by J. C. Jones
Teacher James Blair, initially suspected of being involved in Pip’s disappearance and suspended from his position at Spring Hill Public, has been cleared by police and returns to his position this week.
At least there was no photo this time, which was good news, Pip thought. She giggled to herself when she wondered what the police might be telling the newspapers right now. Doug Cameron might be wishing he had locked her up, although really it was Mrs Spindler’s fault. Had she really thought Pip wouldn’t attempt to escape again?
Maybe when this was all over and she could return to Greene Lane, she would visit the paper and ask them to show her how they did their job. That would be cool.
Changing into her pyjamas, Pip turned out the light and settled down on the couch, listening to Houdini snoring nearby. She would also have to start thinking about moving if Sully wasn’t coming home soon. She didn’t think the new owners of Number 78 Elliott Street would appreciate moving in to find the house already had two small, scruffy residents.
Sully's Secret
The following day started really well. It was one of those clear, cloudless mornings without the stickiness that is common as summer closes in. The house opposite already had Christmas decorations up outside, Pip had noticed. And it was still November!
She really hoped Sully was home soon. She was missing him badly, and it seemed to be taking forever for him to get better. There were only a few weeks until the Christmas holidays. Even if they couldn’t afford presents like last year, she could win enough money for a roast chicken, a cake and some other treats. Somehow, she would make it a very special Christmas for them both.
Pip got out of the shower and grinned when she saw her sleek, damp cap of dark hair in the mirror. Cool. Tugging on her last set of clean undies, she remembered the clothes Matilda had left. The jeans were a fraction short but otherwise fit well, and the top looked great.
When she came downstairs, she found Houdini in the backyard facing off against Indigo/Bruce. The cat had its back arched in dislike, but oddly Houdini was wagging his tail. Couldn’t the dumb dog see that the cat was about to attack?
Then a funny thing happened. The cat sat down and started licking its paws. Houdini took this as a sign and padded over, and started to lick the cat too. Indigo/Bruce looked a bit startled and gently batted Houdini on the nose, and then they raced around the garden together, wrestling and tumbling until they were both exhausted.
Pip laughed as she watched them. From worst of enemies to best of friends in less than a day, she thought.
By the time she’d had breakfast, the cat had stalked off to do clever cat things, leaving the dog behind. Pip let him in and played with him for a few minutes, then set out for the day, shutting him in the house. He hadn’t tried to run away when he’d been out in the garden, but if she left him alone outside, anything could happen. It meant she would have to be reasonably quick as Houdini wouldn’t be able to last all day without peeing and she would feel bad if anything happened to the nice rug at Number 78 Elliott Street. Pip knew she needed money, so first stop was the hospital. As she walked, she was filled with the confidence that new hair and clothes can bring, and she seemed to get there in no time. This time, rather than walk right in the front door, she went around to the back and found her way to the walkway outside Sully’s room.
Although the curtains were closed, she was able to peer through the gap. There was a bump in Sully’s bed, which she hoped was him sleeping and not someone else. She wouldn’t be able to tell without going into the room. At least there were no visitors or staff and only one other patient to worry about as she slid the old-fashioned window up and hoisted herself onto the sill.
‘Well!’ said the same lady who had been opposite Sully last week. ‘It’s Pip, isn’t it? The one the police are looking for? What’re you doing up there?’
‘Shhh!’ Pip put a finger to her lips. ‘I’ve come to visit Sully.’
‘I’m Coralie Beetlebaum. You look very different from last week. Much better, if you don’t mind me saying so.’
‘I don’t mind,’ Pip said, and went over to Sully’s bed. His face was waxy like an old candle, and his breathing rattled. He looked worse than the day of his stroke. ‘Sully.’ She shook his arm.
‘He wasn’t good over the weekend,’ said Mrs Beetlebaum. ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to wake him. They said he won’t be able to move to rehab till he’s feeling better.’
Worried, Pip sat down beside him. ‘Sully,’ she whispered. ‘It’s Pip. Get lots of sleep so you get better. I just need to borrow some of the money I gave you because the police took what I made on the weekend. It’s a long story, but everything’s going to be all right. I’ll get more money for your rehab.’
She started to tell him about the races and the police but changed her mind. It might make him worry. ‘Lots of things have been happening,’ she said instead.
She squeezed his hand and was about to leave when she felt him squeeze her hand back.
His eyes flickered open a crack and his lips moved as if he was trying to speak.
‘It’s okay, Sully,’ Pip said. ‘Don’t try to talk.’
His bony old hand grabbed hers and tugged her towards him. Her eyes on his pale face, Pip watched his lips move.
She bent close to him, feeling sadder than ever, and felt the faint puff of his breath at her ear.
‘Pip, girl,’ he said. ‘Shorry. Shorry about everything.’
‘There’s nothing to be sorry about,’ Pip said.
‘Shoulda told you,’ he whispered. ‘Shouldna kept it shecret. I’d lost my Em, and I didn’t want to lose you too.’
Pip held his hand tightly. ‘What secret?’ she asked.
She waited, her heart pounding, but Sully just muttered words she didn’t understand. He reached out a thin, feeble arm towards the photo of himself and his Em beside the bed. It had fallen face-down, so she arranged it where he could see it. When she looked back at Sully, she realised he had fallen asleep.
Pip let go of his hand and tucked the sheet neatly around him.
‘That police lady was here again yesterday,’ Mrs Beetlebaum told her while she was tucking him in. ‘She was looking for you, but I didn’t tell her anything. But I can’t keep up. The paper said they’d found you.’
Pip nodded. ‘They did, but . . . I got away again.’
‘Gosh, you are determined.’
‘I just want to go home with Sully,’ Pip said.
‘Well, good luck,’ Mrs Beetlebaum said. ‘I’ll be sure to tell Mr Sully you stopped by when he wakes up.’
Pip pulled herself up on the window ledge, waved goodbye to Mrs Beetlebaum and hopped down onto the walkway as the coast was clear. With Sully’s words still spinning around in her head, she went to buy a newspaper and lunch, and some cans of dog food for Houdini as the biscuits wouldn’t last long.
What was the secret Sully had kept from her? And why would he have thought he might lose her? Had he known how sick he was? Perhaps that’s why he always told her off for fussing whenever she suggested he go to see a doctor. Maybe he’d been afraid that a doctor wouldn’t let Sully and Pip look after each other anymore.
Houdini was overjoyed to see her when she returned, yipping like crazy, his front paws on the glass and tail wagging so hard Pip was surprised it didn’t fly off. Pip slid open the door and he leapt right up and into her arms. She was so surprised that she lost her balance and staggered back off the step onto the grass, sending shopping, newspaper and dog flying.
‘Oof! Crazy dog!’ She sat up and watched him dance around her, carrying on. ‘Come on! I’ve got some lunch here for you.’
They ate companionably on the grass together, then Pip refilled the fruit bowl with fresh water and settled down with the paper as Houdini quenched his thirst.
‘I’m on the front page again,’ she told him, the article driving thoughts of Sully’s ramblings from her mind. ‘Look.’ She showed him but he only sniffed at the newspaper and the
n bounded off to play, cocking his leg at shrub after shrub, excited to be free after being shut up all morning.
EMBARRASSMENT AS PIP ESCAPES POLICE, CHILD PROTECTION
Sydney police yesterday accused Child Protection officers of mishandling the case of Pip Sullivan after the ten-year-old apparently walked out of foster care. She has not been seen since.
The girl, who has been the subject of a city-wide search for more than a week, was taken into custody on Saturday evening.
Sources have suggested that Pip Sullivan had a sizeable amount of cash on her when she was taken into custody, although we have been unable to confirm this. However, there have been rumours that the girl joined forces with a gang of pickpockets in order to survive.
Inspector Carozza would only say, ‘We hold grave fears for the little girl’s safety. If she is reading this article, we encourage her to come forward. There is no reason for her to be frightened. Everyone just wants to make sure she is well looked after.’
Frightened! Pip thought. What do you think I am? A scared little mouse? Do you call dumping me at a nuthouse looking after me?
She was almost angry enough to write another letter but the article raised a more urgent matter. It was getting too risky to go to the races this week. But if she didn’t, it was going to put a big dent in Sully’s rehab fund, unless she could come up with another money-making plan.
Pip wrestled with the problem for a good hour before she decided to take a break and got out the books that Matilda had left behind. There was a report to write on what Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tells us about people, which she thoroughly enjoyed, some civics revision for a test and a paper of maths calculations, which was boring.
She was halfway through the maths paper when there was a soft knock on the glass door. She jumped up as she saw Matilda with Indigo/ Bruce in her arms.
‘Hi!’ Matilda said, coming inside and dropping the cat, who rushed off to play with Houdini. ‘Guess what? Mr Blair was back at school, and everybody was so glad to see him. Even Spiro and Sally. I think he was glad to see us too. We finally got our spelling-test results. I got fifteen out of twenty again, which is pretty good for me. How did you get “Xenophobia”? Mr Blair said you got top marks again. Parminder was second with seventeen and me and Heath tied for third.’ She said it in a rush as though she had a time limit to get it all out.
‘Everyone’s talking about how you busted out of jail. Spiro asked Mr Blair if he was your accomplice.’ Matilda wrinkled her nose. ‘I worry about him. I mean, can you imagine Mr Blair being a criminal?’ Pip laughed. ‘Not really. I think Mr Blair would always do the right thing.’
‘He said you wrote to the police and told them he hadn’t done anything wrong. Did you, Pip?’
‘Yeah. I didn’t want him to get in trouble because of me.’
‘Wow! This is so exciting. And it’s scary. The police were at the school today. One of them was called Senior Constable Molly Dunlop. She kept looking at Mr Blair like this.’ Matilda looked coyly out from under her lashes. ‘I think she likes him.’ They both laughed. ‘And Ms Mooney said in assembly that if anyone knows anything they should come forward.’
Pip frowned. ‘You promised!’
Matilda looked offended. ‘I didn’t mean I’d tell!’
‘Sorry. I’m just a bit worried. I went to see Sully at the hospital today and he’s not getting better.’ Pip nearly said something about his secret, but changed her mind. Until Sully was well enough to tell her what it was, she would keep it to herself.
Matilda was silent for a minute as she watched Indigo/Bruce take a playful swipe at Houdini’s tail. ‘What about . . . I mean, do you have a mum?’
Pip thought of the photo in her bag and tried to ignore the hollow ache in her chest. ‘No. I mean, I think I have a mother, somewhere. Or I did. Everyone has a mother. But not everyone has a mum.’
Matilda’s hand slid into hers and squeezed. ‘Do you know where she is?’
Pip shook her head. ‘I don’t know anything, not even her name.’
‘You could find her. You could do anything,’ Matilda said loyally.
‘I don’t think she wanted me. She thought I was bad,’ Pip said. Her throat felt tight as it always did when she thought about what Sully had told her when she’d been little and asked about her mum for the first time. He’d grumbled and then given her the photo of the woman with grey-green eyes.
Some folks just can’t tell good from bad.
They had never spoken about it since.
Pip swallowed the horrible feeling in her throat. It went to her chest but she ignored it. ‘So it’s just Sully and me,’ she told Matilda.
‘Well, I hope he gets better soon. I’ll bring you some dinner later, okay? Mum said it’s spaghetti and meatballs with ice-cream for dessert.’
Pip gave her a weak smile. She’d never felt less like eating in her life.
In the Nick of Time
Pip tossed and turned late into the night, thinking about Sully’s secret and trying to come up with a new money-making plan. When she finally dropped off to sleep sometime before dawn, she dreamt of a young woman called Cassandra with grey-green eyes placing an apple crate on the front step of Number 3 Greene Lane and then turning and walking away as though she had done nothing more than deliver groceries.
When Pip woke, she felt hollowed out. Houdini was whining to go out, so she got up and opened the door before slumping on the couch feeling as though she’d hardly slept at all. Eventually she got up and showered and put out some food for Houdini. He wolfed it down as she slowly ate a banana.
The cat appeared suddenly at the door, ignoring Houdini, and padded across the room to where Pip’s bag sat on the floor. She nudged it and looked up at Pip. Frowning, Pip went over to it and looked inside. It contained just her spare clothes.
‘What is it?’ she asked. ‘I hope you’re not saying my clothes stink.’
The cat sat there unblinking, then she picked up a sock from the floor in her mouth and brought it to the bag.
Pip laughed. ‘Oh, so you want me to tidy up, do you? Okay, well, I suppose I don’t have anything better to do until I work out how to make some money.’
In any case, she was going to have to move out soon now the house was sold, so she might as well prepare for the day. She put the sock and its mate in the bag along with other clothes, looking on with amusement as Indigo/Bruce bustled around, finding a book that had accidentally slid beneath the couch and a pen between the cushions.
Houdini was no help at all, just watching with bright, curious eyes.
‘Calm down, Indigo/Bruce,’ Pip said in exasperation after the cat got under her feet and nearly tripped her up. ‘Matilda said the new people aren’t moving in for a couple of weeks.’
She went upstairs to tidy the bathroom. Just as she got to the top of the stairs, a truck pulled up outside. Pip glanced out the window. Along the truck’s side was painted the words FINESTYLE FURNITURE RENTALS.
Pip shrugged and continued to the bathroom. A moment later, the penny dropped. They must be here to collect the rented furniture before the new owners moved in!
Heart in her mouth, she watched as two men jumped from the cab, and one of them came up the path. A second later the doorbell rang. Pip didn’t move, didn’t breathe, until the man walked back down the path to his mate, who fished a mobile phone out of his pocket. Thanking her lucky stars they hadn’t walked right in, she grabbed her few things from the bathroom, dashed back downstairs, pushed her few remaining belongings into the bags and looked wildly around. The breakfast dishes! Frantically, she rinsed them off and left them draining in the sink, along with the fruit bowl.
She dumped her remaining food from the fridge into a plastic bag. Everything looked tidy-ish and she just didn’t have time to do any more. The cat, of course, had vanished, so with a final plump up of the couch cushions, Pip picked up her bags, walked outside, locked the door and called for Houdini.
The dog seemed to pick
up on the urgency, for he came immediately and sat there staring up at her as she debated what to do. If she walked down the driveway, they’d see her. The only other option was over the fence and into the neighbours’ backyard.
She peered over the fence. The windows of the neighbours’ house were shut up as though no one was home – she would just have to chance it. First she threw the bags over, then Houdini, who landed with a confused yelp. With no foothold on the high fence, Pip had to drag herself up by her arms. She winced as a nail scraped a gash in her bare arm, and nearly screamed as she lost her balance, twisting her right ankle as she fell.
The pain was excruciating, and she had to grit her teeth to stop herself from howling. As it was, Houdini was whining in panic, and she couldn’t afford for him to start barking.
‘It’s okay,’ she said through her teeth. She made herself stand, picked up the bags in one hand and used the other to hold on to the fence as she hobbled down the side path to the street. Houdini followed her reluctantly, but finally they emerged onto Elliott Street behind the furniture van.
Wincing with every step, Pip urged Houdini across the road and they headed for the park. Just as they reached it, a smart black car with the words INNER-CITY REAL ESTATE painted on it drove up the street with a young blonde woman at the wheel. Pip watched as she pulled up behind the truck and went to open the front door.
Pip kept on walking until she got to the park, where she collapsed in relief. She looked across the road to Matilda’s house. Indigo/Bruce sat on her chair and swished her tail. Pip smiled a thank-you to the cat, and thought that maybe the cat smiled back.
She waited a long time for the throbbing in her ankle to stop. It looked a little puffy and bruised but she could stand on it with some discomfort, although there was no way she could walk all the way back to Greene Lane, which was the only place she could think of to go.
In the end, she hobbled across the park to the nearest bus stop and waited for the bus to the Spring Hill shops. When it came, she hopped on awkwardly after two older ladies, Houdini following obediently. The driver looked at her from beneath bushy eyebrows.