by Andy Coltart
After the students had left the hall the Head asked Riley to follow him to his office.
‘I’ll see you in class,’ said Casey as she followed her classmates out of the hall.
Riley entered the Head’s office and sat down.
‘I need to update you on Friday’s incident,’ said the Head.
‘Okay,’ said Riley, nervously.
‘I’ve met with the parents and I’ve talked to the girls. They’ve admitted it’s happened but blamed each other for it,’ he said.
‘Are they in school?’ asked Riley.
‘No, not until the police finish their investigation,’ said the Head.
‘Then what happens, sir?’ asked Riley.
‘Then they could face prosecution for assault if the police decide there’s a case to answer,’ he said. ‘How do you feel about that, Riley?’ he asked.
Riley thought for a moment and said,
‘If you’d asked me that on Friday I would have been too scared of the consequences of that to want it to go ahead. But, having been shot on Saturday and seeing how standing up for those who can’t defend themselves can make a difference I think the police should be allowed to proceed. These girls have done this to me for years and to other kids too. So I’m fine with the police handling it and I’ll be fine dealing with the fallout from that here in school.’
‘Okay,’ said the Head, ‘but if you ever need to talk then my door is always open to you.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ she said.
‘Okay, go and catch up with your friends in class,’ he said.
As she walked along the corridor toward her first lesson she heard some crying from behind a classroom door. The door wasn’t closed and the room looked empty through the corridor windows. She stopped outside, wondering whether to go in. She pushed the door a little and put her head round.
‘Hello’ she said.
There on the floor behind the door was Lucy, a year 7 student Riley had saved from being hit by a mean girl.
‘Hey Lucy, what’s happened?’ said Riley.
Lucy looked up at her with tears running down her cheeks. Riley came into the room and sat on the floor next to Lucy ready to listen to her.
‘How do you know my name?’ said Lucy.
‘I know lots of kids in the school,’ said Riley. Which didn’t really answer the question. However, Lucy seemed to accept it.
‘What’s happened?’ asked Riley again. Lucy looked up at Riley,
‘My mum died at the weekend,’ she said. The words broke Riley’s heart. She threw her arms round Lucy and hugged her.
‘Oh, you poor thing,’ she said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Letting go of Lucy she asked ‘How come you’re back in school so soon?’
‘Cause my dad needs me here so he can sort the funeral and there’s nowhere else for me to go,’ replied Lucy.
‘Come with me,’ said Riley.
‘Where?’ asked Lucy.
‘To the office,’ she said. ‘They looked after me last week when I was too upset to go to lessons.’
She got up and helped Lucy to her feet. The two girls walked down the corridor. Riley had her arm round Lucy’s shoulder. When they reached the office she explained where she’d found Lucy and what she’d told her. The administrator said, ‘Yes, we know what’s happened. Come with me Lucy, and I’ll get you some tea and toast,’ said the administrator. ‘Thank you for looking after her, Riley. You’d better get to class now,’ she added. Leaving Lucy, Riley headed back down the corridor hoping she’d get to the lesson this time.
After lunch Casey was leaving school for a couple of hours to go back to the hospital with her mum. They’d called that morning after she’d left for school to say the scan results were back earlier than anticipated.
‘I hope everything is okay,’ said Riley as she hugged her friend goodbye.
‘I’m sure it will be,’ said Casey.
Mrs Johnson drove her daughter to the hospital to see the consultant. Casey was feeling that sick empty feeling you get inside when you don’t know if life is about to go hideously wrong. That feeling you get when you have absolutely no control over what comes next.
‘Good afternoon,’ said the consultant as they walked into her office and sat down.
Neither Casey nor her mum replied. Not out of rudeness, but they were so worried they didn’t really take in the welcome.
‘I’ll get straight to the point,’ said the consultant, ‘as I know you’re clearly both worried.’
‘We are,’ said Mrs Johnson.
‘Well I have both good news and bad news,’ said the consultant.
‘Can I have the bad news first?’ asked Casey.
The consultant looked at her and said as gently as she could, ‘We have found cancer cells in your brain.’ Casey’s heart literally stopped beating. She just sat there numb, squeezing her mum’s hand.
‘That’s the bad news,’ said the consultant. ‘The good news is the lightning strike seems to have stopped them from spreading. If anything, the different scans we’ve done this last year to establish whether you had cancer have shown the lightning strike has prevented things from getting worse.’
‘What does that actually mean?’ asked Mrs Johnson.
‘It means we don’t need to do surgery. It also means we don’t believe it will get worse and that we can treat what’s there without any long-lasting effects.’
Casey’s heart started to beat again.
‘Wow, that’s good news!’ she said.
‘Thank you, doctor,’ said Mrs Johnson.
‘I’ll contact you with a treatment plan later this week and we can get this sorted,’ said the consultant.
‘Thank you,’ said Casey.
As they left the hospital Casey’s mum asked if she wanted to go home. She said she’d rather go back to school as Riley would be worried and want to know how she was.
‘Okay, I’ll drop you back there,’ said her mum.
At the end of the day Alex made his way across town to the high school. Riley and Casey were sat on the main steps waiting for him.
‘So?’ he said. ‘How did you get on?’
As they walked to the cafe near the library the girls talked through their day. Casey shared her good news about the cancer and they all said how embarrassing the day had been having to show people their medals.
A couple of weeks went by and the three friends got on with their lives. They met up regularly to talk about their adventures. Then one afternoon they were sat in the coffee shop next to the library when suddenly all of their phones started to beep simultaneously. Taking them out they each read the same message. ‘United States Secret Service team activation – report to CIA H.Q., Langley immediately!’
About the Author
Hi, I’m Andy and I’m the author of The Adventures of Ben the Mouse. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my first Riley Bennett story. Here is a little bit about me. I was born in London, but I’ve lived in the north-west of England since 1994. I’m a dad to Grace and Sam. One of my favourite pastimes is to sit in coffee shops and write. That’s why the characters in this book spend so much time drinking coffee together!
I’m also a self-taught artist, which can be a challenge as I have a visual impairment. However, I love being creative, which is why I’ve enjoyed writing this story for you. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it too. Keep an eye out for the next Riley Bennett book, it’ll be called The Terror of Two Cities.
