Goodnight Mister Tom

Tom makes Willie a cup of tea when he wakes up and shows the boy how to pat Sammy. They take the dog out for a walk. Willie wonders at the fact that Tom is being so kind to him; Willie asks to take his empty sack for him, and Tom gives it to him.

Tom stops to talk to Mrs. Fletcher, a neighbor who knits, and asks her if she will knit a jersey for Willie. Mrs. Fletcher retorts that they shouldn’t be expected to clothe the children, but Tom insists. After Tom departs, Mrs. Fletcher runs to tell her neighbor about Tom’s uncharacteristic request.

Willie waits outside with Sammy while Tom goes into a shop to buy food. They stop at a farm where Tom collects milk; Willie is intrigued by the sight of cows being milked. Tom explains that the family is putting blackout covers in their windows to avoid being sighted by bomber planes. The family’s six-year-old daughter, Lucy, stares with interest at Willie.

When they get back to Tom’s home, Tom realizes that Willie is soaked through and freezing. He helps Willie out of his clothes, which Tom dries by the fire, and looks in the paper bag that accompanied Willie. A note from Willie’s mother explains that she’s included the belt for when he’s bad. Tom sternly tells Willie that he has never hit a child. Willie’s mother has sewn his underwear to his singlet; Tom cuts them apart, dries Willie with a towel, and cuts a flannel nightshirt to fit him.

They eat scrambled eggs, potatoes, and toast for dinner, followed by a slice of cake. Willie eats ravenously and then is amazed and delighted to be able to look at Tom’s books. Tom tells him the story of Noah’s Ark, which Willie listens to raptly.

Tom, Willie, and Sammy go up to the attic bedroom; Tom has to show Willie how to get into the bed. Willie is amazed at the softness of the blankets and starts to cry, apologizing to Tom as he does. Tom tells Willie, who calls him “Mister,” to call him “Tom”; Willie calls him “Mister Tom” (35).

Tom looks at the pots of paint that belonged to his wife, Rachel.

Willie wakes up after a nightmare and, noticing that he has wet the bed, he feels sick and vomits. Tom comes up later and carries him downstairs. Willie feels ashamed as he watches Tom scrubbing the mattress outside.

Tom produces a postcard, which Willie is supposed to write on and return to his mother. He admits that he can’t read or write, so Tom writes it for him, conveying to Mrs. Beech that Willie arrived safely and is doing well. Tom asks more about Willie’s schooling in London, and Willie admits that the schoolmaster didn’t like him and that the other children taunted him; he didn’t have any friends.

Tom shows the pots of paint to Willie, who reverently touches them. When they go out, Willie is scared of a horse, clinging to Tom’s pant leg as they pass it. They visit the local doctor, Dr. Little. Mrs. Little distracts Willie while Tom talks to the doctor, who explains that the rich food was probably too much for Willie’s system, as he is clearly malnourished. Tom takes witch hazel for Willie’s sores.

Willie goes into the post office to mail his card to his mother. He notices a curly-haired boy of about his age in there but is too shy to say hello. Tom and Willie go into a grocery store; the owner complains about children from London stealing things, but his wife gives Willie an apple, which he accepts shyly. An Air-Raid Precautions volunteer admonishes Tom for not having gas masks.

They take a horse and cart into town, and Willie naps in the back. In town, they go to a newspaper shop. Tom tells Willie that he can choose one candy and one comic. Willie is amazed and overwhelmed by the options.

At a drapery, Tom buys flannel and then instructs Willie to choose two colors of corduroy for new shorts. Tom then takes Willie to a shoe shop and buys him new boots. Willie peers longingly into an art shop; Tom reflects that he hasn’t been inside since Rachel died. At the library, the librarian helps Willie pick out some books, two of which he can look at the pictures and another that Tom can read to him.

They return home, running to avoid the incoming rain. Tom helps Willie into his new pajamas, explaining the concept of pajamas to him. Willie admits that he is scared to sleep in the bed; Tom shows Willie the bed that he sleeps in and the basket that Sammy sleeps in.

At Willie’s request, Tom recounts Noah’s Ark again and then reads Willie’s new comic to him.

Together, they wrestle the mattress back upstairs, and Tom puts a rubber sheet over it, reassuring Willie that he can wet the bed all he likes. Tom assures Willie that Sammy peed all through the house when he first got him, as it takes a while to settle into a new place.

Mrs. Fletcher arrives with Willie’s new clothes made up. Willie, exhausted, falls asleep.

Tom wakes up Willie and helps him put his pajama bottoms and sheets, which Willie has wet again, into a tub of water he prepared downstairs. Tom helps Willie to dress in a new shirt, his new boots, and new suspenders attached to his old, crumpled shorts.

They go to Church. Mr. Peters, the vicar, instructs Willie to put out hymn books in the pews. Willie reflects that the village of Little Weirwold is like heaven. As the church fills, Tom tells Willie in a whisper about the various village occupants, some of whom Willie has already seen. After a hymn, the vicar turns the wireless on. Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, announces that Britain is at war with Germany. The congregation prays. War effort organizers and volunteers arrange to meet at the village hall. Willie notices red-haired girls who are twins. Lucy, the farmer’s daughter, says hello to him.

After the service, Tom instructs Willie to go home and make tea, but the kettle is too heavy to lift, and the house fills with steam. Tom is unworried when he returns home, taking the kettle off and making tea for himself, Willie, and Mr. Fletcher, who is visiting.

Tom tells Willie that they will be helping to dig trenches. Willie is usually not allowed to get his clothes dirty, but Tom assures him that it’s not a problem. Willie still insists on wearing socks and his long-sleeved jersey, embarrassed by his bruises.

Willie and Tom dig with Mr. Fletcher and his two teenage sons, Michael and Edward. Mr. Fletcher’s younger son, George, whom Willie recognizes from church, arrives to take worms from the freshly turned earth. George asks why Willie is wearing so many clothes; Tom says that Willie has a fever he is sweating out.

They install steel sheets in the trench to form a shelter. Willie continues digging when Tom has to leave, enjoying the hard work. The curly-haired boy Willie saw in the post office arrives.

The boy introduces himself as Zacharias “Zach” Wrench. He explains that he might seem forward to Willie because he is used to moving a lot and, therefore, has a habit of talking immediately and in an upfront manner to people he likes. Willie is shocked to be liked; he reflects that people, even his mother, usually dislike him. Zach helps Willie with the shelter.

Tom goes to the meeting in the village hall. Villagers discuss wartime measures, such as air-raid procedures, school helpers for the influx of children, and fire-watch volunteering, for which Tom volunteers. Tom also volunteers to help with transport with his horse, Dobbs, and his cart, due to the petrol shortage. People seem shocked to see Tom volunteering.

Tom finds Willie and Zach, who confidently introduces himself, still working on the shelter. They go inside, and the three of them have tea. Zach asks if he can come back to see Willie (whom he calls Will) the next day; Tom says that it’s up to Willie, who agrees that Zach can come back.

Tom runs a bath for Willie, who is very dirty. Willie, who has never had a bath, is nervous that he will drown but eventually relaxes. Before bedtime, Tom tells Willie about the story of Adam and Eve and then reads to him from Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories, which they borrowed from the library.