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‘Are you saying Oliver Sutherland is a liar?’
‘No, of course not. Poor little lad. Perhaps he’s got confused? He’s very fragile at the moment.’ Nessa Fenton turned back to the loyalists of the P.T.A. who were still standing beside her. ‘Look, here comes Oliver’s dad. He’s looking so much better for the summer break, I was worried about him last term. Not coping at all well following his wife’s death, if you ask me. But so brave, so very brave.’ She raised her voice as Matt approached them across the yard. ‘He’ll help us get to the bottom of this, won’t you, Matt? Why don’t you come over here and help me sort out this little problem, Matt?’ Her use of his name was possessive and she held out an arm, almost as if expecting him to take her hand.
‘Mrs. Fenton. I hope you had a good summer.’ He joined the edge of the group.
'Nessa! I’ve told you, you must call me Nessa! Now, Matt, Mrs. Brand here has been saying …’
‘Ms. Harris. Harry has his father’s surname, Brand. Since the divorce, I’ve been Ms. Harris again.’
‘Ms. Harris here has been saying there seems to have been some dreadful misunderstanding, Matt. Oliver has clearly got the wrong idea about the cupboard incident. Harry must have told him a pack of lies about it, and now he seems to think …’ She gave a tinkling laugh. ‘…Darcey-Mae had something to do with it, when we are all aware that she was the one who rescued the poor lad.’
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Matt said calmly.
‘See, I knew there was a misunderstanding.’
‘No, I mean it’s right Darcey-Mae did have something to do with it. Apparently, it was her idea to trick Harry into locking Oliver in the cupboard so she could be rewarded for letting him out again. I’m afraid it seems Darcey-Mae can be rather manipulative. You could almost call it bullying, Mrs. Fenton.’
‘But … Matt … I …’
‘I know how much the school anti-bullying policy means to you, Mrs. Fenton, and how keen you are it should be rigorously employed.’
‘But … but … Darcey-Mae isn’t a bully! She’s a good girl!’
‘It’s rarely that simple,’ Matt said. ‘And they’re all just children at the end of the day.’
The conversation was brought to an end as the bell for end of school rang. The adults began to edge towards the cloakroom doors, like child-seeking zombies, ready to receive the onslaught of bookbags, PE kits and today’s artwork. Matt and Amy moved towards the boys’ cloakroom door, and Mrs. Fenton headed for the girls’.
‘Thank you so much for the blankets,’ Matt said as he stepped aside to avoid a determined Year One who was trying to make a bee-line for his childminder right through him.
‘You found them then!’ Amy had quietly left the blankets she’d made for Matt and Oliver on the arm of his sofa when she and Harry had been at his house yesterday. She hadn’t wanted to make a fuss, giving them a chance to open the parcel when they were alone. The blankets were hand-made from strips of upcycled clothing which had once been Stella’s. Each one was unique, and Matt and Oliver had chosen the materials themselves. She’d put her heart and soul into their making.
‘They’re beautiful. We’ll treasure them,’ Matt said as they dodged the Year Sixes — some of them were taller than their teacher, and they wouldn’t want to get in their way.
‘It was a privilege to make them for you,’ Amy replied with a smile, ‘I enjoy making things like that. It made me think. Rather than looking for a new job, maybe I should set up my own business. What do you think?’
‘That’s a great idea! You should do it, I think —’
But before she could find out what Matt thought, the doors were flung open, and the tidal wave of Year Four boys rushed out. Harry was waving one PE shoe and a boat made out of a toilet roll.
‘I made a boat and I called it Amazons and I lost a PE shoe but we think it’s down the back of the trays because that’s where Georgia threw it and I’m going to be in the school play which is about elves and I’m going to be a shoemaker-elf and Darcey-Mae is going in a different class, so Oliver doesn’t have to be her boyfriend now and we played goats and Avengers with Georgia and Millie.’
‘Woah! Harry, slow down. One thing at a time. The boat — that’s fantastic, and I love the skull and crossbones. The PE shoe — well, that’s a shame as it was your first day of PE but never mind, I’m sure the caretaker will be able to get it out. The school play sounds very exciting. And what was that about Darcey-Mae?’
‘Darcey-Mae is going to be moved to a different class. Me and Olly told Ms. Lewandowska all about the cupboard thing, like you and Matt said to, and then Olly said all about the other stuff too didn’t you Olly?’
Oliver nodded, though he was busy pulling out his reading book from his bag to show Matt.
‘Then Darcey-Mae had to go to Ms. Lewandowska’s office this afternoon, and on Monday she’s going into Mr. Grayson’s class.
Amy smiled to herself. ‘Perhaps it’s for the best,’ she said, diplomatically, whilst quietly feeling a glow of satisfaction for Harry’s vindication.
She soon became aware of a muttering from outside the girls’ cloakroom entrance. The muttering quickly became louder and angrier. Arms were being waved, and fingers pointed in her direction.
‘Shall we head home?’ she said, cheerily, whilst looking over her shoulder to the girls’ entrance, where Darcey-Mae’s mother was heading towards her, dragging a recalcitrant Darcey-Mae by the hand.
‘Wait a minute, I need to put my reading book back in my bag!’ Oliver said, taking his sweet time about it. There was nothing else for it, she was stuck and Mrs. Fenton was heading their way.
‘I want another word with you.’ Nessa made sure she was standing next to Matt, with Darcey-Mae in front of her like a prize exhibit for the prosecution.
