The Cold Cold Sea (16 page)

Back in the kitchen, Jennifer made tea to take upstairs. She would sleep well tonight, she was sure. A packet of pills on the shelf beside the sink caught her eye and she lifted it. These were Hailey’s pills, they should be in Hailey’s bathroom.

Humming, she took the pills upstairs along with her tea and dropped them into the shell box Hailey had made at school last week. A lovely box made by her beautiful daughter.

What a splendid day it had been.

Katie knocked on the door of Jeanette McCallum’s office. It was time to confess about yesterday’s disastrous home visit, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

The Head listened without speaking as Katie detailed Hailey’s problems and then as much as she could remember of the unsuccessful visit to the little girl’s home.

‘Hailey looked like a sulky teenager most of the time, except for this really weird smile she kept flashing. And Mrs Marshall wants to deal with the whole thing by pretending everything’s fine. She practically threw me out. I should have realised that the direct approach wasn’t the best option there.’

‘Well, it’s easy to be wise after the event,’ said Jeanette. ‘And we should remember too that Mrs Marshall probably isn’t her normal self at the moment. Pregnancy does that to you. I was in floods of tears from start to finish; I must have kept several tissue manufacturers going all by myself. They probably wondered what had happened when Maxine was born and I stopped buying fifteen boxes of the things every week.’

She sighed reminiscently, and Katie laughed. ‘She must get tired, and of course she’s on her own at the moment. Maybe we should offer them a place on the school bus for Hailey. The Newquay bus goes right past the end of their road. That would give Mrs Marshall more time to rest.’

‘Good idea, and Katie, don’t be too hard on yourself. Mrs Marshall is obviously a difficult parent. Let’s wait and see what happens when Hailey’s dad gets back. If things haven’t improved in a few weeks then we can think about getting a psychological assessment done, but from what you’ve said, that wouldn’t go down well with Mrs Marshall and it’s early days for Hailey still.’

Cheered by the support, Katie walked along to the school office to phone Hailey’s mother before she left to pick her daughter up. She still felt guilty about her handling of the home visit, but it was good to know that her boss was on her side.

The secretary tactfully left the room while Katie punched out the number and listened as the phone started to ring.

‘Yes?’

As usual, Mrs Marshall sounded distant and haughty, and Katie struggled to make her own voice warm and pleasant.

‘Hello, Mrs Marshall, this is Katie McLure at Polpayne Castle Primary. I was wondering if you’d like Hailey to come to school by bus for a while? There’s room on the Newquay bus, and it would give you more time to rest.’

The other woman’s voice was surprisingly gracious.

‘What a kind thought, thank you so much. But I would be a little afraid that the other children on the bus would tease Hailey. As you know yourself she might not cope with that.’

‘So you’d prefer just to bring her yourself as usual?’

‘Yes. My husband should be home by next weekend, and things will be easier then.’

They exchanged a few closing pleasantries before Katie put the phone down thankfully.

That had gone alright, she thought. In fact it had gone very well, maybe she had caught the other woman on an off-day yesterday.

Katie returned to the classroom where Nora and Alison were overseeing the children at play. Hailey was sitting by herself in the baby-corner, a doll clutched in her arms. How pale she is today, thought Katie, clapping for silence.

Derek was having a bad day, which meant that several other children were over-excited too. Katie had her hands full, and heaved a sigh of relief when Nora and Alison eventually took the still-squabbling mob outside to wait for buses and parents. She straightened the chairs round the craft table and then went round the corner to the play area. It was the cleaner’s job to tidy up, but it wasn’t fair to leave the place in a state like this. She would just...

Voices were coming from the corridor.

‘... not good enough, Hailey. You really are careless. If anything like this happens again we’ll have to see what... ’

It was Mrs Marshall. Katie hurried round to the classroom area to see Hailey and her mother entering the room. Hailey was even paler than before, and her mother’s face was grim.

‘Miss McLure, I’m so sorry. This silly child has lost her hairband, have you seen it?’

Katie smiled as pleasantly as she could. The graciousness shown by Mrs Marshall on the phone just half an hour ago was now entirely missing.

‘Let’s have a look. I’m not surprised she took it off, it was very warm in here this afternoon, wasn’t it, Hailey?’

The child stared, then glanced up at her mother and said, ‘Yes, Miss McLure’ with the same big smile she’d used the day before.

Troubled, Katie smiled back then started to search around. She soon found the hairband in the baby corner and gave it to Mrs Marshall, who immediately pulled it over Hailey’s head.

‘Thank you. I’m afraid we must rush off now.’

‘Of course. Hailey worked very hard today, Mrs Marshall, that’s probably why she was tired and forgot the band.’

The other woman’s face relaxed somewhat. ‘Thank you. She didn’t sleep well, actually. I took her to the doctor before school to check that everything was alright, and it is.’

‘Excellent,’ said Katie. ‘Then you should both go home and rest. See you tomorrow, Hailey.’

Alone again, she finished tidying the play area, thinking sadly about Hailey and her pushy mother. The woman’s words on entering the classroom seemed more than a little harsh for a forgotten hairband. Thank goodness Mr Marshall would be home soon. Hopefully he’d be able to help his daughter. Although it was puzzling that Hailey hadn’t spoken to him when he’d called yesterday afternoon. The connection had been okay at first.

Katie stood in the school gym, stopwatch in one hand and whistle poised as the two teams of children threw tennis balls into crates.

‘Ten seconds!’ she called. ‘... Five seconds! And... ’

She blew, and an ear-piercing blast echoed round the gym. The blue team, who had very obviously won the game, jumped up and down cheering while the greens kicked their feet and groaned.

Katie laughed and clapped for silence.

‘Well done blue team! And greens, that was a good effort considering you were one man short. Let’s clear the equipment away now and have a few rounds of Beetle Tig before playtime.’

The children didn’t need to be told twice. Beetle Tig was a big favourite. In two minutes they were ready to start the game.

‘David, you can be catcher first,’ said Katie, presenting David with the catcher’s cap, which he put on back to front. ‘Now, remember everyone, if David taps you, lie down on your back and wave your arms and legs in the air like an upside down beetle, until someone comes and rolls you over. Then you can run around again. We’ll count beetles after two minutes. Ready - go!’

Shrieking, the children ran around the gym, a few of them allowing themselves to be caught, just for the fun of scrabbling like beetles on the floor. Several of the children were an easy mark for the catcher. Graeme and Julia both had two left feet, and although Hailey could be quick enough when she felt like it, today was obviously one of her dreamy days. She was trotting round the edge of the gym, a vacant expression on her face.

Katie blew her whistle and the children stood still, apart from those on the floor.

‘Well done, David, you caught four beetles. Let’s see how you get on, Amy.’

David passed the cap to Amy, and the game started anew. Katie glanced at the clock. We’ll have one more round after this, she decided, walking up the side of the gym. She happened to pass Hailey, who was lying on her back waving arms and legs with no great enthusiasm. Katie gave her a grin, then stopped short.

The loose sleeves of Hailey’s blue t-shirt had fallen back towards her shoulders, revealing a long, nasty-looking bruise on the inside of the little girl’s left arm. Katie only just managed not to gasp. Blue, green, purple, yellow - this was the worst bruise she had seen in all her five years as a teacher. She was still staring at it when Sheila ran up and rolled Hailey over and they both trotted off.

Katie frowned, lifting the whistle to her mouth.

When the final round of Beetle Tig started, she made sure she was in a position to see the bruise again when Hailey was on the floor. It seemed a very strange place to have such an awful bruise. What on earth had happened? When the game was over, Katie sent the other children to get changed and called Hailey over.

‘That’s a nasty bruise, Hailey love,’ she said, taking the little girl’s arm and examining the discolouration. It wasn’t wide, just long and thin and in places very deep. Katie put her arm round Hailey’s thin shoulders and gave her a hug. ‘What happened?

Hailey peered at her arm, then shrugged. ‘I don’t remember,’ she said, her voice sinking to a whisper.

‘Did you bang yourself in the last week or so? Or fall, or something?’ asked Katie, rubbing the arm gently. It was difficult to believe that the child had injured herself to this extent without noticing.

‘I don’t remember,’ whispered Hailey, staring at the door to the changing room with panic in her eyes. Katie decided to let it go for the moment. Hailey obviously didn’t want to talk about it.

‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll ask Mrs Wilson if she has some special cream for you. Does Mummy put anything on it?’

Hailey shook her head and ran to the door, moving a lot faster than she had during the entire gym lesson. Katie grinned wryly. Leaving the children with Alison she went back to the classroom, where Nora was setting out juice beakers.

‘Have a look at the bruise on Hailey’s left arm, would you?’ said Katie, helping herself to a swig of vitamin-enriched orange and mango. ‘It’s not new but it looks sore, maybe you have some magic cream or something. Just for the feel-good factor, you know.’

Nora slapped Katie’s fingers away from the juice bottle.

‘Can do. Go and get your coffee, Miss. Depriving these poor children of their vitamins. Shame on you!’

When Katie returned to her classroom after break, Nora ushered her straight back into the corridor. The matron’s usually pleasant expression was troubled.

‘Katie, that’s one terrible bruise. And there’s another on her head, almost as bad. You can see it easily if you push her band back a little. She says she doesn’t know what happened, but do you know what I think? I think the one on her arm has been made by a hand - like this.’

She grasped Katie’s arm and squeezed.

Katie stared. What was going on? Who had squeezed Hailey’s arm like that? Mrs Marshall? If so, why? And where did the bruise on Hailey’s head fit in?

‘What do you think we should do?’ she asked, and Nora grimaced.

‘It’s an awkward one. Play it very low key to start with, anyway. There may well be a completely innocent explanation; you know how kids do pick up bruises. But we’ll have to ask about it. Do you want to do that or shall I?’

Katie pushed her fingers through her hair. She knew she would have to do this herself, tempting as it was to pass the buck to Nora.

‘I’ll do it. I can do it less officially than you could as matron. I’ll just say exactly what happened - that I saw the bruise when Hailey had her gym kit on. But Nora, Hailey says she doesn’t
remember
what happened. But she must, and if this is a squeeze mark... ’

Nora patted Katie’s shoulder. ‘Don’t get worked up until we know what’s going on. Five-year-olds often can’t categorise what’s happened to them, and I must say Mrs Marshall doesn’t seem to be the kind of person to go about hurting small children. She’s always so correct and in control. You ask her casually, and see what she says, then we’ll take it from there.’

That afternoon, Katie helped Hailey into the BMW, and then took a deep breath, her insides churning nervously.

‘Mrs Marshall, can I have a quick word, please?’

She opened the driver’s door, indicating that the other woman should get out. Immediately, a haughty expression appeared on Hailey’s mother’s face, and Katie had to concentrate to prevent herself from stammering. The woman had the unique ability to make her feel like a five-year-old schoolgirl herself.

‘I wanted to ask about Hailey’s arm,’ she began, doing her best to sound helpful. ‘We had gym this morning and I noticed a bruise. I wondered if you were putting anything on it? Our matron has some very good cream for that kind of thing.’

There was a perceptible pause, and Katie saw that Mrs Marshall’s face was flushed. She felt her heart begin to beat faster. When the other woman spoke her voice was hesitant.

‘I’m not, no. I’m sure there’s no need to go to such lengths, it’s only a bruise.’

‘Yes, of course, but it’s a bad one. What happened? Hailey doesn’t seem to remember.’

There was another pause before Mrs Marshall gave an embarrassed laugh.

‘Oh, she would say that. The silly child almost ran into the main road last week. I only just managed to reach her and grasp her arm before she went under a van. When I pulled her back on the pavement again she fell. I may have been a little rough, poor darling, but it all happened so quickly.’

‘Gosh, well, better a bruise than being run over,’ said Katie, relieved. ‘Is it alright if we cream Hailey’s arm at school?’

‘Of course,’ said Mrs Marshall graciously, getting back into the car. Katie waved goodbye as they drove off.

‘Yes, that sounds plausible,’ said Nora, when Katie reported back. ‘We know what a dreamer Hailey can be. It explains the bruise on her head, too, she must have banged it when she fell on the pavement. You see? An innocent explanation. I’ll bring you the magic cream.’

Katie agreed, but her doubts returned the following day when she was smoothing the lavender scented lotion into Hailey’s arm, creating an interesting contrast to the child’s camomile shampoo. Would one quick yank really produce such an awful bruise?