by S G Read
‘Hey you stop pulling them off they aren’t ready yet.’ Stevey cried in anger. ‘It is a waste.’
‘Don’t tell me tell Ursula.’ The girl who was up the tree cried and pointed toward a large girl who stood in the lane.
The group moved toward the large girl, who stood looking like she owned the world and sported a hockey stick.
‘Tell her to get down they are my trees!’ Stevey ordered.
‘As they aren’t ready yet there is no point in her staying up there is there.’ The girl replied. ‘Get down here and be more careful next time!’
The girl climbed down on the far side but they could see he clothes were old and torn, they were more rags than clothes. She dropped to the floor from the last branch and the big girl hit her with the hockey stick.
‘I know you deliberately threw that chestnut pod at them.’ She hissed trying not to let the others hear but she failed. ‘Next time be careful or you will be very sorry. Now get back to the convent.’
The two girls walked down the lane the girl dressed in rags, keeping just far enough ahead of the big girl to be out of hockey stick range.
‘I didn’t know you had a sister Sherman.’ Ben declared ready to run.
‘If she was my sister I would have left home by now.’ Sherman answered his eyes on the girl in the torn clothes. ‘I wonder what her story is.’
‘It sounds like we might have to find out, after we have sorted out our ghost.’ Simon replied. ‘Did you see the way the big girl treated her, it is like Candler at our school and his new bodyguard.’
‘Sounds like or next problem to sort out.’ Stuart declared.
‘Yes she needs taking down a peg or two.’ CJ agreed.
When the two were out of sight the boys walked on.
‘I thought convent girls were nice.’ Antony declared. ‘I’m sure she could curdle milk with a stare.’
The rest laughed and continued their walk which took them past where Dan was working.
‘Did you see that girl in rags and that big girl in a convent uniform Dan?’ Stevey asked.
‘She comes up from time to time to get chestnuts.’ Dan answered without stopping his hoeing. ‘I collect them for her so that she is not forced to go up and get them but that girl with her has a wicked temper. When she hits her with that stick I feel like hitting her with my hoe, just to see if she likes it.’
‘Where does she come from the raggedy one?’ Simon asked.
‘She lives in outhouse at the convent and they treat her like dirt. Her mother was a nun who broke her vows and they were left with the baby when the nun died in childbirth, so she says and that is why they treat her like dirt. It shouldn’t be allowed.’ Dan answered.
‘It won’t Dan.’ Stuart declared. ‘We’ll sort it one way or the other.’
That met with the approval of everybody even Dan.
‘Just be careful Master Stuart they have the law on their side I reckon.’ Dan warned.
‘As the Beadle said in Oliver Twist, ‘the law is an ass’ and we will do what we have to do, to highlight her predicament.’ Toby declared. ‘No one should be made to dress like that and ill treated like that either!’
‘Can we clear up one job before we start another?’ J.C asked sagely.
‘If the second one allows us the privilege.’ Toby answered. ‘And from what I saw maybe one takes preference over the other.’
‘So what are we going to do charge into a convent and argue with the nuns?’ Ben asked.
‘If it comes to that.’ Stuart answered.
‘Well that should be fun.’ Ben declared.
‘What if the nuns are like that girl in the lane?’ Simon exclaimed. ‘We could be in for a pasting.’
‘I bet she is slow though.’ Antony declared. ‘I bet she couldn’t catch me.’
‘What if we caught the girl while she was out of the convent and gave her sanctuary?’ Stevey exclaimed. ‘No one would know she was here and we wouldn’t let on would we?’
‘But what happens after that, we need to find out more about her and Tim so that we can move forward with some sort of plan.’ Stuart declared.
‘The local paper.’ C.J cried snapping his fingers. ‘They know you there and you are flavour of the month after sorting out the forgers.’
‘That would be counterfeiters.’ Toby corrected and they did get a good story out of it although the local police ended up looking silly and they won’t forget that in a hurry.’
‘So we go back and run through some more ideas of killing Tim, with him to let us know if we get it right and then head into the village to run through the archives. We can look up both things at once but all of us can’t go in there so the rest can walk past the convent just to see what it is like.’ Stuart declared.
‘Reconnoitre the place.’ Toby added.
‘Yes that as well.’ Stuart replied.
Toby opened his mouth to speak but closed it again.
They hurried back and picked up their lists, to read out various methods which had not been tried before. They were crushing, being buried alive, hanging and one which gave Simon trouble saying, asphyxiation but none of them invoked a response even though they new Tim was there. With no more ideas the boys fell silent and the crying started again and it was their cue to start on the next idea.
The convent was closest, so the boys on foot walked down to look at it while those with bicycles rode down to the office of the local paper. The reporter who had written the story as they narrated it and for him opened the door for them as soon as he saw them. For him it was a major scoop, which had been picked up by more than one national paper.
‘Unearthing any more good stories?’ He asked.
‘Possibly,’ Stuart answered, ‘but don’t worry, you will be the first to know when we do but we will tell you when to print it.’
‘No problem, a few more like that last one and I will be working in fleet street.’ He replied as they walked in. ‘What can we do for you today?’
‘We just need to look up some back copies.’ Stuart answered.
‘What dates?’ He asked.
‘Some around nine years ago and some over fifty years and further back.’ Stuart answered.
‘Well we go back to Victorian times, not that I was here then but if there is a story in it help yourselves.’
Both Stuart and Stevey knew where to go and led the way to the room where the back issues were kept. They all settled down to look through the back issues with Toby, JC and C.J looking for information about the thin girl in raggedy clothes while Stuart, Stevey and Antony looked for information about Tim. As they found some information they photocopied it and the photocopy put into the correct file but at the end of their search, they had not found any news about a nun dying in childbirth in fact there was no news about the convent at all! They did find news about Tim and his family though. His uncle arrived from abroad to stay with them and a month later Tim’s mother died from a fall down the stairs, in suspicious circumstances but no charges were ever laid. Three months after that Tim’s father had a heart attack and two months after that Tim just disappeared. The police assumed he had run away when they found no body, they even rounded up all the local gypsies to see if they had stolen him but there was still no sign.
‘I don’t see why it wasn’t in the obituary.’ Toby declared.
‘If she had a baby she had broken her vows and she might have been excommunicated!’ JC replied. ‘They are hot on that sort of thing.’
‘But she still had to be buried, so it should have been in the paper, even if it was just one, line like some of them!’ Toby argued.
‘Buried,’ Stuart echoed, ‘and where do they bury people?’
‘The church of course!’ Toby exclaimed.
They rode to the church with its myriad grave stones sprawled about, without seeming to have any real design.
‘There are hundreds.’ Stevey declared.
‘And you can’t read them because they as so old.’ Stuart agreed
.
‘But the one we want will only be nine years old as the girl is about nine, well as near as I can tell, as she is half starved.’ Toby explained.
They split up into two groups and searched reading grave stones when they could but they did not find any for a nun or any dated in the right time frame.
‘Hang on I must be going silly.’ Toby declared. ‘There has to be a bit in the births column and we didn’t check them!’
They gave up on the grave yard and returned to the paper but again without success, there was no list of a birth to a nun or exnun. They gathered outside to discuss their next option with the reporter watching them out of the window. He had a note of what they were looking at but did not know why, apart from the fact that they were all living or staying at Gordon Hall.
‘Let’s ask my dad.’ Stuart declared, which was something he would not have suggested six months ago.
They rode back to Stuart’s house and raided the refrigerator with Wendy’s help, before descending on David.
‘Why do I sense trouble?’ David asked looking up from his work. ‘Who are you after this time?’
‘Who us daddy?’ Stuart declared innocently.
‘Yes you and what can I do to help?’
‘Well there is this girl.’ Stuart started.
‘What a rival for Jenny?’ David asked cutting in.
‘No she is a bit young and half starved. She lives at the convent and is ill treated and forced to do things she doesn’t want to do and that are dangerous.’
‘Like what son?’
‘Like forced to climb up into my chestnut trees to get the chestnuts and they aren’t ready yet.’ Stevey declared.
‘Who was forcing her Stevey?’
‘A girl from the convent and she was big like Sherman.’ Simon answered. ‘Could have been Sherman’s sister but she was ugly.’
‘She had a big stick.’ J.C declared.
‘It was a hockey stick J.C.’ Toby explained. ‘And I wouldn’t want to be hit by a hockey stick when she was using it. The girl she did hit was only about nine and dressed in rags.’
‘Not a school uniform?’ David asked but did not wait for an answer. ‘Sounds like the social services should be informed but as they are pretty useless I will let you lot deal with it. I take it you want information on the convent and the girl?’
‘Yes dad.’
David minimised the work he was doing, without a second thought and opened a new browser window. He had the best computer on the market.
‘So what is this convent called?’
They all looked at each other.
‘Oh we don’t know the others were checking up on the convent while we were looking into it elsewhere.’ Stuart replied. ‘Who has the mobile phone?’
‘CJ has it.’ JC answered.
‘Do we know what the number is?’ Stuart asked.
Stevey had bought one of the latest mobile phones and the other boys had it with them.
David opened a little book with the mobile phone’s number in it. Stuart phoned C.J and waited for an answer.
‘C. J we are at my house where are you?’ He asked when he received an answer.
‘Just walking down your road we will be with you in less than a minute.’
The phone went dead and several boys moved to the window to watch their progress, they had all started running now.
‘Wow Simon isn’t last.’ Toby declared.
‘I bet Ben is.’ Stuart retorted and moved over to see but they were all racing to get there first and John Taylor was last when they ran through the gate but there was not much between the first and the last.
‘Either we are getting slower or they are getting faster.’ Stevey declared. ‘It is about time we played some football.’
‘We need to mow the pitch first C.J said from the top of the stairs. ‘I can do it if you like?’
It was agreed and while CJ went off to mow the pitch, the others told David all they knew about the convent of St Agnes.
‘I will find out what I know and report back.’ David declared. ‘After I have refereed your game; it’s a shame Jenny is not here to make up the sides, I hear she is practising for when you all get together again.’
They all left David to work while they went up to Gordon Hall. The boys walking via the lane and the boys with bicycles via the road. They changed ready to play and returned via the lane but with out the bicycles. They took CJ’s kit with them so that he could change, when he finished the pitch. They carried out the portable goals and erected them ready to play kicking grass off the lines which were made by killing the grass with weed killer where the line was meant to be. That meant the line was still visible when white line was washed away. CJ changed and soon after the game started with seven on one side and six on the other and David reffing. When half time came, one player moved from the side with seven in it to make an extra man on the side with six in it, so that the other side had the advantage for the second half. After the game they all converged on Stuart’s house and Pat arrived not long after with extra food. It was the first time she had driven the new car and was pleased with its performance although it was not a long journey.
‘How was it?’ Wendy asked when Pat jumped out of the car and started unloading things from the back seat.
‘Very good and just the right size.’ Pat answered. ‘Stephen wanted me to get an Espace but I wanted a little car so I bought one.’
‘Very wise too.’ Wendy declared. ‘We are in the conservatory.’
She helped her carry the extra food round while the boys all queued to get in a shower or bath. Soon they were all sitting round eating in the conservatory.
‘Last time we were doing this we were about to go down to Apsford and collect Stephen’s legacy from my great, great aunt.’ Pat declared.
‘Does that mean she was my great, great, great aunt mum?’ Stevey asked.
‘It does Stephen.’
‘You know I am waiting for dad to show up, now that we have money and I am going to tell him just where to go.’ Stevey declared.
‘Form a queue buster.’ Pat retorted. ‘Ladies first.’
No one saw the boy who stood in the football field near the fence listening. For Tim it was an outing, the first time he had left the grounds of Gordon Hall and for once he was not scared. He was starting to like this group of boys. It was the first time he had watched a game of football and he wanted to join in but being a ghost had its drawbacks. His foot was likely go right through the ball if he lost concentration when he tried to kick it. He walked back to the hall slowly keeping to the edge of the field and came face to face with a girl in ragged clothes.
‘Hello.’ She said when she saw him. ‘Are you lost?’
He realised she could see him but instead of fading out of sight he stayed visible. ‘No I am staying in the hall.’ He answered and pointed to where it was in case she did not know.
‘They say it is haunted.’ The girl declared.
‘Oh is it but he is a friendly ghost.’ Tim replied.
‘Can they be friendly then?’ The girl asked.
‘Oh yes if they want to be. I’m Tim what is your name?’
‘I’m called waif.’
‘Waif?’
‘Yes on account that I am one and I don’t have any other name.’
‘That is silly we all have more than one name, I am Timothy Albert Christian Carlisle so you have to have at least two names.’
‘But that is it, I haven’t.’
‘What about your father?’
‘I didn’t have one.’
‘You must have done once, or you wouldn’t be here.’ Tim declared despite his young age, he had seen life since he had died and knew about the birds and the bees.
‘Well he cannot like me. He has not come forward to take me away from that awful place where I have to clean and cook and wash clothes. I have to climb up these stupid trees to get chestnuts for that horrible Ursula!’
‘Say no then.’
>
‘Then I get beaten and starved until I do it anyway and locked in the cellar like a prisoner.’
‘We will sort it out, I know my friends are looking into what they are doing to you but don’t let on to anyone what they are doing or it could get worse for you.’
Waif laughed. ‘Worse! How?’
‘They could kill you!’ Tim declared.
‘Sometimes it might be nice to die and then perhaps I could come back and haunt them all!’ Waif replied.
‘That is not all that it is cracked up to be Waif, take it from someone who knows.’
‘How do you know?’
Tim thought for a moment. ‘I have spoken to the ghost.’ He answered quietly but don’t tell anyone or they will think I am mad.’
‘You have? Can you ask him to come over and haunt Ursula please?’ Waif pleaded.
‘I’ll ask him.’
‘Waif where are you.’ A loud and shrill voice called.
‘I have to go that is Ursula looking for me, I might see you again.’
‘Okay Waif goodbye.’
Waif turned and fled in the opposite direction to the one Ursula was coming from, at the corner she stopped to look back but Tim was gone. Tim waited for Ursula to come into sight and then passed through her giving her his coldest chill. She stopped in her tracks for a few seconds then went to go on so Tim did the same again. Ursula could take no more and walked back in the other direction. Tim smiled in satisfaction and walked back to the hall passing Dan as he worked. He longed to say hello to Dan and hesitated for a while but moved on without speaking. Inside, with the hall empty he would have normal gone to his room to cry but now he turned on the video player and watched a video.
The get together in the conservatory ended and the boys made there way back to the hall, with the exception of Stuart who was going to stay with his mum and dad for the night. Just so that he could make sure they found out what they could about the convent. When the boys walked in they heard the video player playing in the dining room.
‘It’s all right for some.’ Simon complained.