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“Customers who succeeded in acquiring items would inevitably get upset because the checkout system flagged their items as unsellable, and as this was a mandate from the government, we were powerless to override the system. They couldn’t understand why their favorite items were being withdrawn from sale and disposed of at the checkout.”
The repercussions extended beyond technical difficulties, triggering widespread panic-buying across the country, particularly impacting smaller stores.
Speaking from hospital, Nidla manager Andrew Parry was forced to close his shop in Chepstow early. “We’re a small business and don’t have the same security or levels of staff as the major supermarkets. At first, customers were adding one extra item, then another, despite my colleagues telling them they weren’t available to purchase. When customers cottoned on that we were understaffed compared to the larger outlets, we were cleared out and threatened if we intervened. In the end, we were practically giving stock away. We had to shut the place down, but not before I got hit in the head by a bottle of Glenfiddich.”
Elsie Smeaton, a retired midwife from Dudley, expressed her displeasure about her weekly shopping trip to Smark & Penny. “I always buy Fairley teabags, so to have them taken off me — literally out of my basket — is simply outrageous. I was treated like a petty criminal.”
There are concerns that the implementation of these measures may lead to the emergence of a black market for sought-after brands. Some individuals, like Elsie, even joke about being first in line.
The aftermath of the government’s Antiro-backed measures has left both retailers and customers grappling with disruptions and frustrations, raising questions about the effectiveness and impact of such stringent mandates.
While Antiro commended the swift turnaround in stores today, a spokesperson acknowledged the prevalence of products endorsed by the Bonny Prince’s family and criticized their willingness to endorse anything for financial gain. “These grifters would advertise whatever they could get their hands on for money,” the spokesperson added.
I catch the wistfulness in Rory’s expression and understand its meaning. “Finlay would have something to say about all this,” I note, and Rory gives me a grudging smile. “I wonder what fun disasters tomorrow will bring.”
Rory shuts his copy of The Daily Toot with a long and yearning sigh, and through the sigh, he manages to murmur, “Hopefully Fin.”
* * *
Finlay isn’t brought to us the next day. But if we’d thought the commotion around the castle after the news broke about Arabella’s public meltdown had been too much, it only ratchets up. Buoyed by the reams of press detailing the library incident, Arabella’s name is dragged through the mud, slandered, and ridiculed. The gremlins are persistent in their abuse of Belly Flop, and Rory refuses to call them off. Laughing about Arabella makes it so much easier to drag down the bogeyman that is Antiro, and to which several of the younger Lochkelvin students remain in thrall. The longer he can use Arabella to make Antiro seem as unappealing and uncool as possible, the greater the chance of breaking the spell on these hard-to-reach students.
“I mean, really. In Lochkelvin, it’s her and Hodgson who are the loudmouths of this movement,” Rory mutters to me as we find a rare moment to speak during the day, just as we enter politics class. “You’d have to be wrong in the head to find that an attractive political prospect.”
Dr. Moncrieff’s hair is sticking up again. It’s the usual indication that all is not well in the brain beneath the sandy mass, and his gaze flicks to Arabella’s desk, which remains conspicuously empty. He asks Rory and me to stay behind after class, and then hits us with, “This is your doing, isn’t it?” His amber eyes narrow on Rory. “Specifically you.”
Rory gives an elegant shrug but says nothing.
He places his palms on his desk, glancing between both of us. “I didn’thaveto give you my classroom.”
“No, but it assuages your guilt,” Rory murmurs. “Or is it your cowardice? I can never quite tell.”
“Silence.”
Obligingly, Rory stops talking. His haughty expression doesn’t lessen, however.
“Was this to get back at me?” Dr. Moncrieff asks, bizarrely. He observes Rory with the same level of wariness as he would an exotic spider, unfamiliar with the level of venom it may be about to eject. “Because I refuse to endanger myself by making my beliefs public?”
Rory treats him with a puzzled smile. “What is it about the Moncrieff family line that makes them believe everything is about them?” he asks lightly. “But it’s nice to see you acknowledge how brutal and deranged your old side is. ‘Endanger,’ you say…?”
Dr. Moncrieff’s eyes are ice-cold slits.
“Well, it’s true,” I say, trying to remove the heat from Rory. “If fear of violence, or of having your reputation damaged, or of losing your job… if allthatprevents you from speaking your mind, then who exactly are the bad guys here?” When Dr. Moncrieff doesn’t answer, doesn’t even acknowledge me, I ask, “Isn’t free speech what you told me you care about? You know you don’t have it. If speaking your mind results in you feelingendangered, that means speaking out comes with conditions. And who decides what those conditions are? Antiro can call violence a consequence as much as they want, but you know it’s not. Whether it’s threatened, or whether it’s acted on, violence isn’t accountability. It’sbullying.”
I’m starting to believe that only those who have been bullied can recognize the techniques of a bully, purely because we never want to slip back into those endless days and long months of unwanted persecution.
“You’re a teacher!” I add beseechingly when Dr. Moncrieff doesn’t respond. “You must know this!”
“And if I may,sir,” Rory continues, “your reaction over Arabella seems somewhat unwarranted. Had an incident like this occurred with Gillespie or Murdoch, or perhaps even me or Jessa, I somehow doubt there’d be a similar outpouring of emotion. It hints at something a bit… untoward.”
“Whatever you’re implying, you can steer well clear of it.” It’s the first words he’s spoken in a while — and it’s to reprimand.
“And you her,” Rory retorts with a pleasant smile.
“This is the last thing she needed. She has been up to hereyeballswith stress over these upcoming exams.”
“But we’reallworried about exams, sir,” says Rory, who last night had divulged to me that he was considering boycotting them. “You know it’s your old side that’s attacking her, right? Such a big Antiro supporter yet she said all the wrong things in the heat of the moment. The stuff Antiro folk are meant to keep unspoken. So many unwritten, rewritten rules. Seems to me, if you play this game of pretend about Benji long enough, the whole thing just swallows you up.”
“Don’t say his name,” Dr. Moncrieff mutters, although there’s no heat to it.
