Archie's War

by Margi McAllister

  “Carr, heel!” he ordered. “And be quiet! Quiet!”

  Star was agitated now. Maybe there was a smell of battle and blood that upset him. Archie tried to pull him back to the grass verge but Star resisted and barked and a driver glared down at them.

  “Sorry, he’s not usually like this,” muttered Archie and bent to pick Star up, but Star had both front paws against the side of an ambulance. It was as if Archie wasn’t there. There was only Star, and the ambulance that so excited him. Archie tried again to pull him away, but Star held fast.

  “Come here,” he said, and wrapped both arms round Star to lift him away, but with a strong and sudden twist Star leapt free and through the open window. The driver and a nurse grabbed at him but he had already disappeared through the curtain.

  “There are patients in there!” shouted the nurse. She jumped down, ran to the back of the ambulance, and opened the doors. Archie was there before her.

  “Get that filthy animal out of my ambulance!” she snapped. “What’s it doing? Get it off my patient!”

  But to Archie, her voice seemed to come from far away. She was on one side of life and death. He stood with Star on the other.

  In the back of the ambulance was a single stretcher, with a chaplain in uniform sitting beside it. On the stretcher lay a man covered with a grey blanket. Only his face showed, but that face was so wrapped in bandages that there was just enough room for him to breathe and drink. His one visible eye was closed. Star was on his hind legs with his front paws on the stretcher, tail wagging, whimpering a little. The injured man did not move. One arm lay at his side, with something in his hand.

  “Out!” ordered the nurse. The chaplain reached to lift Star away from the stretcher, but Star jumped on to it.

  “Get down!” shouted the nurse.

  “He won’t, miss,” said Archie and found that he was shaking because Star was so utterly absorbed, so intent on the man on the stretcher, that it could mean only one thing. And that thing wasn’t possible. He leaned down to see what was in the injured man’s hand.

  Star turned and sat beside the man on the stretcher. He looked up at Archie and barked.

  “Quiet!” said the nurse. Star ignored her and barked again.

  “Quiet, Star,” said Archie. “Shh, now.”

  The driver leaned round to speak to them.

  “Sort yourselves out back there,” he said, “we’re ready to go.”

  “Out of there, our Archie,” called Will.

  “This is our Master Ted,” said Archie. “Star’s found him.” He turned to the nurse. “This is our Captain Carr. We heard he was dead, but this is him, miss. The dog knows.”

  Will had found his way to the back of the ambulance to see what the fuss was about.

  “Don’t be so daft, our Archie,” he said. “Master Ted got killed. You know that.”

  “Look at Star,” said Archie, forgetting to change Star’s name. It wouldn’t matter anyway, in front of these people who didn’t know about him. “And look at this. They were wrong about Master Ted.”

  He lifted the hand that lay on the grey blanket. The nurse tried to stop him, but the chaplain shook his head at her.

  “It’s a cross,” said the chaplain gently. “He’s been holding on to it all the time.”

  “It isn’t, sir, it’s a sword,” said Archie. He wriggled it free a little. “It’s got his initials on it. Look, sir, for Edward Francis Stephenson Carr. That’s his name.”

  “This man was found with no identification at all,” said the chaplain. “No tags, nothing with his name. Are you sure about this sword? We thought those initials must be a regiment. East-something-something Corps.”

  “I made it for him, sir. And his dog knows him, you can see that.”

  “You could be right, our Archie,” said Will.

  “Does he look like your Master Ted?” asked the chaplain.

  “He doesn’t look much like anyone, sir, not with all those bandages,” said Archie. “But that’s him.” He looked at Star, lying with his paws on the blanket, his eyes bright with joy as he stared at the still face.

  “Well then, your Master Ted is on his way to hospital,” said the chaplain. “They’ll do their very best for him.”

  “He has to go to Fivewells, sir,” said Archie. “It’s near here, it’s his sister’s house, but she’s made it into a hospital. That’s where he has to be.”

  The chaplain and the nurse looked at each other without speaking. The driver looked round again.

  “We’re holding up the whole blooming convoy,” he grumbled. “We could have built him his own nursing home by now.”

  “It’s a proper hospital with doctors and wards and everything,” said Archie.

  “He’s right, it is,” put in Will.

  The chaplain was still looking at the nurse. He spoke softly.

  “I think he could go to his family, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I think so too,” she said, and now she wasn’t snappy at all, only quiet, and Archie heard what they weren’t saying. Master Ted was so badly injured that it wouldn’t matter where he went.

  “Will, get on t’wheels,” he said. “Ride ahead and…”

  “I’m off,” said Will, and for a second Archie thought that Will would just jump on the bicycle and pedal hell for leather to Folkestone and the nearest troop ship, but he could have done that while they were all talking about Master Ted, and he hadn’t. He disappeared round the bend in the road, on the way to Fivewells. As the rest of the convoy headed for London, Archie gave the driver directions to Fivewells then knelt down beside the stretcher.

  “Master Ted,” he said. “Can you hear me? It’s Archie. Archie Sparrow the gardener’s son. You’re going to get well. Your Star found you, it’s like you’ve been given back to us and we’re going to get you better. We’re going to your Julia’s house.”

  He stroked Star. “Well done, you,” he said. “Good boy.”

  By the time they reached Fivewells Lady Dunkeld was waiting outside the house with two nurses and a doctor. The second the ambulance stopped she opened the doors. Her eyes looked puffy and he guessed that she’d been crying, but she took control as if she were a general with a stick under her arm.

  “Ted,” she said firmly, “Ted, it’s Julia. You’re at my house and you’re going to be as right as rain. Nurse, come with us. Have you got his notes? Where’s Will Sparrow? Will, run round to the staff hall, tell them I want my own bed made up for him. Archie, move your dog.”

  Star allowed Archie to lift him down, but he still watched Master Ted. Archie wanted to help with the stretcher, but they didn’t need him.

  “I need to telephone Mother at once,” announced Lady Dunkeld. “And, Archie!”

  “Yes, my lady?”

  “Well done. Good man. We’ll look after him now. Off you go.”

  It seemed to be hours before Archie fell asleep that night. Star scratched and whined at the door until only exhaustion made him sleep.

  “I know, Star,” said Archie softly. “I don’t like being shut out, either. You and me and Master Ted, we should all be in the same place.” He wanted to be with Master Ted, talking to him about Ashlings and willing him to live, putting his hand on Star’s head. “But it’s all down to his family now, not me.”

  Before breakfast, he went to the servants’ hall with Star dashing ahead and Will trailing reluctantly behind them. The kitchenmaid was stirring porridge.

  “Any news of Master Ted?” asked Archie.

  She glanced up and jerked her head towards the staff corridor. “You have to go to Housekeeper’s room,” she said. “The pair of you.”

  The housekeeper in her neat black dress was waiting for them with an anxious little frown on her face. The boys stood with their hands behind their backs like timid schoolboys while Star hunted desperately and whined at the d
oor. The housekeeper gave him a biscuit but he ignored it, scratching at the door and hoping to find Master Ted.

  “Quiet, Carr,” said Archie, but Star was too agitated to take any notice.

  “Lady Dunkeld left very early this morning,” said the housekeeper. “She left instructions about you. Will, she said it was time you saw your family again.”

  In spite of everything, Archie had to look down to hide a grin. Will wasn’t looking forward to facing his family. Star put his paws up on Archie’s knees to tell him to open the door.

  “And Archie,” she went on, “you’ve found your brother, so there’s nothing to keep you here. You are both to go home today. Lady Dunkeld very kindly left money for your train fare.”

  “But please, ma’am,” said Archie, “can’t I stay here with Master Ted?”

  She looked puzzled. “Master Ted? Oh, do you mean Captain Carr? Lady Dunkeld took him with her.” As Archie gawped at her, she went on, “Her Ladyship really is most resourceful, and very determined. They left at first light in one of the ambulance vans. Her Ladyship thinks the poor boy should be at his own home, where his mother is.”

  Archie’s heart leapt with hope. “So has he woken up?”

  “Oh my dear, no,” she said gently. “These are bad times, and we have to prepare for the worst. Your Captain Carr may never wake up. That’s why she was so urgent about getting him back to his mother.”

  The express train was a shining dragon flying them home in clouds of steam. Archie and Will shared the compartment with two soldiers on leave and a woman who knitted all the way from King’s Cross to York. It was a quiet journey, as Will said as little as possible and Star slept most of the way while fields, villages, towns and stations disappeared behind them and Archie looked out of the window saying silent prayers for Master Ted. At last the train steamed and screeched into York and it was time to change to the engine and two carriages that huffed and rambled across the moors to Kirby Moss.

  “We might be in time,” said Archie as the whistle blew. “Master Ted might be all right.”

  Master Ted had to be all right. If he died now, all of them, all the Carr family and everyone at Ashlings would go through that grief again, and how could they bear that? At least if he came round long enough to know that he was home and in his own bed … and if Star could be with him…

  …and Star had to be with him, Archie knew that. He was Master Ted’s dog, and Master Ted needed him more than Archie did. Archie had fed and cared for Star, and they had explored the wilds of Little Keld Wood and the long roads of Kent together, shared food and curled up together for warmth at night. But with all his heart Archie wanted Master Ted to live, and if he lived he must have his dog back. The price of Master Ted’s life was this. Archie would have to part with Star. Somehow, he’d have to bear it.

  The light was fading when they walked through Ashlings village to the Hall and past it to Gardener’s Cottage. There were lights on at the Hall, and the curtains were open.

  “He might still be alive,” said Archie. “We could go and ask.”

  “Do you have to go on about that now?” snapped Will, and Archie realized that he and Will had been in different worlds all day. All he could think of was Master Ted and Star. For Will there were Dad and Ma and Lady Hazelgrove to be faced, and Archie knew now that he must be dreading it. He must have faced sergeant majors often enough, but now he was bracing himself to meet his own family. For the first time, Archie wondered what Ma would say to Will.

  The door was unlocked. They stood in the kitchen doorway with their caps in their hands. Ma was folding the washing.

  “Hang your coats up,” she said without looking up. Star ran to greet her, and Dad slowly folded the newspaper he was reading.

  Ma bent to stroke Star, and looked at them as she stood up. From her face Archie couldn’t tell if she wanted to hug Will or hit him, and then he realized that she didn’t know either. Jenn, in her nightie, was leaning over the banister to watch. The awkward silence was making Archie’s toes curl but Will spoke at last.

  “Sorry, Ma. Sorry Dad. I did try to tell you. I wrote. I didn’t want you to worry.”

  With a shake of her head and a cry of “What am I to do with you?” Ma strode across the floor, hugged Will tightly for a second, then held him at arm’s length and slapped the top of his head.

  “I should wallop you,” she said, but she didn’t. And Dad looked past her at Archie, gave the slightest nod of his head, and said quietly, “Nice work, son.”

  Archie nodded back. Nothing more was needed.

  “Sit down, lads, while your ma makes a brew,” said Dad. “Will, you and me will have a talk int’ morning. Our Archie, Her Ladyship sent a message for you. You’re to go to the Hall tomorrow morning sharpish, she wants to see you.”

  “Any news of Master Ted?”

  “The word is he opened his eyes once or twice, just a bit, and shut them again. He’s still with us.” Then he took Archie firmly by the shoulders and spoke in a way that Archie had never heard from him before, as if he were afraid of crying.

  “You got him home, son. You got our Master Ted back to his own.”

  “It was Star that found him,” said Archie, and bent to bury his face in Star’s fur.

  Star still wanted to find Ted, but for the moment he was content to be in a place he knew and liked. He had found Ted and would find him again and wake him up. Meanwhile his water dish was where it should be, and there was a bit of soggy toast on the floor that Flora had dropped. The room smelt of Archie and Ma and Dad, Jenn and milky puppy Flora. It was an Ashlings place. It would do for now.

  In the morning Archie left Star at Gardener’s Cottage and went to the Hall. Lady Hazelgrove’s eyes looked pink and wet and she looked about to cry all the time, so that he felt awkward and didn’t know where to look. Lord Hazelgrove had come home when the news about Master Ted had reached him, and he and Lady Hazelgrove sat straight-backed in their armchairs asking Archie for every detail of what had happened when he found Master Ted. He told it as well as he could while leaving Star out of it for now. If Ted lived Lady Hazelgrove would have to know that he and Dad had disobeyed her orders and kept Star, but he wasn’t ready to talk about that yet. Connel came to sniff curiously at him but Lady Hazelgrove called her back and she lay elegantly at Her Ladyship’s feet while Brier and Sherlock sprawled beside His Lordship. Lord Hazelgrove looked much older than he had before he went away to train soldiers but they both looked kindly at him, so kindly that he dared to ask for what he wanted so much.

  “Please, my lady, my lord,” he said, “please, may I see Master Ted?”

  “It would only be right,” said Lady Hazelgrove. “Come with me.”

  He wished he’d remembered to put his Sunday boots on. It felt wrong to walk up that grand wide Cinderella staircase in his gardening boots and there were so many doors he wondered how the Carrs ever managed to find their own bedrooms, but at last Lady Hazelgrove stopped and opened a door. He turned his head away from the smell of staleness and disinfectant, then pulled himself together and took a good look at where he was.

  The big, simple room was at the end of the first floor with two windows, one overlooking the lawn and the other facing west. Master Ted’s bed was near the end window. A big ugly dressing table was at one side of the room with a big ugly wardrobe at the other, and a smart writing desk stood by the south-facing window. There was a little round table, a chair, and a bookshelf. A nurse sat knitting in an armchair beside the bed where Master Ted lay looking much too pale and still.

  There was no dressing on his head now and an ugly purple scar ran from his hairline across his left eyebrow and down to his ear. Deep grey-blue shadows were under his eyes. His right arm lay on the covers, and Lady Hazelgrove took it in hers.

  It took a minute for Archie to realize what looked so strange, so unfinished about Master Ted. Then he knew. Where Master
Ted’s left arm should be, the blanket was flat.

  Lady Hazelgrove bent over her son.

  “Ted,” she said, “Archie’s here to see you. Archie Sparrow from the gardens. He’s the one who found you and took you to Julia.” She looked round at Archie. “He might still be able to hear, so we keep talking to him. We’ve played him his favourite music on the gramophone, too, haven’t we, Ted? He needs anything that will reach into his brain and wake it up. Come and talk to him.”

  Archie stood by the bed but his mouth was dry, and there was not a word in his head. Even on his own he wouldn’t have known what to say. With Lady Hazelgrove and the nurse there, it was hopeless.

  “What should I say, my lady?” he asked.

  “Anything,” she said. “Tell him about your family. The gardens. Julia said you had a dog with you. I didn’t know you had a dog. Tell him about that.”

  Of all the things … he swallowed hard.

  “Master Ted, it’s Archie from the gardens,” he began. “My lady says to tell you about – about the dog. He’s the best. He’s as fast as an express train, sir, and dead nosy. Daft as a brush, sir, always after rabbits and never catches one. And he thinks everybody’s his friend – well, maybe everyone except our Will. He’s a mongrel with smudgy patches and – and I called him Carr after the family.” He was running out of things to say, so he finished, “anyway, you have to get better and see the gardens. It’s strawberry time and there’s still some asparagus. Wake up and you’ll get some. And, sir, it’ll be the Dawn to Dusk cricket match soon. You always captain our team.”

  He knew he’d turned red. That was such a stupid thing to say to a man who’d lost one arm that he only wanted to escape.

  “Please may I go now, my lady?” he asked.

  “Of course, Archie. Thank you.”

  He walked back to the house very slowly, kicking a pebble. When he got there, Star was asleep in his basket. He looked as if he’d always lived in Gardener’s Cottage and always would.