Glancing across to Gemma, Tania raised her eyebrows, her look one of knowing, before she turned back to Annie. ‘This wouldn’t have anything to do with the money missing from the PTA account, would it?’
‘The Parents and Teachers Association account?’ Annie shrugged. ‘I’ve told you everything I know.’
‘I bet it is.’ Nodding vigorously, Tania continued. ‘You know how much the PTA raises with all the fetes they do, discos, movie nights and everything else? Well, Gina, the head of the PTA, has been complaining for at least the last year that money has been going missing out of the account. No one knows why, but they all swear it has. Loads of people have been saying it was Mrs Norton.’
Annie opened her mouth to speak before closing it again.
‘I don’t think it is.’ Gemma spoke up. After all, Diane Norton wasn’t here to defend herself. ‘Although I don’t think any of us would have cared if the missing money had been spent on fixing that hole in the hall roof.’
‘Or the lock on the shed we keep the play equipment in. I say every time I use it that I’m shocked no one’s got stuck in there before, it’s so temperamental.’ Tania shook her head.
Gemma shuddered. She hated small, confined spaces and every time she put the bikes and scooters away, she had to check the doorstop was pushed against the door to hold it open twenty times before she dared venture inside.
‘That’s true.’ Annie nodded in agreement.
‘We could actually use some new footballs, too. The number of times I have to inflate them midway through a lesson.’ Gemma rolled her eyes. It was wishful thinking. She’d have to replace them out of her own pocket, just as she had with the glue sticks her class liked to squash onto the tabletops, the pencils they enjoyed chewing and, more recently, the collection of picture books she’d replaced because the ones she had in her classroom had been so dog-eared and crumpled she’d felt herself getting more and more despondent each time she asked one of the kids to choose a book for them to read.
‘And wouldn’t it be nice to have the wooden playground equipment replaced rather than the poor kids staring at thembut not being allowed to play on them?’ Tania took a deep breath, ready to continue her list. ‘Or…’
‘I know. The whole place is practically falling apart, but until we actually know what’s going on, then we probably shouldn’t speculate.’ Annie pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Damn, Diane was supposed to be taking assembly today, and I’ve got so much I had planned to get done before we had the emergency Senior Leadership meeting…’
Gemma knew what she was hinting at. Whenever there was a hitch in the assembly rota, it was always Gemma who stepped in. Truth be told, she was happy to. The Early Years department was at one end of the school building and if she didn’t venture out of her classroom, she could probably go for weeks before coming across another person. Besides, she loved seeing the children she’d taught in previous years, and they always seemed happy to see her too. ‘I’ll do it.’
‘Are you sure?’ Annie tried her best to feign surprise at Gemma’s offer when, in fact, the three of them each knew what she’d been hinting at. ‘I’d be so grateful if you could?’
‘Of course.’ Walking across to her desk, Gemma placed the now-empty tub on top before reaching over and picking up her guitar case. ‘We’ll all have a nice little sing-song, start the week off with a smile.’
‘I don’t know what we’d do without you and your guitar, Gemma.’ Annie smiled before looking across the classroom towards the windows where a group of children were standing on tiptoes to cup their hands against the glass and peer through the window, their parents standing and chatting behind them. ‘Right, we’d better open up. See you in the hall.’
‘See you.’ Walking across to the desk, Gemma fiddled with her laptop before the tune toThe Pirate Song - When I Was Onebegan to fill the room. ‘Tania, do you want to do door duty and I’ll get everyone on the carpet?’
‘Yes please, my knees are killing me after all the dancing me and Jared did at the club Saturday night. I don’t think I’ll be jumping along to any of your nursery rhymes for a few days.’
Laughing, Gemma grabbed her laptop and opened up the digital register as she waited for Tania to tidy her things away and make her way to the door. Just as soon as she’d pulled it open, the usual eager trio, as she called them, raced into the classroom and towards the coat hooks at the side of the room.
‘Slow down, you three. We don’t need any accidents this early on a Monday morning.’ Tania called after them before coaxing Amelia from her mum’s arms. As soon as Amelia’s mum lowered her to the floor, the small girl shoved her thumb in her mouth and walked slowly towards Gemma.
‘Morning, Amelia. Are you feeling sleepy again today?’ Holding her hand out, Gemma waited until Amelia had joined her on the carpet. ‘This is your favourite song, isn’t it?’
Amelia nodded and reached out for Gemma’s hand.
‘Do you remember the actions?’
‘I do!’
‘Me too!’
‘And me!’
Laughing, Gemma watched as the eager trio slowly energised Amelia and she eventually began to join in.
Chapter Three
‘Can I carry that?’ Freddie pointed to Gemma’s guitar, which was leaning against the desk, as he jumped from foot to foot at the front of the line the class had formed by the classroom door.
‘It’s okay, Freddie. I’ll carry it but thank you for offering and thank you for reminding me to take it.’ Gemma grinned as she stepped away from the front of the line of children to grab it. The last time she’d let Freddie carry it, she’d been surprised it had reached the hall intact, he had bashed it on doorframes and dropped it on the floor so many times.
‘Miss Murray, Jeannette won’t let me in the line.’ Tabitha squealed as she tried to push in.
