Wisps of Snow

by Ross Richdale

  After lunch, the school had music and sang a repertoire of songs with a senior boy playing the piano. The final hour of the day was a bit of a shambles with the children again doing their own thing with art gear in The Inspiration Room until three o'clock arrived, the children gathered in the classroom and Karla told them that she enjoyed her day with them.

  In fact she had, far more than she expected.

  ETHAN SAT OPPOSITE her in the staffroom and looked more worried than he had all day as Karla produced her notebook and read through the comments she had made throughout her visit. Most were neutral and pointed out what was missing as well as what she found that worked.

  "Do you want a frank comment?" she finally asked.

  "That's up to you," he replied with a shrug.

  "Oh, don't be like Nora and hide behind a facade, Ethan," she replied. "She's your twelve-year- old pupil. If you follow a few suggestions I make, you can turn this little school into a place everyone will be proud of. If not, you will blunder on; the ERO team will arrive, tell you exactly what I just said and make it a formal report. Afterwards, your board will call me or someone else from the Ministry of Education in and you'll be forced out." She looked up. "If that happens, your career as a teacher will cease; oh you'll blunder on as a deputy in some city school becoming more and more bitter with the system or leave and try some other career."

  "You are blunt!"

  "Possibly but in half an hour or so I'll drive off down the road and you'll still be here. It will make no difference to me whether you decide to help yourself or remain defiant and shoot yourself in the foot."

  "Point taken," Ethan looked at her with intense eyes. "What do you suggest?"

  "Meet your locals half way. I suggest that you start using the bell, have a more formal approach in the morning when you cover the basic subjects and continue your present methods in the afternoon. Your music was a delight and with a little structure, your final hour of art could have been creative and successful."

  "Go on, Karla. I'm listening."

  She did. The half hour she intended to stay became almost an hour, only interrupted when she asked Ryan to call Little Hands and tell them they'd be late in picking up Alexis. Finally she passed a sheet of spontaneous notes she had written during the course of the conversation, across to Ethan.

  "If you want any more help from me, I am prepared to come back." She stood and shook hands with him. "It is really up to you, now."

  "I thought you'd be a real bitch," the teacher said. "You know, one of those government know-it-alls who would be hell bent on giving me the shove." He grinned. "I think Don Trow has met his match over at Tuckett. "

  "Yes, but that's a different story. Oh, remember to keep on praising Nora and her work. She's a great kid but is quite lonely, I think."

  "I will," Ethan replied. "I guess I did carry the self-motivation to an extreme."

  He escorted Karla out to her car, had a brief chat to Ryan and waved as they drove away.

  "Interesting guy?" Ryan asked as they headed home.

  "Very," Karla replied. "But I'd rather have him than Don Trow any day."

  CHAPTER 10

  Back at Tuckett School, the remainder of Term Two continued with no major problems. In fact, having a roll of less than half of that at Tui Park meant that problems associated with parents, staff and teachers were also halved. As well, parents with their children in the upper school, tended to have less contact with the school. Behavioural problems were mainly in those difficult years of the younger teenagers but with higher efforts by the staff, they were well contained. Some cyber bullying also had to be curtailed. One positive note was allowing the Year 12 and 13 children to wear ordinary clothes rather than the school uniform that was still retained for Year 7 to 11 students. Karla would have liked to cut out school uniforms altogether as they were in more liberal intermediate and high schools in Wellington but realised that in this conservative part of the country it was expected for pupils of that age. Fears raised by the board about sexy clothes and make-up did not eventuate with the now twenty seniors swapping their school uniform for their own one of jeans and tops. Rita, Helen and the other girls could easily be mistaken for some of the younger staff members like Deanna and the bright coloured jackets and woollen beanies were a nice contrast to the blue uniform worn by the other pupils.

  On the teaching front, Trow still remained cooperative but stern and formal in all his dealings with Karla and the two secondary staff she had to speak to about their attitude stayed clear of her but at least their classroom teaching and planning improved. Along with this was a better attitude by the students and initial evaluation showed improved marks in school evaluation.

  Senior School DP, Clive Mortland had become more enthusiastic about the integration of the whole school into one unit while Junior School DP, Thea Phillips did everything asked of her but didn't seem that interested in her job. It was Brandi Shellard, the AP and Year 1 and 2 teacher who shone. Perhaps it was a personality thing!

  Deanna's Year 11 and other high school classes fitted into Room 3 well and there were no feared problems of younger children being frightened by or bossed by seniors in toilet blocks or corridors. The only restriction was on bigger children using the toilets for Rooms 1 and 2. This was because the toilets and washbasins there were designed for little children from five to seven years old.

  On the social front, the district had accepted that Clive and Thea were living together and mutterings about it not being the behaviour of school teachers had disappeared. Karla grinned at a recent article from Southland where an elderly couple were told to leave a Presbyterian Church for living in a de facto relationship. This made her think about how conservative this part of New Zealand was. Other staff appeared to be mainstream with no indication of alcohol, drug abuse or domestic problems.

  The other highlight of the term was when the snow arrived. The school was closed for two days as none of the buses could get out and even the streets around town were impassible. On the third day, school was open and another fun time declared in the afternoon. The tennis court was closed for the rink ice under the snow made it dangerous but everywhere else, children made snowmen, snow forts and snow fights reined, toboggans appeared from home and a small rise at the far end of the football field became a track with toboggans tearing down the slope and half way across the field. Laughter rang out throughout the school and again big and little students joined together for the festivities.

  Parent volunteers provided drinks of hot milk, cocoa or coffee for the older students along with hot scones and cookies in the warm assembly hall before everyone headed home on the buses or in parents' cars. Afterwards, the school hall floor was awash with puddles from melted snow from brushed off clothes or boots but again parents helped Brody the caretaker clean everything up.

  Karla and Ryan decided not to take up the option of flying back to Wellington at the end of the term. Instead they planned to stay for a few days in Dunedin or perhaps visit Queenstown, an internationally recognised winter playground and lake resort that wasn't too many kilometres away.

  Karla decided not to keep her news to herself any longer. "I don't really want to travel too far as we have to think of our children, too," she said in almost a whisper.

  "Children?" Ryan frowned.

  Karla ran her hand through his. "In a few months, Alexis will have a little brother or sister."

  "You aren't pregnant again?"

  Karla smiled. "Perhaps."

  Ryan looked astonished. "You never told me you've gone off the pill!"

  Karla laughed. "Didn't think I'd need to."

  Ryan grabbed her in a massive hug and plastered a kiss on her lips. "We'll definitely need a bigger house in Wellington when we go home. Perhaps we should go looking sooner rather than later."

  "Christmas holidays will do." Karla replied. "I'd like to stay here for the remainder of my contract, with the new block being started and new senior staff next year so there's no real hurry."r />
  "But way out here in the back-blocks! What if you need help?"

  "Oh Ryan. Women in this part of the country have as good a care as in any major city, in some cases even better. There's the local maternity hospital and an excellent nursing service."

  THE HELICOPTER THAT flew low over the school was unusual only in that not often did one fly over Tuckett. Karla gazed out her office window and noted that it was not the rescue helicopter and the change in engine noise made it appear as if it was about to land across town. Probably that would be on the Tuckett Recreational Grounds that was the only large space except for at the school itself. Why would anybody want to land here? It was just mild curiosity so she continued with her computer work until a few moments later when she saw two men dressed in suits walk into the school grounds and head towards the administrative block.

  Perhaps it was someone for her from the ministry... must be urgent for them to come in a helicopter. She stopped her work and waited, shrugged and decided that if anybody wanted her they would be redirected by Roxanne. In anticipation of visitors she opened a desk draw and scooped the somewhat untidy documents and reference stuff on top into it to give the place a more tidy appearance.

  The muffled thumps from the vicinity of the main office made her stand and head towards the door. Roxanne's scream pierced the air and her polite walk turned into a frantic run. She reached the main office to see Roxanne screaming with her eyes open wide in utter terror. Beyond her, the door to Don Trow's office was partly open.

  Without even bothering to ask Roxanne what was wrong, she ran past her, flung the principal's door wide open and charged through.

  Within microseconds she took in the scene before her. Trow was sitting on the floor beside his desk with blood pouring from a facial wound. Between herself and him were the two men in suits. One held a small automatic pistol like those the police used in American television crime stories. He nodded at the other man who was rubbing his right hand with the other. He kicked a now whimpering Trow in the ribs and stepped aside.

  It was worse!

  The first man raised his pistol and aimed straight at Trow.

  "No!" Karla screamed and dived at him. He was twice her weight and size but her momentum helped. He lost balance, the pistol discharged, Trow screamed and the rest was a blur.

  She remembered seeing the assassin topple forward and hit his head on the side of a filing cabinet, Trow looking astonished and blood squirting out from below a shoulder. The pistol dropped to the floor and slid away beneath the desk. All the time, Roxanne's screams rent the air.

  Damn woman, couldn't she do something more helpful that screaming?

  Karla turned, caught the vision of the second man out of the corner of her eyes and felt sudden pain across the back of her head, the whole office spun and she had trouble focussing. She felt herself slipping into unconsciousness but noted that the gunman lay on the floor in a poor of blood, Trow had gone quiet and looked unconscious or dead and she was pushed roughly aside.

  The next thing she noticed was seeing the second man rush out the door and out of sight. She felt nauseous, the whole room spun and purple blotches replaced her vision as her legs crumbled beneath her. But more was wrong! Her whole bottom half was covered in blood, her own blood that flowed down her legs an onto the floor. This felt worse than the wound to her head.

  THE ANTISEPTIC SMELL and familiar arms around her made Karla force her eyes open. Everything around was sort of vibrating, her head throbbed, her throat felt as if it was on fire and she had pain throughout her lower body.

  "It's okay, Sweetheart." It was Ryan holding her in his arms and she was lying on a bed in a small room. "You're in the Tuckett Cottage Hospital."

  The local hospital was mainly a maternity hospital but had a small general ward for emergencies and another geriatric wing where a handful of elderly patients lived.

  "Whose driving your bus?" she whispered.

  Ryan shrugged. "Kev, the mechanic at Tuckett Motors said he'd do it for as long as I needed to be with you."

  Karla gave tiny smile. "This guy was about to shoot Don," she whispered. "I tried to stop him."

  "Oh you did," Ryan replied. "Knocked the bastard over, he hit his head on the filing cabinet and the bullet just winged Don. He's been arrested and will probably be charged with attempted murder."

  "And Don?"

  "He's in a helicopter on his way to Dunedin Hospital. Pretty bad condition from what I heard but still alive." Ryan gently hugged her with tears in his eyes. "There's more."

  "I know," Karla whispered. "I lost our baby, didn't I?"

  "Yes," he whispered. "But you are okay, that is all that matters."

  "Oh Ryan, I'm so sorry."

  "For what? If you had not intervened, Don could have been dead by now."

  "And where's Alexis?" she asked.

  "Still at Little Hands. Roxanne said she'd pick her up and look after her."

  Karla nodded and lay watching out the window for a moment. "Who were they, anyway?"

  Ryan shrugged. "Foreigners. One got away in the helicopter they arrived in. Must have been the pilot. Heard it was hired from Queenstown International Airport. The police are on full alert."

  "You don't think..." Karla gasped.

  "... That it was something to do with that Russian gambling casino Don was using? Seems like it. I have a theory but it's not important now. You are more of my worry. That was a fair wallop you got on the head. You were pistol whipped, you know and the shock brought on your miscarriage."

  Karla felt another surge of fear pass. "At least he didn't shoot me." She felt woozy and shut her eyes. Ryan was with her and that was all that mattered.

  KARLA WAS KEPT IN THE hospital overnight after having her head wound and miscarriage tended to. She had a nasty bruise, a small cut and concussion but by the next morning was back at home.

  Sonya who had dropped in to see how Karla was doing, turned to her.

  "Did you see last night's news on the main channels?" she asked.

  "No, they were patching me up then."

  "And I was sitting there waiting," Ryan added as he fussed around getting cups of coffee after returning from his bus driving. "Wasn't interested in any television. They always exaggerate everything, anyway."

  "The opposite happened, actually. It's as if the government or Ministry Of Education put a clamp over everything. There was just a small item that a principal of a rural Otago school was attacked in his office by a burglar. They didn't even mention the school's name."

  "And you have no idea why this happened?" Ryan asked.

  "Well that guy in Wellington called, you know the one who persuaded you, Karla to come to Tuckett."

  "John Cosgrove?"

  Sonya nodded. "That's the guy. He told me to say nothing to the news media and he'd release any statements. Seemed more interested in how you were than Don."

  THAT AFTERNOON KARLA insisted on returning to school. She had a headache and felt tired but wanted to see how everything was going. Roxanne greeted her and apologised for being so useless. "If it wasn't for you..." she whispered.

  "I heard you raised the alarm and helped in every way," Karla said. She purposely made no mention of Roxanne's screams and state of panic.

  "Thanks," Roxanne whispered. "I... well you know..."

  Karla just smiled and gave a shaking Roxanne a hug. "We all survived, even Don. You can be proud of the way you got help so quickly."

  Roxanne nodded and smiled. "I guess so."

  "I know so," Karla replied. "But excuse me, I must get along to thank Clive for how he stepped in with the children. You can do one thing for me, though."

  "Anything, Karla."

  "Make me a steaming hot coffee and dig out those chocolate biscuits. I'll be back from Clive's room in ten minutes or so."

  Roxanne laughed. "God I'm still quivering like jelly and you take it all in your stride... I'll get that coffee."

  BY THREE WHEN THE HOME bell rang, Ryan was back in
his bus. Karla had insisted that she was fine and hoped everything would return to normal as soon as possible. His bus and the other small one that came in from from Boyce and Blue Ridge Stations were parked as usual behind the two bigger buses. He sat waiting while the duty teacher and bus monitors called the roll and sent him his twenty-two passengers.

  They clamoured aboard and greeted him like a long lost friend, told him how erratic their temporary driver was and chatted away as they usually did. Nobody, not even Hamish or the older children mentioned anything about Don or Karla as they sat down and he drove out around the larger buses that always took longer to load.

  As he drove off, Hamish slipped into the single seat by the door and diagonally opposite himself. "Clive talked to all the senior school and told us what happened. Told us not to spread any rumours but everyone has a theory about what happened."

  "I'm sure they have," Ryan replied. "The trouble with rumours is that they only get half the truth and the rest is speculation that is usually exaggerated."

  "But Karla has a nasty bump on the head and looks terrible."

  "Nice of you to notice."

  He slowed the bus down, turned off the main highway and headed north out of town on the narrow local road. He glanced at Hamish's reflection in the interior mirror. The young man was taller than himself but like many males of his age was slim and had just the beginning of facial hair and a prominent Adam's apple. Being a Year 12 he wore mufti clothes of jeans and a warm looking jacket. He liked Hamish and they'd often chat away as he drove along, usually with Hamish commenting about how stupid the girls were, computers and the internet.