Christmas for the Halfpenny Orphans

by Cathy Sharp

  Yet supposing she was right? Supposing Samantha was unwell or in pain? Was it an illness or … Wendy went cold all over. What if the child was being ill-treated by her aunt?

  It was Wendy’s day off. Perhaps if she asked Angela for the aunt’s address she might go round there and ask to speak to Samantha …

  ‘Wendy, may I speak with you for a moment?’ Wendy turned as Nan came up to her.

  ‘Yes, Nan. What can I do for you?’

  ‘Nurse Paula telephoned a moment ago; she has terrible toothache so she won’t be coming in. Could you do the evening shift? I’d ask Michelle, but she’s been on all day so Angela suggested I speak to you.’

  ‘Of course I will,’ Wendy said. ‘I was thinking of going somewhere this afternoon, but it can wait. I’ll head off home and get some sleep.’

  ‘Yes, you do that.’ Nan smiled at her. ‘I’m sorry to spoil your plans, but I’m sure Angela will arrange for you to have a day off in lieu.’

  ‘I’m not bothered, really,’ Wendy said. She pushed the faint worry about Sarah to the back of her mind. It was unlikely that the child really had picked up her sister’s pain, after all. In all probability it was all in her mind …

  ‘I came to tell you that Matty has had his tests and he’s feeling more comfortable.’ Richard Kent had approached Michelle in the sick ward at St Saviour’s as she was about to leave for her lunch break. ‘I know how worried you were about him, so I wanted to give you the news as soon as I heard.’

  ‘We could go for a cup of coffee,’ she suggested. ‘I’m on my break now for half an hour.’

  ‘Yes, if you like,’ he agreed, falling in beside her as they made their way down the stairs to the small staff room.

  As Michelle had expected, the room was empty; at this time of day, most of the carers were in the dining room overseeing the children’s lunch. She filled the kettle with water and switched it on, turning to him with a plain white mug in her hand.

  ‘Tea or coffee?’

  ‘Tea – unless it’s real coffee?’

  ‘Not a hope,’ Michelle said, and picked up the teapot. ‘Angela sometimes treats us if she can get hold of some real coffee, but mostly it’s that awful chicory stuff in a bottle.’

  ‘No thanks,’ he said, ‘I’ll stick with a strong cup of tea. Now, my news – Matty has had all the tests. We do not have all the results yet, but from preliminary findings it seems that he has a problem with his spine – most likely it was the pressure on his vertebrae that caused him to have a fit. The most likely explanation is a tumour—’

  ‘Oh no,’ Michelle said, turning to look at him. ‘The poor child – that’s absolutely awful, Richard. Could the tumour be malignant?’

  ‘I’m not a specialist, Michelle. Like you, my mind’s racing and I know nothing for certain, but I do know the prognosis isn’t good if it is indeed a tumour. He could begin to lose mobility over time and end up confined to a wheelchair, he could suffer more fits … Until the tests are complete, the hospital can’t say for sure what the outcome will be. The boy is going to need love and kindness to help him through this. Does he have any relatives?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. Poor Matty; he doesn’t deserve to have to suffer so much.’ Michelle tried to focus on pouring milk into the cups while the tea brewed in the pot, but she was picturing Matty, trying so hard to be brave as she’d helped him up after his fit. ‘It makes me so angry when I see children suffering with an illness like that – it isn’t fair, Richard. He’s had no chance to live and be happy.’

  ‘No, it isn’t fair,’ he agreed and smiled at her as she offered sugar. ‘One lump, thank you. I must admit that it upsets me too when I visit the children’s ward and witness how sick some of them are, but we have to realise that they are in the best place.’

  ‘I think the nurses and doctors at Great Ormond Street are fantastic.’ Michelle smiled sadly. ‘I don’t think I’m made of strong enough stuff. It breaks my heart when a child dies, and they must see it happen all too often. At least here, most of our children have less severe ailments, most of the time.’

  ‘Yes,’ Richard looked thoughtful. ‘I understand that Angela has arranged for a polio victim to come here?’

  ‘She consulted me first, naturally. She was worried about the added workload with Sister Beatrice still off sick, but I told her I thought we’d manage.’

  ‘As I understand it, the boy has made a good recovery from the disease but it has left him with a wasted leg.’

  ‘So Angela said. We’ll be able to help him with gentle exercises to build up his wasted leg.’

  Dr Kent nodded. ‘As far as his respiratory condition is concerned, he seems fine. You’ll need to keep an eye on him if he picks up colds or coughs, because he may have a weakness in his chest – but you’ll know more once you’ve seen the boy. I’ll come in and check him over, if you wish?’

  ‘I expect Angela will ask you to keep an eye on him,’ Michelle said, taking a sip of her tea. There wouldn’t be time for lunch now, so she opened the biscuit tin hoping to take the edge off her appetite, but there were only a couple of plain biscuits and they looked soft so she left them. ‘I’ll have to get back soon.’

  ‘I’ve taken up your lunch break, haven’t I?’ said Richard.

  ‘It doesn’t matter; someone will bring me a sandwich if I ask.’

  ‘How about I take you out for a meal this evening to make up for it?’

  Michelle hesitated, then, ‘You don’t have to do that …’

  ‘I should like to,’ he said, giving her a surprisingly uncertain look. ‘I thought perhaps we might be friends? I don’t often have time to go out – I work late most nights, and I don’t like to leave my mother alone for too long as she’s quite fragile – but this evening she has a friend coming, so I could pick you up at eight … if that isn’t too late for you?’

  ‘No. I’ll be changing to evening duty tomorrow, so this is my last free evening until next week, when I have Saturday and Sunday off.’

  ‘So, will you come?’

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ she said and smiled. ‘I like going out with friends, Richard – as long as it is just friends. I’m not interested in a romance.’

  He looked serious for a moment. ‘Any particular reason – or does that apply only to me?’

  ‘No, it applies to everyone,’ Michelle replied, looking him in the eyes. ‘I was hurt badly once, and since then …’

  ‘You think men are a lot of cheating bastards?’ he asked, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

  ‘No, of course not!’ she laughed. ‘I know it doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘Now on that we’re in perfect accord,’ he said, amusement dancing briefly in his eyes. ‘I’m content with friends for now, Michelle. I’m not sure I could cope with more myself, given my situation at home; since my father died, my mother has come to depend on me. I’ll pick you up at your home at eight this evening. Don’t be late – and wear that pretty blue frock of yours …’

  Michelle stared after him as he went off whistling cheerfully. So now he was telling her what to wear – he had a cheek! She had a good mind to refuse to go with him – and yet she was already looking forward to it. If she wasn’t careful, she might find herself liking him too much … Wasn’t that precisely what she’d been afraid of? If she relaxed her guard and let herself like Dr Richard Kent, she might end up with a broken heart again.

  There’d been no danger of that when she was going out with Alice’s cousin Eric. Although Eric wanted more than friendship, he hadn’t pushed it. He was a decent man – and she tried not to think of the hurt and disappointment in his eyes the last time she’d turned down his offer of marriage – but she wasn’t in love with him, so she couldn’t be hurt. However she had a feeling that she could easily fall for the mysterious but charming Dr Kent …

  ‘Why did Rose have to go and say she wanted to come to the zoo this Sunday?’ Mary Ellen said, scowling as she and Billy sat on the back stairs and shared a sherbet dip. Bi
lly had broken the liquorice stick in two and they tipped a little of the sharp sherbet onto their palms and rolled the end of the stick in it before sucking it clean. It was sticky and Billy had a line of white powder above his mouth. His red hair had been slicked down with water that morning, but it was sticking up at the crown and his socks were down around his ankles, his shoes scuffed and needing a polish. ‘If you come on the trip looking like that, Billy, she’ll stick her nose in the air and call you that Baggins boy.’

  ‘She can’t stop me coming,’ Billy said cheerfully. ‘We’ll find a way of being together, Mary Ellen. I ain’t gonna let your Rose ruin things for us, don’t you worry.’

  ‘No, she can’t stop you coming,’ Mary Ellen agreed. ‘And if she gives me any money, I’ll share it with you, Billy – but I still think it would’ve been more fun if Nan had come instead of Rose.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Billy agreed. ‘I used to like Sally, but she’s gone off to be a nurse like your Rose. I think that Tilly is all right, but she can be a bit moody.’

  ‘She looks sad sometimes,’ Mary Ellen agreed. ‘Miss Angela said her father is coming to the zoo with us as well. I’ve seen him with her once and he seems nice – so maybe it will be all right, even if our Rose does come.’

  ‘Did you see that new boy come in this morning?’ Billy asked. ‘They brought him in an ambulance as I was leavin’ for school. He’s in a wheelchair, and it looks like he’s got an iron cast on his left leg.’

  ‘Oh, poor him,’ Mary Ellen said. ‘Do you think he’s in the sick room? Should we go up and see him – tell him it’s all right here? You know how it feels when you first come …’

  ‘His name is Timmy,’ Billy said, then frowned. ‘I’m not sure, but I think I heard Staff Nurse Michelle say he’d had polio. Do you remember that kid down our lane who died of polio? I reckon Timmy must be pretty miserable if he’s got something awful like that.’

  Mary Ellen didn’t remember the boy who died – it must have happened before Ma had taken them to live near the Docks – but she agreed that Timmy must be feeling miserable.

  ‘I wonder if he’s coming on the trip to the zoo …’

  ‘I bet they won’t let him; they’re sure to say it would be too much for him,’ Billy said. ‘I’m goin’ to see if I can sneak in and have a word with him before lights out, but you don’t want to come. If I get caught, I might be in trouble.’

  ‘If Sister was here she might say you couldn’t come to the zoo. Remember how she stopped me going to the pantomime last Christmas? Do you think there’ll be a trip to a panto this year?’

  ‘Dunno, but as I remember you did all right last year – Miss Angela took you to the pictures to see Bambi.’

  ‘Yes, but I was stopped the pantomime treat – and it might happen to you if you get caught sneaking into the sick ward.’

  ‘Not unless I did somethin’ bad. I’m only goin’ to see him, Mary Ellen – cheer him up a bit.’ He finished his sherbet dip and sighed. ‘I’ve got a penny’s worth of Tom Thumb drops. I’d share them with you, but I think I’ll give them to Timmy.’

  ‘All right,’ Mary Ellen said and stood up, brushing some white powder from her skirt. ‘I’m going to find Nancy and ask her if she’ll mend my coat. One of the girls at school tore it and I don’t want Sister to find out.’

  ‘Why did she do that, Mary Ellen?’

  ‘She called me a charity ’alfpenny kid and pulled my hair, so I kicked her ankle and she went for me and tore the front of my coat.’

  ‘You should have told me,’ Billy said. ‘I’d have given her a black eye.’

  ‘Then Miss Angela would have stopped you going on the treat,’ Mary Ellen said. ‘You mustn’t hit girls, Billy. Boys who hit girls are bullies; I’m a girl so it’s all right for me to hit her – and I did, right on the nose. She went crying to teacher, but she said it was six of one and half a dozen of the other, and made us both stand in the corridor for the whole of reading – and it was a lovely story about a ballerina too.’

  ‘You didn’t miss much there then.’

  Mary Ellen pulled a face at him. ‘I love books about the ballet. We’re doing a scrapbook project at school and I want to make one about ballerinas … I should like to be a dancer when I’m older.’

  ‘I thought you wanted to be a teacher?’

  ‘I do – but I’d like to dance, too. It’s all right; I know it’s only a dream.’ Mary Ellen grinned at him. ‘Go on, if you’re going to see Timmy you’d best be on your way – I’m off to help Nancy with the under-fives …’

  Billy glanced in the sick room. Nurse Paula was on that evening and she was busy giving out drinks and medicines. He waved at a boy he knew and went out, closing the door after him. No sign of their new admission there so he must be in the isolation ward; it was empty again after the sickness bug cleared up, but he might find the new boy there. Billy knew he wasn’t allowed in, because it was for children with serious illnesses – but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. Timmy couldn’t be infectious or the nurses would have been wearing protective clothing when he was brought in, and they hadn’t been.

  He opened the door cautiously and peeped round the corner. Only one bed was occupied, by the window at the far end, overlooking the garden. Billy couldn’t see anyone else and knew that the nurse was next door. She was busy and he reckoned he had time to sneak in and have a few words.

  Timmy looked at him in surprise as he walked up to him and grinned, before sitting on the edge of the bed.

  ‘I don’t think you’re supposed to be here,’ Timmy said.

  ‘I’m Billy Baggins, and I’ve brought you these,’ Billy said, and handed over the Tom Thumb drops. ‘I reckon you’re feelin’ a bit lonely, ain’t yer? It seems awful when you don’t know anyone – but you’ll be out of here soon and then you can join my team. We do all sorts of things to earn stars and then we go on trips to the zoo and things.’

  ‘It’s nicer here than it was where I’ve been,’ Timmy said. He looked in the bag and smiled. ‘Thanks, I like these. Do you want some?’

  ‘Nah, they’re for you,’ Billy said nobly. ‘We’re goin’ to the zoo this weekend – have you ever been?’

  ‘Only once. Will you come and tell me about it when you get back?’

  ‘Yeah, ’course. I’ll bring you something. It won’t be much, ’cos we only get threepence a week pocket money. Miss Angela is taking us to the zoo.’

  ‘I think I’ve seen her,’ Timmy said, remembering. ‘She brought me some strawberry jelly and ice cream for tea. I can eat more now, but I still find it difficult to eat solid food. It isn’t easy to swallow hard things – the polio affected my throat and I had to be fed by drip for a long time …’

  ‘Yeah, that’s rotten for yer, mate. Mind you, I like jelly and ice cream – but I like ham sandwiches and plum tart and custard too.’

  ‘I used to like me ma’s bread-and-butter pudding before I got ill—’ Timothy said, breaking off as the door opened and Angela entered. She was wearing a white apron over her dress and carrying a tray with a glass of orange juice.

  ‘Hello, Billy,’ she said. ‘Have you come to welcome Timmy to St Saviour’s?’

  ‘Yes, Miss Angela,’ Billy said warily. ‘I was telling him about bein’ on my team when he leaves the ward – and the trips out. I promised to bring him something back from the zoo.’

  ‘Yes, we shall certainly do that,’ Angela said and gave him a look of approval. ‘I think you should go now – please wash your hands before you leave the ward. We think Timmy is over the infection, but you can’t be too careful.’

  ‘Yes, Miss Angela,’ Billy said and went over to the sink. He winked at Timmy as he gave his hands a perfunctory wash and then went out, shutting the door after him.

  Miss Angela was all right. He reckoned she was a brick for not getting on to him just because he’d bent the rules a bit. Smiling to himself, he went down to the dining room to have his cup of cocoa before going to his dorm.

  TW
ENTY-FOUR

  ‘I’m sure Billy thought he would be in trouble for breaking the rules,’ Angela said later that evening when she welcomed Mark to her home, ‘but he meant well and his visit certainly cheered Timmy up a lot – besides, there can’t be any risk of infection. I would put Timmy straight into one of the dorms, but I thought he needed to get used to us a little at a time. After all, he has been very ill and I think he’s more at risk of catching something from the others than they are from him.’

  ‘He was lucky to come out of it with just a weak leg,’ Mark said and smiled at her as he relaxed in one of her comfortable chairs, his long legs stretched out in front of him. ‘Some victims don’t survive, as you know, and some have to be in an iron lung for a long time merely to breathe. Apart from the partial paralysis in his leg, Timmy seems to have come through it well.’

  ‘Dr Kent said the same thing when he visited this afternoon,’ Angela said, filling his wineglass. ‘He was sure the boy wasn’t infectious – but he agreed that Timmy will need to find his way slowly. He can walk a few steps with the help of the leg iron and a couple of sticks, but he can’t swallow solid food yet and he’s a long way off keeping up with the other boys. I’m not sure where I ought to put him.’

  ‘Why don’t you put him with Billy Baggins?’ Mark suggested and sipped his wine. ‘He was obviously ready to make friends – and he won’t let the others bully him.’

  ‘No, he would give anyone who tried a black eye,’ Angela said and laughed as Mark raised his eyebrows. ‘I’ve heard him threaten it a few times since I made him a monitor. I’m not sure Sister would approve, but it seems to keep the younger boys in line. He would make a good sergeant major.’

  ‘Yes, he certainly would,’ Mark agreed. ‘This is lovely wine, Angela, but I’m certain you asked me over for a purpose …’