Chapter 15

The first day of school dawned cool and sunny. Step, Tear and Sad all donned their uniforms for Seacliff Beach School while Tom put on his grey trousers, white shirt and blue jumper for Middlemount High School.  He seemed to have recovered from his bad mood and wished Step good luck on his first day. Step was pleased they appeared to be friends again and hoped that Tom would have a good day as well.

While Tom and three others caught the bus to high school, it was only a short walk for the remaining twelve orphans to their new school. They stopped at the gate while Nurse Smiley went inside to inform the Headmaster of their arrival.  He walked down the wooden steps and asked them to form a boys’ and a girls’ line and then line up in order of age.  Sad was at the end of the boys’ line feeling very small, with Step, Biff and Mark in front of him. Tear was at the back of her line with Rose, Wattle and Cherry close by.  The bigger children were sent to the Primary section of the school while eight of them were to go to the Infants.  They were introduced to the Infants’ Mistress, Miss Cruikshank, who told them if any of them misbehaved they would get the cane. She also told them that they had made the classes very large, and the teachers were not happy about all the extra work they would have to do so they had better be on their best behaviour.

Sad waved goodbye to the others as he was taken to his Kindergarten room.  Step, Tear and the others were put into the Second class which was already full of children.  The teacher, Mrs Harris, sent for more chairs and tables so they finally had a place to sit. She told them there were now 38 children in the class which meant a lot of marking books and homework.  She said if anyone wasn’t prepared to work she would send them down to First class or even Kindergarten.  On the other hand, if they achieved exceptional results they could go up to the Primary School into Third class before the end of the year.

Step and Tear had had a lot of interrupted schooling so they were both terrified they would be sent to Kindergarten, even though their friend Sad was there.  The teacher gave them exercise books and pencils and began the day with a handwriting lesson. They worked hard through Spelling, Reading and English Grammar before they were allowed out for Playtime. Before they could meet up with Sad they had to find their cake wrapped in greaseproof paper in their school bags and drink a small bottle of milk delivered to the classroom.  Finally out in the playground they made a beeline for Sad.

“How was it?” asked Step.

“Teacher’s nice.  She was very kind to me.  The work was easy and I sat next to a boy called Brian who was friendly and loaned me his rubber.”  Sad seemed happy with his morning.

“Our teacher was cross because the class is so big.  She’s going to send us down if we can’t keep up and up to Primary if we are brilliant.  I just want to stay where I am,” said Tear. “Imagine being sent to Third class with all the big kids.” Her eyes opened with horror. “It would be so scary.”

“I don’t think that will happen,” said Step. “She was giving us really hard work to see if we could go up a class.  I couldn’t do some of it.”

Tear didn’t admit to it but she had been able to complete all the work quite easily.  Maybe she should not try to get everything right in future.

The rest of the day passed in a blur.  The children were not used to a bigger school and found many things confusing.  

Sad’s class was outside doing Folk Dancing.  He kept getting muddled up with his steps and the teacher told him he would have to have lunch with the girls.  He wondered why that was a punishment.

Step and Tear’s teacher had to leave the room.  She chose a big boy called Paul to watch the class. “Anyone who talks is to line up at my desk for the cane,” she said.

Step whispered to Tear, “That doesn’t seem fair,” as Paul yanked a girl from her seat for talking.  The next moment Step was having a tug ‘o war with Paul as the bigger boy pulled him out of his seat as well.

“What is going on?” asked the teacher crossly. “Everyone sit down.  I really don’t know how I am supposed to control so many children!”

Fortunately, no one had to get the cane.

Lunchtime arrived and Sad followed his teacher to the girls’ lunch area.  All the girls in the Infants School sat on tiered seating while the boys were across the playground on another set of identical seats. Sad wasn’t sure what he had done wrong as the Folk Dancing had been very confusing, but he ate his lunch quietly while the girls chattered and laughed around him.  He caught sight of Tear and shook his head at her questioning expression.

“I’ll tell you later,” he mouthed.

As he left the teacher crouched down to his level. “Next time you need to listen to instructions carefully or you will be in even more trouble.”

Sad decided he hated Folk Dancing and he wasn’t so sure about his teacher either.

In the afternoon there was an assembly.  The school did not have a hall so they sat on the bitumen playground in their classes while the recorder group played the school song and the teachers each gave a short talk about what they expected from the children in the third and final term of the year.  There were awards given to students from last term who excelled in their schoolwork and a story read by a boy in Sixth Class who told about how he spent his holidays.  It sounded quite boring compared to the adventures of Step, Tear and Sad.

Finally it was 3.30 pm and the school bell rang joyously, or so it seemed to Sad, Step and Tear.  It had been a stressful day for all of them and they each worried about what was to come.  Sad worried about Folk Dancing, Step worried that he would be demoted to Kindergarten and Tear worried that she would be upgraded to Third class.  

As soon as they entered the front door Nurse Smiley met them to escort them to Matron’s office.  After they sat down Matron smiled at the three children and began to speak.

“I have news concerning Ruth which you may be interested in.”

The children sat up straight, holding their collective breath, waiting for Matron to continue.

“Ruth has been returned to the farm, but as you know, a solicitor, Mr Moody, has been investigating the legality of forcing Ruth to marry against her will at the age of 16.  A judge has been consulted and ruled that Ruth should be removed from the Children of Moses Farm if she wishes, as long as she can be found suitable accommodation and work to earn money to support herself.”

Matron looked at the children with a warm smile. “I am pleased to tell you that she will be going to live with Aunt Ella. The old lady is getting on in years and was looking for a companion who would be able to help her with her daily routine.  Ruth is exactly what she is looking for and I think Ruth feels the same way.”

Tear thought of her little bedroom at Aunt Ella’s which would now become Ruth’s.  There would be no more overnight stays at the weekend.  She hoped she would be able to walk down and visit sometimes.  To make up for her selfish thoughts she burst out with, “How wonderful for Ruth and Aunt Ella.  I hope it won’t be too difficult for her to get away from Moses.”

“I’ll let you know when she has arrived at Aunt Ella’s,” promised Matron.

The children were shooed away to go and do their homework.  Step approached the room he shared with Tom feeling some trepidation.  What sort of day did Tom have at his new school?  Would he be sullen and resentful after fighting and clashing with his new schoolmates?

Tom had not yet arrived on the bus so Step took out his books and sat at the desk beside his bed.  He groaned as he looked at his homework.  The maths he could do fairly easily but the other exercise was to write a description of his room.  He looked around him at the bare walls and wooden floor.  The two beds had mismatching bedspreads.  One was pale blue and the other was green. He wondered what to write so began cautiously.

I haven’t been in my room for very long because I was in another room with five boys but I did something wrong and got into trouble so now I am here.

He looked at what he had written and thought that the teacher would not be impressed.  He crossed it out and started again.

There are two beds in my room.  One belongs to Tom who is twelve.  He goes to High School and isn’t home yet.  The other one belongs to me.  We each have a desk with a chair to sit on when we do our homework.  When I sit at my desk I can see out the window.  There is a tiny patch of blue which is the sea. Most of the view of the sea is blocked out by a huge gum tree.  

Step chewed his pencil and wondered what else he could write.  He looked up at the ceiling.  Where the walls met the ceiling there was a fancy edge but he didn’t know what it was called.  In the centre of the ceiling where the light hung down was a circular shape with patterns on it but he didn’t know what that was called either.  Maybe Tom would know?

Tom entered the room with a smile on his face.

“How was your day, Midget?”  This was Tom’s new nickname for Step.

“The teacher didn’t like having so many new children but otherwise it wasn’t too bad, I suppose.”  Step appeared unenthusiastic. “How about you?’

“Pretty good.  There was one time when a kid started having a go at me because I was from the Orphanage.  I nearly punched his eyes out but then I thought, ‘What would Step do?’ I figured you would just tell him a story so I gave it to him.  I said.  ‘Yes, I’m an orphan because my house burnt down and my mother and father and little sister were frizzled up like bacon and I’m the only one left to tell the tale. I’ll bet you can’t do better than that.”

“What did the kid say?” asked Step.

“He didn’t know what to say.  I’m not sure if he believed me but he just shrugged his shoulders and walked away.”

“Is it true?” Step said carefully.

“Mostly true. I was staying at my friend’s house for the night.  The next morning two police officers came to the door, a man and a woman.  They asked to see me alone so I knew something bad must have happened. They said my family wouldn’t have known what was happening as they were sleeping.  Electrical fault or something. You see, my parents were only children and my grandparents were dead so I had no relatives.  That’s how I ended up here.”

“Anyway, school was good.  I’m going to try out for the cricket team and I didn’t lose my temper.  I got put in a class with a lot of kids who are behind in their schoolwork and they muck up a bit but I just ignore them.  I’ve made a friend whose mother died so I call him a half orphan.”

Step asked what the decorative features in the room were and Tom told him they were Cornices and a Ceiling Rose, so he continued with his description.

Where the wall meets the ceiling there is an elaborate cornice.  It has a row of wavy lines at the bottom.  Above that are squares that look like boxes with fancy tops. Then above that are more wavy lines.

Tom’s bed has a green bedspread and mine has a blue one.  They don’t match.

Step was satisfied he had written enough and turned his attention to the arithmetic.

END OF CHAPTER 15