DRAFT RADIO

RAPUNZEL ALONE

by
Mike Kenny

24th St Theatre
2020

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 CHARACTERS
(In order of appearance)

NARRATOR
(Actually CONRAD as an adult)

MOTHER

FATHER

LETTIE

MISS PEARCE

CONRAD

1.

THE SOUND OF AN OLD WIRELESS BEING TUNED. MUSIC. - We’ll meet again?

NARRATOR
This all happened a long while ago now.
To be clear
This is not how it began
But it’s the first Lettie knew of it.
She was in bed.
Raised voices through the wall
Her parents’ voices.

MOTHER It’s not safe

You know it’s not safe.

FATHER Nowhere is safe

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MOTHER That isn’t true.
You know that isn’t true
There are places that are safer than here.
Much safer.

FATHER She is just a little girl.

MOTHER If it hits
When it hits
This is where it will hit.

FATHER I’ll take care of her.

MOTHER You can’t.

You can’t protect her from this.
You can’t. It’s too big.

NARRATOR There is a deep silence

Her father is not speaking.

LETTIE ‘Say something

Please say something.’

NARRATOR Her mother continues

But it is quieter and Lettie can’t make out the words.
She falls asleep.

...........

2.
She supposes that it is all because of the War.
That was where it had begun
And as it was called the World War, there is nowhere
that is safe from it.
Not one single solitary spot on the planet.

OUT OF DOORS.

A few nights later she is with her father.

High up on the flat roof of their building.
High above the city.
Her father was a fire watcher.

FATHER You shouldn’t be up here, Lettie.

LETTIE I know.

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FATHER But I brought you here to show you something.
and to tell you something.

LETTIE What?
It’s dark.
I can’t see anything.

FATHER It’s the blackout.

Everyone has turned out their lights
And covered their windows.

LETTIE To keep safe.

FATHER That’s right.

Safe.
Everyone is staying in.
The city is in hiding.
So the bombers can’t find it.
And one day.
When this is all over
Everyone will pour out into the streets.

All the lights will come on again

All the lights, all over the city.
And I’ll bring you up here to see them.
But...

DISTANT AIRPLANES ARE HEARD.

Listen.
You hear?

LETTIE Yes.

FATHER You know what it is?

LETTIE It’s the bombers.

FATHER That’s right.

They’ll be here soon.
SHOUTS
Hey. You.
Put out that light!

A SIREN STARTS TO SOUND.

FATHER Don’t cover your ears. Listen Lettie. You must listen to
me while you still can. You know what the siren
means.

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LETTIE NODS. Yes.

FATHER Tell me.

LETTIE The bombs.

The bombs will start dropping.

FATHER And what will people do?

LETTIE They’ll run down into the basements and the tube
stations. Dad. I’m scared.

FATHER And me and your mum?

LETTIE I’m scared.

FATHER Me and your mum, Lettie?

What will we do?

LETTIE Mum will drive the ambulances and you’ll put out the
fires.

FATHER That’s right.

DISTANT BOMBING HEARD.

Come on, Lettie. Come on. Give me your hand. Down

to the shelter. Use the stairs.
Come on.

Keep up.
This is what I’ve got to tell you
It’s not safe for you to be here in the city. People
blackout their windows, but blackout curtains can’t
stop bombs. It lessens the odds but it won’t stop a
bomb. There are too many people to protect. The city
is full of them. It’s just not safe. Me and Mum are doing
our bit, and now it’s time for you to do yours.

LETTIE What can I do, dad? I don’t know what I can do.

FATHER You have got to go away. Out of the city. To the

countryside. It will be lovely.

LETTIE On my own?

FATHER There will be other children, lots of other children. It’s

not just you. You’ll be safe there, and we can get on

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 with keeping people safe here. We won’t worry about
you. You understand? You understand?

LETTIE I think...

FATHER All right?

LETTIE All right, dad. All right.

FATHER Good girl.

Good girl.

........

3.
NARRATOR One week later.
At the station.
All her class lined up.
All her school saying goodbye.
The whole city seems on the move.

A SENSE THAT ITS VERY CROWDED, NOISY,

BUSTLING. TRAIN AND STATION NOISES.

MOTHER Good girl, Lettie.

You’ve got your suitcase.

LETTIE Yes mum.

MOTHER With a change of clothes. There’s a change of clothes.

LETTIE Yes mum. It’s here.

MOTHER It’s not too heavy for you? Show me. Lift it.

LETTIE It’s all right, mum.

MOTHER Show me. Show me.

LETTIE LIFTS IT. Look.

MOTHER Good. And your handkerchief? You’ve got your

handkerchief?

LETTIE Yes.

MOTHER In your pocket?

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LETTIE Yes.

MOTHER Good. Good. And take this letter. I’ll pin it to you.
There. Don’t lose it.

LETTIE I won’t.

MOTHER It’s for the person who takes you. They may not look
like you and me, Lettie. I’m sure they’ll be kind. I’m
sure they will love you. This will tell them all about
you. What you like to eat, what you like to do.
Everything.

THERE’S A GUARDS WHISTLE.

Oh no. That’s it. You’ve got to go. Take care. Take

good care, Lettie. Bye bye darling. Bye bye. Be a good
girl. Be good. Bye bye.

THE TRAIN LEAVES, SILENCE FALLS. LETTIE IS

WAITING. CLOCK TICKING?
.......

4.

NARRATOR Much later.

A village hall.
Empty
Except for Lettie.
She’s the last one.
Then a lady turns up
Tall, dark skinned and buttoned up.

MISS PEARCE TURNS UP.

MISS PEARCE So. You must be mine.

You’re not what I expected

But I’m probably not what you expected either.
Your mother or your father from Jamaica?

LETTIE No. My mum grew up in Trinidad.

MISS PEARCE Hmm. Small Island.

You ever been?

LETTIE No.

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MISS PEARCE My mother was from Jamaica.
You’re coming to live with me.
Have you got a name?

LETTIE Lettie. Lettie.......

MISS PEARCE Lettie.

You can call me Miss Pearce.
Pick up the case.
I take it you can lift it?

LETTIE Yes.

MISS PEARCE Good. It’s a particular bugbear of mine. I don’t like it

when people go out into the world with a heavier
suitcase than they can actually carry themselves. As if
somehow, the world is going to pick up the load and
bear it for them. Well, they won’t and I won’t. Come
on. This won’t get the war won.

NARRATOR They set out

Along the Main Street of the smallest place Lettie has
ever been, and out into the countryside
It’s dark.
Pitch dark.
And getting darker
Till finally a shape looms in front of them.
The shape of a building
which is darker than the surrounding dark.

.........

5.

MISS PEARCE Here we are.

Home.
Come inside.
Just stand there for a moment.
All the curtains are pulled shut
We are supposed to be safe out here in the country.
But you can’t be too careful.
Let me light a candle.

There.

NARRATOR Lettie looks around.

It is a small room.
Comfortable.
The fire is not lit.

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LETTIE Where are the other children?

MISS PEARCE What other children?

LETTIE I thought...

MISS PEARCE I said I could only take one.

Someone thought we would be a good fit.
I would have preferred a strong one. There’s a lot of
work on a farm. You will have to do. We will soon
feed you up.

Take your coat off.

LETTIE UNPINS THE LETTER AND HOLDS IT OUT TO MRS

PEARCE
This letter is for you.

MISS PEARCE Oh yes?

LETTIE It’s about me.

MISS PEARCE Really?

LETTIE From my mum.

MISS PEARCE Read it to me. I want no secrets here.

LETTIE I’m a slow reader.

MISS PEARCE Then read it to me slowly.

LETTIE I can’t. I can’t read.

MISS PEARCE So. Not so much a slow reader as a non reader.

Say what you mean Lettie and we will get along fine.
Give it to me.

SHE OPENS IT AND READS.

‘To whoever takes in my Lettie. Lettie is a city girl and

has never been in the country before. In fact, she has
never been away from home and may be nervous at
first. But she is a kind hearted girl, and I hope you will
be kind to her and keep her safe. She is a sweet girl,
but she wouldn’t say boo to a goose, and sometimes is a
little fearful of her own shadow. She likes stories and
music. She is none too keen on green vegetables.

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 So,
That’s you?

LETTIE NODS. Yes.

MISS PEARCE Time for bed, I think.

Follow me.
You are up in the attic.

Case.

Wait a minute.
What’s that?
Come here.
Let me see.
What’s that in your hair?
SHE EXAMINES LETTIE’S HAIR.
Eugh.
Thought so.
Head lice. Head lice. You have brought head lice here
from the city. Sit down.
I can’t have this.
Sit down, I’ll comb it.
Stay still. If you wriggle it will pull more.

Oh this is no good. It will have to come off.

Where’s my sewing box?
My scissors.
Sit.

SHE PAUSES WITH THE SCISSORS IN HAND.

You like music?

LETTIE NODS.

MISS PEARCE Lost your voice?

LETTIE No.

MISS PEARCE No, you don’t like music?

LETTIE Yes.

MISS PEARCE Yes you don’t, yes you do?

LETTIE I do.

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MISS PEARCE Well, I have three gramophone records. Only three.
Let me put one on.

SHE PLAYS KATHLEEN FERRIER, SINGING ‘BLOW

THE WIND SOUTHERLY’, WHICH IS ABOUT THE
MOST WHITE ENGLISH THING I CAN THINK OF.
(IT’S VERY HAUNTING IN IT’S WAY.)
AND BEGINS TO CUT.

LETTIE What’s this?

MISS PEARCE This is Music.

LETTIE Is it?

MISS PEARCE Yes. Keep still.

LETTIE Well, I wasn’t planning on dancing to it.

NARRATOR Miss Pearce cut Lettie’s hair.

Short.
Very short.

MISS PEARCE Better.

Let me look at you.
You’ll do.
No tears, please.
Cheer up.
It will grow again.
Though you would do as well to keep it short around
here.
Now bed.

NARRATOR When she talked about it later, there were some things
Lettie remembered from her first night in Miss
Pearce’s house.
The cold around her ears and neck.
The dark outside
And the deep silence inside.

.............

6.
It is still dark when Lettie woke up.
She hears noises outside.
Strange noises.

FARMYARD NOISES

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MISS PEARCE Come on girl.
Up you get
Work to do.

LETTIE Work?

MISS PEARCE Yes.

LETTIE Me?

MISS PEARCE Of course you. All the men are away at the war, and
everyone else has more than enough on their plates.

Is that all you’ve got to wear?

LETTIE It’s my best.

MISS PEARCE It will get filthy.

You can’t wear that.
Totally unsuitable.
We will see what else we can find.

SHE PRODUCES LARGE SUITCASE.

NARRATOR From under the bed, Miss Pearce pulls out a suitcase.
A big suitcase.

PRODUCES SOME CLOTHING FROM IT. MAYBE

SOME OLD (C)OVERALLS?

MISS PEARCE Here we are. Perfect. These old overalls will do.

LETTIE These are for me?

MISS PEARCE Yes. They used to be mine at school. For gardening.

They’ll keep you clean. Climb in. They’re too big But
we’ll pull them in and roll them up.

AS THIS IS TAKING PLACE.

What’s wrong now?

LETTIE The noises.

MISS PEARCE That’s the cattle.

They need milking.
They’re letting us know.

LETTIE Smells.

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MISS PEARCE What smells?

LETTIE Everything.

MISS PEARCE That’s just the country air.

You’re not used to it.
When you are
You won’t notice it.

Hurry up now.
Work to do.

OF LETTIE’S OWN CLOTHES.

I’ll put these clothes of yours somewhere safe. You

won’t be needing them.

NARRATOR So it was bringing in the cows.

Daisy, Buttercup and Marigold.
Putting them in the barn.
Milking them.
Putting the milk in the churns.
By which time, Lettie notices
The sun has just come up.

MISS PEARCE Come on Lettie

Stop catching flies.
(I REALISE THAT IM NOT SURE IF THIS MEANS
THE SAME IN THE US, IT’S A BIT OLD FASHIONED
NOW BUT IT MEANS STANDING WITH YOUR
MOUTH OPEN)

LETTIE Have we finished?

MISS PEARCE Nowhere near.

NARRATOR Then
Rolling the churns to the end of the lane.
Taking the cows back to the field.

Cleaning the cow shed.

Washing it down.

MISS PEARCE Right.

Breakfast.

NARRATOR But as they are crossing the yard.

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 A GOOSE COMES FLAPPING AND HONKING AT
LETTIE. SHE IS TERRIFIED.

LETTIE No! Help!

What’s that!
Stop it! Stop it!
What is it?

MISS PEARCE That’s Gertrude.

LETTIE What is it?

What is it?

MISS PEARCE She’s a goose. And she’s guarding her territory.

LETTIE I don’t like her.

MISS PEARCE She doesn’t like you.

Mind you, she doesn’t like anyone much.
Come on.

LETTIE How?

MISS PEARCE Just walk.

LETTIE Gertrude won’t let me.

MISS PEARCE Then you are stuck.

LETTIE WITHOUT CONVICTION. Shoo. Shoo.

MISS PEARCE You’d better get used to her. It will be your job to feed
her.

LETTIE MAKES A RUN FOR IT. GERTRUDE HONKING.

MISS PEARCE Bad tempered white things squawking at you can be

quite common in this part of the world. You’re not in
London now.
...........

7.
NARRATOR After breakfast,

MISS PEARCE Right.

Let’s send a postcard home to your mother and father.
Your parents will be anxious.

LETTIE But, I can’t.

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MISS PEARCE I’ll write it for you.
You tell me what you want to say.
I’ll write it down.

LETTIE I don’t know how to start.

MISS PEARCE Start dear mother and father.

LETTIE Dear mother and father....

MISS PEARCE Well?

LETTIE I met Gertrude.

MISS PEARCE And?

LETTIE I am here, with Mrs

MISS PEARCE Miss

LETTIE Miss Pearce.

She is very kind.

MISS PEARCE Kind?

Are you crossing your fingers?
Most of the children in the village call me a witch.

LETTIE Are you?

MISS PEARCE Well, I have a broomstick and a cat. You will have to
make up your own mind about it.

I’m a Miss.
I have never had children.
I had my job.
Teaching.
Then when my father died, I came home to help my
mother with the farm.

Since she died, I’ve managed it alone.

Do you have any brothers and sisters?

LETTIE No.

MISS PEARCE So you’re on your own.

Like me.
An only.
I like my own company.

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 It’s to be hoped you do to.
So
That’s me.

Now,
take this letter and run down to the end of the lane.
You will find a box there. Put this in.
If there’s anything in it, bring it back with you.
A boy from the village will come soon to pick up the
milk. He will take the letter to the post. If you see
him, don’t talk to him. People round here are not
always.... welcoming. Not a word. Don’t hang around.
Come straight back.

NARRATOR Lettie
Walking down the lane.
Slowly.
Looking around her.
Nothing looks familiar.
Feeling far away
Feeling
Like a hole in space
Empty space
Like everything she knew at home
Had held her together
And now she is like smoke from a chimney.
Floating away.
Like a breath on a window
Fading.
She looks at the letter in her hands.
And kisses it.

LETTIE Take that.

To my mum and dad.

NARRATOR She puts it in the box.

Turns around.
And runs all the way back.

.........

8.

NARRATOR For a long time not much changes.

Lettie’s days are all like this.
Waking in the noisy dark.
Going out into the smelly yard.
Daisy, Buttercup and Marigold.
Daisy slow

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 Buttercup nervous
Marigold kind.

Milking.
Washing the sheds.
Rolling the churns.
Walking to the end of the lane.
Walking back.
Seeing no one.
On her own.

And minutes turn to hours

Hours turn to days
Days turn to weeks.

But every day.

LETTIE Gertrude.

NARRATOR Lettie has to feed Gertrude.

Gertrude eats leftovers
Vegetable peelings
The outside leaves of cabbages and cauliflowers.
And her favourite is lettuce.

GERTRUDE STALKS LETTIE.

She won’t leave Lettie alone.

LETTIE Gertrude
Grumpy Gertrude
No. No.
Go away.
No.
No, I don’t like you.
Here’s your food.
Go away.

GERTRUDE GOES FOR LETTIE. HONKING AND

FLAPPING.

LETTIE Help!
Help!
Go away.

MISS PEARCE Lettie, what are you doing up there on the yard gate?

LETTIE It’s Gertrude.

She won’t let me past.

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MISS PEARCE Come down.

LETTIE I can’t. She won’t let me.

MISS PEARCE She’s a goose.

LETTIE She doesn’t like me.

MISS PEARCE She won’t eat you.

LETTIE You don’t know.

MISS PEARCE Then stay up there.

All night, if you like.

LETTIE All night?

MISS PEARCE Just scatter the food and make a run for it.

LETTIE DOES SO.

......

9.
NARRATOR Every evening, as it gets dark,
Miss Pearce will draw the thick blackout curtains.
No one can go out.
Everyone has to stay in.

Every evening Miss Pearce will play one of her

records.
And she will read a story.
Every evening.
Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty.
All girls on their own. And a fair few witches.

Every evening they will listen to the news on the

radio. It seems that the war is going well.

LETTIE Is it true, do you think?

What they say?

MISS PEARCE I very much doubt it.

LETTIE Why?

MISS PEARCE Because they will want us to look on the bright side.
I’ve never been much of a one for looking on the
bright side. Personally.

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NARRATOR Every evening the same, but never quite the same.

Not always the same record.

Sometimes the same story
Mostly the news is good
Sometimes not.

Lettie’s hair keeps growing.

But once a week
On bath night.
Miss Pearce will give her hair a trim.
Just to keep it tidy.

Sometimes a letter comes from Lettie’s mother.

Miss Pearce will read it to her.

MISS PEARCE Dear Lettie

I hope you are keeping well and being a good girl for
Miss Pearce. Dad and me are working hard and
keeping safe and hoping these hard times will all be
over soon, so that we will all be home together, happy
and safe. I’m glad you have a good friend to play with
in Gertrude. She sounds like a nice little girl.

Lots of love.
Mum.

Gertrude?

LETTIE She thinks Gertrude is a girl.

MISS PEARCE Mmmm.

LETTIE To play with.

And she thinks she’s nice.

THEY LAUGH

THE SOUND OF AIRPLANES.

THEY LOOK UP.

LETTIE Bombers.

MISS PEARCE Heading for London. It sounds like a lot of them.

There’ll be trouble tonight.

SHE REALISES WHAT SHE HAS SAID.

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 Oh dear. What have I said? Put on a record.
Loud.

Maybe we should do something.

Let me teach you to read and write.

LETTIE No.
Thank you.

MISS PEARCE Then you will be able to read your parents’ letters and
write back to them on your own.

LETTIE I can’t,

MISS PEARCE And read all my books.

LETTIE I can’t do it.

MISS PEARCE Nonsense. Everyone can.

LETTIE Well, I can’t.

MISS PEARCE You haven’t tried.

LETTIE I have tried

And I can’t.

MISS PEARCE Take this book.

Sit down.
Find a story.
Find a picture you like.

LETTIE LOOKS AT THE BOOK.

OPENS IT AT A PAGE.

This one.

MISS PEARCE What is it?

LETTIE It’s a tall tall tower

With a girl at the top.
She has long hair.

MISS PEARCE Maybe not that one.

Choose another.

LETTIE You choose.

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MISS PEARCE Very well.
You can read that one to yourself, when you have
learned to read.

NARRATOR So Miss Pearce made Lettie sit down so that she could
teach her how to read.
Every evening, this was something new to add to the
things they do.
Every evening.
Miss Pearce taught her.
Every evening.
Tried to teach her.
Every evening
Tried hard.
But in spite of how hard Lettie was taught, it was
actually Miss Pearce who was the person who learned
something.

MISS PEARCE I give up.

It’s true.
You are absolutely correct.
You cant read or write.

LETTIE I told you.

MISS PEARCE And I didn’t listen.

LETTIE It’s because I’m stupid.

MISS PEARCE No, it’s not.

LETTIE It is.

MISS PEARCE No, Lettie. That’s the last thing you are. You are not
stupid. Not at all. I’ve met plenty of stupid people in
my time. The world is full of them. Believe me. You’re
not one of them.
Bed time.

NARRATOR But there is one word that Lettie does learn how to
read and write.
Though Miss Pearce doesn’t know it at the time.
From her mother’s letters.
She can see her own name
It is always at the top.
Lettie.

When she goes to bed, she would turn out the light
And open the curtains.

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 She would breathe on her window.
And with her finger, she would spell out her name.
L E T T I E.
Lettie.
By the morning it will have faded.
Gone.

........

10.
NARRATOR And hours turn to days
Days turn to weeks.
Weeks to months
And winter turns to spring.

Lettie’s days
Waking in the noisy,
Not so dark.
Still Smelly yard.
Daisy, Buttercup and Marigold.
Daisy speeding up
Buttercup slowing down.
Marigold always kind.

There are other things to do now.

Digging. Lots of digging.
Digging for victory.
Planting vegetables in the kitchen garden.

Then one day.

At the end of the lane.
Somebody turns up.

CONRAD TURNS UP.

CONRAD I come for the milk.

I’m early.

Now then.
What are you?
You a boy?

You look like a girl

But you got boy hair.
Funny clothes.

Where you from?

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LETTIE London.

CONRAD I could tell you wasn’t from round here.

You living with that witch

Miss Pearce?
She your auntie?

LETTIE No.

CONRAD I hate her.

Don’t talk then.

Water off a ducks back
I don’t care.

LETTIE TURNS TO GO

Wait.
Got something for you.
Here.
HE HOLDS OUT A LETTER.
That your name?
Lettie?

LETTIE NODS.

CONRAD INDICATING HIMSELF. I’m Conrad

Well take it.
I haven’t got all day.

NARRATOR She took the letter and carried it back to Miss Pearce.

MISS PEARCE From your mother?

I’ll put it away.
We’ll read it Tonight.
Time for Gertrude.

LETTIE Gertrude.
Gertrude.

MISS PEARCE Gertrude.

She should be laying by now.
It’s Spring.

LETTIE Laying?

MISS PEARCE Yes, laying.

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 Eggs?

Geese don’t lay for long

And they don’t lay many
But we should get a few before we let her hatch some
and raise a brood.
Go and check her nest.

LETTIE Check her nest?

Me?

MISS PEARCE You’re the goose girl.

LETTIE Where is her nest?

Do I have to climb a tree?

MISS PEARCE Corner of the orchard.

On the ground.
By the tree.
If you find an egg, fetch it. Be careful with it. They’re
precious. I’ll use it to bake a cake.
A treat.
Off you pop.

NARRATOR Lettie got the bowl of vegetable scraps for Gertrude.

She went into the yard.

GERTRUDE COMES TO HER.

Hello Gertrude.
Follow me.

LETTIE LETS HER FOLLOW HER.

LETTIE Not there. Not there.

Over here.
Follow me.

SHE PUTS THE BOWL DOWN.

I’ll put the bowl down here.

There.

NARRATOR And she runs to find the nest.

And in it she finds an egg.

And her hair!
Carefully wrapped around it.

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 TO MISS PEARCE

LETTIE My hair.
My hair.
You gave Gertrude my hair.

MISS PEARCE You were using it?

LETTIE No. But...

MISS PEARCE Waste not, want not.

There’s a war on.
I put it out for her.
It was perfect for her to line her nest.
Was it not?

LETTIE But...

MISS PEARCE And did you find an egg?

LETTIE Yes.

MISS PEARCE Fair trade, then. Look. Have you ever seen such a big
one?
Much bigger than a hen’s egg.
I’d say, you got the better side of the deal.

LETTIE It was my hair.

MISS PEARCE I suppose you could always go and get it back.

.......

11.

NARRATOR She could.

But she didn’t.
That evening there was cake.
And Miss Pearce read the letter from home.

MISS PEARCE Dear Lettie

We are missing you, very much, but are very glad that
you are in a safe place. London is not a place for a child
to be at the minute. Every night there are air raids. The
doodlebugs have been falling constantly.

LETTIE What are doodlebugs?

25 of 52
MISS PEARCE They are flying bombs. They don’t have a pilot like a
plane. Their engine cuts out and then they drop and
explode. You never know where they are going to
land. They do a lot of damage.

LETTIE Oh.

MISS PEARCE ‘Dad and I are out every night. We think of you all the
time. But it comforts us that you are in the country
with Miss Pearce. You have all that fresh air and all the
lovely food to eat. There are many shortages here. I
can’t remember when I last saw an egg.

I am enclosing some money. Perhaps Miss Pearce can

buy you something nice when you next go shopping?
Maybe some ribbons for when she braids your hair?
Does she do it like I do?

Lots of love

Mum.

PS. Dad sends his love.’

NARRATOR Then Lettie wrote a letter home.

LETTIE Dear Mother and Father

MISS PEARCE Dear Mother and Father

LETTIE It’s all go here. I wake up early and help Miss Pearce
with the chores on the farm. It’s my job to feed
Gertrude. She laid an egg, today. A very big one.

MISS PEARCE Maybe you should tell her she’s not a girl.

LETTIE Gertrude is a goose. And she’s very grumpy. I don’t

play with her. Mostly I run away from her. There’s no
one to play with. Lots of love. Lettie.

MISS PEARCE I’ll take care of the money for you.

LETTIE When will we go shopping?

MISS PEARCE I don’t think we will. Where would we go? There are
no shops for miles around.

26 of 52
LETTIE No shops?

MISS PEARCE No. just fields and lanes and hedges. And anyway, we
have everything we need. Mostly we grow it. What
else do we need? I’ll look after it for you. I’ll put it in
my bureau. With your letters.

.........

12.
NARRATOR So Days turn to weeks.
Weeks to months
And spring turns to summer.

Lettie’s days
Waking to sunshine.
Smelling fresh air..
Daisy, Buttercup and Marigold.
Daisy
Buttercup
Marigold
Up and down the lane.
Same old, same old.

Daytime
Grumpy Gertrude
Sitting on her eggs.
Evening
Miss Pearce
And her three records.

On and on.

Days when it was raining

Lettie goes to her room up in the attic

The rain drops drip in lines down the panes of glass.

Racing
Joining
Separating.

She breathes on the window.

Mum
Dad

She draws a bed in her cloud of breath on the window.

And she watches it fade away.

I miss our flat.

27 of 52
 I miss my bedroom.
My bed.
And I miss you
So much.

She puts up her hand and she touches her hair.

It isn’t the first time she’s thought it.

But it is the first time she says it out loud.

LETTIE I’m lonely.

...........

13.

NARRATOR The next day

She takes the post
Conrad is already there.
He has a pencil and some paper.
He’s scribbling.

CONRAD Now then, funny looking.

Still not talking?
That witch put a spell on you?

LETTIE No.

CONRAD She speaks!

You wouldn’t know though, would you? If she had.
It could be a forgetting spell. You could have forgotten
everything about your past and where you came from.

LETTIE What you doing?

CONRAD Nothing.
Waiting for you.

LETTIE You writing?

Is it a letter?

CONRAD No.

LETTIE What is it?

CONRAD Once you start there’s no stopping you, is there?

It’s a story.
I gotta go.

28 of 52
LETTIE I wanted to ask you something.

CONRAD Fire away then.

LETTIE Are there any shops around here?

CONRAD Just the village shop. It doesn’t sell much. And since
the war started it’s got even less on the shelves. Mother
Hubbard’s cupboard, we call it. I expect there’s loads
where you come from.

LETTIE Oh Yes.
Big big stores.
Whole streets full of them, with shining windows
packed full of things.
Toys, and dolls, and clothes and food, and candy.
We used to go for walks past them.
My mum and dad and me.

CONRAD You rich?

LETTIE No.
We couldn’t afford to buy anything.
We’d just look.
We would just press our noses up against the glass and
say all the things we would get when we got rich. Not
that we ever would.
The bombing changed all that.
Everything changed when the blackout started. The
lights had to be turned out and it was was locked
down. But it must all be still in there, mustn’t it?
All locked in there. Inside the shop. Waiting. I expect
it still is.

CONRAD So, she didn’t make you forget then.

LETTIE No, I remember everything.

I sometimes wonder if they’ve forgotten me.

CONRAD Sounds a bit different from here.

LETTIE Yes. Nothing much is the same.

CONRAD You miss it?

LETTIE Yes.

CONRAD Not sure I’d like it. This place suits me.

29 of 52
LETTIE I’d better go. She doesn’t want me to talk to you.

CONRAD That doesn’t surprise me.

What you doing for the holidays?

LETTIE Holidays?

CONRAD It’s a holiday day today. No school. Didn’t you know?

LETTIE No.

CONRAD I’m off down the river with my pals. We’re going to
play War.

LETTIE How do you play War?

CONRAD Easy. We take sides. We have big battles. It’s great.

You can come if you like. Join in. There’s a few of us.

LETTIE I can’t.

CONRAD You could come. Nobody’d know.

LETTIE I can’t.

CONRAD She got you locked up, Rapunzel?

LETTIE No. Who’s Rapunzel?

CONRAD You don’t know much, do you?

She might as well have locked you up.
Suit yourself.
I’m off.

NARRATOR Lettie just sat.

For a while.
Listening to the birds
Smelling the grass.
Then she walked back.

MISS PEARCE You took your time.

Any post?

LETTIE SHAKES HER HEAD

MISS PEARCE Lost your tongue?

LETTIE STICKS IT OUT

30 of 52
MISS PEARCE Put it away.
Conrad been talking?

LETTIE How did you know?

MISS PEARCE It doesn’t take 15 minutes to post a letter. What did he

say?

LETTIE SAYS NOTHING.

MISS PEARCE That boy does not have a good word to say about me.
What does he call me? Does he call me a witch?

LETTIE DOESN'T WANT TO SAY.

MISS PEARCE Thought so. I bet he doesn’t say that every time I go
into the village, he and his little pals follow me,
shouting, Witch Witch. Throw her in a ditch?

LETTIE SHAKES HER HEAD. No.

MISS PEARCE Thought not. If you are a woman, and you are different
in any way, and you live on your own, at the edge of a
village. And you don’t go out of your way to make
friends, then they will call you all sorts of things. They
can say what they like about me. It doesn’t mean it’s
true

Now. Gertrude.

LETTIE I want to go to the shop.

MISS PEARCE What do you need? You don’t need anything.

LETTIE There’s a shop in the village. Why won’t you take me?

MISS PEARCE Because...on my own, I’m a curiosity. Together we’re a

threat. You’re safer here.

LETTIE Why didn’t you tell me it was a holiday today?

MISS PEARCE No such thing as a holiday on a farm. Cows have still

got to be milked, veg watered, meals cooked and geese
fed.

NARRATOR Lettie went out with a bowl of food for Gertrude.

GERTRUDE COMES HONKING.

31 of 52
 All right, Gertrude. You don’t scare me.

LETTIE Boo!

Yes!
That’s stopped you in your tracks, hasn’t it?

Boo!

What have you got to say about that? Not much, eh?

THEY SIZE EACH OTHER UP. A STAND OFF.

THE SOUND OF GOSLINGS.

Oh. Miss Pearce! Miss Pearce!

MISS PEARCE TURNING UP. What is it? What’s happened?

LETTIE Look! Look what’s happened. Gertrude hatched her

eggs.

MISS PEARCE Very good. Very good. Good girl, Gertrude.

LETTIE Oh Miss Pearce. Look at them. Baby geese.

MISS PEARCE Goslings. 3 of them.

LETTIE Just look.

MISS PEARCE I’m looking. Let’s hope they survive.

LETTIE Not survive?

MISS PEARCE All I’m saying, is just don’t get attached.

LETTIE Why?

MISS PEARCE It’s a dangerous world for little ones. Crows swoop
down and snatch them up. Foxes and weasels find
them. Gertrude is fierce and fearless as you know to
your cost, but it’s a lot for one goose.

LETTIE I’ll help. I’ll protect them.

MISS PEARCE I thought she wasn’t your best friend.

LETTIE She isn’t. I think she is my only friend.

32 of 52
........

14.
NARRATOR Lettie couldn’t say exactly when
And she wasn’t sure exactly why
But somehow the war seemed to have found its way
into the farm house.

Next morning.
She put out her hand for the letters.

MISS PEARCE I’ll get the post this morning.

I want a small word with Conrad Jones.

LETTIE Why?

MISS PEARCE Lettie, this is not London.

LETTIE I know that.

MISS PEARCE It’s a small place

And people round here have small lives
And tend to have small minds to match.

LETTIE Conrad has been nice to me.

MISS PEARCE That’s as may be.

But you don’t look like him.
You look like me.
And there’s no one else that looks like us for miles
around. So, I’m having a word.

LETTIE What should I do?

MISS PEARCE Do your chores.

NARRATOR So Lettie took the cows back to the field.

On her own.
Daisy, Buttercup and Marigold.

Then she found herself a stick, and climbed up on the

orchard gate.

From there she could see Gertrude and her goslings.

And the crows perched cawing hungrily on the tree.
If the crows flew down, Lettie jumped from her perch
waving her stick and shouting.

33 of 52
 Miss Pearce and Lettie didn’t speak to each other all
that long day.

That evening, as it gets dark,

Miss Pearce draws the thick blackout curtains.

MISS PEARCE The days are getting longer

I do this later every night.

Turn on the radio, Lettie.

Let’s listen to the news. We’ll see how the war is going.

LETTIE TURNS IT ON. ONLY CRACKLING IS

HEARD.

Tune it in. It’s just interference.

LETTIE TUNES THE RADIO. WE HEAR

FRAGMENTS OF DIFFERENT PROGRAMMES.
NEWS, BURSTS OF LAUGHTER. THEN....

A BIG BAND SOUND. MAYBE ITS ‘DONT FENCE

ME IN.’ ELLA FITZGERALD .

LETTIE Oh, listen. My mum used to...

LETTIE IS RAPT. SHE STARTS TO DANCE.

We danced...

MISS PEARCE DOESN'T SPEAK.

Turn it off now.

Turn it off.

LETTIE IS LOST IN THE SONG.

MISS PEARCE TURNS IT OFF.

SILENCE.
That’s enough of that.

Story?

LETTIE SILENT.

MISS PEARCE Suit yourself.

LETTIE Tell me the story of Rapunzel.

34 of 52
MISS PEARCE Bath night.
Fetch my scissors from my sewing box
I’ll give your a hair a trim.

NARRATOR Lettie was silent

Like a doodle bug.
Everyone will tell you,
There’s a moment.
A long moment
When the engine on a doodlebug stops.
There’s a silence.
A terrifying silence
As the bomb falls from the sky
No one knows where or when it will explode.

And then the bomb exploded in the living room.

LETTIE No.

MISS PEARCE I beg your pardon?

LETTIE No.
Thank you.
I want to grow it.
I like it long
I’ve always liked it long and in braids.
and I think my mum won’t know me.
When she comes to take me home.

NARRATOR Now Miss Pearce went silent.

She fetched some paper from her bureau
Took the top from her pen.

MISS PEARCE So Lettie

There was no letter for you this morning.
What would you like me to write?

Dear mother and father

LETTIE No.

MISS PEARCE You don’t want to write?

LETTIE I don’t want you to write that.

MISS P Really? Why not?

LETTIE I don’t call them mother and father

35 of 52
MISS PEARCE Oh?

LETTIE Dear Mum and Dad. That’s what I call them. Not
mother and father. Mum and Dad.

MISS PEARCE Very well. Dear Mum and Dad.

LETTIE Please come and take me home. I don’t like it here. It

smells. There’s no one to play with. And Gertrude tries
to bite me. I’m not wanted. I’d rather be at home with
you in the city. Even if they’re dropping bombs on me.
It’s better than here.

Love Lettie.

MISS PEARCE Love Lettie.

PS?

LETTIE Gertrude’s eggs hatched. She had 3 goslings.

MISS PEARCE Right. That’s it?

LETTIE Yes.

MISS PEARCE Perhaps you should have an early night.

I think you should go to bed, Lettie. Good night.

LETTIE Good night, Miss Pearce.

.......

15.
NARRATOR Lettie lay in her bed.
She doesn’t remember falling asleep but she must have
because when she woke it was dark. The middle of the
night. She doesn’t know what has woken her and then
she hears. Aeroplanes. Wave after wave of aeroplanes
passing overhead.

When she wakes again,

the sun is shining
The cows are noisy in the yard.

Farms are not quiet places

But silence can be even louder
Of the two of them, Lettie or Miss Pearce, It was hard
to tell who was not speaking the most.
That morning Miss Pearce holds out a letter.

36 of 52
MISS PEARCE HOLDS OUT A LETTER.
Post.
Take it.

LETTIE Me?

MISS PEARCE Don’t you usually do it?

LETTIE TAKES THE LETTER.

NARRATOR Lettie took the letter down the lane

It seems to be very heavy this morning
And the lane seems to have become longer.

CONRAD TURNING UP. Hello short hair.

Nothing for you today. Were you expecting one? They

say the bombing was really bad in London last night.
Did you hear them all going over? Seems loads of the
city got flattened - smashed to pieces. I wish I could
see it.

Where are you from again?

LETTIE London.

CONRAD Oh. Sorry.

It was on the radio this morning. That witch not tell
you?

LETTIE She’s not a witch.

CONRAD You try telling my dad that. She made his life a misery
when she taught Sunday school at the chapel. She put
the fear of god in him. He says she doesn’t know her
place.

LETTIE What is her place?

CONRAD How should I know? I’ve never been anywhere but

here.

LETTIE She’s not a witch. She’s just a horrible old woman. Tell
your dad that.

CONRAD I can’t tell him anything. He’s away fighting. He’s a

soldier.

37 of 52
LETTIE Sorry.

CONRAD Mum worries. If this war goes on long enough, I’m

going to be a soldier too.

LETTIE Was he always a soldier?

CONRAD He was a postman before the war. That’s why I’m

doing it now. To help out my mum.

LETTIE Can you read?

CONRAD Course. I read my dad’s letters for my mum all the

time.

LETTIE Will you read this letter to me?

CONRAD I can’t do that! That’s the post. It belongs to the king!

I’d get such wrong. I’d lose my job at least.

LETTIE It doesn’t belong to the king, it belongs to me.

CONRAD It belongs to the person it’s addressed to.

LETTIE I wrote it.

CONRAD If you wrote it, you know what it says.

LETTIE It’s a long story.

CONRAD Tell me. I like stories.

LETTIE I will one day, but I can’t now. If I open it and hold it
where you can see it, and you sort of glance at it?

CONRAD No.

LETTIE I’m opening it. OPENS THE LETTER

CONRAD No! What are you doing? Stop! The witch will get me.

LETTIE Conrad. You are all talk. I know a goose who is braver
than you. Read it.

CONRAD All right. Don’t blame me for whatever happens.

LETTIE Good.

CONRAD Dear Mother and father.

38 of 52
LETTIE It says that?

CONRAD This is daft. You wrote it. Look!

LETTIE Carry on.

CONRAD Everything is well here. Gertrude hatched three

goslings. Please don’t worry about me. I am very well. I
have plenty to eat, and lots to do. Love Lettie.

LETTIE It says that?

CONRAD Yes.

LETTIE Read it again.

CONRAD Dear Mother and father.

Everything is well here. Gertrude hatched three
goslings. Please don’t worry about me. I am very well. I
have plenty to eat, and lots to do. Love Lettie.

It’s none of my business, but couldn’t you do better

than that? That’s not a very good letter.

LETTIE Give it back to me. I think you’re right. It’s not very
good. I’ll write a different one.

.....

16.

NARRATOR Lettie works hard all that day.

Any spare time she has, she picks up her stick and
protects Gertrude’s goslings from the crows that sit up
in the tree above the yard.

When evening comes and Miss Pearce draws the

curtains Lettie says

LETTIE I think I would like to go to bed early tonight.

MISS PEARCE Are you sure? It’s still light outside. Are you feeling all
right?

LETTIE Yes thank you.

MISS PEARCE Let me feel your forehead. Not hot.

39 of 52
LETTIE I’m just tired.

MISS PEARCE You seem fine.

Lettie,
When I was much younger than you I was sent off to
boarding school.

LETTIE Why?

MISS PEARCE Well, my parents didn’t want me to attend the village

school.

LETTIE Why?

MISS PEARCE Every day there was name calling and worse. Children
can be very cruel. And not just children. People
around here had decided that I didn’t belong. So off I
was sent, on my own, with my suitcase. I could barely
lift it. At first I cried myself to sleep every night. I
missed my home so much. But, in time, - and it took a
long time, - I learned to look after myself. And to stand
on my own, on my own two feet. Some things just do
take awhile. Good night, Lettie.

LETTIE Goodnight, Miss Pearce.

NARRATOR Lettie goes up to her attic, but she doesn’t get into her
bed. She takes out her suitcase from under the bed,
where she had put it on the night she arrived.

She sits at the window. And looks out into the yard.
The sun goes down. It is pitch dark. And finally she
hears Miss Pearce getting ready for bed.

More waiting.
Silence falls in the farmhouse.
And Lettie opens the door to her bedroom and quietly
tiptoes down the stairs.

It is not widely known, but people who cannot read

are often very observant. Lettie knows exactly where
everything is kept downstairs. Even in the dark.
She takes the key to Miss Pearce’s bureau.
She opens it and takes out the money that her mother
has sent her.
She finds the letters from her mum and dad and takes
those too.

40 of 52
 And finally she picks up one of Miss Pearce’s records
and tucks it under her arm.
Then she unlocks the back door and slips out of the
house. There is no moon, but no clouds either. Enough
light for her to see her way. And now she knows this
farm much better than she had when she arrived
months before. She stands in the yard. She puts the
record down,

LETTIE PS.

SHE STAMPS ON IT.

NARRATOR She stamps on it.

Hard.
She is just about to leave, when...

Gertrude turns up.

LETTIE Oh no no no. Please Gertrude. Not now. Don’t make a

noise. It’s me. It’s just me. You don’t need to guard the
place from me. You know me.

THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER. GERTRUDE BARS

LETTIE’S WAY.

Please let me go past. Please. Look after your children.

They need you. I can’t help you. I’ve got to go home.
Home to my mum and dad. They need me.

THE GOSLINGS APPEAR. THERE ARE ONLY TWO.

Look. There they are. Your goslings. They’ve come to

find you. Oh no. There are only two. Where is the
other one? It must be in your nest. It must be. Go and
find her. Go and find her.

Oh no. Oh Gertrude. The crows. It must be the crows.

I can’t stay. I just can’t. You’ll have to manage without
me. I’ve got to go. I’ve got to.

NARRATOR Gertrude gathers her chicks, turns away, and allows

Lettie to pass.

LETTIE Goodbye.

.......

17.

41 of 52
NARRATOR This is the plan.
Lettie will walk to the village.
She hasn’t been since the night she had arrived.
She will find the railway station.
She will spend the rest of the night in the waiting
room.
It is the place where she had first met Miss Pearce.
In the morning she will get on the first train back to
London.
When she gets to London she will have to walk from
the station to the tenement building where she has
spent all her life.
To her home.
And then she will be back with her mum and dad. She
needs to see them. To know they are all right.

That was the plan.

And, at first, it works.
She gets to the station.
That’s when it stops working.

CONRAD What are you doing here?!

LETTIE Going home.

CONRAD Good riddance, Rapunzel .

LETTIE What is that?

CONRAD It’s for me to know and you to find out.

LETTIE Why are you here, anyway?

CONRAD I’m waiting for the mail train.

LETTIE Me too.

CONRAD That old witch gave me a right earful because of you.

LETTIE What did you do?

CONRAD Nothing! What did I do? I did nothing!

LETTIE Conrad. You call an old lady a witch just because she
doesn’t look like you.

CONRAD You telling me you actually like her?

LETTIE No.

42 of 52
 Conrad, this war our mums and dads are fighting, do
you actually know what it’s for?

CONRAD Course I do. I’m not stupid.

LETTIE Well?

CONRAD It’s us against them, isn’t it?

LETTIE Who’s us?

CONRAD Us. Us. We’re the goodies. And we are fighting them,
the baddies.

LETTIE But why, Conrad? Why?

CONRAD Why? Because they’re baddies.

LETTIE Is that it?

CONRAD For freedom, innit? Freedom.

LETTIE Freedom?

CONRAD Yes.

LETTIE Who for? Just for you? Do I get it?

CONRAD I’ll let you in.

LETTIE What about Miss Pearce?

CONRAD I’m not having her.

LETTIE How come you get to choose? Who voted for you?
Oh, Where’s this Train?

CONRAD It’s late.

LETTIE Where is it?

CONRAD Probably because of the bombing last night.

LETTIE What?

CONRAD May never come.

LETTIE Oh no. I’ll never get out of here.

43 of 52
CONRAD And the mail is on it.

MISS PEARCE ARRIVES

MISS PEARCE Lettie. Lettie. Oh you’re still here. Thank goodness.

LETTIE Oh no.

MISS PEARCE Come home.

LETTIE That’s what I am doing, going home.

MISS PEARCE What? No. Don't be ridiculous. You’re coming home

with me. Now.

LETTIE No! I’m going back to where my mum and dad are. I
need to know they’re safe. Not my mother and father.
My mum and dad. Where my home is. Where people
know me and love me. I hate it here and I hate you.
Conrad’s right.

CONRAD Don't bring me into it.

LETTIE You are a witch. You’re horrible.

CONRAD I never said that, Miss Pearce. I never said that.

MISS PEARCE Come on now. Calm down. We will have breakfast.

You’ll see things differently.

LETTIE No.

CONRAD The train’s coming.

LETTIE I’m getting on it.

MISS PEARCE You’re not.

LETTIE You didn’t send my letter to my mum and dad. You

lied to me.

MISS PEARCE Ah. I see.

CONRAD Don’t look at me.

LETTIE You lied.

MISS PEARCE Let’s talk about this at home.

44 of 52
LETTIE Your farm isn’t a home, it’s a prison. You never let me
out.

MISS PEARCE Lettie. For your own good.

LETTIE To lock me up!

MISS PEARCE Your protection.

LETTIE And nobody ever comes in either. Who’d want to?

Nobody likes you. You’re worse than Gertrude.

CONRAD Christmas dinner.

LETTIE What?

CONRAD You want to watch yourself.

L AND MISS P Conrad. Shut up.

CONRAD Suit yourself, Rapunzel.

LETTIE And that’s another thing you won’t tell me. Why
won’t you tell me?

MISS PEARCE It’s not a story I like.

LETTIE But, I might. I might like it. I might love it.

THE TRAIN ARRIVES.

Conrad.

CONRAD What now?

LETTIE What’s the story of Rapunzel?

CONRAD It’s rubbish. Nothing happens.

LETTIE Just tell me.

CONRAD No. I’ve got to get the mail.

LETTIE Tell me.

CONRAD This old witch locks up a girl in a tower and cuts off
her hair.

45 of 52
LETTIE That’s it?

CONRAD Pretty much.

Now, I’ve got to go.

LETTIE TO MISS PEARCE Why?

MISS PEARCE Why what?

LETTIE Why did you lock me up?

MISS PEARCE Lettie, I have lived here on my own for years.

I live in this place where people fear me.
They fear me for the colour of my skin.
But I never let it get to me.
Never.
I had my solitude
I was only
Only me.
And that was fine by me.

Then you came

And now that’s changed.
You look like me. You have hair like mine.

I didn’t want you to hear the things I’d heard, feel the
things I had felt, see the world as I had seen it.
So I tried to protect you.
I tried my very best to keep you away from it. And it
away from you.

LETTIE It’s lonely.

MISS PEARCE It’s safe.

LETTIE Nowhere is safe. There’s a war on. Hadn’t you heard?

Why would you choose to live in a place where

nobody looks like you?

MISS PEARCE It’s not about the people. Look. Look at the land, the
trees, the sky, the country, the animals. They don’t
care what colour your skin is. Even Gertrude, bad
tempered as she is. Nature doesn’t have an opinion.
And I love it. That’s why I live here.
Come home with me.

46 of 52
LETTIE What about my mum and dad? I’m worried about
them. All the bombs.

MISS PEARCE Come with me.

NARRATOR Miss Pearce took her hand and led her into the station
master’s office.
She picked up a phone
And dialled a number.
Talked to a lot of people.
And after a long wait...

SHE HANDS THE PHONE TO LETTIE.

MISS PEARCE Here. Take the phone. Someone wants to talk to you.

LETTIE TAKES IT.

LISTENS.

LETTIE Mum?
Oh mum. Oh mum....

MISS PEARCE I’ll leave you to talk. I’ll be outside.

NARRATOR Conrad was outside too.

Standing.
Holding a brown envelope.

MISS PEARCE Conrad? Are you all right?

CONRAD SHOWS HER THE LETTER.

This letter came.

MISS PEARCE What is it?

CONRAD It’s from the army.

Official.

MISS PEARCE Have you opened it?

CONRAD It’s addressed to my mum.

MISS PEARCE About your dad?

CONRAD Yeah. I think so.

I don’t know what to do.

MISS PEARCE Run home to your mum.

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CONRAD I’m supposed to sort the mail. It’s my duty.

MISS PEARCE Leave it with me, I’ll tell the Station Master.

CONRAD Thank you, Miss Pearce.

Miss Pearce. Sorry about what I said

MISS PEARCE Run home, Conrad. Be with your mum. You’re a good
boy. Your dad would be proud.

THE TRAIN PULLS OUT.

........

18.
NARRATOR After some time, Lettie came to find Miss Pearce,
where she was waiting.

MISS PEARCE Done?

LETTIE Yes.

MISS PEARCE Your mum and dad?

LETTIE All right. They’re all right.

MISS PEARCE You missed the train.

LETTIE All right.

I’ll stay.

MISS PEARCE Come on then.

Shall I carry your suitcase?

LETTIE I can do it myself.

MISS PEARCE Very well.

NARRATOR They set out.

It doesn’t seem as far as it had the first time they made
the journey.

LETTIE I talked to my mum.

I told her I wasn’t happy here.
I told her I wanted to come home.

MISS PEARCE What did she say?

LETTIE She said she had assumed you were white.

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MISS PEARCE Oh?

LETTIE It was the letters. When you write, you sound like a
white person.

MISS PEARCE Do I?

LETTIE I’m afraid so.

MISS PEARCE I see.

LETTIE You did ask.

MISS PEARCE I did.

LETTIE She said she loved me.

And
She said you had probably forgotten what it’s like to be
a little girl sent to live far away from home. She said
grown ups do forget things, and teachers sometimes
need to be taught things too.

MISS PEARCE Oh?

LETTIE And she said I’ll be safer here with you. I should stay.

THEY STOP.
SHE PUTS HER CASE DOWN.

She said you were probably just lonely.

MISS PEARCE You know, all my life I always thought I was Rapunzel.
That was my story.
Locked up on my own, in my tower.

I can’t believe you would rather run into danger than

stay here with me.
Seems while I was thinking I was Rapunzel that I
turned into the witch.

It is a lonely place to be.

I’m sorry

LETTIE It’s all right. You can carry my case.

If you like.

MISS PEARCE Really?

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LETTIE Everyone could do with some help sometimes.

MISS PEARCE True.

I think Conrad is going to be in need of a friend.
And I have maybe been working you too hard.

SHE PICKS UP THE CASE.

LETTIE Come on then.

Cows still need milking
And Gertrude will need feeding.

Are we really going to eat her?

For Christmas dinner?

MISS PEARCE What do you think?

LETTIE I think I’d feel guilty.

MISS PEARCE She would be too tough anyway.

LETTIE And Miss Pearce.

Your record.

MISS PEARCE Yes. My record.

LETTIE I’m sorry.

MISS PEARCE Well, I could probably do with some new songs in my

life.

LETTIE I would say so.

Definitely.

........

19.
NARRATOR In the farmhouse
That night.
An alliance was made
Peace was declared.
Though the World war didn’t end until a whole year
later

Weeks turned to months

And the days got shorter
Summer turned to wet and misty autumn
Then winter again.

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 Some things happened.

My father died. As did many people in that dark and

difficult time.
I expect you guessed that I’m Conrad.
All grown up, quite old now in fact.

Me and Lettie became firm friends.

Eventually.
And Miss Pearce gave me some work on the farm.

Christmas came.
Me and my mum came to the farm for Christmas
dinner.
We didn’t eat Gertrude.
I was all for it but Lettie said it’s bad manners to eat
our friends.
She was probably too tough anyway. Like all the
women in that farmhouse.
Lettie bought Miss Pearce a new record.
One that they could dance to.
And Miss Pearce got some ribbons for Lettie’s hair,
which had started to grow.

No more letters were sent to her Mum and Dad.

But each week, Lettie would draw a picture to send.
The first was of Gertrude and her two remaining
goslings, which did survive.
And though she couldn’t read or write, she was, in
fact, a fantastic artist.

The last drawing she did of that time was of Herself

and Miss Pearce, and Gertrude, saying goodbye at the
end of the war.
Miss Pearce framed it and hung it over the fire place in
the farmhouse.
And there it stayed
For Lettie to see
Every summer, when she came to stay.

THE END

........

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.

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