Page 96 - The Mending Season

and Veronica was laughing about something with Trish. It looked like a normal school day.The first sign that this was not to be was the arrival ofa sil­ ver Mercedes Benz at lunch time. Parents did not come at lunch time unless there was something urgent - a sick or injured child. This time apparently the injured child was Beth. Her mother, a dark-haired woman who took short quick steps, was walking behind her tall and slightly overweight husband, who looked like he was marching to battle.“Aye-ye\” someone nearby said. “Beths parents are here. This is not good.”I was sitting cross-legged on the playground with KB, sur­ rounded by primary school children playing all sorts ofgames. I put away my peanut butter sandwich. My stomach churned and I felt nauseous. My palms were sweaty, too slippery to hold anything.“Do you think Veronicas parents will come too?” I asked KB.“Please!” her voice was flat. “Her mother is a nurse and her father probably works in the kind ofplace where the boss has to give you permission to go outside for a smoke.” KB chewed on her last baby carrot.“She brought it on herself,” she added, her focus shifted to a nearby game of rounders. Her words cut through me, and I winced. I wanted to say that there was more to the story than that, but I decided against it. If anything happened with Beths parents, if they were angry with the school or some­ thing, it was probably safer for me to be seen with KB, who was not in any way involved. Now I was glad that KB had not asked what I had heard. I did not want to talk about it any more.“Mmmm,” I nodded and sighed. My heart was pounding against my chest. I looked around for the girls from my class to see if they had also seen Beths parents, but they were96