Table Of Content

Jenny Dooley Express Publishing gnihsilbuP sserpxE yb dehsilbuP ,kraP mahneerG weN ,esuoH ytrebiL Newbury, Berkshire RG19 6HW Tel: (0044) 1635 817 363 - Fax: (0044) 1635 817 463 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.expresspublishing.co.uk ©Jenny Dooley 1996 Chapter 1: The Helping Hand Club 2002 gnihsilbuP sserpxE © noitartsullI & ngiseD Chapter 2: The Lady in Room 16 9 Colour Illustrations: Nathan Chapter 3: The Dance 15 Chapter 4: The Accident 19 Chapter 5: Life or Death 23 esuoH notpmaH :6 retpahC 27 Chapter 7: The Investigation 32 ISBN 1-84216-904-1 Chapter 8: Lord Hampton's Story 36 Chapter 9: A Matter of Choice 40 stnemoM laniF ehT :01 retpahC 43 3 Chapter 1 eht saw hcihw gnidliub eht ni ,lausu sa ysub saw mailliW yadrutaS yreve ereht dekrow eH .dnaH gnipleH rof eciffo morning. Today the building was full of teenagers, all waiting for someone to tell them what to do and where to go. ".gnippohs reh tcelloc ot enoemos sdeen htimS srM ,yllaS" Sally went to the desk and took the shopping list for Mrs dna eybdoog dias ecaf ytterp reh no elims a htiw neht ,htimS .eciffo eht fo tuo deklaw .klaw a rof god reh ekat ot uoy stnaw senoJ srM ,nhoJ" And be careful not to step on the dog this time." "?noonretfa siht shtimS eht rof tisybab uoy nac ,yraG" ".nedrag sih ni pleh sdeen nworB rM ,oJ" The telephone never stopped ringing, but slowly, as time passed, the office became calm again. Most of the teenagers were out helping the people of the town, the rest were by the dna reyalp ettessac eht no dehctiws enoemoS .enihcam eeffoc William sat in his chair more comfortably and closed his eyes. "Hello." William opened his eyes. A lovely girl stood in front of his desk, smiling. "?uoy era ohW .ydal gnuoy ,olleH" "I'm Kathy. I'm new here and I don't know anybody, so I thought perhaps I could help you." dnuor dedeen syawla si pleH .drow cigam eht dias uoY" yrarbiL eht gnikat m'I ,kcab steg naoJ sa noos sa ,tcaf nI .ereh 7 Chapter 2 van to the Old People's Home and I need someone to help with the small trolley. Why don't you get some coffee and meet the rest of the group?" Suddenly the door flew open and a tall, smiling girl came in. ta hsinif ot emit gnol yrev a koot ggaT rM .etal m'I yrroS" The Old People's Home was outside the town. When they the Foot Clinic. He's back home now, so here I am. Any problems, William?" eht ot tnew eH .ecnartne niam eht ta dekrap mailliW ,devirra .ti fo tuo skoob fo yellort gib a dehsup dna nav eht fo kcab "Nothing serious, but we do have a new helper. Kathy, Kathy took the smaller trolley. come and meet Joan. She's the manager here." "I'll go to the main room downstairs and you take your "William's taking me to the Old People's Home to give out tuo teg t'nac ohw elpoep dlo eht ot smoor eht dnuor yellort the library books - if that's all right." ".srebmun moor eht uoy evig lliw nortam ehT .deb fo netsaf os ,revird elbirret a si mailliW !tuo hctaw tub ,ylevoL" "!tleb taes ruoy Just then the matron arrived. "Hello, William. They're waiting for you ... but who's this?" "Don't believe a word she says. Bye-bye everybody. See you later." mailliW dna dnaH gnipleH ta wen m'I .yhtaK m'I ,olleH" asked me to come here." "All right, but not too much later. We have a lot of things to do, you know!" elpoep wen teem ot ekil syawla yehT .gnimoc rof uoy knahT" from the town. This is the list of room numbers. Leave the od ot hcum os ton yllaer saw ereht sa dehgual enoyrevE lady in Room 16 last, because she likes to talk and feels lonely tog dna eciffo eht fo tuo deklaw yhtaK dna mailliW .yad taht into the van. ".deb ni yats ot sah ehs taht won "All right." "Don't worry, Kathy. I'm a safe driver, and it won't take us no moor ynnus ,egral eht otni yellort sih dehsup mailliW very long to do this job." the left of the hall. Kathy pushed her trolley down a narrow .edistuo teerts ysub eht ta dekool dna mailliW ta delims yhtaK yppah erew elpoep dlo ehT .edis hcae no srood htiw rodirroc a su ekat lliw ti tub ,gnivird ruoy tuoba deirrow ton m'I" to meet her and asked her lots of questions. long time as there's a lot of traffic in the streets, today." At last Kathy arrived at Room 16. She knocked on the door, "!daor eht tih s'tel ,neht thgir llA" and when a gentle voice called "Come in." Kathy opened the door and pushed the trolley into a pretty room, which at that moment was full of sunshine. An old lady, with bright blue reH .deb ni gniyl saw sessalg demarf-latem ,dnuor dniheb seye 8 9 ta delims ehS .thgilnus eht ni gninihs ,etihw dna tfos saw riah .reh ta kcab delims yhtaK .yhtaK "Good afternoon. My name's Kathy Watson and I'm working at Helping Hand. I brought you some books. Do you want one?" uoy dlo woh ksa I yaM .uoy teem ot eciN .ylimE ssiM ma I" are, Kathy?" "I'm nineteen." dnimer od uoy ,seY .uoy ta kool em tel dna ereh emoc ,woN" tuB .oot ,ytterp yrev saw ehS .oga gnol wenk I lrig a fo em ediseb loots siht no nwod tis dna emoc esaelP .taht fo hguone elttil yrev si ereht dna uoy llet ot sgniht ynam evah I sa em time left." dna mlac tlef ehS .ydal dlo eht ediseb nwod tas yhtaK peaceful, but curious too. The old lady began to speak softly. "I am very old now but when I was young I went to work gnihsaw eht gniod tnemesab eht ni dekrow I .esuoh gib a ni and ironing. Lord Hampton, the young master, lived alone, but many rich friends came to visit him and his parties were famous in the town. Hampton house was beautiful then. Bright eht no doow eht edam yehT .smoor eht lla ni enohs sthgil os erew steprac ehT .elkraps revlis eht dna enihs erutinruf thick your feet disappeared inside the wool when you walked on them ... I was lucky. The cook let me have some food after rehto sih tub ,nehctik eht ot kcab emac slaem s'notpmaH droL ".yrgnuh dna dloc netfo erew stnavres "How terrible!" "Lord Hampton wasn't a bad man, he just thought servants dna elpoep hciR .lla ta stnavres tuoba kniht t'ndid eh ,oN ... ".tuoba thguoht eh lla saw taht ,krow sih 11 "Do people still work there - cleaners, gardeners and maybe the young people from Helping Hand sometimes?" "No. The house is old and needs lots of repairs. Nobody ".won ereht seog reve "And Lord Hampton?" There was no answer from Miss Emily. Her eyes were shut and there was a smile on her lips - the kind of smile children have when they are keeping a secret, thought Kathy. "?daer ot koob a tnaw uoy oD" "No, thank you. Come and visit me again another day, Kathy." .rood eht ot yellort eht dehsup ylteiuq dna pu doots yhtaK She opened it, went out of the room and back into the narrow corridor. "What took you so long?" "Miss Emily. She told me about the days when she was young." "?ylimE ssiM s'ohW" "The lady in Room 16, the one the you told me to leave last." ".kcalB neraK dellac si 61 mooR ni ydal eht tuB" "That's strange. Maybe I got the name wrong." ".krow ot kcab teg ot evah ew ,neht no emoC" eht rewsna ot yhtaK deksa naoJ ,dnaH gnipleH ta kcaB tniap rehsiF rM pleh ot tfel mailliW .sruoh wef a rof enohpelet his house. hcae evag naoJ .eciffo eht ot denruter enoyreve ,kcolc'o 2 tA naoJ .tnorf eht no eman rieht htiw epolevne nworb a meht fo dnuop-evif a saw ereht ,edisnI .oot ,epolevne na yhtaK evag note. "?siht s'tahW !hO" 13 Chapter 3 "?gnihton rof yadot dekrow uoy kniht t'ndid uoY" "Yes, I did." t'nod ohw elpoep gnuoy eht os dnaH gnipleH detrats naoJ" have much money could find work and at the same time help pleh ew ,ees uoY .sevlesmeht yb sgniht od t'nac ohw elpoep the town's people and they help us, then everyone is happy! That evening Kathy took a long time to dress because she Do you want to come to the dance here tonight?" didn't know what to wear. She finally put on her best dress "Oh, I didn't see any notices about a dance. How do you riah riaf htgnel-redluohs reh dehsurb ehs nehT .seohs dna know there's going to be a dance here tonight, William?" until it shone. A last look in the mirror showed a slim girl with "There's a dance here every Saturday night for the .slruc tfos yb demarf ecaf lavo reh ,seye nworb yppah people from Helping Hand and any other young people who William stood at the end of the road and waited. When he uoy lliw ,oS .elpoep wen teem ll'uoy dna nuf s'tI .emoc ot tnaw .reh teem ot deirruh eh ,yhtaK was come to the dance?" "?og ot ydaeR !niaga olleH" "OK then, I'll come. Thank you for asking me, William." "Yes, let's go!" "See you at 8 o'clock outside the office, then." gnuoy fo lluf saw tI .gnidliub eht otni tnew yeht rehtegoT people. Some girls were in mini skirts and T-shirts, others in --T ,snaej erow nem gnuoy eht fo tsoM .sesserd thgirb ,gnol .sevlesmeht yojne ot detnaw enoyrevE .stekcaj rehtael dna strihs eht ecnad ot yhtaK detivni neht ,sdneirf sih deteerg mailliW moment the music started. They danced nicely together. And when the music stopped, a girl with soft brown hair and shining brown eyes came near them. "This is Sue. Sue, say hello to Kathy!" tser eht teem dna emoC .uoy teem ot eciN !yhtaK ,olleH" of the crowd." Just then, a tall young man came forward. He held his .rehto eht ni feihcrekdnah a dna dnah eno ni sessalg .gnikniht s'eh nehw sessalg sih snaelc syawla eH .nhoJ si sihT" He's terribly clever, so he cleans his glasses a lot." ".yrgna m'I nehw eye eno ssorca sllaf riah yM" 14 15 She looked into his kind green eyes and didn't believe he could ever actually get angry. esuaceb ,reh ees uoy erofeb reh raeh uoY !maP semoc ereH" ".gnihgual syawla s'ehs "Are you talking about me?" "Yes." "I hope it was something nice." raen tnew nam gnuoy A .enohs seye yerg reh delims ehs sA her. ".madA s'eman yM .olleH" ".yhtaK m'I .uoy teem ot dalG" "?ecnad ot ekil uoy dluoW" "I'd love to!" For the rest of the evening, Kathy danced and talked to her .oot ,flesmih deyojne mailliW dna ,sdneirf wen ".ecnad tsaL" "My dance!" William led Kathy to the dance floor. As they were dancing Kathy took a look at her face in a mirror. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were shining. After the dance was over, William and Kathy went home, walking through the streets of the town which were now quiet. ".yhtaK ,neht worromot uoy eeS" "See you tomorrow, William. Bye-bye!" gnipleH ta dekrow mailliW dna yhtaK ,yadrutaS yrevE ehS .nwot dnuora sboj ddo eht gniod deyojne yhtaK .dnaH even sang for a pop group because their singer was sick. And then she had to serve drinks and food to the guests at a garden party, but the name of the house was "Pine Lodge" not "Hampton House" as she had hoped. 17