Chapter 1

William Stone probably wasn't the name that his mother intended for him: if, in fact, any name ever was. He wasn't very old when he was found abandoned but well wrapped in a blanket, so the name William Stone was selected at random from the telephone directory that just happened to be at hand on the desk of the manager of the children's home that he was taken to.

As he grew older, William became Billy: a sweet-natured child, he soon became a favourite of the care workers who looked after him, together with several dozen other children who, for one reason or another, had no one else to perform the same function. The home and the carers were the only ones that he'd ever known, and the kindness and care that he was shown he also showed to those around him; adults and children alike.

It was during the teatime meal, shortly after the beginning of Billy's sixth year at the children's home, that one of the carers appeared with a little girl who must have been about three. They stood in the doorway not far from where Billy was sitting. The little girl clung to the carer's skirt with one hand, while the other hugged a soft toy animal to her body.

Billy saw the little girl and smiled and the faintest of smiles appeared on the lips of the newcomer. He got up from his seat at the table and walked across to the door.

"Hello, Mary! Shall I look after the little girl for you?" It was just an example of his thoughtfulness that he had demonstrated on other occa­sions, as if he had a natural empathy for the frightened and vulnerable. He wasn't that much bigger than the little girl, but he knelt down in front of her so that their faces were level:

"What's your name?" he asked, softly. "Karen," the little girl whispered. "Shall we get some tea, Karen?" The little girl nodded, then released her hold on the carer and took Billy's hand. He gently helped her up onto the chair next to his then he sat down again. Someone brought a plate of food which was put down in front of Karen. Billy whispered something and she began to eat. The carer who had just arrived smiled and spoke to one of her colleagues:

"If he was twenty years older, I'd marry him!"

Karen McKinley's mother was unmarried and living on benefits. She had nothing that she cared about except her daughter: unfortunately, she also had a chronic drug addition. With an almost superhuman determina­tion, as soon as she had known that she was pregnant, she cleaned herself up; but when her daughter was old enough to stop breast feeding, her willpower cracked, and then for the next few years she did everything that she could—including letting numerous men use her body —to both feed her child and her habit. One day, however, after injecting the pernicious substance into her vein, she had sighed deeply and then slipped into the deep sleep from which there is no awakening.

For almost two days Karen had stood in the cot that she still slept in, calling to her mother only a handful of feet away from her. Unable to rouse her from her sleep, Karen began to cry out of hunger and loneliness. It was purely by chance that a neighbour, worried by the constant crying, had called the police who entered the flat and discovered the tragedy. After a medical examination, which found the little girl to be otherwise healthy, she was taken to the place which was to have such a profound effect on her future life.

Karen sat next to Billy during her meal, not saying much, but nonetheless comforted by his mere presence next to her. There had never been many men in her brief life, those that visited her mother were kept well away from her until their business was concluded, but in a few short hours she seemed to have transferred all the love that was once bestowed upon her mother onto her new friend.

A bright and capable boy in so many ways, Billy sat on a comfortable chair with the little girl tight against his side, while she sat almost enrapt as he read to her from a colourful book. Billy knew that eight o'clock was bedtime: usually sooner for the younger children like Karen; but because it was her first day and Billy was taking such good care of her, the carers let her stay up until it was time for him to go up to bed, too. When Karen had first arrived she had been allocated a bed in the girls dormitory. It was a large room, with beds arranged around the walls. It was a high room with lots of shadows, and it was the first night of her short life that she hadn't slept in the same room as her mother. The bed, although comfortable, was much larger than she was used to and it was all quite strange and scary to the little waif. She walked quite happily alongside Billy until the time came to part for the night, when the carer said: "This way, Karen—you'll see Billy in the morning!" the girl turned and clung to his waist. He stroked her hair and spoke softly to her:

"Girls and boys sleep in different rooms, Karen, but I'm only just the other side of this door. You have to be brave now, you'll soon get used to it. I'll read to you again tomorrow, if you like."

"—Promise—" he heard the little voice say.

"Yes, I promise!" The girl released her hold on him.

"—Goodnight kiss like Mummy does, Billy," she said. The boy knelt in front of her again and she put her arms around his neck and planted a big kiss on his cheek. Then, holding the carer's hand, she turned, smiled, and waved. Inside his own room, Billy took off his clothes and put on his pyjamas, then he got into the cold bed. He shivered for a few minutes until it warmed up, then he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Some time later, he was woken by someone tugging on his pyjama jacket sleeve. When he opened his eyes he saw the pretty face of Karen looking at him. He didn't think about why he did it, but he lifted the covers off of himself and the little body climbed onto the bed and in beside him. She moved as close as she could:

"—Night, Night, Billy!" she whispered.

"—Night, Night, Karen!" he whis­pered back.

Noises all around them woke them up.

"You've got to back now, Karen; brush your teeth and get dressed and I'll see you at breakfast."

"All right, Billy," she said, then climbed down from the bed and scampered off. Back in the girl's dorm, the carer in charge came over to her and sat on the bed.

"I won't say anything this time, Lovie, but you have to promise me that you'll stay in your own bed tonight." Karen smiled. "—I promise!"

Billy was already seated when Karen came into the dining room. She hurried over to the chair next to his and climbed on. Billy poured milk from a jug onto her cereal and she looked up at him and smiled so beautifully. From that moment onwards they were practically joined at the hip. Wherever Billy went, Karen went too, clutching his hand and every now and then looking up at him, even when he wasn't talking to her. She wasn't quite old enough to go to the bathroom on her own, so although she wanted Billy to take her, he said one of the lady carers had to, but he would wait right outside the door—and he always did.

There were lots of toys and other children of Karen's age, but she only wanted her stuffed elephant that she had brought from her mother's, and Billy. They tried to encourage her to mix with the other children, but she stuck with him. They sat together for hours reading and playing, or just talking. Occasionally she fell asleep leaning against him, only to wake up with a jolt: a little scared look in her eyes until she remembered where she was and her eyes found his face. The children's home staff noted all this, but they weren't especially concerned: she was after all barely more than a baby and she was just reaching out for comfort and security. In time she would no doubt loosen the bonds and make other friends, and in a few weeks time the new school year would be starting and he would be going back to the school, while Karen would be in the home's Nursery.

That second evening after she arrived, he told her, in his usual kindly way, that she would be going to bed before him that night. Karen had frowned a little, but she didn't make a fuss when they came to collect the younger children; she just gave Billy another big hug and a kiss then said goodnight. Some hours later, however, she gave a giggle as she climbed into his bed and snuggled up against him. The next morning the resident carers were talking in the manager's office:

"—Well I don't know what to suggest," Mary exclaimed, "we can't lock the doors because of the fire regulations; we certainly can't tie her to the bed, and I'm not sure that any one of us will want to sit in the dorm all night watching her—besides, what is the real objection; she doesn't really understand and I don't think Billy minds in the least!"

"I agree with you in principle," Teresa added, "but we can't let the kids think that it's okay to get out of bed and wander around at night, and we have a responsibility to them, to know where they are at all times."

"So are there any recommendations?" Cathy, the Manager, asked.

"Well, how about," said Molly, "seeing as how she's only still a wee thing, we give her a bed next to Billy's. If she wakes up in the night she'll be able to see him and she won't want to get up and wander around. She listens to him, so we'll tell him that she has to wash and bathe with the other girls, though. Shall we try it, to at least see what happens?"

And so that plan was implemented. There were still some nights when Karen climbed into bed with Billy; but on most of them from then on, she slept right through until morning in her own bed.

The two of them were still inseparable, and the staff knew that the new school year was only days away. Someone had already had a quiet word with Billy, on one of those now rare occasions when he was alone, and he had seemed to understand and promised to talk to Karen about it.

"Do you know what school is?" he asked her. She shook her head. "Well, when you're a big girl, you have to go, too; all children do. I go to school: it's where I learned to read, so I can tell you stories now. I started last year and I have to go back soon, but you're still too little. So when I go to school, you have to stay here and play with the other younger children, until I come home again."

"But can't I go with you, Billy—I'll be a good girl?"