accurately read her expression.
‘I did it, Kate! I bloody did it!’
Janeece’s tears clogged her nose and throat; she hadn’t cried in years. Her childhood had taught her that crying was futile, but this was different, these were tears of joy.
Kate jumped up, knowing instantly what she was talking about.
‘Oh, my love! Well? What did you get?’
The excitement bubbled from her.
‘I got an A star in English and an A in French and a B in Maths. I did it, Kate! I can’t believe it, but I bloody did it!’
Kate rushed forward and took the girl into her arms, cradling her bulk as best she could. She spoke into her scalp.
‘I am so proud of you, Janeece! I really am!’
‘I find it hard, but that won’t stop me. I’m going to be the very best that I can, even if it isn’t easy.’
‘Nothing worth having ever is, love, and when you leave here, Janeece, you have a very bright future. It’s like you said: if you try, you can be whatever you want to be. It’s up to you now. All the hours you have worked, it will all pay off. You have conquered the hardest part, believing in yourself! Look at how much you have changed, how far you have come. The rest should be a walk in the park and you won’t be alone. I’ll be there for you.’
‘It’s all because of you, Kate. You changed my life, an’ it’s all because of you. I had nothing and now I have something. I’m gonna go to university and I will be someone and it is all because of you.’
She whispered into her teacher’s shoulder, the words inaudible to anyone else, but Kate heard them, loud and clear.
Ten years ago
‘Morning, Mrs Brooker.’
‘Good morning, Mrs Bedmaker.’
The boys spoke simultaneously – only a knowing ear could decipher or distinguish between the two greetings. Both boarders smiled through their fashionably long fringes. Kathryn had much preferred it when regulations had required boys’ hair to be worn above the collar and over the ear, feeling that this better prepared them for the conformity of the workplace. But she knew enough about teenagers to keep such thoughts to herself.
The two ambled along in no hurry to get to wherever they were heading, vigorously bumping shoulders in order to send the other skittering off the path, which made them laugh. If one were to topple over, that would be hilarious. With grubby, dog-eared books in hands, shirts hanging outside their trousers, ties a little too loose about the neck and jersey sleeves rolled up, it told her all she needed to know about how they viewed her.
Had it been Mark or one of the stricter masters outside that morning, they would have been tucking and smoothing, hiding and straightening. Not for her, though; no such courtesy for her.
She smiled at them: two sweet boys. They had been at Mountbriers since they were in single digits and she had watched them grow into these teenagers full of life, fun and promise. As ever, a flurry of emotions swirled through her: she was happy that they saw her as ‘soft’ and felt relaxed in her presence, but sad that they felt able to mock her by calling her ‘Mrs Bedmaker’, probably considering her too slow to notice. They were wrong; she always noticed. Always.
She removed the dolly pegs from her mouth and smiled as though oblivious.
‘Good morning, boys! Lovely day today. On your way to lessons?’
They nodded.
‘What have you got first period, anything interesting?’
‘Classics, worse luck. Really boring.’ Luca answered for them both.
None of the trio heard Mark tread the shingle in his soft soles; he approached the washing line at which his wife laboured with something bordering stealth.
‘Boring, Mr Petronatti? Did I hear you refer to a fine and informative subject like Classics as boring?’
‘No, sir! Well, yes, I did, sir! It is, but not when you teach it!’ Luca scrambled to verbal safety using flattery as his rope and harness.
‘I am jolly glad to hear it, Luca. Am I right in assuming that you are both heading back to your boarding house to get properly dressed? Not sure Mr Middy would like to hear of extra duties being handed out to Peters House boys for inappropriate dress, and I’m quite sure he would not have let you come over to main school so shabbily attired. What did you do? Wait until he had finished roll call and then leg it out the back door after breakfast?’
The