In small towns like Cameron’s Creek, policemen know exactly what to do in any emergency. When Mr Wilson arrived at the station he had Nell and Layla and Griffin in his police car.
Later that night, the doctor who didn’t believe in miracles came to see Miss Amelie. While he listened to her heart, he looked at the paintings on her bedroom wall; the portrait of Layla and the one of the matching blue footprints. Miss Amelie couldn’t remember why they were there, but Nell told the doctor that they were proof of a miracle.
‘Perhaps you’re right,’ the doctor said thoughtfully. Layla was sure that there was a certain wishfulness in his eyes. ‘But even if miracles do happen,’ he said, ‘I don’t think we can hope for more than one in a lifetime.’
Layla knew that this was a secret way of saying that Miss Amelie wouldn’t get better. The doctor didn’t know that Nell had told her from the beginning that there was no cure for Miss Amelie’s illness. And he didn’t understand what Layla knew; that the memory of even one small miracle is enough to last a lifetime.
And now Miss Amelie was going somewhere safe, somewhere that she couldn’t go walking to the station in the middle of the night, somewhere where the people were especially trained to understand forgetfulness and muddledness.
11. Putting Miss Amelie to Rest
The people who looked after Miss Amelie at Lily Lodge were very kind. They understood there were some things that people like Miss Amelie could never remember and some that they could never forget. And like Layla, Griffin and Nell, they were good at keeping secrets, although sometimes their hearts ached to tell.
They hung the painting of the girl in the heart-patterned dress and the one of the matching blue footprints on her new bedroom wall. Nell had brought an armful of Pussy Willow down from the Kingdom of Silk. She put it in the tall china vase that had come from Miss Amelie’s house in Chapel Street and Layla leaned the photographs of herself and Griffin against it. But the fences were very high at Lily Lodge and there was no silver-frosted gate for Miss Amelie to lean on while she waited for John William. And it worried her that he might come and not know where to find her.
Nell said that sometimes when a person died it was a blessing in disguise. On the last Thursday in September, when the violets were blooming and the morning was as misty as a nana’s scarf, Miss Amelie stopped waiting for John William. Layla understood then what Nell had meant.
All the people who cared came to St Benedict’s church on the day that Miss Amelie was laid to rest. Many wore dark-coloured clothes that matched their sadness, but Layla wore a warm, red velvet jacket and underneath it her Queen of Hearts dress. Mrs Elliott had let the hem down especially because Layla had explained to her how important it was that she wore that dress, the dress that her nana had made. Even though she was sad, she wanted to remember the good things she had shared with Miss Amelie, and with Nana. At the front of the church near the preacher was a beautiful shiny casket covered in scarlet poppies and shafts of coloured light from the windows. When Layla asked if Miss Amelie was inside it, her mother said, ‘Ssh.’ But Nell nodded and squeezed her hand.
The preacher told the story of Miss Amelie from when she had been a little girl until she grew up; how she had learned to be a schoolteacher and had travelled the world looking at griffins and gargoyles. He even talked about John William who, he said, was a very important part of Miss Amelie’s story. When everyone stood up and began to sing a song that Layla didn’t know, she looked at the coloured windows because she didn’t want to think about Miss Amelie being in the casket. On one of the windows was a white bird, its glassy wings outstretched in flight. It reminded Layla of what Katie Wilson had told her, so she imagined Miss Amelie’s soul soaring above her in the pitched wooden ceilings of the church and was glad when they opened the doors so it could fly free.
St Benedict’s was only two blocks away from the cemetery, so only Miss Amelie was driven there. Everyone else walked slowly along behind the gleaming black car. Layla thought how pleased Miss Amelie would have been with the shiny car and the casket because she had been such a neat sort of person. Except for the few times she’d put her pants on inside out and the day she did the foot painting at school.
At the cemetery, Layla put a posy of violets on the casket. And while the preacher said a prayer she looked up into the sky and said goodbye to Miss Amelie and imagined her soul drifting clear away on the breeze before the casket was lowered into the ground.
After Miss Amelie had been laid to rest, the preacher invited everyone to St Benedict’s Hall for the sharing. It was just as Nell had said it would be. No one minded that Layla wasn’t brave and that her chin wobbled when she told them about the small miracle; about the portrait Miss Amelie had painted and the matching blue footprints, about being Queen of Hearts for a day.
When Layla was too tired to talk any more, she and Griffin went and sat on the step at the back of the hall and ate corned beef-and-pickle sandwiches with the crusts cut off and pink jelly cakes, followed by one of Nell’s special funeral lamingtons.
The day passed, as all days must, and evening came. Those who cared, who had gathered and shared, returned to their homes. Layla took a long time to eat her chicken stir-fry. Then she sat a while. She had the feeling that there was room inside her for something else, something sweet and sticky.
Her daddy saw the look of wishfulness on her face and said, ‘Come here, chicken.’ That was when something unexpected and altogether wonderful happened. Mrs Elliott stopped loading the dishwasher when she was only halfway through. She sat down on the couch, because there wasn’t enough room on the philosophising chair for three, and patted the seat beside her.
That night, before she went to sleep, Layla Elliott invented a philosophy all of her own. She decided that a tender moment on her mother’s lap was probably as good as golden syrup dumplings for the soul.
Golden Syrup Dumplings
Dear Reader,
Ever since I wrote golden syrup dumplings into Layla and Griffin’s story, I’ve had a hankering to eat some. My mum used to make them when I was little and I still love them. So I found this recipe and thought you and your mum might like to try it out too.
Glenda Millard
The Sauce
30g butter
¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup golden syrup
1 cups water
1 teaspoon of lemon rind
Juice of one lemon
Combine all the above ingredients in a saucepan and stir over heat without boiling until sugar is dissolved. Then bring to boil without stirring and reduce to a simmer.
The Dumplings
1 ¼ cups self-raising flour
30g butter
cup golden syrup
cup milk
Sift flour, rub in butter and gradually stir in golden syrup and milk. Carefully drop tablespoonfuls of mixture into simmering sauce. Cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Pierce with a skewer to see if cooked through. Serve with the sauce and cream or ice-cream.
About the Author
Glenda Millard was born in the Goldfields region of Central Victoria and has lived in the area all her life. The communities she has lived in and the surrounding landscapes have provided a rich source of inspiration and settings for many of her stories.
It was not until Glenda’s four children became teenagers that she began to write in her spare time. She is now a full-time writer.
Apart from writing, some of Glenda’s favourite things are Jack Russell Terriers, hot-air ballooning, eating pizza cooked in the wood-fired oven that her husband built in the backyard and reading books which either make her laugh or cry.
Glenda has published five picture books, two junior fiction titles, short stories and two young adult titles. The Naming of Tishkin Silk was shortlisted in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards and for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.
About the Illustrator
Stephen has worked as a children’s library assistant, animator, d
esigner and illustrator. He has collaborated with authors as varied as Margaret Wild, Jackie French and Tim Winton.
His designs range from children’s magazines to farmyard puppet characters for the television show Bananas in Pyjamas. He also wrote and illustrated The Man Who Loved Boxes, which was shortlisted for the Crichton Award for Children’s Book Illustration in 1996. Since then he’s authored a further five books (Patricia, Henry and Amy, Emily Loves to Bounce, Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat and Mutt Dog!) and is published throughout the world. Stephen has been nominated seven times in the CBCA Awards and selected for America’s pick of the list.
Stephen lives on a coastal island in a mud brick house, surrounded by orchards and forest. He shares this with his wife, two children, their dogs (Muttley and Millie), a couple of guinea pigs, a scaly lorikeet named Sprinkles and the odd visiting cow from their neighbour’s place.
Praise for The Naming of Tishkin Silk
‘… a tender, poignant story filled with warm, wonderful characters and the joy of love and life. Filled with hope and compassion, this is a delightful read.’ Sunday Tasmanian
‘I totally recommend this lovely book. School-yard setbacks and family grief are intertwined to cleverly produce a story of genuine child-like hope. Delightful.’ Geraldine Doogue (Life Matters, Radio National)
‘A poetic paean of hope, offering home and sanctuary to troubled souls of any age and any generation. This book nourishes the soul.’ Maurice Saxby
‘… combines the themes of death, friendship, family, courage and the celebration of life … Glenda Millard’s beautiful story will touch the hearts of all who read it, and will stay with them for a long time.’ Arrow Book Club, Scholastic. Teaching Notes
‘The writing is fresh and lyrical and the characterisation is convincing.’ Education Queensland Library Service Reviews
Other Books by Glenda Millard
When the Angels Came
Bringing Reuben Home
The Novice
Angel Breath
Mrs Wiggins’ Wartymelons
Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle
The Kingdom of Silk series:
The Naming of Tishkin Silk
Layla, Queen of Hearts
Perry Angel’s Suitcase
All the Colours of Paradise
Plum Puddings and Paper Moons
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Copyright
The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used
under licence by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia.
First published in 2006 by ABC Books for
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
This edition published in 2013
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Glenda Millard 2006
Copyright © illustrations Stephen Michael King 2006
The rights of Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Print data:
Millard, Glenda.
Layla, Queen of Hearts
For children aged 10-12 years.
ISBN 978 0 7304 9546 8 (epub)
I. King, Stephen Michael.
II. Australian Broadcasting Corporation
III. Title.
A823.3
Layla Queen of Hearts Page 5