9. A Small Miracle
Miss Amelie felt safe in her home, where nothing changed, where she could look at her photographs and think about John William. It would not be easy for her to leave it, even for a few hours.
Because Layla knew this, she gathered all her determination in case it was needed to persuade Miss Amelie. But when she went with Griffin and Nell to Miss Amelie’s house the day before Senior Citizens’ Day, Layla was pleasantly surprised.
Miss Amelie had been waiting at the gate for John William again. But when they told her that they hadn’t seen him, she let Nell open her silver-frosted gate and take her inside and she didn’t seem at all muddled. She did have her tartan pants on inside out, but that was a mistake anyone could have made. Layla had done it once when she was in a hurry to go tadpoling with Griffin. Miss Amelie had even noticed Nell’s lambswool slippers and enquired about her corns.
Nell took the opportunity to sit down on Miss Amelie’s sofa and take off her slippers. It was not often she said, that people, other than Layla, showed any interest in her corns. Layla thought she saw a look of longing in Miss Amelie’s eyes when she saw the hearts on Nell’s toenails, so she reached into her bag and took out her nail polish and the sheet of stickers she had brought with her, just in case.
Miss Amelie didn’t want to put her sensible shoes back on after Layla had finished. She just stared and stared at her feet. That was a good sign, Layla thought, so she reminded Miss Amelie.
‘It’s Seniors’ Day tomorrow,’ she said.
‘Seniors’ Day.’ Miss Amelie tried the words out, the way she did when she was trying to remember if she’d heard them before. Layla let a few moments go by before she added, ‘at St Benedict’s, remember?’
‘Yes, it’s Seniors’ Day,’ Miss Amelie said. But just to be sure, Nell wrote a note and put it next to Miss Amelie’s alarm clock so that she’d remember again in the morning. Layla felt certain that she would; even if she forgot to look at the note, she couldn’t help but see her toenails when she put on her shoes.
Tuesday morning was a morning to be remembered, one to be shouted from the hilltops; a morning, as Ben Silk would have said, when memories would be made. Layla knew it straight away. Frost sparkled on the ground, shallow puddles were iced over like magic mirrors and fallen leaves seemed sugar coated. But even so, who could have known that it would be the morning of a small miracle?
‘Aren’t you cold, Layla?’ asked Nell when she and Griffin met Layla on the corner of Chapel Street.
Layla had goose pimples, but she said, ‘Just a bit. I’ve got a jumper in my bag.’ But she didn’t want to put it on. Not yet, not until Miss Amelie had seen what she was wearing.
Miss Amelie was waiting at the gate again. Layla was pleased that she had got up early. They would have plenty of time to get to school. But as they drew closer she saw that Miss Amelie had her nighty on, and that feeling that all was not well crept over her. Nell started to run, her slippers slapping up and down on the icy pavement.
Miss Amelie clung to the gate as stiff as an icicle. Her hands seemed frozen to the gate. ‘Come inside Amelie and I’ll make us a nice cup of tea,’ said Nell firmly. But although Nell coaxed and cajoled, Miss Amelie didn’t even seem to hear what she was saying. For an instant Layla wondered if they should tell the truth about John William, but she knew that Miss Amelie wouldn’t understand, that it would only make things worse. So instead she said the only other thing she could think of to get Miss Amelie away from her gate.
‘It’s okay, Miss Amelie,’ she said. ‘The train doesn’t come until later.’ For the first time since her friends had arrived, Miss Amelie noticed them, and it seemed as though the sun had got to her and had begun to thaw her out. Her limbs relaxed and she let Nell untangle her fingers from the wire diamonds on the gate and take her inside.
Nell switched on the electric blanket and made Miss Amelie get straight into bed.
‘Stay there while I make you a warm drink, Amelie,’ said Nell.
Miss Amelie looked tired, as though she had been waiting for a long time. Her eyes closed and Layla sat down on the edge of her bed with Griffin. In the distance she heard Nell talking softly to someone on the telephone.
‘Griff,’ whispered Layla, ‘I don’t think I want to be determined any more.’
‘Why not?’ asked Griffin, and he noticed that Layla’s forget-me-not blue eyes were all watery.
‘It’s hard to be determined all the time,’ she said, ‘and besides, I don’t think you can rescue someone unless they want to be rescued.’
Layla nodded.
‘I wanted to take her to school. I thought she’d like it.’ She knew that Griffin had put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her, but it made her want to cry more than ever. She had to use the last scrap of her determination to hold her tears back while she confessed to him the other reason, the selfish reason for wanting Miss Amelie to come to school with her. She said, ‘I just wanted to have someone special of my own.’
Nell had come to the bedroom door to check on Miss Amelie and to tell them that the doctor was on his way. She heard what Layla said and then she saw what happened before her very eyes.
Miss Amelie sat up in bed as though she had just woken from a good night’s sleep. She read the note near her alarm clock. Then she put her feet on the floor and stared at them for a few moments before she said, ‘I’m going to school today.’
To some people, this might have seemed a small thing, but Nell said, ‘It’s a miracle! Small or not, a miracle is still a miracle.’
When the doctor came and examined Miss Amelie and pronounced her fit for school, Layla could feel happiness surging inside her and she had to let it out.
‘It’s a miracle!’ she told the doctor. He smiled, but his eyes still looked sad and she felt sorry for him. Miss Amelie had been out half the night in the freezing cold, yet she wasn’t ill and she still remembered it was Seniors’ Day. How could he not believe in miracles?
When she asked Nell about it after the doctor had gone, Nell said, ‘Some people don’t understand that there are things science and technology can’t explain. Miracles are one of them and love is another. If it hadn’t been for love, Miss Amelie’s miracle might not have happened.’
Layla wasn’t sure if Nell meant that it was because she loved Miss Amelie or because Miss Amelie loved her that the miracle had happened. But it didn’t really matter, she told herself, it was the miracle itself that counted.