I Hear You Calling Read online

  I called in at Carol Wilkes’ office before I left the school.

  ‘What a mess Rae, can you believe this whole Banks situation?’

  ‘It is very complicated.’ I said slowly, unsure of how far the Head was aware of the situation with the Spiritualist church input. ‘But hopefully we can begin to sort things out now.’

  Rubbing her eyes as she stood up from behind her desk Carol Wilkes sighed loudly; ‘I am really concerned about this ridiculous occult thing.’ she said. ‘And, I had Richard’s father on the phone to me this morning, telling me about the events of the weekend and accusing me of causing his son’s desire to run away.’

  ‘Mr Banks is very emotional at the moment. Maybe when he has had time to get over the traumatic weekend he will realise that he was being unfair,’ I suggested.

  Carol looked doubtful but did not comment any further.

  ‘So, what did you find out from Richard?’

  ‘It seems that the thing he misses most in school is spending time with his friends, so I am thinking that maybe if we could be encouraging one or two particular friends to seek him out and cultivate just those relationships to begin with it would be a good start.’

  ‘I’m sure I can arrange that but it would have to be understood that the warning about the other business still stands- I will still exclude him if he starts that nonsense again.’

  …….

  ‘So, nothing further from Jim?’ Jen asked.

  “Not a word” I answered.

  ‘Well I don’t believe he will give in that easily. He will be back, mark my words, and when he does you have to be ready.’

  ‘All I can do is be strong and keep saying no.’

  ‘Just make sure you do.’ Jen urged. ‘Anyway, it sounds as if things are really hotting up for you in Eadstone. And talking about hot, tell me more about this Tom, is he hot?’

  ‘You are incorrigible,’ I laughed. ‘He is a very nice man, probably in his early fifties I would guess, with some very weird ideas and, as far as I know, he is probably happily married to some high priestess person and they have at least ten kids.’

  ***

  On Tuesday morning a new drama hit the office; the Head of Toftwood Primary had called in to personnel at nine am to give her resignation with immediate effect, having collected her personal belongings from the school building and calmly walked away; all whilst the children were in assembly singing about all things being bright and beautiful.

  As the deputy head was already off on long term sick leave, due to stress, this meant that the school now found itself without leadership! The school was known to have “challenging pupils” and so I was not totally surprised to get the call from the Education Advisor for Toftwood asking for assistance.

  For the rest of that week I worked within the school, helping the staff to set up behaviour management approaches and systems that had not been in place under the previous leadership. By Friday, when an interim Head arrived, I was on my knees. I just wanted to get home and sleep but I really needed to know how things had been going at Springhill. I rang Carol from my car before I left Toftwood for, what I hoped would be, the last time.

  ‘We have had him working with Scott Makin and Oliver Carrington. It seems to be going ok at the moment.’

  Thinking that it wouldn’t really hurt Carol to sound a bit more enthusiastic I rang Janet to see how things had been on the home front. I got a similar, half-hearted response there too! Apparently Richard was just doing ok in both aspects of his life and neither adult concerned was risking sounding too positive about it just yet!

  ………….

  On Saturday morning I felt guilty; I hadn’t given Barney a really good walk all week, I had been absolutely shattered every evening after working in the school.

  ‘Let’s go to the common,’ I suggested. Barney’s response was a loud bark and a rush towards the door. Who says dogs don’t really understand what we say to them?

  The sprawling common land lay on the edge of Wicklebury, the last town of Eadstone borough and the next town on from Springhill.

  There was a suggestion of spring in the air that morning; although it was still cold the sun kept trying to break through. The common was carpeted in tiny blue flowers and birds were singing overhead. I felt a slow and fabulous sense of peace as I watched my daft dog chase a squirrel that he had no chance of catching. If he had caught it he would probably have licked it to death.

  ‘Good morning. How are you?’

  My heart froze for a second until I registered that the voice did not belong to my ex-husband. Spinning around I saw the smiling face of Tom Little.

  As the two dogs were already running ahead together it seemed perfectly natural for us to walk together too.

  As we walked I told him about the fabulous walks Barney and I had found in the Lake District.

  ‘The Lake District was my late wife’s favourite English holiday place.’

  I had that sinking feeling that you get when you know you have put your size six feet in it yet again.

  ‘Oh Tom, I’m sorry.’

  He smiled, ‘Don’t be. She passed 15years ago, killed in a road accident when she was only 35.’

  ‘Is that when you became a Spiritualist?’

  ‘That’s when I first looked into it. I can tell you I took some convincing though.

  I had several so called messages given to me he but nothing that actually convinced me that they were coming from my dead wife.’

  His face softened as he remembered. ‘Then, one Sunday morning, I was working in the garden, pruning her favourite rose bush and I heard her voice in my ear as clear as day saying “tonight Tom, tonight.” I spun around but there was no-one there and I thought I was going crazy. Anyway, that night I went to the church as had become my norm. The medium was one I had never seen before, a visitor to our church, he had last served it before I began attending. Anyway, he was a pleasant enough chap and quite entertaining to listen to as he shared his philosophy with the congregation. Then came the final part of the service, the mediumship; he looked straight at me and said, “Are you Tom?” As I nodded, he went on to tell me that he had Claire with him and he told me stuff that no-one else had ever known about us. Not private stuff, just small things that couples share. Then he said, “She is saying “See, doubting Thomas, I told you that I would come tonight, didn’t I?” And then I just knew.’

  ‘When I first met the Banks’ I thought their over the top attitude might be due to their religion, never having met anyone of that persuasion before. But then you are not like that and you are a vicar aren’t you?’ I asked.

  Tom threw back his dark head and laughed loudly at that.

  ‘No way. Spiritualist churches are run democratically – each committee member, including the president, is voted for annually by the church members. I have no direct line to God I’m afraid, I am in more of a caretaker/co-ordinator type of role, though obviously a president needs to have a good spiritual understanding. Make no mistake, if I mess up the members can vote to put someone else in my place next year.’

  I was intrigued, it’s not every day you get an insight into a totally different world but before I could think of any more questions he carried on speaking.

  ‘Talking of the Banks’ I had a bit of a strange encounter with Chris the other day.

  I was taking Hermann for his morning walk along the canal side when I saw Chris walking towards me. He looked like he hadn’t slept for a week. We had a bit of a chat but I got the feeling that he was really troubled. Obviously I can’t tell you details told to me in confidence but I think I can share with you that he feels a total failure. I managed to persuade him to come and see me again and I am hoping that I can help him to start to build himself up again. I did suggest a counsellor but he wouldn’t hear of it.’

  ‘There is something about that family t
hat really concerns me,’ I said.

  ‘I know exactly what you mean,’ Tom said quickly. ‘I feel it too. I think maybe it is because they are so emotionally intense, if you know what I mean?’

  ‘Do you really believe that Richard has this gift they talk about? Sometimes I wonder if Chris is pulling a fast one somehow,’ I asked.

  ‘Richard really has a natural mediumistic ability. Usually, with a child medium, we would not encourage him to use that until he was emotionally old enough to cope with it. Sadly, Chris is not prepared to wait.’

  We walked in silence for the next few minutes; my head was spinning. When Tom talked about this stuff he almost made it sound normal and yet to me it wasn’t. I had been reared with no religious belief, my Dad was a strong follower of the scientific and, like him, I found it hard to accept something that I couldn’t find absolute proof for.

  ‘It was really good to talk with you today Rae.’ Tom said when he got back to the car park.

  I suddenly realised that I thought so too.

  Richard

  ‘Is my tie straight?’ Dad walks into the kitchen as Mum is finishing loading the dish-washer. She turns and smiles at him. It’s a nice smile and it makes me feel happy.

  ‘Not only that, but you look pretty ravishing.’

  Dad blushes a bit and I put my fingers in my mouth and make vomiting noises. But I like it really; maybe they won’t be getting divorced after all.

  ‘Seriously Jan,’ Dad says, ‘do I look OK?’

  Mum stops smiling and looks very serious.

  ‘You look spot-on. You look every inch the respectable and responsible father.’

  ‘I’ll be glad when it’s over,’ Dad says.

  ‘I know, I feel the same way. But everything has been ok for a term now so I don’t really see what they can say to upset us tonight do you?’

  ‘That woman upsets me just by breathing.’ I know that Dad is talking about Mrs Wilkes.

  ‘Shush,’ Mum says, looking at me as if to tell Dad not to say things like that in front of me. It’s a bit late for that though, I already know that Dad hates her.

  Checking that my coat is buttoned up properly and that Dad has no fluff on his collar, Mum smiles at us both.

  ‘Let’s go do this,’ she says. ‘Parent’s Evening, here we come.’

  The school hall is full of parents drinking the “welcome” orange juice and looking at kid’s work on the walls. I recognise a few of the year six prefects who are walking around in their uniforms, answering parents’ questions and showing them around things. I don’t have any work displayed in the hall so we go straight to the classroom to see Mrs Granger.

  ‘Richard,’ Mrs Granger says, ‘has made improvement, in the sense that we are no longer getting the nonsense that we had from him earlier in the school year.’

  I see Mum grab hold of Dad’s hand.

  ‘However, he is not really making progress in any other way. He is, I am sure you know, not the brightest boy academically but he is far from being the slowest either.’

  Mum is biting her top lip and still holding on to Dad’s hand under the table.

  ‘As you know I have long had concerns about Richard’s state of mind and sadly I continue to be concerned in this area.’

  ‘Can you explain exactly what you mean by that?’ Dad asks. I can hear that thing in his voice, that like wobble thing that tells me he is getting angry.

  ‘He is withdrawn, very withdrawn. Sometimes I catch him talking to himself and he often appears quite anxious,’ she says.

  Dad’s voice sounds sort of hard when he speaks; ‘Miss Granger I assume you are aware of the nature of what you call “the nonsense that we had earlier in the school year?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Then you will understand that Richard is being forced to control things that are not easy for him to control. He is well aware that one slip up and he will be

  permanently excluded from this school. My boy is living under a lot of pressure. Pressure which is totally unnecessary and very bad for him.’

  Mum squeezes Dad’s arm and smiles at him. It’s another nice smile, like she gives me when I do something she likes.

  ‘Mrs Banks, would you possibly reconsider your decision about allowing our Educational Psychologist to meet with Richard?’

  I see Mum take a deep breath and the back of her neck goes a bit pink. Her voice sounds really quiet though when she speaks.

  ‘Miss Granger, our son’s mental health is good, his physical health is good and his spiritual health is developing well, when it is allowed to. As my husband has already explained, any problems that you see with Richard are as a result of his spiritual development being halted by a system that will not extend its boundaries one iota. As his parents, we are not prepared to put him through any further anguish in order to tick your boxes. Now, do you have anything to tell us about our son’s educational situation?’

  Wow – is this really Mum speaking? She sounds more like Dad, but without the shouting. I really want to get up and high-five her.

  On the way home Dad is really funny, he keeps pretending to be Miss Granger and saying things like, ‘Oh Mrs Banks, please don’t hit me with those awful words again.’ Mum tells him to stop but she is giggling.

  We buy fish and chips and eat them at the kitchen table and then we watch the DVD of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. We have all seen it lots of times before but we still love it.

  When Dad comes in to say goodnight he doesn’t smell of whisky.

  I lie in the dark and feel so happy. It has been a really good night.

  Rae

  On the morning of March 21st – officially the first day of spring – I opened the bedroom curtains and could hardly believe what I saw; it had snowed overnight.

  Not the heavy covering we had back in February, this was just a little bit more than a dusting really, but it was still bloody snow.

  Watching Barney sniffing around the garden and eating the odd bit of white stuff I spotted some marks in the snow under the kitchen window. Footprints. They were definitely large footprints, man sized footprints. Someone had been prowling in my garden, and maybe even trying to get in through the kitchen window.

  Either a burglar had been sizing the house up or else Jim had been back doing the same thing.

  I had heard people say how, following a burglary, they felt physically sick at the thought that someone had been in their house. Now I knew what they meant.

  The sick feeling stayed with me pretty much all morning but then other things took over. I had to meet with a 13 year old girl whose constant refusal to do anything she didn’t really fancy doing at that moment was putting her at serious risk of exclusion.

  I was just leaving March Street High school when my mobile rang.

  ‘Oh thank god you answered,’ Pam sounded quite breathless. ‘Can you get home straight away? The police phoned, they think there might have been a break in at your house, Rae.’

  The kitchen window had been smashed, large glass shards lay in and around the sink unit. The back door lock had been forced open from the inside and was now impossible to close due to the extent of the damage. A police sergeant and a constable were standing in the kitchen making notes when I rushed in.

  ‘We have clearly established the entry and exit route taken,’ the sergeant told me. ‘We can see no obvious signs of disturbance other than that. Can you have a good look around and tell us if anything is missing?’

  It was as they said, no sign of anything even being moved. But the most valuable thing in my life was missing. There was no sign of Barney.

  ‘Where’s my dog?’ I asked.

  ‘There was no dog here when we arrived,’ the officer said. ‘We came out within 30 minutes of getting the call from your neighbour. Maybe he got scared and took himself off through the open do
or?’

  ‘Did he put himself on the lead first?’ I had just spotted it was no longer hanging on its hook on the back of the door. ‘And his food bowl is gone and his favourite blanket. The bastard took my dog…’ I screamed as panic completely took over.

  ‘It would be very unusual for a chance burglar to take a dog,’ the constable said.

  ‘This was no chance burglar…..this was my ex-husband.’

  Suddenly my anger melted into pain and I burst into loud sobs.

  ‘I don’t think I can cope with this.’

  The constable reached to fill the kettle to make us all a nice cup of tea.

  ‘Is there anyone we can call to come and be with you,’ the Sergeant asked.

  ‘There’s only my sister and she’s in London,’ I sobbed, suddenly feeling very lonely. ‘I’ll call her myself later.’

  Jen

  It broke my heart to hear Rae so upset and I was too far away to help her, or even give her a hug.

  ‘Why would he do that,’ I asked. ‘I just don’t understand him at all.’

  ‘Oh, I do. I feel lonely and kind of vulnerable now and that’s just how he likes me to feel.’

  Even though I knew that was true and was exactly what he always did to Rae I still couldn’t understand why, and I don’t think I ever will really. I felt really angry then.

  ‘He’s a sick bastard and if I could get my hands on him I’d make him feel vulnerable. I’d cut his balls off. Listen, do you want me to take a couple of days off and come and stay with you?’ I asked her.

  ‘No, don’t be silly. Save that leave for the summer and come and stay then.’