Layla Queen of Hearts

by Glenda Millard

  ‘What’s a beau?’ asked Layla.

  ‘A sweetheart,’ said Miss Amelie. The photograph was of a young man in a soldier’s uniform, standing arm in arm with Miss Amelie, who was also young and straight and tall. The photograph had been taken a very long time ago. The feeling that something wasn’t quite right came back and suddenly Layla wished that Nell wasn’t getting her corns seen to.

  But Nell wasn’t there and there were only four more sleeps until it was Senior Citizens’ Day. And Layla still hadn’t asked Miss Amelie if she would come to St Benedict’s with her. She didn’t want anything to stop Miss Amelie from coming, not even John William. So although she had promised Nell that she wouldn’t, the feeling that something was not quite right made Layla ask, ‘Miss Amelie, will you come to school with me?’

  ‘I must be here when John William comes,’ she answered. ‘I told him that I’d wait for him.’

  ‘Not today, school’s finished today,’ said Layla. To Layla’s surprise, Miss Amelie didn’t seem at all muddled and agreed at once.

  ‘Oh, another day. Yes, I’ll come another day,’ she said. Layla smiled happily at Griffin, but then Miss Amelie added, ‘After John William comes home.’

  8. The Soldier Boy

  According to Nell, Sunday was a day of rest, especially if you’d just had your corns done. She was sitting on the back veranda with Layla and Griffin looking down past the dam where Ben and Annie were picking the last of the season’s grapes. The sun was low, the water gleamed, and leafless vines scribbled secret words along the wires. The kitchen was full of Rainbow Girls and tantalising aromas. Layla had persuaded Nell to take her feet out of her lambswool slippers and to prop them on a squat, velvet-covered stool so that she could inspect them at close quarters. There were patches of sticking plaster on the toes where the hard lumps had once been. Layla noticed that not only the corns were gone, but also most of the nail polish that she had painted on. Only the hearts were still there.

  ‘I might do Miss Amelie’s toenails before she comes to Seniors’ Day.’ Layla’s thoughts became words before she could stop them.

  ‘So you’ve already invited her?’ asked Nell, and Layla bit her lip and nodded.

  ‘There’s only two sleeps to go now,’ she explained and then said reassuringly, ‘and she didn’t seem a bit muddled.’

  ‘And she’s agreed to go with you?’ Layla nodded again and Nell said, ‘Marvellous!’ Then after a pause she added, ‘But I think we’ll call in tomorrow, just to remind her.’

  ‘But what about your feet, Nell?’

  ‘I’m sure they’ll be much better by then,’ said Nell, ‘and if not, I’ll just have to wear my slippers.’

  Layla was pleased. Nell was a person you could rely on to sort everything out, but she began to wonder if she should mention Miss Amelie’s beau and the photograph. Then the Rainbow Girls arrived with a very late afternoon tea.

  ‘Corns or no corns, there’s always something to be thankful for!’ said Nell as Amber carefully balanced a tea tray on her lap. That put an end to Layla’s wondering and the feeling that something was not quite right, at least for the time being. She leaned her back against the veranda post. Nell was right. There was a baby’s bath full of sweet black grapes, a fat orange sun floating in the dam, a magpie choir, the smell of woodsmoke, upside-down apple cake and tea.

  When it was time for Layla to go home, Nell put her feet back in her slippers and stood up.

  ‘It’s okay, Nell. I’ll walk Layla down to Canning’s dam,’ said Griffin.

  But Nell had a knack for knowing when a girl wanted to get something off her chest. She said, ‘I need to get in some practice before tomorrow, but I’ll only come down as far as the gate.’ This was the opportunity that Layla had been waiting for; the chance to bring up the matter of John William. It was lucky that Nell had just had her corns done because she walked much more slowly and it took longer to get to the end of the drive.

  ‘Nell,’ said Layla as they passed the hen house, ‘does Miss Amelie have many visitors?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. There’s a nurse who comes sometimes …’

  ‘No, I mean real visitors, like you and Griff and me.’

  ‘I think we’re her only regular visitors, why?’

  ‘It’s just … she showed Griffin and me a picture of someone and she said he was coming to her house. She said she promised him she’d wait.’

  ‘Did she tell you who he was?’

  ‘She called him John William and she said that he’s her sweetheart.’

  Already they had reached the gate. Nell sighed and leaned her elbows on the strainer post and her chin in her hands as though the walk had been too much for her. But when she began to speak, Layla knew that it was her heart that ached, not her feet.

  ‘John was Miss Amelie’s sweetheart,’ she said. ‘He was a soldier. He went away to war, a long, long time ago and he didn’t come home.’

  ‘Is he dead?’ Griffin asked. But Layla didn’t need to hear what Nell said to know the answer. That was why she’d had the feeling that something wasn’t right. Nell took her elbows off the post then and sat down amongst the tussocky blue grass beside the twin gravel tracks. Layla and Griffin sat down beside her and Blue put his head on her lap.

  ‘Most old people forget some things,’ said Nell, stroking Blue’s ragged ears. ‘It’s just part of growing old. But Miss Amelie’s forgetfulness is an illness and so far no one’s been able to find a cure for it.’

  ‘So she won’t get better?’ asked Layla.

  ‘No, I’m afraid not. And it’s possible she might get worse. If she does, she might have to go and live in some place where she can be looked after all the time.’

  ‘But Miss Amelie can tell you everything about griffins and gargoyles in architecture,’ said Layla, ‘and she remembers John William’s name and how he used to call her his Queen of Hearts and heaps of other things about him, so how come she doesn’t remember that he’s … dead?’

  ‘I really don’t know,’ said Nell.

  ‘Was it only when she got old that she forgot John William was dead?’ asked Griffin.

  ‘I suppose so,’ said Nell. ‘I’m just like you, I don’t understand it. Nobody really does. But I sometimes wonder if it might be because she’s never said goodbye.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Layla.

  ‘Some of the soldiers who died were never found. Miss Amelie’s John was one of them,’ said Nell.

  ‘So she didn’t have a funeral for him?’ asked Layla slowly.

  ‘Probably not, not like the ones I’ve told you about anyway.’ Layla thought about her nana dying and of not being allowed to go and say goodbye and of having to be brave all the time.

  ‘And no golden syrup dumplings,’ she said, so quietly that Griffin knew she was only talking to herself. The sky had darkened to the colour of violets and Layla thought of Miss Amelie, waiting, always waiting for her soldier boy. All those years she had waited and all for nothing. Layla suddenly felt very angry. ‘Then we mustn’t tell her,’ she shouted. ‘It’s too late now. We mustn’t ever tell her that John William won’t come home! Not ever!’

  Blue saw Layla’s distress. He moved his head, left a warm patch on the old one’s lap for her and watched the comforting begin. He knew the girl was in safe hands. The old one had a kind heart. She had rescued him at birth; unwanted, deaf and the runt of a large litter, and had treated him like one of her own ever since. And his boy was a fine boy, an uncommon sort of boy. He too had loved him from the beginning. It was no surprise to Blue when Griffin put his arms around Layla.

  ‘She won’t hear it from me,’ whispered Griffin, ‘cross my heart.’

  ‘Or from me,’ said Nell.

  And then the stars came out.

  A distant sound broke the silence; a comforting sound, the sound of something that Layla knew. It was the Bedford starting up.

  ‘Here comes Ben,’ said Nell. ‘He’ll take you home. It’s getting too dark t
o walk now.’ Nell smoothed Layla’s hair and dried her face on a corner of her apron. ‘I’ll meet you tomorrow after school and we’ll all go to Miss Amelie’s together, to remind her about Senior Citizens’ Day.’

  9. A Small Miracle

  Miss Amelie felt safe in her home, where nothing changed, where she could look at her photographs and think about John William. It would not be easy for her to leave it, even for a few hours.

  Because Layla knew this, she gathered all her determination in case it was needed to persuade Miss Amelie. But when she went with Griffin and Nell to Miss Amelie’s house the day before Senior Citizens’ Day, Layla was pleasantly surprised.

  Miss Amelie had been waiting at the gate for John William again. But when they told her that they hadn’t seen him, she let Nell open her silver-frosted gate and take her inside and she didn’t seem at all muddled. She did have her tartan pants on inside out, but that was a mistake anyone could have made. Layla had done it once when she was in a hurry to go tadpoling with Griffin. Miss Amelie had even noticed Nell’s lambswool slippers and enquired about her corns.

  Nell took the opportunity to sit down on Miss Amelie’s sofa and take off her slippers. It was not often she said, that people, other than Layla, showed any interest in her corns. Layla thought she saw a look of longing in Miss Amelie’s eyes when she saw the hearts on Nell’s toenails, so she reached into her bag and took out her nail polish and the sheet of stickers she had brought with her, just in case.

  Miss Amelie didn’t want to put her sensible shoes back on after Layla had finished. She just stared and stared at her feet. That was a good sign, Layla thought, so she reminded Miss Amelie.

  ‘It’s Seniors’ Day tomorrow,’ she said.

  ‘Seniors’ Day.’ Miss Amelie tried the words out, the way she did when she was trying to remember if she’d heard them before. Layla let a few moments go by before she added, ‘at St Benedict’s, remember?’

  ‘Yes, it’s Seniors’ Day,’ Miss Amelie said. But just to be sure, Nell wrote a note and put it next to Miss Amelie’s alarm clock so that she’d remember again in the morning. Layla felt certain that she would; even if she forgot to look at the note, she couldn’t help but see her toenails when she put on her shoes.

  Tuesday morning was a morning to be remembered, one to be shouted from the hilltops; a morning, as Ben Silk would have said, when memories would be made. Layla knew it straight away. Frost sparkled on the ground, shallow puddles were iced over like magic mirrors and fallen leaves seemed sugar coated. But even so, who could have known that it would be the morning of a small miracle?

  ‘Aren’t you cold, Layla?’ asked Nell when she and Griffin met Layla on the corner of Chapel Street.

  Layla had goose pimples, but she said, ‘Just a bit. I’ve got a jumper in my bag.’ But she didn’t want to put it on. Not yet, not until Miss Amelie had seen what she was wearing.

  Miss Amelie was waiting at the gate again. Layla was pleased that she had got up early. They would have plenty of time to get to school. But as they drew closer she saw that Miss Amelie had her nighty on, and that feeling that all was not well crept over her. Nell started to run, her slippers slapping up and down on the icy pavement.

  Miss Amelie clung to the gate as stiff as an icicle. Her hands seemed frozen to the gate. ‘Come inside Amelie and I’ll make us a nice cup of tea,’ said Nell firmly. But although Nell coaxed and cajoled, Miss Amelie didn’t even seem to hear what she was saying. For an instant Layla wondered if they should tell the truth about John William, but she knew that Miss Amelie wouldn’t understand, that it would only make things worse. So instead she said the only other thing she could think of to get Miss Amelie away from her gate.

  ‘It’s okay, Miss Amelie,’ she said. ‘The train doesn’t come until later.’ For the first time since her friends had arrived, Miss Amelie noticed them, and it seemed as though the sun had got to her and had begun to thaw her out. Her limbs relaxed and she let Nell untangle her fingers from the wire diamonds on the gate and take her inside.

  Nell switched on the electric blanket and made Miss Amelie get straight into bed.

  ‘Stay there while I make you a warm drink, Amelie,’ said Nell.

  Miss Amelie looked tired, as though she had been waiting for a long time. Her eyes closed and Layla sat down on the edge of her bed with Griffin. In the distance she heard Nell talking softly to someone on the telephone.

  ‘Griff,’ whispered Layla, ‘I don’t think I want to be determined any more.’

  ‘Why not?’ asked Griffin, and he noticed that Layla’s forget-me-not blue eyes were all watery.

  ‘It’s hard to be determined all the time,’ she said, ‘and besides, I don’t think you can rescue someone unless they want to be rescued.’

  ‘You mean Miss Amelie?’

  Layla nodded.

  ‘I wanted to take her to school. I thought she’d like it.’ She knew that Griffin had put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her, but it made her want to cry more than ever. She had to use the last scrap of her determination to hold her tears back while she confessed to him the other reason, the selfish reason for wanting Miss Amelie to come to school with her. She said, ‘I just wanted to have someone special of my own.’

  Nell had come to the bedroom door to check on Miss Amelie and to tell them that the doctor was on his way. She heard what Layla said and then she saw what happened before her very eyes.

  Miss Amelie sat up in bed as though she had just woken from a good night’s sleep. She read the note near her alarm clock. Then she put her feet on the floor and stared at them for a few moments before she said, ‘I’m going to school today.’

  To some people, this might have seemed a small thing, but Nell said, ‘It’s a miracle! Small or not, a miracle is still a miracle.’

  When the doctor came and examined Miss Amelie and pronounced her fit for school, Layla could feel happiness surging inside her and she had to let it out.

  ‘It’s a miracle!’ she told the doctor. He smiled, but his eyes still looked sad and she felt sorry for him. Miss Amelie had been out half the night in the freezing cold, yet she wasn’t ill and she still remembered it was Seniors’ Day. How could he not believe in miracles?

  When she asked Nell about it after the doctor had gone, Nell said, ‘Some people don’t understand that there are things science and technology can’t explain. Miracles are one of them and love is another. If it hadn’t been for love, Miss Amelie’s miracle might not have happened.’

  Layla wasn’t sure if Nell meant that it was because she loved Miss Amelie or because Miss Amelie loved her that the miracle had happened. But it didn’t really matter, she told herself, it was the miracle itself that counted.

  10. Queen of Hearts

  Nell telephoned for a taxi. It was yellow. This was a good omen, Layla thought, because yellow always reminded her of the sun and the sun made her feel happy. The driver took them all the way up to the front door of St Benedict’s as though they were Very Important Persons, which Nell said they were, and they were only a few minutes late.

  Miss Beaumont and Mrs Wyman had combined their classes for the day and were sharing the assembly hall. Layla hadn’t thought about how Miss Amelie might feel being amongst so many people she didn’t know. But she and Nell stayed close and there was only one awkward moment. That was when Mrs Wyman invited the Seniors to introduce themselves and to talk about why they had come to school.

  Miss Amelie listened to the other Seniors, but she didn’t introduce herself. So after a while Layla stood up and said, ‘Mrs Wyman, Miss Beaumont, Seniors and girls and boys, this is Miss Amelie.’

  Then Miss Amelie stood up. ‘Yes, I’m Miss Amelie and I’ve come to school because …’

  The silence seemed to go on forever while Miss Amelie stared at all the people in front of her. Then she turned to Layla and studied her eyes, her face, her hair, her clothes and everything about her. At last her eyebrows disappeared up under her neat silver fringe and Layla kn
ew that she’d remembered why she had come. ‘I’ve come to school,’ Miss Amelie said, ‘because Layla is my Queen of Hearts.’

  Layla thought that she would burst with happiness.

  After that everything went smoothly. Mrs Wyman had arranged a foot-painting session. There were troughs of paint; red and blue and yellow, and huge sheets of clean white paper on the floor to walk on.

  ‘Do you want to have a go, Miss Amelie?’ Layla asked. Then, because she could still remember her own first day at school when everything had seemed exciting and frightening at the same time, she said, ‘I’ll come with you if you like.’

  Layla took her pink sneakers off. Then she and Griffin untied the laces of Miss Amelie’s shoes and peeled off her short white socks. Layla noticed some of the other Seniors looking enviously at Miss Amelie’s painted toenails.

  Nell couldn’t take part because of her corns, but she said, ‘Griffin and I are going to help with the morning tea, Amelie, but Layla will take care of you.’

  Layla took Miss Amelie’s hand and they stepped into the blue paint. It oozed up between their toes and they laughed. Then they walked across the paper together, leaving two sets of footprints behind.

  Miss Amelie enjoyed the foot painting so much that when they had finished, Layla led her to an easel and gave her a paintbrush and a palette of rainbow colours. Miss Amelie painted a picture of a girl in a dress with red hearts on it.

  ‘It’s to help me remember,’ she told Layla.

  Miss Amelie didn’t remember her day at school, but Layla never forgot it.

  Two months after Senior Citizens’ Day, Miss Amelie went to the station by herself to meet the 9:50pm express. The railway people didn’t know about John William. They didn’t know that Miss Amelie got muddled either, and they tried to set things straight. They told her that John William wasn’t on the train and that the 9:50pm express was the last train that day. It was when Miss Amelie said she’d wait, that they knew something wasn’t quite right. That was when they telephoned Katie Wilson’s daddy, who was a policeman.