When You Wish upon a Rat

by Maureen McCarthy

  “What should we do?” she whispered urgently.

  “Nothing we can do.” Bridie looked up, and Ruth saw that she’d been crying. “I’ve been putting up with her all my life.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  “I can’t remember being anywhere else. My mother died when I was born.”

  Ruth got up and walked down the aisle to her friend. “I can help,” she offered.

  “No point.” Bridie looked at the door. “She’ll know. I’ll have to do it.” She went on writing the letters slowly and clumsily, and then added quietly, “I wish I was clever like you.”

  “She’s just jealous,” Ruth said angrily, “because you’re so pretty and she’s so ugly!”

  Bridie laughed, but Ruth continued quite seriously, “Listen, Bridie, I’m going to help you every night after school from now on and you’ll get much better.”

  Bridie shook her head sadly. “Reverend Mother will kick you out!”

  “Kick me out where?”

  “You heard her. Barrytown. It’s for the real toughies.” Bridie suddenly grinned. “But don’t worry, you’ll survive there because you’re clever. I’ll miss you, though.” Bridie held out her hand. “I’ve only known you for half a day, Ruth, but you’re already my best friend.”

  Ruth took Bridie’s hand, not at all embarrassed by this disclosure, just sad that it looked like it was all going to end.

  “I’m so glad I met you, Bridie!” she said.

  Ruth left Bridie to get on with her writing and went to the window to think.

  There had to be some way out of this.

  Of course there is a way out, a little voice told her. Think! Ruth turned around to Bridie with a huge grin. It was so blindingly obvious! What had taken her so long?

  “Stop, Bridie!” she said urgently. “Just stop doing it.”

  “But I have to get five pages done by the end of lunch.”

  “No, you don’t,” Ruth said excitedly. “How would you like to come and live with us?” she asked. “With me and my family? How would you like to go to a normal school where they won’t make fun of you? You’ll be able to write with your left hand and lots more good stuff. We’ll get you your own little telephone that you can keep in your pocket. How would you like that?”

  Bridie burst out laughing. “Are you mad?”

  “No!” Ruth said. “My brother has one already. We’ll both get one.”

  Still laughing, Bridie entered into the spirit of Ruth’s plan.

  “So, where is this place?”

  “Never mind that,” Ruth said, “I’ll get you there. But I’ve got brothers. They’re not always easy. And parents who are a bit crazy at times, but they’ll be kind to you. What do you say? Do you think you’d like to come?”

  “But … your family wouldn’t want me.” Bridie smiled wistfully. “They’ve got their own kids.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Ruth told her. “My family will take you in. In fact, they’ll love you. I’m sure of it. Having you come to live with us is just the sort of bizarre thing they love.”

  Bridie put down her pen. “Are you serious?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “But how do we get there?” Bridie whispered.

  “First, we’ve got to get out of this room. And then we’ve got to find a red door.”

  “A red door?” Bridie shook her head. “I really like you, Ruth, but I’m beginning to think you might be a bit crazy. Why do you want to find a red door?”

  “It will take too long to explain now,” Ruth said anxiously. “Can you think where there might be one?”

  Bridie shook her head again.

  “Well, we’re just going to have to look. First thing is to get out of this room before Thunder Guts gets back.”

  “But we’re locked in!”

  “How about the windows?” Ruth went to one of the old windows and unlocked the catch. Then, without any difficulty, she pulled up the sash. Smiling, she turned to Bridie. “Come on!”

  Bridie stood still in the middle of the classroom.

  “Just think of being free!” said Ruth. “You decide when and what you eat and when you sleep. You decide when and if you’ll go to church or for a walk. You decide which hand you use for writing!”

  Bridie stared at her for a moment and then she took a deep breath. “Will you help me take off this brace?” she said with a slow grin.

  “Of course!”

  Luckily, the classroom was on the ground floor. Still, it was quite a drop and Ruth scraped the backs of her thighs on the old, splintery wood. The rest of the girls were still in the dining room at lunch, so there was no one to see them. Once they were out and standing in the concrete playground, Ruth had a moment of misgiving. Maybe it was unfair to drag Bridie along. If they got caught, they would be in so much trouble. Then she remembered Bridie’s hand being tied up in the sling. It was completely unfair that she should have to put up with six more years of old Thunder Guts.

  “We’d better start looking for the red door.”

  “What will we say if we get caught?” Bridie asked timidly.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.” Ruth looked at Bridie’s frightened face. “I just know we’re going to find it. We’ve got time. We’ve got until six tonight.”

  The girls ran across the playground to the front gate, which was closed. Sticking close to the sandstone wall, they crept along it past the tennis courts and classrooms. There was plenty of cover for them to hide behind if they saw anyone, because there were trees and shrubs planted all along the edge of the wall.

  “Someone will catch us,” Bridie moaned, peering out from behind the shelter shed. “It’s just a matter of time. You can’t do anything secretly around here. By six o’clock tonight they’ll be organizing our transfer to Barrytown.”

  “Not if we find the door,” Ruth said. “Come on, Bridie, think!” She was already imagining Bridie sharing her bedroom at home. It would be like having a sister. How nice it would be not being the only girl in the family. “Does this wall go right around all the buildings?”

  Bridie nodded. “It encloses the school, the convent, and the gardens.”

  “The convent?”

  “That’s where the nuns live. But we’re not allowed anywhere near there. It’s out of bounds to students.”

  “Okay, then let’s start off in the school grounds.”

  “I’m pretty sure there are no red doors,” Bridie said worriedly.

  “One way or another it will be here.” Ruth sounded surer than she felt. “It has to be.”

  But after going all around the perimeter of the school buildings without finding a red door, she too lost a little confidence. What if Rodney mixed things up this time? What if he forgot to tell her something important?

  They ended up at the edge of the playground in front of a high wire fence. Behind the fence was a lovely green garden with lots of big trees. A gardener was kneeling, planting seedlings into a big bed of well-turned earth. On the other side of the garden was an ornate building attached to the bigger school building by a walkway on the first floor.

  “From here on is the convent,” Bridie said. “We can’t go any farther.”

  “We’ve got to keep looking,” Ruth said.

  “But they’ll catch us,” Bridie whispered.

  Behind them came the sudden noise of girls spilling out onto the playground from lunch. Ruth teetered on the edge of turning back. Then the memory of Sister Gregory’s two hard slaps surfaced in her mind and she decided that now wasn’t the time to give up.

  “Let’s do it,” Ruth said through gritted teeth. “If we go back we’ll get caught anyway. This is a chance for you to get away. Just think! That old bat won’t be able to boss you around anymore. Or put your arm in that thing. We’ll have so much fun together.”

  Bridie nodded without meeting Ruth’s eyes.

  “Okay.”

  They waited for the gardener to turn his back before pushing open
the wire gate.

  Once they were inside the convent grounds, they ran as fast as they could straight for the protection of the trees. Safely secluded behind an enormous fig tree, they looked about, trying to get a feel for where they should go next. All was very quiet compared with the school grounds. There were a few nuns about, but most of them were very old. They either shuffled along quietly praying or, with heads bowed, read from their little black books. Certainly none of them were on the lookout for a couple of wayward schoolgirls. Still, Ruth’s heart was in her mouth. They were in forbidden territory, and she knew it would only take one of them to look up and call the alarm, and all would be lost.

  Ruth pointed to another big tree almost directly outside the main entrance to the convent. “From there we’ll be able to see right along to the corner.”

  Looking about first to make sure they were not being watched, they ran for the tree. They could see right into the magnificent front porch. The heavy, polished wood front door was closed. It was at least two and a half meters high and set into an even bigger delicately carved arch. All around the actual door were stained-glass depictions of saints and Bible scenes. A shining brass doorbell hung beside the door.

  Bridie was staring at the door and a pained expression flitted across her face.

  “What?” Ruth prodded her.

  “I think I do remember a red door,” Bridie said softly, “but I’m not sure.”

  “Where?” Ruth asked excitedly.

  Bridie cupped her chin with both hands and frowned.

  Ruth watched her in dismay. Bridie was looking into the distance with a dreamy expression on her face, as though she could see things that weren’t even there.

  “Do you remember where?” Ruth asked again, trying to be patient. Come on, Bridie, now isn’t the time to get all misty-eyed!

  Bridie’s expression gradually lightened and she grabbed Ruth’s hand and squeezed it. “Being here has brought it back,” she whispered.

  “What?” Ruth said breathlessly. “Tell me what you remember.”

  “I remember being very young,” Bridie began, “maybe only three or four, and I was really sick. They took me in through that door.” She pointed to the grand front entrance to the convent. “And up some stairs. I was put into a little room by myself, but I could see through the slats in the wall that there were about six beds next door, all with sick nuns in them. I was in a kind of hospital. I know it was inside that building.

  “I was very little. It was strange seeing all the old nuns sitting up in bed without their veils on.” She laughed. “They had these little white caps on their heads and …” She looked into the distance, her face screwed up into a frown as she tried to recall more.

  Ruth nodded enthusiastically, but she was finding it increasingly difficult to be patient. She wanted to know if Bridie remembered a red door. Childhood memories could wait. Horrible old Sister Gregory would have found the Reverend Mother by now. She might be taking her time getting back in order to make Ruth sweat a little more, but still … it wouldn’t be long before she found out that her locked-up charges had made a run for it. And then … well, Ruth didn’t really want to think about what might happen then!

  “So what else do you remember?” she asked hopefully. Come on, Bridie!

  “Sister Winifred brought a woman to see me.” Bridie clutched Ruth’s arm. “I remember her saying, ‘Here she is, Jean.’ The woman was young, and she was wearing a purple dress with small white spots and had a white straw hat. She knelt down next to me and wiped my forehead with a cloth—I must have had a temperature—and she kept saying, ‘You’ve got to get better, darling.’” Bridie’s voice faltered. “Sister said something like, ‘She is going to live, Jean. Don’t worry, she will live.’”

  “Was the woman a doctor?” Ruth asked.

  “My mother’s name was Jean,” Bridie whispered. “That is all I’ve ever been told about my mother. That her name was Jean.”

  “Oh.”

  Bridie turned to Ruth. “Thank you.” The tears that had gathered in her eyes spilled over. “That memory was locked in my head,” she explained.

  “Okay,” Ruth said, “that’s good, but what about the red door?”

  Bridie squinted, thinking hard, then gave Ruth a small delighted smile.

  “There’s an old, filled-in fireplace,” she whispered excitedly, “in the same room as those sick nuns. I remember seeing it when I was well enough to leave the hospital. It’s under a little ledge in the corner of the room. And right next to that ledge is a red door. I … I can see it now.”

  They looked at each other and then back at the imposing front door.

  “But how are we going to get in there?” Ruth muttered, staring at the closed door.

  “I’ve got a friend who could help us get into the convent,” Bridie said.

  “Who?”

  “She works in the laundry. She doesn’t speak much English, but I know she’ll help. There’s a corridor that leads from the laundry into the convent. From there we’ll just have to guess. I know it’s on the top floor.”

  “Attention, girls! Would Ruth Craze and Bridie Fallan come to the office immediately!” Sister Gregory’s voice barked over the loudspeaker. “Ruth Craze and Bridie Fallan to the office at once!”

  “Come on.” Bridie pulled Ruth up. “We haven’t got much time!”

  They ran back into the school grounds, through hordes of girls sitting around playing cards and gossiping and then straight through a game of netball.

  “Hey, off the court, you two!” someone protested.

  “You’re wanted in the office!” someone else yelled.

  “We know,” Bridie yelled back. “We’re on our way!”

  In through the front door, down past the senior classrooms, and out into the internal courtyard they ran. Ruth’s heart dived when she saw two young nuns walking toward them.

  “We’re wanted, Sisters,” Bridie called, not slowing down, “in the office.”

  “Oh.” One nun’s face registered the import of this. “You two are the girls who …”

  But the other nun was looking at them severely.

  “You’re heading the wrong way,” she said.

  Ruth’s instinct was to stop and make some excuse, but Bridie pulled her on impatiently.

  “Come on!”

  They ran through another corridor and then out to the back of the school. All the buildings were shabbier. There was a sports equipment shed with a wire gate, but apart from an old man pushing a wheelbarrow, there was no one about.

  Bridie led the way toward a building with steam and noise coming from its wide-open door. Ruth’s eyes took a few moments to adjust, but once inside she saw that she was in the convent’s laundry. The clunking noise was coming from two huge washing machines. At least a dozen washing baskets lined the walls. On one side they were loaded up with piles of clean white shirts; on the other, mountains of soiled ones.

  Near the window, an old Chinese woman was working an industrial iron. She was wearing a dark dress covered with a big work apron, and her short, straight gray hair stood out from her head almost at right angles. When she saw Bridie, her face broke into a warm smile.

  The old woman stopped what she was doing and held out her arms to Bridie. Her face was very round and red, there was sweat dripping from her forehead and patches of it under her arms, and her hands were as rough and big as a builder’s.

  “This is my friend Ling,” Bridie explained, hugging the woman fiercely.

  “My baby girl.” The old woman laughed. She put a large hand to Bridie’s neck and drew out from beneath her shirt a tiny gold dragon threaded onto a fine chain.

  Bridie held it out for Ruth to see. “She gave me this when I was three.”

  “From China?” Ruth asked curiously. The old woman nodded and Ruth took a closer look. The work was very old and fine and it reminded her of … Rodney, in an odd way.

  “It mean ‘Good Luck.’” Ling smiled at Ruth through gold fron
t teeth. “I have other good-luck charms too.”

  “Like what?” Ruth asked. Like Rodney?

  “Ah!” Ling began to laugh.

  “We have to get to the infirmary, Ling,” Bridie said. “Can you show us?”

  “Why you go there?” she asked after a pause, shaking her head.

  “No time now.” Bridie grabbed her arm. “Please, Ling.”

  “Okay.” Ling laughed noiselessly. “But so bad … very naughty.”

  “I know, Ling.”

  Ling led them through the back of the laundry and then through another door. She opened it, stuck her head out for a quick look, and, seeing that the coast was clear, pushed them out into a lobby area and pointed them toward a staircase.

  “There,” she said. “Go up to top. Then across to where sisters live. From there more very thin stairs and at top you find sickroom.”

  “Thanks, Ling.” Bridie kissed her.

  They both ran for the staircase. It was made of polished, carved wood and was very wide. At the top there was a long, light-filled corridor.

  They were halfway down the hallway when they heard voices. Two nuns came into view at the end.

  “Quick.” Bridie pulled Ruth behind the nearest pillar. They waited until the nuns’ footsteps faded before venturing out again.

  They made it to the end of the corridor without meeting anyone else and came out onto a small landing with a flight of narrow stairs leading up. Suddenly, a shrill alarm went off and both girls jumped. It was just like a fire alarm and it didn’t stop.

  “That’s the emergency bell,” Bridie explained. “It means the whole school is on alert.” She smiled nervously. “Everyone knows we’re missing now.”

  “Never mind!” Ruth said gamely, but the shrill noise was terrifying. “So where to now?”

  “I reckon the infirmary is up there.” Bridie pointed to the narrow flight of stairs. “In fact, I’m sure of it.”

  But before they were even able to get to the first stair, a door silently slid open and there was … Oh no! Ruth gave an involuntary gasp. Sister Gregory!