Chapter 9
The newborn lamb
The next morning Mary told Dickon all about Colin’s tantrum.
‘Poor lad,’ DIckon said, with more sympathy than Mary had shown, ‘stuck indoors all day.’ Dickon looked thoughtful. ‘You know, if he can’t see nature, maybe we should take nature to him?’
Mary looked up. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve got a newborn lamb at home. I found her next to her dead mam on the moor last night. Maybe Master Colin’d like to have a hold and feed ‘er. There’s nowt nicer than feeding a lamb.’
Mary thought it was a fine idea. ‘Tomorrow! Let’s do it tomorrow!’ she cried
So the next day, Dickon visited Colin in his bedroom, ‘I’ve brought this for you,’ he said, setting the lamb in Colin’s arms. ‘You can feed her if you want.’
‘May I?’ Colin said in awe. The feel of the warm, soft newborn lamb through this nightgown filled him with tenderness. The poor thing shivered with nerves, just like he did sometimes.
As Mary watched Colin feeding the lamb, Dickon looked round the room. ‘What’s that?’ he asked, pointing to a wheelchair in the corner. Colin glanced across. ‘Oh, that’s for me if I ever want to go out of bed. I can’t walk, you see. My legs are too weak. But I never use it. I hate going out.’
‘Wouldn’t you like to come out with us? Me and Mary? And see the garden?’ Dickon asked.
‘I… I would,’ Colin agreed, ‘but…’
‘He’s worried people will stare at him,’ Mary said.
‘Well, what if we fix it so there’s nobody to stare?’ Dixon asked.
◆ ◆ ◆
So that’s what they did. Colin made Mrs Medlock send for the head gardeners, Mr. Roach. A puzzled Mr. Roach waited for his orders. ‘At two o’clock this afternoon I shall be going out in my chair…’ Colin began.
Mrs. Medlock gasped. ‘But Master Colin!’
Colin ignored her. ‘And if the fresh air agrees with me, I’ll be doing the same every day.’
‘Yessir,’ Mr. Roach mumbled.
‘So it is your job to make sure no one sees me. I want to no gardeners on the lawns or anywhere near the walled gardens.’
‘Yessir. Two o’clock, sir. No one around.’
‘Good. Off you go.’
Roach left but Mrs. Medlock began to panic. ‘But Master Colin, what if you catch a chill?’
‘Stop fussing, Medlock!’
‘But…’
Colin glared at her.
‘Yes, Master Colin,’ Mrs. Medlock sighed. She left with a shake of her head. Whatever was the world coming to?
◆ ◆ ◆
Colin never forgot that day. How Dickon pushed him in his wheelchair along the grounds towards the secret garden. How the smell of fresh air and the feel of the gentle spring breeze on his face wasn’t scary at all. It was wonderful! The way his heart beat fast when Mary showed him the very spot where robin had shown her the key. The cascading ivy hiding the entrance. And when he had leaned forward in his chair to push open the door leading inside the secret garden. Oh! Oh!
Inside was just as Mary had described. Better. Better than any fairy tale. ‘Take me over there! Now over there!’ he ordered in delight as DIckon wheeled him up to every corner, every nook and cranny of the garden.
After a while, when he had seen almost everything, they drew the chair under a plum tree while they got some more work done. The plum tree was about to burst with white blossom and it formed a canopy under which Colin sat in wonder. ‘Everything is beautiful,’ he said, then stopped. ‘That’s strange.’
‘What is?’ Mary asked, glancing up from her digging.
Colin pointed. ‘That tree there. It’s not got one leaf on it. Everything else has got at least a bit of greenery but that… that’ quite dead. I wonder why?’
A silence fell across the garden then. Mary and DIckon knew why. It had been the tree with the swing. And that swing had broken with Colin’s mother on it.
‘How about some music?’ Dickon asked.
He pulled his pipe from his pocket and began to play. Soft, reedy sounds floated across the garden.
Colin smiled. How perfect! How perfect everything was. ‘It’s magical in here,’ he said several times, ‘it’s magical.’
