Read Online Miss Purdy's Class by Annie Murray - Free Book Online Page B

saw him have anything much to do with was Ron Parks, who gave him sweets and asked him to play sometimes. He appeared indifferent to the other children, though sometimes he got into fights and usually came off best in them. She had once seen him leave the school with his little sister Lena trotting behind him, striding off like a man with a mission, and the sight had moved her. There was something about him, small and pathetic as he appeared, that was intimidating. In looking into Joseph Phillips’s eyes, Gwen felt she had struck up against rock.
    ‘Mr Lowry is very concerned and angry about you playing truant, Joey. You know that, don’t you?’
    ‘Yes, Miss.’ He spoke woodenly, looking at her only at waist level.
    She sat down on one of the little desks. ‘Can you not look me in the eye, Joey?’
    He looked up, just for a second, then dropped his gaze again, taking a step backwards and Gwen realized her mistake. Teachers were distant, foreign people to him, who often exercised control by fear and violence. Faced by her friendly, smiling eyes he didn’t know how to react.
    But she had begun so she persevered. ‘Where do you go to – when you skip school?’
    A shadow seemed to fall across the boy’s face. ‘Nowhere, Miss.’
    ‘Nowhere?’ she spoke teasingly. ‘Well, that can’t be a very interesting place to be.’ She wanted him to laugh, to show some sign of being a child. ‘Where’s nowhere?’
    ‘Just . . . about, like.’ He looked up, but not at her. He stared at the blackboard. That morning she had drawn the parts of a flower on it, with a bee drinking the nectar. Proboscis she had written, with an arrow pointing to the bee’s long tongue.
    ‘I see.’ She stood up. There was no getting to the bottom of it, that was clear. ‘Well, don’t do it again, that’s all. You don’t enjoy getting caned, do you?’
    ‘No, Miss.’ She couldn’t help noticing the utter indifference in his voice.
    ‘Let me see your hands.’
    He held out his wizened hands, in a way which reminded her of an organ grinder’s monkey. They were grubby, of course, and the left palm was red and sore.
    ‘Bathe it in some salty water when you get home,’ she advised him. ‘All right, Joey. You’d better go and get your dinner.’
    She watched him go to the door with an awkward, stiff gait. Gwen frowned.
    ‘Joey, are you in pain?’
    Over his shoulder he replied, ‘No, Miss.’

 
    Six
    ‘Cripple, cripple!’
    Gwen heard the shouts across the girls’ playground. A group of them, including Dora Evan, the class bully, had surrounded Lucy Fernandez. They had a long skipping rope and were swinging it, faster and faster.
    ‘Go on, cripple – get in and jump!’
    Gwen hurried over, saw Lucy standing, arms by her sides, her head down. Close to her was Alice Wilson, her eyes screwed up tight as usual, looking frightened and upset. The rope was a blur of movement.
    ‘What d’you think you’re doing?’ Gwen demanded. They stopped abruptly and the rope hung still in the air for a second then sagged to the ground. No one answered. She saw Dora Evans sniggering behind her hand.
    ‘You think it’s funny, do you, you wretched girl!’
    She was infuriated by the ignorant look Dora gave her through her slitty eyes and had to hold tightly onto herself not to lose her temper. ‘You think it’s amusing to bully someone who can’t do the things you can! How would you like to wear a caliper on your leg? Go on – away with you. Leave the poor girl alone!’
    She chased them away and they went up the other end with the rope.
    ‘Just try and keep out of their way, Lucy,’ she said.
    The two little girls linked hands and slunk off to stand by the blackened wall away from the bullies. Gwen watched them for a moment. What was it about Alice Wilson? The girl was obviously not as stupid as she appeared. Sometimes when Gwen asked her a question she was very quick off the mark. At other times she looked completely vacant.
    Late that