by Jacky Gray
‘Gor blimey, listen to Mr Posh Pants. Mummy and Daddy send you to public school did they?’
He was baffled by their behaviour and said the first thing that came into his head. ‘My real parents are dead.’
‘Ain’t you the lucky one? I wish mine were. Stupid prats haven’t got a clue about anything and they spend all their time knocking seven bells out of each other. And us.’
Archer was horrified. He had no idea what to say to her bleak statement or how to handle this pair of Valkyries as they circled him like prey, poking and prodding.
‘Girls, leave the poor boy alone, I thought I told you to go up and put your stuff away and get on with your homework. I’ll be coming up to check in half an hour.’
‘’Ow come ’ee doesn’t ’ave to do ’is homework? Oh don’t tell me, finished it already. Mr Goody Two Shoes.’
As they left, Penny smiled fondly. ‘Take no notice of those two, their bark is much worse than their bite.’
‘Was it true, their parents beat them?’
Sighing, she rolled her eyes. ‘I would take most of what they say with a pinch of salt, they don’t seem to know the difference between fact and fiction. But deep down, there are nice girls trying to get out from under all that make-up and bravado.’
Archer sighed, it was just like at Dave and Julie’s, he was going to have to prove himself all over again. Not with Tom, he spent most of his time out of school either in his room playing some kind of computer game, or in the den at the bottom of the garden with his friends, a couple of rogues called Jason and Matthew. Maybe he would be lucky and the girls would stay in their room doing girl things or even school work.
But that was just wishful thinking. Mandy’s sole purpose seemed to be irritating Archer until he reacted in some way. As though he was a new toy for her to play with until she broke it. Her biggest weapon was the fact that she was a girl. His sense of honour was so ingrained that no matter how hard she tried to destroy his equilibrium or pierce his mantle of good manners, he denied her the reaction she craved. It started small, with her refusal to address him by his name.
‘Hey muscles, pass the spuds.’
Tom went to reach for the potatoes, he was smart enough to recognise the battle lines and his loyalties lay firmly with Archer.
‘Leave it, pipsqueak. I didn’t mean you and you know it.’
‘Maybe, if you addressed people by their given names, they would understand your intentions.’ Penny accompanied the observation with a sharp glance.
‘They knew exactly who I meant. He’s the pipsqueak ’cos he’s small and he squeaks, and he’s muscles ’cos he’s a hunk who’s built like a brick …’
‘That’s quite enough of that, young lady. You know I won’t tolerate bad language in my house. It’s a lack of vocabulary that gives you a sewer mouth.’
‘If you think my mouth is dirty, you should …’
‘Mandy. Here are the potatoes you asked for.’ Archer’s tone and look suggested no-one was impressed and the only person she was letting down was herself.
‘Why thank you, Sir Galahad. Or is it Sir Lancelot?’
‘Actually it’s neither. He’s Robin Hood.’ Tom made the assertion for the second time and everyone looked at him in surprise.
‘Ok, I give in, what makes you say he’s some divvy who robs people and then gives it all away like a prat?’
Tom shrugged. ‘He just is, that’s all.’
‘If you say so. Robin, can you pass the pepper, please.’
So that was it. Ever after, she called him Robin, but he refused to rise to it, even when she shouted it across the playground one day. He was with a couple of boys he’d met on the first day at the school and they looked curious when he ignored her. ‘Why’s that Mandy calling you Robin?’ asked Kevin, watching her approach, flanked by two minions.
‘No idea. Maybe she thinks I’m somebody else.’
She stood in front of Archer until she had his attention. ‘Oi, you. I was shouting you.’
‘I’m sorry, my name’s not Robin. I thought you meant someone else.’
‘Very funny. Tell the witch we won’t be coming home tonight, we’re going to my nan’s.’
‘Sorry, can’t help you. Don’t know any witches.’
She grabbed hold of his shirt. ‘Don’t get smart with me. You’re not big enough or hard enough.’
He uncurled her fingers, releasing his shirt. ‘I don’t need to be big or hard to get smart with you. I just need to have opened a book once.’
‘Why you cheeky little …’ Her insult was cut off as the deputy head appeared, telling them to get to registration.
Archer thought she probably would have given any lesser teacher a rude retort as her friends dragged her off towards the English block. He followed Kevin and Jamie, who said under his breath, ‘You’ve got a nerve, she’s a right nutcase that one.’
‘Any other teacher would’ve got a right mouthful.’
‘And her sister’s no better.’
‘Hard as nails they are, the pair of them,’ agreed Kevin. ‘Not a good idea to wind her up like that if you want to live.’
‘Oh I think I’ll live. Just got to keep one step ahead of them.’ Which was easier said than done.
Archer knew where he was with Edlyn, his first real enemy, it was a case of when he was within ten yards, there would be trouble. Similarly with Jack, Kyle and Peter, he knew he needed to be on constant guard, looking for traps round every corner. But it was different with the girls. Quite apart from his reluctance to engage in conflict with the “fairer sex” as Sedge would call them, there were the constant confusing signals they were sending out, particularly Mandy. For every remark intended to intimidate or ridicule him, there would be an accompanying look or gesture suggesting what she really wanted was his support or approval. Or even friendship. Beneath her war paint and aggressive manner, he sensed a loneliness and vulnerability, borne from many years of standing up for herself and her sister against a violent, hostile world.
And so he made his first mistake, feeling sorry for her; it was a mistake that would cost him dearly.
19 Rory
After a week or so, Archer seemed to be fitting in well and managing to keep away from trouble. By spending most of the time in his room, he avoided the girls and made a real impact on his school subjects. Although he had an aptitude for the maths related to real life problems and solid shapes and angles, he was struggling to grasp many of the more abstract concepts like prime factors and linear equations. He had never used any of the basic computer packages like word processors and spreadsheets, but once Tom had spent a couple of evenings showing him the tricks, he was able to use the online help to teach himself. There were many gaps in his knowledge, but he became quite skilled at using the search engines to discover pretty much anything on the internet.
On the day he met Rory, because of the name, Archer was expecting a boy. Penny asked him to find out what was taking so long. He wandered up the garden, enjoying one of her home-made apricot cookies, when a scream had him running toward the danger.
‘What’s going on? Rory? Are you all right?’ He ran towards the sound of the voice and was nearly knocked over. He held out his hands to steady the small figure and was rewarded with kicks and scratches as the frantic bundle of energy fought to escape. He let go immediately. ‘You must be Rory.’
‘Who are you?’
Archer had read about the “fight or flight” response and if ever there was a body poised to do that, it was the one in front of him; he was obviously from warrior stock. It probably didn’t help that Archer was towering above by a couple of feet, adding to the threat. He sat down on the grass. ‘Penny sent me, she was worried when you didn’t come back straightaway.’
‘What’s your name?’
‘Don Archer, but everyone calls me Archer. I’m staying here for a while. Did those boys hurt you?’
‘No.’ The shake of the head revealed long hair, braided like a Viking. But not
normally worn by boys in this century. Unless… he looked harder, obviously causing some distress. The little figure sat on the grass, looking away from him. Keeping his voice light, he tried again. ‘So you were just screaming because...’
‘It was a game.’
‘Which is why they ran off as soon as they heard me. All part of the game, I suppose.’ He was ninety-nine per cent certain and the distinctly feminine shrug gave the last per cent. The brave little warrior was a girl.
‘I – I,’ Before she could finish, Tom appeared, demanding to know where Matt and Jason were.
‘That’s what I’m trying to find out. I think they were bullying our little guest here, but she’s much too brave to rat on them.’
Tom sat next to them with a shrug. ‘S’pose they can be a bit rough. Are you ok?’ She nodded. ‘Well I’ll tell ’em you wouldn’t grass an’ make sure they leave you alone in future.’
As Tom made all sorts of promises he couldn’t guarantee to keep, Archer’s stomach reminded it would need more food very soon and he suggested they got back.
Rory refused his helping hand, springing up lightly. ‘Aren’t you too old to be a foster kid?’ Tom gasped; it was a touchy subject. As they walked back to the house, Archer explained he was just staying there while he studied.
Later that evening, he tried to find out from Rory exactly what had gone on in the den, but she refused to tell, giving him a look which said he shouldn’t ask again. Her pose suggested she was more than capable of standing up for herself against two older lads and his heart sank. He really didn’t need another pushy female. Were there no ordinary girls over here?
First impressions, however, can be deceptive. Despite her reluctance to discuss the incident, Rory turned out to be nothing like the tough little tomboy she pretended to be. Being quite bright, she was the perfect person to fill in some of the gaps in his education.
He learnt quickly under her patient teaching, and was pleased when things began to make sense. ‘So a square number is one that can be arranged into a square and a triangle number into a triangle.’
‘It’s obvious if you draw the dot patterns.’
‘And if you can make a rectangle with the dots then it must be a multiple of the numbers. Like three rows of five gives you fifteen.’ He finished the pattern with a flourish.
‘Yes, and three and five are called the factors.’
‘Got it. And a prime number is,’ he read from the book, ‘a number that has no other factors except one and itself.’
‘Like thirteen.’
‘Or seven, or seventeen.’
‘What’s this Robin, teaching sums to Goldilocks?’ Mandy picked up one of the books.
‘Yes, but we’ll have to finish now you’re here.’ Rory grabbed the book and started packing away. Archer was surprised Rory had lied, but he could tell she didn’t like the older girl.
‘Oh don’t finish on my account. I don’t get any of it and never will. I just came in to watch some TV.’ She sprawled on the sofa with one leg resting over the side so her short skirt was pulled up, revealing the top of her fishnet stocking. ‘Oops.’ Just in case Archer’s eyes weren’t glued to her legs, she made a big deal of adjusting the skirt. Rory somehow managed to knock all the books onto the floor and he tore his eyes away to help her, jumping as the TV came on at full volume.
‘Oops again. Sor-ry.’ It was obvious that Mandy was anything but sorry and her muttered statement, ‘Don’t mind me,’ was the exact opposite of what she really wanted – his full attention.
It took a while before he spotted there was a pattern to this. Rory only came once a week and if she spent any time with Archer, Mandy would find some excuse to interrupt whatever they were doing. If Rory sat on her own, or on the rare occasions she played outside with Tom or was in the garden with Todd, there was no sign of the scheming punk.
Sometimes, Archer would help with Rory’s homework, but mostly they explored algebra and soon moved past the level she was working to at school. They were using Tom’s maths book as Archer’s was too advanced and it was a joint challenge to unpick the mysteries of number patterns and sequences. But they never managed more than half an hour before Mandy appeared, usually wearing something tight and revealing. When the older girl interrupted, Rory picked up the books and they continued outside. Archer was baffled. ‘What is wrong with that girl?’
‘What’s right with her? And why does she call you Robin?’
‘Because Tom called me Robin Hood on the first day.’
‘Why did he do that?’
‘He had a dream about Robin Hood the night before I got here. Apparently he looked just like me.’
‘Doesn’t it annoy you?’ Rory filled in the last two numbers in the sequence.
‘Not as much as her constant interruptions.’ Archer filled in all the numbers on the last question. ‘Why can’t she leave us alone?’
‘If I didn’t know better I’d think she was jealous.’
‘Of doing maths. I hardly think so.’
‘Of the fact that you’re spending so much time with another girl.’ Archer laughed and Rory looked quite hurt, turning away. He touched her arm. ‘Hey munchkin, don’t take offence, I didn’t mean anything by it. But you’re all of what, ten?’
‘Nearly twelve.’
‘Eleven years old, and she’s a big, ugly, old thing of sixteen.’
‘Do you really think she’s ugly?’
‘It’s just a saying. All that rubbish she puts on her face is ugly; I’m sure if she didn’t wear it, she could be quite pretty. If she smiled more instead of snarling and stopped chewing that awful gum. It reminds me of a cow, chewing the cud.’
‘Do you realise you just called her a fat, ugly, old cow?’
‘I never called her fat.’
‘You said big, that’s the same.’
‘I didn’t mean it. She’s got a nice body, but she’s always showing it off. I don’t like that.’
‘I’m never going to wear make-up or chew gum.’
‘You don’t need to, you’re pretty enough without it.’ He touched the end of her nose and she blushed pink as she picked up a pencil to draw the next pattern.
The next week they were given some tricky equations for homework which had to be finished by the next day. The teacher said they were so easy she wasn’t even going to bother explaining how to work them out. Archer knew Rory was coming that day, so he rushed home early to get there just as she arrived with Penny.
‘Archer, I’m glad you’re home early, I didn’t get a chance to get to the post office today and it will be closed in half an hour. Would you mind looking after Rory while I pop out again?’
‘No problem. We’ll do some homework.’
‘Good. Lynette says she’s doing well with your help.’
Archer was pleased, it couldn’t have worked out better. They might get it done before the others got back. As Penny left, he turned to Rory. ‘Would you mind helping me with some maths? I’ve got quite a lot and it’s really tricky.’
‘Sure, no problem.’
‘Hang on then, I’ll just get it.’ He ran up to his room, and had to tip everything out of his backpack before spotting the worksheet. He turned round and nearly walked into her; she’d got bored with the wait.
‘Sorry, couldn’t find it. Come on then.’
‘I like your room. It’s cool.’
‘Thanks. It’s a bit of a mess. Have you done equations before?’
‘Show me.’ He handed her the worksheet and she sat down on the bed. ‘Five x equals twenty. Well that’s easy, five lots of four is twenty so x must be four.’
He sat next to her. ‘So you multiply the number by the letter. Right. Let me do the next one. Six add y is eighteen so y must be three.’
‘No that’s not right, you need to add this time, y is twelve.’
‘Oh dear, I thought I’d got it.’
The first exercise was fairly straightforward and once he got the hang of it, they whizzed
through them, but the next section had two steps. They managed the first four by trying lots of guesses for the answer until one worked, but question five was tough.
Archer had a go. ‘Four x add five equals twenty-three. x must be about four then.’
‘No it can’t be. Sixteen add five is twenty-one. It must be five.
‘No, twenty add five is twenty-five.’
‘So it must be somewhere in the middle.’
‘What the hell is going on here? Does Penny know you two are making out on Archer’s bed?’
20 Blackmail
Blushing, they jumped up and the books slid to the floor.
‘Hey, Tom, Kellie, come and see this, they’ve been at it in Archer’s room.’ Mandy’s tone was ecstatic.
‘No we haven’t, don’t be silly.’ Archer tried to calm down the situation, but Rory had a different idea.
‘So what if we were? You’re only jealous because you wish it was you.’
Tom and Kellie appeared just in time to hear this and the evidence was damning. Archer and Rory were standing red-faced and there was a big dent in the quilt where they had been sitting.
‘Look this is ridiculous, Rory was helping me with my maths homework.’ Archer held out the worksheet.
‘Aw come on mate, listen to yourself. An eleven-year-old helping with GCSE maths? Who’s gonna believe that? You must think we’re really dumb.’ Tom turned away and Mandy sneaked a victorious grin as she backed off to watch the fun.
Archer grabbed his arm. ‘Honestly Tom, it’s equations, I’ve never done them before this week. Ask her any of the questions from the sheet, she can do them.’
‘I looked up to you, but I don’t like being lied to.’ He shook Archer’s arm off and stalked out.
Archer held out his hands to Kellie. ‘Honestly Kellie, I wouldn’t be doing anything else – she’s only eleven. You must believe me.’
‘I think I’d rather believe her.’ She pointed at Rory who had gone from bright red to deathly pale at his words.
‘Rory, tell them the truth, we weren’t doing anything. You didn’t know what you were saying.’
