Chapter Twenty: Mr Thornton to the Rescue (Julie and Miss N)

The term was drawing to a close and the stress levels amongst the girls at Fernwood High were starting to run high. There were only two weeks of the term left but exams still needed to be written before they could even start thinking about their holiday plans.
The Grade Ten girls in Oak house, in the dorm under the stairs, were all determined to do well in their first set of exams of the year. They felt they had done most of the hard work by paying attention during their lessons and diligently completing all their homework assignments, but the time had come for them to knuckle down and revise all that they had learnt during the term in order to achieve good results on their reports.
“This is our second last Sunday before the holidays, girls,” yawned Chelsea, stretching as she climbed out of bed.
“You're right, and what an exciting one it will be down in the study cubes...studying, studying and studying,” sighed Jade.
“It's not that bad Jade, I actually think that our group study sessions have been quite fun, especially with all the rhymes and dances we've made up to remember some of the more tricky facts!” said Calipso, smiling at the thought.
“And now that we are officially on study leave, at least we don't have to go to class anymore, which means we have more time to study during the day,” said Charlotte.
“I guess, but I just can't wait for the holidays,” Jade replied.
Roxanne yawned loudly and walked over to the basin to wash her face. It was actually more of a shuffle than a walk as her muscles were feeling very stiff after a strenuous couple of days of swimming and hockey.
“Ah, exams! I hope they're easy,” she mumbled as she splashed water on her face to try and wake herself up.
“They will be if you're well prepared Rox, which I'm sure you will be,” said Annie cheerfully.
“Mmm, I suppose,” said Roxanne. “I'm honestly quite glad that all the sports fixtures are over for the term. At least I can focus on studying now, no more distractions.”
“You're lucky!” said Chelsea. “I keep thinking about Kyle when I should be thinking about Geometry and Physics.”
“Oh yes, I forgot to ask how your date was yesterday. What did you two do?” asked her sister, starting to feel a little more awake.
“Well, I didn't want to miss your hockey match, so we just went for a milkshake at 'The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf' because it's the closest place to go.”
“Thanks Chels! And how was it?” she asked.
Chelsea's face lit up as she was about to answer. It was the same look she always had on her face whenever anyone mentioned Kyle.
“It was fun. He fetched me and walked me back to school and he paid for my milkshake and we talked non-stop. He's so interested in everything I tell him and he loves hearing about you guys.”
“Cool. So when are you going to see him again?”
She sighed. “I don't know, he also starts exams this week so we'll both be busy studying for the next two weeks.”
“Maybe he'll come and visit during a study break next weekend,” said Jade, sensing the disappointment in Chelsea's voice.
The girls spent the day in the study cubicles downstairs, preparing for their first two exams on Tuesday. They were writing Geography and Maths but none of them seemed to be able to concentrate very well as their minds were on other things. Roxanne kept thinking about the Golden Sparrows and then spent ages on the telephone to her parents. Chelsea's thoughts were of Kyle, wondering how his studying was going. Calipso was thinking about Peru, very excited about going back home for a month. Charlotte was reading a gripping book and kept sneaking a few pages when she should have been learning about Climatology and maps. Jade had asked Chelsea to buy the latest 'Glamour' and 'People' magazines for her when she was in town the day before, so she had her nose buried in those. Annie was the only one who worked all day, not wanting to waste a minute. She flipped quickly through her Geography file and spent the rest of the day on Maths, but she also had trouble on the sums in front of her, the numbers swimming around on the page and too many of her calculations turned out to be incorrect. By the time they went to bed that night, they had blamed their lack of concentration on the Sunday Blues. They decided to draw up a study timetable outlining what they would study when and for how long. It would also tell them when they could take breaks and how long they should be. They would start first thing on Monday morning.
Charlotte's idea of the study timetable turned out to be a great one. The girls worked hard during their study hours and spent their breaks going for walks, swimming, sitting on the grass under the trees outside and listening to music. By Thursday they had written five exams and they all felt that the papers had been relatively easy so far. Calipso was a little concerned about the History paper as she had not had enough time to answer all the questions. Annie was worried about the Maths paper because there were two equations that she had had no idea how to solve. She was hoping that the second Maths paper would be easier and decided that an extra lesson with Mr Thornton would make her feel better and a lot more confident.
After their mid-morning break, Annie decided to go to Mr Thornton's classroom and ask him to go over Geometry and Trigonometry with her in preparation for the next exam. She knocked lightly on his door which was slightly ajar but there was no answer. She pushed the door open and saw that the fan was on and his books were open on his desk as if he had been busy working and had just popped out for a moment. She decided to sit and study while she waited for him to return to the classroom. He hadn't returned by the time the bell rang for lunch so she packed up her things and joined the others in the Dining hall.
“Do you feel better after your extra lesson with Mr T?” asked Charlotte.
“He wasn't there. I might go back after lunch, otherwise I'll have to try again tomorrow. At least the exam is only on Monday so I still have some time to see him,” she replied.
The study timetable that the Super Six had drawn up allowed them some time after lunch for a short nap. They found that a power nap helped them to concentrate better in the afternoons, so they closed the blinds and lay on their beds to rest before their afternoon study session which was allocated to Biology. Annie decided to skip the nap and go back to Mr Thornton's classroom. When she knocked, there was still no answer, but this time the fan was off, his desk was tidy and his books had been put away. She went to look for him in the staffroom, in the office and in the teacher's lounge, but he was nowhere to be found and none of the other teachers had seen him either. Annie was feeling very frustrated about the time she was wasting, so she went back to his classroom and decided to leave a note for him. She wrote what it was that she needed help with and asked if he could please give her an extra lesson before Monday's exam as she was feeling desperate.
That night, they collapsed into bed after a good afternoon of studying and felt excited that it was already the end of the week and only one more week to go. They were about to drift off to sleep when Calipso commented on their lack of dreams lately. Chelsea put it down to the stress of exams and believed it was because their minds were so full of numbers and dates and technical terms.
“Maybe we only dream when our minds are clear and not so full of facts,” she suggested.
The others had already started to nod off and weren't really paying much attention, but Calipso had spoken too soon. That night the girls did dream. They had a fitful night's sleep and they tossed and turned. They dreamt of something frightening.
The next morning, when the six girls opened their eyes after hearing the rising bell, they all felt very uneasy. They all had worried expressions on their faces as they went about their morning routine. The girls then walked to breakfast in silence. They helped themselves to cereal and Friday bagels and sat eating quietly before Jade broke the silence.
“So, Friday morning, end of the week,” she said flatly.
“Mm,” they all mumbled in unison.
“So much for the lack of dreams,” said Calipso, “who's going to talk about their dream first?” she asked.
Annie cleared her throat. “I will, although mine was more of a nightmare than a dream. I dreamt that there was a m-m-man searching for something in our dorm. I didn't see his face but he looked filthy,” she stammered.
“I saw a man's eyes in my dream. One was grey and the other looked red. I couldn't see the rest of his face because he was wearing a black beanie on his head,” said Jade, her voice not much louder than a whisper.
“I saw what he was wearing...he was wearing a torn prison overall,” added Charlotte.
“In my dream, one of the windows in our dorm was wide open, the blind pulled down and lying on the floor,” said Roxanne, her eyes wide with terror. “What about you Chels?” she asked her sister who was struggling to swallow her breakfast.
“In my dream, I saw the front page of the newspaper. It said: 'Prisoner on the loose: Norman Shanks – escaped from county prison two days ago',” she replied.
“Calipso? What did you dream about?” asked Annie.
Calipso could not look at her friends. She stared into her bowl of cereal and then she also spoke in a voice that they could barely hear.
“A knife. I saw the same man, in a prison overall, a black beanie on his head, and-and...he had a knife.” She looked up then, into Annie's frightened eyes. “He was holding your arm Annie, and he was pointing the knife at you.”
They all gasped in horror. What were they to do? When would this happen? How could they stop it?
The Super Six had lost their appetites and pushed their breakfast around on their plates. No one had a single idea or suggestion of what to do so they decided to go back to Oak House and see if the newspaper had been delivered yet. The girls wanted to see if there was an article about an escaped prisoner named Norman Shanks. They walked into Mrs Glover's tiny office at the front of the hostel and they saw that the newspaper had been delivered, but their grumpy matron was poring over it and hated to be disturbed when she was reading the news. They would have to read it later.
They walked downstairs with heavy steps, not knowing how they were going to focus on their work. They reached the curtain at the entrance to their dorm and they all filed through in silence. And then they froze. Standing in the middle of their dorm was a tall man in a torn prison overall, with a black beanie on his head and evil eyes. He looked filthy and smelt even worse. There was a bag at his feet full of cellular phones, iPods, cameras and wallets. They were too late to do anything to stop their dreams from coming true! He put his finger on his lips and signalled to them to sit on Charlotte's bed. Jade thought about making a run for it, but just then she caught the glint of a knife behind his back as it reflected in the sunlight. They all squashed onto Charlotte's bed, holding each others' hands tightly, their hearts pounding in their chests. Not one of them could see a way out of this terrifying situation. No one ever visited them in their dorm, hidden under the stairs, and they wouldn't be missed from class as they were on study leave. No one checked the study cubicles either, to see if everyone was there, as the girls were allowed to study in their dorms or the library too so no one would think it odd that they weren’t there.
They were feeling desperate when all of a sudden they heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and then turning towards their dorm. The girls looked at each other, their eyes full of hope, but the prisoner grabbed Annie's arm and pulled her off the bed. He swung his other arm out from behind his back and the knife that Jade had seen, which was long and very sharp, was now pointed at Annie's small and fragile neck. It was just as Calipso had dreamt.
“Don't you dare make a sound!” he threatened them in a gruff voice. He pulled Annie to the curtain. “Think of something to say to get rid of whoever is coming,” he spat at her, waving the knife in her face and then walking backwards to hide behind Jade's cupboard door.
There was a knock on the door frame.
“Knock, knock,” said a deep voice. Annie gulped. She recognised the voice of her Maths teacher.
“Hello?” she answered nervously, her body trembling in fear.
“Annie, it's Mr Thornton. I found your note about an extra Maths lesson, may I come in?” he asked.
Annie looked at the scary man behind the cupboard. He was scowling at her with his arm outstretched.
Annie opened the curtain just wide enough for her face to stick out.
“Morning Sir, thank you so much for coming to find me but I understand the Maths now. Don't need an extra lesson after all,” she said, trying to sound as convincing as she could.
“Are you sure Annie? Your message made it sound like you wanted to discuss quite a lot with me. Do you want to show me what it was you were struggling with?”
“No thanks Sir, I have lots of other studying to do so I'm going to take a break from the Maths. Thanks for coming anyway, have a good day.”
Mr Thornton stared at his student, a little troubled by her reaction. He knew Annie well. For the past two years, she had been the most dedicated student he had ever taught. She was meticulous in her work and come exam time, she was a bundle of nerves before every Maths paper. He knew from the other girls that Annie didn't spend nearly as much time preparing for her other subjects as she did for Maths, and she still managed to achieve distinctions in everything. But Maths was her favourite and it was not uncommon for her to seek him out for help before the exams. She told him that she always liked to make sure she understood everything perfectly before the time, and she admitted to him that there was something about when he was explaining to her on her own that made her feel calm and confident. He, of course, didn't mind spending the time with her, he offered lessons to a number of the girls in his classes who needed the extra help. As far as he was concerned, that was his job, and he was only too happy to help. Which is why he found Annie's reaction so odd. It wasn't like her to turn down a lesson before the exams, especially after she had waited to see him and in an attempt to arrange a lesson only the day before. It also wasn't like her to be so dismissive. He and Annie had a good relationship and he knew she was fond of him, but it seemed she didn't want to spend another minute talking to him. He frowned and put his hands in his pockets.
“Ok then, glad you feel better about Geometry and Trig. I'll be in my classroom if you need me.” He turned to leave, looking at her one last time to make sure she was okay but she had already disappeared behind the curtain.
Annie now had her back to the curtain and tears had started to well up in her eyes. Seeing her Maths teacher, always so kind and caring, had made her feel so helpless. If only she could have given him some sort of sign that they were in trouble, she knew he would have done anything to help them. Norman Shanks was now towering above her, the smell of him almost making her sick.
“How can I get out of here without being seen?” he barked at the girls.
“Annie?” Mr Thornton was standing outside the dorm again.
“I told you to get rid of him,” Norman breathed into Annie's face. He shoved her towards the curtain and told her to make him go away.
“”Yes sir?” she whimpered.
“I forgot to give you your pen, you left it on my desk after you wrote your note. I know it's yours because it has your name on it.”
“Typical Annie,” thought Roxanne, “Always labelling everything.” Annie was starting to worry that Mr Thornton would be dragged into this nightmare and wished he would just leave.
“Oh,” said Annie, sticking her head back through the curtain.
As she did so, Mr Thornton saw the tears in Annie's eyes and watched as they trickled down her cheeks. He knelt down on the floor and asked if she was alright, mouthing the words so that he made no sound. Annie shook her head, trying to control her misery so as not to anger the intruder in the dorm behind her. Her teacher handed her the pen and touched her cheek. Again he mouthed to her and told her he thought he had heard a male's voice in the dorm and would be right back with help. She quickly wiped her eyes before turning around and told Norman Shanks that her teacher had gone.
“Good! Now get me out of here before I have to hurt one of you!” he threatened. The others jumped up, all six of them now trembling and desperately trying not to cry or shout out.
Chelsea showed the man the emergency key for the fire escape door behind her bed. She showed him where the stairs led to and told him how to get to the back entrance of the school. The prisoner lunged across to the red box on the wall and broke the glass with the back of his knife and grabbed the key, his bag of stolen goods slung over his shoulder. He was struggling to unlock the door which was rusted and stiff from being permanently locked, when Charlotte spotted a movement out of the corner of her eye. Mr Thornton had crept into the dorm and was reaching for Roxanne's hockey stick that was propped up against her cupboard. He motioned to the girls to step back very slowly so that he could move closer to the intruder. Norman Shanks eventually turned the lock and opened the door and then turned to threaten the girls once more about breathing a word of his intrusion. But he didn't have a chance. Mr Thornton swung the hockey stick as hard as he could and hit the tall man over the head. He fell to the floor, crying out in pain, and Mr Thornton immediately retrieved the knife from his hand. The next moment, Mr Walnut and Mr Sheraton barged through the curtain. They both assisted Mr Thornton in trying to get the man back onto his feet and out of the dormitory, away from the petrified girls who were now cowering in the opposite corner of the room. The three men dragged Norman Shanks to the principal's office where Mrs Sheraton was waiting with the police. The officer in charge took the bag off the robber's shoulder and handed it back to Mrs Sheraton. He then handcuffed the escaped prisoner who was still rubbing his head and told him he would be going straight back to his prison cell, with a sentence that was sure to be extended after his attempted robbery and assault at Fernwood High.
Mrs Sheraton sent for the Super Six, very concerned about the terrible ordeal that they had just suffered. They walked into her office and Annie ran straight to Mr Thornton who gave her a big hug and comforted her with his kind words. The principal told them how brave they had been and that she would excuse them from writing the rest of their exams as she could not imagine how they could possibly concentrate on schoolwork after the experience they had just had. She asked the secretary to allow them to phone their parents and to make the necessary arrange to go home early for the holidays.
“What a way to end the term,” said Jade as they watched the police van drive away with Norman Shanks safely locked away in the back. They had all given their statements to the police and Mrs Sheraton had stayed with them during the whole procedure, giving them tissues, hugs and cups of tea.
“I'd say! Although so much has happened this term, it would have been an anticlimax if it had merely ended without and excitement,” said Roxanne.
“Excitement! Honestly Roxanne! I would rather have had the anticlimax than Norman Shanks pointing that knife at me,” said Annie, who hadn't quite recovered from shock yet.
“So, Mr Thornton to the rescue! Thank goodness he came to find you Annie,” said Charlotte, patting her friend’s head that was level with her elbow.
“You see, it pays to bug your teachers sometimes, and label your stationery!” she gloated. “And I always knew there was something special about Mr Thornton. He’s my hero!”