The Throwaway Children (43 page)

Lily Sharples plodded away from the Vanstone Enterprises building, emotionally exhausted. She had met her match in Miss Vanstone; that lady hadn’t got where she was without being ruthless. Lily knew that she’d get nothing more from her. Miss Vanstone hadn’t expected her today; from now she’d be surrounded by the protecting ranks of her staff. However, Lily hadn’t given up all hope. There were the others on her list that she intended to visit. The next was Miss Hopkins, the Children’s Officer.

She probably don’t know they’ve been sent to Australia, Lily reasoned. She’s probably been told that they was adopted, same as me. This thought encouraged her. Perhaps the Children’s Officer would be as outraged as she was. Perhaps Miss Hopkins and the Children’s Committee could make Miss Vanstone say where the girls were.

Feeling another faint flicker of optimism, Lily slowly walked back to the Main Square, and was soon struggling up the stairs to the second floor of the council offices in search of Miss Hopkins. Once again she was forced to sit in the crowded waiting room.

‘I’m sorry, but Miss Hopkins has a full diary this afternoon.’ It was the same pale, pinch-faced woman behind the glass hatch. ‘You can wait if you like,’ she sniffed, ‘but Miss Hopkins won’t finish her list till late, and then she may not agree to see you.’

‘I’ll wait,’ said Lily. Sighing, Miss Parker wrote down her name, and said, ‘You’d better take a seat then.’

Lily sat there for two hours before she heard her name being called through the glass.

‘Next appointment hasn’t turned up,’ she was told. ‘You can go in now.’

Miss Hopkins didn’t get up to greet her new visitor, just gave her a vague smile and waved her to a chair. ‘Now, Mrs Sharples,’ she said when Lily was seated, ‘what can I do for you?’

She didn’t need to ask. She already knew why Lily was there. She had been expecting her. An earlier meeting had been interrupted by a phone call from Miss Vanstone.

‘Mrs Sharples will be coming to see you,’ she’d said. ‘She knows that the Stevens girls have gone to Australia, but she doesn’t know where. Please ensure that it stays that way.’

‘Oh, of course, Miss Vanstone. I quite understand. I wouldn’t dream of—’

‘The best thing to do would be for you to plead complete ignorance of their whereabouts,’ went on Emily, smoothly. ‘She may well show you a letter from Rita, the older one, you know? But there’s no return address on it, and that’s what she’s after.’

‘You can rely on me, Miss Vanstone,’ purred Miss Hopkins. ‘Mum’s the word.’

‘Thank you, Miss Hopkins. Good afternoon.’

‘Just one other thing, Miss Vanstone,’ the Children’s Officer cried as Miss Vanstone was about to put down the phone.

‘Yes,’ had come the abrupt reply.

‘I was going to phone you later today. I’ve just heard there’s to be a full inspection of Laurel House in the next couple of weeks.’

That caught Emily’s attention. ‘When?’ she demanded.

‘I don’t know, they’re unannounced spot checks, but I just thought I’d tip you the wink. Good afternoon, Miss Vanstone.’ And this time it was May Hopkins who’d replaced the receiver and cut off the call.

She turned her attention back to the woman in front of her. ‘You were saying?’

‘I’m Lily Sharples, Rita and Rosie Stevens’ grandmother,’ began Lily. ‘I came to ask if you know where they are. They ain’t at Laurel House no more and they ain’t been adopted like I was told.’ She paused to allow the Children’s Officer to speak, but as she said nothing, Lily went on, ‘They’ve been sent to Australia!’

Still Miss Hopkins said nothing, showing none of the outrage that Lily had hoped for.

‘Australia!’ repeated Lily. ‘The other side of the world! Did you know that, miss? No one told? Not even their mother? Did you know that?’

‘No,’ replied Miss Hopkins evenly, ‘I didn’t, but I’m not surprised. I seem to remember that their mother signed the children over to EVER-Care. In which case,’ Miss Hopkins held up her hand to silence Lily as she was about to interrupt, ‘in which case, that charitable society is entitled to do whatever it feels is in their best interests. If that means sending them to make a fresh start in a new country, well, so be it.’

‘But without even telling my daughter? Without even telling their mother?’

‘Certainly,’ said Miss Hopkins. ‘Your daughter gave up her right as their parent when she signed the papers.’

‘But that can’t be right!’ protested Lily.

‘I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it is,’ Miss Hopkins assured her.

‘So you
did
know they was sent to Australia,’ stated Lily.

‘No. Once they’re with EVER-Care, they’re no longer my responsibility.’

‘But you’re the Children’s Officer, ain’t you? You’re supposed to look after children.’

‘And so I do.’ Miss Hopkins was tired of Mrs Sharples. ‘I looked after the Stevens girls. I removed them from a home where they were not wanted; from the influence of an abusive stepfather and a weak and ineffectual mother who couldn’t stand up for them. I placed them in the care of a reputable children’s home, and my job was done.’ She rose to her feet to indicate that she considered the interview at an end. ‘And now, Mrs Sharples, it is time for my next appointment.’

‘But you must know where this place in Australia is,’ said Lily, sitting firmly in her seat. ‘You must know where they’ve been sent.’

‘No,’ Miss Hopkins maintained, ‘I do not. Australia is a huge country, and there are many homes like the EVER-Care. If your granddaughters have indeed been sent there, they could be anywhere.’

‘Oh, they’ve been sent all right,’ said Lily. ‘I’ve had a letter from Rita…’ She retrieved the letter from her bag and getting to her feet, held it out towards Miss Hopkins.

‘Then you know where they are, and that they’re safe and well,’ said Miss Hopkins, ignoring the proffered letter. ‘I’m afraid there’s nothing else I can do for you. Good afternoon!’ She brushed past Lily, opened the door, and called out, ‘Next.’

Lily walked slowly out of the room, but as the door shut behind her, she looked round the still full waiting room and said, ‘Don’t let that woman take your children off you.’ Heads jerked up as she went on, ‘Don’t let her get her hands on your kids. They don’t look after them for you, they pack them off to Australia, out of the way!’

‘Really, Mrs Sharples,’ cried Miss Parker, emerging from her cubbyhole behind the glass, ‘you’ve no right to spread such lies.’

‘They ain’t lies,’ snapped Lily bitterly. ‘That woman’s took my granddaughters, and sent them away, thousands of miles. Don’t let her do it to you!’

‘Mrs Sharples, you must leave this office at once,’ begged Miss Parker. ‘You must stop saying these dreadful things and go home… or I’ll have to call the police.’

‘Yes, why don’t you?’ demanded Lily, but when she saw that the woman was reaching for the phone, she turned towards the door. ‘All right, all right, I’m going,’ she muttered, and then with one last look round the waiting room, she added as the tears began to slide down her cheeks, ‘but I’m telling you the truth. I was in the hospital and couldn’t look after my girls for a week or two, and they sent them to Australia.’

Lily had planned to go round to Ship Street next, to tell Mavis what she’d discovered, but when she reached the square outside the council offices, she was suddenly so tired she wasn’t even sure she could make it home. Exhaustion overcame her and she almost collapsed onto one of the stone benches in the square. One or two passers-by, seeing her tear-streaked face, looked at her awkwardly and hurried past. After a moment or two, Lily’s pride reasserted itself and ashamed of being seen to weep in the street, she pulled out her handkerchief and wiped her eyes.

The clock on the town hall struck four. Lily stared up at it in amazement. Could it really be four o’clock in the afternoon? She’d left home soon after nine. No wonder she was tired. She thought again about going to see Mavis, but by the time she got there, Jimmy would be coming home for his tea. No, Lily decided, I’ll go home, and go round Mavis’s first thing in the morning, soon as Jimmy’s gone to work.

It was well after nine the next morning when Lily left for Ship Street. The day was still chilly but the drizzle of the day before had disappeared and there was a pale winter sun in the pale winter sky. She walked slowly through the comfortably familiar streets, her mind calmer now, despite the dull ache that she’d carried with her ever since she’d received Rita’s letter. She didn’t hurry. Lily wanted to be sure that Jimmy had gone before she arrived; she needed uninterrupted time with Mavis.

It was a haggard-looking Mavis who opened the door to her knock. Still in a grubby dressing gown, her feet bare, her hair lank and uncombed, and with a screaming baby on her hip, Mavis was the picture of exhaustion.

One look was enough. Lily dumped her bag and her stick on the hall floor and reached out to take the crying child into her arms, cradling him against her, his hot, sticky face buried in her neck.

‘Ssh, now, Ricky,’ she soothed. ‘Ssh, now. What’s the matter with you then, eh?’

Wordlessly, Mavis turned and led the way into the kitchen, where the remains of breakfast lay on the table and last night’s supper dishes filled the sink.

‘He won’t stop crying.’ Mavis was almost in tears herself. ‘I been up most of the night with him, and he won’t stop, and Jimmy’s shouting at him and shouting at me. I’m so
tired
, Mum, I don’t know what to do.’

It was clear that Mavis was in no state to talk about the girls now, so Lily, still rocking the baby against her shoulder, said, ‘You go up to bed for an hour’s kip, love. I’ll look after him for a while and wake you later.’ Mavis needed no second bidding and moments later she was crawling back into her unmade bed.

By the time she resurfaced, Lily had cleaned the kitchen and made a scratch meal from odds and ends she found in the pantry and was feeding a clean and dry Richard.

‘Mum, you’re a wonder,’ Mavis said as she took in the quiet baby and the tidy kitchen.

‘Well, we’re all right just now,’ agreed Lily, ‘so you go back up and get yourself dressed. Have a bath and wash your hair. Make you feel much better, that will. Go on,’ she encouraged as Mavis hesitated, ‘up you go. Then I want to talk to you.’

Half an hour later, a much-refreshed Mavis reappeared in the kitchen. Together they ate the soup and sandwiches Lily had made, while Richard slept in his pram.

‘Well,’ said Mavis at last, ‘you said you wanted to talk to me. What about? You ain’t come round here just to clean my house, have you?’

‘I come to see how you and Ricky was getting on,’ replied Lily, ‘but I do need to talk to you about something.’ She paused awkwardly, not knowing quite how to go on. She’d rehearsed it at home, but now, faced with Mavis’s expectant expression, she wasn’t sure where to begin.

‘Go on,’ urged Mavis, ‘spit it out!’

‘I had a letter,’ began Lily, and then, since there was no going back, she went on, ‘I had a letter, from Rita.’

‘From Reet?’ Mavis sounded incredulous. ‘What she write to you for?’

Lily ignored the question and asked one herself. ‘Mavis, do you know where your girls are?’

‘What d’you mean, “where they are”?’ Mavis was immediately defensive.

‘I mean where they are now. Where they live.’

‘Course I do. You went there, that EVER-Care place, down at Russell Green.’

‘No,’ replied Lily flatly. ‘They ain’t.’

‘What? So where they gone, then?’ Mavis asked, wiping the last of her sandwich round her soup plate and stuffing it into her mouth.

‘You don’t sound very interested,’ remarked Lily, watching her chewing on the bread.

Mavis looked up in surprise. ‘Course I’m interested,’ she said. ‘They’re my kids, ain’t they?’

Another time Lily might have asked Mavis if she remembered that herself, but now she simply said, ‘Then I’ll tell you where they are, Mavis. They’re in Australia.’

‘Australia!’ echoed Mavis. ‘What d’you mean, Australia? They can’t be. We put them in EVER-Care.’

‘And EVER-Care put them in Australia.’

‘They can’t do that,’ said Mavis, as if dismissing the idea.

‘They can and they have,’ snapped Lily. ‘Your girls is in Australia.’ She reached down for her bag and pulled out Rita’s letter. ‘Here, see for yourself.’

Mavis took the envelope and pulled out the letter. She stared at the first few lines, and then at the blacked-out words. She turned to the second sheet, fingering the paper as if to feel the words that had been concealed. She read the letter again and then looked up at her mother in disbelief.

‘It don’t say they’re in Australia,’ she said. ‘It don’t mention Australia. Where’d you get that daft idea from?’

‘They’ve gone somewhere in a ship. Reet says it took six weeks.’

‘Don’t mean Australia,’ replied Mavis mulishly. ‘It’s Reet having a joke, that’s what it is. She’s made some mistakes, look, and scrubbed them out. She ain’t really in Australia.’

‘Look at the envelope, Mavis,’ said Lily, holding it out. ‘Look at the stamps. They’ve got Australia on them. That’s where they are.’

‘They can’t be,’ Mavis whispered. ‘They’re in EVER-Care.’

‘No, they ain’t,’ Lily repeated. ‘I went round the EVER-Care again and they ain’t there.’

‘It don’t mean they’re in Australia,’ cried Mavis. ‘They can’t be. How will they get home again?’

‘Mavis, they ain’t coming home again,’ responded Lily, knowing as she said it that it was true. Australia was too far away, their girls weren’t coming back.

‘What you mean, they ain’t coming back?’ demanded Mavis. ‘Course they’re coming back. They’re coming home here when Richard’s a bit bigger.’

Lily stared at her in disbelief. Surely Mavis didn’t still believe that. Didn’t she know she’d signed them away when she’d put them into Laurel House? She must know.

‘But Mavis, you signed the papers.’

‘Yeah, well, just for now, right?’

‘No, Mavis,’ cried her mother. ‘Not just for now. You signed your kids away for good.’

‘No,’ Mavis burst out. ‘It was just till I got sorted with Richard.’

‘But they came home, didn’t they? They ran away from the EVER-Care place and Reet brought them home. You sent them back.’