Fear Has Long Fingers

by Jeanette Taylor Ford

  The lad smiled and Linda’s heart lifted. She and Simon smiled at each other over the boy’s head.

  “Right,” she said briskly. “Back to the ward with you, my lad. I have other people to help you know – you’re not my only patient!”

  Harry looked up and grinned.

  “I know, but I’m your favourite.”

  Linda took a playful swipe at the top of his head, wafting a lock of his hair in the breeze it caused.

  “Cheeky! Get off with you!”

  Simon steered the wheelchair out of the room and Harry gave a salute as he left. Linda gazed thoughtfully at the door as it swung shut. She sat down at her computer in the corner of the room and updated Harry’s progress as she had a few minutes before Simon would return with her next patient.

  *********

  When Harry arrived on the ward, he had a visitor waiting. It was Lucy. She smiled widely when she saw him being pushed into his bed area by Simon.

  “Lucy!” His young heart missed a beat. He hoped she’d never realise he had a crush on her.

  “Hello there, young man. They told me you’d be back shortly, so I waited.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  Seeing Lucy always made Harry feel happy. Beside his family, Linda and Lucy were the two people to whom he had become attached. Lucy had been to see him several times since the visit where he’d cried in her arms. He had confided in her that he wanted to surprise his parents by learning to walk by Christmas and he reported his progress on every visit.

  “Simon, this is Lucy, my friend.”

  Simon nodded and smiled, then turned to Harry.

  “Do you want to get back into bed, or stay in the wheelchair a while?”

  “Oh, in the chair, I think. In fact, perhaps we could go into the day room?”

  “Oh yes. About turn!”

  Simon deftly manoeuvred the wheelchair around and headed out of the area again and Lucy followed. It only took a few minutes to reach the room set aside for patients and visitors. Seating herself comfortably in a chair, Lucy looked at Harry and grinned.

  “This is a good time to visit you with your mum busy at the nursery. Dad and Granddad are watching John.”

  “I wish I could meet John, I’d love to see him.”

  Lucy fished her phone out of her pocket and brought up a photo of John that she’d taken a couple of days ago. She handed it to Harry, who looked at it carefully.

  “He’s a cute lad. Bet he’s full of fun.”

  “He certainly is, he’s become a ‘terrible two’! He’s on the go all the time. I’m always thankful if he takes a nap but he doesn’t often do that now. Dad is good with him though, he’ll keep him out of mischief until I get back. He doesn’t mind. Usually, Sheila will look after him but the nursery is so busy now, with Christmas close, she has to be there all the time.”

  “I’m glad Mum has the nursery shop. She loves to be busy and it’s so much easier for me to exercise without her coming in every afternoon. I won’t be able to surprise them at Christmas by walking, though. I can still barely move my legs.”

  He looked down at his lap, the blackness closing in around him again. How could he live like this, being unable to walk, do his running? What point was there to life? He felt useless and wished he’d died in the river that day.

  Then a hand crept into his, and he looked up to see Lucy sitting on the edge of her chair so she could reach him and see into his eyes.

  “Harry, try not to despair. I’m certain you are going to do it.”

  “Not on my own though,” he said, bitterly.

  “Maybe not yet, but you will. And you will walk again, I know it, I feel it in here.” She put her hand to her heart. He couldn’t help smiling. He wanted so badly to believe her but really, how could she know? But somehow her words soothed him and, as he felt the pressure of her hand on his, it was almost as if power passed through her to him and he felt better. He couldn’t explain how or why, he just did.

  “Linda was talking about me going home for Christmas.”

  “Well, that’s wonderful news. I’m sure your parents will be so happy.”

  “I don’t see how I can though. There won’t be room in the bungalow for me, we would never manage.”

  Lucy sat back in the chair, frowning. She leaned forward.

  “Give me time to think about it. I’m sure something can be worked out.” She looked at her watch. “Oh dear, I’m afraid I must go, I’ve already been gone longer than I told Dad.”

  She stood up, buttoned her coat and picked up her handbag. She touched Harry on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of things my end. You just keep working. I’m sure by next Christmas you’ll be able to look back on this and wonder that it ever happened.”

  “I’m not sure about that, Luce.”

  “My Aunt Bea used to say that everything happens for a reason and sometimes things happen in order to teach us something. There is always a point to life, whatever your situation and there are lots of people who don’t let a disability put them off living life to the full.”

  Harry nodded; he knew she was right but it was so easy to be discouraged. He watched her walk out of the room and when she turned around and gave a little wave, he waggled his fingers at her. Once she’s disappeared, he stayed where he was. He had a lot to think about.

  Chapter 11

  Naturally enough, Lucy told Kenny that evening about the plans to allow Harry to come home over the Christmas period.

  “But I just can’t see how. Another person won’t fit into the bungalow. It’s perfect for his parents and sister but no more than that. He’ll need certain facilities which the bungalow doesn’t have, even if there was a bedroom for him, which there isn’t, as you know.”

  “You’re quite right, of course. But if I know anything about you, you’ll find a way. Why not sleep on it? You never know, perhaps Aunt Bea might give you the solution during the night.”

  Lucy nodded, thoughtfully. “That’s a good suggestion, darling.”

  Aunt Bea was Lucy’s aunt who had left her River View farmhouse in her will. Although she was dead, it was obvious she wasn’t far away, for often she gave Lucy the solution to a problem or a hint as to something she should do. Kenny’s suggestion was a good one, Lucy felt, and so she was happy to go to bed early. She needed it anyway because these days her pregnancy meant that she felt worn out by the evening.

  Lucy didn’t know what woke her at first. Then she realised that the curtains were not closed properly and the moon shone brightly through the opening. The moonlight gave the homely room a mysterious appearance, the furniture hints of dark shapes in the dim light. Kenny lay, sound asleep, beside her. There seemed to be a stirring in the air, in spite of the window being closed against the cold of the December night.

  “Aunt Bea?” whispered Lucy. Although she stared intently into the barely-lit air, she saw nothing.

  Into her mind came one word: ‘Cessy’.

  Cessy? Lucy frowned. Had she heard right? Then,

  ‘Talk to Cessy.’

  Lucy settled down again in her bed. As she did so, Kenny’s arm came around her. She snuggled into him. Yes, Aunt Bea was right, she needed to talk to Cessy. With that thought, Lucy allowed sleep to claim her again.

  **********

  “Hello, Lucy, hello there, young John.”

  The smiling face of Cecelia Milton appeared upon the opening of the impressive door of Sutton Court. Cecelia, known to everyone as Cessy, the matron and co-owner, along with her husband, Neil, of the Residential and nursing home in the village of Sutton-on-Wye, opened the door wider.

  “Come on in, quickly. Let’s keep the cold out.”

  Not long later, they were in Cessy and Neil’s private sitting room, with John playing happily with toys Cessy kept for visiting children.

  Tea and biscuits had been brought but John was busy with the toys and wasn’t interested. The two women had a chance to chat for a while, bringing each other up to date with the do
ings of their respective families. Cessy and Neil had two daughters; Penny was a nurse and Sophie a chef and their parents, quite rightly, were proud of them but of course missed them.

  Once they had exhausted all other news, Cessy said, “Now, Lucy, what did you want to talk with me about?”

  Lucy didn’t question how the older woman knew she wanted something.

  “You remember the boy Kenny pulled out of the river back in August?”

  “Yes of course - Harry.”

  “Well, I was wondering if you could help us with a problem .” Lucy outlined what that was. Cessy caught on quickly.

  “He can come here,” she said. “It won’t exactly be home with his family but they can spend as much time as they like here. My staff are all qualified to help someone like him and he can be wherever he likes, do what he likes. It’ll be better than spending Christmas in hospital and will give his parents time to decide what to do. I suspect they will have to find somewhere else to live, or return to Manchester. Perhaps we’d better ask them all what they think about it.”

  “Thank you, Cessy. I’m sure it will mean a lot to them to have him close. Much easier than trying to get to the hospital all the time and more comfortable too.”

  “His family always visits him in the evening, don’t they? I’ll pop along tonight and have a chat with them all.”

  “That’s wonderful. You’re wonderful. Are you sure you have room?”

  “Oh yes, that’s no problem. I have a lovely room that became available only a few days ago. It’s a big room too, overlooking the front garden and river. He’ll like it, I’m sure.”

  When Lucy left Sutton Court a while later, she felt happy that it looked like another problem might have been solved.

  **********

  Cessy was as good as her word. When she arrived at Harry’s ward, his family were surprised to see her come in. They had been discussing how to manage if Harry came home over Christmas but, no matter how they talked, they couldn’t see how it could happen. Harry knew he was going to have to stay in hospital.

  “Hello there, everyone. I’m Cecelia Milton. I’ve seen you at Baxter’s, I believe, Mrs Thompson? And I’ve visited young Harry here before. Hello, Harry.”

  “Hi Cessy. You don’t usually visit me in the evenings. The doctors say I can come home for Christmas but I’ll have to stay here because there’s no room for me.”

  “It sounds like I’ve come just at the right time then. I came this evening because I wanted to talk with all of you. I would like to invite Harry to stay at Sutton Court for the holiday period. It wouldn’t be coming home, exactly, but you would at least be in the village, Harry, and your family can spend as much time as they like with you without being restricted to visiting hours.”

  She looked around at their faces and could see the expressions of wonder. She went on hurriedly,

  “I have a beautiful, large room empty that you could have, Harry. It’s a ‘home from home,’ a bed-sitting room with a settee and a television – and a gorgeous view over the river. Of course, you wouldn’t have young people around you, except for some of the carers, which you might not like but many of my elderly residents are quite fun. And you wouldn’t have to be with them if you don’t want to. We have quite a good time over Christmas with a party and all sorts of other things going on if you want to join in.”

  Harry’s face glowed and was about to speak when his mother said,

  “Oh, but we couldn’t! We can’t afford for Harry to be in Sutton Court, it must be very expensive. Thank you, Mrs Milton, but Harry will stay here.”

  Harry’s head went down. Cessy couldn’t bear it. The poor lad had already been through so much.

  “It won’t cost anything, Mrs Thompson. Harry will be my guest. We’ve become friends, haven’t we Harry? I’d like to give him this, as a gift. The room is free, I have staff who can provide all Harry’s needs and he’ll have the freedom to be wherever he wants. Too cold outside, of course, otherwise he could be out too. And you can be there for the meals or whenever you like. What do you say, Harry? Would you like to come?”

  Cessy deliberately focussed on Harry, giving his mother no chance to butt in.

  “Oh, yes please, Cessy, I’d love to come. Please say I can, Mum? Dad? It will be so good to be out of this hospital at last.”

  “What do you think, George?” Netta turned to her husband, who, up to then, had kept pretty much out of things.

  “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Thank you, Mrs Milton, thank you.”

  “Do call me Cessy, everyone does! Mrs Milton sounds so stuffy and we are all friends in the village.”

  “How did you know about the problem?” Rowena spoke for the first time.

  It was Harry who answered: “It was Lucy, wasn’t it, Cessy?”

  “Got it in one, young man!”

  Everyone laughed. Rowena and Harry immediately put their heads together and started talking excitedly.

  “What if they won’t let him?” asked Netta. “I can see he’s set on coming to you.”

  “Don’t worry about that. They know me here and I’ve had many patients come to Sutton Court for recuperation or rehabilitation. I’ll deal with it, it’ll be fine.”

  “How can we ever thank you?”

  “No need. I’m very happy to be able to do something for Harry. I’ll say goodnight now and let you get on with your visit. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks, Harry. Goodbye all.”

  Chapter 12

  Cessy arranged everything with the hospital and, two days before Christmas, Harry found himself in one of Sutton Court’s special vehicles, heading out of the city of Hereford. He looked out of the windows with pleasure as the car made its way slowly out of the city and up the Whitecross Road, then Kings Acre Road (he took careful notice of the road names) The Kings Acre road was lined with trees, their branches bare but standing proudly like sentinels along the route. He remembered this road from their holiday. He recalled thinking how beautiful the trees were; he’d never seen a road like that before.

  The road forked by a garage-like place that was called ‘Kings Acre Halt’ but they went straight on. Minutes later, they were in the country and before long they turned left at a junction where the signpost said ‘Sutton-on-Wye’ and he knew they were very near to their destination. Upon arriving in the village, he saw a village green with the conventional village duckpond on his left and on his right a building that said ‘Sutton-on-Wye Village Hall’. Here, the road formed a T-junction and they turned right. He saw Baxter’s Nurseries and a few yards beyond that was a lane and then they came upon a drive with large, wrought-iron gates, which swung open with barely a squeak. Shortly after, the car stopped and Harry was helped out by Peter. Inside the great, white mansion, Cessy was waiting to greet him and beside her stood a man.

  “Harry, you’re here at last. Welcome to Sutton Court. This is my husband, Neil.”

  “Hello there, Harry. Welcome,” said Neil, smiling and shaking hands with the boy.

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  “Now, we’ll take you for a quick tour down here then take you up to see your room.”

  Harry wasn’t able to walk that far, so they sat him in a wheelchair for the tour.

  Harry was very impressed. He was shown into room after room which were all very grand. Elderly folk were playing board games, or listening to music or watching television. Some of them waved when they saw him and someone even called out ‘Hello Harry’. Everyone seemed happy, contrary to what he’d heard about old people’s homes. They didn’t look like they were just ‘waiting for God’.

  Once he’d seen downstairs, they went up in a lift to his room. He was stunned, the room was gorgeous. He’d never stayed in such a place, it was like a five-star hotel. He got up from the wheelchair and, on his crutches, moved over to the large window and looked out. The view was beautiful, even in the starkness of winter. And there was the river where it had all happened.

  Cessy suddenly realised what she had inadvert
ently done. She stepped forward.

  “Oh Harry, I’m so sorry, I never thought. Let me put you in another room. I’m sure someone wouldn’t mind moving for a few nights….”

  “No. No, don’t worry, Cessy.” Harry turned from the window. “I don’t have to look at it. I’ve never slept in such a lovely room. I’ll be fine in here, honestly.”

  He looked earnestly at her.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to make you feel bad.”

  “Honestly,” he repeated. “I like it. There’s lots of room for me and my family, much more comfortable than being in hospital. Anyway, I’ll probably be downstairs a lot.”

  She put a hand on his shoulder.

  “The days will pass quickly, especially with everything going on. I’m sure having you here will please our other residents, they love having young folk around. Now, I’ll leave you with Peter to help you get sorted, then he can bring you down.”

  “Thank you, Cessy. I really am very grateful.”

  “I know,” she smiled. He watched her go out of the room and then turned his attention to Peter.

  Later, Peter brought Harry down, and took him into one of the lounges, where he was greeted by quite a few elderly people.

  “Hey, young man! Can you play chess?” This was from a man who reminded Harry of a mad professor – he had a shock of white hair and round glasses perched on a nose that looked as if it had once been broken.

  “Yes. I enjoy it.”

  “Would you like a game?”

  “Very much – erm?”

  “Harry, this is Jack,” said Peter.

  “Hello Jack, I’m Harry.” He grinned at Jack the Mad Professor. “Where’s this game then?”

  Jack rubbed his hands with glee as Peter brought the chess set to a small table. The pair were soon engrossed in their game and Harry knew he was going to enjoy his sojourn at Sutton Court.

  **********

  When his family came to visit, after their evening meal, they looked at the place in wonder. Like Harry, they had never seen such a grand house with its wide, sweeping staircase in the central hallway and the large, elegant rooms.