The Puppy and the Orphan

by Suzanne Lambert

  Suddenly, Billy noticed how cold he was. There was nothing for it: he would have to go back. He didn’t care if he was told off. His feet felt like lead as he trudged through the snow. It was getting dark now so the lights of the bus coming down the street blinded him for a moment. Then he saw a group of people standing at the stop and ran across the road.

  ‘Only going as far as Central Station,’ the conductor called to them as they hurried onto the bus.

  Billy paused only for a second before ducking through the crowd and jumping on, hurrying to the front, hoping and praying the conductor wouldn’t notice him.

  As luck would have it, all the conductor was concerned about was finishing his shift and getting home. He had three days’ holiday when he was finished this shift, and a good hearty meal was waiting for him, then he was off to the pub with friends for a pint or two. He was thinking about that now and taking no notice whatsoever of the little lad at the front of the bus. It was full anyway and the boy could have belonged to any of the people on the packed bus. He wandered up and down, shouting, ‘tickets, please,’ out of duty but without any real sense of purpose. Only fifteen more minutes and he would be finished.

  Billy was remembering last year, when Mummy and Daddy had taken him to Newcastle’s Central Station to hear the carol singers. He’d thought it all sounded extremely boring until they told him he would be able to see and hear the steam trains. There would also be a big surprise for him when they got there, he had been told. Billy had hardly slept the night before, wondering what on earth it could be. Billy could see it all now. Mummy had scolded him when he woke her up at five a.m. but Daddy had just laughed and pulled him into bed with them. Together they had ridden on the trolley bus to the station, the biggest building Billy had ever seen, and hundreds of people were milling about. Everyone was smiling. ‘That’s because it’s Christmas,’ Mummy had told him, ‘and Christmas is magic.’

  Daddy had lifted him onto his shoulders and held his hands. ‘Close your eyes, son,’ he shouted. ‘I’ve got a surprise for you.’

  Billy had shut his eyes tightly.

  ‘Keep them shut now, Billy.’

  ‘Yes, Daddy.’

  ‘Promise, Billy.’

  ‘I promise.’

  ‘All aboard,’ shouted Daddy, and ran into the station with Billy bouncing on his shoulders.

  Billy could hear people singing and trains in the distance. Then he heard something else. It was much nearer. Toot-toot. Chuff-chuff-chuff. A whistle blew.

  ‘Open your eyes, son,’ Daddy said.

  Never in all his life would little Billy Miller forget the sight in front of him. He looked up and up and up for what seemed like miles until he saw the bright shining star at the top of the tallest Christmas tree in the world. And at the foot of the tree a miniature train was puffing its way around its track. Billy was lifted down and Daddy took him closer to watch the train circle the enormous tree. Every year a fir tree grown in Bergen, Norway, was sent to Newcastle as a symbol of friendship between the two countries, and this year it was standing in the station. It was a great tradition to come along and see it. Once it was decorated it was a wondrous sight to behold and the people of Newcastle flocked in their thousands to see it.

  Billy was enchanted. He had to be dragged away. The family had gone to a nearby café and had hot cocoa to warm themselves. Billy remembered what he had asked next.

  ‘Daddy?’

  ‘Yes, son?’

  ‘Can we come again next year?’

  ‘We’ll come every year, son.’

  ‘Promise, Daddy.’

  ‘Promise, son.’

  Daddy had broken his promise too.

  Now Billy rubbed the window with his sleeve so he could see outside. The bus was cold but the windows were steaming up. His eyelids were drooping and he was frightened he would fall asleep so he made himself look out of the window, but it was dark and almost impossible to see anything. He would have been frightened if he hadn’t been so sad and numb.

  He jumped when he heard the conductor shout, ‘Newcastle Central Station next stop.’ When the bus stopped, he climbed off with all the other people. He stayed very close to a man with a young boy and pretended he was with them as they got off.

  A policeman was standing on the corner of the street. Billy ducked quickly into a shop doorway and waited. His heart was thumping and now he was beginning to feel very frightened indeed. Suddenly Billy’s little world became a very scary place to be. Bravely, he peeped out and saw the policeman had gone …

  Suddenly a man grabbed him and Billy screamed. The man was swaying from side to side and had a bottle in his hand. Billy stamped on his foot and ran as fast as he could along the street, then across the road to the station entrance before stopping to catch his breath. He was nearly there – he remembered it now. Across the road he saw the café he had been to with Mummy and Daddy. He wondered if the huge tree would be there.

  He closed his eyes and wished. Aunty Nancy said if you believed hard enough wishes could come true. With all his heart he prayed that the tree with the train would be there. Eventually he opened his eyes and whispered over and over to himself, ‘Let it be there, let it be there.’ He slowly made his way through the enormous portico and into the station.

  There it was. Just like last time. Exactly the same. The tree was so tall it almost reached the ceiling of the station and at the very top there was a shiny star. Toot-toot. The miniature train was circling the tree, and Billy was mesmerised. The sound of the little train and the hissing of the steam trains at the platforms soothed him. He was beyond freezing now, but he didn’t care in the least. He sat down, cross-legged, and watched the train as it went round and round and round.

  Where’s Billy?

  Nancy had enjoyed her day off and was smiling as she made her way through the gates. She was looking forward to a good natter and a cup of tea in her room with Dolly, who would have told Billy where Oliver was. She wondered how Billy had taken the news about the puppy being able to stay. That, of course, was the easy bit: she was still dreading having to tell Mother Superior about him. In her head she had gone over and over how she would tell Mother about the puppy in the caretaker’s cottage. This had all gone on long enough now, but Nancy hoped and prayed the puppy could stay as long as old Mr Bell was happy to keep it. She would speak to Mother tonight.

  Billy would have been extremely relieved to know where Oliver was. He would have been excited, too, she imagined. Nancy could hardly believe the children had managed to keep the puppy secret; honestly, Nancy had never known such a thing to happen. It had been impossible to be angry with them. Poor little mites, she thought. A puppy indeed – as if she hadn’t enough to worry about – and yet those eyes that looked at her. Nancy too had felt Oliver’s charm. She would call on old Mr Bell tomorrow, with Billy and a few of the others. They could take Oliver for a run in the woods. The fresh air would do them the world of good. It had been kind of Mr Bell to give him refuge. Nancy just hoped he would let Oliver stay. It was your idea to send him here, God, she thought, smiling, so please make sure we’re allowed to keep him. Now for a couple hours’ feet up and a strong brew.

  Nancy was startled by shouts from the bottom of the driveway. She looked towards the front door, which was wide was open. Sister Mary Joseph was hurrying towards her. ‘Nancy, come quickly!’ Any thoughts of a nice relaxing evening faded as she saw the fear on Sister Mary Joseph’s face.

  ‘Calm yourself, Sister. What on earth has got you into such a state?’

  ‘Billy! Oh, Nancy, it’s Billy.’

  ‘Billy? Why, what’s wrong? Did Dolly tell him about Oliver?’

  ‘Oliver?’

  ‘The puppy, Sister.’

  ‘Puppy?’

  ‘Oh, please tell me. Didn’t Dolly tell you about him staying at Mr Bell’s cottage?’

  ‘Thank God! But why is Billy there?’

  ‘Not Billy, Oliver. Oliver is at Mr Bell’s cottage.’

  ‘Who’s
Oliver? And where is Billy?’

  Nancy took a deep breath. ‘Can we start again, Sister, before I lose patience altogether?’

  ‘It’s Billy, Nancy.’

  ‘Right,’ Nancy sighed. ‘Today, before leaving for my day off, I left Oliver, the puppy Billy found, with Mr Bell, who is happy to look after him. I asked Dolly to let Billy know.’

  ‘Dolly’s mother is poorly so she was told to go home and help with the family. Oh, Nancy, he’s gone.’

  ‘Gone?’

  ‘Yes, gone. Nancy, we have searched and searched the house and grounds.’

  ‘Oh dear, well, maybe he ran home after all.’

  ‘Ran home?’

  ‘Yes, Sister, Oliver, maybe he went home.’

  Suddenly, Nancy heard barking coming from the caretaker’s cottage and her heart froze.

  ‘Sister, who exactly is gone?’

  ‘It’s little Billy, Nancy. Little Billy has disappeared. He’s gone.’

  The Pretendy Train

  Nancy almost ran down the rest of the drive and her heart was pounding when she saw the police car at the front door, Mother Superior standing beside it. ‘Honestly, Mother, I have just one day off,’ she said.

  ‘The children are extremely upset, Nancy.’

  ‘As well they might be, Mother,’ Nancy replied. ‘I’m not over happy myself.’

  There was a cough and a young policeman stepped forward. ‘My name is PC Joseph Dodds and if you wouldn’t mind,’ he said, interrupting them, ‘I need to take some details from you.’

  Nancy turned to look at him and said, ‘Firstly, young man, it’s extremely rude to get somebody’s attention by coughing and, secondly, I mind very much indeed. I have a nursery full of young children who are extremely upset by all of this so you’ll have to excuse me.’ She hurried off, leaving the young man red-faced, his pencil and notebook held mid-air.

  Mother turned to the policeman and said, ‘We find it best to let her make the decisions. It makes for a quieter life altogether. Come along and have some tea, and I’ll see what I can do.’

  Upstairs the children gathered around Nancy. It took some time to calm them all down. The helpers were sent off to make some warm milk for them, and Nancy took them into the playroom.

  ‘Aunty Nancy will know exactly what to do’, said Martha, and the children all turned to look at Nancy and waited.

  ‘Would you like to play, children?’ Nancy asked.

  The children didn’t want to play or sing. Then came the tears and Nancy took them to the television room. ‘Put the TV on,’ she said to the helpers, ‘and sit with them while I think what to do.’

  ‘Maybe they could play trains, Nancy. It seems to be their favourite game at the moment,’ a helper suggested.

  Thomas said, ‘It’s Billy’s train and he’s the driver. We can’t play trains without Billy.’

  ‘Anyway,’ said Martha, ‘Billy’s fed up of pretendy trains. He wants to go and see the real ones.’

  Nancy was standing with her eyes closed and the children watched as she muttered to herself. ‘Trains? Real ones?’ Suddenly she opened her eyes and looked at Martha. ‘What else did he say, Martha, can you remember?’

  ‘Well, Auntie Nancy, last year he went to the big station with the real trains and it had a pretendy train as well.’

  ‘Pretendy train, darling?’

  ‘Yes, and it went round and round the tree.’

  Nancy’s heart sank; this was making no sense at all. Had he made it all up?

  Then all eyes turned to Thomas, who was murmuring, ‘Round and round and round the pretendy train goes.’

  ‘Where is the pretendy train?’ Nancy asked. ‘Can you remember?’

  ‘Oh, yes, Aunty Nancy. Round the big tree that goes up to the roof.’

  Nancy took a deep breath. This was making no sense. ‘Anything else, my darlings?’

  ‘I’ve told you already, Aunty Nancy,’ said Thomas. ‘Round the big tree in the station where the real trains are.’

  ‘Yes,’ added Martha, ‘and you can hear the steam hissing on the real big trains. Billy told us all about it.’

  Little heads were nodding in agreement as Nancy finally began to understand. Surely not, it couldn’t possibly be? He is only five years old, well, almost six; he would never manage it … Dear God, where would he be now? Nancy ignored the noises all around as she closed her eyes and tried to figure out how it could be done. He would either be completely lost and could be anywhere, cold and frightened, or somehow he had jumped on the trolley bus to the Central Station, but then surely to God someone would have seen him.

  Downstairs in the nuns’ parlour Mother Superior was asking the young policeman to sit down for a slice of Cook’s special cake with his tea. He licked his lips when it was placed in front of him. ‘I don’t mind if I do,’ he said. ‘Just until I can get the details I need, of course.’

  ‘Naturally,’ said Mother, and raised her eyes to Heaven. She would go and get Nancy, she told him. As it happened there was no need. At that moment, the door was thrown open and Nancy burst into the room, just as PC Dodds lifted the cake to his lips.

  ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing? There is no time for that. Come along, no time to waste, she said.’ PC Dodds was dragged out of the parlour. ‘That is your car outside, I presume, Nancy said, not needing an answer. She jumped in and told him to drive to Newcastle Central Station.

  PC Dodds opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. They were halfway up the drive when Nancy screamed, ‘Stop!’ and the poor man got the fright of his life. She jumped out of the car and he watched her run across to an old cottage, emerging seconds later with a puppy wrapped inside her coat. She climbed back into the car, saying, ‘Hurry up, come along then. Hurry, please hurry.’

  PC Dodds thought about remonstrating but in the end he did as he was told. Most people did where Nancy was concerned.

  It seemed to take for ever to get there but eventually they pulled up outside the station and Nancy jumped out and ran towards the Christmas tree with PC Dodds, hoping and praying with every step that Billy would be there. Along with everybody else who lived in Newcastle, she knew about the special Christmas tree at the Central Station. Nancy and PC Dodds stopped and looked around. There was a carol service going on and many people were standing by the tree listening to the singers.

  ‘Where is he?’ she said to Oliver, whose tail was wagging furiously. If Billy wasn’t here, then he really was lost, and the thought terrified her. ‘Dear God, Billy, where are you?’

  Suddenly Oliver barked, leaped out of her arms and tore off towards the tree. Some of the people moved aside, wondering what on earth was happening, and it was then Nancy saw him. Her legs almost gave way as she saw him sitting there. ‘The pretendy train,’ she whispered. Clearly Billy had heard the commotion and turned just as Oliver jumped into his arms and licked his face.

  PC Dodds moved towards Billy but Nancy stopped him. ‘I think not,’ she said. ‘Any telling off will be done by me.’ She walked towards Billy, who looked up at her, his eyes full of tears. She reached for his hand, which was freezing cold. They looked at each other as the choir began to sing once more, and Nancy lifted him into her arms and wrapped her coat around him and Oliver.

  PC Dodds stepped forward. ‘I need to make a report,’ he said.

  ‘I need a bigger coat but I’m not complaining,’ Nancy replied. ‘Come on,’ she said, feeling a little sorry for PC Dodds. ‘Take us home and you can have the tea and cake you were promised.’

  They settled into the car and Nancy clasped Billy tightly to her, trying to warm him up. She saw her reflection in the car window. Look at the state of me, she thought, sitting in a police car with a frozen child and a puppy wrapped in my coat. She tapped Billy’s shoulder. ‘Oh, by the way, just one thing to remember, Billy,’ she said. ‘I never break a promise.’

  Billy smiled, closed his eyes and slept.

  Confessions

  Well, that was th
e easy bit, thought Nancy. Now to explain it all to Mother. She had no idea how to broach the subject but it could no longer be kept a secret. Mother had to know. Fortunately, as long as Mr Bell allowed the puppy to stay at the cottage there shouldn’t be a problem. She made her way to the parlour, muttering and mumbling under her breath, hoping that Mother wouldn’t be too cross with her.

  ‘What else was I supposed to do, Mother?’ she would say. ‘After all, it seems God sent the puppy. It wasn’t my idea.’ No, Mother wouldn’t be like that at all. Nancy continued to mutter to herself as she made her way down the parlour stairs.

  Sister Angela came out of her room and approached Nancy. Mother had gone to bed early, feeling a little under the weather. She had actually been in her room resting all day and had only got up when Billy had been reported missing. Mother, Nancy was told, was hoping to be at Mass tomorrow morning to hear the children singing. From next week, Mother knew, Nancy would be starting to teach them hymns for the Easter service. Nancy liked to be prepared well in advance. There would be no confessions tonight, it seemed, and with a heavy heart Nancy made her way back up to the nursery and went into her room.

  Sister Mary Joseph popped in with a pot of tea and told her that Billy was chatting away happily.

  ‘And Josephine?’ asked Nancy.

  ‘Still refusing to walk. The doctor’s calling in on Monday to see her.’

  ‘I’ve let her down with all this fuss about the puppy,’ Nancy said. ‘Josephine is a sweet little thing and I’m beyond sad to hear her say all she wants is to go to Heaven to see Mummy and Daddy. Have you ever heard anything so heartbreaking?’