It was a struggle. For the next few days Lily shuffled her way from her bed in the front room to her chair in the kitchen. Balancing on her crutches she made tea and toast, and opened tins from her meagre store. She leaned against the sink and washed the dishes and she listened to the wireless for company. She was delighted to be in her own home again. However, by the time the next weekend was approaching, she knew she was going to have to get out of the house and get some groceries in.
On Saturday morning she got dressed, a performance in itself, and, opening the front door, she stepped out into the street. She was far better at manoeuvring herself on her crutches by now and she made slow but steady progress along the pavement to the Baillies’ shop.
Fred heard the bell ring announcing a customer and, looking up, saw Lily at the door. He hurried round from behind the counter and immediately set a chair for her.
‘Lily,’ he cried. ‘Surely you shouldn’t be struggling out and about on your crutches like this? Where’s Mavis? She hasn’t left you to do your own shopping, has she?’
Grateful for the seat and catching her breath after the effort of walking the few hundred yards from her house, Lily smiled at him. ‘Thanks, Fred, I need to rest my pins.’
‘Should you be out on them crutches so soon?’ asked Anne, appearing from the back.
‘I wanted to thank you again for all you’ve done for me,’ replied Lily. ‘And I just popped in for a couple of things to keep me going over the weekend, just till Mavis can come round and do me a proper list.’
‘I expect she’s busy with the baby,’ Anne said and Lily agreed that she was.
‘Well, you just tell me what you need,’ Fred said, ‘and I’ll get Martin to deliver it.’ Lily sat on the chair and Fred packed all the things she asked for into a cardboard box, ready for his son to deliver later. Since it was all going to be brought home for her, Lily stocked up her cupboard, handing over her coupons to Fred.
‘You let me know when you want anything else,’ he told her as she hobbled out of the shop. ‘Anne’ll pop in after the weekend and see what you need.’
By the time Lily closed her front door behind her and shuffled to her chair, she was exhausted, but triumphant. She’d done it! She’d gone out of the house by herself and got to the corner shop. Next time she’d go a little further, and by the end of next week, when she was off her crutches, she would be ready to walk to the bus, and she could begin the search for her granddaughters.
She didn’t see Mavis in the days that followed and she wasn’t really surprised. She’d been hard on her, she knew, but the thought of what Rita and Rosie must be going through still made her angry. How could Mavis have done it? In her heart of hearts, she knew the answer. Jimmy had made her, and Mavis was afraid of Jimmy. If Lily were honest she was afraid of Jimmy too, but she was determined to find her granddaughters, and if that meant braving a confrontation with Jimmy, then so be it. Lily began to make her plans. When she only needed a stick, she would go round to Ship Street, on the pretext of visiting the baby.
Not just a pretext really, she thought, I’d love to have another cuddle with Richard.
The following Saturday, when Lily could limp along with only a walking stick, she made her way slowly to Ship Street, arriving late morning and hoping Jimmy would be in the Lion for his lunchtime pint. When Mavis saw who was on her step, her face hardened, and she barred the way, greeting her mother with a gruff, ‘What do you want?’
Lily forced a smile to her lips and said calmly, ‘I’ve come to see how Richard’s doing. Haven’t seen him for two weeks, have I? And they change so quickly at this age.’
‘He’s all right,’ began Mavis, but was interrupted by a shout from inside the house.
‘Who is it, Mav?’
Jimmy had not yet left for the pub. He appeared behind Mavis and, seeing Lily outside on the step, growled, ‘Oh, it’s you, is it? What the hell do you want?’
‘I came to see how Richard was doing,’ Lily replied. ‘Can I come in?’
‘Suit yourself,’ he answered, pushing past both the women. ‘I’m going out, but if you start interfering in our business again,’ he warned Lily, ‘it’ll be the last time you come into my house.’
They watched him stride away and then Mavis stood reluctantly aside. ‘You better come in,’ she said.
Richard was in his pram in the front room. ‘I’d rather have him in the kitchen with me,’ Mavis said as they both looked down at the sleeping baby, ‘but Jimmy says there ain’t room, and I s’pose he’s right.’
‘Well, he’s gone out,’ pointed out Lily, ‘so, we could wheel him in there now.’
But Mavis shook her head. ‘Better not,’ she said. ‘Never know when he’s coming back, do we? We’ll leave the door open, that’s what I do when I’m on my own. Jimmy don’t like him crying, see, so most of the time I keep the door shut.’ She smiled down at the baby, the first time Lily had seen the light of love in her daughter’s eyes, and said, ‘Poor little mite. He gets colic something dreadful. Little knees pulled up against his chest.’
‘Are you getting any sleep?’ asked her mother.
‘Not much,’ admitted Mavis. ‘He’s often fretful in the night, so I get up to him a lot. Don’t want him to wake his dad, do I?’
‘Isn’t his cot in with you, then?’
‘No, he’s in the girls’ room.’
Mention of the girls brought a sudden, uneasy silence between them. Lily decided to grasp the nettle. ‘You ain’t going to have them back, are you?’ she said quietly. ‘Not ever.’
‘I can’t,’ Mavis’s voice broke on a sob. ‘Jimmy won’t have them here.’ She looked across at her mother with agonized eyes. ‘I’ve lost them, Mum. They’ve gone.’
Lily reached over and gripped her daughter’s hands. ‘No, Mavis,’ she said, ‘you haven’t. We’ll find them, get them back. They can come and live with me, like before. Jimmy didn’t mind that, did he?’
‘He didn’t like it, and now he don’t want them anywhere near.’
‘But where are they, Mavis? You must know.’
Mavis didn’t answer, simply picked up Richard and began to feed him.
‘Where are they, Mavis?’ Lily asked again.
‘I don’t know,’ muttered Mavis.
‘You must do,’ said Lily, gently. ‘You must know where they are.’
‘Well, I don’t.’
‘But you signed the papers, they must have named the place, didn’t you read them?’
‘Jimmy filled them in, I just signed, all right!’ Mavis finally looked over at her mother. ‘Leave me alone. If Jimmy hears you’re looking for them I don’t know what he’ll do!’
‘He can’t stop me looking,’ Lily said, ‘and nor can you. I must have some rights as their grandmother—’
‘No you fucking don’t!’ came a growl from the door. Both women spun round to find Jimmy standing in the doorway. ‘It ain’t nothing to do with you, and I told you not to interfere. That’s why I come back. I knew you’d be fucking interfering again.’ He advanced across the room and, towering over Lily, said menacingly, ‘and if I find you here again in my house, it’ll be the worst for you. Understand, do yer? Get it?’
It took all Lily’s courage not to flinch away from him as he stood glowering down at her.
‘What I understand, Jimmy Randall, is that you’re a bully, and them girls is a damn sight safer away from a vicious brute like you.’ She struggled to her feet, leaning heavily on her stick, but coming upright so they were face to face.
Jimmy shoved his face, now mottled with rage, into hers. ‘Get out,’ he almost spat at her. ‘Get out of this house and don’t never come back.’
Mavis watched this exchange with horror, believing that Jimmy was about to attack her mother. The bottle fell from Richard’s mouth and he began to wail, his cries quickly increasing in intensity and volume.
Jimmy spun round on Mavis, shouting, ‘Shut that baby up! I can’t stand that caterwauling.’
Without a word Mavis gathered up baby and bottle and rushed out of the room. Lily heard her footsteps on the stairs and then the closing of a door. The wails diminished and then suddenly stopped. Mavis must have given him the bottle again.
Lily grasped her stick, almost as if it were a defensive weapon, and turned to Jimmy. ‘Where’s my granddaughters, Jimmy? Where’s Rita and Rosie?’
‘Gone,’ he said and smiled. ‘Gone for good, and good riddance.’
Lily tried once more. ‘But they could live with me, Jimmy. They wouldn’t have to come and live here.’ She tried to sound conciliatory. ‘I can see that wouldn’t work, but if they lived with me, Mavis could still see them. She loves her kids and they love her. They need her… and she needs them.’
‘She don’t need them no more,’ retorted Jimmy. ‘She’s got us now, me and young Rick. That’s all she needs. She don’t need them girls and she certainly don’t need you, coming in here and meddling. So get out, now, before I throw you out and you end up back in the hospital.’
When Lily reached home again she sank exhausted onto her bed. Her body felt heavy, her legs ached from the unaccustomed exercise, and her mind was numb.
How on earth was she going to rescue Mavis and Richard from the monster they lived with, let alone find Rita and Rosie and bring them home? She lay, bone-weary, on the bed for several hours. She did not sleep, simply replayed the scenes in the Ship Street kitchen over and over in her head. Mavis was terrified of Jimmy, not only for her own sake, but for Richard’s too. Jimmy, always on a short fuse, couldn’t bear the sound of a crying baby. If Mavis couldn’t keep Richard away from his father when he cried, how long would it be before Jimmy tried to stop Richard crying himself?
Eventually Lily bestirred herself and went into the kitchen. She opened a tin of soup and made a cheese sandwich. The food revived her spirits a little, and as she sat drinking a cup of tea after her meal, she began to plan her next move. For despite Jimmy Randall’s threats, Lily was still determined to find the girls and bring them home to live with her in Hampton Road.
On Monday morning she set off to the council offices to see the Children’s Officer. She had been involved in the placing of the girls, had been the one who took them from school, so she would know where they were. Leaning heavily on her stick she climbed the council office steps and pushed open the door. From the reception desk in the entrance hall, she was directed up the stairs to room 21 on the second floor. There were several women sitting in the tiny waiting room, and all of them looked up as Lily came in. She looked about her and then went to the hatch and tapped on the glass.
The window slid open and a pale, pinch-faced woman peered out at her. ‘Yes?’
‘I would like to see the Children’s Officer, please,’ said Lily.
‘Have you got an appointment?’
‘No, but…’
‘I’ll make you an appointment.’ The woman reached for a desk diary.
‘I don’t need an appointment,’ Lily said. ‘I only want to ask her one question, in fact you may be able to help me.’
‘I’m only secretarial,’ replied the woman. ‘I can’t tell you anything.’ She glanced down at the open diary. ‘Miss Hopkins has got meetings for the rest of today and tomorrow, but she could see you on Wednesday. 11.30, all right?’
‘But you may have the information I need,’ Lily tried again.
‘I doubt it,’ replied the woman, ‘but I couldn’t give it you anyway. Name?’
‘Name?’
The woman sighed. ‘Your name, so’s I can write you in the diary. 11.30, Wednesday. Half hour appointment.’
‘Half an hour? I don’t think I’ll need that long.’
‘Name.’
Lily gave her name, and the woman put it in the diary, then snapped the window shut.
Lily arrived early for the appointment on Wednesday. Though she was walking better every day, she was still slow on her feet, and she was determined not to be late and miss her allotted time. The waiting room was empty, but even so it was well after half-past eleven before Lily was summoned into Miss Hopkins’s office.
The Children’s Officer waved her to a chair. ‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘Sorry to keep you. What can I do for you…’ She glanced down at a piece of paper in front of her. ‘…Mrs Sharples?’
‘I’ve come to find out where my granddaughters are,’ Lily said.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘I’ve come to find out where you’ve took my granddaughters to.’
‘I’m sorry, Mrs Sharples, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ll have to explain. Who are your granddaughters?’
‘Rita and Rosie Stevens,’ replied Lily. ‘Their mum had them took into care while she had her baby, and I was in the hospital after an accident and couldn’t have them, but I’m fine now, so they can come back to me as they was before.’
Miss Hopkins’ face twitched at the names, but she simply said, ‘I’m sorry, but that was a bit difficult to follow. Your granddaughters are Rita and Rosie Stevens?’
‘Yes, I said.’
‘And their mother has put them into care?’
‘Yes, and now I’m out of the hospital I want them back. They was living with me, before, you see.’
‘Before…?’
‘Before I got knocked down. And then their mum had to go into the maternity to have the baby, ’cos he was breach, see, so they got put into care. But now I want them back.’
‘I’m afraid that’s impossible, Mrs Sharples,’ said Miss Hopkins smoothly. ‘You see they have been signed into our care by their mother. She gave up her rights as their mother when she did that. They have been placed in suitable accommodation by the Children’s Committee, and that is where they are now, awaiting probable adoption.’
‘Adoption!’ Lily sagged back against the chair. ‘But they don’t need to be adopted, they’ve got me. I can look after them better’an anyone. I’m their gran. They love me and I love them!’
‘I’m sure you do,’ agreed Miss Hopkins, ‘and as you do, you’ll want what’s best for them. I believe they were at some risk from their stepfather. Their mother was anxious to get them right away.’
‘Jimmy Randall,’ exploded Lily. ‘My Mavis is scared of him.’
‘Then they are almost certainly better off where they are, well looked after, with everything they need.’
‘But can’t I see them?’ asked Lily.
‘No, I’m afraid not. They’re settled now, and seeing you would only unsettle them again.’
‘How d’you know they’re settled?’ demanded Lily. ‘They ran away and come home not long ago. Someone took them back. Was that you?’
‘I’m sorry, Mrs Sharples, I’m not prepared to discuss this case any further with you. All such cases are confidential.’
‘So you ain’t going to tell me where they are, then?’
‘No, I am not.’
‘Not even so’s I can write to them, to let them know they ain’t forgotten?’
‘No. It would not be appropriate. Now if there’s nothing more…’ She got to her feet to indicate that the interview was over. For a long moment Lily sat where she was, defeated.
‘Mrs Sharples, I do have other people to see,’ said Miss Hopkins, and so Lily stood up and walked to the door.
‘I expect you haven’t got children,’ she said, turning back to the woman behind the desk.
‘I am unmarried,’ replied Miss Hopkins thinly.
‘Yes, well, that don’t surprise me,’ remarked Lily. ‘Good thing too, if you ask me. I wouldn’t wish you as a mother on any child.’
That evening Lily sat in her kitchen, going over and over the meeting with Miss Hopkins. It seemed as if there was nothing further she could do to discover the whereabouts of the children. Jimmy wasn’t going to tell her and nor was Mavis. Perhaps she really didn’t know. They’d been taken from school, picked up without any warning, probably by that dreadful woman she’d met today. Armed with the papers Mavis had signed, poor Miss Hassinger wouldn’t have been able to prevent it. Then it struck her. Miss Hassinger; Miss Hassinger might know. In the morning she’d go to Capel Street Elementary and see if Miss Hassinger could help her.
The girls were happy here, she thought as she waited to see the headmistress.
‘Mrs Sharples?’ Miss Hassinger’s voice broke into her reveries and Lily got to her feet. ‘I’m so glad to see you out and about again,’ said the headmistress as she ushered Lily into her office. ‘We heard all about your accident, it sounded dreadful. Do please sit down.’ She pulled a chair out for Lily and then seated herself opposite. ‘Well now,’ she said, ‘what can I do for you?’
‘It’s good of you to see me,’ began Lily. ‘The thing is, Miss Hassinger, well, the thing is, I wanted to ask you something.’
‘I see,’ said Miss Hassinger, smiling reassuringly, ‘and what was that?’
‘You know our Rita and Rosie was taken into care while Mavis was in the hospital having the baby.’
Miss Hassinger’s smile faded. ‘Yes,’ she agreed, ‘I know all about that.’
‘Do you? Do you really?’ Lily’s heart leaped. ‘Do you know where they was took to?’ She looked across the desk and said, anguish in her voice, ‘I can’t find them, miss. I don’t know where they are.’
‘Surely Mavis knows.’
‘Well, if she does she ain’t saying. Her new husband don’t want them in the house, and that’s all there is to it. Mavis is scared of him, and she does what he says.’ Lily looked earnestly at Miss Hassinger. ‘All I want is to bring them back home to live with me, like before.’ Her voice trailed off as she whispered, ‘I just want to find them, that’s all.’
‘It must be very difficult for you,’ sympathized Miss Hassinger, ‘but I’m not sure how I can help.’
‘Mavis told me they was took from school,’ explained Lily. ‘She said that the welfare come here and took them away. She’d signed some papers or other, silly girl, which let them be fetched. Did you see them papers, Miss Hassinger?’
‘Yes, the Children’s Officer showed them to me.’
‘And was that a Miss Hopkins?’
‘I believe that was her name, yes.’
‘And did she let you read them, all through, like?’
Miss Hassinger nodded. ‘Yes, I read them.’
‘Didn’t it say where they was going? It must have put an address or the name of the place or something.’
Miss Hassinger thought hard, considering what to do. She knew they had been sent to Laurel House, the EVER-Care children’s home. Now she had to decide whether to tell Mrs Sharples where they were, or whether to maintain the strict confidentiality as she ought, and refuse to do so. She knew Lily Sharples of old, both as Mavis’s mother and as Rita and Rosie’s grandmother. Surely, and she was positive about this, the two little girls would be far better off living with their gran, whom it was clear they loved dearly, than in an institution.
‘I can tell you where they were taken,’ she said when she’d decided to take the risk, ‘but whether they’re still there or not, of course, I don’t know. Children in care don’t always stay in the same place, you know. The move these days is to find them a foster home, where they can become part of a family, rather than keep them in residential care. I’ll give you the name of this place, it’s called Laurel House EVER-Care home and it’s in Russell Green.’
Lily looked at the headmistress, tears of gratitude in her eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, ‘thank you so much.’
Miss Hassinger smiled ruefully. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I shouldn’t have told you, it’s breaking confidentiality, but I’m sure you’ll forget where you heard it.’ She stood up and held her hand out to Lily. ‘Good luck, Mrs Sharples. I hope you find them and can bring them home. I look forward to having them back in my school.’
Miss Hassinger watched from her window as Lily Sharples made her way out of the school gate, still hobbling with her stick, but armed with the information she’d been able to give her.
I hope you find them, she thought, but even if you do, I doubt if you’ll get them back.
On her way home, Lily stopped at the bus station and looked at the timetables. The number 37 bus was the one she needed to get to Russell Green.
‘Russell Green! Russell Green!’ called the bus conductor, and gave Lily his hand to help her step off the bus. Once on the pavement she looked round her. It was an area of the city that she didn’t know. The bus had dropped her outside a parade of shops. Lily decided to ask in the newsagent’s. If they delivered papers in the area, they would be sure to know where Laurel House was. She pushed open the door and went in.
‘Laurel House?’ said the woman behind the counter. ‘You mean the abandoned children’s home?’
Abandoned children? The words cut through to Lily’s heart. If that’s how the place was known locally, Rita and Rosie must truly feel they’d been abandoned. ‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘the children’s home.’
‘That’s in Shepherd Street,’ said the newsagent.
With the directions in her hand, Lily found her way to Shepherd Street, and walked slowly along, looking at the big old Victorian houses that lined it. Halfway along she found Laurel House. The name was on the gate, as if it were a private house, like the others around it, but inside the front wall was another sign announcing it to be the EVER-Care Home for Girls.
Lily pushed open the gate walked up to the heavy front door and rang the bell. As she waited for someone to answer, she looked up at the house. Were her girls really inside this bleak, unwelcoming place? For a while it seemed that no one was going to answer the bell. She was about to ring again when she heard footsteps inside, and stepped back.
A maid opened the door. ‘Yes?’
‘Good morning,’ Lily said, surprised, all her carefully rehearsed words deserting her.
‘Did you want something?’ asked the maid.
‘Yes,’ answered Lily gathering her wits. ‘Yes, I want to see whoever’s in charge here.’
‘You mean Mrs Hawkins?’
‘If she’s the one who runs the place.’
‘You’d better come in.’ The maid stood aside and Lily entered, finding herself in a large hallway. ‘If you wait there,’ the maid said, indicating a chair, ‘I’ll go and see if Mrs Hawkins can see you. What name shall I say?’ she added as an afterthought.
‘Mrs Sharples.’
It was some ten minutes before she returned to say, ‘Mrs Hawkins will be with you in a minute,’ and another five minutes before a small, dark-haired woman emerged from the corridor. She looked at Lily and said, ‘Mrs Sharples?’
‘Yes, Lily Sharples.’
‘I’m Mrs Hawkins, the superintendent of Laurel House. Perhaps you’d like to come through to my office.’
‘Now, Mrs Sharples,’ she said as she closed the door behind them, ‘how may I help you?’
‘I’ve come to find my granddaughters,’ Lily said. ‘I’ve come to find Rita and Rosie.’
‘Rita and Rosie?’ The superintendent’s voice remained calmly enquiring, but Lily caught a flash in her eyes; the woman knew them.
‘Rita and Rosie Stevens. I know they’re here, ’cos that Miss Hopkins brought them here.’
‘I’m sorry, Mrs Sharples,’ said Mrs Hawkins, ‘I’m not sure I can help you. We never reveal the names of the children we care for to outside parties.’
‘I’m not an outside party!’ cried Lily indignantly. ‘I’m their grandmother.’
‘I don’t doubt it,’ said Mrs Hawkins reasonably, ‘but the children here are in our care—’
‘Well, Rita and Rosie shouldn’t be,’ interrupted Lily. ‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you. They was living with me but I had an accident, and while I was in the hospital they was brought here. I’m out now, so they can come home again.’
‘I’m sorry, Mrs Sharples,’ replied Mrs Hawkins, ‘but I’m afraid it’s not as easy as that. We’ve become their legal guardians, it is we who decide what is in their best interest. We don’t simply hand them over when someone walks in and asks for them.’
‘I understand that,’ Lily said, trying to sound as reasonable as the superintendent. ‘But I’d like to discuss it, explain, like.’
‘Of course,’ Mrs Hawkins’ lips twitched, ‘but that would mean speaking to our benefactress, Miss Vanstone. She makes the decisions with regard to the children here, I simply have the day to day care of the girls.’
‘So Rita and Rosie are here,’ said Lily.
‘I can say nothing about our children,’ Mrs Hawkins said firmly, thinking that this Mrs Sharples spelled trouble. The determined look in her eye said she wouldn’t be fobbed off. Mrs Hawkins dare not let the Stevens girls be returned to their grandmother. She had tried to break Rita Stevens’ spirit, to bring her to heel, as she’d done with other rebellious girls, but if Rita went to live with this grandmother, who seemed so like her, had the same determination in her eyes, who knew what the child would say, what stories she would tell? Mrs Hawkins wanted no report of her treatment of those in her charge escaping into the fresh air beyond the laurel hedges. She already had the passports Miss Vanstone had asked for, and soon the two girls would be safely out of reach.
‘So,’ she continued, ‘if you wish to make further enquiries, I suggest you make an appointment to see Miss Vanstone.’
‘And how do I do that?’ asked Lily.
‘I will give you a telephone number,’ replied Mrs Hawkins.
‘Isn’t she here? Can’t I speak to her now?’
‘No, I’m afraid not. But please do phone, I’m sure she’ll be happy to help if she can.’ She rang a bell on her desk, and the maid appeared.
‘Ah, Betty, kindly show this lady out, will you?’
The superintendent handed Lily a piece of paper. ‘Here is the number to ring if you wish to pursue this matter further, Mrs Sharples.’
Lily took the paper and put it in her bag. She stood up. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘I certainly shall. I intend to find Rita and Rosie.’
Mrs Hawkins looked at Betty Grover standing by the door and was annoyed she’d given her the chance to overhear Mrs Sharples’ business. Mrs Hawkins considered Betty a sly little thing, so she wouldn’t give the grandmother a chance to speak to her alone.
‘That’s all right, Betty, I don’t need you after all,’ she said. ‘I’ll see this lady out. You can go back to the kitchen.’
The superintendent escorted Lily to the door, but once outside, Lily turned back. ‘I’m going to find my girls, you know,’ she said, ‘and you nor nobody else ain’t going to stop me.’
Mrs Hawkins smiled and said, ‘Good afternoon, Mrs Sharples.’
When she had shut the front door, Mrs Hawkins went back to her office and sat down to think. Clearly the Sharples woman wasn’t going to be put off; she’d soon be on the phone to Miss Vanstone asking about the Stevens girls. Mrs Hawkins picked up the phone.
‘Will you be coming into Laurel House today?’ she asked when Emily Vanstone answered.
‘No, why?’
‘I’ve had a visitor, and we need to discuss things.’
‘I see,’ sighed Miss Vanstone. ‘Perhaps on my way into town. I have a meeting at the council offices.’
‘In that case,’ said Mrs Hawkins, ‘we definitely need to talk before you go there.’
‘Why, what’s happened? Who came to see you?’
‘A Mrs Sharples, says she’s the Stevens girls’ grandmother. I think she’s going to be trouble. She wants to see you. She’s going to ring you for an appointment.’
‘I’m far too busy to see her,’ declared Miss Vanstone. ‘I’ll instruct Miss Drake to say so. You did give her the office number, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, but I doubt if she’ll accept a refusal,’ answered the superintendent. ‘If you don’t see her, I think she’ll try and take it further.’
‘There’s no further to take it,’ said Miss Vanstone. ‘What did she want, anyway?’
‘She wanted them back,’ replied Mrs Hawkins.
‘Wanted them back?’
‘To live with her. Apparently they used to live with her before they came to us. Now she wants them back.’
‘Well, that’s not going to happen,’ asserted Miss Vanstone.
‘I know that,’ said Mrs Hawkins, ‘but she won’t accept that from me. She needs to hear it from you, then she may give up trying. But she looks like a trouble-maker to me.’
‘I’ll give her an appointment in a week or so,’ conceded Miss Vanstone, ‘and then it will be too late. They’ll have left for Carrabunna,’ adding, ‘I’ll deal with this from now,’ before she disconnected.
Mrs Hawkins sat back in her chair. Not my problem, she thought with relief.
Mrs Hawkins was pleased enough to be employed by the EVER-Care Trust; her salary and living quarters were reasonable and it gave her scope to exercise authority over those beneath her, but she had no feeling for the children in her care. Rita’s continued intransigence vexed her, she was not used to defiance, and though Rita now seemed subdued, there was defiance in her eyes.
Well, thought Mrs Hawkins, she’s on her way to Australia now, and she can take her defiance with her.
Emily Vanstone leaned on her desk and considered what she’d just heard. Everything was arranged for the Stevens girls to travel at the weekend, and she’d allow nothing to interfere with those plans. She rang for her secretary, Miss Drake.
‘If a Mrs Sharples rings for an appointment, please be very polite, but no appointment until Friday week, understood?’
‘Certainly, Miss Vanstone.’
We’ll have to see about this grandmother, Emily thought as she dialled the Children’s Office. When May Hopkins answered, Emily said, ‘I need some information, background information, on the Stevens girls.’
‘Oh dear,’ cried Miss Hopkins. ‘They’re not in trouble again, are they?’
‘Their grandmother has been to Laurel House looking for them,’ replied Miss Vanstone, ‘and she’ll be back. I need to know their family circumstances, exactly where they came from and why, before I see her. I need a proper report from you.’
‘Oh, I see, well, yes…’ Miss Hopkins sounded flustered. ‘Well, I must think—’
‘We have a meeting scheduled for this afternoon,’ interrupted Miss Vanstone. ‘I shall expect all the information to be available for me to take away then.’ She rang off before the Children’s Officer could reply.
When they met that afternoon Miss Hopkins handed Emily Vanstone a folder. ‘It’s all in here as far as I can remember it,’ she said. ‘The mother remarried and there was a baby on the way. They’d been living with their maternal grandmother, but she was taken into hospital. The stepfather is a violent man, we had to remove them from his care while his wife was having the baby.’
‘They’d have been at risk if they’d stayed with him?’
‘Oh yes, almost certainly,’ replied Miss Hopkins, and seeing that her answer pleased Miss Vanstone, she added, ‘Nasty piece of work he is.’
‘I see. And when you went to fetch them, after they’d run away, was the grandmother there then?’
‘Oh no, I only met her for the first time the other day.’
‘You met her?’ Miss Vanstone raised an eyebrow. ‘You didn’t mention it.’
Miss Hopkins flushed. ‘I’m sorry, Miss Vanstone, I didn’t know it was important. She came in here demanding to know where her granddaughters were.’
‘And you told her.’
‘No, of course not. I refused to tell her anything and she left.’
‘I wonder how she found out,’ Miss Vanstone mused. ‘Well, it’s clear she’s not going to drop the matter. Now that I understand the background, I can deal with her. Now, where’s everyone else? I thought this was a meeting of the Children’s Committee.’
‘It will be, I just wanted to brief you first.’ Miss Hopkins sounded more confident. ‘There’s a directive come down from the government encouraging fostering children in families. This means there will be fewer children coming through the system to you. I’ll do what I can, of course, Miss Vanstone. I have great faith in institutions like Laurel House. But,’ she gave a small shrug, ‘we are now obliged to consider family foster care first.’
‘I see.’ Emily Vanstone’s expression did not change.
‘And the thing is, well, if we do continue to send children to you, the home will have to have regular inspections.’
‘And you think we’d fail these inspections?’
‘It’ll be a question of staff qualifications, and well, none of your staff are properly qualified, are they?’ She took her courage in her hands and went on, ‘Mrs Hawkins, for example. She has great experience, I know, but I think she can be hard on the girls. That Rita Stevens accused her of beating her… with a belt. All lies, of course, but she did make the accusation in front of a policeman…’ She let her words hang in the air. When Miss Vanstone made no comment, she said, ‘If he follows it up… if it came out that I and the Children’s Committee knew of such accusations and did nothing about them… well, it could prove extremely difficult for me. I’m sure you understand.’
Still faced with Miss Vanstone’s silence, May Hopkins lapsed into a silence of her own. For a long moment they sat there, and then Miss Vanstone got to her feet.
‘I don’t think you need to worry about Rita Stevens and her accusations,’ she said. ‘She won’t be with us beyond the end of the week. Please give my apologies to the Committee, I shan’t be attending the meeting today. Good afternoon, Miss Hopkins.’
That evening Emily Vanstone called a staff meeting at Laurel House.
‘Ten girls will be leaving for Carrabunna on Sunday,’ she said. ‘Sheila Nevin, Angela Gardner, Dora French, Mary Shannon, Joan Cameron, Daisy Smart, Rita and Rose Stevens, Sylvia Brown and Susan Hart.’
‘Sheila’s a bit old, isn’t she?’ asked Mrs Smith.
Miss Vanstone looked surprised at her intervention. ‘I have my reasons for sending Sheila,’ she said, but gave no further explanation. None of the other staff commented on the children who had been chosen. Few ever queried Miss Vanstone’s decisions. If anyone thought that Rosie, Sylvia and Susan, all aged five, were a little young to be sent to the other side of the world, she didn’t say so.
‘I also wanted to warn you that a woman called Mrs Sharples has been nosing her way round here. She’s the Stevens girls’ grandmother. If she should approach any of you, please refer her to me. Do not mention Australia or get into discussion with her about Rita and Rose. They are not her concern.
‘Now then, the usual preparations will have to be made, but I will tell the girls myself on Friday evening. Until then there is no need to mention their departure to any of them. Any questions? Everybody understand?’
There were murmurs of assent, they all understood. The children concerned would only be told what was happening after they had finished school on Friday and by Monday they would have gone. Their schools would have no more warning than the children. The meeting broke up. As they were leaving the office, Miss Vanstone called Mrs Hawkins back.
‘There have been accusations about your treatment of some of the girls,’ she said. ‘I’m not going to enquire into those, discipline is something for you.’ She gave her superintendent a hard stare. ‘But in future I advise you to be a little more circumspect in how you discipline these girls. From now on Laurel House will be inspected on a regular basis, and I will not have the whole project put at risk by… shall we say, overzealous disciplinary measures. Should that happen, I should have to seek a new superintendent. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Yes, Miss Vanstone,’ murmured Mrs Hawkins.
‘Good. Now, make sure all those going have the usual sets of clothes ready, and a decent pair of shoes each, and I’ll authorize the expenditure. Good evening to you.’