Chalk Dust & Broomsticks, Chapter 14

Children at Primrose Primary School are all suffering with a mysterious ailment - magic?

Chapter 14 -The Witch's Power

In the playground, small children, oblivious to the drama, circled and chanted: "Ring a ring of roses, a pocketful of posies, Atishoo, Atishoo, we all fall down."

"Come to think of it," thought Mrs. Cracker, watching the bright scarves and woolly hats, "there has been a lot of sneezing lately."

"It's not working!" Shirley muttered to herself as she typed. Her office wasn't near the Head Teacher, a difficulty compounded by Mrs. Manipulator's refusal to retire. Until the new buildings were finished, the school couldn't be "one," and staff morale was collapsing under Althea's dictatorial manner.

Shirley knew there was no such thing as a white witch, and she knew that spells do not always go well.

It was the beginning of December, and Shirley decided to escalate her campaign. She invited twelve of her closest friends to share a meal and help her with the spells to make the Head Teacher move on. The friends arrived one evening when the moon was full and black clouds scudded across the sky.

"How lovely to see you all!" Shirley said, ushering them into her living room.

They hung their cloaks behind the door, patted the cats who purred with pleasure, and sat down on cushions of black velvet in a circle on the floor to begin the night's work. The aim of the spellwork was to create harmony in the school and add good vibrations to the forthcoming Ofsted inspection, which looked as if it would now be put off until after Christmas. If the school passed it's Ofsted then it would definitely not be closed but since Althea's coming, things had not been going well.
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The Epidemic

The next day, two school nurses arrived to test the children's eyes and hunt for nits (head lice). Althea, in her office, felt hot and feverish. Looking in her oversized handbag mirror, she noticed her face was covered in red spots. I've got the measles, she thought, but it was just the consequence of Shirley having clicked her fingers once too often.

As the nurse inspected the backs of the children's necks, she noticed every one of them had a rash. "It looks like measles," she thought, "but they don't seem ill. It must be something else." She consulted her medical book.

Dora was back in her office, the nameplate returned to her door. She tucked Althea's highly coveted letter into her drawer, ready to lock it when the internal telephone rang. It was Mrs. Carter, one of the Nursery Nurses.

"Dora?" she asked, urgently. "Please come over to the Nursery Unit quickly. Miss Pink has collapsed on the floor in her office and she doesn't seem to be breathing!"

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Dora rushed across the playground to the Nursery Unit where she found Miss Pink collapsed. While Mrs. Carter called for an ambulance and informed the Head Teacher, Dora administered First Aid. Miss Pink soon came around, feeling stronger but very shaky.

"I don't know what came over me," Mary whispered faintly. "I had a turn like this last week, too."

"Well," said Dora, "you'd better go to the hospital to be checked out, though I can't imagine what they'll make of that red rash all over your face!"

Mary was soon dispatched to Accident and Emergency. In the staffroom later, the discussion was all about stress, specifically the stress caused by Althea's decision to move Mary Pink out of the Nursery.

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The Rebounding Spell

Shirley, alone in her office, was inspecting her face in her powder compact mirror. "Spots, spots, spots," she muttered, exasperated. "I've messed up badly this time! I shall have to put this one right."

Shirley knew the medical history of almost every staff member over fifty, but Althea remained a closed book. Shirley knew alternative remedies, but spells were unpredictable: sometimes they rebounded. Hey Presto, the caster was the one with the spots.

"I'm going to see Mary on the way home," Shirley declared.

"And I'm going to see Althea," thought Dora, already back in her recovered office. I need some money this time, for Christmas presents.

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The Plot Deepens

Another letter arrived for Althea on the morning of the Christmas Fair. It came from Marrakesh, and this time Althea made sure it did not leave her possession.

"Dear Althea" it began. "I'm taking a few days break over here to recharge the batteries. Nick Blunt will be coming to the school soon to explain about the Ofsted Inspection rescheduled for next term. Keep up the good work. Morale is declining nicely and soon the standards will start slipping noticeably! I miss you and wish you were here to share my break."

The sound of giggling in the letter was almost audible. Althea stuffed it into her oversized handbag, feeling hot at the prospect of seeing Alex again.

In the assembly hall that morning, Althea was telling the children the story of the three pigs. Althea was extremely good at telling stories. Her voice was loud and commanding and carried to the furthest point of any room. Everyone had a spotty face from Shirley's spell, making the teachers look comical. When Althea got to the part where the wolf huffed and puffed, she seemed to grow a longer nose, and steam appeared to be coming out of her ears. The frightened children watched as Althea stopped mid-sentence.

"Did someone speak?" she demanded menacingly.

It was poor Amanda Bearman, a slow child in Year 2. Althea bawled across the hall, forcing Amanda to stand alone on a chair on the dais for daring to talk. The sight of the pathetic, limping child in tears was too much for Miss Sweep, the Nursery Assistant, who ran crying out of the hall.

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The Christmas Fair took place after school. Christmas Fairs were always well attended at Primrose Primary School and the money raised was most welcome for providing treats for the children and even a visit from Father Christmas if that could be arranged. Somebody's grandad usually stepped forward at the time and put up with the suffocating heat in the Christmas tent provided by the School Managers in the school hall.

Later, after clearing up the hall, Shirley called the hospital and found Mary Pink feeling much better.

"What exactly has Althea found wrong in the Nursery to justify taking you out of there? It looks like the stress of it all has got to you bigtime!" asked Shirley.

"She says the curriculum planning is not sufficiently detailed and assessment doesn't cover all areas of learning, among other things," Mary replied. "Do you think we're heading for an Inspection?"

"Yes, I do; "perhaps we'll fail. Althea seems to want to make us all feel useless. "I wonder," Shirley pondered aloud. "You don't suppose she wants us to fail?"

"Yes, I do," Miss Pink replied, and with that, she finally confided the full contents of the first letter to Shirley.

"I see," said Shirley, the whole picture clicking into place. "Althea wants the school to fail the inspection so it will be closed down, and then she will get the job she really wanted at the Local Education Authority office."

Now that Shirley had a clearer picture, she knew exactly what to do. Tonight, she would sweep her study floor, a therapeutic act that raised her senses.

She went into the garden and picked laurel and bay leaves to tie to the handle of the broomstick, warding off thunder and lightning on her flight. At the next full moon, she would make a banishing spell and use the voodoo poppet to good effect. Shirley felt sure that without Althea at the school everything would settle down and there would be a happier atmosphere like there used to be when Oggs was in charge. Now, how could she make that happen?

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