by Patsy Whyte
Thanks to the efforts of the many health workers across the city and from further afield, the outbreak reached its peak within a month. On 17 June, the all clear was given and normal life slowly returned. At the end of the month the Queen paid a visit to thank all those who helped in bringing the epidemic under control. It was also a signal that Aberdeen was now safe for visitors. Over 40,000 people lined the streets to welcome Her Majesty.
Eventually, restrictions were lifted at the home, too, and we were all glad to be able to walk out the gates once more and to go to school and see our classmates. The six weeks seemed like a lifetime.
But although normality and routine returned quickly, nothing was quite the same ever again. It was as if we were forgotten by the world. My sixpence pocket money, which I got now and again, dried up completely, so there were no more visits to the nearby sweetshop which I looked forward to on a Saturday morning. I never went to the swimming pool or cinema again and theatre visits and other outings became fewer and farther between. The little things which made life a little more bearable slowly disappeared, adding to the resentment I felt growing inside me.
* * *
Some months later, all the newspapers in Aberdeen were full of speculation. For weeks they asked the same question, "Who is Little Miss X?" Little Miss X or Little Miss Anonymous were the names they gave to the young child chosen in secrecy who was to switch on the Christmas lights in the city.
This had never happened before and because it was a 'first', it was big news. Even if they somehow got to know her name, they couldn't legally disclose it anyway. But that didn't stop the stories or members of the public trying to guess who she was. All anyone knew for certain was Little Miss X lived in one of the local orphanages.
Little Miss X turned out to be me. But I never knew who she was right up until the night before the event. I prayed for a miracle for weeks, for something special to happen in my life. Little did I know how spectacularly my prayers were to be answered. I was to have 15 minutes of fame, yet no one would ever know my name.
The first hint or clue something special was about to happen to me sailed over the top of my head. It was just too impossible sounding, so I didn't take it seriously. I was sitting in the school diner hall next to a boy called Jack. He never looked very clean at the best of times with his blonde cropped hair and snotty nose. His clothes always seemed like they were in need of a wash. I didn't like him very much after he freaked us all out one lunchtime when sitting next to some kid who upset him and he erupted.
We heard an almighty thud from further down the hall making us all turn around to see what was happening. He was like a madman, throwing chairs and upsetting tables and shouting at the top of his voice. Teachers and dinner ladies rushed over to take control of the situation which must have lasted for a good half hour. Eventually, they managed to calm him down. Now he was sitting beside me, a few days later, as good as gold but I was still rather wary of him.
We were eating soup when Jack paused a moment between noisy slurps and blurted out, "You're putting on the Christmas lights!"
I think I stared at him with a silly blank expression on my face, wondering what he was talking about.
"What do you mean?"
"My dad's a councillor and he told me you're putting the lights on", he said, with absolute certainty in his voice.
"Right", I said, not believing a word of it, for there was no mention of Christmas lights happening anywhere that I knew about.
"You are, you are", he repeated in response to the disbelieving look and lack of enthusiasm in my face.
The Christmas holidays were only a matter of a few weeks away. The house mother told me one morning to tell the teacher I had to go to the dentist and needed to be let out early from school. So I did what I was asked. Later that afternoon, I found myself looking around the shops in the city centre with the house mother, never going anywhere near a dentist. The next morning, I was told to tell the teacher I had another dental appointment, but this time she was a little bit suspicious, not quite believing me.
"Are you telling me lies?", she asked.
"No. You can phone the house mother if you don't believe me."
Since she couldn't prove otherwise, the teacher let me leave school early again. Once more, I was looking around the shops with the house mother, but this time trying on shoes and clothes. I kept wondering why she had me telling lies to the teacher.
The following Saturday, the house mother said I was to go out with her eldest daughter but she wouldn't say to where. Naturally, I didn't question the order but just did as I was told. Her daughter took me to a hairdresser's shop in a rather posh part of the city which catered for only the best clientèle. She told me to take a seat on one of the plush red leather chairs because she needed to talk to the stylist on her own. Minutes passed and there was no sign of the house mother's daughter and I grew quickly bored and started to fidget. When at last she appeared we caught the bus back to the home.
I still didn't realise anything unusual was going on even when later on that evening I was unexpectedly summoned into the house mother's private sitting room, something that just never ever happened. I thought at first I must be in trouble, but the house mother was rather nice to me and told me to sit down on the carpet.
"Look at me carefully", the house mother said, waving her lower arm slowly and gracefully back and forward through the air. "I want you to learn to wave like the Queen."
So I sat there for half an hour waving my arm slowly back and forward, following the house mother's movements precisely, until she was satisfied in her mind I had got the wave perfect. We did this every night for four nights in a row. On the last night, the house mother said she had something to tell me. I suddenly felt nervous.
"Tomorrow night, you are going to be switching on the Christmas lights", she said.
I looked at her with a blank expression, having no idea what she meant. She was excited about something, but I wasn't. After all, I hadn't a clue about all the speculation or build-up going on for weeks because I never got to read any newspapers. Nobody told me anything, or at least anything I believed.
Next day, I was back at the posh hairdresser's shop I was only at a few days before. But this time my hair was being cut and styled. I was the centre of attention and lapped it all up like a sponge. The hairdresser even sprinkled silver dust through my hair, which I loved.
Back at the home, I went upstairs to find a pretty party frock and matching shoes waiting for me, all laid out neatly in my bedroom. A few minutes later, I was finished dressing and the house mother took me through to the kitchen where my brother Billy was standing.
"Doesn't Patsy look pretty?", the house mother asked Billy.
He looked at me with a grudging smile. It was plain to see he was jealous. He was also rather annoyed to be going to the Christmas lights ceremony in a double decker bus instead of going there with me. The bus would be one of several buses filled with children from other children's homes in the city. It would form part of a large procession of decorated floats and pipe bands and displays of all kinds.
Before I knew it, the bus arrived and all the children piled on and then they were gone, leaving the home feeling rather lonely and empty. The house mother told me to wait in the kitchen and a minute or two later appeared there carrying a beautiful deep red velvet cloak with a white fur trimmed hood which she told me to put around me. Then she took out a white fluffy muffler from out of a box and placed it around my neck and I felt very pretty. I looked a bit like Little Red Riding Hood.
Shortly after, the front door bell rang. I was led by a uniformed chauffeur to a gleaming Rolls Royce parked in the driveway. As he opened the door to let me in, the Lord and Lady Provost of Aberdeen were already sitting in the back seat. The Provost, who gave me a warm friendly smile which immediately put me at ease, looked very important and dignified with his gold chains of office around his neck. His wife was dressed up all posh in a fancy hat which matched the colour of her e
xpensive coat. She was rather stuck up.
The Rolls Royce left the home and glided through the streets of Aberdeen heading towards the city centre. As we slowly drove through King Street and then George Street, crowds were gathering on either side of the road.
"Wave to the people!", the Lady Provost said suddenly, in a rather sharpish tone.
Then it dawned on me, like some piece of a puzzle falling into place. Suddenly I understood why I spent so many hours learning to wave like the Queen. I was a mere spectator up until that moment, watching events unfold around me, yet not taking part in any of it. I was just sitting in the back seat of the Rolls Royce, with its plush ivory white leather seats and mahogany panels, enjoying looking out the window. But the crowds lining the road on a bitterly cold night were there just to see me. It was incredible.
As we drove slowly along Aberdeen's famous Union Street, the main thoroughfare running through the heart of the city, which had been emptied of all traffic except for our Rolls Royce, the crowds on each side swelled from a few hundred people to thousands upon thousands, all waving and cheering madly. With every passing yard, the noise only got louder, merging into one continuous deafening roar by the time we came to a halt in front of the Music Hall, our final destination.
I stepped out of the Rolls Royce and walked up the steps into the Music Hall flanked by the Lord and Lady Provost. They led me through to a large room where there were lots of sandwiches, finger foods and cakes of all descriptions, all laid out on long tables covered with white starched table cloths. Milling around were smartly dressed people I didn't know, huddled together in small groups and engaged in deep conversations.
I felt a little uncomfortable as my eyes wandered around the room. It was a beautiful room with a high ornamental ceiling and large windows draped in rich red velvet curtains which broke the white of the walls. I was relieved to see the house mother's eldest daughter enter the room and make her way towards me.
"I'm your lady in waiting", she said.
I had no idea what she meant but I was very glad to see a familiar face. She looked very pretty. There were small blue flowers in her jet black hair which was swept high off her face. She normally dressed in a blouse and mini skirt and I'd never seen her before in a smart two piece Tweed suit. She didn't look out of place as she chatted happily away with the toffs and dignitaries of Aberdeen.
It was getting nearer the moment for me to switch on the lights and a lady's voice broke through the chatter in the room.
"Come with me", she said. "It's time to go. Just follow me".
The room fell silent. Dozens of pairs of eyes followed my every movement as I was led through a door and out onto the balcony. Suddenly, I was blinded by dozens of flash bulbs going off from every direction and deafened by the wall of sound coming up to greet me from the crowds standing in the darkness behind barriers on the opposite side of the street.
I was followed onto the balcony by the Lord Provost and by other important dignitaries, including the Lord Mayor of London. A small raised platform was specially built for me otherwise the balcony wall would have hidden me from the crowds. A rostrum was positioned at the front of the platform and on top was a simple toggle switch with a microphone nearby. Without a trace of nervousness, I stepped up on the platform with the Lord Provost at my side.
"Say a few words", said the Lord Provost, unexpectedly.
No one told me I was to speak to the crowds. Now, for the first time, I felt some butterflies in my stomach as I moved my face towards the microphone. The Lord Provost looked at me intently, his eyes telling me to get a move on, but under the pressure I found it hard to think of anything to say.
"I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year."
I said the words without realising it but they were perfect for the occasion. The Lord Provost beckoned me to flick the switch down, which I did, lighting up the whole of Union Street in a blaze of glorious colour. As flash bulbs popped once more and the crowd roared out their approval, I heard the sound of pipes in the distance. The procession was starting.
The sound of the pipes grew louder and louder amid the growing buzz and excitement. Small flakes of snow were falling gently as I gazed up at the lights shining high above me. I was hypnotised by the beauty of it all. The large fluffy flakes drifted slowly downwards in the cold night air, glistening and sparkling in a rainbow of colours, each one reflecting for a moment the lights behind before melting into the pavement. I wanted to remember this magical fairy tale scene forever.
The pipe major, dressed in full Highland regalia and swinging his mace proudly at the head of a long column of pipers and drummers, was now almost level with the balcony. With kilts swishing and dozens of pairs of brogues marking perfect time to the beat of the music, the pipe band marched swiftly past and disappeared out of view.
Behind them followed a procession of brightly decorated floats, each one carrying anything up to a dozen people. They were all waving happily to the crowds. Every float represented a different organisation or charity or business which was well known in the city. I returned the enthusiastic waves as each slowly passed in front of the balcony.
The tail end of the procession was made up of five or six double decker buses filled with kids from Aberdeen's children's homes. I tried hard to spot which one held the children from my home but I couldn't make out any familiar faces through the windows. Before I had any real time to register anything, each bus was by me and out of sight, leaving me feeling a bit disappointed.
When the last bus passed the balcony, the procession was over. The spectators started to make their way homewards. Many of them had been standing behind the barriers for more than an hour and were now glad to be leaving. But quite a number darted across the empty street to get a better look at me. As they got nearer, I recognised several kids from my school.
"What was it like, what was it like?", they shouted up at me.
I never got the chance to reply because I was whisked back into the Music Hall to the large room where the dignitaries were already sitting down enjoying the start of a slap up meal. But I felt too uncomfortable to join them. They were far too toffy nosed for my liking.
Instead, I went over to the tables where the food I saw earlier was laid out and although starving, I stopped myself from diving in because I was acutely aware of the house mother's daughter. She was watching my every move. So I made sure my manners were beyond reproach as I daintily filled a plate with a selection of sandwiches and cakes.
Before I knew it, the evening was over for me. It was time to take my leave of the Music Hall. Following the Lord and Lady Provost down the steps, the chauffeur was already waiting beside the open doors of the Rolls Royce and I climbed aboard. The Rolls Royce once more glided down Union Street which was now quiet and deserted with litter strewn across the pavements on either side.
The Lord Provost pulled out a small red box and handed it to me. I opened it to see a gold necklace with a small crystal lantern in the middle. It was given to me by the City of Aberdeen to mark the occasion. I took it out of the box and held it up and watched the light through the crystal lantern changing into many different colours.
"Stop!", said the Lord Provost, suddenly.
The Rolls Royce driver was a bit surprised, as we all were. The Lord Provost quickly rolled down the window and shouted over to a man on the other side of the street. The old man, a cripple, had been a spectator watching in the crowd and was now struggling through the snow on his own, the last straggler to make his way homewards.
"Get in", said the Lord Provost, opening the door for him.
With a bit of an effort and a helping hand from the Lord Provost, the elderly man got in and sat down in the seat opposite. He was glad to be out of the cold. It seemed to me the Lord Provost knew the man who appeared to have fallen on hard times. Judging by the conversation they were having, they were old friends. The Lord Provost's wife seemed a little bit put out by this unexpected end to the evening, pretending not to
listen or care. I was too busy admiring my new necklace.