The Fairy Godmother Part 27

“I’ll just ring home to tell them I’m coming,” said Ian as we walked back to his car.

“Will you tell them about us?” asked Ella.

“I think I shall let you do that when we get there,” Ian laughed.

“Do you think they will have ginger biscuits and juice?” Ella asked.

“We’ll find out when we get there,” said Jessie. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d have room for them after the ice-cream and peaches.

“But Nana May will expect it,” Ella explained. “And I don’t want to disappoint her.”

“Of course not,” said Ian, giving her another hug.

“I didn’t think the two houses were so close,” said Jessie as Ian drew up outside his parents home.

“Neither did I,” said Ian. They weren’t, but there was little enough time for the visit, so, a little fairy magic got them there quicker.

“Hello,” said an old man knocking on the driver’s window. “Joan’s been on the phone to your Mum,” he started to say and then stopped. “Jessie! Ella! She hadn’t flipped then. She was saying you’d turned up. Come in quick, May will be over the moon,” he added opening the car door and almost dragging his son out.

“Granddad Billy!” shouted Ella, he opened the back door and lifted Ella out of the car. “How tall did the sunflowers grow. Did they grow taller than me!”

“The slug’s got them,” he said.

“We could try again this year,” said Ella.

“That would be good,” said Billy, guiding them towards the house.

“Nana May,” Ella shouted and ran straight to the kitchen. May was busy looking through the cupboards.

“Are there any ginger biscuits?” asked Ella.

“No, I’m so sorry,” said May.

“Doesn’t matter,” Ella smiled hugging her. “You’re here.”

“I have dreamed of this,” she said, looking up to see Jessie. “All three of you together.”

“It has to be a bit of a flying visit,” Ian explained. “Ella lives at an orphanage at the moment.”

“Once we have prof that Ian and Jessie are Ella’s parents and can look after her, then she will be back with them, but till then, we have to get her back there for five,” I explained

“What happens at five?” asked Billy.

“The head of the home will start asking questions,” I said.

“And we don’t want to be accused of kidnapping,” said Ian.

“This morning I didn’t know who I was and now everything has changed,” said Jessie.

“We need to get back,” I said, looking at the clock in the kitchen.

“We’ve got to do things right,” said Billy. “It’s just so good to see you three together.”

“I’ll have some ginger biscuits for you next time,” said Nana May giving Ella another hug.

We arrived back at the orphanage as the clock struck five.

“Did you have a good day Rosie?” the head of the home, Mrs Walters, asked.

“My name is Ella, not Rosie,” she replied. “And these are my parents.”

“Really?” said Mrs Walters, looking at Ella’s parents and then at me for an explanation.

“I took Ella to the hospital for her check up this morning,” I started.

“I know that,” snapped Mrs Walters.

“I was there for a check up as well,” said Jessie. “I was in an accident and suffered amnesia, it’s been a few years and there seemed to be no progress on getting any of my memories back. Then I saw Ella.”

“We know her as Rosie,” Mrs Walters interrupted.

“I saw her and I knew she was my daughter,” said Jessie.

“I saw Mum,” said Ella. “And I called to her and ran over to her.”

“That is not how we expect children to behave when they are out,” said Mrs. Walters, to Ella. “You need to keep better control over the children you are in charge of,” she said to me.

“Ella wasn’t in any danger,” said Ian.

“And what is your role in this?” Mrs Walters asked, turning her gaze onto him.

“I am Jessie’s husband and Ella’s father,” he said. “And we are here to set into motion whatever needs to be done to get Ella back where she belongs.

“We only have your word that you are Ella’s parents, that is, if Ella is her name,” said Mrs Walters. “You can’t expect me to hand her over on your word alone.”

“We did DNA tests at the hospital,” Jessie explained. “They will prove what we say.”

“Am I to take it that you got a DNA sample from Rosie as well?” asked Mrs Walters.

“It would be a pointless exercise without one,” said Ian.

“This is highly irregular,” Mrs Walters snapped. “I think I should ask you to leave.”

“We will be back,” said Ian.

“You can take Rosie to her room,” Mrs Walters said to me. “And when you have settled her down you can come back here, I want to have a word with you.”

“Now what do we do?” Jessie asked as we walked out of Mrs Walters office.

“You need a lawyer,” I said. “One that is good with custody law.”

“Thanks,” said Ian.

“I hope we haven’t got you into trouble,” said Jessie.

“She was the one who told me to keep Rosie out of the way till after five,” I said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be OK,” I added when Jessie looked worried.

“Stop gossiping,” shouted Mrs Walters.

“You know the way out,” I sighed. Rosie hung onto her Mum and started crying.

“We will get you out of here,” Jessie whispered to Ella.

“Do I have to go out there to sort it out,” shouted Mrs Walters.

“We’d better go,” said Ian. “But we will be back and we wont rest till you come home with us.”

“OK,” said Ella as Mrs Walters walked out of her office. Ella and I were on our way to Rosie’s room and her parents were heading for the door by the time she got to were we had been standing.

“Why does she have to be so nasty?” Ella asked.

“She is in charge and she thinks she should know everything about what is going on here,” I suggested.

“Will you get into trouble for taking me to see my Grandparents?” asked Ella.

“For some reason she wanted you out of sight this afternoon,” I said. “She wasn’t particularly bothered as to where you went, as long as you weren’t here. I took advantage of that. So she doesn’t know where you went and I think it might be a good idea if she didn’t find out.”

“Oh,” said Ella nodding her head thoughtfully.

“Anyway, I’d better go and face the music,” I smiled, there was no way that I could put it off any longer.

Half an hour later I was back in my room. Enid was there.

“So, how did it go?” she asked, looking up from my diary, which she had been reading again.

“Diaries are supposed to be private,” I said.

“You should do a better job of hiding it then,” she said closing the book. “How did it go?”

“Well Rosie recognised her Mum and ran over to her. Her Mum recognised her and when Ian saw them together, he recognised the two of them. They all did DNA tests to prove the relationship and then went to see Ian and Jessie’s parents,” I replied.

“Anything else?” asked Enid.

“Mrs Walters, the head of the home wasn’t happy,” I added. “There are procedures to follow when parents turn up.”

“The DNA tests should provide the prof,” said Enid.

“I know,” I said. “But something smells here, I can’t put my finger on what, but she wanted Rose kept away and she seemed very odd about the idea that Rosie’s parents might want her back.”

“You aren’t saying this because you’ve been given a months notice?” asked Enid.

“That just gives me an easy way out,” I replied. “There is something off here and I don’t know what.”

“I’ll have a look round this evening and see what I can find,” said Enid. “I think you may be onto something.”

by Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 26

Ian’s mobile phone rang, just as they had finished taking the samples for the DNA tests and I was trying to explain to Ella that she had to go back to the orphanage till they found out the results.

“I’d better take this,” said Ian, looking at the phone. “It’s your Dad,” he told Jessie.

“Hello Mark,” he said to the phone.

“Ian, do you really think this might help find Jessie and Ella?”

“I know it will,” Ian started to say.

“Joan’s got her hopes up so many times, it’s hard for her when they come to nothing,” Mark continued, not really listening to Ian.

“We’ve just finished here, there’s someone I’d like you to see,” Ian said.

“I don’t know, Joan’s not been so well lately,” Mark said.

“We can meet down the road, at the newsagents,” said Ian. “If you don’t think it’s a good idea, we wont come.”

“OK,” said Mark. “Give me a ring when you’re there. I’ll think of a reason to nip out,” he added and then hung up.

“What’s wrong?” Jessie demanded.

“Your Dad’s just worried about your Mum,” Ian explained. “She’ll be fine once she sees you.”

“I’ve got to go and see my Mum,” Jessie explained to Ella. “But I will be back and we will be a family again.”

“Can’t I come with you?” Ella wailed.

“If it was my decision,” I said to Ella. “But you know how things are.”

“But,” she said her eyes watering up.

“Your Granny hasn’t seen your Mum in ages, it’s going to be a lot for her to take in just seeing her,” Ella’s Dad tried to explain.

“Wont she want to see me as well?” asked Ella.

“Yes she will,” said Jessie, looking at me. I was busy ringing back to the orphanage.

“Hello,” I said.

“We are a bit busy here,” said the head of the home in a bit of a hushed voice. “Is there any way you can keep Rosie occupied till after five?”

“Yes,” I replied. “There’s a trip being organised.”

“Take her on it, I’m sure she’ll have a good time,” she said and hung up.

“Right,” I smiled. “If you don’t mind me coming along, we can go.”

“No time like the present,” said Ian leading the way to his car.

An hour later we were parked next to a newsagents and Ian was ringing his Father-in-law.

“We’re at the newsagents,” Ian told him.

“I hope this isn’t a wild goose chase,” said Mark.

“No,” said Ian as Mark hung up.

“How are we going to do this?” asked Ian. “We don’t want to give your Dad too much of a shock.

“Perhaps if we go into the shop,” said Jessie.

“But he’s expecting someone with me,” said Ian.

“I’m here,” I said.

“You go in the shop with Ella,” said Ian.

“Can I have some ice-cream?” asked Ella.

“We could have a look at the ice-cream and see what they’ve got,” said Jessie, leading her daughter into the shop. “We could get a tub and share them with your Grandparents.”

“That would be good,” said Ella. “Can we have tinned peaches with it. I love tinned peaches.”

“So who do you want me to meet?” a grumpy looking man asked Ian. I assumed it was Mark, Jessie’s Dad.

“They’re in the shop,” said Ian.

“I can’t be long, Joan’s expecting me back,” he muttered and then stopped short as Jessie and Ella walked out of the shop.

“We got ice-cream and peaches for Nana Joan,” said Ella skipping up to the old man.

“Then we’d better take them to her before it melts,” he said taking hold of her hand. “Jessie?” he said looking at his daughter.

“I didn’t know who I was and neither did anyone else,” she said hugging him.

“Your Mum,” he started saying.

“Will be wanting her ice-cream,” said Ella, pulling on his arm.

“We’d better go then,” he said smiling.

“Is that you Mark?” asked Joan when she heard the front door opening.

“Yes dear, I’ve brought some people to see you,” he replied.

“I’m not sure,” she started saying, walking towards the front door and then stopped in her tracks. “Is this a dream? Please tell me it isn’t a dream,” she said. “Then again, if it is, I don’t want to wake up.”

“Nana Joan, we’ve got ice-cream and peaches,” said Ella, taking the bag from her Mum and walking towards her Nana. “We should eat them before the ice-cream melts.”

“Ice-cream and peaches,” she said. “It’s what I’ve dreamt of all these years,” she said hugging Ella and hugging Jessie. “It’s you, it’s really you,” she kept saying. “You’ve brought them back to me,” she said to Ian.

I felt like walking away and leaving them to it, but I knew that I would have to get Ella back to the orphanage for 5pm even if I had to fly her there. I did feel a bit like the bad fairy with that, but procedures have to be gone through, they wouldn’t thank me if they ended up on the run from the law for kidnapping their own daughter.

“Do your parents know?” Joan asked Ian, as she found the bowls and started serving the ice-cream and peaches.

“No, I haven’t told them yet,” he said. “It’s all happened so quickly. I was thinking, we could do that next, if you don’t mind this being a bit of a flying visit.”

“I understand, you must see your Mum and Dad,” said Joan.

“After the ice-cream,” said Ella.

“Of course,” said Jessie.

“It’s been so long since we’ve had ice-cream and peaches,” said Mark, getting out the spoons.

Soon the ice-cream was finished and it was time to go.

“It’s just so good to see you all,” said Joan. “But your Mum and Dad, should see these two as well.”

“And we have to get Ella back to the home for five,” I said. Joan and Mark turned to look at me as if they hadn’t realised I was there.

“Why?” asked Mark. “Ella belongs with her parents.”

“I agree totally and there are DNA tests being run at the hospital to prove that she is Ian and Jessie’s daughter, but until the results are in we have no prof,” I explained.

“But,” Mark started.

“It is the way things go,” I said. “As soon as they have prof and know Ian and Jessie can look after Ella she will be able to go home with them. I shall hurry it up as much as possible, but if we are not back at the home by five then Ian and Jessie could be accused of kidnap and that would draw the whole procedure on which is the last thing anyone wants.”

“I’ll hate to see you go back there,” Jessie said to Ella. “But it wont be for long and we’ll visit.”

“I understand,” said Ella.

“We’d better get going if we are going to see my parents and get back for five,” said Ian.

“Yes, of course,” said Joan.

“I’ll bring Jessie back after we’ve, you know,” Ian stuttered.

“We can have a good talk then,” said Jessie hugging her Mum and Dad.

I felt like shit, but I couldn’t just wave my magic wand and give them the happy ending I thought they deserved.

By Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 25

I was all in when I went up to bed, it had been a long and difficult day, Rosie was having problems readjusting to being back in the orphanage and I was finding it hard doing what I was told to do. I am used to being my own boss, following protocols and filling in paper work wasn’t easy, especially when it went against what I thought was the right thing to do. Enid would have been amazed to see me do what I was told, without too many questions. I think you are allowed to ask why things are done that way, but if it comes to “that’s the way we do them”, you just have to live with it. Then again, Enid may have been watching me and having a laugh at my expense, I wouldn’t put it past her.

Anyway, when I went up to my room the only thought had been to sleep, earlier I had had visions of soaking in a nice hot bath, easing all the aches and pains away, but by the end of the day all I could think of was crashing out. Then Enid gave me Rosie/Ella’s file and all thoughts of sleep went from my head. I read every single word of the file, backwards, forwards and upside down, which ever way I looked at it, it didn’t make good reading.

There was no work in the town Ella’s parents lived in, so they had to look further afield. There was nothing within a suitable commuting distance, so they had to look further afield. Eventually Ella’s Father got a job, he travelled down to the work and stayed in a guest house during the week, then came home for the weekend. It wasn’t easy, but eventually they saved up the money for a deposit on a rental house, which meant that the family could be together. Then Ella’s Mum started looking for child care and a part time job that would fit in with family life. Things were looking up, until Ella’s Father had an accident, fell off a ladder or something, the tooth fairy was strangely vague on that. He was rushed to hospital and his wife was informed, she grabbed Ella and headed to the hospital. She was in a panic, probably not paying a great deal of attention to where she was going or what was around her. A van veered of the road, she had time just enough time to push Ella out of the way before the van hit her and then drove off down the road as if nothing had happened. A crowd quickly gathered round Ella’s mother, but none of them noticed little Ella. She stood and watched her mother being taken away in an ambulance and then waited and waited, till someone finally asked where her parents were, but by that time she had stopped talking, so they took her into care.

When her Father finally got out of hospital and went home he found the landlord busy emptying their things from the house in preparation for another tenant to move in. No one knew where his wife and child were. He contacted his wife’s parents, they didn’t know where she was, so he went to the Police and reported them missing. He arranged a removal van for their things and went back home to his parents.

No one knew whose van had run Ella’s Mum over. No one knew who Ella’s Mum was and that included Ella’s Mum when she came out of the comma. Meanwhile, Ella was now Rosie and not talking to anyone.

“What a mess,” I muttered as I sat back on my bed. “But solvable for all that. A walk in the park for your average Fairy Godmother.”

It was a week after Enid had given me the file. The anniversary of the day things all went wrong for Ella’s family. I was taking Rosie/Ella to the hospital for a check up.

Meanwhile someone, a student on a media course, had heard about Ella’s Father’s accident and wanted to do a programme about his miraculous recovery and his return to health. He persuaded Ella’s Father to go back to the hospital and thank the people who had worked so hard to get him well again. The hospital was happy for the positive publicity. Just took a few words in the right ears, it didn’t take much organising.

Ella’s Mum was in a hostel, they had called her Carol for want of something to call her. She was sue a check-up at the hospital.

Everything was lined up for a chance meeting that would reunite the family.

“Come on Rosie, you don’t want to miss your appointment,” I said when Rosie refused to get out of bed. She pulled the duvet over her head. This was going to be difficult.

“I generally find that children are quiet open to bribery,” said Enid from the other side of the bed.

“I don’t want to start down that road,” I hissed.

“Why? Should everything go to plan you wont have to worry about it setting up a bad president,” she replied. “And you do want her to be there, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” I hissed at Enid.

“Rosie,” I said. “We could get an ice-cream on the way back, if you are good.”

The duvet was pulled back.

“Would you like an ice-cream?” I asked.

She nodded vigorously.

“Right,” I said. “I am going to brush my hair. I shall be back in five minutes, if you aren’t ready to go downstairs for breakfast, there will be no ice-cream for you. Do you understand?”

Again she nodded her head.

As I walked out of the room I heard her jump out of bed.

“Told you bribery works,” Enid said when I nearly bumped into her on the other side of the door.

“Thank-you,” I said. “And to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I found your plan interesting and I just wanted to make sure it didn’t fall at the first hurdle,” she replied.

“So, are you going to hang around all day or leave me to it?” I asked.

“I’m going to make sure the other two get to the hospital on time,” she smiled. “I’ll see you there.” With that she slowly merged into the back-ground, the last thing to vanish was her smile, which passed on the impression that things were going to go wrong and she wanted to be there to see it happen.

There was a tug on my sleeve and I turned to find Rosie smiling up at me.

“Breakfast,” I said. “We don’t want the Doctor to say we are starving you now do we?”

I could see the student busy filming as soon as we arrived at the reception. I didn’t know what they were saying, the student had co-opted someone to do the talking whilst he did the filming. Rosie was fascinated, her eyes glued to the scene.

Then her Mum walked in and for a moment she was lit up by a stray shaft of sun light.

“Mummy!” yelled Rosie/Ella, pulling away from me and running across the reception towards her.

“My baby!” she yelled and ran to meet Ella.

“Jessie! Ella!” he yelled joining in a mass hug in the middle of the reception.

I was pleased that the student managed to stay calm and carry on filming the whole thing.

“Could you explain?” he asked.

“Before the accident, I was a happily married Father of one daughter. Then the accident happened and I couldn’t remember who I was, but seeing them here, it all came back,” he smiled, totally unwilling to let either of them go. “The staff at this hospital healed my body, without them I would be dead, but I always felt that there was something missing, something that I couldn’t remember. Now I can.”

“I was told that you’d had an accident,” said Jessie. “I took Ella and dashed here, I didn’t know if you were dead or alive.”

“It must have been terrible,” he said, hugging her. “But I don’t remember seeing you here.”

“I was crossing a road and a van came speeding down it, I didn’t see it till the last minute, I pushed Ella out of the way and then nothing. I woke up in hospital, in bed and I couldn’t remember who I was or anything. I’ve been living in limbo ever since,” said Jessie.

“It’s time to leave,” said Enid.

“I have a job to do, looking after Rosie,” I reminded her. “Along with several other children. I can’t just vanish.”

“Of course not,” said Enid.

“And they aren’t going to just hand her over to two people just because they say they are her parents. They will have to prove it,” I said.

“That can be done,” said Enid.

“A DNA check should provide prof,” I replied.

“And when that’s done?” asked Enid.

“I’ll ring you,” I said.

“I’ll be waiting,” she smiled.

by Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 24

“You still here?” said a voice just behind me. I turned around to see Enid standing behind me in the queue for the supermarket checkout.

“Enid!” I squeaked.

“That’s me,” she smiled as the cashier finished with the customer in front of me and started passing my purchases through the till.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed as she vanished.

“Helping you put the shopping in your bags,” she said, suddenly the other side of me and filling bags with the things that I had bought for the orphanage.

“That may be what you are doing now, but we both know that isn’t why you are here,” I snapped as Enid put the last thing into a bag and put the bag into the trolley.

“I think you need to pay for them,” she smiled in an infuriating way. I put the orphanage credit card into the reader, typed in the four digits and then accepted the piece of till roll the cashier was proffering to me.

“Thank-you,” I said smiling at the cashier.

“Where’s your car?” asked Enid. “I assume you have one.”

“It’s in the car park,” I smiled.

“There wouldn’t be much point in having a driving licence without one,” Enid said smugly as I pushed the trolley towards it. “Aren’t you going to ask me how I know about it?”

“You know everything,” I replied smiling back. “Stands to reason that you’d know about the driving licence.”

“And all the other documentation you’ve been after,” Enid added.

“It’s a given,” I said.

“What are you still doing in that place?” Enid asked as we arrived at the car. It was a classic, a mark one mini, I had the idea that it would be unobtrusive, it being so small. Nice idea, it didn’t work, sometimes when I got back to it there would be crowds of admirers standing round talking about it and the Mark I’s they had had.

“She is alone in the world, she doesn’t know her real name and so is in no position to find her family, if they are still alive,” I replied.

“So you don’t think your job is done,” Enid sighed.

“Not by a long chalk,” I replied, putting the last of the groceries into the car and heading back to the trolley stand with the trolley.

“So what have you done to find them?” Enid asked.

“I have been through her file looking for clues,” I replied. There was a surprising lack of information in them.

“What do they say?” Enid asked.

“They tell me where she was found and when,” I said.

“And that’s all?” she asked.

“It isn’t much to go on, but it’s all I have,” I sighed.

“Have they checked out the missing persons?” Enid asked.

“They did, at the time but didn’t come up with any answers,” I replied.

“I could ask at the Tooth Fairy Office, if you’d like me to,” Enid said.

“How can they help?” I asked.

“As a small child she will have had a file, all the teeth she leaves for the Tooth Fairy will be registered on it,” Enid explained.

“I know that,” I snapped. “I was a tooth fairy.”

“When the child disappeared from her original home, did she stop loosing teeth?” Enid asked.

“No,” I replied.

“So when an unnamed child in an orphanage looses a tooth?” asked Enid.

“The tooth is matched with an open file and the name changed to co-inside with the name they are calling the child by,” I said. “But the original details are kept on file,” I added. The way, the truth and everything was in that file.

“Exactly,” said Enid. “The answer is there, do you want me to get it for you?”

“I would go myself, but,” I smiled.

“It would be hard for you to get the time off and they may not give you the answers you want, whereas they would have to tell me,” said Enid.

“I would be ever so grateful,” I smiled.

“Grateful enough to come back?” she asked. “Never mind, don’t answer that one, not till we know who she is.”

“I am just trying to be a good Fairy Godmother,” I said.

“I know,” Enid smiled and slowly started to disappear, from her feet up, the last thing to go was the smile.

I started the car, put it into gear and headed back to the orphanage.

It was the end of a long and difficult day, I opened the door of my room to find Enid sitting on my bed.

“I was beginning to wonder when you were going to go to bed,” she said, looking up from reading my diary.

“That’s private,” I said snatching it from her hands.

“It’s OK, I’d finished reading it,” she said. “Though I would put it somewhere a bit safer if I was you.”

“I thought at the back of my wardrobe would have been safe enough, especially as you are the first person to have found it,” I replied.

“If you say so,” she said, but I could tell that she didn’t think that.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“I have that information you wanted,” she said.

“Information?” I asked.

“Rosie,” Enid replied. “Only Rosie isn’t her name.”

“I know that,” I snapped.

“Her real name, the one given to her by her parents, is Ella,” said Enid, picking a file out of an invisibility bag and handing it to me. “You’d better keep the bag,” she added handing that to me as well. “Keep your diary in it.”

With that she vanished, slowly again. I sat on my bed and read the file. I knew the tooth fairy had more information than Father Christmas, but I didn’t know how much. The problem I had was how to use this information to bring about a family reunion.

By Janice Nye © 2020