The Boy With the Latchkey

by Cathy Sharp

  ‘Why did you do that?’ Mary Ellen demanded. ‘Billy has been brilliant with the kids all day. He’s a caring man – and we haven’t been doing anything wrong so you can just put that right out of your mind. Me and Billy are going to wait until we’re married. Billy knows I want to teach and he’s helping me.’

  ‘I wouldn’t trust that Billy Baggins as far as I could throw him,’ Rose snapped. ‘His family were all wastrels and he’ll be no better, you mark my words. I’m telling you now that I won’t put up with this, Mary Ellen. I don’t want you to see him again … and don’t look at me like that. He’s no good to you. If you don’t care about your life, I do. It would be much better if you broke with him altogether. I don’t want to see you stuck in a slum with half a dozen kids tugging at your skirts …’

  ‘It wouldn’t be like that!’

  ‘You’ve got more faith in him than I have …’

  ‘You’ve always been unfair to him,’ Mary Ellen protested in dismay. ‘I don’t know what’s happening to you, Rose. Sometimes, I think you don’t deserve that I should care …’

  ‘I haven’t noticed you caring about my feelings much …’

  ‘’Course I do, but I love Billy. I’m going to marry him one day.’

  ‘Not if I can prevent it …’

  ‘That’s so unfair – and you won’t be able to prevent it forever. I’m eighteen later this year and then there’s only three years until we can marry without your permission.’

  Rose looked angry, but shook her head, changing the subject abruptly. ‘Your friend Marion came round today. She wanted to know if I would let her have the spare room and I told her yes. She stopped and helped me change the beds and make up the parcel for the laundry. I suppose I can rely on you to take it in tomorrow before you go to work?’

  ‘Certainly, I will,’ Mary Ellen said and sighed. ‘Don’t begrudge me my lovely day, Rose. I help you as much as I can, you know I do …’

  ‘Yes …’ Rose bit her lip. ‘Yes, I know you do. I’m sorry. I’m in a bad mood, but it isn’t your fault. Go to bed. I have to be up early. I’m on first shift … but I meant what I said. If you can’t get home at a proper time, I shall stop you seeing him altogether.’

  Mary Ellen stared at her in resentment and then went through to her own room, feeling close to tears. Her sister couldn’t really mean that she would stop her seeing Billy. She wouldn’t, no matter what Rose said! She’d brought a box of fudge for Rose but she would give it to her tomorrow. Something was eating at her sister, but she wouldn’t tell Mary Ellen even if she asked. Perhaps Billy was right and she was having trouble with a man, but Mary Ellen had never heard her mention anyone … except that doctor at work …

  Rose crawled into bed feeling downright miserable. She’d fallen out with Mary Ellen over a silly incident and the problem was nothing to do with her sister or that Baggins boy. Rose didn’t like him and she didn’t want Mary Ellen to marry him, but he wasn’t what was causing her to feel as if her life wasn’t worth tuppence. No, that was entirely her own fault, because she’d known the first time she’d let Mike Bonner take her out that she was a fool.

  She’d guessed the registrar liked to play the field long before he even noticed her. She’d seen the way Nurse Simmons had draped herself all over him at his party, and she’d vowed she wouldn’t be as big a fool, especially when she’d discovered the nurse in the linen room crying her eyes out a few weeks later. Her inquiries had met with stony silence, but when Nurse Simmons left two days later the rumours had soon been flying round the hospital. She was having a baby and she’d refused to tell Matron who the father was – and no, he wasn’t going to marry her.

  Rose had heard the whispers. They were saying Mike Bonner was the father of Nurse Simmons’ child, but he hadn’t been dismissed and he showed no sign of guilt when he asked Rose out for a drink alone. She’d refused twice but in the end she couldn’t resist. She’d asked him straight out if the stories were true that evening and he’d denied it, putting his hand on his heart and smiling at her.

  ‘I doubt if Nurse Simmons knows for certain who the father is,’ he’d said and rolled his eyes heavenward. ‘She really wasn’t my type. I prefer women with a little more pride in themselves … someone like you, Rose.’

  Rose had tried not to be flattered; she’d tried to keep her head, because for years she’d hardly bothered about men at all, but perhaps that was why she’d fallen so hard. Now she was head over heels with Mike and on Saturday night they’d kissed in the back of his car. He’d demanded much more but she’d pushed him away, even though she was tempted to give him what he wanted.

  ‘I really enjoyed myself this evening,’ she said. ‘I do love you, Mike, and of course I want you, but I’m not that kind of girl. I’m saving myself for marriage …’

  And that of course was her mistake. As soon as she’d said the words Rose knew that she’d spoken out of turn. Mike wasn’t looking for a long-term commitment and now he would back off and she would lose him … and the knowledge of her folly had left an aching hollow inside her that she couldn’t cope with … except that she had to, because she’d known as he drove away that he wouldn’t ask her out again.

  As her eyes closed, she felt the sense of loneliness sweep over her. She was devoted to her nursing, but there was a part of her that longed to be loved … a yearning for the children she knew she might never have.

  CHAPTER 9

  Archie was biding his time. Mr Smith hadn’t left him in the cupboard for long, no more than an hour at most. He’d given him a stern look and a lecture about the behaviour proper to a lad of his age and then told him he would be a fool if he allowed his distress at what had happened to his sister to ruin his life here. Archie had nodded, not saying a word. He didn’t want to be locked in that stuffy cupboard again, and he had to be careful if he was going to escape and return to London.

  He needed money, but the few coins he had left from his earnings on the market would hardly pay for his fare to London or his food when he got there. Archie didn’t mind sleeping rough for a while but he would need food and money if he was going to find June and steal her away from her foster parents. Maybe he could earn some money for the future. Ted Hastings might even let him work for him on the market, unless he’d finished with him because he hadn’t turned up on Saturday. Surely, he’d understand when Archie told him why; it wasn’t his fault. He’d never wanted to come here, but he would’ve made the most of it if they’d kept their word and let June come with him.

  Sister Beatrice was the one that had lied to him. She was rotten, because it was cowardly to lie just to get him to go without a struggle. Archie burned with hatred for all the people that had harmed him and June – lying about his mum, getting her put in prison out of spite, and then letting June be taken into care when there was no need. Yes, June had been a bit silly, but away from that girl – that Betty Goodge – Archie could have made sure his sister behaved. Why hadn’t Sister Beatrice trusted him to do that?

  It was on the following Monday that Archie accidentally learned what he needed to know. The petty cash box was kept in the room that all the staff used to have coffee and relax. He heard one of the carers saying that they needed some more coffee and telling her colleague that there was ten pounds in the petty cash.

  It was what Archie needed to take him to London. Perhaps he wouldn’t take all of it, just enough to cover his fare – and a bit over. He would leave an IOU so it wouldn’t be stealing, and he would pay it back as soon as he earned enough money. Anyway, Sister Beatrice had promised him the money to visit his mother so he was only taking what was rightfully his, so he argued. His mum would be furious, he knew, because she’d brought him up to be honest, but she’d half kill him if June was lost forever …

  Archie hung around when the other kids had gone out to play after afternoon tea. He was regretful because it was a lovely evening and he wouldn’t have minded having a go at tennis or cricket with the others, but he knew he mustn’t get s
ettled here. He had to borrow what money he could from the cash box and return to London as soon as possible. Sister Beatrice must tell him where his sister was because she had no right to hide it from him – and those foster parents had no right to take June over without consent from Mum.

  It was so easy. The cash box was in the drawer of the side table where the coffee cups stood; it was just left there, unlocked, waiting for someone to take advantage. Archie saw there were several pound notes as well as some silver and coppers. He took three pound notes and several half-crowns and shoved them in his pocket, leaving the IOU in the box, but signing it just with scribbled initials. At least they couldn’t say he was a thief, because he’d only borrowed the money – and Sister Beatrice had promised it to him anyway.

  Archie knew he couldn’t take all his clothes with him, but he would take a couple of shirts and a pullover, because he needed a change of clothes in case he discovered where his sister had been taken. He had to look clean, like Mum told him, or people wouldn’t take him seriously.

  With the money burning a hole in his pocket, guilt all over his face and wearing an extra shirt and pullover, Archie sneaked out while everyone else was on the playing fields. He knew it wasn’t far to the bus stop, which would take him to the railway station; once there he would buy a ticket to the next station for a few bob and then hide in the toilets all the way to London …

  It was so simple that Archie couldn’t believe his luck. He’d managed to avoid the ticket inspector by going in and out of the toilets every time he saw the man coming. Then, when he got off, he saw a party of children just ahead of him; they were with an adult who seemed to be fussing around, trying to keep order without much success. Archie walked quickly to catch up with them and managed to get through as the ticket collector was count-ing tickets and trying to match them to heads. He ran off seconds before the man realised there was one too many and though he heard the shout, he just kept running.

  In the comparatively rural setting of Halfpenny House, he’d felt lost and found it difficult to get his bearings, but here in the noisy dirty streets of London he felt safe. Now all he had to do was to talk to Sister Beatrice and demand that she told him where his sister had been taken. He hopped on a bus, sat right at the back at the door and got off a couple of stops later before the conductor had time to ask for his fare.

  Gaining in confidence with each success, Archie did the same thing several times and only had to pay tuppence for one stage of his journey. It was dusk by the time the last bus had got to its destination and he thought it must be nearly eleven o’clock in the evening by the time he managed to get within walking distance of St Saviour’s. The main entrance would be locked for the night, but Archie knew the secrets of the old house and he scaled the gate into the garden at the back and tried the back door. That too was locked but he knew the pantry window had a loose catch and by wiggling the blade of his penknife up and down he managed to get it open and crawled through the small space. For a moment he thought he might get stuck but after some effort and a painful scratch on his arm, he was through.

  Pausing to get his breath and listen for any sudden noises, Archie caught the unmistakable smell of Cook’s sausage rolls; they smelled fresh and he knew they must have been cooked that very day. His mouth watered and he risked snapping the light on to find them, cramming one into his mouth in three bites and stuffing two more in his pockets. He’d missed tea and he was hungry; besides, the food wasn’t as good at Halfpenny House as it was here, and discovering a plate of small rock cakes, he took one of those too.

  That digested, he went into the kitchen and filled a glass with water and drank it. No one was around, but he knew there would be staff here somewhere: Kelly and one of the nurses – and Sister Beatrice too perhaps, if he was lucky. Archie knew that she was here quite a lot during the night, but if she’d gone home, he’d find somewhere to rest for a few hours until she came back on duty.

  There was no point in putting it off. Archie knew Sister would either be in her office or in one of the sick wards. He found his way to the stairs without switching a light on and walked quietly up them, trying not to make a noise and bring someone out to investigate. As he approached the sick ward the door opened, the hall light was switched on and Archie shrank back against the wall as he saw Nurse Wendy walk towards Sister’s office. She didn’t look back but knocked at the door and went in. Archie ran quickly to the stairs at the end of the hall and up two of them, sitting there in the dark as he waited for the nurse to leave. He was tempted to eat another sausage roll but decided to keep it because he might need it more another day.

  After what seemed ages Sister’s door opened again and he heard the steady tread of the nurse walking back down the hall. He waited another few seconds and then went to Sister’s door and opened it. She was sitting at her desk sipping a glass of some dark liquid he thought might be sherry and looked up in alarm as he entered.

  ‘Archie! What are you doing here? When I rang Halfpenny House a few hours ago and asked to speak to you they told me you’d run away … where have you been all this time?’

  ‘You know why I’m here,’ he said accusingly. ‘What have you done with my June? You had no right to let them take her. You lied to me. Why did you tell me she was coming in the car? Did you think I’d refuse to go if I knew the truth?’

  ‘Archie, listen to me, please.’ Sister Beatrice stood up and walked towards him. ‘I didn’t intend to lie to you. There was a mix-up in the paperwork and I didn’t receive it until after you’d left. I was not informed that your sister was to be fostered until the last moment …’

  ‘You’re lying again,’ Archie said fiercely. ‘Don’t lie to me! I’m not a child. I’ll be old enough to leave school and find a job soon. My sister isn’t up for adoption and Mum will want her back when she gets out …’

  ‘Yes, I’m sure she will. Unfortunately, the Welfare people have a say in what happens to your sister, Archie. They have the backing of the courts in this and it doesn’t always matter what the family wants …’ She put a hand out towards him. ‘I did not agree with the decision made by Miss Sampson and I am challenging the way this affair was conducted. I intend to discover just why they considered it necessary to take June away from us – but at the moment I know no more than you …’

  ‘They’ve got no right to take her!’ Archie shouted, too upset to listen to the calm voice. ‘How do I know I can trust you? You lied to me and you lied to June … and you sent me to that horrid place where they shut you in a cupboard if you ask for help to find your sister …’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Sister Beatrice shook her head. ‘Don’t be silly, Archie. I know the people at Halfpenny House and they would never do such a thing …’

  ‘I ain’t lyin’! You wouldn’t care what he did – and you tell lies anyway …’

  ‘Believe me, I am not in the habit of lying. Had I known of Miss Sampson’s intentions I should’ve tried to prevent it, but I was not told officially – that in itself may be sufficient cause to have this order overturned but I cannot promise anything …’

  Archie was confused, too upset and angry to take in what she was saying. What order? What did she mean by the backing of the courts? Were they the same courts that had convicted his mum of stealing just on the word of someone who had it in for her? Archie saw a red mist before his eyes and he lost his temper, running at her and hitting at her as she raised her arms to defend herself.

  ‘This is foolish,’ Sister said. ‘Calm down, Archie, and let me get you some food. You can sleep here tonight in one of the spare beds in the isolation ward and then I’ll talk to you in the morning …’

  ‘No! I hate you. I hate all of you,’ Archie shouted, no longer in control of himself or his thoughts. ‘I’m not going to let you send me back to that other place. I’m staying here until I find out where June is and then I’m going to get her back …’

  ‘Archie please, listen to me. I want to help you and June …’
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br />   He was too far gone in the whirlpool of his emotions to listen as he turned round, fled down the stairs and through the house; he paused to unlock the back door and went out into the garden, scaling the gate and falling to the uneven ground the other side. He’d grazed his knees on sharp stones through the cloth of his trousers and the scratch on his arm was sore, but Archie was aware only of anger as he started to run.

  He had to get away from this place before Sister called the police and had Archie arrested. They would put him in prison for taking that money and the food and he would never find his sister or see his mother again … but he knew the East End streets like the back of his hand and he could find places to stay.

  They were all against him but somehow he would discover where June had been taken and he would go there and get her away from the people who had no right to have her. June was his sister and she belonged with him and Mum and he was going to get her back, and then he would look after her until Mum got out of prison.

  Beatrice was tired. She’d been having a quiet drink before retiring when Archie had burst in on her and after that she hadn’t been able to think of going to bed. Instead, she’d sat in a chair all night and pondered the problem. Archie blamed her for what had happened, just as she’d known he would; he believed she’d lied to him and refused to trust her, even though she was as angry about the way June’s fostering had been handled as he was himself.

  Perhaps she ought to telephone the police and let them know Archie had run away from his home, but she felt disinclined to do that, because in his eyes it would be another instance of her betrayal. No, she must give him time, time to come to terms with what she’d told him. Perhaps if he understood that she was telling the truth and came to her they could talk sensibly. After all, he was in his opinion nearly an adult, old enough to start work if it weren’t for a stupid law that said he had to be fifteen and he should be able to understand the way the courts worked. All Beatrice could do was to demand to know where June was now and try to get the decision of the courts reversed.