GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) (6 page)

‘Oh! Watch it Ross!’
Cameron exclaimed
as they watch
ed
the
rapidly boiling water.
Miss
Davies
mixed the solution
from the various beakers
and poured
a small bit
onto a glass clock dish.
Patiently,
she blew the solution dry with her gentle warm breath
—
five minutes later
,
the solution had completely evaporated
,
leaving
behind it
a brown
-
to black
-coloured
dust
.

‘Ready
?
’
she whispered carefully
.
The students all murmured, nodding their heads.
Taking a fine paintbrush
,
Miss
Davies
gently pushed
most of the powder in
to
a little glass jar and placed
it o
n a high shelf
behind her desk.
She
dusted
the remainder
on
to
the floor near the door.

‘Ok
,
children,
go
back to your chairs and I’ll demonstrate how this works’.
The children
rushed to their desks and
sat with bursting impatience
,
talking
quietly to one another
, staring
nervously
at
Miss
Davies
, who
motion
ed
to them cautiously to move away from the curious
dark
powder.

Without any warning
,
the classroom door suddenly swung open and in marched
H
eadmaster
Collins
,
his long black cloak swishing left
and
then right
.
C
ompletely unaware of his imminent peril
,
the man stepped onto
the
tiny amount of dust on the floor
,
and
....

B
ang!!!

An
almighty explosion resonated inside the room
, momentarily
deafening everyone
.
The poor headmaster jumped
so
high into the air
that he almost hit his head on the ceiling
!
It was a right picture and a great laugh for the kids as the man catapulted up into the air
in surprise. He shouted in terror as he
dropped and slipped on the floor
,
roll
ing from side to side in panic
as one loud bang followed
another
like Chinese crackers!
The children screamed with uncontrollable laughter
.
The most embarrassed headmaster
finally stood
and
,
composing himself the best he could, dust
ed
himself down and tri
ed
to
recover his
digni
ty
.
Miss
Davies
ran over and assisted him
,
suppress
ing
a secret little smile.

‘That is, quite, enough!’
yelled
Mr Collins
as he turned to face the class.
H
e fum
ed
his displeasure,
his square spectacles steaming up
unpleasantly
.
‘Forty marks off your house points for
...
for
...
’ he gasped and shouted again
,
‘for pure impertinence!’
H
is face
began to glow
a deeper shade
of purple
as his blood pressure increased.

‘I am so sorry, Mr Collins
,’ Miss
Davies
said soothingly.
‘
It was completely my fault, a science experiment
,
you see
...
I must have added too much of the compound, the substances together, in
...
in
...
’ she stammered, ‘and
...
and
...
well,’
she muttered,
almost speechless, ‘
...
and, er, well
.
Boom.’ There was a
small, smothered
giggle from the
class
.

‘Yes, exactly’ spoke Mr Collins in a re
pri
manding tone
. Miss
Davies
’s face screwed up in embarrassment.
‘
C
ould I have a private word with you later in my office
,
Miss
Davies
?
’

The students gasped, wondering what sort of punishment a teacher would have.

‘
Of course, headmaster
,
’
Miss
Davies
responded,
her voice
low and humble.
The headmaster left with his cloak
swishing,
closing
the cloak
in the door on his way out
. After a few tugs freed Mr Collins from the door, Miss
Davies
turned to the class.

‘Well, that lesson went off with a bang
...
did it not
,
children?
’
The science teacher looked over with a smile at the astounded kids
,
a
nd
the children burst out again into fits of laughter
.

**********

When t
he old janitor
shook
vigorously his heavy
,
hand
-
held bell
that afternoon,
t
here was a short mad rush out the main wooden door
as students
r
a
n through the front gates and past
the
tall sandstone column obelisk
, shouting jubilantly their freedom
.
The o
ld iron bars
sur
round
ed
the column’s
square base
;
i
ts four surfaces
were
covered with a patchwork of light green algae and partially eroded
engraved
writing.
Th
e
thin obelisk stood gravely within the school gardens
,
positioned on the edge of a line of trees and shrubs outside the school gates
.
I
t was a testimony and a pinnacle to the covenanters who were hanged in the village
centuries ago, whose
only crime was
in
reading God
’
s words
for themselves
.

There was still a strong breeze
pushing thick, dark clouds across
the
afternoon
sky
when
Scott and Cameron at last appeared
at
the school gates and
began their
usual meandering
.
W
ith no sense of purpose,
the boys took
the minor path
that
led away from the school in the opposite direction to home
.
The
j
anitor lock
ed
up the large double iron gates of the school behind them.

‘What
’s the plan for
tonight?’ Cameron asked.

‘Probably play with my old games console
?
’ came
Scott’s
reply as they walked on.

The back path was fenced on their right, separating them from
nearby
farmland
s
and a nervous flock of sheep
.
W
ild
,
overgrown bushes
sprouted
on the opposite side
of the path, creating
a natural border
over fifteen feet
tall in some places,
making
the narrow pathway
seem private and secure, if a little claustrophobic.
Th
e th
ick shrubbery rustled madly in the
rising
wind
seeming to speak to the boys at times about the coming storm
.