Free Barefoot and Lost by Brian Francis Cox Page B

asks, ‘Did Mam see any of this?’
         ‘Who; see any of what?’
         ‘Mam; Mrs. Miller did she look in your suitcase?’
         ‘No, she said you would help me.’
         ‘You’re very lucky because, if she had, she would have taken it away for safe keeping, and you would never have seen it again, you’re not allowed to have money for a start.’
         ‘How will I buy things in a shop without money?’
         ‘Easy, you are never allowed to go to a shop.’
         ‘What, never ever?’
         ‘Not while you’re at St S’s you aren’t.’
         ‘That’s terrible I hate it here already.’
         ‘We all do, we make the most of it and have a good laugh, you’ll get used to it, anyway you may not be here for long you have someone that wants you, we have nobody, only each other.’ 
         Peter , this letter who is it from?”
         ‘Evelyn, you remember her, from the hospital the lady who used to joke with us and was very kind.’
         ‘Yes, she took me to see my Gran, why did she write to you?’
         ‘When I went to Auntie Mavis, she wrote to me to ask how I was getting on, it is the first letter I have ever got so I have kept it, would you like to read it?’
    ‘Can I?’ Opening it very carefully I can see the envelope has not been ripped open and the post mark has missed the stamp. Inside there is just one small sheet of paper saying how she misses him, she hopes he is enjoying things in Kent, also she thought he would like to know that Jane is with a relative in Scotland and she has passed his address onto her so they can be pen pals. ‘ Peter can I keep the stamp and can I just borrow the envelope for a while?’
         ‘I think so, but why?’
         ‘It’s a l ong story, we’ ll tell you about it when we are in bed.’
          
         Mr. Simmons , one of the other House Fathers, puts his head around the door, ‘The Jap’s have surrendered, it’s all over, the war is finished thank God; good night lads.’ We gather on Peter ’s, bed it being the one furthest from the door; we are too excited to sleep.
         ‘Lion, what differences will it make for us?’ Brian asks.
         ‘Probably nothing at all, we will still be stuck in this dump, it didn’t change anything when we had V.E day, why should it be any different this time?’
        
    ‘We had a big party in the Hastings cricket ground , Olive , my favourite lady sailor and Awful her American boyfriend, were there, my Gran she danced with a black soldier, and Joan, she is a captain in the Army taught me to jitter bug --- ’
         ‘ For crying out loud Phil, shut up, have y ou swallowed a gramophone needle or something; going on about this one and that one and your bloody party, we are not interested ; all we had was a dish of jelly and a piece of cake.’
         ‘Sorry Lion didn’t mean to go on, just got carried away’
         ‘Wish you could be sometimes’ Lion gives me a grin and a playful punch on my arm then turns to look at Peter, ‘I expect you are wondering why Phil wants your envelope and stamp?’
         ‘No, not really, he can have it if he wants, I don’t mind.’
         
         ‘We need to explain, it is very important, and you need to know what is going on for your own protection.’ Lion; then went on to explain all about Flynn, but looking at Peter’s expression I’m pretty sure he doesn’t really understand what he means. ‘ Peter you don’t understand what Flynn is doing do you?’
         ‘No Phil , not really, I know it must be wrong but why does he do whatever he does?’
         ‘Of course it’s bloody wrong, I’ll tell you what happens, this is what happened to me; I’ve never told anyone this before I’ve wanted to but couldn’t bring myself to do it but the time seems right now, it makes me feel sick even now, when I think of it.’
         ‘Lion you don’t