Hiding In The Wendy House

It was the end of yet another hectic day in the nursery, and as Debs and Monica grappled with the task of getting the children's coats on, Audrey took on the job of tidying everything back into its rightful place, ready for tomorrow's new start. The playroom bore all the hallmarks of a day spent in the company of rampant four-year-olds.

'Marcus, will you please put your arm into this sleeve and stop wriggling about. Your mum will be here in a minute.'

Marcus seemed oblivious to any request for assistance and continued crashing his two space warriors together as they engaged in mortal combat.

'Marcus please, put those down for a second.'

Audrey smiled as she gathered up scooters and tricycles, enjoying the exasperation of her friend's seemingly hopeless battle against a four-year-old's indifference to life's essential routines. Monica looked across at Audrey mid grapple and grinned as a strand of auburn hair escaped and fell across her face.

'It's like trying to get an octopus into a sock,' she exclaimed. 'Marcus please!'

Audrey opened the big store cupboard doors and began stacking the many items she had collected from around the nursery. It had been a long day and she was ready for home and a long soak in the bathtub with a large glass of whatever there was left in the fridge.

A dozen winter-coated four-year-olds milled around the room, still buzzing with energy and waiting to be released back into the wild, when Debs, hair now restored, suddenly brought activities to a standstill.

'Where's Jake? His coat's still on the peg.'

The sense of urgency in Deborah's voice registered with everyone, and for a second or two that very rare nursery commodity, silence, hung in the air.

'Does anybody know where Jake is?' added Monica, with as calming a voice as she could manage. The silence prevailed for several seconds, until finally a small voice broke it.

'He's hiding in the Wendy House, Miss. And he said he wasn't coming out.'

All eyes turned towards Charlie, now the unwelcome centre of everyone's attention.

Monica, wearing a gentle smile, knelt in front of him in reassurance.

'Do you know why he's hiding, Charlie?'

'No, Miss. He just said he was going to hide and that I shouldn't tell anyone.'

The three staff members glanced at each other with some concern. They were seasoned professionals and unease was emerging.

'You see them out please, Debs,' said Audrey, 'while Monica and I go and find Jake.'

They went out into outdoor covered play area where the bright yellow Wendy House stood and peered in through the plastic window. Jake was curled into a foetal shape on the floor, trying to hide himself under a knitted doll's blanket. Audrey dropped down and sat on the floor by the door.

'Ah! There you are, Jake. It's time to go home now. Shall we get your coat on ready to meet your mum?'

Jake expelled a dismissive whine and pulled the blanket up over his head in response.

'Everyone's ready to go home now Jake. It's time to get your coat on and meet your mum. She'll be outside waiting for you.'

Monica and Audrey waited through a few anxious seconds, hoping their plea was enough to get Jake out of the Wendy House.

'I'm not going home. I'm staying here,' he suddenly offered from beneath his blanket.

Audrey glanced across with some concern and gestured for Monica to open the small Wendy House door in preparation for more structured negotiations. At that very moment, Jake's mum appeared, her face etched with concern and embarrassment and escorted by an anxious looking Debs who had clearly been a unable to delay her.

'Jakey, come on darling, it's time to go home. It's your favourite tonight; fish fingers.'

'I don't want to go home.'

'Of course you do, Jakey. You have to come home. Come on darling, I'll make fish fingers for tea and we'll even have some ice-cream afterwards.'

'I'm not coming home if he's there.'

These words seemed to hang in the air like lead weights, as the three carers instantly recognised their significance. Jake's mum had turned a deathly pale colour, and the transformation didn't go unnoticed. Those were words that nursery staff hoped never to hear.

'Who is he talking about Miss Watson?' enquired Audrey with concern.

'I've absolutely no idea,' she snapped, far too quickly. 'Who do you mean darling? Who are you talking about?'

'Him. That man that stays with us. I'm not coming home if he's there.'

Miss Watson's colour slowly altered, from pale to puce.

'Why not Jakey? Why won't you come home if Derek's there?'

Jake didn't reply, and the silence was powerful enough to destroy his mother's composure.

'Jake, you come out here now, or I'm coming in to get you.'

Jake didn't reply.

'May I ask who Derek is?' enquired Audrey.

'Derek's my boyfriend and he's a lovely bloke, so don't you go thinking otherwise.'

With these words, her entire demeanour seemed to alter, as she dropped to the floor and forced her head inside the Wendy House. She had suddenly realised that what had just been said had left her relationship with Derek horribly exposed.

'Jake, you get out here this minute,' she snapped, 'or you'll go straight to bed without any tea. Don't you dare show me up like this in front of these people. Come out here now.'

Jake, stirred by this point-blank barrage from his mother, crawled towards her with tears streaming down his face. She grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him free of the Wendy House.

Audrey, as safeguarding lead at the nursery and seriously concerned by what she'd just witnessed, jumped to her feet and followed mother and son back into the building.

'Please don't rush away just yet Miss Watson, I really need to speak to Jake.'

'What for?' she snapped back.

'Well, I really need to understand why he's so afraid of your boyfriend.'

'What business is it of yours?' she retorted, snatching Jake's coat from the rack and forcing his arms into the sleeves as if stuffing a cushion. 'Derek's a lovely bloke. He wouldn't hurt a fly.'

'Miss Watson, I'm the safeguarding lead here, I can't ignore what Jake's just said. He may be at risk.'

'At risk from what?'

'Well, I don't know. But he's clearly so terrified of something that he doesn't want to go home, and we need to find out from Jake why that is.'

'He's just being a pain, that's why. He's been nothing but a pain since he was born, and if you go spreading any stories about my Derek, I'll sue you.'

'Please don't rush off Miss Watson. Jake has already said things that I have to report.'

'There's absolutely nothing to report, just mind your own business,' she snapped. And with those final words she dragged Jake out into yard and slammed the door behind her.

The three Nursery carers stood dumbfounded by what had just taken place in the space of the last ten minutes. Audrey sighed heavily and headed for the office, because every detail of what had just happened had to be set out in a report. She had written safeguarding reports before. Plenty of them. Yet as she sat down at her desk, she found herself staring at the blank form for several seconds. Something about Jake's fear, and his mother's reaction to it, had left a knot in her stomach. She instinctively knew that the next few days would be very difficult, and worst of all, that she might never see poor Jake again. That hot soak, with a large glass of whatever was left, now looked a very long way off.

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