The Origami Nun (2 page)

Great-Aunt Alice harrumphed, but in a jokey way, not in a way that meant Ruth was in trouble.

“I don’t know,” she said. “You young people, you should really pay more attention to what’s in front of your nose. The world is full of magic and wonder, and we must never forget it. But come on, you have to get to school even though it’s your birthday and I have to have time to make your special tea. So shake a leg and don’t shilly-shally, all of life’s ahead so don’t dilly-dally!”

Chapter Two

Ruth was still humming her great-aunt’s little song in her head as they walked together to school. Their usual route took them up the short garden path lined with red and yellow rose bushes. Ruth breathed in deeply and the scent made her smile. The origami nun nestled deep in her pocket and that made her smile again. Once through the garden gate, Great-Aunt Alice and Ruth turned left and headed down the road. The walk to school took ten minutes and Ruth always enjoyed it. She liked the feel of her small hand in her great-aunt’s larger one and she liked how the neighbours they met on the way would wish them both good morning. Except for old Mr. Brown on the corner. He lived in a house that was dark and had shutters. Ruth didn’t like shutters and whenever he met them, he would simply nod. He wouldn’t even smile at Ruth, who tended to hang back and hide behind her great-aunt’s skirts when he was there anyway. Great-Aunt Alice would hold her hand extra tightly and then give her a big hug when Mr. Brown walked off. No matter how many times her great-aunt would tell her Mr. Brown meant no harm and it was just his way, Ruth still felt the same. She thought she always would.

This morning they didn’t meet anyone, and Ruth felt sad as she’d hoped they’d wish her a happy birthday on her special day. But never mind, the sky was bright and she could hear the thrush who lived in the hedge five doors down piping her morning song. Ruth had only glimpsed the bird twice as the thrush was very shy, nearly as shy as Ruth was when she met Mr. Brown, but the song was beautiful. She loved the smell of the air fresh from rain that had fallen in the night and the way her shoes clip-clip-clopped on the pavement. Most of all she loved the smell of her great-aunt’s lemony perfume and the way her hand held Ruth’s.

It all helped to stop her thinking about school. Because Ruth
really
hated school.

She’d only been going to her new school for two terms as she’d moved in with her great-aunt after her grandmother and mother had died last year. One day her mother and grandmother had been here and the next day they had not. She wasn’t worried about her father as he’d died before she was born. Now all she had was Great-Aunt Alice, but she loved her and it was enough. Ruth was determined she and her great-aunt would be together for ever. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

The only horrible thing was her school. Ruth had had friends at the school she’d been to before. Lots of friends. She knew Bobby who couldn’t read but who was really good at ball games, Carol who ran around a lot during class but who drew beautiful pictures, and Eva who couldn’t talk properly because of her stammer and who bit grown-ups when she was upset. Ruth had been best friends with Eva, maybe because neither of them could talk properly, and she missed her the most, though she thought the biting was strange. Ruth certainly didn’t want to bite anyone and she knew Great-Aunt Alice wouldn’t like it if she did. So she had no intention of starting.

Yes, Ruth had enjoyed her old school, but her new school was not like that. Everyone went there and you didn’t have to have something different about you. She thought the children here weren’t as nice and, as she and her great-aunt came nearer to the school, her steps became smaller and she hung back in the shadow of Great-Aunt Alice’s skirts.

“Come on, darling,” her great-aunt whispered. “I know you can be brave and, who knows, things might not be how you expect today. It is your birthday after all.”

Ruth wasn’t sure that would change anything, no matter how special the day. She stared up at the building and felt her heart beat faster. Her new school was an old red-brick building which when she arrived on her first morning her teacher, Mrs. Easting, had told her was Victorian. Ruth knew what that meant as she wasn’t stupid even though she couldn’t speak, but Mrs. Easting had taken her to one side and explained it to her while Ruth smiled. The children had giggled at her when she sat down at an empty chair at the front, and the nearest girl had reached over and pinched her. Ruth squirmed away but was too frightened to pinch back. The girl’s name was Lorraine.

Now she thought that not pinching back might have been where she’d gone wrong.

Today, her birthday, she couldn’t see Lorraine but she knew she’d be somewhere around, waiting for Ruth. Great-Aunt Alice stood at the school railings and gently eased Ruth inside the playground. A few groups of children were standing around, but Ruth paid them no attention. She knew better than to look at them. If she tried to, they’d just turn away, and Ruth didn’t like that. It made her feel stupid. Just because she couldn’t talk, it didn’t mean she was weird or anything.

“Now, have a good day, my darling, and I’ll be here later for your birthday tea. Don’t forget to remind your classmates as there’ll be plenty for everyone. But, most of all, always remember I love you.”

She kissed Ruth and walked away, her bright green headscarf flapping in the breeze. She waved once and Ruth waved back. Just at that moment, something moved in her pocket and she heard the soft rustle of paper. She reached inside and took out the nun. She’d almost forgotten her, as the thought of being at school had almost made her forget everything, even her birthday and even the origami nun.

Ruth blinked as she stared at the small gift in her hand. The nun sparkled in the sunlight and for a moment Ruth thought she was waving, but then everything went back to normal. It was impossible anyway, wasn’t it? She couldn’t help smiling though. Funny how the sight of the nun made her feel happy.

“What’ve you got there then, dumb girl?”

Ruth knew who it was before looking up. Lorraine was shorter than Ruth, with straggly fair hair that fell over her eyes. Ruth always thought her eyes looked small. Lorraine had a narrow mouth, lips tight together like she kept secrets she couldn’t say, and fingers that were made to pinch and thump.

She didn’t know why Lorraine always seemed to expect a reply to her endless questions as the other girl knew Ruth couldn’t talk. Stupid, cruel Lorraine. So Ruth shook her head fiercely, closed her fingers over the nun and backed away.

She didn’t get far. Lorraine grabbed her by the arm, the one holding the nun, and pulled her round. By now a small group of Lorraine’s friends had turned up and were whispering and laughing behind their hands. Ruth struggled to get away but Lorraine was too strong for her.

“Answer my question,” Lorraine said. “I bet you can talk if you want to. But if you can’t, let’s have a look at what you’ve got. Did you nick it?”

Again, Ruth shook her head. Lorraine’s breath smelt and it made her feel sick. Before she could try to run away, Lorraine forced her fingers open and peered down at the origami nun.

“What’s this?” she said with a snort. “Is that your friend? Look, everyone! Look what Ruth’s brought in!”

Lorraine grabbed the nun and held her up in the air, laughing. Ruth jumped up to reach her but Lorraine was too tall and too strong. Around them other children were pointing and giggling. Ruth felt the tears spring up but she was determined to get the nun back. It was her special present and anyway there was something different about the nun, something important. All the time, Lorraine was teasing and laughing at her, and children were grabbing at Ruth’s clothes and hair. She didn’t know why they were being so horrible. Was it just because she wasn’t like them?

Finally, Ruth managed to pull Lorraine’s arm down, but it was too late as she’d thrown the nun across the playground to one of her friends, a small boy who would jab Ruth in the ribs whenever he walked past her. He threw it to another friend who then threw it to another. Ruth couldn’t see who that was as tears were making her eyes swim. So it went on for what seemed like hours though it could only have been minutes. At last somebody threw the origami nun onto the ground and made as if to stamp on her, but Ruth managed to snatch her away at the last minute and ran round the corner of the playground and towards the toilets. The sound of more jeering, and then the stern voice of her class teacher, too late, followed her.

Ruth liked the girls’ toilets. She felt safer there and sometimes spent whole playtimes hiding out in them and thinking.

She liked how simple and grey they were, with tiles on the floor that she could scuffle with her toes and make funny black lines appear. She liked the sense of being protected by the cubicle doors which she could lock so no-one could get in and upset her. Most of all, Ruth liked the fact that Lorraine didn’t like the toilets and so didn’t stay long to torment her. Here she had peace, which was something her great-aunt talked about a lot. It wasn’t something Ruth thought she needed, if she were honest, because she had peace anyway as she couldn’t speak. But in the toilets and without Lorraine, she had more of it.

In her hand, the nun trembled and Ruth gasped. It wasn’t just her imagination then, and the paper was really alive. Had her great-aunt known about it, or was Ruth the only one? She couldn’t believe that could be right, especially as Great-Aunt Alice knew everything so she would know about the origami nun as well. Ruth decided to ask her later, when she came to the school for her birthday tea, but now she had to go and join her class. Mrs. Easting would be taking the register and she couldn’t bear anyone to be late.

Slowly she unlocked the door and crept outside. The sun made everything glitter and she had to blink twice before she could see anything. Then the big school building reared up over her and she felt her mouth go dry. There was no-one about, which was good in one way as no-one could be nasty to her, but it was also bad as it meant everyone was inside and she’d be late. Lessons: they had to be faced before the end of the day arrived and she could be safe, so she’d better get a move on. She took one step, then another, and the nun in her fingers glowed warm against her skin. When Ruth glanced down, the paper was all sparkly and bright, and it made Ruth laugh out loud and feel better.

The nun made her feel so much better that she hardly noticed when she arrived at her class, opened the door and slipped in. Usually when she was late, Ruth hovered by the door for ages before she dared to open it. She was sure everyone knew she did that as they’d always giggle when she finally walked inside. Mrs. Easting would stop what she was saying and turn to look at her. Her teacher would make no comment while Ruth stumbled to her desk at the front of the class and sat down. Only then would she go on with the lesson.

Today, everything was different. When Ruth came in, Mrs. Easting gave her a big smile and waved her towards her seat.

“Ruth!” she said. “Come and sit down. I know it’s a very special day for you today. Happy birthday from all the children here!”

What with her meeting with Lorraine, Ruth had almost forgotten it but, as she sat, the class around her began to sing with their teacher directing them.

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday, dear Ruth,

Happy birthday to you!

It didn’t sound very truthful to her, and Ruth felt her skin grow hot as she tried to nod her thanks. At least Mrs. Easting had tried, although really she would have liked it better if her teacher had left it alone. She didn’t have any friends here and felt her birthday would only really happen once she was home again, in spite of the party.

The nun shifted in her hand, and Ruth put her in her pocket again before anyone, especially Lorraine, could see. She was so glad the nun was here. Even so it took her a while to calm down from the strangeness of being sung to, and she only really began to pay attention as Mrs. Easting came to an end of telling them about the plan for the day. Their class teacher did like plans. Ruth preferred doing things as they occurred to her, and Great-Aunt Alice said she felt the same too. When her great-aunt was at school herself, everything had been different, she said, and most of the time they just played. Ruth couldn’t ever imagine Great-Aunt Alice being young enough to go to school but it must be true if she said so.

Anyway, her teacher’s plan for the day was this: they would start off with maths, then there would be storytelling and looking at geography, then after lunch it would be art and then religion.

When the maths lesson began, Ruth sat at the edges of the group she was with as they looked at numbers and how they worked. Ruth didn’t mind maths because she liked the fact that numbers were silent, like she was, but they could still change things. Not everyone or everything was stupid because they couldn’t speak, not like Lorraine said. She also liked the way each number in the box had a different colour, so that an eight was blue and a ten red. Her favourite number was seven, mainly because it was green, but also because she loved its shape the best:

The seven always looked so happy and bright, and Ruth loved it for that, as well as from now for the next year it was the age she was herself. This morning her group were helping a made-up girl called Emily go to the shops with her mother and bring back eggs, bacon and milk. Emily had ten pounds to spend and could buy as much of the items as she liked without spending more than she had. She could bring back change, but as little of it as possible. Other groups of children had other stories to work with, including a trip to a swimming pool and planning a family holiday. Ruth was glad she didn’t have to do the swimming pool story as she couldn’t even swim.

She and her mother had gone on a trip to the sea once, and Ruth had spent a lot of the time trembling and staring at the vast blue ocean. She’d been afraid the water would swallow her up, and had cuddled up against her mother, refusing to go in. She could remember how her mother had told her it didn’t matter, but she might change her mind about it when she was older. Ruth didn’t think that was true, and she wouldn’t get the chance to find out now, not without her mother. Great-Aunt Alice never mentioned the sea.