Benworden (13 page)

Roo reached into the cavity of the drawer and felt around. He soon retrieved a binder folder that had been converted into a diary, written by Mr Gowdy. The diary dated back to his first year at Benworden and every year since then. It told of how he had wondered where some of the boarders had disappeared to during the night and how he had tried to follow them without success. Throughout the diary he wrote how the old building must have hidden rooms or access to old tunnels but he had never been able to find them. As the boys read on they discovered that Mr Gowdy had never given up the search and now believed there may be a mine shaft below the school or boarding house.

Mr Gowdy wrote that he had had a chat to the science teacher, Mr Neal, about his friend Paul Joseph who had a drilling company. He wanted Mr Neal to ask Paul to give a quote on testing the soil within the school surroundings. The diary went on to say that Mr Neal was so keen to help Paul out he didn't realise what Mr Gowdy was up to. He also wrote that Mr Neal was a naive fool and that he had not sent his requests for promotion to the education board as he knew there was a chance of him becoming headmaster one day.

Mr Gowdy had put a very good case to the school board regarding drilling on the school grounds by explaining that Ballarat was notorious for collapsing mine shafts and quite a
few people had been hurt recently. He went on to say that he had concerns that there may be mine shafts beneath the school or boarding house and the dangers this may present. He said it would be a simple matter of drilling down and testing the density of the soil. The board gave its permission, and he wrote that it wouldn't be long before he could get his plan underway, and he could finally have his revenge on those who had been taunting him for all those years.

The boys were shocked at what they were reading and felt this could be the demise of their beloved club. They impatiently waited for the photocopier to warm up and set about copying every page in the folder. No sooner had they done this than they heard footsteps approaching up the hall.

Roo told Bungles to get down the trap door with the copy while he put the original back. Bungles headed for the trap door, tripped and fell head-first down the hole. A faint murmur came up through the hole; “I'm ok,” declared Bungles, sporting yet another bump to match the ones on his forehead.

Just as Roo got everything back to its original state and the floor tile back in place the security guard opened the door, glanced around and left, satisfied everything was in order.

15

T
HE
F
ULL
M
OON

I
'll never forget the week of the full moon. I had heard stories of how a full moon affects people and events but I honestly believe that Bungles had a mysterious connection to this time of the month. Whenever anything went wrong, you knew Bungles wouldn't be far away. He was like a magnet to bad luck made of metal.

Monday and Tuesday had seen more mishaps for Bungles than ever before and it just seemed to be getting worse. On Wednesday he had caught his blazer on one of the door handles, piercing a hole clear through his sleeve; he then split his pants while bending over, and his pen had leaked into his shirt pocket leaving a blue silhouette on the outside that appeared to look like human buttocks.

All day the other students laughed and tormented him with remarks like, “Hey, have a look at this. Bungles painted a picture of his butt on his pocket!” or “Gee, that's a bummer! How did that get there?”

Club members tried to protect him by telling him just to ignore their comments and it was easy to see he just wanted the day to be over. Wednesday came and went and Thursday started badly again for him. Bungles had gone back to sleep after his morning wakeup call and was running very late for school. He raced down the stairs and into the dining room to have his breakfast. He grabbed himself some cereal and at this point he was starting to panic as he knew all the other boarders had left
for school. Bungles began throwing food into his mouth quicker than he could swallow it but what he hadn't realised was that he was spilling milk and cereal all down the front of himself. Once he felt the cold liquid penetrating through his shirt and onto his skin his head dropped in a downward descent to scan how much damage had been done. Just a quick glimpse made him realise that he would need to change his shirt, and the cry of “NO!” echoed throughout Benworden. Even the crows that had been so noisy shut down their mournful cries and it seemed as though the world had stopped for that split second.

He leapt to his feet and raced up the stairs to change and it wasn't long before he reappeared with a shirt half-buttoned and his tie dangling around his neck like a dead snake. Bungles was now at full speed, racing down the stairs and straight out the door with a long sprint along the pathway to the school ahead of him. I watched in astonishment from my upstairs classroom as this tangled mess of school bag, shirt, blazer and tie stumbled and tripped along the path. The only way to describe what it looked like was a clothesline trying to run the four-minute mile covered in a full load of washing. He had made up great time and was on the home straight and heading for his classroom when he heard that deathly sound.

“Young man, come here!”

Bungles knew that voice only too well; it had to be Mr Gowdy's and if he was right he also knew he was in for it, so he pretended not to hear him.

“DID YOU HERE ME? COME HERE!” Mr Gowdy shouted, and Bungles was now compelled to stop and face him. He eventually came to a halt but he couldn't bring himself to turn and face Mr Gowdy, so he stood there like he was in a trance, hoping this was a bad dream. He thought that when he did
eventually turn around his nightmare would disappear into a puff of smoke but, alas, that didn't happen, and due to his hesitation in turning he had ignited a bomb that was ready to explode.

“Sorry sir?” Bungles said as he slowly turned to face the principal.

“Look at you, son!” Mr Gowdy retorted. “You're a disgrace to your school and fellow students. How dare you come here dressed like that! Have you no respect for yourself?” he asked, while holding his glasses in one hand and pointing with the other.

Bungles was overwhelmed by a sense of panic and replied, “No Sir. I mean, yes Sir. Sorry Sir.”

“Get your uniform straightened out and get yourself to class immediately,” Mr Gowdy continued. “Do you hear me? Immediately! I'll be watching you so you better be careful young man!”

Bungles stood upright as if he was being put through a drill by a sergeant major and replied, “Yes Sir, careful Sir. I'll be careful.” Although Bungles was clumsy he was forever the optimist, and because Mr Gowdy hadn't given him detention he remembered how I had been given legend status when I was late. He kept telling everyone that his luck had changed and now there were two people in the school who had escaped detention from Old Grumpy Gowdy.

All through the morning things went well; he even received praise from Miss James after he handed in his music assignment early and by lunchtime he was at an all-time high. During the line up in the canteen, Bungles turned to Roo and told him about the great day he was having and how it just
kept improving. He even pointed out that they were dishing up his favourite lunch – spaghetti with extra cheesy sauce.

Both boys joked and laughed as they headed for their table and that's when things went terribly wrong. Bungles tripped on the leg of a chair as one of the other students got up from the table and he hurtled forward like a swimmer off the blocks at an Olympic final. Isabel just happened to be walking towards them and didn't have time to react as she had her head turned away while eavesdropping on a conversation between two girls nearby. Just as she turned, Bungles' plate of spaghetti with special cheesy sauce slapped her in the chest and ran down the front of her spotless white shirt like worms that were late for their daily fill of compost.

Meanwhile, when Bungles had thrown his hands out to break his fall he'd knocked a glass of juice over one of the girls who Isabel had been trying to eavesdrop on. As the cold liquid hit her lap she leapt to her feet without pulling back her chair which in turn tilted the table upwards, and the remainder of food and drinks on the table splashed over the other girl sitting opposite her.

Bungles, on hands and knees, looked up at the turmoil and said, “Sorry?”, as if he was asking a question rather than making a statement.

Girls were yelling, boys were pointing their fingers and laughing and Isabel ran screaming from the room and straight to the principal's office.

Bungles was soon summoned to Mr Gowdy's office by Miss Fickle who attempted to reassure him that everything would be ok if he just explained to Mr Gowdy what had transpired and how it was an accident. Deep down inside, however, they both knew it was never that simple when it came to Mr Gowdy,
especially with the mood swings he had been having recently.

While sitting outside the office waiting to be called in, Bungles felt no fear of the repercussions. He knew they were inevitable. Something had clicked inside him like a light switch and he had now begun to feel emotionally numb. Bungles had been in trouble before but this wasn't about that – it was about feeling lucky for the first time in a long time and believing that things were finally going to go his way, but as reality kicked in so did thoughts of despair, and even his optimism deserted him when he most needed it.

Bungles was finally called into the office and, just as he anticipated, Mr Gowdy came down on him like a ton of bricks and then chucked on an anvil for good measure. No matter how hard Bungles tried to explain what had occurred in the canteen and how it was no one's fault, the morning's encounter with Bungles was still fresh in Mr Gowdy's mind. To top it off, the principal was constantly staring down at the ring Bungles was wearing on his finger.

“Two hours, my friend. Two hours of helping the cleaner with toilets after school. And the reason I've kept you waiting outside my office for so long is because I needed to make a phone call to the head of boarding telling him you would be late back tonight. I have also requested that you be sent to your room immediately after dinner.”

Bungles hung his head on his chest and replied, “Yes Sir, whatever you say.” He then turned towards the door and headed out. On reaching the reception area outside the office Miss Fickle asked him how everything went. “It's like I told you, Miss, it didn't matter what I said. It was going to be the same outcome.” Then he went on to tell her the punishment he'd received. Miss Fickle frowned and told him not to worry
and then hugged him. This shocked him as Miss Fickle had always been diplomatic and had never taken one side or the other.

Once Bungles left the room, Miss Fickle marched straight up to Mr Gowdy's office and rapped on the door.

“Come in,” he said, which had the undertones of “If you have to.”

We all knew that Mr Gowdy and Miss Fickle had a thing for each other but neither had taken it any further than starry-eyed glances. It was only natural that they would connect as both their interests revolved around the school and they both lived on their own (apart from Miss Fickle's Malteses of course), but even their relationship was beginning to strain under the constant negativity that Mr Gowdy was pumping out.

She took a couple of steps into his office and stared at him as if they had been in a relationship for years.

“Don't you think you were a little harsh on him? After all, it was an accident,” she said.

Mr Gowdy's eyes lit up and he snapped back. “Is that all you came in here for? To bother me with that tripe? Miss Fickle, I would thank you not to question my authority or decision-making when it comes to the discipline of the students of this school!.”

Miss Fickle jumped as he slammed his fist on the desk.

“This boy is like every one of those horrid brats who wear those fancy-nancy rings. They deserve everything they get. In fact, he was fortunate he got off so lightly. Let me tell you, I was lenient on him because it was an accident!”

Miss Fickle was furious.

“Are you saying you knew it was an accident yet still gave him two hours detention and sent him to bed after dinner?”

Mr Gowdy stared over the top of his glasses and said, “That's correct Miss Fickle. And, as I have told you before, if you aren't happy here there are a lot of others out there who'd be more than pleased to take your position. Now, before we start going down that track, I would like you to leave this room. And close the door on the way out!”

Although Mr Gowdy had threatened her like this many times in the past, he'd never been this harsh. Miss Fickle couldn't believe what she was hearing and continued to stand there in shock.

Mr Gowdy picked up some papers and began reading them and then he stopped and said, “Thank you, Miss Fickle. You may leave now, and don't forget the door please!”

Miss Fickle's face turned red and she pivoted abruptly and marched out. Once outside the door she came to an abrupt halt, turned and slammed the door all in one action.