Regenesis

Katie - coffee after Mass

When Mass was over and the Priest had left the church, Katie remained standing as she saw others do, sneaking a quick peak up into the gallery, but her face fell when she saw that the space her family had been in was now empty. She was about to turn around and scan the rest of the church when her arm was taken and she was gently, but firmly guided down on to her knees and her hands positioned palm to palm, under her chin. Squinting through her half-closed eyes, she could see that other little girls had been similarly positioned with their guardians beside them. She could hear the shuffling of feet and some muted voices behind her over the top of the organ music and was anxious to know what was going on behind her, but dared not look. Her nappy now felt heavy under her skirts and she wished that Miss Anderson would change her. Her thoughts turned to how she would be with her family...... if they were still there. She desperately wanted to hug her mother and her sister, but she was overly anxious about what they would think of her as she was now, dressed like a child and under strict behaviour control. How would she be around them? Was this a test? Should she show that she was now reformed by acting formally and primly as she had been taught? She so wanted to take her sister's hand and run off with her, but knew that would not be acceptable. Gradually the shuffling dimmed and then the organ stopped. Katie found herself in a reflective mood, her hands still perfectly positioned under her chin, but her mind now curiously grateful for how things had turned out after she had last seen her parents. She was safe, cared for in a loving home and receiving help to ensure that her old life was now behind her. She could see this clearly now and had embraced her situation as infinitely preferable to being in a young offenders' institution, where she might be if a different path had been chosen for her. She felt her right arm being gently touched, and she turned to see Miss Anderson preparing to leave the pew. Katie instinctively made the sign of the cross, gracefully, a gesture not lost on her guardian, and she stood and left the pew, to have her hand taken, once more, by Miss Anderson. In front of her, also making their way to the doors was a steady stream of other little girls, seemingly all held back by their guardians to allow the grown ups to leave church first, their heads still crowned in the circles of white lace she now remembered she also wore. In the vestibule their guardians busied themselves attending to their charges, removing the chapel caps, folding them and putting them away carefully. When her own had been removed, and the white hairpins safely put away, Miss Anderson took her gloved hand again and led her out of the church and across the tarmac to the church hall.

There was a steaming urn of hot water by one wall and in front of it were some ladies on the other side of a long trestle table laid with a fabric table cloth and covered with plates of biscuits, large metal tea-pots, coffee pots, jugs of milk and some rather thin-looking orange squash in a plastic jug. The large room was about half - filled with parishioners, gathered in groups and sipping coffee, their conversations muted and respectful. Girls were led in by their guardians, taken to the drinks table and given a small plastic cup of juice before being led away either to join other groups, or to stand in a space and wait for other guardians to join them once they had coffee for themselves. Katie stood on tiptoes trying to spy her family, hoping that they had not left as she had feared.

Katie's face lit up when she saw, in the far corner, her mother standing facing in Katie's direction, deep in conversation with another lady, whose head could be seen nodding slowly at whatever it was her mother was saying. Her father was standing next to her with Amelia smiling by his side, her hair beautifully styled in a soft but glamorous chignon, looking so much more mature than when she had last seen her all those months ago. Katie was about to hurry over impetuously out of her guardian's grip, but the grip tightened and Miss Anderson turned her around so that Katie stood in front of her, facing away from the room, her nose just inches away.

"As you realised so publicly during Mass, you have visitors today. They have come to see you and to be informed about your progress during the last few months. You will see them for five minutes. This is a chance for you to show them how your manners and deportment have changed since you were sent here, and to show us that the lessons you are learning are truly sinking in. Remember to show respect and formality to everyone, and only to speak when spoken to. Is that clear?"