class in C block, that’s the language wing.’
‘Thank you Mr North.’
‘You go and get him. And the first I’ll know about this is when we do our afternoon assembly roll call. Which means we haven’t met, all right?’
She nodded and then turned to go.
‘So,’ he said as she reached out and opened the door, ‘what advice do you think your dad would give us here at the school?’ he asked. ‘What advice do you think he would give me?’
Leona turned round. ‘Leave now. Get out of London before everyone else wakes up to this.’
‘I see.’
‘Goodbye,’ she said. And then as an afterthought, ‘Good luck.’
He smiled politely as she closed the door on him.
Leona looked up and down the wood-panelled corridor, and decided she might need Dan’s help.
‘No, see, this isn’t right Leona. I’m sure this is basically illegal. ’
‘No it isn’t, he’s my brother,’ she replied, craning her neck to look surreptitiously through the small window in the classroom door. Inside she could see a class of boys who looked a couple of years older than Jacob. ‘Shit, not in this one either.’
Daniel cast a wary glance up and down the hallway between the classrooms. ‘Look, it’s abduction isn’t it? Taking a minor like this?’ he muttered.
‘It’s not, we’re getting him on my mum and dad’s instructions. Come on,’ she waved him on, and they paced down the hallway towards the next pair of classroom doors.
‘Look, even if you find him, they won’t let you take him right out of the classroom.’
She stopped and looked at him, and smiled. ‘Which is sort of where you come in.’
‘What? How?’
‘If one of the staff stands in the way . . .’
‘What, you want me to knock ’em down?’
She nodded, ‘Well maybe not punch them or anything, just sort of push them aside.’
Daniel shook his head. ‘Look Leona, I think I’ve been pretty good so far this morning, driving you here and—’
She grabbed his wrist. ‘God, please Dan, just this last favour. I have to get him home.’
He spread his palms. ‘Because here . . . what? He’s not safe?’
She led him up to another window, looked in briefly and saw instantly that they weren’t Jake’s age.
‘Look in,’ she said.
Dan shrugged and did as she asked. The boys inside were wearing headphones and repeating French phrases in unison.
‘So?’
‘So, you’ve been listening to the radio this morning. The trains and coaches have been quietly stopped and the army is coming home from abroad, and there’s no more oil coming in. And they,’ she gestured at the classroom door, ‘are still doing stupid French oral.’
Which seemed to strike him as pretty dumb, once put in that context.
‘Dad was right. Everyone’s standing around with their heads in the sand, just like he said they would, you know, if something like this happened,’ she added, trying to keep her voice down as it started to thicken with a mixture of anxiety and anger.
She jogged across the hallway to look through a door window on the far side. ‘Okay,’ he said following her across. ‘Just this last thing, then I’m heading back to—’
‘That’s Jake!’ she hissed, looking through the window. Without a second’s hesitation, she grabbed the handle and flung open the door.
The heads of thirty seven-year-old boys and the teacher, a lady who looked a few years younger than her mum, spun round to look at them.
The silence was broken by the teacher, ‘Yes?’
‘Jacob,’ she said ignoring her, ‘you have to come with me.’
Beneath his mop of curly blond hair, and behind the milk-bottle glasses, Jacob’s round eyes darted towards his teacher then back to Leona, whilst his jaw slowly dropped.
‘I’m sorry,’ said the teacher, ‘you can’t just burst in here and take one of my students.’
Leona continued to ignore her. She flashed a warning glance at Jake. ‘Now!’ she barked.
Jacob obediently began to rise from his seat.
‘It’s all right Jacob,’ said the teacher gesturing for him to take his seat again, ‘sit back down, there’s a good boy.’
‘JAKE!’ Leona barked as she smacked her fist on the corner of the desk next to her, it hurt - but it also got everyone’s attention. ‘Mum and Dad want you home, RIGHT NOW!’
He rose uncertainly out of his seat again.
The woman advanced toward Leona. ‘You’re his sister?’
Leona nodded.
‘Well, look, you’ll have to leave. I’m in the middle of a lesson. If his parents need him home then you need to tell them that they should contact the headmaster.’
Leona turned to her, acknowledging the teacher for the first time.