by Mia James
April saw a group of girls in front of her exchange looks of surprise – but also of interest. Suddenly, this didn’t feel like just an ordinary “meet the new teacher” assembly.
Tame clearly sensed the mood and a smug little smile crept onto his face. ‘First, I’m doing away with learning from dusty old textbooks – what do they know, right?’ His smile widened as he heard the gasps coming from the assembly. ‘Some of you actually know more than the people standing in front of the class, am I correct? I don’t want obsolete student-teacher structures holding you back. I want you to set the pace.’
April saw people nodding all around her. He certainly knew how to work a crowd, that was for sure.
‘In so many areas,’ he continued, ‘Ravenwood pupils are already in advance of University students, so I’m proposing that we teach you like university students – seminars, one-to-one tutorials and open-ended workshops where you set your own goals and choose your own working methods. Oh,’ he paused. ‘And I’m doing away with homework.’
There was a sudden spontaneous cheer from the crowd – as Tame must have anticipated.
‘Oh yes, people,’ he said with feeling, ‘Ravenwood is the greatest school in the country. The pupils here are remarkable in every way. I feel so proud and honoured to be part of the Ravenwood story – and make no mistake, that story is going to be one you’re going to tell your children.’
Caro looked over at April and mouthed the word “loony”.
‘I truly believe that we’re making history here. People will gasp when you tell them that you studied at Ravenwood. You are the elite, the vanguard of something new and special. Ladies and gentlemen, we going to change the world – whether the world is ready or not.’
To April’s surprise, the hall erupted in applause and cheering. She looked around her in dismay – were they really buying this rubbish? Clearly they were – she saw people looking up at their new headmaster as if he were a pop star. As the assembly broke up, she could hear the twitter of anticipation, groups talking excitedly about what they had just seen.
April looked around for Davina, but the girl had already disappeared.
‘Jesus, it’s like he’s the messiah or something,’ Caro said with disgust as they joined the crowds shuffling from the hall. ‘Don’t they realise he’s a headcase?’
April shrugged. ‘To them he’s just another teacher. They haven’t seen Dr Tame up close, like we have.’
‘Well, if he makes the school in his own image, I can imagine things are going to get a bit weird around here,’ said Caro.
‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that.’
They both turned around to find Dr Tame standing right behind them. Caro’s face froze, aware that the new headmaster must have heard everything she had said. “Headcase” in particular.
‘Things will be a little different perhaps, Caro,’ said Tame with a sickly smile, ‘But I think you’ll find it an improvement. I find the, uh, more unconventional students really respond to these methods.’
‘You’re saying unconventional as if it’s a bad thing, Dr Tame,’ said Caro, quickly recovering her poise.
‘On the contrary, Caroline, I think this school needs as many original thinkers as it can get.’
‘Oh, you can count on me for original thinking,’ smiled Caro. ‘Original I can do.’
‘I’m very glad to hear that,’ he said, ‘Disruption, however, I will not tolerate. Is that clear?’
‘Crystal, chief,’ said Caro, giving him a mock salute. ‘Never dream of it.’
Tame turned to April. ‘And you, Miss Dunne. I wonder if you’d mind stepping into my office?’
April looked at Caro. ‘Why? Is something the matter?’
Tame gave a laugh. ‘Relax, April. I just wanted to have a little chat, that’s all.’
She reluctantly followed him up the stairs, her feet dragging as they approached the office marked with the neat sign reading “Headmaster”. She wasn’t all that surprised that Dr Tame had decided to take over Mr Sheldon’s old office – it was exactly the sort of thing that would appeal to his macabre sense of humour – but April wasn’t looking forward to going inside. The last time she’d been here, she’d been forced to watch Benjamin Osbourne burning Miss Holden with his lighter.
‘Come in, come in,’ said Tame impatiently, holding the door open for her. Feeling she had no choice, April walked in. She was slightly surprised to find the office as it had always been, a rather shabby and cluttered workspace with overflowing filing cabinets. He might have had a spring clean, at the very least.
‘Take a seat,’ said Tame, walking behind the desk and sitting down. It was only then that April’s eyes widened and her heart began to hammer as she realised that the desk was the same one. The same one! The desk Miss Holden had been tied to, the one on which her throat had been cut. How could he? How could Tame sit down so calmly behind that desk, as if nothing had happened?
But of course, that was why Dr Tame had invited her up here, wasn’t it? April knew she shouldn’t – couldn’t – forget that the police had employed Charles Tame for his unorthodox methods of questioning a suspect. Tame’s psychological techniques had caused more than one hardened criminal to crack and April had no doubt that pressure was being applied right now. He wanted her to know that he didn’t mind sitting there inches from the spot where her mentor was brutally killed, and he wanted her to know exactly what lengths he was prepared to go to achieve his ends. He had already shown her that when he had visited her at home. She knew he was a monster, perhaps even more so than the vampires. And given Ravenwood’s purpose, she had no doubt that the governors had chosen their new headmaster well.
‘I suppose this is something of a surprise for you,’ said Tame with a smile. Did he mean the desk or his appointment? thought April. She didn’t think it really mattered to him. The idea was to get her off balance – and she certainly had no intention of playing his game.
‘Not such a surprise, actually,’ said April as calmly as she could. ‘I seem to remember you had been a teacher, maybe even a headmaster before?’
Tame nodded. ‘Well remembered – “know your enemy” and all that, I suppose. And that is actually why I asked you here. I’ll get straight to the point: April, you’re a liability.’
April swallowed. ‘A liability?’
‘Come now, April, let’s not be coy. You know very well what I’m getting at. Far too many of Ravenwood’s pupils seem to be turning up dead, and you have been present or involved with every death.’ He ticked the names off on his long fingers. ‘Isabelle Davis, you found the body. Layla? – you found her too. And you were involved with both Milo and Marcus.’
‘I was not!’
Tame continued, ignoring her protests. ‘Then there was the unfortunate tragedy with your father, of course. And now we have the situation with two of your teachers and poor Benjamin Osbourne – the situation which brings me here.’ He smiled, but there was no humour in it. ‘So what am I to do? If I expel you, it reflects badly on the institution. Given your father’s connections in Fleet Street, we could well expect headlines like “Elite School Abandons Grieving Child” – and that wouldn’t be helpful, especially at this delicate time. On the other hand, I can’t do nothing. That would look weak – and I’m not a weak man, April. Not at all.’
April looked at him, unsure if she was supposed to respond.
Tame steepled his fingers in front of his face. ‘I’ll get straight to the point – I would like you to be the new Head Girl at Ravenwood. I think the challenge will keep you busy.’
April was so surprised she actually laughed, but the laughter quickly trailed off as she realised he wasn’t joking. ‘Me? You want me to be head girl?’
‘Why not? You’re smart, well liked and – most importantly, it deals with the PR problem rather neatly, don’t you think?’
With a sinking feeling, April could see that he was right. Instead of shunning her and thereby accusing her of being involved with the many �
��inconvenient” deaths of Ravenwood’s pupils, this way it would appear the school was embracing her, supporting her in her hour of need. It would seem sensitive and forward-looking – and Tame knew that refusing the offer could make April look ungrateful. He gave one of his trademark smug smiles – he knew he had her.
April sat there bewildered. ‘I ... I don’t know if ...’
‘I’ll take that as a yes, then,’ Tame said, standing and thrusting his hand out across the desk toward her. ‘Super to have you on board, April. I know you will be a credit to the school.’
Chapter Six
‘Clever’, said Caro, when April told her what had happened in the headmaster’s office. ‘Very, very clever.’
‘You sound as if you respect him,’ said April. It was lunchtime and they had arranged a rendezvous in the little-used ladies’ toilets by the library. Caro was sitting on the sink, her back to the mirrors, painting her nails a vivid shade of green.
‘Oh, it’s not respect respect,’ she said, ‘I still think Charles Tame is the spawn of Satan, but it’s a very smart move, you’ve got to give him that. It’s a classic politician’s trick: spin a positive out of the disaster, turn the focus onto the bright pretty girl rising above the tragedy – don’t dwell on the torture and the mound of bodies.’
‘Caro!’ said April. She had already checked that the cubicles were all empty, but April was still worried someone would overhear and accuse them of making light of the situation. April knew Caro was only joking to keep their spirits up – other people might not understand. Caro rolled her eyes.
‘What? You don’t like me to point out that eight people have died – no, nine if you count Alix Graves. And that’s not including all the times the Suckers have tried to kill you.’
‘Yes, I know,’ said April urgently. ‘But some people at Ravenwood are cousins and friends of the people who died and we don’t need any more enemies than we already have.’
‘Fair enough,’ shrugged Caro, blowing on her nails. ‘Anyway, the bottom line is that you seem to have taken the Big Doc’s offer. Actually, he knew you couldn’t turn it down. Which is all part of his evil genius.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘With the best will in the world, A, you need all the help you can get on your university application forms, don’t you?’
‘Unlike you, you mean?’ said April, sulkily.
‘Well, yes actually. Like Simon, like Ling. We’re all brain-boxes; why fight it?’ said Caro matter-of-factly. ‘Face facts, April, you’re going to be up against people like us if you want to get into one of the super swanky unis, so why not use all the leverage you can?’
‘Uni?’ said April with a laugh, ‘If I’m still alive when I’m eighteen, I’ll worry about it then. My CV isn’t really a priority right now.’
‘Yeah, well Herr Doktor has out-manoeuvred you on that one too,’ said Caro. ‘He probably guessed you wouldn’t give a monkeys about it, but knows you could never go home to Grampa Thomas and tell him that you turned down Head Girl. Your grandad would blow a gasket.’
April groaned – she hadn’t considered that aspect of it, and she wouldn’t put it past Charles Tame to call her grandfather and tell him the news. Caro was right: she had been completely out-flanked. She had underestimated Dr Tame. She mustn’t make that mistake again. ‘So now I’m trapped – is that it? Now I’m part of the Ravenwood machine?’
‘But it’s brilliant, don’t you see?’ said Caro. ‘They’ve played right into our hands and they don’t even know it. Tame thinks he’s keeping you where he can see you, under control as his little lapdog. But he doesn’t know we want to get on the inside, we want to be part of the Establishment. Now you’re the face of Ravenwood, maybe they’ll let you in on their secrets. We don’t know how deeply our new leader is involved, but you’ve got to guess he’s pretty connected to get this job. And, at the very least, you’ll probably get to meet the governors.’
‘Yes, but ...’
‘No buts about it, April,’ said Caro firmly. ‘You’ve got to do it, especially after this morning.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘What do I mean? – the hero worship of Dr Tame. It was as if the whole assembly had been brainwashed.’
‘It’s not that bad yet – is it?’
‘God, April, sometimes I wonder if you walk around with your eyes closed. Not only have they replaced the headmaster, we have three new teachers, all of whom look decidedly vampy, especially Miss Holden’s replacement.’
‘They’ve replaced her already?’
Caro nodded. ‘Miss Marsh. Pale skin, gorgeous black hair, knee-high leather boots, like a walking Sucker cliché. But that’s not the half of it.’
She crooked a finger towards April as she jumped down off the sink. ‘Come on, it’s better if I show you.’
April followed Caro back into the main school building. As they walked along the corridor, April was aware that people were turning to look at her. She was used to that, of course; they had been gawking at her since her first day. But this time, it did seem different. Girls were standing in little huddles talking, and the glances they threw towards April and Caro as they walked past weren’t the usual gossipy “hey look, that’s the girl who found a dead body” whispers. Now they seemed to be having their own secret conversations, exchanges they didn’t want April and Caro to hear, as if they regarded the two girls as outsiders.
‘They’re like little witches’ covens,’ aren’t they?’ murmured Caro. ‘They’ve already bought into Tame’s “new world order” rubbish. It’s like he’s invented electricity or something.’
‘That was damn quick,’ said April.
‘Yeah, well – it’s not just Tame,’ said Caro. ‘Remember I was telling you about Miss Holden’s replacement? Come and see.’
Caro led April towards the refectory and, halfway down the corridor, they turned the corner and saw a group of students gathered around a classroom door. Joining the group at the back, April craned her neck to see what they were looking at. Inside the classroom Miss Marsh – it had to be her from Caro’s vivid description – was sitting on the edge of the desk holding court.
‘... and I think it’s been the same, throughout history,’ said the teacher. ‘There’s always been an assumption that the older generation knows better. This means we must have missed out on so many ideas, limited so much potential – just because the person involved was young. This is ridiculous – we must acknowledge that because young people are unburdened by all the “received wisdom” that adults fill their heads with, they have a greater chance to make genuine discoveries. Adults can’t risk making you too self-reliant – otherwise we'd be out of a job.’
There was a ripple of laughter and in the pause, the woman’s eyes flicked up and met April’s. ‘That’s why I’m so envious of you. You have a huge opportunity here, to be leaders, to show the rest of the world just what you can do.’
April felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Was this woman addressing all the pupils, or talking directly to her?
Caro pulled on April’s sleeve, and they moved away from the door.
‘See?’ said Caro, ‘It’s like one of those evangelical TV shows from American cable. “Be all you can be”, “shoot for the moon”, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they started playing “Simply The Best” over the school tannoy.’
They walked into the refectory and joined the queue for food.
‘I can’t believe they’re buying this,’ said April, picking up a tray.
‘You’ve got to remember, these kids are frightened,’ said Caro. ‘They’re geeks, their idea of a hobby is chess, not kung fu. They see people are dying in Highgate, and they’re scared to go out after dark. So along comes Dr Tame who’s worked with the police, tells them they’re all special – suddenly they’re listening. Then he says he’s going to treat them like adults? It’s a slam-dunk. The guy’s a rock star.’
Suddenly April didn’t feel like eating. An
d anyway, she had spotted something – or rather, someone – on the other side of the hall. ‘Look, see you at the table,’ she called to Caro and threaded her way over to the lonely figure sitting on her own.
‘Hi, Davina,’ said April, sitting down next to her. At the back of the refectory, the rest of the Faces were laughing and joking in their usual place at the top table. Normally Davina would – should – have been right up there in the centre of things, surrounded by clucking, fawning admirers. But instead, she was here, on her own. It was weird.
‘Is everything okay?’
‘Of course,’ said Davina, her back stiff. ‘Why wouldn’t it be?’
‘Well, it’s just that ...’
‘Just that I’ve been ostracised? Sent to social Siberia – is that what you mean?’
‘Something like that, yes,’ said April glancing back at the Suckers.
‘I am persona non grata,’ said Davina, sticking her fork into a lettuce leaf. ‘Apparently, it doesn’t do to have a brother who brings Ravenwood into disrepute. We couldn’t have the school’s reputation suffering, could we?’
‘Who said that? Chessy?’
Davina let out a bitter laugh. ‘As if! That air head could never have come up with something so intellectual. No, it’s our new leader, Dr Tame. My guess is that he’s passed the word to his supporters that I’m not to be trusted or listened to. Presumably he thinks, as I was so close to his predecessor, I might stage a coup or something.’
April put her hand on Davina’s arm. ‘Oh honey, I’m so sorry.’
