The Boy With the Latchkey

by Cathy Sharp

  ‘That’s the bell for supper,’ Keith said. ‘We have breakfast, tea and supper here, but we don’t come back for lunch because it’s too far to walk from school. We’re on the outskirts here and that means we need a bus if we want to go into the flicks or the youth club.’

  ‘It’s different to St Saviour’s,’ Archie said. ‘We didn’t need a bell there, we just knew when supper was and went down if we were hungry.’

  ‘I didn’t come from St Saviour’s,’ Keith said. ‘I’ve heard some of the kids say they liked it more – but this is no worse than where I was … except for Smithy …’

  Archie nodded. He wasn’t hungry but Keith and Harry Wade were obviously going down so he might as well tag along. He vaguely remembered being told where the dining room was but he couldn’t be certain. Following the stream of children moving towards the ground floor, girls mixing with the boys as they reached the stairs, giggling, pushing and arguing, Archie felt out of it. He would just as soon have stayed up in the dormitory but he knew he had to find June. If his sister was feeling as bad as he did, she would be either sulking or crying.

  He filed into the dining room, looking round all the tables with blue and white Formica tops, where condiments were set waiting; several children were sitting on light-coloured wooden chairs, with seats that matched the table tops, but June wasn’t one of the first to arrive. At least here the routine was the same. Everyone helped themselves from the food set out on a long table and then took it to sit with friends. Archie selected a slice of bread and butter and a spoonful of strawberry jam. He looked for scones or slices of cake, but instead there were individual jam tarts or small dishes of cold rice pudding and tinned apricots. That was another bad mark against this place, Archie thought. He didn’t think the supper looked as good as it did at St Saviour’s; the food there was more like his mum cooked.

  ‘Sit with us,’ Keith invited so Archie did as he suggested. He ate his bread and jam but hadn’t bothered with the rice pudding or the jam tarts. His cocoa was all right though and he drank it with relish, constantly looking for June to enter the room. She didn’t come and, after a while, Archie left his place and went to speak to one of the St Saviour’s girls who had come down in the car with his sister.

  ‘Have you seen June, Lucy?’ he asked. ‘Is she upstairs sulking?’

  ‘June didn’t come with us,’ the girl said. ‘Sister Beatrice brought a woman to her and she took her off in a car. I watched out of the window and June didn’t want to go …’

  ‘What do you mean, this woman took her off?’ Archie felt chilled. ‘Sister Beatrice told me June was coming in the car with you.’

  ‘We thought so too but then the woman came and took her away …’

  The girl next to Lucy swallowed a mouthful of bread and jam and said, ‘I know who the woman was – she’s Miss Sampson from the council. She took a kid down our lane away once and her mother tried to stop her but the police restrained her. She was cryin’ and the kid was screamin’, but they still took her …’

  Archie felt the rage building inside. He could hardly believe what he was hearing was true, because Sister Beatrice had promised him June was coming by car and would join him at Halfpenny House. If he’d known what they were planning, he would never have come here!

  That was it, of course. They’d deliberately deceived him, lied to him so that he would do as he was told without making a fuss. If he’d guessed what they meant to do he would’ve taken June and run away. Archie wasn’t sure how they would’ve lived, but perhaps Ted Hastings might have helped; Archie could’ve left school and worked on the market, even though he wasn’t old enough to leave school … but now his sister had been stolen from him. There was no other word for it! His rage was near to boiling point. He was going to ask that man who’d driven them here how to get to the station, because he needed to get back to London immediately. He had to force Sister Beatrice to tell him where June was and then he would just go there and fetch her back again.

  He saw Mr Smith leaving the dining room and went after him. Catching up with him on the stairs, he grabbed his arm, causing him to turn round and frown at him.

  ‘You’re one of the new boys, aren’t you? You must learn some discipline, lad. You do not attack the carers just to attract attention.’

  ‘I’ve got to get back to London right now,’ Archie said. ‘My sister has been kidnapped and I have to get her back or Mum will kill me.’

  ‘Calm down, lad,’ Gerald said, seeming unperturbed. ‘I think it very unlikely that your sister has been kidnapped – first of all, who are you?’

  ‘Archie Miller. My sister June was supposed to come down with the girls. Sister Beatrice lied to me and now that woman from the council has got June and I have to go after her.’

  ‘Ah, I get you now,’ Gerald said and shook his head sorrowfully. ‘Been getting into a bit of trouble, had she? Yes, well, I know it’s upsetting for you, Archie, but no doubt they will let her write to you in time and she’ll be much better off with a new family …’

  ‘No, she won’t. You don’t know my sister. Please, Mr Smith, can you take me to the station and buy me a ticket back home? I’ll pay you back as soon as I can. I promise.’

  ‘No, certainly not. St Saviour’s cannot keep you indefinitely, lad. It is only intended as a receiving centre these days. You have to make a new life here – and besides, your sister will be a ward of court and you wouldn’t be allowed to take her from the family that has fostered her.’

  ‘You don’t understand. June will be cryin’ and screamin’ and I promised her I would look after her. I have to go back and find her, I have to!’ Archie was desperate. Why wouldn’t this man listen to him? It seemed as if the whole world had turned against him and his family, and he was burning with the injustice of it all.

  ‘I know it seems desperate now,’ Gerald said in a manner that was meant to be calming, but Archie found infuriating. Didn’t he understand that June wouldn’t be able to bear this further upset? If Mum discovered what had happened she would blame him for not taking better care of his sister!

  ‘Please help me, sir. I’ll earn the money and send it back to you as soon as I can …’ Archie swallowed his pride as he begged, the tears choking him as he fought for understanding.

  ‘I would give you the money for your fare and welcome,’ Gerald said, ‘but it isn’t possible. Now be a sensible lad and accept what has happened. Your sister is much better off with a family and I’m sure she will be fine as soon as she comes to her—’

  ‘Stupid old fool!’ Archie said as the frustration boiled over and he kicked at his ankles. ‘You haven’t understood a word that I’m saying. I’ve got to get June back or Mum will never forgive me …’

  ‘Kicking people’s ankles isn’t going to help you,’ Gerald said and took hold of Archie’s arm firmly, his grip painful as he propelled him along. ‘I can see you need a lesson, my boy. I was a headmaster for twenty years and I don’t believe in allowing boys to run wild. I believe in discipline for troublesome boys and once you understand that we shall get along very well …’

  He began to propel Archie towards the back of the building. ‘Where are you taking me?’ Archie demanded, trying to pull away but unable to break his hold. ‘Let go! I have to go back to St Saviour’s and find June …’

  ‘You’ll feel differently in a while,’ Gerald said, opening a door and thrusting Archie inside. ‘You can cool your heels for an hour or two and then we’ll see if you’ve learned your lesson … if not we’ll see if you like a taste of the cane …’

  Archie blinked in the sudden darkness. There was no light in here at all and he realised it was some sort of cupboard. He pushed at the door but there was no handle and it wouldn’t give. He was locked in this dark hole as a punishment and for a moment he panicked, screaming and kicking against the door. No one answered and he realised that Gerald Smith had just gone off and left him here.

  When the screaming fit wore off, Archie sat down on a box
and tried to make out shapes in the darkness. He thought it was a store cupboard and big enough so that he could move about, but it was stuffy and he felt hot and for a few moments he was frightened. Supposing that rotten devil just left him here? Supposing no one found him until he’d died of thirst and starvation?

  Common sense reasserted itself. Mr Smith just wanted to scare him. He wasn’t the sort that would actually try to kill a child. No, he would come back and expect to find Archie remorseful and apologetic. His anger was cooling, but it wasn’t going away; instead it had formed into an icy knot in his chest. He would apologise and pretend to accept what he was told, but he was going to leave this hateful place and he would find June. He didn’t care how long it took him, he would find her, Archie vowed – and he’d get even with that Sister Beatrice for lying to him. He’d thought she was all right, but she was an evil woman and she’d conspired with that Miss Sampson to steal June from her family …

  CHAPTER 8

  ‘I’m going along to help the driver and make sure the kids are kept in order,’ Billy told Mary Ellen that Friday evening. ‘It’s what I always promised we’d do, though I’d hoped to have a little car of my own before this …’

  ‘Come with you and a party of St Saviour’s kids to Southend?’ Mary Ellen’s eyes sparkled with excitement. ‘I’d really love that, Billy. It’s just like the trips we went on years ago, before Angela left and they changed things …’

  ‘Some of the kids are from the preparatory school. There will be three teachers, Nancy and Tilly, as well as us so it should be a lot of fun. I managed to get the last seat for you. You will come, won’t you?’

  ‘Try keeping me away,’ she said and laughed up at him. ‘I think I deserve a treat after all the hard work we’re doing, at the workshop and at night school. I thought I was good at English, Billy, but you should see the list of books Mr Harvey has said I need to read if I’m going to have a hope of passing my exams.’

  ‘Textbooks are expensive. How will you find the money?’

  ‘Mr Harvey said most of them are available through the library and he has some I can borrow. Getting hold of them isn’t the problem; I’m not sure when I’ll ever have the time to read them …’

  ‘You will if you really want to,’ Billy said, hiding his doubts. He was sure Mary Ellen was up to the task, but he didn’t much like the idea of her being stuck at home reading every night, because that meant he wouldn’t see her so often. ‘It’s what you want, Ellie love, so don’t give up at the first hurdle.’

  ‘I wish there was somewhere we could be together,’ she said wistfully. ‘If we had our own place I could sit and study until supper and then we’d share our bedtime cocoa and a biscuit …’

  Billy placed a comforting arm about her shoulders. ‘We will one day, I promise. This studying to be a teacher is going to take years. Before then I’ll have earned enough money to pay for a flat or maybe a small house where we can be together.’

  ‘Rose still wouldn’t let us get married and it’s ages until I’m twenty-one …’ Mary Ellen frowned. ‘She’s been in an odd mood lately. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. One minute she’s rushing around, singing and in a hurry to go off and meet someone, and the next she’s miserable, walking around as if she had all the troubles of the world on her shoulders.’

  ‘She’s got man trouble,’ Billy said. ‘Why don’t you ask her what the matter is?’

  ‘I wouldn’t dare. She bites my head off every time I speak these days.’

  ‘Don’t let her upset you. She can’t prevent us getting together in the end.’

  ‘I know …’ Mary Ellen’s smile was back in an instant. ‘I’m really looking forward to the trip to Southend, Billy. I’m so glad you got me a ticket on the coach.’

  ‘It’s going to be lovely,’ Billy promised and drew her into his arms for a kiss.

  Billy had been right, Mary Ellen thought on the bus travelling home at the end of a day filled with sunshine and fun. She’d enjoyed herself from the moment she helped shepherd the excited children on to the coach, sharing out white cardboard boxes of packed lunches. Everyone had the same, including Billy, the driver and Mary Ellen. Inside were a sausage roll, cheese-and-tomato sandwiches, a jam tart, a few grapes and a two-finger chocolate biscuit, also a small bottle of lemonade each for the children and flasks of tea for the adults.

  Mary Ellen thought she would have preferred the lemonade, because tea out of a flask always had an odd taste, but Billy had brought some orange squash in a bottle and she had a drink of that before the rest of it disappeared down the throats of thirsty kids.

  On arrival at Southend the driver had taken them to the seafront before going off to park the coach. Despite the packed lunch everyone was hungry and they all lined up to eat fish and chips from newspaper as they trooped down to the sands. Once the kids were settled on blankets and towels, and the adults had found striped canvas deckchairs to sit in, Billy had flopped down on the sand beside Mary Ellen and grinned at her.

  ‘This is all right, isn’t it?’

  ‘Lovely,’ she had agreed, squinting into the sun. ‘You should put some calamine lotion on your skin, Billy. With your hair you’ll have the sort that burns and get sore if you’re not careful.’

  Billy took the lotion and smeared it on his arms, neck, forehead and nose. Mary Ellen laughed because it looked as if he’d painted whitish stripes on his face. He grabbed at her and dabbed it on her nose and tried to smear it all over her face, but she got up and ran towards the sea laughing and shrieking, Billy following after.

  Most of the kids were already paddling at the sea edge and Billy pulled off his socks and shoes, joining them and splashing the nearest. That resulted in a fierce battle that ended with Billy getting the worst of it and his clothes becoming soaked. Mary Ellen watched for a bit, paddling just at the edge but staying clear of the kids and her boyfriend, who was acting like a kid again himself.

  She went back to the chairs, dried her feet and sat down to relax in the sun, enjoying the feeling of having nothing to do for once. The workshops had been at it flat out for weeks, and trying to fit in her studies at the same time was tiring. This had been a wonderful idea of Billy’s.

  Billy returned after a while and took off his soaking wet shirt and trousers, revealing his swimming trunks underneath. Mary Ellen made him turn round so that she could spread calamine over his back.

  ‘Your clothes will be stiff with salt when you put them on,’ she said but he just laughed and lay back in his chair enjoying the warm sunshine.

  Later on that afternoon, they’d taken the children for a tea of tomatoes on toast or toasted teacakes, soft drinks and a pot of tea for the adults. Nancy had sat next to Mary Ellen and they’d talked like old friends, which they were because they’d met when Nancy first arrived at St Saviour’s as an orphan herself.

  ‘You and Billy get on well, don’t you?’ Nancy had asked.

  ‘We always have, even before we went to St Saviour’s. I was miserable at first there and so was Billy underneath, but he told me we’d stick together and we always have.’

  ‘Will you marry him?’

  ‘Rose is against it, but yes, we’ll marry one day. I’m trying to pass the exams I should’ve taken at school, but it is hard work with a job to do and other things …’ Mary Ellen sighed. ‘I’ll just have to keep at it until I get there …’

  ‘I wish I felt as confident as you,’ Nancy had told her. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever have a boyfriend or get married …’

  ‘’Course you will, if you want,’ Mary Ellen had said. ‘You just haven’t met the right person yet.’

  Nancy had shaken her head and turned her attention to her tomatoes on toast. She’d looked so sad that Mary Ellen wondered what was wrong. What was the secret grief that made her so sure she would never find anyone to love? Mary Ellen remembered that Nancy’s brother had been in lots of trouble when they first came to St Saviour’s; he was mentally ill and Nancy visited him regularly, so
perhaps that was why she didn’t want to get involved with anyone – though just because her brother wasn’t as he should be, it didn’t mean any children she had would be the same.

  They were later leaving Southend than had been planned, because the children wanted to go on the pier to buy presents and to try out some of the penny slot machines. The driver didn’t seem to mind, nor did he object when they had to stop on the way home so the kids could go to the toilets. It had been such a lovely day and everyone had enjoyed themselves so it didn’t matter that they were late getting the children back to their homes.

  ‘I’ll see you on Wednesday,’ Billy said as he left her at the door of the flat she shared with her sister after all the kids had been delivered. ‘I enjoyed myself today.’

  ‘It was lovely, really lovely,’ Mary Ellen said and kissed him softly on the lips. ‘You’re a special man, Billy Baggins. I love you very much …’

  ‘And you’re a special woman,’ he responded, hugging her to him just as the door opened and Rose stood there in her dressing gown, her hair in soft curls held by grips under a pink hairnet and a sour look on her face.

  ‘Where the hell do you think you’ve been until this hour?’ she demanded of Mary Ellen. ‘It’s nearly eleven o’clock – don’t tell me you’ve been at the sea until this hour!’

  ‘We were late leaving Southend and the traffic was heavy for a while,’ Mary Ellen said, feeling sick inside as she saw the anger in her sister’s face. Why couldn’t Rose be pleasant for once?

  ‘Get in then,’ Rose muttered and glared at Billy. ‘Haven’t you got to be back at St Saviour’s by a certain hour?’

  ‘Sister Beatrice lets me have a key to the side door,’ he said and grinned at her. ‘Thanks for your concern, Rose. It’s nice to know you care about what happens to me …’

  Rose pushed Mary Ellen inside and slammed the door on him.