Taking Flight (4 page)

A nurse walks over. Her shoes make a squeaky sound on the floor. “Mrs Taylor?” she says.

“Yes?” Mum says. “Where's my dad?” Her voice sounds panicky. Luke feels his heart beating faster, too.

“We've moved him,” the nurse says, “to his own room, to give him a bit of peace and quiet.” The nurse looks at Luke, and then at Mum. “Can I have a private word?” she says.

Luke watches them talking together. He feels sad and heavy inside.

He knows where the single rooms are. He goes to find Grandad by himself.

Grandad doesn't look like Grandad any more. His eyes are sunken and dull. His skin seems paper thin, and his bony hand on the sheet is curved like a claw.

“Luke?” Grandad whispers. “Thank goodness you've come.” A tear rolls down one of his papery cheeks.

“What is it, Grandad?” Luke touches his hand, even though he feels scared.

“Take me home,” Grandad whispers. “Please.”

Mum arrives at the door. She puts sweet peas she's brought from the garden close to Grandad's face so he can smell them. For a second, something like a smile hovers on his lips.

“We've got to take Grandad home,” Luke says.

“Yes,” Mum says. “I've already told the nurse that's what we're going to do.”

Luke and Mum go first, to get everything ready, and then an ambulance brings Grandad. The ambulance men carry Grandad inside. They tuck him into bed on the sofa in the front room, so he doesn't have to go upstairs.

Mum goes back to the flat to fetch clothes for her and Luke.

“We need to move in here for a while to take care of Grandad,” she explains.

Luke hugs her. “Good. We should have done that ages ago,” he says.

Mum laughs. “Grandad wouldn't have let us! He loved being on his own, in his own place, doing exactly what he wanted. Just him, and those blessed pigeons, of course!”

From his sofa bed, Grandad can glimpse a square of sky and when Luke lets the pigeons out for a fly around, he can hear the beating of their wings.

He smiles, weakly. “That's better,” he says.

He sleeps most of the time. Luke understands that Grandad is tired out. Tired of living, now.

“I've had a good life,” Grandad says. “Time to go, soon.”

It makes Luke feel very sad. Sunday evening, Luke carries
Queenie and Silver into the house, so Grandad can say goodbye to his favourite pigeons. The birds nestle on Grandad's knees, on the blanket, and he smoothes their feathers with his hand.

“Time for me to take flight,” he whispers to them.

Luke wakes up in the night. It must be nearly dawn, because the window is pale grey instead of black. He hears Mum's feet on the stairs. Then he hears her talking to someone on the phone.

Luke climbs out of bed and goes onto the landing. There's a lamp on downstairs. Mum comes out of the front room. She looks up.

“He's gone,” she says softly. “Grandad's died.'

They sit on the stairs, and cry together. When Luke goes back to bed, he lies there remembering all the happy times he's had with Grandad.

He dreams about Grandad and the pigeons. The pigeons are carrying Grandad with them as they circle and spiral into the blue sky.

When Luke wakes up, he knows Grandad is happy, and safe, wherever he is now.

After the funeral is over, Luke goes back to school.

“We missed you,” Mira says.

“Want to play football?” Marek and Sam ask, at lunchtime.

“No, thanks,” Luke says, but he's pleased they asked him all the same.

He sits with Joe under the tree in the playground.

“The pigeons are mine now,” Luke tells Joe. “And we've moved into my grandad's house, so I've got a garden, too. We might make a pond.”

“I'll help you,” Joe says. “And in the spring, I'll give you some of my newt spawn.”

“You can come and meet my pigeons, if you like,” Luke says.

“Tomorrow?”

“OK,” Luke smiles.

Luke walks home from school. It takes him exactly twelve minutes and fifty seconds. He goes straight to the pigeon loft. His pigeons are waiting for him.

“All right, steady on,” he tells them as they push and jostle at the wire. As he unlocks each cage the pigeons hop onto the edge and spread their wings for flight.