Death of a Teacher Read Online Free Page B

really turn out to be gifted at art, as Miss MacDonald had said. He hoped so. Something had to explain her dress sense.
     
    Alison MacDonald trudged irritably behind her mother around the Pelliter superstore. Teaching wasn’t a job you could leave behind at the weekend. She was thinking about her meeting with Molly’s mum the afternoon before. Liz Rudder, the deputy head at St Mungo’s, knew everyone in the area. So how come she had got Suzy Spencer so wrong? Mrs Rudder had certainly given the impression that Mrs Spencer was an irresponsible parent with a dysfunctional lifestyle. She’d been keen to explain that Molly was the child of a broken marriage, likely to turn out badly – and Mrs Rudder was absolutely certain there was no hope for Becky Dixon with her dead druggie mother, despite the Dixons’ love and money, and Becky’s own brains.
    But Liz Rudder had been wrong, about Molly at least. Mrs Spencer had been desperate to do anything she could to help, and was well aware that Molly was having a difficult time.
    ‘But it isn’t just Molly,’ Alison had reassured Mrs Spencer. ‘They were all unsettled when Mrs Findley was ill at the start of the year. Now there’s all this panic about the Dodsworth House private school scholarships, and the end of year tests too.’
    ‘I know, it’s a really difficult time. Everyone is so competitive.’
    ‘Exactly. The children need to focus on something else, otherwise the pressure will reach boiling point. I think a concert planned for the end of term might give everyone a chance to shine. Molly has certainly become more withdrawn, and her work isn’t as good as it used to be, or so I’ve heard. But she’s very good at art, Mrs Spencer.’
    ‘Is she? But how could that help?’
    ‘Molly and Becky Dixon could paint the scenery for the concert. We could start them off on it now. It would boost Molly’s confidence and give her a new role in the group. But it would mean some extra work, coming in on Saturday mornings and things like that. I’d really need your support.’
    ‘Well, of course, I’d do anything I could. My background’s in TV production . Maybe I could make a little film of the project? How would Mr Findley feel about that?’
    ‘Mr Findley wouldn’t be the one to ask. It would be probably be Liz Rudder. She’s really at the helm at the moment.’
    ‘Oh.’ For a second Suzy Spencer’s face had fallen. When Mrs Rudder had been Molly’s teacher in Year Five, Suzy had been put off by the deputy head’s smug manner. And the older teacher had been dismissive when Suzy had first noticed the changes in her daughter. But Miss MacDonald was different.
    And as Alison outlined her plan, Suzy Spencer had brightened up. The idea was that Molly and her new friend could paint a mural to be used as a backdrop for an end-of-term talent show, which would feature the rock stars and catwalk models of Year Six. ‘The Six Factor’ or something. Everyone in the class would be involved at a level which was right for them. A DVD of their efforts would make a great leaving token. It could actually turn the tide for Year Six, and make them all friends again.
    It was a great idea. Enough to make you daydream by the frozen foods. But Alison was suddenly brought back to reality. 
    ‘Hey, Miss MacDonald, over here!’
    A cackling voice cut through the supermarket aisle like a fire alarm. It was Callie McFadden, a teaching assistant at St Mungo’s, beckoning Alison over, with an air of giving an order. There was never any escape from a summons from Callie, even on a Saturday morning. The teaching assistant was, as usual, dressed like a hippy, but she certainly wasn’t laid back and relaxed. Her little eyes watched everything, with a view to the main chance for herself or her family. Her eleven-year-old son Jonty was the most aggressive boy in Alison’s class, spoilt by his mother and feared by his peers.
    ‘Well, Miss MacDonald! Fancy meeting you here. I thought you