"What is Judith?"

P Powrie - before 1950

How can I tell you what Judith is? She is everything - anything and everything!

I remember things that she has done in the past - sometimes she was a mouse that ran up peoples legs and tickled their knees and made them scream. Sometimes she was a spider on a silver thread and she's slip down and down and almost into somebody's porridge, but only when that "Somebody" had their hands full and so couldn't do anything about it. By the time they had freed their hands Judith was gone again.

Sometimes Judith was a ripe red apple just out of reach, sometimes, when Ellen was very tired - and knew how to do the sums anyway - Judith was a "Good Fairy" who did Ellen's homework for her, in a lovely neat handwriting.

But what I was really going to tell you now is the story of what happened to Judith one day - or rather, what happened to other people because of Judith, but we don't know what happened to her in the end, because she just does not live here any more.

Ellen had Judith in her pocket, everyone knew that and even when she got out for a little while, got away from herself, if you see what I mean - because Ellen could even hold Judith in her hand in the bathroom and think that she had her safe but still Judith might be in the kitchen tickling Mrs Midge's forehead - and poor Mrs Midge trying to get on with her baking - but because she was in Ellen's pocket everyone felt that Judith wouldn't do anything really dreadful.

At anyrate, it was Sunday and Mrs Baker wandered around asking idly "I wonder who is coming to Church with me?" Ellen, who had her gaze fixed on something outside the window heard her mother's mumble, pulled her gaze in and hopped and skipped away into Sherry's bed and sat looking at her, head slightly to one side, one dark brow charcot.

"What?" asked Sherry "Mummets is asking herself who will be going to Church with her today." answered Ellen.

"Come on, Baby, lets." Sherry smiled up at Ellen and Ellen smiled back "Just what I was going to say." she nodded approvingly.

Ellen is ten. Long-legged, thin and pigtails, if you know what I mean, but with a quaint elf-like face. Sometimes the family called her "Elfin" or "Little Elf". Ellen's eyes are darkly blue and fringed with dark lashes. Large wide-set eyes. Her hair is dark too and her skin lily-fair. She'll be lovely when she grows up. She takes after Mummet's - that's Mrs Baker - but Sherry is like Daddy, red-blond, twinkling golden eyes, a freckled tip-tilted nose and wide smiling mouth. Sherry is already lovely. Ellen adores Sherry, but for that matter, so do many others, but Sherry is "grown-up" well, almost, she is seventeen.

Ellen said "I'll ask the boys." - in an important sort of whisper and all in one movement she was off the bed, out of the room and tapping on the boy's door. The tapping was in code - life meant mystery and adventure to Ellen - and Peter's quiet deep voice bade her enter.

"Peter" she said "Sherry and I want to know if you and Gordon are coming to Church with Mummets and us." He looked so serious as he sat there, in bed, his dark brown hair all rumpled and his attractive, ugly face quietly considering his baby sister. Ellen just loved him, with a sort of lump of love.

"What about Gordon? Shall I wake him?" "If you're brave enough and if you'll give me time to get to the bathroom first." answered Peter. He heaved his long slender length out of the bed and, grabbing his towel, disappeared.

"Oh Gordon, wake up." said Ellen shaking his shoulder. Gordon groaned and snuggled but the violent shaking continued "Come on, wake up." demanded his young sister's voice. He opened an enquiring eye, under a raised eyebrow and examined the cause of his discomfort. The eye closed and Gordon lay collecting his strength for an effort - suddenly it came. He writhed, sat up, grabbed Ellen by the shoulders and, twisting her and lifting her at the same time, landed her across his knee, all in one breath. Ellen looked at him over her shoulder with surprised and wary eyes. "Explain yourself" demanded Gordon. "Church." answered Ellen. They looked at each other in silence for a while and then Gordon said "On one condition: that we leave Judith at home." "Of course." said Ellen. "Of course." Gordon released her and she slithered back to the floor. Gorden's face cracked into a grin - Gordon had a very attractive, jumbled sort of face - and Ellen grinned back and dashed off to get suitably dressed.

Gordon, golden hair, blue eyes, full of fun. Somehow extremely good looking in spite of his 'jumbled' face, sat gazing at nothing (Or was it at the image of Peggy which was imprinted in his memory?) for a while and then, leaping out of bed in a sort of volcanic eruption, he went singing his way to oust Peter from the shower.

Now you have been introduced to the younger members of the family, Peter, 21, Gordon, 19, and the girls - all in bed except for Ellen who simply couldn't wait in the mornings for the others to rise, except Mummets who sometimes beat Ellen to it, it is time for you to meet Mr and Mrs Baker in a more appropriate place, at the breakfast table.

"Andrew are you coming to Church with us today or..." (Mrs Baker appeared to be fully absorbed in buttering her toast) "is one of the fowls ill?" "Now Margaret, you know I'm not like that..." he protested, "I love going to Church but those roses must be sprayed and the ground dug up a little before the sun gets too high."

Mrs Baker looked up in mock indignation and he tried to look back at her with an innocent and honest expression but his tell-tale eyes started to twinkle and then they both burst out laughing. "You humbug." said Mrs Baker and at that moment there was a sound of running feet and Sherry and Ellen happened into the room followed by Peter and Gordon - and where there had been quiet companionship there was suddenly chaos.

...It was during the sermon that it started. Mr Derry, the clergyman suddenly jerked sideways, as one does when one unexpectedly gets a dig in the ribs, but he bravely continued with his sermon. Then he jerked again with a sort of snort and giggle and looked around him in very evident confusion and discomfort.

Gordon turned and looked at Ellen at the very same moment that Ellen turned and looked at Gordon - but Gordon looked with a look of accusation whereas Ellen looked with a look of honest-to-goodness innocence mingled with slight horror and fervent pleading. Sherry "sneezed" into her handkerchief and poor Mrs Baker tried to pretend that she did not belong to the rest of the
party and hadn't noticed anything strange and Peter simply looked bland - and interested in the sermon.

Tremendous self-control on the part of Gordon and Ellen saved the situation on the Baker-Family-Front and even greater self-control - or perhaps, just perhaps, a twinge of conscience and thereafter compassion on the part of Judith! - saved the situation of the Derry-Front and the service ended without further mishap.

No sooner were the young people outside when Gordon grabbed Ellen by the shoulders and demanded "Where is Judith?" and Ellen firmly answered "In my blazer pocket at home." "Then what happened in Church?" 'I don't know. Honestly." Ellen's elfin face really looked comical with concern.

"I'm sure I shall never be able to look Mr Derry in the eye again. I shall always have a horrible guilty feeling." said Mrs Baker. Sherry chuckled and said "We'll give Judith a good spanking just as soon as we get home Mummets darling. I will leave her very chastened, I'm sure."

Peter and Gordon gave a sort of concerted snort but otherwise said nothing.

When they arrived home Ellen flew to fetch Judith and a moment later everyone flew after her as shrieks issued forth from her room. "Judith's gone." she cried "and left this in her place." She showed the family the hole in her blazer pocket by pushing her two fingers through the opening in the pocket.

There was a horrified silence while the clock on the dresser ticked out eight seconds and then Gordon reacted by throwing up his hands in despair. "Heaven help us. We won't be safe for one moment until she is found. Oh gosh, I'm supposed to be going out this afternoon." (Gordon had a very healthy respect for Judith's powers of prank-playing ever since he discovered, just in time, that the carefully wrapped bunch of flowers he was taking to Peggy Anderson, when she was forced to rest after a fall from her horse, had turned to thistles, which he had quickly hidden behind a bush just inside her garden and thus arrived at Peggy's home empty-handed. On his way he retrieved the bouquet in order to show this terrible thing to Ellen, only to find a bunch of rather faded larkspurs and carnations. Yes. Most certainly he respected Judith's powers of black magic!

Yet, sometimes she was sweet, like the time she put a clean handkerchief into Gordon's pocket when Peggy needed to dry her hands after dabbling them in that stream which laughed and chuckled its way through a near-by wood and another time when she had whispered comforting words into his ear when the family dog, Bunter, had been run over and killed by a run-away truck - "But" he thought "Just what is Judith?"

You know this is the whole point of this story. What is - or was - Judith?

Mr and Mrs Baker said that she just existed in Ellen's imagination - but then, why should she feel bad about Mr Derry? Who knows? I don't!

And we never will know because Judith never came home again! Judith simply does not live there anymore.