Anne Douglas (2 page)

‘Good afternoon, Mrs Hope – hello, Shona.’ Miss Lucas’s tone was consciously bright. ‘No children around today, then?’

‘All at school, out o’ the way,’ replied Addie. Heavens, did Miss Lucas think they wanted Kitty, Biddy, Jamie, Dair and Pat all standing around, staring at poor Shona having to leave, then? Kitty would probably shed a few tears, being quite a friend of Shona’s, which might set the others off, and then what a time they’d have!

‘I told ’em I might be out when they got back,’ Addie went on, ‘in case I went with you and Shona to . . . to the house.’

Doesn’t want to say orphanage, thought Miss Lucas.

‘Edina Lodge,’ she said aloud. ‘It’s a nice name, isn’t it? And Shona is going to be very happy there. But there will be no need for you to come with us, Mrs Hope. I have to see Shona in, you understand, and introduce her to Miss Bryce, the superintendent.’

‘Oh, well, then.’ Addie lowered her eyes, so as not to show the relief she felt at not having to see the orphanage. Miss Lucas had said that it was a grand house, but who’d ever heard of a grand orphanage? It would be better to say goodbye to Shona here, eh? If only she didn’t feel so bad about this whole business . . .

‘Shona, if you’re ready, I think we should be on our way to the tram,’ Miss Lucas said briskly. ‘Miss Bryce is expecting us and I don’t want to be late. Mrs Hope, may we have Shona’s bag?’

‘Aye, it’s here.’ Addie hurried to fetch Shona’s small canvas bag. ‘There’s no’ much in it, mind, but we were told everything would be provided and Shona was just to take one or two things she wanted.’

Wanted . . . Shona looked up.

‘My photos,’ she said huskily. ‘I’m taking my photos. There’s one of Ma at the seaside and one of Dad in his uniform. They’re what I want.’

‘Very nice, too,’ said Addie, ‘but do you no’ want your toy rabbit and your dolls, then?’

Shona shook her head. ‘No, I’m too big for dolls now, and they’d probably no’ let me have them, anyway.’

‘But you always have your wee rabbit, Shona! You’ve had it since you were a baby!’

‘The children are allowed some special possessions,’ Miss Lucas put in. ‘You could take your rabbit if you’d like to, I’m sure.’

But Shona was still shaking her head. She couldn’t really put into words why she didn’t want to take Master Bun to the orphanage. Perhaps because he was part of the old life and might not be safe in the new. Who could say how things would be at Edina Lodge, for her or her dear old rabbit?

‘I’ll leave him for now,’ she said at last. ‘Will you keep him for me, Mrs Hope, and my dolls?’

‘’Course I will, pet! I’ll keep ’em safe and see nobody touches ’em. Now, shall I get Shona’s coat, Miss Lucas?’

‘Coats are provided, but Shona can take hers if she likes and it can be sent back later.’

‘With Kitty’s black dress,’ Shona murmured. ‘It was nice of her to lend it to me.’

‘Och, she was glad to lend it,’ said Mrs Hope. ‘Never wears it, you ken. I’d to make it special for her gran’s funeral.’

Her voice faltering and her eyes sliding everywhere, Addie helped Shona into her thin brown coat and stood back, her finger to her lip. ‘It’s goodbye, then,’ she murmured at last, her gaze coming to rest on Shona’s pale, set face. ‘For today, anyway. But maybe we’ll be able to come and see you?’

‘Not at first,’ Miss Lucas said hastily. ‘Visits can be considered unsettling.’

‘Unsettling?’ Addie’s eyes flashed. ‘Why, the bairn’s got a right to see her friends, surely?’

‘It’s really for Miss Bryce to say. Perhaps you could ask about it later? But now, Shona, we must be going.’

‘Goodbye, Mrs Hope,’ Shona said, clearing her throat. ‘Thank you very much for looking after me.’

‘No need for that, no need to thank me.’ Addie, sniffing, threw her arms around Shona and kissed her cheek. ‘Good luck, eh? Take care, and maybe drop me a wee line some time, if it’s allowed. You’ll no’ forget?’

‘I won’t forget.’

Shona, from the door, looked to Miss Lucas, who was shaking Addie’s hand and telling her not to worry, Shona would be happy, would settle in with no trouble at all. Now where was her bag?

As the two figures left the house, one tall, the other small, Addie suddenly ran after them. ‘Shona, Shona! Wait a minute, eh?’

‘Yes, Mrs Hope?’

‘I just want to say that I’m sorry I couldn’t take you. But you understand, eh? It just wasn’t possible – with the best will in the world . . .’

‘That’s all right,’ Shona answered quietly. ‘I never thought I could stay. I knew you couldn’t take me.’

‘Shona!’ called Miss Lucas and with a last quick hug for Addie, Shona turned and joined her on the steep walk up to the Queensferry Road. One or two neighbours came out as they passed to wish Shona good luck, but Addie said no more and after watching until the two figures were out of sight, went slowly back into her house.

The tram could only take them a short way along the Queensferry Road before they must get off and begin walking to reach the orphanage.

‘I’m afraid it’s rather a long way,’ Miss Lucas told Shona, who had already removed her coat because the afternoon sun was so hot. ‘I hope you won’t get too tired.’

‘Och, no, I’m used to walking.’ Though not in this grand part of the city, thought Shona. She’d never had occasion to come to such a wide, pleasant street where the few houses were large with their own private gardens laid out with grass and flowers. She’d vaguely heard that this was a place where rich folk lived, and of course she knew there were some grand schools around, where the pupils wore smart uniforms and could be seen sometimes on the trams, carrying hockey sticks or tennis rackets and satchels bulging with books. Where would she go to school now that she was too far from her old one? That would be another thing to find out.

‘Is Edina Lodge really a grand house?’ she asked Miss Lucas. She couldn’t believe that it was.

Miss Lucas hesitated. ‘Well, it was,’ she answered cautiously. ‘Outside, it still looks rather the same as when it belonged to Mr Hamer.’

‘Who’s Mr Hamer?’

‘He’s the wealthy man who left the house to the council in his will, specifically for children without families. He lost his parents when he was very young and lived in an orphanage himself for a time, before he was adopted. His aim, he said, was to give orphans the chance to grow up in pleasant surroundings.’

‘So, it should be nice inside as well as outside?’

‘Well, yes, but of course it’s not been possible to keep it like a family house inside. If you think about the sort of use it has, I’m sure you’ll understand that.’

‘Oh, yes,’ Shona replied, beginning to understand that perhaps Edina Lodge was not really as grand as Miss Lucas had originally made out. The nearer they got to it, the more she seemed flustered – but then, the day was so uncomfortably warm and it was very tiring, walking so far.

‘At last!’ Miss Lucas cried as she halted at a turning to a side street where there were more large houses. ‘Shona, this is where we turn for Edina Lodge. It’s just at the end here – what a relief!’

After only a short walk down the small street, they came to a pair of large wrought-iron gates set into a high stone wall with a notice affixed:
Edina Lodge – Please ring for admittance.

‘Can we no’ just go through the gates?’ asked Shona.

‘Oh, no, that wouldn’t do at all. It’s necessary to know who’s calling.’

Or who’s leaving, Shona commented to herself. Maybe some ran away.

As soon as Miss Lucas had rung the bell, the gates were opened by a tall, heavily-built man, obviously the caretaker.

‘Name?’ he asked.

‘Miss Lucas from the council, with Shona Murray.’

‘That’s all right, you’re expected. Step this way, please.’

As they passed through the gates and the caretaker returned to a cottage-style house at the side, Shona thought they would see Edina Lodge, but there was only a drive stretching away though extensive grounds of trees and lawns. These were truly lovely, and she would have liked just to walk through them if she hadn’t been feeling so desperately fluttery inside.

There was no hiding the fact that time was now running out. Soon she would have to discover what was waiting for her, what sort of life she was going to lead. Round the corner of this very drive she might for a start see her new home, the house Miss Lucas had told her about: Edina Lodge.

And . . . ‘Oh!’ she cried involuntarily. For round the corner of the drive, there it was.

Grand? A grand house? Well, it was big, no doubt about that. Big and grey, built, like so much of Edinburgh, of solid stone, with a dark tiled roof and rows and rows of windows that might have been shining in the sun if their glass hadn’t been so dull. And surely, there were too many chimneys? More twisted chimneys than Shona had ever seen on a house before, but then, she hadn’t seen many such houses as this.

‘There it is then, Edina Lodge,’ Miss Lucas murmured. ‘Mr Hamer designed it himself, I believe. What do you think of it?’

Shona hesitated. ‘I’m no’ sure,’ she said at last, telling a little white lie, for she was in fact sure that she didn’t like it. Yes, it had been a rich man’s house, she could tell that, and would have cost a lot of money to build and make his home. But . . . a home for her? She shook her head at herself. What had she been expecting to find here, anyway? Not a home, that was for sure.

‘Ah, well, no doubt it seems strange to you,’ Miss Lucas said with a resigned sigh. ‘Perhaps you’ll get to like it when you’re more used to it. Now, we must ring the bell at the front door. Soon you will meet Miss Bryce.’

Miss Bryce. Shona’s heart, already feeling heavy in her chest, plummeted. ‘I’m wondering what she’ll be like,’ she said in a low voice.

‘Strict but fair,’ Miss Lucas told her firmly. ‘And her fairness is what’s important. You mustn’t worry about her – she will make you welcome.’

‘Will she?’ Standing close to Miss Lucas as she rang the bell at the solid entrance door, Shona had lost her earlier resolve to be brave whatever happened. She knew she must retrieve it, but for the moment her will had left her. Even a warm welcome wouldn’t make much difference, wouldn’t bring back her old life. She was the only one who could help herself, but just then she was too much on edge to do it.

After a few moments the door was opened by a slim, fair young woman in a plain dark dress who, having taken their names and business, told them to step inside. Shona, clasping her coat and her bag and keeping her face as expressionless as possible so as to hide her nerves, followed Miss Lucas into the house.

‘Please come this way,’ the young woman said. ‘Miss Bryce is expecting you.’

First was a vestibule. Empty. A large, wide room, it led to a vast hallway, which showed every sign of having once been grand and now was not. Even before she’d fully taken in the linoleum-covered floor, the custard-yellow walls lined with pegs and the scuffed steps of the staircase, Shona knew how it would be, because she knew its smell. A smell familiar to anyone who attended school, it never seemed to vary, being a mixture of damp shoes, carbolic soap and children’s bodies, with the addition, in this case, of something pungent cooked long before, now floating down like an unseen mist from the fine plaster ceiling.

It was no disappointment to recognize all this. In fact, everything about the hall was so familiar to Shona it made her feel a little easier for a moment or two. Until she remembered she still had to meet Miss Bryce.

‘Through here,’ their guide was murmuring as she pushed open a door at the back of the hall. ‘Miss Bryce’s office is on the right. I’ll just tell her you’re here.’

In response to her knock, a firm voice called ‘Come in’, and she opened the door.

‘Miss Lucas to see you, Miss Bryce, with Shona Murray.’

‘Thank you, Miss MacLaren. Please show them in.’

After the young woman had withdrawn, Miss Bryce came forward, smiling briefly. In cool Edinburgh tones, she greeted Miss Lucas, shaking first her hand, then Shona’s. ‘So this is our new arrival? Welcome to Edina Lodge, my dear.’

How strong the hand was, thought Shona. Just like Miss Bryce herself. Wearing a grey jacket and an ankle-length tweed skirt, she was tall – much taller even than Miss Lucas – with broad shoulders and a good-looking face. Her brows were dark and level, her nose straight, her eyes clear grey, and her light-coloured hair, looking as strong as everything else about her, was coiled into a great knot that would never, Shona was sure, dare to slip from its pins. How old was she? Shona had no idea. A grown-up was to her a grown-up, that was all she knew.

‘Yes, this is Shona Murray from the Dean Village,’ Miss Lucas was murmuring. ‘I believe you have all the paperwork, Miss Bryce?’

‘Yes, indeed. I have familiarized myself with Shona’s case. Such a tragedy.’ Miss Bryce’s gaze resting on Shona was neither warm nor cold, though her words were sympathetic. ‘I’m very sorry for your loss, Shona. It’s hard for you to have lost your mother as well as your father.’

Shona, flushing, caught Miss Lucas’s look and murmured a word of thanks.

‘All I can tell you,’ Miss Bryce was continuing, ‘is that you will be made welcome here, and if you abide by the rules we have to have, you will do well. Now, you do understand that we have to have rules?’

‘Yes, Miss Bryce.’

‘Bells ring for certain things: getting up, going to bed, attending prayers and so on, and you will learn very quickly what they all mean. You will have certain tasks to do – everyone has to learn to be helpful here – but you will not find them too difficult. And then, of course, you will go to school, which will not be your old school but one equally good. My assistant, Miss MacLaren, will give you more details of life here, as well as providing you with your uniform.’

‘Thank you, Miss Bryce,’ Miss Lucas said. ‘I’m sure Shona will soon find her way around.’

‘Of course. And you will find all the other children very friendly and helpful. We have eighty residents here, equal numbers of boys and girls, all joining together for meals, tasks and so on, but the boys have their dormitories to the right of the building while the girls sleep on the left. Prayers are said every morning before breakfast and everyone attends the kirk on Sundays. Are there any questions?’