my bag. Thankfully Lily didn’t check her bag before she hung it up and my first stage was completed.
After school I raced home and fed my acquisition little pieces of bread. I hid him in my room and bounced down the stairs to talk to my mother about my day, withholding my secret mission. We loved our chats; she was fascinated with everything I did, making her my most favourite person in the world. My heart swelled with love for my mother and I would do anything for her, bringing her special posies of wild daisies and when the gardener wasn’t looking, the odd flower from his plot. I’m sure he knew it was me. I wasn’t very gentle when I snapped the stems, but he knew better than to complain to the mistress. She seemed to cherish each gift, clutching it to her bosom with tears welling in her eyes, before calling Meg to fetch her special crystal vase to place them in. They would stay there, with my father praising the wild array as if it were the finest arrangement from London. Only when the petals had dropped and the stems had darkened was the maid allowed to dispose of it.
The following day I ran to school, holding the mouse carefully. I tucked him into my jacket pocket, feeding little crumbs to keep him mollified. I had the upper hand at last.
Lily and Carla were already sitting at their desks. Lily looked forlorn and Carla was absorbing her mood by looking glum too. A pair of sad beautiful twins on a crisp spring day. I couldn’t wait to be the big swashbuckling hero for Lily. The time heaved its way ponderously to noon before I could approach my future best friend. She sat dolefully under the tree in her usual spot and barely looked up when I approached.
‘Hello.’
‘Hello.’
‘What’s the matter, Lily?’
‘Albert’s missing. Have you seen him?’ she asked me.
At that moment, Albert wriggled in my pocket causing me to hastily place my hand on him, preventing his escape.
‘I may have.’
‘What do you mean by that?’ Lily looked at me suspiciously. ‘Where is he?’
I smirked and pulled Albert out by the tail. He struggled against his abductor but I was very experienced at rodent control. My time at the estate had been well spent. I regarded Lily with a triumphant expression as her mouth dropped and tears welled in her eyes.
‘Let him go. You’re hurting him!’ She made to grab the mouse but I pulled away just in time. I bobbed Albert around in front of her, tormenting her just as she had tormented me. The tears trickled down her cheeks as she tried again to get her treasured pet back.
‘Give him back!’
Carla heard her sister call out and raced over to help. She saw the wriggling mouse between my fingers and guessed it was Lily’s pet Albert. She pushed me on the shoulder and growled indignantly at me.
‘You give Lily back her mouse right now or I’ll tell on you!’
This was not how I imagined it would go. I stuffed the mouse back into my pocket and looked with some consternation at the growing circle of children surrounding us. The noise from the twins had drawn their attention and with the added bonus of a furry creature it was too wonderful by half. Mrs Pompour’s attention was alerted as the crowd grew. Things were going from bad to worse and any control I had, vanished. The children had started chanting, ‘Give it back. Give it back.’
‘Give what back?’ enquired Mrs Pompour entering the melee. ‘What exactly have you got, Charles?’
I shifted uneasily and was met with a sea of angry faces. Where were my mother and father when I needed them? It was at that moment that Albert chose to make his escape. He scurried out of my pocket, along my sleeve and down my jacket. This caused sheer pandemonium. The girls screamed and the boys yelled with excitement. They rushed to try and grab Albert, who took a despairing leap onto the ground and into the bush. The thundering sound of feet chasing after him gave him the added drive to dash straight into a plant, frantically looking for sanctuary. But the boys were made of hardier stuff. They dived in after him, scrambling and digging their little hands in the dirt and ignoring Mrs Pompour’s commands to stop. With a roar of success, one boy pulled the mouse out by the tail and raised him up jubilantly. It was all too much for the little creature and he expired right in front of them. Lily saw everything and ran away sobbing, with Carla close behind.
‘Throw that dirty little thing away immediately!’ ordered Mrs Pompour.
The boy shrugged and tossed the body into the bush, uncertain at what all the fuss was about. I tried to join the group returning back to class but Mrs Pompour collared me.
‘What is the meaning of this?’
I stared bleakly after the boys as they left me to it.
‘Come on. Speak up!’
I shuffled my feet and looked at the ground.
‘Right! If that is how you wish to play it, Master Fenton, then you can go and see the headmaster, Mr Brown. I’m sure he would like to know what your excuse is for bringing wild life into my classroom.’ She grabbed my ear and marched me to Mr Brown’s office.
The walk to the headmaster’s office was painful. Every step I took was as if I were stepping through a muddy quagmire. I dragged my feet slowly, which aggravated Mrs Pompour into pinching harder on my ear to speed me up. It had the desired effect and I lifted the pace slightly. We reached the door and she knocked.
‘Mr Brown. Young Charles here feels it’s appropriate to bring a rat into my school. I caught him playing with it in the playground and teasing the girls.’ She pulled me in, as I started to snivel.
Mr Brown glared over his spectacles at me, frowning.
‘Indeed, Mrs Pompour, indeed. That’s simply not good enough. We have rules for a reason, young lad, and they are not to be taken lightly. Perhaps it is time to be taught how to remember that for the future. I shall see to it, Mrs Pompour. Thank you.’ He nodded at Mrs Pompour, who nodded back and released me. She left the room, closing the door behind her.
‘So what exactly inspired you to bring a rat into my school, Master Fenton?’ he asked, coming out from behind the desk and leaning against it.
‘It wasn’t a rat. It was a mouse.’ I stared back at him.
Mr Brown blustered at my response.
‘You insolent little rascal! How dare you correct ME!’
I swallowed and dropped my gaze quickly to the floor, kicking myself for speaking out. It was quite the tactical error and I knew I was in for it.
He stood up and strode towards the cane propped against the wall. My eyes widened as I watched him pick up the dreaded thing and swish it in the air. I had heard stories of this punishment but had never been a victim to its sting. Mr Brown had the reputation of a tyrant who believed in the saying, ‘Spare the rod; spoil the child.’ Considering I had never even been smacked at home before, I could only imagine the agony I was about to experience. My imagination was superlative and gave me no comfort. He
