Barefoot and Lost by Brian Francis Cox Read Free Book Online Page B

severely dealt with by me. You have half an hour, when you hear my whistle blow three times you are to return here, understood?’
          A chorus of ‘Yes Miss’ echoes off the walls of the castle, and then the kids scatter in three’s, like normal kids.
          
         ‘My name is Phil , what is yours?’
         ‘ Cyril ’
          ‘And what’s yours?” Her response is to burst into tears, crying out as though she is terrified, ‘I want Rachel .’ It is going to be a long half hour. Cyril is wearing red,
          ‘ Cyril , what is her name?’
          ‘It’s Miriam .’
          ‘Take hold of her hand Cyril , come on Miriam let us run and see if we can catch Rachel .’ This is doing the trick, the crying has stopped. Cyril is having trouble keeping up as we chase after Rachel who is dawdling, holding back the boys she is with.
         ‘ Rachel come on, if we get behind the wall Fatty won’t be able to see us and Miriam can rejoin you.’ The six of us get behind the wall out of sight.
         ‘ Cyril , do you want to go with these boys and I’ll stay here with the girls?’
         ‘I don’t know; will it be alright?’
         ‘Yes of course it will, if we get in trouble I will take the blame, but make sure you keep hidden from Fatty.’
         ‘Yes, come on, we won’t bite we promise.’ Cyril , with a big grin, follows the boys. Miriam takes hold of Rachel’s hand.
         
          ‘Have you been at Saint Gabriel ’s very long?’
          ‘Just over two months. We were evacuees, staying in a manor house near Penhurst until the war finished. Mrs. Smyth told us both our Mum and Dad had been killed, we didn’t know until she told us. It was then she said she couldn’t be lumbered with a couple of kids for the rest of her life. The next day the council men took us to Saint Gabriel ’s.’
         ‘That is horrible, how long were you at her house?’
         ‘Just over three years, Mir’ was only five when we went there. It was quite nice, the housekeeper Peggy, and her husband Bert were lovely and looked after us very well, we hardly ever saw Mrs. Smyth, her husband is in the Army and he was away all the time but I don’t think she missed him, there were always a lot of American airmen from the airbase there, they were always having dances it was fun. What about you, how long have you been at Saint Stephens ?’
         ‘It’s my second day; my Gran was looking after me until she died last week. What’s it like at Saint Gabriel ’s?’
         ‘Alright, they are very strict but they let me stay with Mir’ that is the main thing.’ 
        
          Three blasts on a whistle echoes off the castle walls ‘ We have to go I can’t see the boys can you?’
         ‘Over there by the wall, I can see Cyril can’t see the other two.’ Cyril sees me waving and comes running.
         ‘Where are the other two?’
        ‘I don’t know, they ran off and left me when I tripped and cut my knee.’
         ‘Okay, we will have to go now, if Fatty says anything leave the talking to me, I’m already in trouble a bit more won’t make any difference. Cyril have you got a handkerchief?’ Cyril shakes his head.
         ‘No, okay, let me quickly tie mine around your knee, and limp very badly and hold onto my arm, let Fatty think you are hurt.’ I can see Fatty with her hands on her hips looking our way, she seems annoyed. ‘Sorry Marjorie, Cyril fell over, I couldn’t look after him and Miriam as well so I asked Rachel to look after her sister, I told the other two boys to go on alone, I hope you don’t mind?’
         ‘What happened to him?’
         ‘Miriam wouldn’t stop crying so I made the six of us stay together, I got Rachel to sit with her sister. I was chasing the boys around the ruin, Cyril fell, and cut his knee I was bandaging it just as you blew your whistle.’