‘Well, then I know I’m going to love it! Go on, let me see it before the kids come in.’
‘Okay. Hang on.’ Pippa raced over to the window sill where she had stashed her handbag. ‘Here you go.’
She looked down at her feet as she handed the card over. He ripped open the envelope and pulled out the card. And there, on the front, was Sir Squeaks-a-lot, or at the very least a very similar looking hamster on the cover, photoshopped with a bindle – a handkerchief on a stick à la Dick Whittington – and a naughty grin as he straddled a space-hopper and fled from Pippa, Kam and his family, an image that had been snapped on their day out.
Kam started to laugh, proper big laughs that came from his tummy and shook his body.
He heard Pippa breath a deep sigh. How could she have been embarrassed about this? It was the best card ever. She had obviously spent an age on Photoshop trying to get it right. And it was. It was perfect.
‘This is amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better card. It needs to go in a frame.’
‘Oh, you can’t do that!’
‘I can, and I will. Pippa Parkin, you’re hilarious.’
‘You’re not too bad either, Kam Choudhury.’ Pippa grinned at him, sunglasses still in her hand as he clutched his card, wiping the tears from his eyes as he did so.
‘Hello, Pippa. How’s tricks?’ Rosy opened the classroom door and headed in. ‘Kam, could I have a quick word?’
‘Of course.’ He grinned one last grin at Pippa as he left the class and followed Rosy to her office. It was such a shame it had taken him until the last day of term to get back on an even keel with her. His heart would mend – it would teach him not to be so soft – but it was her friendship that he had missed so much. It hadn’t taken a long time for her to become such a big part of his life, and when the distance had sprung up between them it had left a gaping hole where her friendship had been.
He followed Rosy into her office, keeping one hand behind his back and crossing his fingers. He so wasn’t ready for this to be his last day in this amazing school.
Chapter Forty-two
Ten minutes later Kam floated out of Rosy’s office. The headmistress had been happy to inform him that Penmenna school would like to offer him the full time, permanent position as Class Two teacher starting in September. He happily accepted and now raced to the classroom to tell Pippa, only to find her knee deep in children, parents and PE kits, as she listened to endless reminders about how Parent A was not a fan of competitive sports, and Parent B wanted to make it quite clear that they expected the races to be undertaken seriously as children needed to learn to win and to lose, none of this namby-pamby ‘taking part’ nonsense, and Parent C wanted to make sure Pippa knew how to administer Kayden’s inhaler, despite the fact that Pippa had been doing so perfectly well for the entire academic year.
The minute he entered the classroom, he too was besieged by parents who, mindful that today would be his last day in school before the long summer holidays, wanted to wish him well and thank him for all he had done for the children. He was itching to tell them all that he would be back next term to teach some of the children who would move up into Class Two with him for the next academic year (although he would be making sure Billy was kept away from the squeezy paint bottles), but he felt he should keep the news to himself for now. Partly because he knew Rosy wanted to make a formal announcement at the end of the day as Sports Day was wrapped up, but also because he wanted Pippa to be the first to know.
The children were spending their morning putting the finishing touches to their wire and paper sculptures, which they would carry through the streets of Penmenna on the Thursday of Feast Week. A celebration of sea myths and monsters was the theme for this year, and Penmenna School was busy churning out a huge Kraken, tentacles and all, and a beautiful mermaid with flowing hair and iridescent scales, as well as lots of little versions that would contribute to make a showstopping colourful display.
Kam had been blown away by watching the sculptures come together; all the classes had worked on them, as well as various people from the village popping in and making it a truly inclusive community project. Dan had come and helped, his Hollywood good looks making several of the mothers swoon. Lottie had come to lend a hand as well, although Rosy had carefully and gently declined her kind offer to donate Sidney the Seagull to ride along with them.
The children were also making individual models to carry through the street, and there were sea serpents and dragons, sirens and giant jelly fish. Some were huge. Ellie and Sam, for example, had shelved the idea of the sea lion and were making instead a huge squid-like creature with giant googly eyes and a gazillion wavy tentacles that needed four sticks to hold it up it was so big. With Pippa beavering away with the children, her creative side coming fully to the fore, Kam didn’t get the chance to tell her his news until lunchtime.
Despite their rapprochement, Kam was a little uneasy about telling Pippa his news. It had crossed his mind that the reason they were getting on so much better today was because she thought that there was a chance this was his last day ever in the school, and thus she felt relief that soon she wouldn’t have to face him at work. He knew that her nature, her very being, meant that there wasn’t a mean bone in her body, but then he hadn’t expected her not to even fully acknowledge his letter, so he was aware that his assumptions about her were no longer reliable.
As the children were walked through to the dining hall to eat their lunch, he caught Pippa’s eye and this time she met his gaze and smiled. That boded well. He edged closer to her, his heart beating fast. He felt like he was his fourteen-year-old self trying to deliver a valentine to the most popular girl in school.
‘Hey.’ He smiled tentatively at her.
‘Hey.’ She smiled back. Her sunshine smile lit up the room and Kam’s heart bounced. He knew he was still smitten. He also knew smitten wasn’t a professional term. ‘Ellie and Sam’s squid is looking great isn’t it? I was worried they wouldn’t finish it in time, but they’ve really cracked on.’
‘They have. Although we both know Ellie was in charge of that,’ Kam replied.
‘Ha! Probably, although, you know, Sam has a quiet authority that makes me think he’s secretly the one in charge. I wouldn’t be surprised if, over time, Sam was to become the more dominant one. Ellie won’t have anyone upset him. You should have seen her when she first joined the school. She took out anyone who was mean to him with the violent swiftness of a professional assassin!’
‘I can imagine. I wouldn’t want to cross her, and she’s still only five. Imagine what she’s going to be like at twenty or thirty.’
‘Running the country probably, but what I really want to know is what Rosy had to say.’ Her tone faltered as she asked, and Kam wasn’t sure why. Was it because she wanted him to get the job, or was it because she was scared that he may have been given the post?
‘Okay, well…’ he dragged it out, a little hint of his old mischief back in his voice.
‘You toad! Come on… did she offer you the job? She did, didn’t she, or you wouldn’t be messing about!’
‘I’m sorry. I went to her office and she… um… well, I think that she wanted me to hear the news in private so I didn’t… you know… make a fool of myself.’ Kam managed to work his face into a suitably sad expression sneaking a peek out from under his eyelashes to see if she was falling for it. She looked a little suspicious, so he decided to ramp it up a bit. ‘Rosy said there were some standout candidates and that it was a tough call, but hey, let’s not get too despondent. Lynne will be back in the classroom in September, so that’s great!’
‘Did you really not get it? I thought you had it in the bag! I don’t believe it. The new teacher had better be some award-winning superher… oh you, you! I should have known you were messing about.’ She gave him a quick punch on the arm as she realised he was teasing, exactly as he used to do when it was just the two of them, her action greeted by a shocked chorus of small voices all shouting, ‘Miss Parkin!’
