He walked off into the moonlight. The moon was full and bright that night, and it looked so perfect that it couldn’t be real. It was as if it had been painted, and hung there on a hook, it was so impossibly beautiful. There wasn’t any snow, there never is at Christmas these days, except on the cards. Instead the streets were damp from a storm, and the moon was reflected in hundreds of little puddles. Most of the houses were adorned with Christmas decorations of one sort or another, with fairy-lit trees glinting through the double-glazing. The decorations looked almost beautiful too, competing with the moon and the stars in their own feeble way. All you could hear was the rhythmic scuff of Mr Stink’s battered brogues as he walked slowly along the road, the Duchess following dutifully a pace behind, her head bowed.
Chloe watched him unseen from an upstairs window. Her hand touched the cold glass, trying to reach out to him. She watched him disappear out of sight, before sloping back to her room.
Then, sitting there on her bed, she remembered a reason to see him one last time.
“Lily and the Flesh-Eating Zombie Teachers!” she shouted, as she ran down the street.
“Miss Chloe?” said Mr Stink turning round.
“I have been thinking and thinking about Lily’s second adventure. I would love to tell it to you now!”
“Write it down for me, child.”
“Yes,” said Mr Stink. “One day I want to walk into a bookshop and see your name on one of the covers. You have a talent for telling stories, Chloe.”
“Do I?” Chloe had never felt she had a talent for anything.
“Yes. All that time spent alone in your room will pay off one day. You have an extraordinary imagination, young lady. A real gift. You should share it with the world.”
“Thank you, Mr Stink,” said Chloe shyly.
“I’m glad you came running after me though,” said Mr Stink. “I just remembered I have something for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes, I saved up all my loose change and bought you a Christmas present. I think it’s something rather special.”
Mr Stink rummaged in his bag and pulled out a package wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string. He handed it Chloe, who unwrapped it excitedly. Inside was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stationery set.
“It is a Teenybopper Mucus Karate Tortoise thing. I thought you’d like it. Mr Raj told me it was the very last one he had in his shop.”
“Did he now?” Chloe smiled. “This is the best present I have ever had.” She wasn’t lying. That Mr Stink had saved up all his pennies to buy her something meant the whole world to her. “I will treasure this for ever, I promise.”
“Thank you,” said Mr Stink.
“And you’ve just given my whole family the best Christmas present ever. You brought us together.”
“Well, I’m not sure I can take all the credit for that!” he smiled. “Now, you should really go home now, young Chloe. It’s cold, and it feels like it’s going to rain.”
“I don’t like the thought of you sleeping outside,” she said. “Especially on a cold damp night like this.”
Mr Stink smiled. “I like being outside, you know. On our wedding night my darling Violet showed me the brightest star in the sky. Do you see? That one there?”
He pointed it out. It twinkled brightly like his eyes.
“I see it,” said Chloe.
“Well, that night we stood on the balcony of our bedroom and she said she would love me for as long as that star kept shining. So every night, before I go to sleep, I like to gaze at that star and think about her, and the great love we shared. I see the star, and it’s her I see.”
“That’s beautiful,” said Chloe, trembling and trying hard not to cry.
“My wife isn’t gone. Every night she meets me in my dreams. Now go home. And don’t worry about me, Miss Chloe. I have the Duchess and my star.”
“But I’ll miss you,” said Chloe.
Mr Stink smiled, then pointed up at the sky. “Do you see Violet’s star?” he asked.
Chloe nodded.
“Do you see how there’s another little star just under it?”
“Yes,” said Chloe. Up in the night sky, Violet’s star burned brightly. Below it a smaller star twinkled in the blackness.
“Well, you are a very special young lady,” said Mr Stink. “And when I look at that star I am going to think about you.”
Chloe felt overwhelmed. “Thank you,” she said. “And I’ll look at it and think about you.”
She gave him a big hug and didn’t want to let go. He stood still and held her for a moment before rocking a little to set himself free. “I have to go now. My soul is restless and I need to wander. Goodbye, Miss Chloe.”
“Goodbye, Mr Stink.”
The wanderer wandered off down the road as night slinked like a panther down the sky. She watched him disappear out of sight, until all that could be heard was silence echoing around the streets.
Later that night, Chloe sat alone on her bed. Mr Stink was gone. Perhaps for ever. But she could still smell him. She would always be able to smell him.
She opened her maths exercise book and began to write the first words of her new story.
Mr Stink stank…
