As Miss Scrimp brusquely slammed shut the side door of the car, she could have used this small opportunity to take hold of Polly’s small, trembling hand to say a meaningful and maybe even tenderhearted good-bye, but sadly she was unable to rise to the occasion by giving even a morsel of human kindness, preferring to use the opportunity to give Polly one very sound and useful piece of advice. “Behave yourself, girl!” she growled, as she rather disdainfully thrust Langdon through the half-open window like he were some sort of unwanted and discarded rag doll. Polly immediately reached down to pick him up and stroke away his bruised feelings.
As she sat alone in the car feeling very scared for her future, a future that might well see her spending the rest of her days drugged up and hidden away in one of the many locked-up wards of the local loony bin, it made her hug Langdon even tighter.
She had heard so many terrifying stories about that place, stories that would make your blood run cold if they were only to be half believed. Polly also worried that she might never again set eyes on her younger brother to hold or hug him in times when he needed it most. As she continued to speculate on her very bleak future, she felt an inner urgency to send a small prayer upward, a prayer that asked God not only to take care of James on her behalf, something she would really appreciate His help with, but she also asked Him to remember to take care of her as well. Oh, and if it wasn’t too much to ask, she would be really grateful if He would consider doing all within His power to make her considerably well in the head again.
As Polly innocently sat alone in the car waiting for her guardians to take her to the hospital, Boritz, having finished reading his daily paper, still found the time to merrily waltz into the kitchen, where all the other children still sat at the long tables, struggling to finish their most unappetizing breakfast cereal. He surreptitiously sidled up to Gailey and quietly whispered something in her ear.
“Go do your worst, Gailey,” he muttered as he gave her a friendly pat of approval on the head.
He then stood in the center of the dining area of the large kitchen and called everyone to attention, for he had an important announcement to make. “Children, I know I gave you strict instructions to steer well clear of Polly. If I am correct, I also forbade you all to engage in any conversation with her whatsoever; well, I am about to release you from this obligation. Polly is due to leave for the hospital, and I think it would be appropriate if you were to all go out to the car and give her a final send-off.”
“Oh, do we ’ave to? For I’ve only just started eating me breakfast,” Tommy Pulleyblank sulked.
“Yes, you do. Look, I know that most of you have not yet finished your cereal, but as we are due to depart in about ten or so minutes, it would be good if you were to get up from your seats to go out and say your good-byes. I promise your breakfast will still be here when you return. So do as I say and go see her,” he sternly ordered.
Seconds later saw all the children, minus one, gathering like a pack of out-of control-hoodlums as they quickly surrounded the car. Boritz, for his part, stood watching from a large window in the long corridor with Pitstop drooling by his side. As he stood in the hall looking out of the window, he casually jangled his big bunch of jailer keys, all the while callously observing all that was taking place outside by the car. His face betrayed nothing short of total amusement.
“Polly Brown, Polly Brown, the biggest loony’s leavin’ town,” they chanted as they danced around the car like Indians on the warpath. The chanting got louder and more frenzied by the minute as they stuck their noses up to the window and pulled idiotic faces, wiggling their fingers in their ears and poking their tongues out like a brood of vipers.
Unbeknown to Boritz, a little farther down the hall, young James had taken it upon himself to stay behind and anxiously kneel on a window seat to watch out the window. He was therefore an extra witness to all the cruelty and vicious taunting that was taking place outside. However, unlike Boritz, he could only watch, feeling utterly powerless as well as sick to the pit of his stomach.
Soon James turned his attention from the window and tentatively peered down the passageway. James’s heart began pounding loudly as he realized that Uncle Boritz had no idea that he was hiding away in one of the many window seats. He hoped and prayed that he would not be discovered, for he knew if he were caught, he would indeed be brutally punished.
While still gazing in Uncle Boritz’s direction, in that briefest of moments James was flabbergasted to see just how much his guardian was thoroughly relishing and savoring every moment of this terrible scene. It was blatantly obvious to him that Uncle Boritz was the instigator behind this terrible event, as the children’s heinous antics caused his uncle to chuckle out loud, at one point almost doubling him over with raucous laughter.
Finally Boritz stopped for long enough to look down at his watch, and he observed that the children had been out by the car for just over five minutes.
“This is giving me such pleasure,” he loudly mused, “so let’s say we give them another ten minutes or so,” he muttered as he patted Pitstop on the head.
Pitstop made a loud whimper as if to express that this was all very boring for him, as he was unable to see a thing of what was going on as the window was well out of his reach.
“Oh, you poor thing. I didn’t realize you were missing out on all the fun that is going on outside. So come on then, my big pooch. Jump up on this window seat. There’s a good boy,” he cried.
Outside, Gailey then began to sing a little ditty. “Come on, all of you, sing along,” she cried as, picking up a fallen piece of branch from the ground, she then leaned into the car to poke and jab poor Polly.
Polly held her hands up to cover and protect her face.
“Oh, you’re such a little scaredy cat,” griped Gailey. “Come on, everyone. Now’s yer last chance for payback,” she bawled.
“Good-bye, Polly. Good-bye. Good-bye, Polly. Good-bye. Ha ha. We’ll see you again, though we don’t know or care when. Good-bye, Polly. Good-bye.”
Gailey then reached in with her stick to give Polly another sharp jab in the ribs.
Polly curled into a small tight ball, her trembling hands now covering her ears as their screaming and howling felt overwhelmingly terrifying. She felt like an injured animal caught in a hunter’s trap. She had nowhere to run or hide, and she even began to feel afraid for her life. She tried to crouch down on the floor of the car, as she mistakenly believed this might help protect her, as they would find it harder to reach in and hurt her. She was wrong.
“See yer, see yer, wouldn’t wanna be yer,” one of the older boys yelled out before picking up a small stone from the ground to lob at her. The stone hit her shoulder before bouncing off. He then threw another stone at her. “Bull’s-eye,” he screeched as the small stone hit her forehead, causing it to instantly begin bleeding.
“Loony, loony, the lunatic dipstick is off on the funny farm trip,” they taunted.
“Yeah, she’s off to the madhouse.”
“No, it ain’t the madhouse; it’s the nutter’s house, more like.”
“Yeah, a one-way ticket with the barmy army.”
“Yeah, she’s off to la-la land, where, if they have any sense, they’ll fry her brains,” Gailey taunted.
“What brains? She ain’t got any!” Toby Trotter sneered.
“Eh, rat bag. Take this,” Gailey screamed as she reached in to give Polly a good, hard punch. In no time at all they were taking it in turns to reach in and punch, thump, scratch, or pull her hair.
Polly was helpless to do anything.
James knelt on the window seat feeling completely paralyzed as he watched his precious sister cowering with fear on the backseat of the car with the frenzied mob of baying wolves attacking her with whatever came to hand, which included sticks, stones, and shoes.
Shaking violently from head to toe, he was forced into placing a timely hand over his mouth to muzzle the desperately painful whimpers that were coming from deep ins
ide and were threatening to escape, for he determined that his presence in the corridor must remain a secret from Uncle Boritz.
“Someone, please help her,” he croaked.
Seconds later what had been nothing more than a light, breezy wind noticeably began to pick up. Then within a matter of seconds, dark clouds quickly began to roll in. Soon the wind was howling and moaning in low-pitched tones as though it were preparing to go into the deepest fit of mourning. Large spots of rain began to hit the window panes with great force, their intensity increasing with each second that passed by.
“Oh, dear. I’d better call them in soon, for it looks like we’re heading for an almighty downpour,” Boritz gloomily informed his highly favored canine beast. “There was no mention whatsoever of this on the forecast this morning. How could they get it this so wrong?” he muttered.
Before he had even finished his sentence, an almighty boom, followed by a terrifyingly loud crack, rang through the sky as the enraged heavens finally burst forth, pouring down their vial of liquid fury on the earth below. Flashing, fiery lights swiftly cut through the veiled, dark skies like menacingly sharpened swords dividing asunder the surly, slothful clouds as in some deranged and frenzied stupor they dramatically lit up the heavens with their sheer brilliance.
“Oh, my goodness. Pitstop, I do believe the children will by now be soaked to the skin,” he sniffed. “Yes, I think they’ve had long enough,” he stated as once more he observed the time on his watch. “Yes, they’ve had a good fifteen minutes. Time enough, wouldn’t you say, Pitstop? We’d better call them in quickly before they either drown or catch pneumonia. Yes, Mildred, would certainly give me much grief if that were to happen.”
Pitstop growled his approval.
On Boritz’s supreme orders, the children were reluctantly forced to back off and stop their childish games. As they reached the front door, it was clear that they were indeed dripping from head to toe. “Goodness me, you’re all absolutely drenched. Now, do as I say and go upstairs and dry off and change, and make sure you put your wet clothes in the wash bin before Aunt Mildred gets to see you all in this terrible state,” he commanded.
“Yes, Uncle Boritz,” they simpered.
“Right, my little whippersnappers, I appeal to the lot of you to calm down. Yes, calm down. That’s better. Now, you older ones do as I say and help the younger ones to get dried down, for they are soaked to the skin,” he sternly ordered.
It was only a matter of a few seconds later that Mildred appeared on the scene, only to brightly announce that she was finally ready to go with her husband and Polly to the hospital.
“Boritz dear, please tell me, where are all the children?” she innocently asked.
“Oh, they all got a little bit wet,” he quickly replied.
“All of them?”
“Yes, you heard right. All of them.”
“What on earth were they all doing to get themselves wet? Oh, Boritz dear, please don’t tell me you allowed them to go outside in the rain without their mackintoshes and Wellington boots?” she despairingly cried.
“Well, they were all thoughtfully wishing to say their last good-byes to Polly when, without any warning, the heavens decided to send unexpected judgment by opening up. I tell you, my dear one, it took only a matter of seconds for vast torrents of rain to come down. Anyway, Mildred, I’ve got it all under control, so please don’t worry your pretty head about a thing. As we speak, the children are upstairs drying off, and they will be down any moment now, for most of them are still wishing to finish up their breakfast cereal.”
“Yes, but wet clothes means extra washing for Miss Scrimp and myself to do,” she bitterly moaned.
“Yes, but you, my dear, will be with me all day, so it’s Miss Scrimp who by all accounts should be complaining.”
True to his word, the children appeared one by one and immediately headed back to the dining area of the kitchen to quickly polish off what remained of the cereal in their breakfast bowls.
“Children, behave yourselves, and let me warn you now, if any of you dare to give Miss Scrimp even the teeniest amount of trouble or strife, you’ll be in for the high jump when I return. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Uncle Boritz.”
Meanwhile James, who had been hiding behind some curtains for some time now, finally found the courage to slide cautiously down from the window seat. On discovering that he was alone in the corridor, he slowly made his way toward the kitchen, his legs feeling like lead weights and his vexed heart equally heavy. He felt terribly confused inside, as he anxiously wondered what, if anything, he should do next. He reasoned that he had tried to say good-bye the night before, so Polly might well understand why he had not joined the others when they came out of the house to supposedly say good-bye. He also realized that to try and help her by fending the others off would have proved to be seriously futile, for sadly he was much younger as well as much weaker than most of the other boys. All the same, his conscience was already beginning to prick him.
No sooner had he determined that it was now safe for him to go outside and say a proper last good-bye, but he was confronted by his guardians as they left the kitchen to head out of the front door.
“James, what are you doing in the corridor?” Uncle Boritz demanded to know.
“Nothing, Uncle,” James hesitantly replied.
“Well, go and join the others in the kitchen, and if nothing else, you can help with the washing up,” Mildred barked.
James remained silent, preferring just to nod his head as he opened the kitchen door and pretended to go in.
James waited until he heard the loud, abrasive click of the front door before he turned on his heels to once more head back out into the corridor. He waited a few more minutes and then determined to make one last desperate dash outside to say even a fleeting good-bye to his dear sister. On the way to the front door he quickly glanced out of one of the many windows. He could just about see the head of Polly in the back of the car.
“Oh, no. I think I’ve left it too late,” he cried in a deeply anguished voice.
“Goodness, girl, sit up straight,” Mildred angrily demanded as she handed Boritz the collapsed but still dripping umbrella for him to throw down on the backseat. “And you can stop all that ridiculous whimpering and sobbing right now, for I simply refuse to sit here and listen to that wearisome racket all the way to the hospital. Do as I order and sit up straight. And tell me, girl, how come when we only leave you alone for a mere ten minutes I come to find you in this terrible state with blood dripping profusely down your face? Here, take this handkerchief and wipe your bleeding forehead, as well as your snotty little nose, before you spoil or stain the interior of our car. Do it now, you sniveling little wretch!” she growled as she dispassionately dropped a spare handkerchief over her shoulder and onto Polly’s lap.
“My dear, may I step in here and suggest that Polly has done this to herself? As I watched from a window I could clearly see her banging her head on the back of the driver’s seat headrest.”
“Good gracious. What will the girl think to do next?” Mildred said, shaking her head to show her absolute disgust.
“Yes, Mildred, these are just more attention-seeking antics on her part, and so we’d do best to ignore them entirely.”
“That’s all well and good, Boritz, but think of the implications if we were to turn up at the hospital with her looking this way. Why, people might mistakenly believe that we had something to do with it, and that would never do. No, Bortiz dear, if she believes this pity party will get her more sympathy at the hospital, well, she can jolly well think again. I, for one, am having none of it,” Mildred angrily snorted. “Yes, child, once we arrive at the hospital I will if necessary escort you into the women’s bathroom and hold your head under a running tap while you will rinse your face. Is that clear? Until then hold the handkerchief to your forehead to stem the bleeding,” she once again growled. “Boritz, dearest, please remember to drive with great c
are, for this weather has indeed turned most foul.”
James watched from the window as Aunt Mildred attempted to make her self comfortable in the front passenger seat and tossed a handkerchief in Polly’s direction. He then listened as Uncle Boritz got into the driver’s side of the car before slamming the door shut.
He then heard the familiar whirr as Uncle Boritz turned the ignition key. He made a loud gasp.
At the time he had no idea whatsoever that this final noise would haunt him night and day for sometime to come.
“Oh no! I cannot let her leave without telling her once more that despite everything I really do love her,” he anxiously cried as he ran toward the front door and struggled to open it. His heart was once more pounding loudly within his breast as he tried his hardest to unbolt the door and then get to the car before it drove off. But it really was too late. By the time he got to where the car had previously stood under the large oak tree, he could only watch on helplessly as the car with Polly in the backseat swept through the black gates and immediately disappeared from view.
He hardly noticed that he was soaked through to the skin as the mischievous wind howled menacingly in his ears and the sheet rain continued to ferociously harass and bombard him from all sides. “Oh no!” was all the distraught young boy could mournfully cry as he crumpled to the ground, the small but sharp gravel stones piercing deep into the flesh of his knees, causing him to wince and cry out loud with the excruciatingly fierce pain.
The Trouble with Polly Brown Page 37