‘I see. Where’s your mummy?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe she went to the shops, but she didn’t come back.’
‘OK, dear. Don’t worry, we’re going to sort this out. You and me together. How long have you been there on your own?’
‘I don’t know. Quite long.’
‘Can you open the door for me?’
‘I’m not allowed. There might be bad people. And it’s stuck. I wanted to go to the shops to get some food because I haven’t got any left, but I couldn’t make the door open and now my tummy hurts and …’
It was hard to speak I was crying so much.
‘Shhh dear, don’t cry. I’m going to help you. We’ll get you out and get you some food and find your mummy. I’m going to call someone now who can help us open the door and then I’m going to stay and talk to you until they arrive. Does that sound OK?’
I nodded, forgetting that the nice lady couldn’t see me.
‘Does that sound OK, dear?’
‘Yes.’
‘You stay there while I pop back into my house to call someone. I’ll be straight back, I promise. Can you do that for me? Be a brave girl for two minutes?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good girl. I promise I’ll be back as quick as I can.’
The lady went away and I sat by the door clutching Teddy tight. I hoped the lady would come back soon. My tummy was really hurting. I didn’t have to wait very long though until the letterbox opened again and the lady was back.
‘OK, dear, the police are coming. They’ll be able to open the door to let you out and help you find your mummy.’
‘Can I have something to eat?’
‘Of course, poppet. They’ll give you some food as soon as they can once they get you out – they said on the phone that they don’t want me to give you anything yet. A doctor needs to take a little look at you first. But I’m sure that won’t take long. Now, would you like to play a game while we wait?’
‘Yes please. Or we could sing a song?’
‘That would be lovely. What would you like to sing first?’
It was nice singing with the lady. She knew all the songs I knew, but I didn’t know very many. Mama didn’t normally sing with me, which is why I always sang with Teddy. Mama said it made her head hurt, so I had to sing quietly. But Sheila (that was the lady’s name, she told me) said I should sing nice and loud to keep my spirits up (I didn’t know what that meant but thought it sounded fun) so I did. It was nice to sing loud but it felt naughty too. Sheila had propped the letterbox open so that we could hear each other better. I liked Sheila. I didn’t often meet new people. Usually it was just me and Mama, and most of the time Mama was too tired or not feeling well enough to play, so it was just me and Teddy.
There were two green bottles left hanging on the wall and I was singing as loud as I could when there was a lot of noise outside and Sheila stopped singing. ‘Ah. We’ll have to stop singing for now, poppet,’ Sheila said. ‘The police are here. I’m going to stay right here and wait for you so I can say hello once you’re out, but they’re going to talk to you now, OK? There’s nothing to be scared of and you’re not in any trouble. You’re being a really brave girl and I’ve enjoyed singing with you. Perhaps we can do some more singing another time?’
‘Yes, please,’ I said.
‘Hello?’ said a voice, another lady. ‘My name’s Anna. I’m a social worker, here to make sure you’re safe. Are you OK at the moment? You’re not hurt? And there’s no one in there with you?’
‘My tummy hurts, I’m hungry and Mama’s not here,’ I said.
‘OK. We’re going to get you something to eat very soon. Now what I want you to do is go and stand by the window in the next room – I think it might be your living room – where we can see you. Sheila is standing outside it, so you can wave to her through the window. Can you do that for me? Once you’re there, there’ll be a big bang as the police are going to have to break the door so we can get you out, get you something to eat, and help you find your mummy.’
‘But Mama will be cross if you break the door.’
‘Don’t worry about that, we will fix it. Now, will you go to the window? I’m going there too so you can wave to me and Sheila. Does that sound OK?’
I nodded.
‘Are you there, my darling? Is that OK?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘OK. I’m going to bring Teddy and I’m going now.’
I stood up and walked over to the window. I pulled back the curtain and waved at the two ladies there. They smiled and waved back. They looked nice. They didn’t look bad or scary at all.
A man shouted something and then there was a bang and the door flew open. It was so loud I put my hands over my ears and started crying. A man and a lady dressed in green clothes came in and the man picked me up and said, ‘It’s OK, duckie, you’re safe now.’ He carried me outside and put me on a chair on wheels, which seemed silly because I could walk, but I let him do it because it was comfy and I was hungry and the blanket he put over me was soft and I was suddenly very tired. Teddy was with me and I cuddled him tight.
We went down in the lift and I was carried into the back of a big yellow van which looked like an ambulance but I thought couldn’t be because I wasn’t ill. Anna stayed with me and asked me things like how long I’d been on my own and had Mama ever left me on my own before. I said I didn’t know how long and sometimes she had left me on my own before but never for so long that I had to eat all the food so that was why I had to bang on the door because I couldn’t get out to go to the shops.
I was taken to a hospital which was exciting because I’d never been to a hospital before. There was even a blue light and a siren on the ambulance. At the hospital I had my own room which was a treat because I’d never had my own room before and lots of kind people came in and out asking me things and looking at different bits of me. I had to do a wee in a cup which was tricky even though a nurse helped me. They put a bit of paper in my mouth to see if I was too hot, though I told them I was not. The only bit I didn’t like was when they put something around the top of my arm which squeezed it, but only for a second so even that wasn’t too bad. Anna stayed with me all the time and after lots of people had looked at me and asked me things and I felt like my tummy would turn inside out I was so hungry a nice lady brought me a tray of food – it was mashed potato and fish fingers, which were both my favourite foods.
‘Don’t eat too fast,’ the lady said. ‘If you haven’t eaten for a while it might make you feel sick.’
She also gave me a cup of purple water which didn’t taste nice but Anna said I had to try to be a brave girl and drink it because I was a word that I didn’t understand which she told me meant I hadn’t drunk enough water.
The lady was wrong because I ate very quickly and it didn’t make me feel sick at all. I told Anna I was still hungry so she pulled a string which was hanging from the ceiling and asked if I could have something else to eat as well so the lady said she would see what she could do and brought me in a doughnut with sugar on.
After that I was very tired and told Anna I would like to go to sleep.