A Simple Plan (1)
Wednesday, 29 May
The next morning, the sky was perfectly blue. It was as if it had been washed clean by the rain and then blow-dried by the wind of the previous night's storm. Small, ragged white clouds raced across the sky driven by a steady, mild southerly breeze.
In contrast with the rest of the school, the canteen was a bright, modern open-plan area. Its white walls framed large doors that opened on to a large decking area, the light-coloured wood bleached by the sun. As they sat at one of the tables eating lunch, Sadie explained her plan.
"It'll never work," Brianna said flatly, pausing between forkfuls of tuna salad.
"Don't be so negative! Of course it'll work. Listen, it's all perfectly logical. One: we're all struggling with biology, yes?" Sadie explained, holding up her hands and counting off the points on her slim fingers.
Emma and Brianna nodded warily as they forked salad into their mouths.
"Two: Emma can borrow one of those new mini-HD cameras from her film and photography club."
"I guess so," Emma replied suspiciously, shading her eyes as the sun suddenly burst through a gap in the clouds.
"Three: we can get the key to Miss Hunter's room from Michael."
"Hang on. I know you've got those pictures but are you sure Michael will play along?" Brianna interrupted.
Sadie paused as she delved into her rucksack before holding up the key ring with a flourish. Two silver keys glinted in the bright sunlight.
"I got them from him this morning," she said, smiling triumphantly. "Now we've got those pictures we can get him to do whatever we want."
"Okay, so let me get this straight: you want us to break in and plant a camera?" Brianna said, shaking her head. "What if we get caught?"
"It's not breaking in, silly! You have a key. And I checked: Miss Hunter is away at some kind of seminar this afternoon. And anyway, if anyone asks just tell them Miss
Hunter sent you to get something before she left."
"I don't know," Emma said. "Even if we manage to set up the camera what are you hoping to catch her doing? I mean, it would have to be something pretty embarrassing, something she'd really want to keep to herself."
"Don't worry about that," Sadie said confidently. "My older sister was at St Catherine's a couple of years ago and I've heard a few stories about Miss Hunter. You leave that to me."
---
They'd never been inside Miss Hunter's room before. The two girls looked nervously up and down the corridor before slipping inside and locking the door behind them. It felt strange and wrong to be there without Miss Hunter being present. It was a bright, airy room with colourful prints brightening the neutral magnolia walls. Emma recognised a Monet and a Degas; the teacher was obviously a fan of the French impressionists. A half-open door to the left of the sofa led to a tidy-looking bedroom with light magenta walls and beyond that, a small bathroom.
"So where do we put this?" Brianna said, holding up the video camera. It was a black Sony handheld camcorder, about the size of a small, thick paperback.
They stood just inside the door whilst they looked around. There was a large desk at the far end of the room, in front of the window. It was full of books and untidy stacks of papers. A closed laptop sat in the middle. On their left was a large, well-worn, olive green sofa. On their right, a series of large shelves filled with a jumble of boxes and books and framed photo's.
"How about up there?" Emma suggested, nodding towards the top shelf. "It should have a view of the whole room."
Brianna was slightly taller so she got on the chair to examine the shelf. On it were a number of large sturdy-looking, brown cardboard boxes with hand-sized oval slots cut in the sides to make carrying them easier. One of them was half-empty.
"Wait, I've got an idea," she said, heaving the box from the shelf. They put the camera into the box then took some more of the papers out, reducing the level until the lens was level with the hand-hole and pointing downwards at the sofa.
"Perfect!" Emma said, as she watched Brianna put the box back then checked her watch. "We'll start it now; it's got about eight hours recording time so we should be okay till about ten o'clock this evening."
---
Annabel Hunter sighed and picked up another assignment from the pile on her desk. She'd been marking papers since she got back from her seminar. It had been an hour-and-a-half and the pile didn't seem to be getting any smaller. She picked up her red pen and started reading-
"The phloem sieve tubes remove the products of photosynthesis." Tick.
"The xylem cells are long tracheary elements that transport water and some nutrients." Tick.
The girl's neat, precise handwriting reminded her of someone. Who was it? She sat back in her chair and thought for a moment. Of course, it was just like Claire's.
The sudden image of Claire made her smile. She had been such a lively, cheerful character with her flaming red hair and mischievous grin. She'd been a student in Annabel's biology class and they'd had a much too brief affair. It had been such a happy time for her when she was still new to the school and the memories came flooding back. Claire catching her eye and cheekily winking at her in class. The taste of her strawberry lip-salve when they shared a dangerous, passionate kiss outside the gym. Claire naked in her bed, a thin sheet wrapped around her. Her bright auburn hair contrasting against the pure white pillow.
This had all happened a couple of years ago. Although they'd both been very discrete about their relationship, somehow the headmaster had found out. Sooner or later the nosy old bastard seemed to find out about everything.
He called her into his office one day and told her in no uncertain terms that it was improper and had to end. And even though she had argued that they were both adults (Claire had been nineteen and she was twenty-five at the time) involved in a grown-up, consensual relationship, she knew deep down that he was right. When she'd calmed down she realised that you simply couldn't have teachers sleeping with their students. So although it had been painful and difficult they'd ended it and a couple of months later the headmaster found another school for Claire and she was quietly moved on.
Anyway, reminiscing about Claire wouldn't help with her marking. After she'd marked this paper she'd reward herself with a glass of wine, she decided. A nice, chilled glass of Sancerre. She hadn't got much further before she was interrupted by an unexpected knock at the door.
"Come in," she shouted.
She was surprised to see the tall, slender form of Sadie. Sadie was one of the more popular members of her class, the captain of the school hockey team and a bit of a leader generally. She was quite an average student and Annabel assumed she'd normally be able to get one of her friends to help her if she was struggling with her assignments. She'd had never been sure what to make of Sadie: with her ice-cool blue eyes and her manipulative behaviour, she wouldn't be surprised if she went on to have a career in politics. She struck Annabel as someone who understood what people wanted and how to exploit that.
"What can I do for you Sadie?" she asked, smiling politely.
"You're a first-aider, aren't you Miss?" Sadie said, closing the door behind her.
It was true; the headmaster had volunteered her for the role assuming that her biology knowledge would somehow give her a head start. Still, she didn't mind too much; she got a day out at a first aid refresher course every term.
"Yes, that's right. Is there something wrong?"
"Well it's a bit embarrassing Miss," Sadie said, blushing prettily as she tucked an errant strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "You see, Mr Wicklow he, um, punished me the other night and my bottom's still quite sore."
Annabel nodded sympathetically. She knew exactly what Sadie meant when she said "punish". The randy old pervert would have spanked her. She wasn't happy with his disciplinary techniques and had complained to the headmaster many times, but had always been ignored. She'd also confronted him directly but he'd always insisted that he only used it as a last resort. She suspected that he did it because he enjoyed it, the randy old goat. Indeed, there were plenty of rumours of him 'punishing' girls with more than just a spanking.
She got up and grabbed the first aid kit from the shelf. It was a bright green box with a large white cross on the front.
"Now then, let's see," she said, opening it and sorting through the brightly coloured tubes and packets.
"Ah, how about this?" she said, holding up a thick white tube and peering at the label. "It says it's a general-purpose pain-relieving cream with lidocaine for mild burns and muscle aches."
