Mr. Binnacle stood on the step outside Number 16 Cherry Tree Lane. He watched the tall angular figure hurrying towards the house. "Bert," he greeted the man and nodded towards the park. "Admiral spotted him this morning, hiding in the bushes by the band stand. Thinks he probably spent the night there."

"Thanks," said Bert. "You don't think he knows he's been spotted do you?"

"No," said Mr. Binnacle. "The Admiral saw him through his telescope. No way he could know we saw 'im."

Bert walked to the park and headed toward the band stand. He stood for a moment in the circular walkway and listened carefully. Sure enough there was a rustle in the bushes to his left. Trying to appear nonchalant, Bert walked in the direction of the sound. He knelt on the brick walkway and pulled out some bits of chalk from his pocket and began to sketch the outlines of a picture. He worked in silence for about ten minutes. Keeping his eyes on the drawing he spoke to the empty air. "You know Jack you're gonna have to come out sometime. Be good if you came out on your own. I sure could use some help with this picture." He looked up. A pair of brown eyes was looking back at him. Slowly, a small and rather dirty little boy crawled out from the bushes and came towards him. Bert handed him the blue chalk. "Why don't you work on the sky while I do the grass? You always like the sky best."

They worked silently for a while. "Anything you want to tell me?" asked Bert. The little boy shook his head and worked studiously on the sky. "You know we really need to talk. This is the third time you've run away and the nuns may not be able to let you stay if you keep this up." "Don't want to go back," muttered the boy. He looked up his eyes full of angry tears. "I want to stay with you."

"Well Jack we've talked about this and you know it won't work. I don't have a steady job or place to stay. Times is rough and you need to be in school and learning a real trade. Not sleeping rough in the park or selling matches like you would if you stayed with me. It's warm in the home and you have plenty to eat. The nuns are strict but they're not mean. 'Sides your parents would have wanted you raised Catholic. They were Catholic and they'd a wanted you to know about church and stuff."

"And those nuns, they can teach you things I never could. Sister Angela, she says you're real good at music. She says she thinks you can learn to play the piano even. You'd like that wouldn't you?"

No response. Bert sighed. "Plus if I don't take you back everyone's gonna think I kidnapped ya. I already talked to one policeman yesterday. You don' want me to be in trouble do ya?" That got a response. Jack began to cry and threw himself into Bert's arms. "I'm sorry. I don't want you to be in trouble. I just want to live with you like I used to."

"Jack I kept you as long as I could. Prob'ly a lot longer than I should've. 'Sides even if we was rich you'd 've had to go away bout now anyway."

Jack tilted his head back to look at Bert not sure about what he was saying. Bert nodded over to Cherry Tree Lane. "'S true. That Michael Banks, the one you used to wave to. Why he's been at boarding school for at least a year now. Bet his parents miss him just awful, just like I do you. But it's just the way it is. Kids need to go away to school."

Jack was silent considering what Bert had said. But Jack was an intelligent child and he wasn't buying it. "I bet Michael gets letters from his folks all the time and he visits at Christmas and summertime." He looked up at Bert, "The nuns said I couldn't see you or write even."

"Well, they wasn't trying to be mean. The sister in charge thought you'd settle in better if I didn't come around so much. You'd get real busy with your lessons and stuff and not think about the old days. Looks like she was wrong about that."

Jack nodded.

"Tell you what, if you go back and promise not to run away, I'll talk to the sister and see if she'll let me visit a little."

"Won't work," said Jack. "Angus says Sister Claire never changes her mind 'les a miracle happens."

"Angus, who's that?" asked Bert. "Are ya starting to make some friends your age?

"Yeah, he sleeps in the dorm same as me. I been teaching him Spanish so we can talk and the nuns won't know what we're saying. Only Sister Monica knows Spanish and she caught us. She thought me and Angus should speak Spanish so I wouldn't forget, but Sister Claire says only English is allowed. And she put Angus in the other room so we couldn't talk anymore. She's real strict."

Just then a playful breeze rippled through the park ruffling Jack's hair. Bert looked up at the sky a smile on his face. "Wind's from the East. You know Jack we better be getting you back to the home. You just be patient and don't run away anymore. That miracle Angus was talking about, it just might be coming."