Читать книгу An Orphan’s Wish: The new, most heartwarming of christmas novels you will read in 2018 - Molly Green, Molly Green - Страница 15

Back in her office the telephone interrupted her train of thought. She picked up the receiver and Mrs Dayton’s voice said, ‘Will you take a call from Mrs Taylor, the matron at Bingham Hall?’

‘Oh, yes, of course. Please put her through.’ There was a pause. ‘Lana Ashwin speaking,’ she said.

‘Ah, good. I’ve got you,’ a pleasant female voice came on. ‘It’s Maxine Taylor, the matron just up the road from you. You’ve probably been told about Bingham Hall, the Dr Barnardo’s orphanage. The woman in the office said as it was your first day she didn’t want to disturb you. But I rarely take no for an answer.’

That damnable woman. Lana bit her lip in annoyance.

‘It is my first day,’ she said, ‘but I expect it to be a normal day, and I certainly don’t consider anyone an interruption if they need to speak to me. What can I do for you, Mrs Taylor?’

‘We’re planning to have a maypole dance on May Day for the children, and I wondered if you and the teachers and any of your pupils would like to come along. I thought it would be easier to speak to you first.’

Lana glanced at the desk calendar and flipped the page over to May. ‘Ah, it’s a Saturday,’ she said, ‘so no school.’ She paused. ‘It’s very kind of you.’

‘Not at all,’ came the brisk but friendly tones. ‘I don’t think the children here have mixed much with the village school children but I think they should. Otherwise, they’re going to view themselves as “different” for the rest of their lives – which isn’t healthy, in my opinion.’

‘I think it’s a marvellous idea,’ Lana said with sincerity. ‘I’d like to talk it over with the teachers first, so may I come back to you in a few days?’

‘Yes, of course.’

Lana hesitated. ‘Before you go, Mrs Taylor, there’s something I’d like to ask you. It’s about Priscilla Morgan.’

There was a pause at the other end. ‘Ah, Priscilla. She hasn’t been with us long. A very sad case.’

‘Yes. The worrying thing is that she can’t come to terms with the accident. Both parents gone at once and she’s lost her home as well. She told me she’s waiting for them to come and fetch her. I tried to tell her as gently as I could that they were never coming back, but she was terribly upset and rushed off. It must be dreadful for her and I’m not sure how I can help. I wondered how she was coping at the orphanage.’

‘She’s very quiet and very good,’ Mrs Taylor said. ‘Too good. It’s not natural. I’ve tried to talk to her – we all have – but she won’t listen. We’re hoping time will be the healer.’

Lana bit her lip. It was well over a year since she’d lost Dickie and the ache was as strong as ever. But they were discussing Priscilla.

‘It might be a good idea for us to have a proper chat after the maypole dance,’ Mrs Taylor said. ‘Another month will have passed and we can assess the situation. How does she seem with the other children in class?’

‘She sits away from the others in her own world, mostly staring out of the window. Neither she nor the rest of the children take any notice of one another.’

‘I wonder if she should see a doctor,’ the matron said in a thoughtful tone. ‘I must admit I’m as worried as you, especially as she’s still eating very little at supper. What about dinnertime at the school? Does she—’

There was a loud crackling on the line and Lana couldn’t hear the matron’s next words.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t catch—’

The line went dead. Lana thought of asking Mrs Danvers to reconnect her but couldn’t face the secretary’s sneering tone, as though she couldn’t even take a simple telephone call.

She spent the next two hours sick with guilt, wishing with all her heart she hadn’t upset Priscilla. She should have got to know her better, gained her trust. Suddenly it had become unbearably stuffy in her office. She switched off the two electric bars of the heater and threw on her jacket. A brisk walk would clear her head.

Before the week was out Lana felt at home at Bingham school. In the main, the children were good, though the boys were somewhat raucous when they thought they could get away with it, which had the effect of making the girls quieter. Except Josephine, a cheeky ten-year-old. She interrupted whenever she felt like it. More than once Lana noticed Priscilla frowning at yet another interruption.

‘Please put your hand up if you want to ask or answer a question,’ Lana said to Josephine. ‘Other children want to ask questions besides you.’

The girl immediately swung both arms in the air. Another child who craved attention.

‘Only one hand is necessary,’ Lana said. ‘Keep the question in your head and I’ll come back to you. I believe Martin put his hand up before you.’

She nodded to Martin, but before he could open his mouth, Josephine said, ‘No, I put my hand up first, Miss …’

‘You will await your turn, Jennifer. And you will address me by my name.’

‘I’ve forgotten it.’ Jennifer’s tone was triumphant as she looked round at the class for approbation.

Fuming, Lana beckoned Josephine up to her desk to a class of sniggering children. She turned to the child.

‘Now, Josephine. Perhaps you would like to tell the class that you have a very poor memory and have already forgotten my name. And after class you will write my name out fifty times on your slate before you go home. And I have two more slates you can use as extras so there is no excuse the lines won’t all fit.’

Josephine tapped her shoe up and down as she boldly surveyed Lana.

‘Shall I remind you of my name?’ Lana said evenly.

The child hesitated as though about to say something insolent, but decided against it. ‘No, Miss.’

‘Then would you like to remind the class in case anyone else has forgotten?’

‘It’s Miss Ashwin.’ Josephine’s chest rose with her breath. ‘MISS ASHWIN!’ Her voice rose to a shout as she faced the class.

Giggles from the girls and more sniggers from the boys.

‘Very well,’ Lana said, putting a piece of chalk down by the blackboard. ‘That’s enough. You may go back to your seat. And I don’t want to hear another word from you until class tomorrow.’

Josephine made her way to her desk, then glared at Lana.

‘You never tell her off.’ The child pointed to Priscilla. ‘Prissy gets away with everything. She doesn’t do her homework and she can’t keep up with us in class even though she’s older than us. No one likes her here.’

There was a deathly hush. And then a loud scraping of a chair by the window. Before she had time to stop her, Priscilla had sprung up, grabbed her satchel and rushed out of the room.

‘I hope you’re satisfied now, Josephine,’ Lana said. ‘You will stay behind and explain yourself before you do your lines.’ She threw a glance around the room. ‘We’re finished for the day, children. You may go.’ She waited until the children had disappeared and only Josephine was left, standing sulkily beside the desk.

‘Sit down in one of the front seats,’ Lana said, taking her chair and moving it nearer to Josephine. It was easier not having a desk as a barrier between them, she thought.

‘Now, then. What made you speak in such an unkind way about another pupil?’

Josephine sniffed.

‘Have you a handkerchief?’

‘No, Miss.’

Lana dug in her bag and handed the girl a neatly folded one. She waited patiently. ‘Well, Josephine?’

‘No one likes Prissy, only no one’s brave enough to say it ’cept me.’

‘You mean Priscilla?’

‘We all call her Prissy because she’s such a fusspot. She tidies her desk after every lesson. We all know she’s stupid because she’s always bottom.’

‘No, she’s not stupid. She’s just a very sad little girl. And she needs help. I think you might be just the person.’

‘What do you mean? I don’t even like her.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because she thinks she’s better than us so she doesn’t speak to us. So we do the same.’

‘It’s not that at all,’ Lana said. ‘It’s because she’s embarrassed and angry with herself.’

‘Because she’s stupid.’

‘Don’t say that word again, please,’ Lana said sharply. ‘She’s not stupid.’ She looked at the girl. ‘Do you have a mother and father, Josephine?’

‘Course I do.’

‘Then you’re very lucky. One day Priscilla had her own bedroom at home and a loving mother and father. The next she was told they’d been killed in the blackout and she had to go and live at the orphanage down the road. It’s extremely difficult for her, and you and the others are making it worse by not speaking to her, or including her in your games. I want this to change.’ All this time Lana kept her focus on Josephine who looked shocked and upset at the same time. ‘Can you understand what I’m saying, Josephine?’

The girl hung her head.

‘Josephine?’

Josephine looked up, her eyes flashing. For a moment Lana thought she was going to rebel against her.

‘I didn’t know, Miss, about her mother and father.’

‘There’s a war on, Josephine,’ Lana said gently. ‘Anything can happen at any time to those we love. Do you think you can be kinder to her?’

Josephine nodded.

‘And Priscilla’s far from stupid. She’s a clever girl and I’m sure she would help you with your homework if you got stuck – especially your reading. Then maybe you can put your hand up for a part next time.’

Josephine’s face visibly brightened.

‘In the meantime,’ Lana continued, ‘tell her you will be her friend. Try to understand how she feels. Imagine it had happened to you and you’d lost your parents. You’d want to have a friend to talk to, wouldn’t you?’ Josephine nodded, keeping her eyes averted. ‘And the first way to show her you mean it is to tell her you’re very sorry for speaking the way you did.’

There was a silence. Lana could almost see Josephine weighing everything up. Finally, she said, ‘All right, Miss Ashwin. I’ll tell her I’m sorry.’

‘Just one more thing, Josephine. We’ll forget about writing out my name fifty times, but I’d like you to stand up in class tomorrow morning and tell the children what happened to Priscilla. I’ll make sure she’s not there. But tell them they must not mention it to her afterwards. She’d hate that. Just ask the others to include her – make friends with her. And above all, be kind.’ She paused to give time for her words to sink in. ‘What do you think?’

Josephine was looking at the floor. ‘I’ll do my best, Miss Ashwin,’ she muttered.

‘Your best is exactly what I’m looking for,’ Lana said softly.