CUCKOO

The neighbours started by putting the kid over the fence. It was a hot day and Dylan was playing in the paddling pool on the lawn. The kid was standing by the fence, peering through the slats. Every so often the breeze would blow his dark, spiky fringe. His mother was in the kitchen. Diane could hear the rumble and spin of the washing machine and the tinkle of what must have been the crockery. The little boy stood at the fence for a long time, then the mother's voice called, 'Bradley, come play away from the fence now. Come away, do you hear?' and their Dylan stopped splashing and cocked his head onto one side. Except for a cuckoo calling in the woods and the gentle wind, it was quiet and still. The two boys looked at each other for a moment before the kid turned around. As he walked away from the fence Diane called to the mother,'It's okay. He's doing no harm. He's okay. he's just looking.'

The mother came out through the patio doors. She was tall and very slender. She was wearing an apron and her yellow hair was tied back. Diane was sure there was a bump underneath the dress. The mother looked at Diane through her beady eyes and frowned. She said, 'Are you sure he isn't being a nuisance?'

Diane smiled. She said she was sure. He wasn't being any trouble at all. Then she said the little boy could come over to play with Dylan. So the mother took the kid back into the house to change him into his bathers. When she came back out she picked him up and put him over the fence. She said, 'Now you behave yourself, Bradley. You be a good boy while you're playing next door.' Then she looked up at Diane and she said,'You just send him back over if he becomes a problem, okay?' and Diane nodded and told her it would be all right and that it would be nice to have somebody for Dylan to play with. The mother smiled quickly, then she went back into the house and Diane heard the television being switched on. Dylan called and Bradley went over to the pool. And that was how it started.

The put Bradley over the fence most days. In the end they stopped asking. Well, it was summer and Dylan was always by himself in the garden. It made sense. The two boys were the same age and they'd play for hours. They'd suck tiptops and play quietly in the garden or they'd go up to Dylan's room until Bradley's mother called him to come to the fence. Then she would pick him up to take him into the house to have something to eat. She'd lift him up over the fence and say,'I hope you're being a good boy while you're playing at next door's house.' Diane would nod and smile and tell her that Bradley was good. Bradley was always good. She never heard a peep out of the two boys while they were playing. Then she'd try to make a conversation but Bradley's mother never seemed bothered. She'd just supply Diane with simple answers such as, 'Yes, I am having another baby,' or,'No, I don't work,'and,'No, we haven't lived here long.' Then she'd go into the house with Bradley and shut the patio doors.

They had a nice garden. There were herbaceous borders and exotic ferns that bent graciously in the breeze. There was trailing ivy over a varnished gazebo and a water feature with a spouting fish. There was a fishpond instead of a sandpit. Diane noticed that it didn't have a safety net.

Dyaln went over to play once. It was just the one time Bradley asked.

'Stay away from the roses,now, do you hear?' Bradley's mother said at the window. 'And don't scuff the lawn.' She told Bradley to go and play on the patio where he was allowed to ride in circles on his bike. Then she disappeared behind the blinds only to reappear a few moments later to tell Bradley off. 'You don't need all those toys, Bradley,' she insisted. 'One at a time, rememeber?' Her voice got shriller with each telling off, until in the end, Dylan began to complain that there was nothing to do. He called for Diane who had been keeping one eye on the pond and she went over to lift him and Bradley over the fence.

When Diane told Greg about it he shook his head.

'They're taking advantage, that's what they're doing.'

Diane nodded. 'They're a strange pair, I'll give them that. She flits in and out with the washing but otherwise she's stays in the house, even when it's scorching. And he's never even said hello.'

Greg agreed. 'It's weird. Their kid practically lives over here and we don't even know their names.'

When it got to the stage where Bradley's toys began to take over the garden, Greg told Diane it was time they put their foot down. But Diane didn't know how to approach them. They must have heard the shouted hints from that came from Greg over the weeks. The other neighbours had. But, what could Diane say? 'Would you please stop sending Bradley over?' or 'It'd be nice if you fed your own son for a change.' It was an awkward situation. Besides, they had all grown fond of Bradley. He was polite and chirpy. Diane, especially, found him irresistible. He had dark pert eyes and a wide, persuasive smile. He kept Dylan quiet for hours. In a strange way he had become a part of the family. They got used to him sitting with them to watch television or hunting through the cupboard to get biscuits or crisps. He even had his own mug. It would be a shame to spoil it.

It was towards the end of the summer that Bradley's father came to the house. It was late and they were ready to go to bed.

'It's my wife,' Bradley's father said quickly. 'She has to go to the hospital. We need somebody to take care of Bradley.'

Diane nodded. Then she ushered Bradley into the front room. He was in his pyjamas and he looked sleepy. Greg picked him him and carried him up the stairs. When Diane went back to the door Bradley's father had gone. She picked the bags up and took them inside.

'She must be having the baby,' she said when Greg came down the stairs. He saw the bags and frowned.

'Just how long does he think the kid is going to be here?' he said. Inside the bags were toys, books, clothes and a bottle of medicine.

After two days they began to worry.

'It doesn't take this long to have a baby, surely?' Greg said.

'What are we going to do?' Diane asked. 'We can't ring the hospital. We don't know their names.'

'It's irresponsible, that's what it is.' Greg peered out through the net curtains. 'They should have called by now.'

'Nobody around here seems to know anything about them,' Diane said.

'I'm going over there,' Greg said when the boys were asleep.

They knocked at the front door three times and waited. Greg raised his eyebrows. After a few moments they went around the back. They tapped at the back door. It was late and it was getting cold. The leaves on the potted trees began to rustle. Diane shivered.

'Nobody's here,' she said.

Greg's feet crushed the flowery border. He pressed his nose against the window. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust.

'I don't believe it,' he said suddenly. He beckoned Diane with his hand. 'Quick. Come see.'

'It's empty,' Diane said when her eyes adjusted. 'It's empty.'

'What do you think they're playing at?' Greg asked. He looked at Diane as if he needed to be reassured, but Diane didn't answer.

'What are we going to do now?' he asked.

Diane shrugged. They looked at each other for what seemed like a long time and it was quiet except for the call of the cuckoo in the woods.