Perry Angel’s Suitcase

by Glenda Millard

  It wasn’t only things that could be seen that the Silks gave as gifts. There were promises. On the table was a glass bowl filled with coloured slips of paper. Each piece was folded in half and the name of a person was written on the outside of it. As the bowl was passed around the table Ben explained the ritual to Perry.

  ‘Inside each slip of paper is a promise and a name. The name on the outside is the person the promise is for and the name on the inside is the person who made the promise.’

  Annie found one with her name on it. She opened it up and read it aloud. ‘Mama, I promise to milk Delilah and Jezebel on Sundays so you can have a sleep in. Love from Scarlet.’

  ‘I’ll be starting next week,’ Scarlet said. When the bowl came to Nell she took out a yellow piece of paper and unfolded it. She read it silently and her chin wobbled. Straightaway Griffin knew it was the same promise she got every year, the one from Daddy. Nell could have put it in the pocket of her apron and all the Silks would still have known what it said, but it was important to read it out loud, because promises are precious. Nell gave a sniff and began to read.

  ‘I promise to love you forever, Mum. Ben Silk.’

  Griffin sometimes wondered why Daddy always signed it with his last name, too. He was sure no other Ben would make that promise to Nell.

  The buns had been eaten, the gifts given and the promises made, and Violet had begun to wash the dishes, because that was her promise, when Nell suddenly remembered something important.

  ‘Griffin, Layla and Perry, I almost forgot! There’s something I want to show you,’ she said. They followed her down the passageway and out the door. Then they walked through the dewy grass towards the hen’s yard. Nell opened the gate and the children followed her through. Madonna clucked and fluffed her feathers and six handfuls of yellow down darted under her wings and hid.

  ‘So that’s why she was so cranky yesterday!’ said Layla.

  ‘Yes, they only hatched this morning,’ said Nell as she sat down on an upside-down bucket. ‘If we wait quietly, they’ll come out again,’ she whispered, leaning her back against the wire fence. And they did, but Layla noticed something odd.

  ‘Nell,’ she whispered. Why have these chickens got webbed feet and funny beaks?’

  ‘Because they’re not chickens,’ Nell whispered back. ‘They’re ducklings. Mr Jenkins has a duck that lays eggs and hatches them but then she stands on the babies and kills them. So I put some of her eggs under Madonna and she hatched them out.’

  ‘So they’re not her babies at all?’ asked Layla. Perry didn’t say anything, but he was looking and listening carefully.

  ‘No, not really,’ said Nell. ‘But she’s a very good mother. She’ll look after these babies better than their own mother would have.’ She stood up then. ‘Come on, we’d better get ready now.’

  ‘Are you going to wear your Sunday best, Nell?’ asked Layla as they walked back to the house.

  ‘Of course! And I think your mum put some good clothes in your backpack for you to wear.’

  ‘Boring clothes,’ mumbled Layla.

  ‘We’ll just have to accessorise daaarling!’ said Nell, sticking her bottom out at a jaunty angle and sounding so much like Scarlet talking to her friends that Griffin and Layla got the giggles.

  Perry didn’t even notice because he was still thinking about Madonna and the babies that didn’t belong and about the promise Ben Silk had made to Nell.

  8. The Carpenter and the Egg

  The Silks put on their Sunday best and walked down the hill to St Benedict’s. The preacher had invited them specially. Nell liked the preacher. She said that although they had their differences they had a lot in common. Mr Elliott liked the preacher too. Layla thought it was probably on account of them having the same hairstyle. Nell had brought the preacher a gift. It was an egg. She had painted it black with a white, back-to-front collar and a bald eggy head. It was a preacher egg for the preacher.

  ‘Sometimes people forget the preacher’s just a man,’ said Nell. ‘I think he’d like an egg for Easter, just like the next person.’

  ‘We’ve only got one church at Cameron’s Creek,’ Layla told Perry, ‘but the preacher says everyone’s welcome in God’s house.’ She was walking next to Griffin and Perry was on her other side next to Ben. Blue and Zeus were coming too, although they would have to stay outside and wait because they were only welcome in God’s house once a year at the Blessing of the Animals.

  Ben said to Perry, in his nice, slow, Sunday morning voice, ‘Would you like me to carry your case for a bit?’

  Perry acted like he didn’t hear the question, but Layla knew he had because she had heard it and she was further away. Ben kept walking steadily with his leather sandals crunching on the gravel road as though he hadn’t said a thing. His sandals and long hair made Layla think of God’s son, Jesus. There was a picture of him on one of the church windows. He looked a bit like Ben. Layla thought that if Jesus was as nice as Ben Silk he must have been a really good person.

  ‘Do you look at the windows when you go to church, Griff?’ Layla asked. Griffin nodded. ‘You’ll like the windows, Perry,’ she said. ‘They’re all the colours of the rainbow and they have pictures on them and sometimes if you squint your eyes and want something very much, it happens. When our friend Miss Amelie died I squinted at a white bird on the window and it flew up into the ceiling and out the door and I think it took her soul to heaven.’

  The Elliotts were waiting outside St Benedict’s. Layla hoped her mum wouldn’t be too cross about the wings, but since Amber and Saffron were wearing theirs as well, maybe she wouldn’t. At least she was also wearing her boring Sunday best dress and shoes. After everyone else had gone inside, Griffin and Layla sat down on the step with Blue and Griffin explained to Blue why he had to wait outside. Blue’s cleverness never ceased to amaze Layla. He looked at Griffin until he’d finished talking and then smiled at him and wagged his tail as though he understood completely, which he must have because he didn’t try to come inside. Instead he stretched out his red and white freckles under the sun and closed his eyes. Zeus inspected the contents of the rubbish bin in the park then flew across to the rickety bell tower where he watched over Blue.

  After church, Nell gave the preacher his egg. Then she gave Mr Elliott an ice-cream container full of lamingtons because she knew how much he liked them. Mrs Elliott came hurrying back from her car carrying a big basket of Easter eggs. She gave them to the Silks to take home and Layla felt proud of her mother.

  ‘Thank you, Caroline, thank you, Tony,’ said Annie. Then Ben introduced Mr and Mrs Elliott to Perry.

  ‘You must be having a lovely time up there with the Silks,’ Mr Elliott said to Perry, and it seemed like everyone was waiting to see if Perry would answer, even though it wasn’t really a question. Sometimes silence is comfortable, like when you’re lying on your stomach with your best friend in the entire universe waiting for a slater to uncurl, but there are other times when silence is uncomfortable. This was one of those other times and Layla was glad when her Daddy said, ‘There’s one condition with those eggs.’

  Layla and all the Silks turned to look at him. ‘Could you please take the foil off really carefully so it doesn’t tear and give it to Griffin?’ Griffin beamed.

  ‘You’d best come home with us now, Layla,’ said Mrs Elliott. ‘You have to go back to school the day after tomorrow and we’ve hardly seen you over the holidays. Griffin can come too and stay for dinner if that’s all right.’

  ‘Of course,’ said Annie, ‘and thank you for loaning us Layla. We always enjoy having her stay.’

  Layla cheered up then even though it was much more exciting at the Kingdom of Silk than at her house.

  Griffin was pleased too. It was difficult to be an example of happiness all the time. He’d noticed Layla’s happiness showed up a lot on her outside, while his was more of an inside kind of happiness. He didn’t have to try so hard when he and Layla were by themselves. But, all the sam
e, he said, ‘What about Perry?’ because he didn’t want him to feel left out.

  ‘Perry and I have something important to do tonight,’ said Ben. ‘Perhaps he can come with you next time.’ Griffin felt peaceful inside because he had learned, after Tishkin went away, that there was no need for him to ever be jealous because Daddy had enough love for them all.

  After lunch on Easter Sunday, Ben Silk said, ‘There’s something I’ve got to finish. Perry and I will be in the shed.’ Then he went outside and opened the door to his shed. Perry followed him inside.

  When the door closed behind them it was dark except for the pinpricks of sunlight that leaked in through nail holes in the roof. The shed was filled with a special kind of quietness that got in Perry’s ears and up his nose and down his throat into his chest until he was so full of it there was no room left for the feeling to get in.

  Ben sat on a wooden trestle beside a cluttered bench. He flicked a switch and a circle of yellow light flared like a halo around his head and a dusty old radio crackled softly to life. Perry felt safe, as though the switching on had somehow made him feel that way. It was almost like being in God’s house and he wanted to take off his shoes and close his eyes. Perry had seen the picture of God’s son on the window in St Benedict’s. Layla said he was a carpenter. And though Ben Silk had taken off his Sunday best and put on his everyday overalls and his elastic-sided boots, Perry Angel was reminded of that picture. He wished he was brave enough to ask Ben what he knew about heaven.

  Ben took a knife from his pocket and picked up an ugly lump of wood from the bench. He began to shave slivers from it as he whistled softly to the tunes on the radio. Long spirals, curls and crumbs of wood fell quietly to the floor. Time passed quickly in Ben Silk’s shed. The nail holes in the roof began to disappear and Perry Angel could see something magic was happening to the piece of wood in Ben’s hands. He moved a step or two closer and put his suitcase on the floor amongst the spirals and the curls. The wood shavings fell as gently as snow upon the five golden letters and soon they were completely covered.

  At times Perry thought he was dreaming or that he and Ben had been transported into another world. There were sounds outside: the bleating of goats, the laughter of children, the sigh of the wind and the song of a bird, but all were in some other place, far away. Ben took a scrap of gritty paper in his hands and rubbed at the wood until it smelled as though it would catch fire. His eyelashes and hair filled with wood dust. Then he dribbled some golden liquid from a bottle onto a rag and polished the thing he had coaxed from the chunk of wood.

  At last Ben said to Perry, ‘Put out your hand,’ and he did. On his palm he saw a perfect wooden egg. It felt warm, as though it were a living thing. Perry slid his thumb over its curved surface. He felt its smoothness and saw the swirling patterns of its grain, like wave-prints on wet sand.

  ‘It’s made of olive wood,’ said Ben. ‘The preacher says the olive tree is a symbol of peace. It’s yours. It’s to hold on to while you’re finding your right place.’

  Perry closed his fingers. The egg fitted perfectly.

  9. Eleven Letterboxes

  The telephone rang after dinner. It was Mrs Elliott. She wanted to know if Griffin could stay the night. Perry had the sleep-out to himself. Annie read him a story about a man who loved boxes. Then she tucked in his blankets and kissed his forehead. She left the lamp on. Perry listened to her footsteps fading on the knotted yellow floorboards and heard the kitchen door squeal shut. He looked at Melody’s wings on the back of the door for a while then he reached out and picked his pants up off the floor and took the wooden egg from the pocket.

  On the first day of school, Perry ate the magic-carpet egg for breakfast and Nell put the pieces of its shell in a matchbox so he could keep them. Then Annie had a surprise for Perry. When Nell and Griffin had gone outside to feed Madonna and her foster babies she showed it to him. It was a brand new backpack.

  ‘I thought you could use it to take your lunchbox and pencils and things to school,’ she said. Perry looked at the backpack. It was black and red with silvery zippers. He closed his hand around the wooden egg in his pocket. ‘But if you’d rather you can put them in your case,’ Annie said. ‘Off you go, you can decide while you’re brushing your teeth.’

  But Perry couldn’t decide and he started to get the feeling. What if he got it while he was at school and he didn’t have his suitcase? He didn’t know if the backpack would work. He heard the Bedford start up. He felt sick and he didn’t have time to put the feeling in the suitcase. Ben would be waiting and the white tiles on the wall were melting. Then Annie came in.

  ‘I’ve an idea,’ she said, unzipping the new backpack and putting a lunchbox inside, ‘why don’t you take them both today?’

  No-one, not even Perry, seemed to know where he would fit in, so they put him in a composite grade. Miss Cherry, the teacher of 1/2 C had a small, scruffy dog and, like Layla, she was familiar with the signs of looking for a place. She recognised it as soon as she saw Perry with his small, shabby suitcase. So when the other children told Perry he’d have to take his case to the locker room, Miss Cherry made an exception to the rule.

  ‘Suitcases embossed with golden letters are an entirely different kettle of fish to backpacks,’ she told her students firmly. Perry didn’t understand exactly what that meant but Miss Cherry tucked his suitcase under his desk.

  At recess some of the grade 6 boys called Perry ‘Foster Boy’ and laughed at his suitcase. But Layla set things straight.

  ‘Only important people have suitcases with golden letters on them, you dunces!’ she shouted. ‘And his name’s not Foster Boy, it’s Perry Angel.’

  Perry hung on tight to the wooden egg and fought the need to close his eyes.

  ‘What sort of a stupid name is that?’ asked one of the boys.

  ‘It’s not stupid, it’s short for Peregrine.’ It was Griffin’s voice. He’d heard Layla and wanted to help but now he wasn’t sure what to say next. ‘The Peregrine is a falcon, a bird of prey.’ He’d memorised the words from Miss Amelie’s Comprehensive Illustrated Ornithologist’s Bible. ‘They are magnificent in flight, plummeting with remarkable speed to catch their prey.’

  ‘Geez, another name-freak! You’re not related to them crazy Silks, are you, kid?’ said the boy who was Scotty McAllister’s younger brother.

  ‘He lives with us,’ said Griffin.

  ‘Can’t he talk for himself?’

  ‘Of course he can,’ said Layla, ‘he’s being quiet because he’s got a lot of important things to think about and, besides, he only talks to people who speak nicely to him!’ She tucked her arm through Perry’s so he wouldn’t have to let go of his suitcase. ‘Come on, Perry,’ she said, leading him away. ‘Let’s see what you’ve got for play-lunch.’

  Beneath the elm boughs Griffin, Layla and Perry pooled their play-lunches; Nell’s melting moments, Joe Canning’s apples and skinny sticks of cheese. Then Perry noticed a feeling inside him. But it wasn’t the one that had to be locked in his suitcase; it was something different and it was nice.

  One Friday morning, not too long after that, Perry pushed his suitcase into a dark corner under his bed and left it there.

  In April, Madonna’s babies had their first swim in the dam and Ben Silk sold a carved sideboard he had made with the planks from the old railway footbridge. After he and Annie had done the budgeting there was enough money left over to buy a pair of binoculars in a leather case. Ben showed Griffin and Perry how to adjust them to bring the world at the other end of the lenses into focus. On the following weekend Nell made a picnic for four. Ben drove Griffin, Layla and Perry to a place called Stuchbury’s Plateau which looked like an enormous hill with the top sliced off. They ate their picnic lunch on the grass at the bottom of the steeply rising rock face, then Ben put the binoculars to his eyes and raised them to the sky.

  ‘What’s up there, Ben? What can you see?’ asked Layla.

  ‘I can’t see anything yet,’ h
e said. ‘We might have to be patient.’

  Perry had been waiting for a long time to see what was in heaven. He decided he could wait a little longer. He lay down on his back in the grass. Heaven still seemed a long way away, but it didn’t seem to matter so much anymore. Ben, Griffin and Layla were beside him and he had his olive-branch egg in his pocket.

  ‘There it is!’ shouted Ben in a whisper, and he passed the binoculars to Perry. ‘Can you see it?’

  Perry felt for the wheel that made everything look clear and moved the binoculars slowly up the jagged cliff until it met the sky. Then he saw it; a dark star in heaven. He remembered the words Griffin had used to describe it, ‘Magnificent in flight, plummets at remarkable speed’. This was what they had come for; to see the Peregrine falcon in its special place.

  When they got back to the Kingdom of Silk, Perry and Layla lay on the pink cabbage roses on the worn out carpet square in the front room. Griffin showed them pictures of the Peregrine falcon in the Comprehensive Illustrated Ornithologist’s Bible and then he read all the words out loud.

  In May, Nell asked Perry to wash the dishes. She pushed a chair up to the sink and loaned him her green rubber gloves with red fingernails painted on them. Perry had never washed dishes before. Visitors didn’t get asked to do chores. Later on that night he took the picture of heaven out of his suitcase and drew a picture of a falcon on it. Nell stuck it on the front of the refrigerator and Perry didn’t mind because Melody would never see it so The Others wouldn’t find out.

  Then came winter, as winter does. On some days it shone brightly in the Kingdom of Silk. Frost blazed like diamonds and spider’s silk hung from barbed-wire fences, dripping with dew drop jewels. Annie filled vases with arching boughs of ruby coloured rose hips that grew wild beside the creek. Scarlet-breasted robins admired their reflections in sugar-frosted window panes. Some days it rained, some days it poured, some days silver curtains swept across the hills and in the valley lightning lashed the bell tower of St Benedict’s. In winter Perry learned that heaven was not always blue. Sometimes it was pink or purple or grey or even black, but it was always there.