A Mother's Duty by June Francis Page B

Liverpool, past St John’s Gardens, the free library and the technical school, and on up Byrom Street. Despite the cold Ben was beginning to get hot and his legs ached but he had no trouble keeping the man in sight because he was head and shoulders above anyone else. They were now in an area Ben had visited with Jimmy but knew only vaguely. He felt hurt when he thought of his uncle. The Scottie passed a couple of churches and Ben began to feel uneasy. Wasn’t the man ever going to stop? The lamplighters were out now and street lamps shed pools of light on pavements.
    Ben was just starting to think of finding his way back home when John turned a corner. The boy hurried after him and to his relief the Scottie stopped outside a shop halfway up the street and went inside.
    The boy paused outside to get his breath back and gaze in the window. Delight brightened his sweaty little face as he stared at a litter of puppies curled up in straw. Immediately one came over to the window and, rearing up on its hind legs, barked shrilly at him. There were not only puppies but rabbits, a cockatoo chained to a perch and a cage of canaries. There was no sign of the monkey so Ben decided to go inside.
    A bell tinkled as he entered. There was a big girl behind the counter and a woman talking ten to the dozen to the Scottie in a shrill voice. Ben was delighted to see the man was in the act of clipping a lead to the monkey’s collar.
    The girl looked in his direction before coming over to him. ‘What do you want, little boy?’ She smiled and he did not know what to say. It had suddenly struck him that the man might be angry with him for following him. ‘Cat got your tongue? I bet it’s a white mouse? All the boys want a white mouse.’
    Ben nodded and followed her over to a large cage which stood against a wall in a far corner. Instantly he was captivated and gazed enraptured at the mice, wishing he had some money.
    ‘Well, do you want to buy one?’
    ‘Can I think about it?’ He had heard his mother say that when she wanted something but couldn’t afford to buy it.
    The girl nodded and moved away. Ben stared at the mice, desperate to hold one. He glanced around and saw he wasn’t being watched and opened the cage. The mice’s reactions were swifter than his and several of them escaped. ‘The mice! The mice are out!’ he shrilled, and dropping on his hands and knees he scrabbled about the floor.
    The others spun round and the woman shrieked, ‘Shut the cage, Celia, and be quick!’
    The girl shot across the floor and closed the cage. John slammed the shop door. The woman approached Ben with her hand raised. ‘You pest! You nuisance!’
    Having managed to catch one of the mice, Ben rose to his feet and held it out beaming up at her. ‘Here’s one. Isn’t he lovely? Or is it a she?’
    The woman stared at him seemingly lost for words as he stroked the teeny creature’s back. ‘What about the rest?’ she said.
    ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t think they’d be so fast.’
    ‘I bet he didn’t think at all, Ma,’ said Celia.
    John’s expression was exasperated as he gazed down at Ben. ‘What were you thinking of following me all the way here? Your mother’s going to be worried sick.’
    ‘I wanted to see the monkey.’ He held the mouse out to the girl and smiled up at John who did not return his smile.
    ‘Mrs McDonald is right. You’re a pest and a nuisance. What am I going to do with you?’
    ‘Take me with you,’ said Ben eagerly, wiping his hands on the sides of his trousers. ‘I’ll be good. I’ll look after your monkey for you.’
    ‘Ach, I can’t do that. Your mother wouldn’t like it and it would take you past your bedtime.’
    ‘You know this boy?’ said Mrs McDonald, pursing her lips.
    ‘Barely at all,’ said John, taking up his fiddle. ‘And I’ve no urge to become better acquainted. Ben, you’re trouble!’
    ‘I’d take him with you,’ said Celia with a grin on her freckled face. ‘With that