A Seat of Learning by Jonah
More of the adventures of Simon and Garret and their boys. This is a loving story of good people. It features men looking after boys but do not expect to find any indecency here. Only genuine love. Not one of the characters in this story is a real person or is, in any way, based on a real person. At least one character, however, is the creation of another author. I wish to thank Jacob Lion, in the USA, for his permission to use his characters in my stories.
I hope you will enjoy this story, and I'm grateful to Nifty for enabling me to bring it to you. Nifty does not charge either me or you for doing so, but it does cost money to do it. Please consider donating to Nifty at https://donate.nifty.org/ to help keep this site going.
Chapter 8
Sunday morning, the entire family were at Horsham St Faith Methodist Church
Simon had put in the joint before we set off for Church so it was well nigh cooked when we got home. Cabbage, carrots, roast and mashed potatoes, gravy and Yorkshire Pudding didn't take long to cook. Even bread sauce, to go with the roast beef, didn't take long. By the time everybody but Simon had changed out of their Sunday best, Simon was ready to serve up.
Luke, in the meantime had got the little steam engine out of the engine shed at the bottom of the garden. He used a small methylated spirit burner, placed underneath the firebox, to heat through and ignite the crushed anthracite in the 'box. When we had put away the last of the bread and butter pudding and custard, everybody repaired to the garden. Barry, the self appointed expert on all things steam, had to be shown how steam was raised and how the locomotive was prepared for service. Lloyd had to get out the train to be attached to it. I had to open up the signalbox so that the shunting to bring locomotive and train together could be performed. Philip assisted me while Simon went upstairs and got changed. In half an hour Luke had enough steam on the little engine to blow her whistle and was pushing her around the track to force some air through her cylinders. She was ready to couple in ten minutes and I had the signals cleared so all three boys climbed onto the carriages for the ride.
With the signals cleared and the road set for the main line, I left the signalbox and sat with Simon on the patio. We waved to the train every time it passed. A pint of Guiness on a warm Sunday afternoon in the garden, with the sound of happy childish voices and the little train chugging past every couple of minutes. What was not to like?
The telephone ringing, that's what was not to like.
"Garret Ito,"
"Have you got my boy there? I want to speak to him."
"I don't know. If you told me what his name is I could probably help you. You haven't even told me who you are."
"I'm his mother and I want to speak to him."
"To whom?"
"Barry - my boy Barry. I want to speak to him."
"Mrs Close?"
"Yes, I want to talk to Barry."
"Well you won't do it by raising your voice to me. Where did you get this number?"
"You were listed as one of the teachers on that trip last year. Val Conlon says Barry's with you and I want to speak to him."
Jason Conlon had been in my class last year. I must remember to thank his mother.
"Mrs. Close, your son is in the care of the community. If you wish to speak to him you'll have to speak to Social Services. I can give you their number. They've been trying to contact you all week. I'm not allowed to give anybody access to him without their permission"
I didn't tell her that the police had been trying to contact her all week. I didn't even know if she knew that her husband was in police custody.
"I don't want to talk to Social Services, I want to talk to Barry. Put Barry on the phone. "
Simon had noticed the tone of the conversation. He walked over obviously offering to help. I covered the mouthpiece.
"Can you drive that steam engine?"
"It's a steam engine - of course I can."
"Swap places with Luke. I need Luke over here urgently."
He ran across the garden.
"Mrs. Close, if you won't ring Social Services, I have to. Is this the best number to contact you on?"
I didn't know what number she was ringing from, but she didn't know that. It was possible that I could get it, assuming that she hadn't witheld it.
"Never mind my number, put Barry on the phone now"
"That isn't going to happen Mrs Close, but you can speak to Barry just as soon as Social Services give their permission."
Luke was hovering behind me now. He gestured with the fingers of one hand that he wanted more conversation, then he began tapping numbers into his mobile phone.
"I don't care If you get permission from the Devil himself. Just put Barry on the phone now. "
"I do have to get permission though Mrs. Close."
Luke was talking to his mobile phone.
"You just have to put Barry on the phone. I'll have the law on you for abduction. You can't take a child from his mother and then not let him talk to her."
"Nobody took Barry from his mother, Mrs. Close. You weren't with him when Social Services picked him up, and neither he nor anybody else knew where you were. They picked him up because he had been abandoned."
He had suffered a lot more than abandonment but I didn't know if she knew about that.
"You're just twisting things. I knew you would. I knew it was a waste of time talking to you."
"But you do want to talk to Barry, so why don't I give you the Social Services emergency number."
"NO! No Social Services. I just want to talk to Barry."
"But you don't want to talk to him very much, Mrs. Close, if you won't do what you have to do to talk to him."
I could see her losing patience and hanging up. I had to prevent that.
"I just want to talk to Barry."
"Alright Mrs. Close. I shouldn't allow this and, if you ever tell anybody that I did, I'll deny it. But I stay in the room with him and, if Barry shows the first sign of being upset, the phone goes down. Is that understood?"
"Just put Barry on the phone."
"Is that understood?"
"YES! Now put Barry on the phone."
"I'll be right back."
I went inside and waited till the train was at the bottom of the garden and well out of earshot, then called,
"Barry, can you just come down here for a moment please. Your mother's on the phone."
I picked up the phone again. Luke was giving me a thumbs-up.
"He''ll be with you in just a moment or two Mrs. Close. He's in the bathroom."
Luke drew a quick finger across his throat. I terminated the call, fetched up her number and blocked it.
"They've got her." said Luke. "She's local. The Hellesdon and Horsham team are sending a car out there now. Have a word with Social Services. If his case officer isn't on, there'll be an emergency man on duty. Tell them what's just happened and tell them the police are on their way for her. "
He strolled back over to the train. Linda WAS the emergency cover at Social Services, and she promised to contact the police and keep an eye on things for us.
I poured several glasses of iced ginger beer and headed out to the patio.
The train stopped alongside and everybody reported for ginger beer. It was a perfect afternoon. Mrs. Close had tried to spoil it, but it didn't even cast a shadow. In fact I felt quite pleased at the way I had handled it. Alright - at the way that Simon. Luke and I had handled it. I didn't even delude myself that the outcome wouldn't have been a lot different if Luke hadn't been there. Don't you just love double-negatives? The point was that he was there and, whether it was coincidence, luck, or divine intervention, I wasn't unused to that sort of thing happening.
"The little steam engine only has a little fire because it only burns little bits of coal," Barry confided in anybody who was prepared to listen.
"It's not that little," said Simon. "It has to be hot enough to boil the water in the boiler."
"It's the blast going up the chimney that pulls it through and makes it hot enough to do that," Lloyd added.
Simon looked aghast. I didn't remember him telling Lloyd that either.
"It's what kids do," I told him. "If you throw them up in the air often enough, sooner or later they'll flap their wings and fly for themselves."
"That was way more frightening than flying," Simon returned. "How in the name of Mike did he just do that?"
"I guess he doesn't just look at the pictures," I told him.
"Books? Do you mean?"
"Yup! He's a smart lad. He's worked out that, if he reads the words as well as looking at the pictures, he can learn things."
Philip moved from the chair opposite to the chair next to me - and got pulled into a hug for his trouble. Railway talk went over his head, just as it did mine. Of course I'd learned a bit, being married to an engine driver, but when Simon, Lloyd, and now Barry, started talking railways, well they could have been talking Greek to me.
Tea included jelly, fruit and ice cream, since we had a guest. I checked that the boys had everything ready for school tomorrow before allowing the television to be switched on. Simon selected the DVD of "The Titfield Thunderbolt" and we settled down for the evening. Bedtime saw everybody in their own beds, except Luke who was once more on the sofa.