“Pardon” Said the woman, whom Poppy now understood to be the school nurse. “Did you say something dear?”
“Could I have a drink?” She asked. “My throat is a little dry.”
“Certainly dear, but good manners cost nothing and we say please and thank you around here… One sugar or two? ”
Poppy frowned; she’d only wanted a glass of water and felt too embarrassed to say otherwise now. Staff at her old school would never have offered her a cup of tea; they would have struggled to find a clean cup. “One please.” She said.
The Nurse telephoned the canteen and a short time later a tray appeared complete with three cups, a white china pot full of steaming tea, a matching jug of milk and some of those little sugar lumps that Poppy had never seen before. It all seemed very grown up to her and just a little weird to say the least.
“Just like room service!” Said the Nurse with a toothy grin on her face. “I dare say you wouldn’t have got this back at you’re old school.”
Poppy just smiled lamely in reply. Then there was a knock on the door and in rushed, who else? Her mother.
“Are you alright?” She spluttered breathlessly. “What on earth happened to you?” She had actually been suspecting that the whole accident thing was just an excuse to get out of school. But when she saw the bruises and blood stains on Poppy’s uniform she quickly changed her mind. Flustered, she reached out into the corridor and tried to pull the pram in through the door. But it wouldn’t quite fit, so she abandoned it half in the medical Centre and half in the corridor.
“It’s alright Mrs. Darke, leave that where it is and come and sit down, we’re having tea! Would you like some?”
Mrs. Darke glanced at her daughter who shrugged. The Nurse was already pouring the brown steaming liquid into the cups when she said. “Yes, thank you… How is Ms. Craven…? I hope she’s feeling better now!”
“The Doctor has already checked both her and your daughter over!” She said and smiled at Poppy. “Nothing serious, just a few minor cuts and bruises… But we can call him back if you like… Or we can send her to casualty at the local hospital.” She paused as if waiting for an answer. “Of course that’s a thirty mile round trip, as you well know!”
“I’m alright Mum, really, I just feinted!” Poppy said and sat up. “There’s no need to fuss. Why don’t you take ‘whatever his name is’ and go home.”
Mrs. Darke frowned as she took a sip of the hot tea. “Are you sure? You didn’t bang your head or anything, did you?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m here now so I may as well stay.” She said and defiantly jerked her head back as her mum stroked her cheek. “Really…I’m not the baby! Stop fussing!”
“Don’t worry Mrs. Darke we’ll take good care of her. My name is Joy Furnace and I’m the school nurse.” She handed Poppy’s mum a card. “That’s my mobile number… You can call anytime you want.”
“I don’t know… Maybe I should I take her home…”
“She won’t be doing much today anyway.” Said Ms Furnace and kept glancing at Poppy and smiling, as if she was trying to involve her in the conversation. “The head girl will be arriving shortly to show Poppy around the school… This afternoon the Headmistress wants to have a word with her about road safety and after that.” She looked at a small pocket watch, hanging upside down on her tunic pocket. “I’ll suggest they let her sit in the quiet room and read.”
Poppy grimaced. “Perhaps I should go home with you...”
Out in the corridor a loudspeaker whirred and crackled as it played the first verse of ‘God save the Queen’. Then the unmistakable voice of Ms. Bernadette Craven began echoing around the school.
“Could the Head girl please report to the medical centre as soon as possible...? I repeat, could the Head girl please report to the medical Centre!” She said, and then added almost as an afterthought. “Oh and by the way... Due to a little accident this morning all deportment classes are cancelled until further notice.”
“What is deportment?” Poppy asked.
“Walking around with books on your head.” Said the Nurse and then noticed the puzzled expression on Poppy’s face. “They teach you how to walk, talk and act like a lady.”
Poppy frowned. “It’s not compulsory... Is it?”
“I’m afraid so... There’s a competition every Christmas, all the young ladies want their name on that silverware, and Verina Graves has won every year for the past five years. Then of course, there are the exams in June....”
She abruptly stopped talking as she noticed someone trying to squeeze past the pram. “Speak of the devil!” She cried. “Hello Verina dear, have you come for Poppy?”
The girl was tall and slim with a perfect complexion and soft features. She had brown eyes and long brown hair, she wore little or no make-up and her uniform looked as if it had been made just for her. She either wasn’t listening or didn’t hear, because she didn’t answer. She just stood in the doorway rooted to the spot and gazing into the pram. Her face seemed to glow as she slowly leaned over and reached out with a small delicate hand to touch the baby’s cheek.
Poppy shouted the words that her mother was thinking, but too polite to speak. “What are you doing? Don’t touch my brother!”
Verina glared coldly at Poppy for the briefest of moments, and then stood up straight and smiled warmly at Poppy’s mum. “I’m pleased to meet you Mrs Darke. My name is Verina Graves and I’ll be taking care of Poppy today... What a beautiful baby you have! How old is he?”
Mrs. Anne Darke Liked nothing more than people fussing over her little bundle of joy. “I think we’re going to call him Dylan, and he’s almost a week old... Would you like to hold him?”
“Could I?” She beamed and glanced at Poppy.
The instant Verina held him in her arms and gazed into his eyes, he began screaming.
“Give him to me!” Poppy snapped and wrenched him from Verina’s grasp. “He doesn’t like strangers!” And Poppy didn’t like Verina very much either. She was just too perfect, and there was something very sinister hiding behind the façade of hair, makeup and that hideously bright smile.
Mrs. Darke smiled quietly to herself; Poppy’s protectiveness was something new and rather pleasing. “Right, I’m going to go home now and give him a feed, before he cries the school down... I’ll leave Poppy in your capable hands.”
After some considerable maneuvering of the pram Poppy watched sadly as her last chance of escape left the building.
The bright smile and pleasant demeanor was an act reserved for adults only, and Poppy was no adult. After smiling at Ms. Furnace and saying her goodbyes, Verina poked her nose in the air and with a flick of her brown locks turned and marched out into the corridor. Infact, she walked so very quickly poor little Poppy had to jog just to keep up with her. There was a mind boggling warren of dimly lit corridors and stairs to negotiate. She pointed out various classrooms by lesson type, without stopping to let Poppy have a look in any of them or even catch her breath. She showed her the library and the canteen, the school even had its very own greenhouse and plant nursery.
Suddenly they were outside in the sunlight. “And finally that is the gymnasium and hockey pitch!” Verina said and pointed to another large building standing adjacent to the school. Then she gave a little fake laugh and put her hand to her mouth. “Oh dear… Silly me! I forgot to show you the observatory and planetarium.”
Poppy’s anger had been simmering gently for at least an hour, and suddenly Verina had made it boil over. “Are you telling me that we’re going all the way back up there? It’s at least five flights of stairs.” She snapped. “And where is the toilet? I haven’t noticed one on our non-stop, whirlwind tour of St Michael’s school for stuck up Kate Moss wannabe’s.”
“Oh my god… What on earth is a toilet?” Verina sneered. “You’re not at your local comprehensive now, here we have a loo and we flush when we’re finished.”
“So where is the playground? We seemed to have misse
d that too!”
Verina looked down her nose in utter contempt. “We don’t have a playground… We have the ‘social networking and common room’. If its fresh air you need, just go for a stroll around the field! Oh my god, you’re so… So common aren’t you!”
“Well the sooner I get expelled from this dump the happier we’ll both be… Now let’s see that observatory!”
Verina looked up at the clock tower, which was some way off on the far side of the school. “Actually, I haven’t got time now. I’ve got biology… And you’ve got an appointment with Ms. Craven…” Verina laughed. “You almost killed her; she is ‘so’ going to give you the full hairdryer treatment!”
“I’m not scared of her!” Poppy said defiantly.
Infact, she wasn’t just scared, she was absolutely terrified. Poppy had an image in her head of Ms. Craven sat in a wheelchair and bathed in bandages like a mummy. She was still playing with those troubling thoughts ten minutes later as she sat outside the Headmistress’s office. Suddenly and without warning the door flew open and out ran a red faced girl in floods of tears. She snatched up a satchel, which she had left on a chair beside Poppy, and ran off down the corridor wailing like a banshee.
The door to Ms. Craven’s office remained open for some considerable time before Poppy heard her name called. She left her bag on her seat, as the other unfortunate girl had, and nervously shuffled into the room.
The Head mistress ignored her new student’s arrival and continued to write notes in a large book. After what seemed like an age she looked up and peered over her half rim glasses, which were perched rather precariously on the tip of her pointy nose. She inspected Poppy up and down twice and then gave an awkward, lop-sided smile.
“I see you are none the worse for wear after our little collision! Please take a seat.”
“Yes Miss!” Poppy said as she sat on one of two wooden chairs facing Ms. Craven’s desk. “I’m very sorry for knocking you off your bike! I didn’t see you... That is until it was too late.” She gushed.
“Actually it was my fault... To be completely candid in this matter... I should admit that... Alas I am the one to blame. I was fiddling around in my basket looking for something, when I should have been looking where I was going.”
A puzzled expression tinted with disappointment spread slowly across Poppy’s face. “Aren’t you going to expel me?”
“What on earth made you think that child? I’ve got plans for you dear; in five years you will leave this establishment as a well-mannered, mature young lady with an impeccable education behind you. You will make friendships that will last a lifetime, and have experiences to cherish. Most of all, when you are old and grey like me you will remember these days as the greatest of your life; so my advice to you is to live each and every day to the full and absorb everything this school has to teach. A child such as yourself rarely gets the chance you have been gifted.”
Poppy was thinking aloud again. “You mean I’ve got to stay here?” She wiped the tears as they welled up in her eyes.
“How delightful... Tears of happiness! We expect you to rebel and misbehave a little along the way... Bad behavior has severe consequences here and one would be well advised to toe the school line.” She suddenly stood up, leaned over the desk and looked at the bulge on Poppy’s ankle. “I’ve read your file and I’m fully aware of the electronic tag. Obviously it’s a given that you won’t be attending the school youth club until it is removed... I’ll also excuse you physical education until that time. I think less people that know about the tag the better!”
She remained standing and walked to the window as she scanned through the remainder of Poppy’s file. “Vandalism will not be tolerated on or off these premises and bullying will absolutely not happen at this school. If you should feel the need to carry out either of these criminal activities please feel free to substitute extra art classes with Mr Smith and there’s Judo club every Monday and Thursday in the gym.
Poppy sat in the chair in stunned silence and after a while Ms. Craven’s voice became nothing more than white noise. By the time she left the office Poppy’s mind was drowning in a sea of information about dress rules, codes of conduct, timetables, classes, hobbies and a multitude of other stuff that she hadn’t quite been able to jam into her already bulging memory.
She got to the canteen just in time to snatch a quick lunch and then it was straight to the so-called ‘quiet room’ to sit some assessment exams, in the event, they were actually quite straight forward. It crossed her mind to fail them on purpose, but she guessed they’d probably just give her some extra homework. The afternoon passed in a blur of Mathematics and English and before she knew where she was a bell sounded telling her the day was over, and that she had survived.
As she walked down the drive with her bonnet in one hand and bag over her shoulder she stopped at the very spot where the bike had hit her. She turned and looked back at the school; here there would be no peer pressure to misbehave, here she could be who she wanted to be, and create a whole new Poppy Darke, here at this school she could be normal again.
Chapter 10
Autumn arrived suddenly that afternoon while Poppy sat at her desk trying to do multiple subtractions and daydreaming about Goyles. It was only the second week in September and the trees were already casting off their summer coats for the great sleep. By home time a chilly wind was blowing dark grey clouds from the north and leaves were now falling like snow in a blizzard, deep piles of red, green and brown foliage gathered in the gutter whilst others drifted and swirled across the road. Children walking home from school whooped and hollered with joy as they jumped into the masses of crispy, crunchy leaves.
Poppy passed two boys playing conkers and stopped to watch for a time. As one unfortunate conker was smashed to pieces on the end of its lace, its owner ran off shouting over his shoulder. “I’ll bring my champ tomorrow Kevin... Then I’ll beat you!”
The other boy turned to Poppy and smiled as he held up his little brown conker. “Charlie doesn’t know but my dad baked that in the oven for three hours and then my mum covered it in five layers of clear nail varnish... It’s like concrete! He’ll never break it!”
Poppy didn’t have a clue what she had just witnessed and certainly didn’t know what a conker was. She was about to ask but the boy ran off, dived headfirst into a pile of dead leaves and began making angel shapes, whilst screaming for ‘Charlie’ who had long since gone home.
“This place just gets stranger and stranger by the minute!” Poppy whispered to herself. “What a bunch of weirdo’s.”
It took a whole ten minutes to walk the half mile home, by then she was freezing and couldn’t wait to get indoors. She tossed her coat, hat and satchel on the settee and skipped into the kitchen throwing open the fridge door. “What are we having for tea Mum?” She shouted. “I’m starving!”
“You’ll have to wait and see... Won’t you?”
The voice was deep, much deeper than her Mums, and it was right behind her. “Granddad!” Poppy screamed and spun around. “Is it really you?”
The elderly gentleman smiled, flashing his false teeth, and nodded eagerly. “Aren’t you going to give your old Pops a hug then?”
Poppy jumped into his arms, knocking off his trilby hat and kissed him on the cheek.
“Careful.” He spluttered. “I’ll fall over in a minute! You’re a lot bigger than you use to be.”
Poppy stepped back in anticipation. “Has my Dad come back with you...? Has the dig finished?”
“I’m afraid he couldn’t make it sweetheart. He’s in a library in Mexico, buried up to his neck in books... You know what he’s like...”
“Will he be coming home soon?”
Nathaniel Darke senior shrugged. “Soon... I’m sure. But meanwhile I’ve brought you a surprise, why don’t you go and have a look in the back yard.”
The feelings of disappointment evaporated as she rushed to see what her granddad had brought her. Propped up on its sta
nd in the middle of the lawn was a gleaming new red girl’s mountain bike, complete with a pink helmet.
All Poppy could do was gawp at it with her mouth open, but totally speechless.
“So what do you think of it then?”
Poppy couldn’t speak; she had never seen anything so beautiful, so red or so shiny.
“I can always take it back if it’s the wrong color!”
Devoid of words she screamed with delight.
“I’ve got some lights here for it, but you’ll have to put them on yourself!”
“Thank you Granddad... Thank you... Thank you... Thank you!”
“You’re welcome dear but what’s all this misbehaving your dad and I have been hearing about?”
She shrugged nervously and looked sheepishly down at her feet. “I don’t know Granddad! That was ages ago and I haven’t been in trouble since we came to live here.”
“Well I’m back for good now! So let bygones be bygones and have a fresh start... Enough said... Why don’t we start as we mean to go on... you put that bike away in the shed until tomorrow and then you can make your Mum and me a nice cup of tea?”
Poppy’s eyes sparkled with mischief as she ran to her new bike. “Why don’t you make the tea...? And I’ll take this for a test ride.”
He walked over to the gate and held it open while Poppy adjusted her new helmet. “If you see my dog on your travels, do me a favor and send him home.”
“I didn’t know you had a dog Granddad... What’s he called?”
“He’s a big black mongrel... Answers to the name of ‘Midnight’...” He said and looked up and down the street. “Suppose he’s just glad to be home at last... Probably gone to see some of his old buddies!”
Poppy laughed. “Dogs don’t have old buddies Granddad! I bet he’s took himself for a walk up in the woods.”
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