The Tigers

My brother’s toys were always better than mine. He had an electric train set. It was enormous. Dad built it for him. It filled our conservatory. I loved to watch the trains go around, through the tunnels at each end, past the two stations either side and back around again. Roger, that’s my brother’s name, used to stop the goods train and fill it up with coal, hay bales and cattle and then move the various trains into their sidings. It looked so much fun.

I wasn’t allowed to touch it. I did once, when everyone was in the garden and the train derailed and I got told off. Dad would let me switch it on sometimes, but that’s all. I could only watch them both, Dad and Roger, getting so much enjoyment from it. How I longed to make the signals go up and down. How I dreamed one day of putting the Station Master on another platform. My fingers itched to pick up the little old lady and the Jack Russel Terrier and place them near the Ticket Office.

Roger also had metal toy trucks, lorries, and wagons that once belonged to Granddad. Plus, a farmyard with all kinds of farm animals. I wasn’t allowed to play with these either. One day, when Roger was busy in his bedroom, I took his metal lorry out of the box, opened up the two doors at the back and put some cows inside it. Then I pushed it up and down and made engine noises. Roger said he knew I’d been tampering with the lorry as it now had a scratch on one of the doors at the back.

My toys were dolls-loads of them, and a teddy bear I called Virginia. I loved Virginia but I hated the dolls. They didn’t do anything. Roger’s train went around and around the track and you could push his lorries up and down, my dolls just sat there in the cot and did nothing, except they opened and shut their eyes. Virginia could growl like a real bear but in order to get her to do it you had to squeeze her tummy very hard. I would lay her on her back and wait for the sound of a clonk. Then I would squeeze her tummy and slowly put her on her front. Baa-she would go and then another clonking sound. Eventually she stopped making any noises at all.

One day a miracle happened. My sister became ill and was covered in spots. Mum said I couldn’t go near her. We slept in the same bedroom and the day Karen got sick I had to sleep on the sofa in the lounge so that I didn’t come out in spots. The real miracle was when Mum told me I had to play with Roger; had to, there was no getting away from it and Roger had no say in the matter. I was jumping up and down with joy. I could play with his train set, his lorries and farm animals and all his other toys-yippee!

I went over to Roger that morning and told him what Mum had said. He didn’t say much except that he and Harry were going to spend the day as Tigers and girls weren’t allowed to be Tigers.

I asked why not but Roger didn’t have an answer for that. Then Harry said he would initiate me. I asked him what initiate meant and he said he wanted some of my blood. That frightened me a bit, but I thought I had to obey Mum’s orders as Karen was sick in bed.

I asked Harry how he was going to get a bit of my blood and he produced a pen knife. He said he would cut his finger, Roger’s finger and my finger, and we would have to mix all our blood together and smother it on our foreheads. I felt as if I was going to be sick.

Just then Mum came into the conservatory where we were sitting underneath the train set. She peeped at us and told us to make sure we all played nicely together, and we were not to disturb her as she was busy looking after Karen. She said she’d made some sandwiches and we could go down to the beach and eat them there. We sat still, trying to look as if we were being as good as possible and nodded to Mum.

When Mum was out of sight, I stuck my finger out at Harry and he tried to cut it but the blade must have been blunt and nothing happened. I winced all the same. Then Roger said we could just pretend by putting our fingers together and saying, “Tigers, Tigers, together we fight. Tigers, Tigers, in the night,” which I thought was a silly thing to say. Then Harry said we were supposed to spit on the ground. I didn’t like spitting and especially on Mum’s shiny wooden floor. When we had all spat and Harry had rubbed it into the floor with his shoe Roger got some of Mum’s lipstick and put red lines on our foreheads. It felt fantastic.  I was one of their gang!

Roger told me to put the sandwiches and drink cartons in his rucksack and as I was a newcomer to The Tigers, I had to learn the rules. I asked him what the rules were but all he said was that he was the leader and Harry was second in command. He said I was a new initiate, but I wasn’t sure what that meant.

We shouted, “we’re off to the beach Mum,” up the stairs and Harry said, “Goodbye Mrs Elliot,” but Mum must have been busy with Karen as we did not hear her reply.

It only took us about five minutes to get to the beach. The sand around the dunes is very soft but you have to be careful, Mum said, because the sand moves all the time and it has covered up the fences that used to stop the sheep getting on the beach. There are places you can just see the tips of the fences. We went further down the beach to where the dunes were the highest. Harry and Roger found some old fence posts and had a pretend sword fight. I went onto the hard sand and looked for shells and pretty stones. I found quite a few and put them in Roger’s rucksack.

I got a bit bored looking for shells, there weren’t many anyway, most of them were down by the water’s edge and the tide was out a long way. I trudged up one of the dunes looking for Harry and Roger and found them laying down sunbathing.

“Can I have a sword fight with you Roger?” I asked.

“No, girls don’t have sword fights. Girls have to wait to be rescued by their Knight in Shining Armour-or at least that’s what happens on the tv.” Roger said.

I protested and insisted someone sword fight with me. I picked up Roger’s pretend sword and pointed it at Harry.

“Harry, come on. Please have a sword fight with me.” I pleaded.

“Oh, all right then. Just this once.” Harry stood up, legs apart and pointed his fence post at me. Harry bashed my stick and I bashed his and then I fell over and landed on a sharp piece of fencing that was buried in the sand.

When I got up bright red blood was gushing from my knee. I began to cry. Roger stood up, ran over and told me to stop crying and he and Harry would get me back home as quickly as possible. It was hard hobbling among the sand dunes. Harry held my left arm and Roger my right, but it was still quite difficult, and the rucksack was now rather heavy as It was full of pebbles and shells. We had not had any time to enjoy our sandwiches.

With a struggle Harry and Roger got me home although I left a trail of blood in the sand.

“Mum, Mum, Tracey’s cut her knee open.” Roger shouted as he opened the back door. I sat on the step grimacing because of the pain.

“What on earth happened Tracey?” Mum asked as she went to the cupboard and got out a bottle of disinfectant, the sort that stings when you put it on, some cotton wool and a packet of plasters.

“An Alligator bit me Mum. I was playing in the swamps with Roger and Harry and this Alligator jumped out from behind a fallen tree and it bit me right on the knee.”

“Well it’s a good job it was a small Alligator, or it would have gobbled you right up.”

“Yes Mum, I said.

Roger and Harry glanced at each other, shrugged their shoulders, took the rucksack and sat at the kitchen table eating their sandwiches.

“How’s Karen Mum?” I asked.

“Well she’s only a tiny bit better. I’m sorry but you’ll have to play with Roger and Harry for a couple more days now.”

“I don’t mind that Mum.” I said.