by Nicky Bright
‘I accept,’ she replied, ‘and I must say that I was equally impressed with your recent paper, Master.’ This was an unmistakable reference to the paper that had just left the room. The master winced. It might just be a lot better for him if he just got along with Dr Helen Brown.
‘What do you intend to do, Professor Brown?’ he asked.
‘I’m off to see Chin Li. That young man needs to go home and spend time with his family. He can have one year’s leave and come back if he wants to. I’m going to give him some travel money.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Two new members of staff – a violin and a viola. They’ll add fresh blood and be good for the students. They were in Sunday’s competition. There is the possibility of a harp specialist, but she’s playing hard to get at the moment.’
‘What about me?’ A plaintive cry came from Dr Sloan, who was in a real state and who had remained glued to his chair.
‘We’ll see,’ Helen replied. ‘Don’t leave town, Sloan, but don’t hold your breath either.’
Claudia was happy to go to school on Monday, and fairly skipped along the streets on the way there. She barely noticed the great iron gates as she went in, and breezed past Stella and a group of her friends, on her way to the library. There she met Louise and Emma, in their favourite spot just outside the library door. They liked to be there on Monday mornings before class to talk about the weekend.
At one stage, Stella walked over and said something, but she was quickly sent packing by Louise. Claudia thought that she was a rather pathetic character these days, and almost felt sorry for her. In the end, it was Stella that had lost face in the school. How things changed, even from day to day, Claudia thought. She told Louise and Emma all about the events of Sunday, and about her meeting with Li that afternoon. They also felt sorry for Li and thought that Claudia was doing the right thing. Before they went into class, Claudia asked Louise about the tennis camp.
‘I’d be hopeless, of course, but I just like to try something different. Can I come?’
‘You won’t feel hopeless, because you’d be in with beginners. They actually have a lot of fun. They play tennis games and that kind of thing. I’ll write down the details for you. Emma is coming too, so you’ll know a few people there.’ Louise seemed quite keen for Claudia to come. ‘What’s more,’ she said, ‘I can lend you a racket. I’ve got plenty.’
That afternoon, when school had finished, Claudia made her way down to the Walton Street Cafe. She hoped that Li would turn up. He was shy but she hoped that she hadn’t lugged the books in for no reason. Then she saw Li on the street corner. He was smiling broadly. She had never seen him smile like that before.
‘What’s cheered you up, Li?’ she asked.
‘I’m going home!’ Li exclaimed cheerfully. ‘Dr Brown is sending me home!’
They went inside the coffee shop and found a table in the corner, not too far from where she and Julia had sat on a previous occasion. Claudia was curious about Li’s great desire to go back to China.
‘I need to talk to my family, and my old friends. I want to hear the sounds in my street and smell the food. Do you understand that, Claudia?’
‘I do understand, of course. Did you talk to your parents much when you were home in China?’
‘Yes, all the time. We talk about everything. I like to talk to them, but it’s not just talking. It’s being there. I’m not ready to leave home just yet. Do you talk to your parents much, Claudia?’
‘Until now – I didn’t talk to Mother very much – hardly at all. Father was away – but now we talk a lot. We’re good friends – so I know what you’re talking about,’ Claudia asserted. They stopped talking for a few minutes, as they sipped their lemonades, and then Claudia thought she would ask Li about Sunday afternoon.
‘What were you thinking, down on the riverbank, on Sunday afternoon?’ she asked. Li thought for a moment.
‘I was embarrassed, upset, and had just lost it for the moment. I needed some peace and quiet to calm myself. The river does that for me. You know, it probably sounds funny to you, but I imagined I was one of the geese for a moment, and that I could fly all the way back to China.’
‘That’s not so funny. I understand that. Not so long ago, I wanted to be one of the swans on the Oxford Canal. I can tell you that I have a bird that is my inspiration. It’s a falcon that lives somewhere on the other side of the meadow, probably in the hills just beyond. It’s magnificent!’
‘Why do you like it so much?’
‘It’s just so free. It goes where it likes, and it does what it likes. And the way it moves in the sky – it’s just so beautiful.’
Claudia remembered the books she had brought for Li. She took them out of her school bag.
‘These are two books that I like very much. One is The Hobbit, and the other is The Lord of the Rings. The author is J.R.R. Tolkien. But if you’re going back to China will you have time to read them?’
‘I’m not going back for another month, so I’ve got plenty of time. By the way, I brought something for you as well. It’s called Thoughts of Confucius. It’s in English, of course. I got it at a second-hand bookshop.’
‘Who is Confucius?’
‘A really important Chinese thinker. His thoughts have helped me a lot. One of his sayings helped me on Sunday. It was “if you look into your own heart and you find nothing wrong, then what is there to worry about, what is there to fear?” That is what Confucius said. Please tell me what you think.’
Claudia put the book in her school bag. She was glad to have it, and looked forward to talking to Li about it before he went back to China.
‘So you’re here for a month? Would you like to come to a tennis camp? I’m going with a few friends. There’s a beginners’ class.’
‘Why not? Tennis is big in China at the moment. I’d surprise a few people who think I can only play the violin.’
Claudia looked at her watch. ‘Got to go. Father is coming home this evening. It’s a done deal, Li. I’ll drop the details off at Old College. My friends are Louise and Emma. I’m sure you’ll like them.’
They waved goodbye outside the coffee shop. Claudia had to hurry. She did not want to be late for Father.
Heathrow is Heathrow. Crowds, queues, noise – and more queues. Kate Ashby waited patiently for her husband, Kenneth, who finally emerged pushing an overloaded luggage trolley. It was a hugely emotional reunion, with lots of hugs and kisses. Kenneth was keen to get away, but Kate insisted that they have a coffee before picking up the car. When they finally got a table and sat down, Kenneth’s first question was about Claudia.
‘And how’s my little girl? I must say I’ve missed her a great deal.’
Kate braced herself for what she knew she had to say to Kenneth.
‘Well, Kenneth, that is what we have to talk about. The thing is, my dear, she may be your little girl, but she is not just a “little girl”. You will be quite surprised when you see her.’
‘Why? What? Perhaps you’d better tell me a little more.’ Kenneth had not expected this.
Kate explained. ‘I didn’t know myself until quite recently, but she’s had a bad time at school. I have been worried sick, because she wouldn’t talk, and she was spending more and more time in her room. A teacher even called from the school.’
‘What did the teacher say?’
‘Good student, no problems with her work but was going to the library far too much. She was worried about Claudia’s social side.’
Kate then went on to explain about the marked clothes and other things, and about how Claudia and she had finally talked it all out. Kenneth was horrified.
‘The worst thing was that, instead of talking to her, I just nagged at her. I must have been horrible to listen to. Then it all started to come good. I think I’ve improved too. Jane tells me that I have.’
‘What happened?’
‘Something happened on Port Meadow. She was taking her flute onto the meadow to play, and then she met someone, and then there was some kind of musical event. I’m yet to hear the full details. Things changed very quickly I can tell you, and I had enough sense to stay away from it.’
‘So everything is now all right?’ Kenneth relaxed a bit.
‘No, Kenneth,’ Kate replied. ‘Everything has changed. I’m not “Mother” any more. Claudia calls me Kate. I’m used to it now, and in fact I prefer it. She’ll probably want to call you Kenneth, or Ken – or maybe even Kenny.’ Kate pushed Kenneth’s arm playfully.
‘Changed that much, has she? What should I do?’
‘Absolutely nothing! Just be her dad. She’ll tell you what she wants.’ Kate felt that she had said enough. ‘Come on, let’s go, or we’ll be late getting home.’
When the Ashbys finally arrived home, Claudia was waiting, and ran to her father and hugged him. She was very, very happy. The lights were on late in the Ashby house that night, and occasionally the loud laughter, shouts, music and general din caused a few curtains to be drawn aside by curious neighbours.
The following morning, Professor Helen Brown was feeding Sammy, her little sparrow, a few crumbs through her window when she saw Sir Michael going in to the master’s room.
‘So it’s all started, Sammy,’ she said. ‘And tonight is visitors’ night in the dining hall. I’ll bet you some extra crumbs tomorrow that the puddings are absolutely marvellous.’
When they finally came out, the master was walking Sir Michael to his car, when they passed under Dr Sloan’s window. To their great surprise, they heard Dr Sloan shouting to someone.
‘Mozart, Mozart, what have they done to me?’
‘Did I hear that right?’ Sir Michael was surprised to say the least. Even he knew that Mozart was long dead and gone. The master, on the other hand, knew very well when opportunity knocked.
‘I’m afraid so,’ he replied, shaking his head slowly. ‘There have been one or two incidents recently.’
Sir Michael was immediately alarmed. ‘What kind of incidents? Nothing serious, I hope?’
‘No, not at all! Water, fish, cow manure – that kind of thing,’ he replied airily, feeling a little closer to his old form.
‘Well, in that case, be kind to the man, Dr Fennell; we don’t want any more trouble!’
‘Don’t worry, Sir Michael, we’ll find something for him not too taxing.’
‘Glad to hear it. Now, where’s my driver? I need to get home.’
Back in his room, Dr Sloan remained slumped in his chair. Everything had gone wrong, and he’d been betrayed. He looked across at Mozart in his basket. At least he had one friend. Then his eye caught the pink envelope over on his desk. ‘Esme!’ He went over and opened it again and read it and re-read it several times. Maybe there was something in this birdwatching.
‘Birds are good,’ he said out loud. ‘I think birds could definitely be very interesting, don’t you, Mozart?’ Mozart purred contentedly in his basket. Birds were definitely good. Now things were really looking up.
That afternoon, Claudia was relaxing with a book at the bottom of the garden. It all seemed like a dream – a wonderful dream. She was thinking about the magic of that Midsummer Music Competition, and all of those great people, Julia, Finn, Elaine, all of them, when suddenly something made her look up. She thought she saw someone go by. She went down to the edge of the canal and looked to the left. She thought she saw a tall white hat bobbing along, and then it was gone. Could that have been Elfie? She looked into the canal. The water was quite still. She could see her own reflection very clearly in the water. When she smiled, the reflection smiled back. She waved to herself – hello, Claudia – and goodbye, Claudia Flute. She went back to her chair and book, to enjoy a sunny summer afternoon.