Wirl's End

                               Wirl's End.

                             Chapter One.

                              Introductions

                   Wirl's End was a small street in the poorest part of the town. There were only four houses, two on each side of the road. In front of each house was a small garden, just big enough for a few scruffy looking shrubs and a patch of weedy grass.

          None of the people who lived in these houses seemed to be keen on gardening. The houses themselves were old. They appeared well looked after, but they all had that sad and tired air that you get from buildings that have been in place for far too long. The only people who used the road were the people who lived there.
         The street did have a sign screwed to a post at the beginning of it, just outside number 1. It read 'Wirl's End (unadopted)'. This meant that the people who lived in the end were responsible for maintaining the roadway and pavement, as well as paying for repairs and the like.

           Since none of them spent any money on the road, it was in poor condition. The cobbles were muddy and, in places, loose.

          The pavement was a little better as everyone swept it clean once a week. The state of the road did not matter as it did not lead anywhere. At the end of it was a wall. It was just an ordinary brick built wall, too high to climb over and topped with iron spikes to make it even harder for anyone to get over to the other side. It was obviously not a house wall, as there were no windows, but there was a Door.

          The odd thing about this door was that, of all the doors in the End, this was the only one that looked as if it had been well cared for. It was a really strong looking door, the kind that ought to lead somewhere important.                 

          Brian Keeper lived at number 1 with his mother. He was just a normal 11-year-old. He played football with his friends, got dirty, scuffed his shoes, collected the usual scratches and cuts on his knees and elbows, and tears to his clothes.

          His mother sighed and bathed the flesh wounds and sewed up the clothes. She worked very hard and long hours as a waitress to earn enough money to feed herself and her son.

Brian's father had disappeared when Brian was about nine.  No-one knew where he was. Brian sometimes got fed up with living in Wirl's End.

          One day, he grumbled to his mother, "None of my friends will come and play here." They say it makes them feel funny. Can't we move somewhere else? "

          "This house was the only thing your father gave me. It was his father's and before that, it was his grandfather's and so on, as far back as anyone can remember. If it was good enough for them, then it is good enough for us. Besides, we cannot afford it."

          On the other side of the road, at Number 2, lived Brian's best friend of all. Her name was Alexandra Custos. Everyone called her Lexa, though. She was a fairly standard girl of ten. She liked to play football and joined in with Brian's games, so she too suffered her share of injuries to herself and her clothes.

          Her mother sighed and bathed the flesh, then sewed the rips. Lexa's father was a sailor and had been away from home for about two years. Her mother, too, had to work hard to bring in enough money to keep her and Lexa fed and clothed.

          She too grumbled to her mother about living in Wirl's End. She got much the same answer as Brian. "Our family has lived here for as long as anyone can remember. If it was good enough for them, then it is good enough for you," her mother said.

          Lexa did have one passion. She loved to read. Every Saturday morning, she went down to the town library and borrowed as many books as she was allowed to take out. She would read anything, but her favourite books were about witches, wizards, and magic.

          It was through her that Brian had finally learned to read after struggling for a long time. He too began to go to the library with Lexa. He liked adventure stories where the brave hero rescues the heroine from danger.

         They often sat and discussed what they would do if the things they read about happened to them.                

“They never do, though,” sighed Brian.

          At Number 3, right up against the Wall, lived old Mr. Warder. There did not seem to be anything special about him. He was just a very old man who walked with a stick. He was not very friendly.

          Brian and Lexa always said, "Good morning," very politely to him when they saw him in the End, but he never spoke back.

 When Lexa spoke to her mother about him, she was told, "Oh, just ignore him. He is harmless. He is just old and crabby."

          Finally, at Number 4, again right against the Wall, but on the other side of the Door, was Mrs. Turnkey. If anything, she was older and worse tempered than Mr. Warder.

          The children did not even attempt to speak to her. They just stopped what they were doing and kept well out of her way when she hobbled past, leaning heavily on a thick walking stick.

    When Brian spoke to his mother about her, he was told. "Just ignore her and keep out of her way. She is just old and in pain."