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She really hoped that the new neighbor wasn’t going to be a problem. It wasn’t like she could keep Rosie inside. Maybe she should try to make friends. Or maybe not. She had enough to do as it was.

“Cocoa, mum?” she shouted through to the lounge.

“Please,” answered Caz.

Alice wasn’t the only one that needed an early night, she wasn’t the only one expecting a busy day tomorrow. Hope yawned. She’d be off to bed soon herself.

Chapter Six

“Good morning, good morning!” A tall man with thinning gray hair was holding out his hand and Ava took it.

“Good morning,” she said. “Mr. Lowell?”

“Jake, please,” he said with a pleasant smile. “I’m only Mr. Lowell in front of the children, come, come, there’s coffee waiting in my office. I’m so pleased to see you.”

“I’m pleased to be here,” Ava said, it was a nice surprise to be welcomed so warmly.

“I know this is all rather last-minute,” said Jake, leading her into an office that had a view over the fields behind the school and was lined in filing cabinets. “But that doesn’t mean that we don’t want you, far from it. You’re a god-send.”

“Not to worry,” Ava said, taking a seat and accepting a cup of coffee. “It was pretty last minute on my end too.”

“We had coverage all worked out, but then the supply teacher broke her leg, and, well, here we are. I should have been here earlier to welcome you and give you all the info you needed, of course, but I’m afraid my mother’s been sick, and, well, things are far from ideal.”

“It’s really not a problem,” Ava said. The coffee was strong and good, far better than she’d had at her previous school. “I’ve twenty years experience, I don’t think there’s much that I can’t handle at this point.”

“One of the many reasons you’ll fit in perfectly, I’m sure,” Jake said with a grin. “And I’ve had one of our other teachers go over the lesson plans that Mrs. Bowen left to ensure they’re up to scratch, so for the first week everything’s already planned out for you. All you’ll need to be is a warm body, so to speak.”

“Excellent,” said Ava. This job was getting better and better. Maybe she should consider staying.

“After that you’ll be somewhat on your own, though we do have the national curriculum that we need to follow,” the headteacher was explaining. “It’s not too complicated, but I’ll have someone sit and go over it with you after school, just to ensure that you’re up to date with the latest information.”

“Perfect.” Honestly, she expected him to offer to teach her classes for her any minute now. She sipped some more of the excellent coffee.

“You’ll find Whitebridge Primary to be a nice school,” Jake said, sitting back and crossing one ankle over the opposite knee. “We’re a friendly bunch, the teaching staff are all quite close. The children are well-behaved for the most part, though there’s the odd trouble maker like anywhere, I suppose. On the whole, our ethos is to support our pupils in becoming the best that they can be, whilst understanding that what’s best for one child might not be the best for another, of course.”

Ava cleared her throat. There was one thing bothering her. “Child?” she said. “Perhaps student or pupil is a better term?”

Lowell frowned but then shrugged and grinned. “Whatever you prefer,” he said. “Now, everyone will start arriving around eight thirty or so. The children, sorry, students, will be in by ten to nine, and then the school day finishes at half past three. I’ll get you the grand tour later, but for now we do have a fair amount of paperwork to take care of, so if you don’t mind…”

He pulled out a fat folder and Ava sat forward, a pen already in her hand, ready to make everything official.

SHE’D COME INTO the school through a side door that had been unlocked and had been shown straight to Lowell’s office. But now that she was walking through the actual school corridors, Ava could tell that something was patently wrong here.

“The staff room is that door through there,” Lowell was saying with a gesture.

The walls were painted white and blue and Ava was busy trying to figure out what wasn’t right, so she simply nodded as the headmaster went on.

“There are pupil toilets here, the staff toilet is right next to the staff room, absolutely don’t give a student the key to that, please.”

“Right,” said Ava, and she suddenly got it.

The coat hooks that were lining the corridor came up no higher than her waist. That was what was wrong.

“If you need help, or if there’s illness or injury, just come right up to the front desk that you saw by my office. Hope, our receptionist, will be happy to help out wherever necessary.”

“Right,” said Ava. “Um, actually—”

“You’ll be glad to know that we’re a small school,” Lowell went on. “You’ll have only twelve in your class just at the moment, though of course, enrollment is open all year.”