Page 44 of Hope and Happiness in Bluebell Wood
‘Sorry to interrupt.’ Robin’s mother has made her way over to us with Robin hiding shyly behind her. ‘But I just wanted to thank you for this.’ She holds up the bear. ‘Robin can get a little bit stressed sometimes when things aren’t how he thinks they should be.’
‘You don’t need to thank me,’ I say, smiling kindly at her. ‘It was a pleasure to help you do such a nice thing for your mum, Robin.’
Robin peeks his head around his mum’s legs. ‘Is that your dog?’ he asks, looking at Merlin, who has just woken up.
‘Yes, would you like to come round here and see him?’
Robin nods.
‘Is that okay?’ I ask his mother.
She nods enthusiastically.
Robin walks around to the back of the stall, and we kneel down together.
‘You can stroke him if you like?’ I say as Merlin sits up in front of us. ‘He really likes it if you rub his tummy.’
Robin reaches out his hand tentatively towards Merlin.
‘That’s it,’ I say as he begins to stroke Merlin’s furry chest. ‘See, he likes it.’
‘I like him,’ Robin says.
‘He likes you too.’
‘How do you know?’
I’m about to try to explain, when Merlin does it for me. He bends his head down and very quickly licks Robin’s hand.
Robin looks shocked, then immediately throws back his head and laughs.
‘Mummy, he licked me!’ he calls to his mother.
‘I know. I saw him,’ she calls back encouragingly.
Robin fusses Merlin again, and Merlin laps it up.
‘He’s very good with him,’ Callum says, watching us.
‘Is he like that with all children?’ Jemima asks.
‘I don’t know really; I would think so. He’s a very calm character. Nothing bothers him too much.’
A few other children have noticed us all watching Robin fuss Merlin.
‘Would it be all right if we let some of the other children stroke him?’ I ask Robin.
Robin looks a bit put out, and I think for a moment he might kick up a fuss and refuse. But instead he looks at the other children gathered around the stall. ‘Yes, I think he would like it.’
‘Let’s take him out front then,’ I say, hooking Merlin’s lead on to his collar. ‘Would you like to hold him?’ I ask.
Robin looks delighted. ‘Yes please!’ he says, and he proudlytakes hold of Merlin’s lead and guides him out to the front of the stall, where several other children move forward to pat him.
‘No,’ Robin says, holding up his hand to them. I notice all the adults freeze when he says this. ‘You must come one at a time or you might scare him.’
‘Robin is quite right,’ I say to the children. ‘One at a time.’
While the children take it in turns to stroke Merlin, Robin holds on to his lead tightly. They ask me questions about Merlin that I happily answer – like how old he is, and what his favourite food is – and some questions that aren’t so easy – like what he likes to watch on television and what he wants for Christmas!
