She nodded again.  It was not unusual to find these girls uncommunicative at first.  They took time to settle down and to trust people in authority.

“I guess you’d have seen the posters for their gigs around the place, and maybe even heard them on the radio a few times.”

She mumbled a quiet “Yes.”  It was a start!

“Okay if I have a cuppa with you too?” Wendy asked.  “I could murder a coffee.”  They chatted informally, showed the new arrival to her room, gave her a clean nightie, showed her around the facilities, introduced her to a few of the other residents and left her to settle in.

Downstairs in the office Ruth told Wendy about the pair of street kids she was virtually stalking and trying to get into her project.  Wendy would keep in touch and monitor the situation rather than doing anything about it just yet.  Sending Police in to ‘capture’ them might lead to them running away again, leaving the city, turning up on the streets of Derry or Dublin or somewhere else…..if they got there safely!

Andy arrived with a few battered, but usable acoustic guitars.  There was always something going on at the Mulberry Bush Project…..something that might entice a few more street kids in, at least to use the place as a drop-in facility.  Even that was okay.  It was a start.  Big cities always had their fair share of runaways or teenagers whose parents didn’t care where they were or what they were doing.  They could get some support if they talked to staff or volunteers.  Andy had a great way with them, especially with the kids on drugs.  They listened to him because they knew of his band’s growing popularity.  Although just a local Belfast band, Alienz had cut their first C.D. with Klein Records in London, and they had been finalists on the T.V. talent show, Star For A Day.  Andy was a great motivator, a good role model.  His success story was a living example of what they could achieve.  Teaching them to play the guitar gave them some self esteem and self worth.  He helped them believe in themselves.  “If you can do this, you can do anything.  Just go for it,” was his motto.  Some of his enthusiasm was bound to rub off!