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