Child's Play by Alison Taylor

Author:Alison Taylor [Taylor, Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: UK
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2001-04-14T14:00:00+00:00

18

Afternoon classes had finished some ten minutes before McKenna made his way back downstairs. As he turned into the administration corridor he all but collided with Daisy. She gave him a look that mingled rage with furtiveness, then dodged out of sight.

Matron, lips pursed, forehead creased, was standing just outside her room. ‘I don’t like to say this, Superintendent,’ she began, ‘but all these questions you’re asking, not to mention having police everywhere, are bringing out the worst in these girls. They’re quite unlike their usual selves. Even young Daisy, bless her, is all put out and irritable because Alice isn’t back from town yet.’ She stopped for breath. ‘And she’s normally the last to let a little disappointment get to her. She’s one of the sunniest children I’ve ever come across.’

‘She’s hardly a child,’ he said. ‘She’s fifteen.’

She adopted an indulgent expression. ‘They’re all children! They might not see themselves that way, but believe me, they are.’ Weighing him up, she apparently found him wanting. ‘I can tell you’ve none of your own by the way you talk. All you see in Daisy is a well-developed teenager who obviously takes pride in her appearance, but I see the other side of her. I see the other side of all of them.’ Her bosom heaved under the starched uniform. ‘Teenagers are very confusing,’ she went on sagely, ‘especially to themselves. One minute, they’re all grown up and wanting their freedom, then, in the twinkling of an eye, they’re crying like babies or having a tantrum. They don’t know whether to cling to childhood or grasp being an adult.’ Her lips pursed once more. ‘To my mind it’s a long, hard road to maturity, but one they’ve got to travel alone, whereas Dr Scott says children are just little lumps of clay to be moulded, forcefully if need be. Then they get fired like so many pots in what she calls the “crucible” of the school. I can even think of a few she’s decorated to her own design.’

Her breath began to wheeze and he hoped she had finally run out of steam, but as he was about to speak, she commenced another diatribe. ‘I dare say you want to see the Head, don’t you? Now, she’s another one letting things get to her.’ Concern for a fellow being now transformed her face. ‘She’s worried, you see, and with good reason, if you want my honest opinion, not that she needs me to show her the writing on the wall. Parents have been ringing up non-stop all day and some of them are talking about taking their girls away. But what else can you expect?’ Chewing her mouth, she added, ‘And I shudder to think what’ll happen when news of Torrance’s accident gets out.’ She paused, staring at him. ‘The girls want to know if she can have visitors yet.’

‘That’s something I was going to discuss with Dr Scott,’ he said, seizing an opportunity to escape.

‘Then let’s see if she’s still in her study.

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