perfectly in this position. Assembly was held standing, just a brief coming together to start the day, so there were no chairs in the way and he could stretch out in comfort. Magpie smiled at his discovery of a better way to view the ceiling, his turquoise eyes dreamy with pleasure as he lay there in his filthy coat gazing upwards and grinning.
Gradually other students started to arrive, stepping round to avoid the prone figure and giggling at his incongruity. Soon the hall was full of youngsters with an island of space around Magpie, who still lay on the floor oblivious to the mocking laughter and jibes. Sweyn was one of the more vociferous and even managed a well-aimed kick, which set some of the others off. Magpie sat up, confused and distressed, and by the time the teachers arrived there was a great deal of noise and jostling. Miranda was furious to find such a disturbance going on before assembly, which was usually a peaceful and orderly start to the day. When everyone parted to reveal Magpie sitting on the floor crying, she rolled her eyes in exasperation.
‘Get up, Magpie!’ she called. ‘It’s time for assembly, not a rest!’
This set everyone roaring with laughter, which made Magpie howl in fear.
‘Goddess but he’s an embarrassment!’ Swift hissed to Sweyn, flicking his hair aside in a gesture of contempt. ‘Wait till I tell Granny Violet about this. They should keep him at home – he’s too stupid for school anyway.’
‘Too bloody stupid for anything,’ growled Sweyn in sympathy. ‘We’ll tell Jay when he gets back from college tonight. He’ll sort the bugger out.’
Miranda was still trying to restore order so she could begin assembly. The other teachers waited around the dais and the students pushed one another to get a glimpse of the hilarious sight of Magpie having a rest. He continued to sob noisily, snot dripping from his nose.
‘Magpie!’ Miranda called firmly. ‘Get off the floor and stand up this minute! You’re making a complete fool of yourself!’
‘But it’s what Magpie does best!’ called someone, and the whole place erupted into laughter, even some of the adults joining in.
Leveret had arrived late as usual but heard the final exchange. With cheeks burning scarlet, she elbowed her way to where Magpie sat hunched up in utter confusion, his eyes frightened.
‘BE QUIET, THE LOT OF YOU!’ she shouted, her voice raising to the high rafters. She bent to one knee and put an arm around Magpie and several people wolf-whistled at this.
‘SHUT UP!’
She talked softly to the sobbing boy and taking his arm, helped him to stand up.
‘Come on, Maggy, we’ll go for a walk outside.’
He followed her docilely, head bent and still sniffing noisily. Leveret glared at everyone as she led him out. The hall had fallen completely silent and at the exit she stopped and turned, her cheeks flushed and eyes flashing green sparks. Her voice shook with disgust.
‘I hope you all feel ashamed of yourselves,’ she cried, ‘mocking and upsetting poor Magpie. Especially those of you who should know better!’
She looked daggers at Miranda up on the dais and there was no mistaking her intended insult.
‘Leveret!’ called Miranda over the many heads. ‘Come back here!’
But the girl turned and then, shockingly, made the ultimate gesture of contempt at her head-teacher. With a sharp downward flick of her flexed hand, the ancient Stonewylde sign meaning ‘Go to the Otherworld!’ she marched out with Magpie.
Of course there’d be a price to pay for her insolence, but Leveret ignored that. She spent the morning with Magpie walking in the woods and then up on the hills, not caring if she got into trouble. They went up to Hare Stone and sat with their backs to the great monolith, soaking up the mild November sunshine. Magpie was so distressed it took Leveret a long time to calm him down enough to communicate.
Eventually she understood from the vivid and shocking set of images that he flashed before her, what had happened the day before. He’d barely eaten and was so hungry, and he’d been forced to have a bath. Later, Jay had beaten him with Starling’s stick because he’d tried to take some bread when he thought nobody was looking. She understood that the three women had laughed at this, egging Jay on to further brutality. This morning he’d been pushed out of the house early and shouted at to get up to school, where he hadn’t been for ages. Magpie was bewildered and