The Orphan Twins

by Lesley Eames

  Elsie looked as pleased as if he were giving her the Crown Jewels. ‘I haven’t had a sugar mouse in years.’

  She licked the top of the mouse’s head and closed her eyes to enjoy the sweetness. ‘Mmm.’

  Phyllis took the tiniest nibble out of her mouse. ‘I’m going to save the rest for later.’

  ‘Me too,’ Lily said, overwhelmed by Artie’s kindness in thinking not just of her but also of her friends. ‘But you shouldn’t have spent so much money. Between the stamps, the sugar mice and your train fare you can’t have much left.’

  ‘I wanted to give you a treat, Lil. It makes me happy. Besides, I promised Gran to look after you, didn’t I?’ He paused then added, ‘I still miss her dreadfully.’

  ‘So do I.’

  They were quiet for a moment then Lily rallied and introduced Artie to a few of the other girls.

  They all looked pleased to meet him except for Rose, Agnes and Ivy who sent scowls Artie’s way. ‘Who are they?’ he asked.

  ‘People who don’t matter,’ Lily told him.

  ‘They aren’t mean to you?’

  ‘They’re mean to everyone. We don’t let them bother us.’

  ‘We can deal with those witches, make no mistake,’ Elsie assured him.

  Artie didn’t stay for much longer as the daylight was fading already. ‘It’s a long journey back and Mr Alderton doesn’t like lateness,’ he explained.

  Lily walked out with him and they hugged for a long time before he got back on the bicycle. ‘I’ll write,’ he promised.

  She ran down the drive beside him for a while then stood waving. The drive curved. Artie paused to wave back then pedalled out of sight.

  Lily had no idea when she’d see him again. She realised she was crying and wiped tears from her eyes only for more tears to flow.

  It was some time before she felt calm enough to return to Nightingale House where Phyllis and Elsie waited. Phyllis gave her a comforting squeeze and Elsie gave her a nudge of understanding. Breathing deeply, Lily reminded herself that she needed to take a leaf out of Gran’s book and be brave. She still had blessings to count and the best of them was that Artie had proved himself to be the loving twin he’d always been.

  A lot could happen in the years of separation that lay ahead of them, but Lily wouldn’t go inviting troubles in prematurely.

  ELEVEN

  Lily was touched when Artie sent her a book for Christmas as she knew he must have saved hard to buy it. He also sent a tin of toffees for her to share with her friends. Included in the parcel was a letter in which he told Lily that his journey home from Booth’s had turned into a disaster.

  I got a puncture and had to walk most of the way to Sevenoaks. I missed the train I planned to catch and arrived in London late. It was even later by the time I got to Hampstead. Mr Alderton and Mrs Lawley were about to ask the police to start looking for me. I didn’t like worrying them but it was worth all the walking to see you, Lil. I don’t think Mr Alderton will like me visiting again while the evenings are so dark, though, but spring isn’t so far away.

  Meanwhile I hope you’ll have a nice Christmas. It’ll be our first Christmas apart. I’ll miss you and Gran too.

  Lily had no gift to send in return but wrote a story called Artie’s Adventures at the Bottom of the Sea and sent that instead. It was a silly story in which Artie met fish, seals, whales and even a mermaid but she hoped it would make him smile.

  Writing a story for Artie gave Lily the idea of writing stories for Elsie and Phyllis too. Elsie’s story involved her in saving a group of children from a bridge collapse because she was the only person strong enough to carry them over the mountains before a storm struck. Phyllis’s story had her leading the fight for votes for women and being fêted as a heroine when she finally succeeded.

  Elsie and Phyllis were so thrilled with their stories that they made Lily read them out loud one evening as they sat around a toasty fire in the recreation room. Lily was surprised to look up and see that everyone was listening except for Rose, Agnes and Ivy who were talking among themselves rather louder than necessary, presumably hoping to thwart the storytelling. It didn’t work, especially after Elsie told them to shush and there was a murmur of agreement from other girls.

  The idea of making small gifts for each other took hold. Mr and Mrs Henderson allowed the girls to make paper chains to decorate the recreation room and Lily was cutting paper when she decided to attempt a paper angel too. Liking the result, she made a red-haired angel for Elsie, a dark-haired angel for Phyllis and angels for all the other girls in the house. ‘Would you like one?’ she asked Rose, but the pretty girl only curled her lip.

  Agnes and Ivy curled their lips too.

  ‘Please yourselves,’ Lily told them. It was their misfortune if they wanted no part of the fun.

  Other girls made paper angels and doves for each other too.

  ‘I’m not even going to try making angels or doves,’ Elsie said. ‘With my big hands I’d probably cut their heads off.’

  ‘I’m no good at that sort of thing either,’ Phyllis said. ‘I’m offering a different sort of gift – help with arithmetic to anyone who wants it. You don’t need help, Lily, so I’ve got this for you.’

  It was a spray of holly bound up with trailing ivy.

  ‘It’s beautiful,’ Lily assured her.

  ‘Elsie let me sit on her shoulders so I could reach the holly with the best berries on, so it’s from her as well.’

  ‘Carrying Phyllis gave me an idea for what I can offer as gifts,’ Elsie said. ‘Piggy-back rides.’

  She was serious. Big and strong, Elsie duly gave piggy-back rides in the grounds, out of sight of the Hendersons who thought girls should behave with decorum. She set up a route from one tree to another and back again, running as fast as she could and jumping over a dip in the ground. Lily had never heard so much laughter though it puzzled Mrs Henderson to see the girls looking flushed and dishevelled.

  Artie wrote monthly now his allowance meant he didn’t have to ration stamps. One day he wrote that Mr Alderton was taking on another pupil and for a moment Lily was alarmed. Did that mean he was disappointed in Artie? But no. Reading on, Lily learned that this new boy went to school but his parents wanted him to have extra coaching to ensure he’d pass an examination for something called public school. Artie considered it strange to call a school public when as far as he could work out it was private and cost a lot of money.

  Artie was looking forward to having another boy around though that didn’t mean he was lonely. He enjoyed cycling around London by himself when he had time free. He’d seen the Royal parks, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Bank of England, the Mayor’s Mansion House… He fancied seeing the animals in London Zoo soon.

  Lily spent a lot of time on the letters she wrote to him. Artie always had something new to tell her – something he’d learned or something he’d seen – but there was little variety in Lily’s life as she never left Booth’s. Neither did she hear much of what was going on outside it. Even in Jessy Street she’d known something of the world through neighbours, the ships at the docks, the newspaper boys calling out news…

  Lily wasn’t the only one who found it frustrating. Phyllis also fretted at being so excluded from the world. ‘I haven’t seen a newspaper since I came here,’ she complained. ‘And to think I used to stand at my dad’s shoulder reading all about governments and laws, and the women who are fighting to get for the vote.’

  Lily was reduced to writing about small incidents that she hoped might amuse him, and the comings and goings at Booth’s as girls left to go into service and new girls arrived to take their places. Few new girls joined Rose’s group which had shrunk to just three and become no more than a minor irritation.

  Despite the restrictions of life at Booth’s, Lily had moments of happiness and hoped Mum, Dad and Gran would feel proud of how she was coping. But she also had moments when worry got the be
tter of her wish to stay cheerful.

  One day she laid all of Artie’s letters across her bed. She was proud of the way he’d proved the doubters wrong and kept in touch with her. She was also proud of how neat his handwriting had become and how his words flowed better too. Yet the letters showed that he was striding ahead in life while she was stuck in limbo.

  She’d been right to believe Artie would stay in touch with her. She trusted his tender heart to keep caring about her too because, in addition to his letters, he sometimes sent picture postcards and once he sent another book which must have cost him several of his weekly sixpences. But between his lessons and the people he was meeting she couldn’t help fearing that the differences in their lives were ever-widening.

  It didn’t help that months passed without another visit from him. It wasn’t until Easter when the daylight hours were longer that Artie came to Booth’s again, this time having written to warn Lily to expect him.

  She posted herself outside Nightingale House to wait for him and her heart thrilled when she saw him riding the bicycle along the drive. But she didn’t break into a run this time. She walked towards him instead, realising she was even more nervous than on the last occasion he’d visited. On that occasion they’d been apart for three months. Now they’d been living apart for more than six months and the changes in Artie might run deeper.

  Relief rushed through her when she saw him smile but the nervousness didn’t entirely fade. Coming to a halt, he held out his arms in invitation. Oh, to heck with all the doubts. Lily needed to trust him.

  Quickening her pace, she threw her arms around him. ‘It’s so good to see you, Artie.’

  ‘You too, Lil. I believe I’m as tall as you now.’

  Lily stepped back and saw that he was grinning. She saw that he was right too. He really was as tall as her. Lily didn’t mind that at all. It was the possibility that he might outgrow her in other ways that bothered her.

  ‘I haven’t finished growing yet,’ she teased. ‘I might have a growth spurt and leave you behind.’

  They spent time talking alone and Artie told her about Charles, the boy who was being coached by Mr Alderton. ‘He’s older than me but a nice chap.’

  Nice chap? Lily supposed he’d picked up that way of talking from Charles.

  ‘We play cricket in the garden sometimes. I was hopeless when I started but Charles has taught me how to hold the bat and how to throw the ball too. Actually, it’s called bowling, not throwing.’

  ‘I’m glad you have a friend,’ Lily said.

  ‘I don’t see a lot of Charles but he comes on Saturday afternoons and after school on Tuesdays. I thought he might… you know. Look down on me. But he doesn’t. As I said, he’s a—’

  ‘Nice chap,’ Lily finished, thinking that, if Artie were destined to become a gentleman, it hadn’t happened quite yet.

  Not for a moment did she wish him to feel awkward in the company of boys like Charles. But it was comforting to think that the awkwardness Artie felt now might help him to understand her feelings should he become a gentleman in the future.

  ‘Mr Alderton wants me to start learning Latin,’ he told her.

  ‘Latin?’

  ‘An old language that people have mostly stopped using. I don’t see the point, but Mr Alderton seems keen so I’d better give it a go. What about you, though? What’s your news?’

  There was little to report apart from the day to day ups and downs of life at Booth’s. ‘Come and see Elsie and Phyllis,’ she said, after a while.

  ‘Heavens, who’s this fine young gentleman?’ Elsie joked.

  Artie kissed her cheek and Phyllis’s cheek then held up a paper bag. ‘More sugar mice,’ he said, then held up a second bag. ‘Oranges too.’

  Elsie eyes shone. ‘It’s been years since I had an orange.’

  Watching Artie with her friends, Lily felt another burst of pride in him. He was kind and good-humoured, and Lily tried to hug every moment close because she knew more months would pass before she saw him again.

  May came and, like Christmas, they had to spend their twelfth birthdays apart. Mrs Lawley made a cake for me, Mr Alderton gave me a pen and I loved the funny story you wrote for me, Artie wrote. Did you have a nice birthday, Lil?

  Lily had been wished, ‘Many happy returns of the day,’ by Mrs Henderson, though with so many girls at Booth’s birthdays were common and nothing special was done to mark them. But Artie had sent her a notebook with a picture of Tower Bridge on the front while Elsie and Phyllis had made her a posy of greenery from the garden. She wrote in glowing terms of her pleasure in both gifts.

  *

  Soon Lily had been at Booth’s for a whole year. Artie visited again in a new suit of clothes, having outgrown the first suit. He was taller than Lily now and his confidence had grown in proportion to his height. His friend Charles had gone off to his public school but two more boys were to come to Mr Alderton for coaching. Roland and Edmund, he wrote a few weeks later. Both seem to be nice chaps. They like to play cricket too. Rolo and Edmund both say I’m a decent bowler so Charles must have taught me well.

  Lily was glad for him though she was still troubled by the thought of him outgrowing her in more ways than height. But on his next visit she began to wonder if, beneath his smiles and laughter, something was troubling him too. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

  ‘Nothing.’

  Lily pulled a disbelieving face

  Artie sighed. ‘Mr Alderton is thinking of putting me in for an examination for a public school in another year or so.’

  ‘Just out of interest, do you mean? You don’t have the money actually to go to one of those schools.’

  ‘He says he’ll pay if I pass.’

  Lily’s eyes widened. ‘How kind of him! But do you want to go to one of those schools?’

  ‘Honestly, Lil? I don’t know.’

  Lily realised that, despite the polish he was acquiring, he still wasn’t quite confident enough to brazen out any attempt to make the humbleness of his beginnings in Jessy Street count against him. Not yet anyway. ‘Are you worried you won’t fit in because the other boys will turn their noses up at you?’

  ‘Charles, Roland and Edmund are nice enough but the others… who knows?’

  Lily’s heart swelled. ‘Now you listen to me, Arthur Tomkins. You might come from Jessy Street, but you’re as good as anybody. It isn’t how much money a person has that matters. It isn’t how they speak or what they wear. It’s what’s in their hearts.’ Something she should remember herself when she next felt insecure about the way her life was lagging behind Artie’s.

  ‘You’re right,’ he agreed, but clearly he doubted that everyone thought the same. ‘It wouldn’t be so bad if I could go home at the end of each day but these schools are boarding schools. You live there for months until the holidays come.’ Which meant there’d be no escape if the other boys were cruel.

  Lily felt for him. ‘You shouldn’t be worrying about any of this. It won’t be for another year and a lot can happen in twelve months. Mr Alderton might decide not to put you in for the examination after all, or you might sit it but not get through. If that’s the case you’ve no need to feel bad about letting Mr Alderton down because he knows you’ve had to struggle through life more than other boys. Or you might decide you’d like to try that sort of school anyway. Worrying about it now is a waste of time. Remember what Gran used to say about worrying?’

  ‘It’s like inviting troubles into your home and making guests of them when they might have walked straight past.’

  ‘Exactly.’

  Artie’s expression turned wistful. ‘I still miss Gran badly. Mum and Dad too.’

  ‘So do I. But they’re with us in our hearts and in all the things they taught us.’

  He smiled. ‘Dearest, Lil. You always talk sense. I’m lucky, having you for my sister.’

  He couldn’t have said anything to make her happier.

  ‘If you were sitting the examination, you’d
pass it easily,’ Artie said, but times had changed. He’d learned things Lily had no chance of learning at Booth’s because she’d never managed to persuade her teacher to set more challenging lessons. Lily wouldn’t even know where to start in an examination.

  Not for anything did she want to hold Artie back but, despite all she’d said about people’s hearts being more important than anything else, the thought of him at a smart boarding school gnawed at the edges of Lily’s own confidence. She tried to practise what Gran had preached about inviting troubles in, but found that all she could do was fight the uncertainty and wait to see what happened.

  TWELVE

  A year later Artie sat the examination and came to Booth’s to tell Lily the result. ‘Well?’ she asked, ready to comfort him if he’d failed, especially if he felt bad about disappointing Mr Alderton.

  ‘I passed,’ Artie told her. ‘I’m going to a school called Camfordleigh in Norfolk.’

  ‘I’m so proud of you, Artie.’ It was true but as Lily wrapped him in a hug, she couldn’t stop her confidence from trembling a little. ‘Mr Alderton must be delighted.’

  ‘He is. He’s going to pay for everything – the fees, my uniform, my train fares… He’s going to increase my allowance too. Roland and Edmund are going to different schools so I won’t know anyone at Camfordleigh, but you’ve made good friends here, Lil. I hope I’ll make good friends there.’

  He was nervous. Lily could see it in the way he swallowed after he spoke. ‘Just be your big-hearted self, Artie.’

  He smiled but she wondered if he thought she didn’t understand the world of boys’ schools. Perhaps she didn’t. It made her feel even more cut off from the world. ‘You’ll write to me often?’ she said.

  ‘As often as I can,’ he promised. He paused then said, ‘I wrote to Davie about his brother but I never got a letter back.’

  The older brother of his former Jessy Street friend had gone down with the Titanic, having worked in the engine room. Lily had only heard of the scale of the disaster because Artie had told her about it in a letter. In the Sunday church service at Booth’s they’d been asked to pray for the souls of those lost at sea but hadn’t been told any details.