Riley [antikvár]

Prologue 1Miss Louise Barrington locked the last drawer of her desk, smoothed the clean sheet of blotting paper into the large pad, straightened the letter rack, placed the pencil holder across the corner of the desk, then sat back in the leather swivel chair and let out a long slow breath.She had come into this room in January as a temporary science teacher at Giles Mentor School. The only female teacher in the science block, she was responsible for the discipline of the girls, whereas Mr Beardsley, the senior science man, was responsible for the boys, both being answer-able to the headmaster. Before dabbling in industry she had taught chemistry in an all-girls' school, which secured her this position, although not without somé comments from the permanent staff; and as such positions went it was an excellent one. Yet here she was contemplating another move because, as she kept teliing herself, anything would be better than putting up with the type of child that now attended this school. Until the change to a comprehensive it had been a boys' grammar school, the children now attending being mostly from the lower end of the town. But then, she knew that her outlook was jaundiced.There was a strange quiet about the room, about the whole place now, for today they had broken up for the summer holidays. 'Have a good holiday,' she had been wished by an