"Can you stand on your own?" Pascal asked. When I nodded, he hurried over to scoop it up. "It's not that dirty. You cleaned the floor earlier this morning, right?"
Hot shame made my cheeks flush. My pain made it difficult to fall asleep, so when I did slip away into decent rest, I had a difficult time rousing.
"No, I didn't," I admitted. "I just woke up. The kids must've been running around all over it."
Pascal sighed. I knew he wasn't angry with me, even though he had every right to be, but he wasn't the type of person to get mad. "It's okay. I know it's hard for you. Besides, it's notthatbad, right? We can still cook it and eat it." In a smaller voice, he mumbled, "Not like we have anything else to eat tonight, anyway..."
I felt awful. Pascal was in charge of the kitchen while I was in charge of childcare and most other chores. I'd effectively ruined his work for the day by being so clumsy.
"I'm so sorry," I murmured.
Pascal patted my cheek. "No more sorry. C'mon, it's fine. I'll just scrape off the dirt."
"I—"
"FLORIAN!"
Headmaster's furious scream made both of us jump.
"You better go before wereallyget in trouble," Pascal said, his one visible amber eye wide. He scurried back into the kitchen.
I braced myself. I didn't want to face Headmaster when she was clearly upset, but the kids needed me.
When I got outside, I saw Headmaster with her hands on her hips and Kip sitting on the ground. He wasn't laughing anymore. The rest of the kids were standing silently apart, like they were afraid to draw Headmaster's ire after whatever happened to Kip.
Headmaster narrowed her eyes at me as I approached. The yard was silent except for the clack of my cane against the brittle stones.
"Yes, Headmaster," I said, still out of breath. "Sorry I'm late."
"You should be. Don't make me call you more than once ever again."
I bowed my head, my cheeks still flushed shamefully. "Yes, ma'am."
Headmaster grabbed Kip, dragged him roughly up into standing position and pushed him in my direction. "Take this brat and bathe him. He refuses to listen to me. If he keeps it up, he knows what'll happen to him."
Kip shrank from the nasty look she gave him. I noticed one side of his body was dirtier than the other, as if he'd been shoved to the ground. My heart hurt for him.
"Come here, Kip," I said gently. "Why don't we go have a bath?"
"Don't wanna," he mumbled. He wasn't looking up at me like he usually did. Was he okay?
I glanced at Headmaster, but she was clearly finished with the conversation. Her back was already turned to us as she stormed back into the house. "Pascal, you better be making that bread!"
I bit my tongue. I hoped my friend fared well under her scrutiny.
When Headmaster was gone, I kneeled down to Kip's level. "Is everything okay?" I asked.
His lower lip quivered and he didn't respond.
Something was clearly upsetting him but I didn't want to push his boundaries. I held out my hand for him to hold.
"Come on, let's go take a bath," I suggested.
Kip wrapped his fingers around my hand and let me lead him to the large wooden tub at the back of the yard. The weather was fair, warm enough to bathe a child outside comfortably. I noticed there was already soap and an old rag to dry off with lying next to the tub, as if Headmaster had made a vague attempt at washing Kip before giving up.
Kip undressed to his underwear and got in the tub without a fuss, which worried me. There was never a dull moment with him, but right now he was quiet and subdued.
"Everything okay, Kip?" I asked as I rubbed the soap into the washcloth. "Are you upset that Headmaster said she'd throw you into the street?" I lowered my voice so only Kip would hear me. "I know she's not very nice sometimes, but she would never do that. Okay?"
