand, but Paige got the idea she was secretly pleased.
“So, everything’s okay with you, then?” she prodded.
“Yeah. They seem to be good ’uns. Besides, we got mates here.”
Dane looked surprised. “You’ve made some friends already? Where? At school?”
“Nah, we’s not gonna be starting that ’til after Christmas. And we didn’t have to make friends. That Mrs. Hutchins’s sister’s married to the minister here. We went to visit ’em yesterday and, well, we could scarce believe it. That boy what they adopted—it’s Nolly. Minnow’s around here somewheres too. Noll saw him a week or two back.”
“That’s great,” Dane enthused.
“And they’re happy?” Paige inquired.
“Nolly is. And he says Minnow is.”
At that point, Mr. Hargrove said he had to be on his way and swung their luggage down from the carriage. As soon as he had moved off, the group went into a store selling hats and gloves. It was run by a woman called Mrs. Fairfax who immediately came out from behind the counter and hurried over to greet them.
“Hello, Alice. I thought you’d be by today.”
“Hello, Martha. I like you to meet Hetty and Pip.”
“Oh, what a handsome little pair.” Mrs. Fairfax held out her hand to first Hetty, and then Pip. “And that’s a lovely hat you’re wearing, Hetty. Definitely a cut above what I have people making for me.”
“Martha was away putting in orders for her spring l
ine when I first brought you home,” Mrs. Meadowbrook told Hetty and Pip. “Otherwise, she’d have been the first person I showed you off to. She’s a very dear friend.”
“With a very fat cat,” said Dr. Meadowbrook, as an enormous ginger cat sauntered up to Dane and began to rub around his legs. “Good Lord, woman, when are you going to stop overfeeding that animal?”
Mrs. Fairfax denied the accusation. “I don’t. Rosie just has a healthy appetite.”
“Rosie?” Pip spoke softly. Then his face crumpled. Dropping Mrs. Fairfax’s hand, he turned and hid his face against Hetty.
“Oh, dear. Whatever’s wrong?” cried Mrs. Fairfax, as Mrs. Meadowbrook bent down to him.
“Nothing,” said Hetty. “It’s just the name. The cat’s name. It’s set him to thinking about our Old Rosie. This here hat what you was admiring is a Rosie Original. Old Rosie’s a dab hand at hats. She just trims ’em now, but when she were young, she made ’em from scratch.”
“Who’s Old Rosie?” asked Mrs. Meadowbrook.
“Our auntie. We lived with her, off and on. We really misses her. That’s why Pip…well, hearing the name again sort of…sort of reminded him about how far away she is.”
Suddenly, she looked as sad as Pip. Distressed, Mrs. Meadowbrook reached out and squeezed her arm. “Oh, Hetty, I’m sorry. We didn’t know you had anyone back in the old country.”
“Don’t, ’cepting for Old Rosie. She looked after us best she could. None of what happened were her fault.”
“I can see you’re very fond of her.”
“I’d say she was very fond of them, too, giving her such a beautiful hat.” Mrs. Fairfax touched it appreciatively. “You say she made it herself? And others like it?”
“Yeah. It were years back, but she still knows how.”
“And could therefore teach others,” mused Mrs. Meadowbrook. “She could, couldn’t she, Martha?”
“Yes. Yes, I would think so.”
