Various Musings |
COME WITH US!
COME WITH US!
Janet thought she would be safe where she was. The boys had told her to crawl into the deepest, darkest part of the thicket. They’d told her to sit very still and keep very quiet. Then she’d be safe, safe from the nasty man who was looking for little girls, they’d said. And of course she trusted them because they were boys, big boys, so they knew everything and they’d help her.
Janet was four and a quarter, nearly four and a half. It was August so she would be starting school soon so she already knew lots about loads of things. She knew that she had to listen to older people like the boys (they must be seven because they were in big school in Juniors’); and she
shouldn’t trust strangers unless they were with her parents. She should never go far off from her house on her own, no matter how much she wanted to, or needed to find out what was over there, behind that, under those; and most of all, she should stop wandering off alone to the beach to find
starfish, razor shells and little crabs, or to jump the waves and trace the patterns they left in the sand. Not fair! The beach was very near her house so why were grown-ups worried? Why did they think bad things would happen! Other children didn’t have to be so good all the time. What about
Princess Elizabeth. Janet had umpteen photos of her, doing all sorts of exciting things. She was sure that she and Margaret hadn’t had to stay at home all the time when they were her age. She would’ve played outdoors and she was going to be Queen soon. How could Janet ever be important if she wasn’t allowed to run free and play on the beach? Being good’s boring!
Today had been different. It was sunny when she woke up so she decided to go to the beach. She had to help Mummy first and have lunch, but then she’d go. Last time she’d got into trouble. Mummy worked out that she’d been there. This time she’d remember not to tuck her dress into her knicker legs so it wouldn’t be creased and Mummy wouldn’t know she’d been paddling.
Newlyn was just a small fishing village and her house was near the big, wide beach. She knew not to go to the harbour, because that would be dangerous; lots of things to trip over, and too easy to fall into the water. Nasty, fishy smells; lots of fishermen, some foreign, wearing clogs and things. She didn’t even like going there. But just from the end of her street, she could quickly run the other direction to the beach and she would be on her own and free and could play until tea time.
On her way to the beach, she’d seen two boys near the gallery place at the end of her street. She knew one of the boys, Phillip. He lived in the gallery because his dad was the boss there. Janet’d often tried to make friends with him and his big sister. He’d seen her hanging around, even though he’d never spoken to her, but she thought that was probably because she was a little girl and he was a big boy.
Today, she had sat on the wall by the gallery watching Phillip and the other big boy. And she pretended not to be watching them. So when he had turned to his friend, whispered something and then strolled over to her, she felt so excited and thought she might go silly and giggly but she just dusted some sand off her dress and slowly looked up at him.
“Wanna come with us for a walk? We’re going up to the fields. You’re Janet, aren’t you?”
She sat up straighter and was so proud to think that he knew her name and, trying not to smile too much, she nodded. She was thrilled to be going, but she was afraid that her Mummy would be cross because her last words to her had been
“Ok, yes. You can go out but don’t go off exploring on your own, and especially don’t go anywhere near the beach. Promise?”
“Ok, Mummy.” Janet hadn’t actually said the word ‘Promise’, she wasn’t on her own, and she
wasn’t anywhere near the beach, so that was ok.
Janet jumped up quickly, before they could change their minds, and walked to where Phillip and his friend were fetching their bikes. They told her they were walking, just pushing their bikes, so she’d be ok without hers. And off they all went. There were only a few cars on the road between Penzance and Newlyn, all black and mostly Ford Anglias, just like Daddy’s. She kept thinking one was him and he would be cross with her for being out. Across the main road they walked, up the hill opposite, past the little houses, into the little lane halfway up the hill.
“So, you at school yet, Janet?” said Phillip.
“In September.”
“Looking forward to it?”
“Ooh, yes. My Daddy says I’ll learn about reading and numbers, ‘n stuff.”
“We’ve done all those.”
“Then what? D’you still have to go to school after you know everything?”
The boys laughed and she blushed a little wondering if she’d said something silly.
They walked on. The boys were walking fast but Janet skipped and sang to herself. ‘Playing with the big boys! I’m playing with the big boys! They asked me to play! To play with them!’
While she was bouncing happily along, the boys hurried up. They turned left and right along grassy paths, leaving the places she recognised, and she felt a little nervous, looking everywhere to find them. ‘Where are we? I don’t know this place. Why didn’t I stay with them? They were walking very
fast but I could’ve just walked faster. Where are they?’
The sun was so hot and she was uncomfortable. Her sandals were rubbing her feet and her dress kept sliding up her legs too high. But she wasn’t going to say anything. She so wanted them to like her and to think she was as much fun as they were. She wanted to say something to make them laugh. She wanted them to say how brave she was and how much they wanted to play with her again. She turned a corner and there they were, whispering as they walked, looking back at
her over their shoulders.
All of a sudden, the boys stopped, stood still, looked around and Phillip said to his friend
“Hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Thought I heard footsteps.”
“Oh, no! That must be him. We’d better go tell your dad, Janet.”
“What’s wrong? Who’s ‘him’?” squeaked Janet.
“It’s the bad man. We told you about him. Get into that hole in the hedge. Stay quiet and don’t
move. We’ll get help. Don’t come out until we’re back. Only us. You mustn’t trust anyone except us.”
“Why not? Why can’t I just go home for my tea?” She was beginning to shake a little.
“The bad man brings his friends and they’re bad men as well.”
Trying not to look scared, carefully, Janet crawled into the hole and listened as Phillip and his friend jumped on to their bikes and went off down the hill, laughing. ‘Why are they laughing?’ Janet wondered.
It took her a few minutes to get comfortable but she curled her legs up and was able to wrap her arms round her knees. As she sat in the hedge, she could hear funny noises like snuffling and chomping and realised there were cows in the field next to her. She liked cows but didn’t much like the smells they made so close to her. She also didn’t want to look around and see any insects which might be with her. She didn’t mind insects but didn’t want them crawling on her. If she wriggled about a little, she could just see the blue sky through the brambles so she peeked out.
Trying not to be frightened, she started talking to herself about what she could see.
“Ooh! And I can see some red blackberries. When they go black we can have blackberry pie with huge piles of Cornish Cream on it. I love Mummy’s pies. I wish those boys would come back. It’s not very nice here. I don’t really want to play with them any more.”
Janet watched the shadows outside the hedge as the sun moved. A long time later, she was still in the hedge, getting even hotter, being scratched by the thorns, bitten by the insects and feeling extremely thirsty. She really wanted an ice cream, she wanted the toilet and, most of all, she wanted
to go home, even though it meant Mummy would be cross with her when she saw how dirty her dress was. Occasionally she heard other voices, as people were coming home from work. ‘Nearly teatime then,’ she thought. So she hunched down and waited until they’d gone, in case they were the other bad men the boys had told her about. She had no idea how long she’d been waiting for the boys to get back, but it had to have been ages because she could see that the sun had moved quite a long way.
She heard a man calling as he opened the gate to the field and got the cows out, walking them back for evening milking. Suddenly, she felt something wet on her arm and looked into the eyes of a dog. He sniffed her and licked her arm. She wanted him to stay but, as he barked, the man called to him “Alfie! To me!” and he ran away to do his job with the cows.
She was puzzled why the boys were taking so long. They did say they would come back for her, so where were they? They had bikes so should have got help ages ago.’ Even I could’ve gotten home in all this time.’ But then the bad man might have caught her. He might still be out there.
A few tears ran down her face, but she got cross with herself. At four and a quarter she shouldn’t be crying. If the boys came now they’d laugh at her. But if she didn’t get home soon, she’d miss her tea.
Why had she gone with the boys anyway? Was it just because she wanted to be with the big kids, because she thought they’d want to be friends, that they might even like her?
She put her head on her knees and her arms over her head and, sobbing gently, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was getting dark. She could hardly see anything. She was starting to shake a little because she was getting really frightened. She jumped when she heard a deep voice calling
“Janet! Janet! Where are you? Are you there? Your Mummy wants you home for your tea.”
‘What if he’s one of the bad men? What can I do? I want to go home? I hurt and I don’t feel very well.’
Should she answer him? He called again and he didn’t sound like a bad man, in fact, his voice sounded friendly and she thought she recognised it. She turned a little, trying to peek out through the hedge. She saw big black shoes, very long black trousers and then, as he bent down, she saw a big grey moustache and a face she knew.
“PC Pender!” she whimpered and cried and sobbed as he helped her out. In one swoop he picked her up and she reached for him, threw her arms round his neck and sobbed some more.
“I’ve missed my tea and I’ve dirtied my dress and my Mummy is going to be so angry and I shouldn’t have gone with them but I was frightened about the bad man and they said they’d look after me and they’re big boys so I believed them and now I don’t know what to do, I don’t!”
“Shh! Shh, now, Janet! Everything’s OK. Your mummy’s not angry. She sent me to find you so you can get your tea, and she’ll wash your dress.”
“But I was naughty and I went exploring and I’m not supposed to do that and the boys are going to laugh at me because I’m crying.”
“Don’t you worry about any of that, Janet. Let’s get you home. And don’t worry about those boys. They won’t be laughing at anyone for a while, I promise. And they won’t be boasting to their friends! I’ve spoken to them and their parents. You won’t see them around much until school starts
again.”
Janet felt safe with PC Pender and, although it only took a few minutes to get home, she soon fell asleep again with her head on his shoulder and his arms around her.
When she got home, PC Pender put her down and she started telling her huge story again but her Mummy just wrapped her arms around her, kissed her and hushed her. She and Daddy were so happy to see her and they weren’t cross and she hadn’t missed her tea.
“You’ve been so brave, darling, and I’ve got you a special treat for after your pasty. Just go wash your ‘ands.”
“But my dress is dirty and I’ve got smelly things and creepies in my hair. And, are you cross with me?”
“No my ‘ansome. Your Daddy and me are just so ‘appy you’re ‘ome.”
And Mummy gave her her favourite treat, a saffron bun, with butter on it. And her Mummy and Daddy just sat and watched Janet eat it. And Mummy had some little tears rolling down her face.
Daddy lent her his hanky, after he had dabbed his eyes.
That day, Janet learned that she should not trust anyone, especially not big boys. She was always happy playing by herself anyway, so from now on, that’s what she was going to do.
JP September 2017
Janet thought she would be safe where she was. The boys had told her to crawl into the deepest, darkest part of the thicket. They’d told her to sit very still and keep very quiet. Then she’d be safe, safe from the nasty man who was looking for little girls, they’d said. And of course she trusted them because they were boys, big boys, so they knew everything and they’d help her.
Janet was four and a quarter, nearly four and a half. It was August so she would be starting school soon so she already knew lots about loads of things. She knew that she had to listen to older people like the boys (they must be seven because they were in big school in Juniors’); and she
shouldn’t trust strangers unless they were with her parents. She should never go far off from her house on her own, no matter how much she wanted to, or needed to find out what was over there, behind that, under those; and most of all, she should stop wandering off alone to the beach to find
starfish, razor shells and little crabs, or to jump the waves and trace the patterns they left in the sand. Not fair! The beach was very near her house so why were grown-ups worried? Why did they think bad things would happen! Other children didn’t have to be so good all the time. What about
Princess Elizabeth. Janet had umpteen photos of her, doing all sorts of exciting things. She was sure that she and Margaret hadn’t had to stay at home all the time when they were her age. She would’ve played outdoors and she was going to be Queen soon. How could Janet ever be important if she wasn’t allowed to run free and play on the beach? Being good’s boring!
Today had been different. It was sunny when she woke up so she decided to go to the beach. She had to help Mummy first and have lunch, but then she’d go. Last time she’d got into trouble. Mummy worked out that she’d been there. This time she’d remember not to tuck her dress into her knicker legs so it wouldn’t be creased and Mummy wouldn’t know she’d been paddling.
Newlyn was just a small fishing village and her house was near the big, wide beach. She knew not to go to the harbour, because that would be dangerous; lots of things to trip over, and too easy to fall into the water. Nasty, fishy smells; lots of fishermen, some foreign, wearing clogs and things. She didn’t even like going there. But just from the end of her street, she could quickly run the other direction to the beach and she would be on her own and free and could play until tea time.
On her way to the beach, she’d seen two boys near the gallery place at the end of her street. She knew one of the boys, Phillip. He lived in the gallery because his dad was the boss there. Janet’d often tried to make friends with him and his big sister. He’d seen her hanging around, even though he’d never spoken to her, but she thought that was probably because she was a little girl and he was a big boy.
Today, she had sat on the wall by the gallery watching Phillip and the other big boy. And she pretended not to be watching them. So when he had turned to his friend, whispered something and then strolled over to her, she felt so excited and thought she might go silly and giggly but she just dusted some sand off her dress and slowly looked up at him.
“Wanna come with us for a walk? We’re going up to the fields. You’re Janet, aren’t you?”
She sat up straighter and was so proud to think that he knew her name and, trying not to smile too much, she nodded. She was thrilled to be going, but she was afraid that her Mummy would be cross because her last words to her had been
“Ok, yes. You can go out but don’t go off exploring on your own, and especially don’t go anywhere near the beach. Promise?”
“Ok, Mummy.” Janet hadn’t actually said the word ‘Promise’, she wasn’t on her own, and she
wasn’t anywhere near the beach, so that was ok.
Janet jumped up quickly, before they could change their minds, and walked to where Phillip and his friend were fetching their bikes. They told her they were walking, just pushing their bikes, so she’d be ok without hers. And off they all went. There were only a few cars on the road between Penzance and Newlyn, all black and mostly Ford Anglias, just like Daddy’s. She kept thinking one was him and he would be cross with her for being out. Across the main road they walked, up the hill opposite, past the little houses, into the little lane halfway up the hill.
“So, you at school yet, Janet?” said Phillip.
“In September.”
“Looking forward to it?”
“Ooh, yes. My Daddy says I’ll learn about reading and numbers, ‘n stuff.”
“We’ve done all those.”
“Then what? D’you still have to go to school after you know everything?”
The boys laughed and she blushed a little wondering if she’d said something silly.
They walked on. The boys were walking fast but Janet skipped and sang to herself. ‘Playing with the big boys! I’m playing with the big boys! They asked me to play! To play with them!’
While she was bouncing happily along, the boys hurried up. They turned left and right along grassy paths, leaving the places she recognised, and she felt a little nervous, looking everywhere to find them. ‘Where are we? I don’t know this place. Why didn’t I stay with them? They were walking very
fast but I could’ve just walked faster. Where are they?’
The sun was so hot and she was uncomfortable. Her sandals were rubbing her feet and her dress kept sliding up her legs too high. But she wasn’t going to say anything. She so wanted them to like her and to think she was as much fun as they were. She wanted to say something to make them laugh. She wanted them to say how brave she was and how much they wanted to play with her again. She turned a corner and there they were, whispering as they walked, looking back at
her over their shoulders.
All of a sudden, the boys stopped, stood still, looked around and Phillip said to his friend
“Hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Thought I heard footsteps.”
“Oh, no! That must be him. We’d better go tell your dad, Janet.”
“What’s wrong? Who’s ‘him’?” squeaked Janet.
“It’s the bad man. We told you about him. Get into that hole in the hedge. Stay quiet and don’t
move. We’ll get help. Don’t come out until we’re back. Only us. You mustn’t trust anyone except us.”
“Why not? Why can’t I just go home for my tea?” She was beginning to shake a little.
“The bad man brings his friends and they’re bad men as well.”
Trying not to look scared, carefully, Janet crawled into the hole and listened as Phillip and his friend jumped on to their bikes and went off down the hill, laughing. ‘Why are they laughing?’ Janet wondered.
It took her a few minutes to get comfortable but she curled her legs up and was able to wrap her arms round her knees. As she sat in the hedge, she could hear funny noises like snuffling and chomping and realised there were cows in the field next to her. She liked cows but didn’t much like the smells they made so close to her. She also didn’t want to look around and see any insects which might be with her. She didn’t mind insects but didn’t want them crawling on her. If she wriggled about a little, she could just see the blue sky through the brambles so she peeked out.
Trying not to be frightened, she started talking to herself about what she could see.
“Ooh! And I can see some red blackberries. When they go black we can have blackberry pie with huge piles of Cornish Cream on it. I love Mummy’s pies. I wish those boys would come back. It’s not very nice here. I don’t really want to play with them any more.”
Janet watched the shadows outside the hedge as the sun moved. A long time later, she was still in the hedge, getting even hotter, being scratched by the thorns, bitten by the insects and feeling extremely thirsty. She really wanted an ice cream, she wanted the toilet and, most of all, she wanted
to go home, even though it meant Mummy would be cross with her when she saw how dirty her dress was. Occasionally she heard other voices, as people were coming home from work. ‘Nearly teatime then,’ she thought. So she hunched down and waited until they’d gone, in case they were the other bad men the boys had told her about. She had no idea how long she’d been waiting for the boys to get back, but it had to have been ages because she could see that the sun had moved quite a long way.
She heard a man calling as he opened the gate to the field and got the cows out, walking them back for evening milking. Suddenly, she felt something wet on her arm and looked into the eyes of a dog. He sniffed her and licked her arm. She wanted him to stay but, as he barked, the man called to him “Alfie! To me!” and he ran away to do his job with the cows.
She was puzzled why the boys were taking so long. They did say they would come back for her, so where were they? They had bikes so should have got help ages ago.’ Even I could’ve gotten home in all this time.’ But then the bad man might have caught her. He might still be out there.
A few tears ran down her face, but she got cross with herself. At four and a quarter she shouldn’t be crying. If the boys came now they’d laugh at her. But if she didn’t get home soon, she’d miss her tea.
Why had she gone with the boys anyway? Was it just because she wanted to be with the big kids, because she thought they’d want to be friends, that they might even like her?
She put her head on her knees and her arms over her head and, sobbing gently, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was getting dark. She could hardly see anything. She was starting to shake a little because she was getting really frightened. She jumped when she heard a deep voice calling
“Janet! Janet! Where are you? Are you there? Your Mummy wants you home for your tea.”
‘What if he’s one of the bad men? What can I do? I want to go home? I hurt and I don’t feel very well.’
Should she answer him? He called again and he didn’t sound like a bad man, in fact, his voice sounded friendly and she thought she recognised it. She turned a little, trying to peek out through the hedge. She saw big black shoes, very long black trousers and then, as he bent down, she saw a big grey moustache and a face she knew.
“PC Pender!” she whimpered and cried and sobbed as he helped her out. In one swoop he picked her up and she reached for him, threw her arms round his neck and sobbed some more.
“I’ve missed my tea and I’ve dirtied my dress and my Mummy is going to be so angry and I shouldn’t have gone with them but I was frightened about the bad man and they said they’d look after me and they’re big boys so I believed them and now I don’t know what to do, I don’t!”
“Shh! Shh, now, Janet! Everything’s OK. Your mummy’s not angry. She sent me to find you so you can get your tea, and she’ll wash your dress.”
“But I was naughty and I went exploring and I’m not supposed to do that and the boys are going to laugh at me because I’m crying.”
“Don’t you worry about any of that, Janet. Let’s get you home. And don’t worry about those boys. They won’t be laughing at anyone for a while, I promise. And they won’t be boasting to their friends! I’ve spoken to them and their parents. You won’t see them around much until school starts
again.”
Janet felt safe with PC Pender and, although it only took a few minutes to get home, she soon fell asleep again with her head on his shoulder and his arms around her.
When she got home, PC Pender put her down and she started telling her huge story again but her Mummy just wrapped her arms around her, kissed her and hushed her. She and Daddy were so happy to see her and they weren’t cross and she hadn’t missed her tea.
“You’ve been so brave, darling, and I’ve got you a special treat for after your pasty. Just go wash your ‘ands.”
“But my dress is dirty and I’ve got smelly things and creepies in my hair. And, are you cross with me?”
“No my ‘ansome. Your Daddy and me are just so ‘appy you’re ‘ome.”
And Mummy gave her her favourite treat, a saffron bun, with butter on it. And her Mummy and Daddy just sat and watched Janet eat it. And Mummy had some little tears rolling down her face.
Daddy lent her his hanky, after he had dabbed his eyes.
That day, Janet learned that she should not trust anyone, especially not big boys. She was always happy playing by herself anyway, so from now on, that’s what she was going to do.
JP September 2017