The Future King: Logres (18 page)

‘Agnes and her grandchildren,’ he remarked. ‘Really, I’m not sure who
we hear about more, Daisy or Dr James Ravioli.’ Smiling, he reached for her
satchel. She relinquished it gratefully. ‘How are you finding our new student?’

‘She’s doing well.’ She followed him into the hall. ‘She seems to
have found a friend in Bedivere.’

‘In my lessons, too,’ he said, pleased, ‘and in Arthur.’

‘How is Arthur?’

‘He’s coping. Gwen’s arrival has been good for him, I think. You
heard what happened?’

‘You told me, yes. And as you know, Agnes has been giving her opinion
on the matter.’

‘I don’t know why he didn’t just announce it last week. He was
probably acting on behalf of James. The principal seems a reasonable man when I
speak to him, yet his management of this school speaks otherwise.’

Students were starting to fill the corridors, bustling about in an
apathetic effort to make it to their lessons on time. Old Wormelow always felt
much cosier to Julie than the newer wing of the building, and she was glad that
she got to spend most of her time in it.

‘I fear I have neglected you of late, Julie.’ Marvin smiled, and
looked at her in that rare way he managed, that made a person feel worth
something. ‘I know I’m never in the staff room when I should be.’

‘I’m aware of it. I had to cover for you twice last week.’

‘I’ve been encouraging Arthur to spend more time with people his own
age,’ he admitted.

‘Such a thing can’t be bad.’ Julie pushed open the door to the
English wing of the building. ‘The sooner the better.’

‘Speaking of teenage troubles, how are your boys?’

‘Good. Daniel’s studying Economics next year. He’s hoping to get into
London; he doesn’t like the idea of being too far from home. And he’ll be able
to see his father more often there.’

‘And Erec?’

‘Still sleepwalking,’ she said, briefly. ‘I think it’s his meds.
They’re helping with the hallucinations, but God, Marvin: it freaks me out when
I see him walking about at night. His eyes are wide open, but it’s like he
can’t see anything. He was standing over my bed at four a.m. on Sunday. I
nearly screamed.’

They came to her English room. Noticing that she was with Marvin, a
few of her Year Nines made crude remarks, which they both ignored.

‘Will I see you in the staff room at lunch?’

‘That depends on Arthur,’ he told her, ‘but I expect so.’

‘Good. I miss you when you’re not there.’ Now that her class was
completely gathered the shouting had started. She unlocked the classroom door.
‘Andrew keeps trying to school me on the joys of supporting the New Nationals.’

‘And you haven’t given in?’ he asked. ‘Most teachers here support the
New Nationals, according to Andrew. Everyone just tells him they do to get him
off their back.’

‘And the principal, too. Did you know it’s all but official? They’re
only accepting new teaching applicants who actively identify with the New
Nationals. I heard it from Diane. She’s seen the notes on the applications.’

‘A paper trail is official enough,’ Marvin remarked.

‘What do you tell Andrew?’

‘Oh, he knows I disagree with him completely. I think it gives him
great pleasure to debate party policies with me. It keeps me clued up when it
comes to discussing the school’s leanings.’

‘A brave endeavour,’ she teased.

‘Watch out for Davidson,’ he added, eying a blonde boy who ambled past
and went to sit at his desk. ‘I hear he’s developed the habit of throwing his
pencil case at teachers when their backs are turned.’

‘Wonderful.’

She traced him for a moment as he left, his tall lanky frame cutting
straight down the corridor, and then followed the last of her students into her
classroom, shooting down any vulgar questions they had about her and Mr
Caledonensis.

‘
Suspended
?’

Garan stared at Eve, still standing by the lobby. He set his
briefcase down at the back of the sofa and shrugged out of his raincoat. ‘What
do you mean, suspended? For how long?’

Gwenhwyfar was leaning against the armchair. Llew fussed at her
father’s side. ‘Three days,’ she said, trying to mask her disappointment. ‘It’s
better than nothing.’

‘It may as well be nothing,’ Eve muttered, clearly upset. ‘What’s
going to happen after the suspension’s up? I’m assuming that
boy
will be allowed to continue as
normal. Did the principal mention if he would be putting any safeguarding steps
in place?’

‘I told you; he didn’t say anything, only that he would make sure they
apologise.’

‘And have him in the same room as you? I think not,’ Garan said
stridently. ‘I can understand the girls being suspended, but what justification
do they have for keeping him in school?’

‘We’ve logged a formal complaint,’ Eve pointed out. ‘Perhaps we can
appeal?’

‘I don’t want to appeal,’ Gwenhwyfar insisted. ‘The suspension will
go on his record. Hopefully he’ll learn his lesson.’

‘And why don’t you want to appeal?’ Garan took his suit jacket off
and threw it on the sofa.

‘I just—I don’t want to go through it
again
,’ Gwenhwyfar said, distressed. ‘Once was bad enough.’

‘We’d be with you the whole way this time, darling,’ Eve assured her.
‘There’ll be no way for the principal to make you feel anything less than taken
seriously.’

Gwenhwyfar doubted that was possible. ‘But it’s over now, it’s done
with. It’s not like anything actually
happened.’

‘He assaulted you,’ Garan pointed out. ‘That’s hardly
nothing
, cariad.’

She didn’t want to talk about it. Once again she felt as if she was
the one who was being interrogated when she had done nothing wrong.

‘We should at least talk to the police,’ her mother said.

‘But I don’t
want
to talk
to the police.’ Gwenhwyfar stood away from the chair. Giving up on her father,
Llew padded over to nudge at her instead. ‘What good will it do?’

‘Good? It’ll do plenty of good. It’ll get you compensation and a
restraining order on Hector, if we’re lucky. Why are you so opposed to it? It’s
your right.’

‘Hector will just say I was drunk.’ She drew in a deep breath, but it
wavered. ‘He’s not going to
admit
to
attacking me, he still says I was up for it.’

‘The police are equipped to deal with such things,’ Eve said, softly.
‘They’ll see through it.’

Gwenhwyfar rubbed at her cheeks, smearing away her sudden tears.
Neither of her parents moved to comfort her. ‘Isn’t it too late? If I were
reporting it, surely I should have done it when it happened.’

‘Crimes get reported historically all the time,’ Garan said, his
voice short. ‘I hardly feel a week is going to make much difference.’

‘But what about Viola? The only reason
she
hasn’t been suspended is because no one’s told the principal
she hit Hector!’

‘We can worry about that later,’ Eve interrupted. ‘Right now the most
important thing is to make sure that this
Hector
is dealt with properly. How would you feel if after his suspension he goes and
does this, or worse, to another girl?’

That wouldn’t be my fault
, Gwenhwyfar thought bitterly.

‘I know you’re concerned for your friends, love, but I really don’t
think the police will care. I mean, after all, she
saved
you. They can hardly charge her for that.’

Gwenhwyfar petted Llew absently, feeling isolated in the corner she
had been backed into.

‘Daddy won’t mind calling for you. You’ll only have to give a
statement.’

Llew left her again, bored by the half-there attention he was
receiving, and plodded lazily into the kitchen. As Gwenhwyfar stared into the
carpet, the woven pattern blurred and distorted into something barely
recognisable.

‘Gwen?’

She didn’t look at her mother. Instead she sniffed and wiped her nose
on the sleeve of her hoodie.

‘I’ll call them now,’ Garan declared. ‘You’re obviously devastated by
this, cariad. Really I don’t blame you. This is awful, just awful.’

Her eyes began to dry as her yearning for comfort evaporated. Eve
turned to her and offered a sympathetic smile. ‘I think it’s best, darling,
don’t you?’

Gwenhwyfar nodded, feeling as if she had little choice. Their minds
were made up. She supposed it made sense, but sometimes she wished that they
would just listen.

Her parents were silent. It was dark now. Gwenhwyfar gazed out of the
passenger window, her mind closed off. She didn’t know what she was thinking
within the small box she had constructed for herself. Nothing, really; just
staring: a dull frequency that birthed no words and offered slim comfort. Her
father set his eyes upon the road, his hands stiff at the steering wheel. It
was Tuesday evening, and they had just left the local police station. It had
been everything Gwenhwyfar had expected.

‘It’s madness,’ Eve volunteered, her sigh producing no enquiry to her
thoughts. ‘I mean it was
assault
. How
can they just brush it off like this?’

‘You heard what they said,’ Garan remarked. ‘Unless we can prove that
it wasn’t just a misunderstanding…’

‘Of course it wasn’t a misunderstanding. He
assaulted
her. How could they have heard anything different?’

‘They heard some lecherous boy kissed a girl he liked without
thinking, that’s what they heard.’

‘And pinned her down,’ Eve spat out, almost choking on the words. She
fell silent for a moment, and then shook her head. ‘Perhaps we shouldn’t have
mentioned we were considering going to the police.’

‘You think that man has the time to interfere with something like
this? He’s a school principal.’

‘I saw that officer’s face change when Gwen gave him Hector’s name,’
Eve disputed. ‘I’d have thought they would be a little more understanding.’

‘We can still press charges. They have Gwen’s statement. All we have to
do is make a call.’

Eve ran an unsteady hand through her hair. ‘What should we do?’

Garan sighed. ‘What are we pressing for here…? Believe me, I want to
see this
basdun
get his comeuppance
as much as you do, but you heard what they said. A misunderstood kiss. A house
party.
Alcohol
. If the police had
been more inclined to overlook certain particulars, then I would have said it
would be worth it. But now I think it will only cause Gwen further upset.’

Gwenhwyfar jerked her eyes to her father, and watched his half-lit
profile illuminate as the car passed under the streetlights lining the road.

‘She’s been through enough already. We don’t want to give the police
an excuse to put a magnifying glass over our lives—because that’s what
they’ll do. Hector’s lawyers will make sure of it.’ For a short while they
drove in silence. ‘Though of course it’s up to Gwenhwyfar.’ Looking in the
rear-view mirror, Garan offered her a stern frown. ‘What do you think, cariad?’

She was conflicted. Despite her reluctance to talk to the police,
once there she had been hopeful for their support. The more she had explained
herself, however, the more their scorn had fledged into full-blown
discouragement. She had thought the female officer might be the more
understanding of the two, but ultimately her position had been the most
unsympathetic, and had felt like a betrayal to their sex.

‘You don’t have to decide yet,’ Eve prompted. ‘We still have time.’

‘Would we have to go to court?’

‘Probably, yes.’

It wasn’t hard to envisage how that would unfold. She suspected it
would be much like Ravioli’s questioning, but worse.

‘I’m not sure. I mean, it was definitely worth trying, but like Dad
says, it sounds like it wouldn’t go anywhere.’

‘We can’t know that,’ Eve objected.

‘Yeah, he shouldn’t have done it. Yes, it was horrible. I just—I
really don’t feel like having to convince a bunch of strangers that I wasn’t
asking for it. Especially not when it’s probably not going to result in
anything, right?’

She looked to her parents. Eve’s mouth hung open as she tried to find
the right words. Garan’s face was set like stone, his eyes far off at the end
of the road.

‘We don’t know if it will result in anything,’ her mother said,
finally. ‘But if you can face it, it’s worth a try.’

‘But that’s just it. I don’t know if I can
face it
. I mean, quite frankly, I have more important things to
worry myself with. Like school, and not being told I’m a liar.’

Eve looked to Garan for protest, but found no support.

‘I don’t think it’s worth it,’ added Gwenhwyfar.

‘
Garan
.’

‘I’m sorry, but I think in this instance, Gwenhwyfar’s right.
Considering everything—and I don’t say this lightly—it’s just not
worth pursuing.’