by Nikki Young
“Guys, it’s too cold to stay like this. I’m going in. You coming?” Ash asked Tomma.
“We’d better find the girl’s playground,” Nadia said to Jess. “Are you ready?”
Jess was sheet white with wide frightened eyes that made her look like an animal caught in a car’s headlights.
“It’s going to be okay,” Nadia said, trying to put on her best positive face.
Jess nodded, but didn’t speak before turning towards Tomma. He moved towards her and wrapped her face in both hands.
“Come on Jessy, you don’t need me to tell you that you can do this. You already know it,” he said, before kissing the top of her head.
Jess blew out a breath that lingered in the air like smoke before she turned back to Nadia.
“I’m ready,” Jess said.
Nadia held out her arm and Jess linked it with hers. They walked away from the boys and round the left side of the building towards the yard that had served as the girls’ playground when the school first opened. As predicted, it was still the same and there were girls forming lines ready to file into the building.
There was a path cut through the ice with brown rock salt. Nadia and Jess followed it, taking slow and steady steps, not trusting their own feet.
Nadia shivered as she and Jess joined the nearest line, figuring they should go to their usual form room and work out what to do once they got there.
Inside the school building it was a little warmer but not much. Nadia noticed there were radiators, so she was hopeful the school had central heating, but as she put out her hand to touch one, it was cold. That struck her as odd. They were obviously having an exceptionally cold winter, yet the school didn’t have the heating on.
Perhaps they were running short on fuel, Nadia wondered. How long had this cold spell been going on?
They walked through doors that led into the main school hall. The beautiful, oak-panelled room, with polished parquet flooring, was exactly as Nadia remembered it. She followed Jess’s gaze to their right, where it settled on the War Memorial, and she smiled, remembering their previous experience of returning to Hickley School’s past.
Jess turned and leant close to Nadia’s ear. “Looks as if it has more names on it. We should check that out later.”
Nadia nodded. If the War Memorial had names added to it that must mean another war had passed—probably the Second World War—which would suggest they were in a year beyond 1945. It wasn’t possible to tell what year just from looking around. Even the classroom was similar to how it was in the early 1900s, but much bigger than what they were used to in modern times. The seating was set out in tiers, each row one step higher than the one in front; there were individual wooden desks with hinged lids.
Nadia looked around at the pupils settling in for a day of study, quietly chatting amongst themselves. Her face was half hidden by her massive hood. She hoped to stay unnoticed, at least for the time being, until they could work out an excuse as to why they were there.
In their previous visit to Hickley School past, their names had been on the register, as if they were part of the school no matter what time zone they were in. She wondered if it would be the same.
“There are boys in here,” Jess hissed.
Jess had a huge, soppy grin on her face, which could only mean one thing—Tomma was here. Sure enough, Tomma and Ash were sitting in the back row, waving at them. Ash was pointing at two desks in front of theirs and Nadia followed Jess up towards them, where she sat down and began to shrug off her coat.
Nadia looked around the room, noting how the uniform had changed from the previous time they’d been back there. The girls no longer wore floor-length full skirts and frilly blouses and from what she could tell, their skirts were knee-length. Their white shirts were open at the neck without a tie. And with that realisation, Nadia’s hand rushed to her neck, where she felt her own tie. She nudged Jess and nodded towards hers and then at everybody else. Jess got the message and swiftly removed hers, discreetly placing it into her bag. Nadia scrunched hers up and put it in her pocket.
After being sent to Matron last time and being ordered to get changed, she was relieved they didn’t look so out of place in their more modern clothes. In its early days, the school had taught separate lessons for the girls and the boys, also having different areas in the school grounds for break times. Whatever year they had come to this time around, it seemed the rules had changed and the children were taught together. It made Nadia even more curious to know what year they were in.
One of the boys in front of them turned and stared before turning back and saying something to the person next to him. Nadia slunk down in her seat and felt Jess do the same. They both braced themselves for the boys to turn around again and start questioning them, but they never got the chance, as two adults came into the room and the class fell silent before they all began to chant, “Good morning, Mr Fitzpatrick.”
Mr Fitzpatrick, who looked important, judging by his three-piece suit and slicked down shiny hair, stood in complete silence, staring directly ahead at no one in particular. He was rubbing his hands together, as if preparing for something. He then coughed to clear his throat and brought his attention back to the class.
Nadia thought that with that hair and his neat little moustache he looked like a comedy character and she had a sudden urge to laugh. She knew better though and did her best to swallow it down, but that only resulted in her snorting and having a coughing fit.
“Are you quite okay up there?” Mr Fitzpatrick asked, his voice showing more irritation than concern.
At the sound of his overly posh voice, so obviously put on, Nadia almost burst out with laughter but she managed to keep herself together.
“Yes, sorry Sir,” Nadia said, suddenly embarrassed at having been singled out. With everyone turning around to look at her, Nadia wished the ground would open up and take her away with it.
Mr Fitzpatrick narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Nadia put her elbows on the desk and hid her face in her hands.
“Class, I would like you to meet your new teacher, Miss Morgan,” he said, at which Nadia sat up straighter, leaning forward to get a closer look at the young lady who had just entered the room and was standing rod-straight next to Mr Fitzpatrick.
Miss Morgan’s hands were clasped tightly in front of her. She swallowed and glanced at Mr Fitzpatrick, before turning towards the pupils.
“Good morning class,” Miss Morgan said. She had such a quiet voice that Nadia could only just make it out from her position at the back of the room. Miss Morgan had her head down and was looking at the floor.
“You’ll need to speak up, otherwise they will never hear you,” Mr Fitzpatrick snapped. His sharp tone made Miss Morgan jump. She took a deep breath and un-loosened her hands. They were shaking.
“Yes, Mr Fitzpatrick,” she said.
Nadia and Jess looked at each other wide-eyed. Nadia couldn’t believe Mr Fitzpatrick had addressed Miss Morgan like that in front of everyone. It was so embarrassing. She heard some giggles and it annoyed her even more. She looked around to see who it was, determined to give the culprits her best ‘I am not impressed’ stare.
“Silence,” Mr Fitzpatrick barked, causing Miss Morgan to jump once again. “Right, I will leave you in Miss Morgan’s capable hands.” He turned and marched out of the room.
His departure left a gaping hole, one that was suddenly filled with a heavy silence. It felt as though no one in the room dared move a muscle or even breathe because they were unsure what might happen if they did.
Nadia looked at Miss Morgan from head to toe. She was young and very beautiful, with lips stained a deep crimson and eyebrows pencilled in neat dark arches. Her chestnut hair sat in perfect, rolled waves just above her shoulders. Ash was clearly besotted within an instant of seeing her. He was all doe-eyed and soppy-faced.
Nadia’s eyes travelled down to Miss Morgan’s calf-length A-line skirt, teamed with a fitted wool jumper with a white cotton coll
ar, and thought she recognised the style. She’d seen hair and clothes similar to this, but couldn’t think where or when.
Miss Morgan moved to the other side of the desk and sat down. Her hands shook as she opened the register and Nadia could feel her own heartbeat speed up, her stomach knotting in sympathy. It was going to be a long morning for all of them.
Chapter 6
The New Teacher
It turned out Miss Morgan’s voice wasn’t any louder with Mr Fitzpatrick out of the room. Anarchy descended upon the classroom before she’d even got halfway through the register. The other children were talking and laughing over Miss Morgan’s voice without a care.
“Can you believe this lot?” Nadia said, turning around to face her friends. “We would never get away with this. I mean look at her! She’s absolutely dying out here. I feel so sorry for her. Poor thing. And she’s so pretty as well.”
“Yeah,” Ash said, drawing out the word as he leaned forwards, his chin rested on the heel of his hands. He had a faraway, dreamy look on his face. “She is pretty, isn’t she?”
“Oh, yes,” Tomma said, nodding with enthusiasm until he noticed Jess glaring at him.
Nadia bit her lip to stop from giggling. It was as though Miss Morgan had cast a spell over them with her beauty. Nadia admired her for that alone.
Shame she couldn’t do that to the rest of the class, Nadia thought.
The other pupils in the room were obviously used to teachers such as Mr Fitzpatrick, strict teachers who weren’t like normal people, possibly weren’t even human. Not real people like Miss Morgan. She was the kind of teacher they came across all the time in modern-day Hickley School. The class didn’t always behave very well for them, especially if they were still in training and had no idea how to act towards a bunch of teenagers, but they would have at least let them get as far as taking the register.
Nadia’s anger increased as the volume went another step higher, memories of humiliation in front of a class of unforgiving children came rushing back to her. Before she could stop herself, she had pushed back her chair and stood up, banging her hands on the desk in annoyance at their disrespect.
“Oi, you lot! Shut up, will you?”
Even as the words were leaving her mouth, Nadia wondered what on earth had possessed her to behave like that. They were, after all, guests in this time and should really be lying low, but her words were drowned by the throng of chatting and laughter and no one took any notice of her anyway.
By this point, Miss Morgan was looking red-faced and flustered, as she tried, in vain, to get everyone to calm down. This caused Nadia to reach boiling point, such was the outpouring of empathy towards this beautiful young woman, and she got on to her chair, ignoring Jess’s wide-eyed expression of horror.
“SHUT UP!”
Achieving the desired effect, the classroom fell deadly silent, but it meant all eyes turned to identify the source of the outpour. Before she could do anything about it, Nadia found herself stood, frozen on the spot, looking down on the rest of the class who were both puzzled and amused. It was quite clear, judging by her tight, pinched features, that Miss Morgan was neither of these things.
“Excuse me, what is your name?” Miss Morgan asked, as she came out from behind her desk and started to walk towards the door with purpose.
“It’s Nadia, Miss.” Nadia held her head high, jutting out her chin.
“Might I have a word outside, Nadia?”
Nadia nodded and stepped down from the chair, ignoring the burning gazes from around the room. She kept her eyes straight ahead as she moved along the row of desks towards the front, where Miss Morgan gestured for her to go ahead before closing the door behind them. Nadia shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. From inside the classroom, the noise started up again, the pair of them seemingly forgotten.
“I thank you for stepping in on my part just now,” Miss Morgan said. “But it really wasn’t necessary, in fact, quite the opposite. In doing so you have undermined my authority and made me look completely incompetent.”
“That’s not what. . . I didn’t mean for that to happen, Miss. It was just they made me so cross. I mean, why did you let them get away with acting like that? They were embarrassing you,” Nadia said.
Miss Morgan smoothed down her already smooth jumper and shook her head. “I never expected it would be easy. I know not all of these pupils are here to learn and many of them feel they are biding their time until they can leave. We’re also all extremely tired, hungry and cold. Times have been difficult since the War and with this winter we’ve been having, well, it’s just too much for everyone. The thing is, Nadia, this is my job and whether I like it or not, I will have to find a way of earning their respect. I can’t do that if I need one of my pupils talking for me. Do you understand?”
“I’m sorry,” Nadia said. “It’s just, well, how will you get them to listen?”
Miss Morgan shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I will have to try standing on a chair and shouting.” She smiled. “Look, don’t feel sorry for me. They don’t. It’s not about me. It wouldn’t matter who was standing up there trying to teach them. But, it can be terrifying for whoever does. You’re responsible for making an impression on a room full of impressionable young people, so it matters what you do and say. But there is only one way to deal with your fears and that is to face them head on.”
“I guess so,” Nadia said, thinking of the eulogy. Her motto was more along the lines of ‘run and hide,’ but she didn’t say that.
They went back into the classroom and as they did, a magical silence descended. Everyone stared at Nadia, their expressions eager to know what it was Miss Morgan could have said or done to her. She kept her head up and her eyes straight ahead, as she tried to walk with confident strides back to her desk.
“What was that all about?” Jess whispered, as Nadia sat back down.
“I’ll tell you later,” Nadia said.
Miss Morgan perched on the front of her desk and looked at the class. “Now, I don’t know you and you don’t know me. Today is my first day, and I’m told some of you are here as visitors because of the flooding at nearby Whitley School, so I’m sure you will appreciate what it’s like being in unfamiliar surroundings. It’s not going to be an easy day for many of us, but I feel we got off to a bad start. My name is Miss Morgan and I am your new teacher. Today’s first lesson will be mathematics.”
The children began to shuffle around in their desks and bags getting out books and equipment, but Miss Morgan held up a hand.
“Just one moment,” she said. This time her voice carried around the large room and everyone stopped and looked at her. “We don’t need workbooks for this exercise. It’s rather cold in here, isn’t it? I think we need to warm up first.”
Some confused faces broke into smiles at the prospect of doing things a little differently.
“Right then, students, if the sum I give you is equal to the value of 10, you stand up. If it does not equal 10, you stay seated. Is that clear?” Nods and chatter spread around the room in waves. “I said, is that clear?”
“Yes, Miss Morgan,” the class chanted.
“That’s better.”
The game began and at first it was easy, with obvious additions or subtractions such as 7 + 3 and 15 – 5, but it increased in difficulty until it became obvious who were the clever ones among the group, Nadia being one of them.
Miss Morgan smiled and the prickly atmosphere in the room had evaporated. Nadia marvelled at how well the young teacher had managed to recover her position of authority, even gaining their respect. When the bell rang, there were even some moans of disappointment that the lesson had come to an end.
“Break time class,” Miss Morgan said. “Stay warm.”
As they filed out of the classroom, Nadia paused by Miss Morgan’s desk and they nodded at each other in understanding. Right at that moment, Ash shoved her aside and stood in front of the young teacher holding out his hand. Miss Morgan shook it, giv
ing him a warm smile.
“Bye Miss, see you soon,” Ash said, holding on to her hand for what seemed an unnecessarily long time. Nadia grabbed him and pushed him ahead of her.
“Behave,” Nadia hissed.
“Aw, why? She’s even lovelier close up,” Ash said. “Did you see those big eyes and those lovely perfect teeth . . . and. . .”
They began to laugh as they made their way out of the hall and down the corridor to the main yard, but stopped with an abrupt halt as they bumped straight into a group of boys who were pushing another boy out of the way. One of the gang punched the boy and knocked him straight to the floor. The others spat on him as they walked away.
“Scum.”
Chapter 7
Kam
“What the? Did you just see that?” Nadia asked clutching her hands to her chest.
The smile on Ash’s face instantly disappeared. He looked to where the group of boys had gone then turned towards their target, a boy who looked older than them, who was picking himself up from the floor.
“Are you alright?” Jess asked, rushing over to him.
He shrugged her off and Jess looked confused and hurt, but Nadia could see the embarrassment in his face; he didn’t want a scene. He wasn’t a small boy, nor was he skinny.
“Jess, it’s none of our business,” Nadia said, as they watched the boy walk off towards the toilets.
“Yeah, I know, but did you see his face?” Jess asked, rubbing a hand across her own cheek.
“Looks like he’ll have a nasty bruise on that eye,” Tomma said. “Wonder what the bullying situation is like around here? Bet they don’t do much to stop it.”
They were at the end of the corridor now, by the doors leading out to the bigger yard, reserved for the boys. Ash pushed open the door and a gush of ice-cold wind whipped at their faces. He pulled back and let the door slam shut.
