An open door

You pause in the corridor. That dismissal was strange. It’s clear Mrs Oversight wanted to say more and the unspoken words hang over you like the Sword of Damocles. Dr Stricture’s interruption keeps them hanging, and you twist in discomfort beneath them. You should forget it and head to class, a Lower Sixth class. But you’ve still got a couple of minutes before it officially starts, and you don’t feel like facing the girls under this pressure.

That’s when you notice the open door. The one next to Mrs Oversight’s office. Only the door to a storeroom, holding exercise books, textbooks and general school paraphernalia, but it should be shut and locked. On her tour Abigail was insistent on that.

Intrigued, you step in, expecting to see Abigail or another teacher, but the storeroom is empty. You move in deeper just to make certain.

“He’s not up to it.”

That’s Dr Stricture’s voice. You’d recognise it anywhere. You’re overhearing what’s being said in Mrs Oversight’s office. Are they talking about you?

“He’s the best we’ve got,” is Mrs Oversight’s reply. They must be talking about you. A chill runs down your spine. You shouldn’t listen. But you can’t help yourself.

“It’s not good enough. You saw what happened last week. Nothing he did helped. They haven’t improved. And… I went in this morning, just to check, maybe as he said it takes time to recover. They’ve got worse. I think someone was in there over weekend degrading them further.”

“Someone was in there over the weekend?

“Yes. I’m certain of it.”

“Who? Her?”

“I don’t know. I thought you said she’d gone.”

“Yes, no sign of her anywhere. Lionel has assured me she’s not in town. And her coven is being watched. Plus they’ve all gone to university now. They’re scattered across the country, and without her malign presence I don’t think they’re dangerous. You sat on some of the interviews, most of them were in it for the sex. Everything else, they didn’t really believe.”

“Which means we have a window to reapply everything. Which means we need to replace him. Because he’s not up to it. Lionel needs to tell his superiors we need a replacement. Now.”

“I’ll talk to Lionel about it, but I don’t think he’ll be keen. Demanding a replacement will mean the council having to admit how bad we all messed up.”

“Talk to him. Tell him it’s urgent. You’ve seen the girls this year. And bringing in that Mr Smith was a bad idea.”

“We needed him. He was the only interviewee who passed.”

“I know, but he’s a handsome young man, and with the controls fading. We might lose control of the girls. Tell your husband that. We might lose control of the girls. Everything we’ve done, our parents did, our grandparents did, lost. We need to put everything back as it was, and we need to do it fast. He’s not up to it. We need to replace him.”

“I’ll talk to Lionel. He can bring it up in the next meeting.”

Well, they’re clearly not talking about you. Then who are they talking about? No idea. All very strange. You dismiss the conversation, slip out of the storeroom and head to class, remembering that if you ever do need to spy on Mrs Oversight, that storeroom is the perfect place to do it.