Good Night, Mr. Tom

Inside the cupboard, Will, bruised all over, roped to a pipe, sits in his own pee and vomit beside an empty baby bottle. The warden asks Will to hand over the baby, but when the warden reaches for her, Will shrinks back. While the police officer goes for an ambulance, Tom squats down and says that he and Sammy came looking for Will. He gets Will free of the ropes and maneuvers the boy, still holding the baby, from the cupboard. The ambulance arrives, and Tom gets in with Will and Sammy. The warden joins them, furiously criticizing Mrs. Beech’s outward religiosity and hidden crimes. Tom thanks the warden for listening to him and helping him. 

Tom suggests to the warden that they get a blanket for the baby. The warden, realizing what Tom is up to, gets a blanket. Tom asks Will for a look at the baby. When Tom unwraps her, he sees she’s dead. He and the warden share a look, and the warden says he has a blanket for the “chap.” Will says hoarsely that she’s a girl. When the warden asks her name, Will says that he calls her Trudy. The warden calls Will “Willie,” and Will says that’s not who he is. When the warden whispers that Will must be in shock, Tom explains that they didn’t call Will “Willie.”

Though confused, the warden calls Will “Will” and asks to wrap up the baby. Tom gently pulls Will’s rigid arms from around the baby and the warden takes the body. Will whispers that his arms hurt, and Tom explains that they hurt because Will held them in the same position for so long. When they reach the hospital, Tom carries Will inside, with the warden carrying the baby. A harried man in a white coat bustles toward them and proclaims the baby dead. When Will echoes, “dead,” the warden says, “dead cold” and winks at the doctor. The doctor, grasping the situation, agrees and briefly examines Will. He orders the nurse to take Will to the children’s wing.

A nurse takes a terrified Will away, Tom promises him he’ll stay nearby. The warden, having given the baby’s body to a nurse, says he has to go make a police report and suggests they go to a friend’s post around the corner for tea. The warden tells the nurse to let everyone know where Tom is if Will’s condition changes. Then the warden and Tom walk to the post of a warden named Alf, who greets the Deptford Warden—named Sid—and offers to make tea. After Tom tells Alf Will’s story, Alf asks what Tom will do. Tom says he’ll take Will back to Little Weirwold. When Alf suggests that the police will probably put Mrs. Beech in prison and Will in a children’s home. Tom insists he’ll take Will back home. 

Tom walks back to the hospital, ties Sammy up outside, and waits for news of Will in the lobby. Finally, in the afternoon, a nurse approaches and tells Tom that a psychiatrist has interviewed Will and has agreed to let Tom see him. When Tom says that Will isn’t mentally ill, the nurse says that Will keeps screaming, so they’ve had to sedate him repeatedly. Tom suggests that Will may need to scream. When the nurse retorts that they need to think about the other patients, Tom thinks that it will be good to get Will into open spaces soon.

The nurse leads Tom to Will’s room. Will’s head has been shaved, revealing more bruises. He tells Tom that they’ve been giving him injections that paralyze him after he has nightmares and asks how long he’ll have to stay. Tom says not long. Will says that the psychiatrist told him he’d go to a children’s home and asks whether he can go home with Tom instead. Tom says yes—they’ll figure out the law of it all. When the nurse tells Tom he has to leave now, Will begs him to stay. The nurse and a loud, middle-aged sister eject Tom from the room. As Tom walks away, he sees them giving a distraught Will an injection.

In the hallway, a balding man in his thirties introduces himself to Tom as Mr. Stelton, suggesting that Will must have told Tom about him. Tom says Will told him that Mr. Stelton wants to put him in a home. Mr. Stelton says that he believes that the treatment Will would receive there would help him. When Tom asks about the treatment, Mr. Stelton says it would be psychoanalysis to help Will uncover “why he is the way he is.” Tom snaps that it’s obvious: Will comes from a loveless home. He announces that both he and Will want Will to come home with him. Mr. Stelton points out that Tom isn’t related to Will but suggests Tom could come visit Will at the home, where staff will be taking Will in two days. Then he leaves. 

Tom goes outside, unties Sammy, and asks the dog what they should do. Then he asks Rachel what he should do. In Tom’s imagination, Rachel tells him to kidnap Will. Tom, though initially shocked, starts considering it. Later, he sneaks into the children’s ward, wraps a sedated Will in a blanket, and walks through the lobby amidst hubbub caused by two arriving ambulances. Once outside, he runs to Sammy. While Sammy keeps watch, Tom dresses Will in regular clothes from Tom’s bag, wraps Will in his overcoat, and starts walking. On the way, Alf the warden stops him and asks whether Tom got Will. When Tom nods, Alf says, “Good on you.”

After several bus rides, Tom and Will spend the night in a shelter. The next morning, no trains are going to Weirwold, so Tom buys tickets to Skyron, a town most of the way there. When Tom is sitting on the train with a sedated Will, a police officer taps on the window and asks Tom whether an air raid kept Will up the night before. Then he wishes them safe travels. When they reach Skyron, Tom hitches a series of rides. He has to walk the last five miles to Weirwold carrying Will—and, eventually, Sammy too. It’s almost midnight when he reaches the blacksmith’s, where he left his cart. The blacksmith’s wife sees the bruises on Will and praises Tom for getting him back. Tom asks her not to spread any gossip about it.

It’s night when Tom hitches his cart and starts driving it to Little Weirwold with Will. Will wakes and asks how he got where he is. Tom explains that he kidnapped Will, and then he bursts into laughter. Will falls back asleep; when he wakes, Tom is carrying him into Dr. Little’s house. Dr. Little examines Will and says the hospital did a good job. After Will falls asleep again, Tom explains to Dr. Little and Nancy what happened. Dr. Little suggests that officials will hunt Will down, but Nancy says that there’s too much going on for officials to keep track of all evacuees. Dr. Little says that Will’s physical wounds will heal before his emotional ones. Tom swears to give Will the help he needs—and Zach, bursting into the room, swears that he will too.