The Midnight Gang

Strillers sends the children with Matron, who promises to keep them in her sight. As the children walk away, they hear the principal shouting reprimands at Porter. Tom asks what will happen to Porter, but Matron only says they will never see “that dreadful man” (321) again. She also claims their “revolting” group activities are done.

Tootsie arrives with only one cornflake and a ketchup packet for Tom, and nothing for the others, blaming Strillers’s cuts to the hospital budget. Matron announces Porter has been “sacked” (fired), and Tootsie worries for him. She reveals that Lord Funt Hospital was all Porter ever knew for a home, as his mother abandoned him there as an infant. Matron insists Porter needs no sympathy; the children try to support Porter, but Matron snaps at them, and they back down.

Tootsie asks Matron where she might find Porter if he needs help, but Matron only cackles and claims he is likely an unhoused person. To convey this idea, an illustration shows Porter in a cardboard box on a platform on the Underground (London’s subway system).

George hands over the last of his chocolate stash for everyone’s breakfast. Amber tells Tootsie to tell Porter she is very sorry and misses him, and the others chime in with similar sentiments.

Robin asks Tom what his wish would have been had the Midnight Gang continued, and Tom explains that, inspired by the oath’s idea of putting others first, he would have given his wish to Sally.

Sally, thought to be asleep, thanks Tom for the gift of his wish. They gather around Sally’s bed. Sally explains that her dream is “to live a big, beautiful life” (339). The others are confused, and Sally explains that she worries she will never leave the hospital or have a chance to grow up. The children are in tears.

She asks if the gang can have one more adventure, but Matron catches them out of bed and demands they return to their beds. She also announces that Tom was never really sick and that his headmaster has arrived.

The headmaster rushes Tom from the ward as soon as Tom dresses in his cricket uniform, allowing no time for goodbyes. Tom asks twice about his parents, but the headmaster says they never call, write, or visit. Tom knows that Sally deserves for her dream to come true, and that he must escape the headmaster before leaving the hospital. In the hall, Tom leaps down the laundry chute headfirst.

Tom hits the laundry cart in the basement, then tries to find a place to hide. He cannot hide in the scary storeroom or the cold freezer; all the doors he tries are locked. As a fleet of nurses led by Matron and the headmaster pursue him, Tom finally finds an unlocked door. It is black inside, but he goes in. Then he sees eyes in the darkness.

The eyes belong to Porter. He admits the dark room is his home. He keeps his clothes in a box and has a dirty mattress on the floor. He explains he was a patient throughout his childhood at the hospital. When he turned 16, he took a hospital job as a porter. He once had a small flat (apartment) nearby, but the neighbors bullied him for his appearance. After a brick came through his window one night, Porter left the flat and found this unused room in the basement.

Tom is sad for Porter. He also thinks about how he, Tom, has no real home, since his parents are always traveling to different places. Tom mentions this to Porter; Porter says surely Tom’s parents love him, but Tom does not believe this. The party searching for Tom arrives. Porter hides beneath the mattress, and Tom hides in the box.

While Tom is hiding, a pigeon tries to bite his fingers. When he brushes it off, it scoots out of the box, squawking. Matron shrieks and claims she would drown it if she had time. Mr. Thews appreciates this brutality and describes how he is purposely cruel to the boys at the school so that he has total authority over them. He also says he always tears up the letters sent to Tom by his parents. Matron laughs and says she has been hanging up on Tom’s parents’ phone calls when they call to see how he is.

Mr. Thews and Matron go to check the rest of the basement. Leaving their hiding places, Porter and Tom comment on Matron’s and Mr. Thews’s cruelty. Porter checks on his pet, Professor Pigeon, who has only one wing. Porter discusses how his mother left him at the hospital, and no one else adopted him, so Lord Funt, the kind hospital founder, let him stay. Porter also reveals he was the child who started the Midnight Gang.

Porter explains that Lord Funt likely knew about the Midnight Gang but did not stop its goals. Tom asks what Porter’s dream was: Porter wanted to be a heroic, handsome prince and save a princess. Two young patients formed a horse, and Porter was able to ride the horse to save another patient, Rosie, from imprisonment in a tower (the top of the stairwell). Rosie kissed Porter in thanks. Rosie passed away soon afterward, and Porter realized that “life is precious” (380).

Porter tells Tom to leave before he gets into more trouble, but Tom defiantly says he cannot leave until they make one more dream come true. He explains that Sally must have her dream before it is too late. Porter initially says it cannot happen, but Tom convinces him. He tells Porter that Sally’s dream is living a “big, beautiful life” (384).

Porter is excited to have one last, very special adventure in dream fulfillment for Sally. Tom says he has a plan: They will script short, snapshot-like scenes with Sally as the star living out many important moments like a first kiss and a first job. They will need a list of scenes, props, and costumes. Porter brings his pigeon along for the adventure.