NO ORDINARY ROOM (3 page)

‘I don’t believe it,’ Jamie cried out after he had flicked on the light switch, but remained in the doorway.

‘I don’t believe it,’ Jamie repeated, ‘Uncle Stanley must have known that I would like this.  It’s fantastic.’

Jamie was followed into the room by Debbie and Kevin who were now curious to see what had caused Jamie to get so excited and ignored Leanne when she asked from outside the room if she could have a sign on her door like the ‘Jamie’s Room’ sign.

‘It must be a train set,’ Kevin quipped before he saw the array of equipment.

‘It’s just what I wanted,’ said an overjoyed Jamie.

‘It’s a bit old fashioned, son and looks like something out of a war film.  But as my old mum used to say, we shouldn’t judge a book by the cover.  Anyway, what is it?’

‘It’s a computer, Dad.’

Kevin muttered something about it being a funny looking computer and Debbie mentioned that the room was dusty.  Leanne yawned before announcing that she was going to bed.

‘Can I have a play with it, Dad?  Just to see what’s on it?’  Jamie asked.

‘You’d better not, son.  Not until the rooms had a bit of a clean and we get settled in tomorrow after the furniture’s been delivered.’  

Jamie reluctantly accepted his dad’s suggestion and they all left the room.  His dad locked the door and kept hold of the key, scuppering Jamie’s plan to sneak back into the room later when the family were asleep.

* * *

Debbie and Kevin squeezed into Uncle Stanley’s old bed and laughed when the springs made a loud squeaking noise.

‘What do you think of the house then, Debs?’ Kevin asked after they had snuggled down.

‘I really like it.  I have a good feeling about this place, even if we do have a bit of a misery next door.  How old do you think he is?’

‘Hard to say, but probably in his mid fifties I would think.  He reminds me of my Uncle Trevor when I look at his big hooter.’ 

Debbie laughed and said, ‘I forgot to tell you that our Leanne thinks he’s got the longest nose in the world.’

‘It is long though and a funny shape,’ Kevin replied. ‘Anyway, he’ll be all right.  Our two will soften him up and make him sociable, especially Jamie.  You know what a chatterbox he is.  He takes after his mum in that department.’

Debbie elbowed him in the ribs and then kissed him goodnight.

* * *

Jamie was regretting not taking his dad’s advice to kip on the settee as he tossed and turned.  Leanne had been given the spare mattress, but Jamie only had the thin sleeping bag between him and the hard floor.  But the reason for his wakefulness was more to do with him thinking about the computer equipment than anything else, but he finally drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

Jamie didn’t know whether it was the discomfort of the hard floor or the scratching noise that seemed to fill the room that had woke him up.  His first thought was that it was the cat and then he remembered that his mum had insisted that it was locked in the kitchen before they came to bed.  Now he was wishing that he hadn’t watched the film at a mate’s house a couple of nights ago.  It was about someone who had been put in a coffin when they were still alive and their frantic scratching had been heard by the family who gathered in church for the cremation.  The scratching sound in the film was identical to what Jamie was hearing now.

He knew that his dad wouldn’t be too pleased, but Jamie had no intention of opening the wardrobe door where he had decided the sound was coming from.  He dismissed the idea of sleeping downstairs and leaving it until tomorrow, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep, wondering what, or who, was in the wardrobe.

‘Dad, Dad,’ Jamie called quietly from outside his parent’s bedroom.

He listened carefully and wasn’t hopeful when he heard the unmistakable sound of his dad snoring.  Jamie gave a huge sigh and then tried calling again.  This time he heard some movement inside the room and the snoring stopped.

‘Blimey, Dad, they went out of fashion a long time ago,’ Jamie said when his bleary-eyed dad appeared at the door wearing baggy underpants with a union jack pattern.

‘Never mind my grundies.  What do you want?’ Kevin asked, trying to keep his voice low.

‘There’s a noise coming from the wardrobe in my room.  It’s a scratching noise and it’s really loud.  I think someone is in there and trying to get out.’

‘Don’t be daft.  It must be an insect.  Maybe it’s a moth or a fly.  Go and open the door and let it out.’

‘What sort of insect has claws, or finger nails?’ Jamie asked, thinking his dad could always come up with some excuse for not doing anything he didn’t want to do.

Kevin sighed.  ‘Come on then, let’s see what you’re making a fuss about.’ and then groaned when he saw Leanne appear on the landing. ‘Now you’ve woken your sister up as well.’

‘What’s happened?’ asked Leanne who then yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

‘There’s nothing for you to worry about, Princess.  You get into bed with your mum until this is sorted out.  It won’t take long.’

 Kevin waited until Leanne was in bed with her mum and then made his way towards the source of the disturbance.  Jamie followed him, but not too closely.

‘Bloody hell! I see what you mean, son,’ Kevin gasped when he got close to the wardrobe. ‘Nip down and get me the torch that’s on top of the little cupboard near the front door.’

Jamie was soon back upstairs and handing the torch to his dad who had his ear against the wardrobe door.

‘Right, you little beggar.  Let’s see what you look like.’

 As Kevin slowly eased open the door the scratching stopped and was replaced by a scurrying sound and then a squeal just before he slammed the door shut.

Kevin let out another, ‘Bloody hell!’ and then held the door closed as though he was expecting it to be forced open.

‘What is it, Dad?’ Jamie asked nervously.  He had never seen his dad look as concerned as he was now.

‘A great big rat,’ Kevin whispered and then quickly added, ‘but we mustn’t tell Leanne.  We’ll say it’s a tiny little field mouse and we’ll let it loose tomorrow.  Now, don’t you dare wind her up!’

Jamie was thinking that Leanne wouldn’t want the bedroom if she knew that there had been a rat in there, but he wouldn’t take advantage and frighten his little sister.

Jamie was pleased when his dad suggested that they slept in Leanne’s room and that’s where he headed to bagsy the mattress before his dad did.

‘It’s just a little field mouse,’ Kevin lied when he saw Leanne huddled up against Debbie. ‘It probably escaped from the cat and hid in the wardrobe and I’ll let it go in the morning when the cat’s not about.  You stay with mum, Leanne and me and Jamie will sleep in your room.’

‘Daddy, can we keep the mouse in the budgie cage?  I don’t like that cruel cat downstairs and I haven’t got a pet.  Can we, please?’

Kevin said that he would think about it, but was already planning to get rid of the rat in the morning before anyone else was up.  He would tell Leanne that the ‘mouse’ must have found a way out of the wardrobe and gone back to its family in the field.

CHAPTER THREE

Kevin was slurping his third mug of tea of the morning when Debbie and Leanne joined him in the kitchen and there was a buzz of excitement as they prepared to start the first day in their new home.  Leanne looked very disappointed when Kevin told her that ‘Fred’ the mouse had escaped.  When Debbie asked what the banging was that she’d heard earlier, Kevin said that he would explain later.  He had managed to trap the rat in Uncle Stanley’s old overcoat, but things hadn’t worked out as planned.

Jamie joined the rest of the family in the kitchen and pestered his dad about using the computer, but was told once again that he would have to wait until the removal men had been before he could play with it.  In the meantime he was ordered to take Leanne on a walk to the local shops for some urgent items that his mum needed.

‘That was a bit mean, Kevin, keeping our Jamie in suspense,’ Debbie said after she had waved the children off.

Kevin smiled.  ‘You know want he’s like.  If there’s something of interest on that computer we won’t get any help from him once he gets playing with it and there’s a lot to do.  Anyway, he’ll enjoy it all the more by having to wait.’

‘I suppose you’re right.  Leanne was disappointed about the mouse.  It’s a pity he escaped because it might have taken her mind off being homesick.’

Kevin coughed and then explained that it was a rat and that’s what the banging was about.

Debbie pulled a face.  ‘Oh, Kevin, we can’t stay here, not if we’ve got rats!’

‘I don’t think we’ve got rats.  We had one and now he’s gone.’

‘So how did you catch it and why all that banging?’

‘Well, I had it trapped inside of Uncle Stanley’s old overcoat.  I could feel the so and so under the cloth and I whacked it as hard as I could with a hammer I got out of the shed.  I must have hit it five times because  I wanted to make sure that I’d killed it outright, not wanting it to suffer.’

‘I didn’t think you had it in you and before breakfast.  So, it’s dead then?’

‘Not exactly,’ Kevin replied.

‘Well you made enough noise to kill an elephant never mind a rat,’ Debbie said.  

‘I know, but when I’d delivered the last blow,  I carefully unfolded the overcoat, expecting to see …’  Kevin paused and then continued, ‘expecting to see one very squashed and dead rat, but it had managed to move out of the way and all my blows had missed it.’

‘So, it’s still in the house?’ Debbie asked anxiously.

‘No, I let him go outside.  Thing is, Debs, when I peeled back the coat I saw these two beady eyes looking up at me and they seemed to be begging for mercy.  I thought it deserved a reprieve after all my attempts to finish it off.  I suppose it was a bit like a condemned man surviving the electric chair.’

Debbie smiled, shook her head and said. ‘You, big softy,’ before giving her hero a kiss on the cheek and then added, ‘I think you can cross the local abattoir off your job hunting list.’

*  * *

 The removal men had arrived later than promised due to heavy traffic, but by mid afternoon the place was looking more homely with all their own furniture in place.  Kevin had done a deal with the removal men and they had taken away Uncle Stanley's old furniture.  Leanne had changed her mind about wanting the big bedroom and Jamie had tidied it up before asking his dad once again if he could clean up his ‘special’ room and have a play with the computer.

‘Go on then,’ replied Kevin and handed Jamie the key to his special room and then added, ‘but not for too long mind, because I want you to help me in the garden later.  I found an old mower in the shed, so you can make a start on the lawns.  I’m thinking of having a natural garden.  You know, one with plenty of wild flowers.’

Debbie rolled her eyes, knowing that Kevin’s idea of wild flowers meant a garden full of weeds.  

Jamie had dashed up stairs when his dad had given him the okay and he was soon sitting in front of the PC screen and filled with anticipation.  He had his very own computer which was something he treasured as much as a Liverpool Cup Final ticket.  It might be the equivalent of his dad’s jalopy, but it was his.

 The ‘Welcome Screen’ was weird with a mixture of old radios and odd looking television sets showing black and white pictures on their screens.  Then he spotted something at the bottom of the screen that made him groan.  It was, ‘
Enter Password
’.

    ‘Uncle Stanley, what’s the point of leaving me a PC that needs a password,’ Jamie groaned and then looked towards the ceiling, hoping for some divine inspiration.

Jamie wriggled his fingers as he prepared himself for the task.  ‘Right, let’s have a go and see if Hacker Jamie can get in.’

An hour later it was a frustrated Jamie who switched off the computer and made his way downstairs.  He had started off by entering Steaderton, followed by each family member’s name and then an assortment of hopeful names as he’d tried to discover the password.  

Kevin laughed after Jamie explained that dear old Uncle Stanley had left him a computer that was about as useful as a chocolate teapot. 

‘So, you’ve been up there all that time trying to think of the right password.  Did I forget to tell you what it was?’

Jamie was used to his dad’s tricks, but he had to ask.

‘Do you really know what it is?’

‘No, but I wish I did.  Sorry, son.’

‘It’s not funny, Dad.  Without the password I’m never going to be able to use that computer unless I reformat the disk and lose whatever programs might have been on it.  That means I would have to buy some new software, because I can’t find any disks.’

‘Just hang on there, son.  You might just as well be speaking in Swahili.  I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.’

Kevin had a good knowledge of some things, but understanding computers wasn’t one of them.  He had been thinking of enrolling for an evening class, so that at least he could converse with his son about the basics.

‘Actually, Dad, you might be able to help me if you could tell me something about Uncle Stanley, like what football team he supported, his favourite colour, or anything that he might have chosen for a password.’

Kevin had to disappoint Jamie by telling him that he knew even less about Uncle Stanley than he did about computers.

* * *

Jamie spent the whole evening typing in passwords and was exhausted, so he didn’t put in a plea to stay up when his dad ordered him to go to bed.

Jamie eventually dropped off to sleep; unaware that he was the owner of the most powerful computer in the world!

CHAPTER FOUR

Jamie had been hoping for a few more days to settle into their new surroundings, but the day after their arrival they had travelled into the nearby town of Denby, which was much bigger than Steaderton, to buy their school uniforms. His dad had told him that he and Leanne could start school the following day.  There was more bad news to follow when his dad insisted on driving them to school even though it was close enough for them to walk to.