Chapter 2 - Arriving at the school

A good half an hour later a bright red minibus drove onto the car park. It was driven by a guy that had been born to be a geography teacher. He parked up, jumped out and walked over to me with a beaming smile.

“Hello there, old man, are you Zak?” he said, his accent was very Yorkshire. He was wearing brown brogues, brown corduroys, a brown check shirt and a brown jacket with brown elbow patches. He looked around fifty years old; he shook my hand. His handshake was limp and damp.

“Well, well, we have heard so much about you, “he said with a smile and guided me toward the minibus.

“Okay I am not sure if that is good or bad, “I said and gave him a wink.

“OH, it’s all good old man, all good.” He said and gave me a weird look.” My name is Carothers by the way, Brian Carothers.”

He even had a name that suited a geography teacher.

“So, what do you teach Mr Carothers” I enquired.

“Please call me Brian old man,” he said with a smile.

“So, what do you teach Brian” I enquired.

“OH, Geography mainly but I do some Latin and History classes as well, “he said with a little laugh, “I guess in your world I would be called a utility player.”

I jumped up into the passenger seat and he drove us out of the car park. We chatted as he drove us along a small road that turned into a small lane, the scenery was amazing. He gave me the low down on the local area, which pubs did the best beer. Where to get the cheapest meals that sort of stuff.

I made mental notes, the best beer one was important that was for sure.

After a few minutes, he turned into a smaller lane, that had signs telling everyone that this was The MacLeish School for boys. My new home for the next few months.

The school was a mix of an old manor house and some 1960s-looking blocks. On the way to the manor house, we passed both a rugby pitch and a cricket pitch. Beyond the pitches, there was a new-looking block that looked like it might be a gym. There was a training pitch with tall floodlights that would allow us to train in the evenings, there was also a very expensive-looking scrum machine. That made me smile, I had spent many an hour hitting the same sort of machine for my club.

Brian dropped me off at the headmaster’s office, he took me, and I was introduced to the headmaster’s secretary, Miss Green. She was an elderly lady that looked me up and down. I was in trainers, jeans, and a deacon blue tour T-shirt, and I guessed that every other member of staff was dressed like Brian Carothers. I was sure I would never fit in.

The headmaster, Professor McClusky led me into his office. We had chatted on the phone a couple of times, but it was good to meet him and chat face-to-face. To be fair he looked exactly like I thought he would. He was old school, he even had a cape on. But he was friendly and made me feel at home.

He told me about my duties, basically to keep the kids fit and to improve the school’s rugby team. They only ran one team and their results in recent years had been very poor.

I had two days to work out my training plan, he said he knew I was new to this, so he told me he had appointed me a mentor. I prayed it was not Carothers. The thought of spending any time with boring Brian was not appetising.

“So, Zak, could I offer you a cup of tea or coffee?” he asked.

“Oh, tea would be nice, please” I replied courteously.

He picked up the phone and asked Miss Green to arrange some tea and to send in Ms Norbury.

Minutes later Miss Green came in with a tea tray. It was also old school, three little China cups, a proper teapot, a milk jug, and a tray of shortbread biscuits. Seconds later Ms Norbury came in.

Ms Norbury was a stunner, a few years older than me but she was a real MILF, she came in as Miss Green was leaving. It was obvious there was no love lost there. They exchanged looks that were full of venom. Perhaps the old bird was jealous or perhaps Ms Norbury did not match the picture of what the old lady thought a female teacher should look like.

Ms Norbury was introduced to me as Ms Norbury, perhaps they did not use first names around here I thought. She had a broad Scottish accent; she wore what I would call librarian glasses on a gold chain around her neck.

Professor McClusky poured tea into the cups and bid us to add our own milk and sugar. I helped myself to two biscuits and sat back to listen to what Professor McClusky had to say.

Basically, he told me that Ms Norbury would be my mentor. She would be my tour guide and my adviser during my time at the school.

We drank our tea and Professor McClusky gave me a lecture about the values of the school and what was expected from me, basically, I had to keep my nose clean and not to do anything that might get me in the papers. To be fair they had sent me a booklet outlining all of this when they sent me the contract of employment. It was the sort of thing rugby clubs give to the players every year. I had read it and there was nothing in there I was worried about.

He also told me my games kit was in the room waiting for me, I was a little taken aback but then I remember that he had emailed me asking for my clothing sizes.

Professor McClusky stood up and shook my hand. Then he paused for a second and a wry smile crossed his face.

“I was at Murrayfield the day you scored your hattrick!” he said, his hand gripping mine, he had a firm handshake and I had always liked that in a man.

“Oh good, did you enjoy it?” I asked, glad that we had rugby in common.

“No ... no not at all, I am an Edinburgh fan,” he said and there was a flicker of humour about it. We stood in silence for a moment as I was not sure what to say in reply to that. Then he handed me a set of keys and said goodbye.

Once that was done, I was handed over to Ms Norbury and she led me out of the headmaster’s office. Once we were out of earshot of the office, she turned to me and smiled. She had a great smile...

“Hi Zak, when we are out of earshot of old McClusky or his nasty little sidekick Miss Green, I am Natalie.” She said with a smile.

“Hello Natalie, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said and smiled back at her.

“And you, you will be a breath of fresh air around here that’s for sure,” she said with a smile, “and you bring the average age of the staff down by about twenty years!”

“Really? “I said, Natalie, must have been no more than forty and Carothers wasn’t that much older.

“Yes, wait until we meet for dinner, and you will see what I mean!” she giggled, “Right how about I give you the grand tour?”

And so, for the next couple of hours, she showed me around, first, she took me to my little flat in the staff block. It was neat enough, there were a bedroom and a bathroom, plus a living room come office, with an old sofa and desk. A couple of storage cupboards completed the room. On the desk was a brand-new laptop computer.

The was a sports bag on the floor and it was full of brand-new kit, shorts, socks, rugby shirts, vests, two tracksuits etc, all with my name on the back. I had a lot of my old team kit and a few pairs of boots and trainers from an old sponsor, so I would not go short.

The desk would come in handy as I had planned to write a book about my rugby life. A few lads had done it recently and they said it made a few quid. Plus, I figured there would be little to keep me busy in this far-flung corner of Scotland.

From what I had been told it rained a lot and you often got all fours seasons in one day.

The was no kitchen but there were a little fridge and kettle. Natalie told me that all meals were supplied in the school’s dining halls, and we were encouraged not to cook in our rooms. She also told me that she lived three doors down.

Then she took me to see the staff room, there were lots of books, a little kitchenette and lots of sofas and chairs. I met two or three of the other teachers and I started to see what Natalie had meant, they also seemed to be in their sixties, and it seemed that the corduroys, check shirts and a jacket with elbow patches seemed to be the unofficial uniform.

Then she took me to see the school dining room, the hall where assemblies were held every morning and then the school library. The library was full of the types of kids you expect to see in libraries.

Then she led me out to where I would be doing all my work, the sports centre, they had a couple of changing rooms and showers for the lads.

Then there was an office complete with a desktop computer and telephone for me, Natalie warned me that the school kept a check on our personal phone usage and that there was an adult filter on the school’s internet connection. I was tempted to ask what she thought I might be surfing but I was the new guy so kept my mouth shut.

I also had my own private changing room with a couple of lockers and a shower. There was a big gym, with rowing machines, cross trainers, treadmills etc as well as plenty of weight machines and free weights. There was also an equipment store, and that really interested me, they obviously took rugby seriously as there was a large amount of kit in there. Tackle bags contact shields and the like.

Plus, there was all manner of other stuff, football, cricket, and hockey gear.

“So does this lot all make sense to you?” Natalie said as I wandered about checking out the gear.

“It sure does” I replied, I picked up a pair of dumbbells and did some curls.

“Well, you look like you know your way around the gym,” she said and bit her lip.

“Well yes, I guess I do,” I replied and gave her the once-over. She looked like an old-school mam, in her two-piece suit. Had I got a hint of interest there or not, I was not sure.

As my head was computing that, her mobile phone rang. She smiled at me as she answered it.

“Yes, yes indeed,” she said, “he is here with me now so we will come over.”

She put the phone back in her pocket and flashed me a smile.

“The courier van with the rest of your gear has arrived,” she smiled, “They want you to sign for it!”

So, we headed over to the main school block and I saw a courier van with my three boxes of gear sitting on the floor next to it. I signed for them, and the delivery guy buggered off. There was a bell ringing and then what seemed like hundreds of kids started to mill around.

“That’s the bell to say classes are over for the day,” Natalie said.

“Well, I guess I need to get these up to my rooms,” I said looking at the boxes.

“That’s no problem, “she said and looked around, a few boys were walking past us, so she called out to them “Smith, Johnson, and you other lads come here.”

Six lads came running over, all in matching trousers and blazers, they seemed to take uniform seriously around here that was certain.

“This is Mr Robinson the new rugby master” she introduced me.

“Hello Sir,” they chorused.

“Now would you be good lads and help to carry his boxes to his rooms?” she asked.

“Of course, Miss!” they all shouted, then they each took one end of a box and off we went.

It took me an hour or two to get my gear stowed away, my laptop set up etc. Ms Norbury had told me she would knock for me at six forty-five so we could be in the dining room for seven. As promised, she knocked, and I let her in.

“Wow looks like home already, “she said with a smile. Her eyes flicked around the room taking in my meagre belongings.

“I could do with some coffee and some milk, but I guess there are shops around here somewhere?” I said.

“Yes, there is an in-school tuck shop, we will go and have a look after dinner,” she said and led me down to eat.

The food looked like it was okay, I sat at a table with the headmaster and his two deputies as well as six other teachers, they were all male and they were all around sixty years old. There seemed to be a table with a dozen other old farts and then a table with Natalia plus two other women and two men younger men.

How I wanted to sit at that table ... The food was great, soup to start, then roast beef and all the trimmings, with apple pie and custard to follow.

There were huge jugs of water on side tables and after the meal, we were served tea or coffee. The chat around the table was all educational as you would expect, I did have to field some questions, the normal ones, why did I retire, did I think I should have played for England, what is it like being a professional rugby player. What is the worst injury is a popular one...

We ate in the same room as the pupils, and they all seemed a good bunch. After we had eaten Natalie showed me to the tuck shop. It was run by the kids and sold all sorts of stuff, mainly sweets, crisps, and chocolate as well as school supplies, but there was a shelf with more adult foodstuff on. I grabbed a basket and took coffee, tea, milk, and some biscuits.

When I went to pay the lad, he was one of the lads that had been in the library, behind the counter told me no money changed hands, it was all added up and the bursar billed us or if we preferred took it out of our wages. All I had to do is sign the receipt.

I must admit that on the way back to our rooms I had to ask...

“So, Natalie, what’s a Bursar,” I asked innocently she laughed, and I blushed.

“I guess you never went to a private school?” she asked, and I shook my head.

“A bursar is a financial administrator in a school, all the boys get an allowance, and he controls that as well as doing our wages and paying the bills that sort of thing,” she said, “you have a lot to learn about schools and teaching I guess.”

“Well as my mentor I am looking to rely heavily on you “I laughed.

“It will be my pleasure,” she said, “Right breakfast is at eight, shall we meet here at seven forty-five?

“That sounds great” I replied. I locked my door behind me, made a mug of coffee and fired up my laptop. The plan was to start on chapter one of my book. Then I promptly fell asleep.

It was six am when I woke, I was still in the armchair with a cold coffee next to me. I stripped off and got my running gear on and headed out. I did my fifteen-minute routine of warm-up and stretches and then started to jog off down the school’s drive.

I ran at a good pace and was soon running through a wood area, following signs to the lake, the lake was huge, full of lily pads and stuff. I ran around it then back through the woods and up the school drive.

It was a beautiful morning the sun was already high in the sky.

I stopped outside the teacher’s accommodation block and did a few repetitions of squats, sit-ups, and press-ups. I glance at my watch told me I had twenty minutes to grab a shower if I was to be ready for breakfast.

Natalie was a few minutes late; I had dressed in a running vest and shorts. When she knocked on the door, I let her in, and she let out a little wolf whistle.

“Wow you really do look after yourself, don’t you?” she said as ran an appreciative eye over me. I was sure she licked her lips.

She was dressed in jeans and a blouse, a blouse that she filled well.

“Well, you don’t look so bad yourself Ms Norbury,” I said and grabbed a rugby shirt, and I was sure she was blushing; I pulled the rugby shirt over my head and locked the door behind us.

We went for breakfast, and I made sure I sat at the younger teacher’s table, breakfast was a buffet and I helped myself to a huge bowl of porridge and some fruit. Introductions were made, the women were the art teacher, Ms Jones, the school Nurse Ms Page, Mr Plum the Librarian and Mr Bones who told me he was the Woodwork teacher.

We all ate and chatted, and I again had to field many questions, all the normal ones, why did I retire, did I think I should have played for England, what was the worst injury I had ever had, were the punch ups real, what it is like being a professional rugby player.

Plus, Mr Plum asked why I was not tucking into a full fry up, or he called it the full Scottish breakfast I had to explain that to keep my fitness levels up I normally only indulged on Sundays. As we left the breakfast room Professor McClusky called me to one side and asked me to meet him in his office at four o’clock.