Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
‘What do you mean he hasn’t spoken to you since it happened?’ Sophie folded up the last of the raffle tickets and threw them in the large bucket on the stall.
‘Just that, he stormed out of his house, told the bloke having a go at me in no uncertain terms to leave me alone, and then stormed right back into his house, shutting the door firmly behind him.’ Gemma straightened a board game.
She had been certain he was going to pull her to one side and have a word with her this morning when she’d arrived at the school for the Spring fete, but nothing.
He had barely shown his face, other than lapping the playground where stalls and games were set up, inspecting the bouncy castle on the field, and then disappearing again.
He’d literally not even looked her in the eye when he’d walked past their stall.
He’d greeted Sophie and Florrie and bypassed her altogether.
Yes, it might have been because she’d been bending down at the time behind the stall to pick things up, but that was no excuse.
‘Yeah, you kind of were hiding from him when he walked by, though.’ Sophie laughed as she shook the bucket, mixing up the raffle tickets.
‘I was not hiding! I was just getting prizes out of the boxes to put on the table.’ Placing her hands on her hips, Gemma stared at her friend indignantly. She hadn’t been hiding.
‘Right, okay.’ Making a small space between the mounds of prizes, Sophie placed the bucket down again.
‘I wasn’t.’ Gemma repeated herself. Why would she have? She’d done nothing wrong. ‘I just don’t get it. Why wouldn’t he have said anything to me when he’d walked right past me to go back into his cottage?’
‘Because he’d been the one to come out to rescue you. Don’t you think it should have been you doing the talking?’ Sophie rolled her eyes. ‘Thanking him, perhaps.’
Frowning, Gemma bit down on her thumbnail.
Should she have thanked him? Is that what he’d expected of her?
No, it hadn’t been. He’d not even given her time to thank him if she’d wanted to.
The speed at which he’d walked past her and Alfie, she’d have been shocked if she’d had the time to utter one syllable.
‘He didn’t come to my rescue. I didn’t need rescuing. ’
‘And there you have it.’ Sophie flung her hand in her direction.
‘Have what? What do you mean?’
‘Your attitude. You don’t ask for help from anyone, and you don’t accept it graciously either. And knowing you, he’d have been able to sense that a mile off. No wonder the poor bloke legged it past you. He was probably worried you’d have a go at him for daring to stick up for you.’ Sophie sighed.
‘Says you, the queen of refusing help.’ Gemma raised her eyebrows.
Sophie wasn’t right. No chance. In fact, if any of their friendship group had a problem with asking for help, it would be Soph.
Heck, she hadn’t even asked to borrow money to get new trainers for herself when she’d lost her previous job.
She’d been walking around with her feet covered in food bags inside her trainers to stop the rainwater getting through the holes for weeks.
Gemma had only found out when she’d seen Sophie’s trainers waiting by the bin after she’d replaced them with money she’d got for her birthday.
‘I ask for help. My parents and my brother are always helping out with babysitting.’ Sophie crossed her arms.
‘If it’s something for Florrie, you ask for help. If it’s something you need, you’d rather scratch your eyeballs out.’ Gemma bundled her hair up into a messy bun.
Flaring her nostrils, Sophie shrugged. ‘Fine, we’re both rubbish at asking for or accepting help, but that does probably explain why Mr Higgs is too terrified to speak to you.’
Gemma shook her head. Jonathan wasn’t terrified of her.
He wasn’t terrified of anyone. You only had to watch the way he sauntered around the school to see that.
He’d only just arrived here, and already he was changing things about the way the school was run.
Things which ran perfectly well and seamlessly prior to his arrival. ‘Anyway...’
‘Are you ready here?’ Gina paused in front of the raffle stall and looked over it.
‘We are. Ready when you are.’ Sophie quickly rearranged the bucket.
‘Good, good. We open in two minutes.’ Gina barked before continuing her rounds.
‘She scares you, doesn’t she?’ Sidling up to Sophie, Gemma lowered her voice.
‘Of course she does.’ Sophie laughed nervously. ‘Doesn’t she scare you?’
‘No one scares me.’ Leaning forward, Gemma straightened the sign Florrie had made to tell their visitors the price per go.
‘Liar.’ Nudging her, Sophie grinned before cupping her hands together and calling to Florrie, who had spent the last half an hour enjoying a free play on the bouncy castle along with the other children who were helping on the stalls. ‘Florrie, time to get off now.’
‘Have I won?’ Unfolding his ticket, Percy, a pupil she’d taught a few years previously, held the small rectangle of paper up.
‘135. Yes, I think you have.’ Gemma moved some of the prizes in front of her to reveal a tabletop football game with the number 135 stuck to it. ‘Wow, look what you’ve got. What a lucky ticket!’
‘That’s awesome. Thanks, Miss.’ Taking the game in his hands, Percy turned to show his friends.
Turning to her next customer, Gemma smiled. ‘How many tickets would you like?’
‘Two please, Miss Murray?’ Freddie held his hand out, his palm full of ten-pence coins.
As she exchanged the money for the tickets, Gemma looked up as a shadow loomed over the table. Jonathan Higgs.
‘This is looking well-received.’ Jonathan smiled.
Stunned by the upturn of his lips, Gemma shook her head and nodded before turning back to Freddie and his mum. ‘Did you win?’
‘Not this time. We’ll have another try later.’ Kerry, Freddie’s mum, said before turning to Freddie. ‘Bouncy castle?’
‘Yes, yes!’ Without a backward glance towards his teacher, Freddie ran across the playground toward the bouncy castle.
‘It is.’ Gemma nodded and glanced across towards Sophie and Florrie, who were busy serving. Was she supposed to bring up yesterday’s encounter? Was that why he was here? He expected a thank you after all? She cleared her throat, swallowing her words as Florrie bounced towards them.
‘Mr Higgs! Mr Higgs! Look how much money we’ve made!’ Florrie picked up the cash box and held it aloft towards him, coins and notes spilling from the small tin across the tabletop as she did so. ‘Oops.’
‘Don’t worry, Florrie. We’ll have this all collected back up in no time.’ Jonathan joined them as Florrie and Gemma began picking up the money and placing it back into the tin.
‘Oh, Florrie, love. You need to be careful with that.’ Having finished with her customer, Sophie walked across and plucked a pound coin from the top of a pile of books.
‘She was just excited to show me how much money you’d made. Weren’t you, Florrie?’ Mr Higgs smiled again.
‘We’ve made a lot of money, haven’t we? Will we be able to buy a new climbing frame for the playground, Mr Higgs?
We must have enough, and we’re not allowed on our old one because of how broken it is.
’ Florrie sighed dramatically as she looked across to the wooden structure covered in Do not use tape next to the school building.
‘We shall have to see.’ Jonathan dropped a handful of coins in the tin. ‘Now, keep up the good work. I should go and see how everyone else is doing.’
‘We will.’ Standing on her tiptoes as she placed her hands, palms down, on the table in front of her, Florrie called after him.
‘He was pleasant enough.’ Sophie glanced across at Gemma as she picked up the cash tin and closed the lid tightly.
‘The way he was behaving just then was unusual. Believe me.’ Gemma shook her head as she watched him make his way from stall to stall, making conversation with members of staff, pupils and parents alike.
He did seem different. He seemed relaxed.
Was it because it wasn’t a school day? Because the day-to-day stresses and strains of running a school had lifted for the day, and he was enjoying a rare day of sunshine between downpours?
Or was it because after a week in the role of headteacher he was settling in?
Umm, maybe. With any luck, the following week would bring the same Mr Higgs they were seeing now.
‘I like Mr Higgs. He’s always funny in assembly.’ Florrie pushed herself away from the table and turned to her mum. ‘Can I go and get a treat from the cake stall? I’m starving.’
Shaking her head, Sophie laughed. ‘Of course you can. One minute and I’ll grab you a coin from my purse.’
As Sophie bent to pull her bag from beneath the stall, Gemma continued to watch Jonathan as a group of parents flocked around him. By the sound of their laughter, he was being quite the joker with them. Hopefully, this was an indicator of better days to come.
‘There you go. Get us two one too, would you?’ Sophie placed a coin in her daughter’s hand before leaning down and kissing her on the top of her head. ‘I’ll have a chocolate cracknel if they have one, please?’
‘Will do. What do you want, Auntie Gem?’ Florrie slapped her hand over her mouth before glancing around dramatically. After lowering her hand again, she repeated herself. ‘What do you want, Miss Murray?’
Laughing, Gemma flicked one of Florrie’s plaits. ‘You’re okay to call me Auntie Gem, Florrie. It’s not school time. I’ll have a flapjack, please?’
Florrie nodded as a slow grin spread across her face. ‘Okay, Auntie Gem, I’ll get you a flapjack.’
‘Why don’t you go and thank him for yesterday now?’ Sophie nodded towards Jonathan as the group of parents dispersed from around him.
‘No, not here. This is school, and what happened yesterday was at home. Two completely separate lives.’ Gemma shook her head. This wasn’t the place to thank him, was it?