Katy Parker and the House that Cried (7 page)

Katy, however, felt rather alarmed by Mrs Graham's comment. “You can't mean we'll be going to different schools in the morning?”

“Of course, dear. Patrick will be at St Joseph's, with the twins and Charlie, and you will be at the sister school, St Hilda's.”

“Don't worry,” said Charlie. “I'll call for you both in the morning at half past eight and we can all walk to
school together. St Jo's and St Hilda's are on the same site, so you'll be close to each other.”

Mrs Graham shooed Charlie out of the back door, then turned to Katy and Patrick. “You'll both need a bath tonight. The twins will show you where everything's kept and I've laid out nightclothes on your beds. I'll be up with your new school uniforms soon.”

Reluctantly, Katy turned to make her way up the stairs. As she did so, she felt a small hand slip into her own and squeeze it tightly. She looked down and saw Susie, smiling up at her. “We can be sisters,” Susie whispered quietly to Katy.

“I'd like that,” replied Katy. “Come on; I'll read you a story while Patrick is in the bath.”

Katy was touched. She'd often dreamt of having a little sister instead of an annoying little brother. Happily, she cuddled up with Susie to read a well-thumbed copy of Cinderella.

Going to bed in 1942 wasn't straightforward. Instead of a long, lingering soak under a power shower, Katy and Patrick had to have a bath. This wouldn't have been so bad if they had been allowed to fill it up to the brim with lots of hot water and bubbles but apparently this was forbidden. Frank had drawn a
thick black line all around the bath at a height of five inches and had warned them sternly not to fill the bath above it.

“Is that all we can have?” said Katy to Patrick in shock, “it won't even cover my knees!”

Patrick washed first, and then called Katy into the bathroom. “I've saved the water for you but it's getting cold, so you'd better be quick.”

“No way!” screeched Katy, horrified. “I'm not using your dirty water.”

Just as she was pulling out the plug, Frank walked in and stopped her. “What do you think you're doing?” he asked shaking his head in disbelief and firmly putting the plug back in. “Warm water is a valuable resource – you can't just waste it! Don't you know that? Now hurry up, Susie needs to get in next.”

Katy locked the bathroom door and reluctantly climbed into the now tepid bath. As she suspected, the water didn't even cover her knees and the carbolic soap smelled terrible too – just like tar! To top it all off, the bathroom felt cold and there didn't appear to be any form of heating. After the quickest bath in the history of baths, she returned to her room to find Mrs Graham waiting, her arms full of an assortment of old clothing.

“Let's try these on for size. You first, Patrick.”

Patrick had to wear short grey trousers with grey knee length socks, a white shirt with a school tie and a green, hand knitted jumper, all topped off with a green school cap.

Patrick tried on everything enthusiastically. “Thanks, Mrs Graham, this is great.”

Mrs Graham patted him affectionately on the head, ruffling his hair and smiling at him. Katy, on the other hand, shot him a scathing look.

“Your turn, Katy. Stand up and let's see if this fits.”

Katy stared in absolute horror at the outfit Mrs Graham held up to her.

“You've got to be joking!” she exclaimed. “That's my new uniform? I can't wear that!”

Her new uniform had the same pea-green colour as her modern day one, but now consisted of a pleated, knee-length pinafore dress, accompanied by a white blouse with a large, round collar and knee length dark green socks. A straw boater with a green ribbon tied around it completed the look.

“Don't be silly, Katy, it's a lovely uniform and quite modern too. The green will suit your colouring.
Besides, lots of children would be grateful for good, clean clothes like these.”

Patrick laughed and Katy stuck her tongue out at him. Mrs Graham tutted at them both.

“That's you two sorted. Here are your nightclothes. Lights out in twenty minutes. I'll be back to say goodnight shortly.”

Patrick seemed happy enough in a pair of old-fashioned looking blue and white striped pyjamas. Katy gingerly picked up a long, white, cotton nightie with capped sleeves. Hiding from Patrick behind the wardrobe door, she quickly pulled it on.

“I look like someone's gran in this!” whined Katy miserably, as she looked in the mirror, longing for her usual fleecy pyjamas.

Patrick looked up from a pile of comics the twins had lent him and sniggered. “It's not like anyone you know is going to see you. I don't know why you're bothered,” he replied.

Katy glowered at him and resentfully got into bed, picking up the copy of
The Twins at St Clare's
by Enid Blyton that Mrs Graham had given her to read. It looked a bit childish but she might as well give it a go. If nothing else, it might give her an idea of
what to expect at school in the morning. Katy opened the book and was touched to see Mrs Graham had written in the front:

To Katy, I hope you enjoy this and your time at Willow Dene. Best wishes, Mrs Graham.

Katy tried to concentrate but found it impossible. She still felt worried about the whole situation and she missed her mum and dad. She wasn't surprised at missing her dad – he was always travelling for work and she was almost used to missing him now. But missing her mum surprised her somewhat, as all they seemed to do lately was argue. If she ever got back home she vowed she'd try harder to be a better daughter.
Please don't leave me stranded in 1942
, thought Katy to herself.

Deep in thought, the next twenty minutes flew by and, in what seemed like seconds, Mrs Graham had returned to say goodnight. She leant over and kissed them both on the cheek, stopping to give Katy an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder. At once, Katy felt tearful. It had been years since she'd
had a goodnight kiss. She remembered when she was younger, both her mum and dad would come upstairs to tuck her in and say goodnight. She would lie in bed, listening to the sounds of them bustling around in the kitchen. Music from the radio and their muffled conversations would drift up the stairs. But since her dad had started travelling so much for work, things had changed.

Mrs Graham turned out the light as she left the room. Filled with dread and unable to stop worrying about what tomorrow held in store, Katy tried to get comfortable but even the bed felt different. There were no comfy quilts here but sheets tucked in tightly, with a scratchy blanket on top. Now the light was out, the room was plunged into darkness. Katy remembered learning about the blackout and special curtains in history lessons. It looked nothing like night-time at home, where all the streetlights meant it never became truly dark.

Patrick whispered through the darkness to Katy, “You OK? You seem a bit upset.”

“Well that's hardly surprising, given the circumstances. I think ‘upset' would be considered normal by most people. But then you're not most people,” Katy huffed in annoyance.

Ignoring Katy's temper, Patrick continued, “What do you think of the twins? How weird is it meeting the younger version of Charlie? It's so strange – I love it! I wonder what's going to happen next. I can't wait to find out.”

Forgetting her annoyance, Katy found herself replying, “Well, the twins seem nice but I want to tell them that I've got a letter from them in the future and that they live in Filey.”

“Well don't say anything yet,” urged Patrick. “They'll just think you've lost the plot! We can't prove anything – no one will believe our story. We can't risk being sent away from Willow Dene. It's our only link with our future.”

“I hate to admit it, but I think you're right,” replied Katy sullenly. “We'll just have to play along until we can figure this thing out. Do you agree?”

Silence.

“Patrick,” hissed Katy but no reply came.

Typical
, thought Katy to herself.
He's fallen fast asleep, as if this sort of thing happens to him all the time! I bet I lie awake all night.

Yawning heavily, she closed her eyes and rolled onto her tummy, thoughts of what tomorrow might bring looming large.

 

Chapter 5

Old School

A strange noise woke Katy early the next morning and for a few moments she panicked, unsure of where she was. Slowly, the events of the previous day came flooding back as she looked around the unfamiliar bedroom. Her stomach sank; it hadn't just been a bad dream.

What on earth was that terrible noise? Katy quietly crept out of bed and tiptoed over to the window. Pulling the thick blackout curtains to one side, she peered nervously out. In the distance, at the bottom of the garden, she spied a hen house. Upon the roof
stood a large cockerel, crowing loudly. It must have still been early as no sound came from anywhere else in the house. Looking at her watch, Katy saw it was still only five o'clock in the morning. Relieved, she crawled back under the covers, pulling them over her head. She lay there thinking of all that had happened since yesterday morning.

She must have fallen back to sleep as the next thing she knew, Susie was jumping up and down on her bed. “Wake up, Katy, breakfast is ready. Mummy says you need to hurry up.”

Rubbing her eyes, Katy sat up, stretched and then did a double take when she caught sight of Susie, who appeared to have been in the dressing-up box already. She wore what looked like one of her mum's frilly nighties, with several long necklaces around her neck; her lips and cheeks were smeared with red lipstick. Over her shoulder hung a small, black, beaded handbag.

Katy suppressed a giggle and said, “Don't you look lovely this morning, Susie. But aren't you a bit overdressed for breakfast?”

Susie threw her a comical look, replying in a haughty tone, “Mummy says a lady must always look her best.”

Katy burst out laughing as she pulled herself out of bed, casting an eye over her uniform hanging up on the wardrobe door. “That'll be hard for me in this outfit. It's horrible.”

“I think it's lovely,” sighed Susie, trying on the hat and doing a twirl. “I wish I could go to school with you.”

Looking over at Patrick's empty bed, Katy began wondering where he was and why he hadn't bothered to wake her up. “Have you seen Patrick this morning?”

“Yes, he's playing soldiers with the twins; they wouldn't let me join in. I hate boys,” she replied, frowning and stamping her foot.

Katy smiled, “Don't worry, I'll play dolls with you later if you like.”

Susie's face lit up into a huge smile as she lunged forward, giving Katy a big hug, then skipping out of the room, humming yet another nursery rhyme.

“What was all that about?” asked Patrick, appearing in the doorway, already dressed in his new school uniform and looking every bit the 1940s schoolboy.

“Oh, nothing. Susie is just feeling a bit left out. Why didn't you wake me up?”

“I tried but you just pushed me away and pulled the covers up over your head. I could hear the twins, so decided to see what they were up to. They're a great laugh.”

Suddenly, Mrs Graham's voice called out to them from the kitchen,
“Katy, Patrick, hurry up! Breakfast is nearly ready.”

Katy groaned. Some things never changed it seemed, whatever decade you found yourself in!

After a quick wash in the freezing cold bathroom, Katy returned to her bedroom to find the uniform laid out for her, with the addition of what looked like a pair of absolutely enormous navy-blue knickers. They were so big they actually had a pocket on one of the legs! Reluctantly, Katy got dressed and was horrified to discover that the legs of the knickers almost reached down to her knees. Her heart plummeted as she looked at herself in the mirror. She was unrecognisable. Picking up the old, brown, leather satchel Mrs Graham had given her for school, she headed downstairs to join Patrick and the others for breakfast.

Everyone else was already sitting around the kitchen table, waiting for Mrs Graham to ladle porridge from an enormous saucepan into their bowls.

“Morning Katy, I hope you slept well.” Mrs Graham greeted her warmly.

Susie looked up at Katy with a smile and pulled out the seat for her. Katy took a bowl of porridge. “Is there any sugar?” she asked.

“We haven't had any sugar for weeks now,” moaned Harry. “Use this instead,” he said, pushing a sticky jar of honey across the table towards her. After the porridge they ate homemade brown bread, with margarine and marmalade. Mrs Graham picked up a jug of milk and poured a glass for Katy, who immediately took a large gulp and then gagged. The taste was unexpected – warm, sour and slightly cheesy.

“That's horrible,” she choked, promptly spitting the milk back into her glass.

The twins laughed. “Don't you like our Emily's milk, then? Frank got up extra early to milk her so you'd have some fresh for breakfast,” laughed Harry.

Katy was wondering who Emily could be and why they were drinking her horrible milk, when Mrs Graham chipped in. “Leave her alone, she's just not used to goat's milk that's all. She'll soon get used to it or go without. No one can afford to be fussy when there's a war on.”

Breakfast continued at a much slower pace than either Katy or Patrick was used to. The twins kept everyone entertained with an endless stream of stories about school, all of which seemed to involve some near death scenario at the hands of the school bully, who was aptly named Brutus. At home they usually ate breakfast on the go. Katy quite liked how everyone sat down together – it helped take her mind off the coming day.

It can't possibly be any worse than normal school can it?
thought Katy.

Her worries were interrupted by Mrs Graham, who placed brown paper packages in front of her and Patrick. Patrick ripped his open excitedly to find a toy soldier – just like the ones he had been playing with earlier with the twins. “Thanks Mrs Graham, this is great!”