Chapter 9

Two hours later I was telling off a group of fourth-form girls for running on the stairs when I was pulled up by an irate Susan Hatchett.

“I demand you rescind the ban on Malcolm Duncan!” she snarled, ignoring the girls.

“And good afternoon to you too, Miss Hatchett,” I replied. “And no, I will not.”

“Just because you appear to take the word of a jumped-up tart over that of that fine young man, does not mean the punishment is suitable!”

“He is far from a fine young man.” I replied calmly. “He lacks all the qualities of a gentleman and I did not take the word of the girl. I witnessed his behaviour myself,” I continued, wondering just who Malcolm was to her.

“How dare you insult my nephew like that!” she stormed.

“I dare, because it’s true. He touched a fourteen-year-old girl inappropriately, refused to release her when she struggled to get away and attempted to be defiant to my face, obviously believing that he was untouchable, mayhap because of favouritism by you,” I replied in even tones.

“You’re lying! Besides I know what you’re up to with those slags in the sixth-form and that’s far more inappropriate!”

“I do not lie.” I stated icily. “Nor have I ever acted inappropriately with any sixth-form girls,” I lied. (Yes, I’m a hypocrite, so sue me).

“You must be. Malcolm would not lie to me!”

“He clearly did. Otherwise you wouldn’t be making a spectacle of yourself here,” I shrugged, clearly not intimidated by her ire at all.

“Why you!” she began and raised a hand as if to hit me.

“Miss Hatchett, a word in my office, if you please!” came the chilling tones of the headmistress.

The Hatchett turned white as she realised she just may have cooked her goose. She turned without a word to me and stepped away down the stairs to follow Mrs Goodfried.

“To your form room girls and hand me four pages of lines each tomorrow, with ‘I will not run on the stairs” on them, if you please,” I dismissed the stunned looking fourth-formers.

“Yes sir, sorry sir,” they replied before walking down the stairs to their form room, already twittering away the gossip to any who approached.

I shrugged, held back a chuckle at their obvious antics and then went about my business.

The rest of the day passed quietly with no further incidents. There was no sign of the Hatchett at dinner; indeed there was no sign of her car either. The table naturally was all agog with gossip about the incident, though I remained above it, simply stating the matter was in the hands of Mrs Goodfried. Truth be told, I didn’t know myself how Mrs Goodfried had handled it and was loath to speculate on any outcome, save that it was a pretty serious breach of the school behavioural code as regards to teaching staff.

I spent the night by myself, recovering to a certain degree, certainly recharging my sexual batteries as it were. Not that I was idle, I went over the various lesson plans I had and refined them somewhat in view of my current knowledge of the capabilities of the pupils. In the morning there was still no sign of the Hatchett, though there was a note on my table to see Mrs Goodfried straight after breakfast.

“Mr Howard, please sit,” Goodfried invited politely after I’d braved the secretary outside her door for five or so minutes, neither one of us willing to give an inch in regards to what we expected of each other.

Sitting as ever in the corner whenever I’d been hauled in to see the headmistress was Jennifer and though she remained silent, she did give me a wink, which calmed my nerves somewhat, although, until the wink, I hadn’t realised just how tense I was.

“I brought you here to apologise for the abhorrent behaviour of Miss Hatchett who is no longer employed by the school,” she began.

“I cannot fault you or the school Mrs Goodfried, therefore I see no need for you to apologise,” I replied politely.

“Be that as it may,” she went on. “It has been brought to my attention that this was the last in a series of incidents involving Miss Hatchett, as well as her nephew, which really should have been better dealt with, nipped in the bud as it were. Needless to say, I was delighted with the way you handled yourself and the good work you’ve put in with the maths groups and also the dance tutorials. I have to admit I was dubious about employing you, but in retrospect it was one of the better decisions the school has made. Hence I can inform you that your tenure here is secure and we will be offering you full time employment from the end of your probationary period.”

“Thank you, Mrs Goodfried. It was a pleasure to be offered a job here and is an even greater one to have it made permanent,” I replied.

“Carry on, Mr Howard,” she answered with a slightly bemused smile and we stood and shook hands as I was dismissed.

“You have the devil’s own luck, Howard,” Jennifer told me the following Friday night as we held each other in the afterglow of an intensely satisfying coupling.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Old prune face was of a mind to dismiss you for incompatibility with the staff ... mostly the Hatchett to be honest. However, when she caught her in mid-rant on the stairs and about to lay a blow on you it was obvious where the real problem lay,” Jennifer replied. “As soon as it was known she was gone a lot of other incidental evidence came to the fore as well.”

“I suspect she got away with an awful lot as most of the staff were frightened of her ... never mind the pupils,” I mused.

“Thing is though, Howard, you weren’t afraid of her,” Jennifer replied snuggling into me and squeezing my cock to see how my recovery was going.

“I had some allies,” I chuckled. “You, the trustees, even Rupert who had the ear of Mrs Goodfried,” I replied, feeling myself responding to Jennifer’s gentle manipulation.

“Yes, but still, that accusation over the sixth-formers could have had repercussions,” she added. “Then again, only the Hatchett made it and there were a lot of rumours about her predations in the gym showers. Plus, there was the incident with Veronica too.”

“Yes, had it come from anyone but her, it might have been taken seriously. The rest of the staff have no need to lie about anything, plus most of them are decent people who just want to reach retirement age,” I nodded.

“Yes, there’s going to be a massive turnover, over the next five years,” she agreed.

“That’s why we need to get good exam results; the trustees will close this place down if we don’t,” I added.

“Well, you’re leading the charge on that one,” she giggled. “But Doreen Quince has upped her game as well, so has Frank Parsons come to that.”

“They’re good people, just needed to be around someone with a bit of enthusiasm and the whole place feels a lot better with the Hatchett gone,” I replied.

“That’s true, even old prune face remarked on it the other day,” she agreed. “Get rid of the harpy at the front desk and it might actually become a good place to work, not that she has much to do with the teaching staff, other than making them wait a while to show off her power.”

“All in good time,” I chuckled as now, almost fully recovered, I moved on top of Jennifer to begin again.

“Oh yes, my Howard!” she squealed in delight as I thrust home into her tender passage.

Several weeks later, on my way to the first lesson of the day, I was surprised by excited cries of “Mr Howard, Mr Howard!” from a group of my favourite sixth-formers who were rushing up to greet me.

“Yes, girls?” I replied as I turned to face them, noting their red cheeks and breathless expressions, coupled with some massive grins.

“We got our re-sit results!” Trinny announced.

“I take it, it’s good news?” I enquired, though I suspected it was.

“Yes! Straight A’s for all of us!” Angela exulted.

“Well, congratulations! I’m so proud of you all,” I replied in delighted tones, suddenly finding myself in the midst of an enthusiastic group hug.

“Girls!” came the stentorian tones of Mrs Goodfried. “What on earth do you think you are doing?”

“I’m sorry, Mrs Goodfried,” a contrite looking Elaine replied for all. “We all just received our re-sit results. We all got straight A’s.”

“Oh my! Well, I’ll let you off this time, but no more displays of over-enthusiasm, particularly with members of staff,” she replied. “A word with you, Mr Howard.”

“Of course, Mrs Goodfried.”

“Oh don’t worry, it’s not about the girls display. It was clear you didn’t expect it,” she began. “It does appear your confidence in their abilities was justified though and I’m hoping you can put in a good word for the school at the next trustees’ soiree?” she questioned.

“I certainly will, Mrs Goodfried. It was always part of my plan to promote the school there, though I’m not at all sure when that will be,” I replied.

“Next Tuesday evening. Rupert has declined, so I’m asking if you could attend in his place?” she requested.

“My pleasure, Mrs Goodfried,” I replied.

“Good, good, now please carry on,” she acknowledged in delighted tones.

“Congratulations, Howard,” enthused Reginald Sargisson, who was amongst the first to greet me at the door to the lounge where the trustees were assembled. “No Jennifer today?”

“Sadly, Rupert declined to permit her attendance,” I apologised, seeing Reginald’s face fall in disappointment.

“Typical of the man. For the life of me I cannot see what she sees in him,” Peter Sargisson added. “Oh yes, indeed! Congratulations, Howard.”

“The girls were more than capable. Indeed, I expect the A-level results to be of an equally high standard too, plus I’ve given them additional tutoring in the sciences,” I replied. “In short I expect the results will be a credit to the school.”

“Well, the trustees are agreed. We will be increasing the school annuity to cover the additional expenses via the interest accrued,” Peter announced to a general murmur of assent. “Oh and we will reimburse you for the costs involved in putting the girls through the re-sits. A thank you for being willing to put your money where your mouth was ... so to speak.”

“Thank you, Peter. Indeed, thank you all for your trust and belief in me. I appreciate your support in this matter,” I replied.

When she finally got me alone Freda Mallory personally congratulated me, saying, “Well done, Howard. I’m absolutely delighted with Elaine’s result.”