Sleeping Angel (Ravenwood Series) (7 page)

‘I suppose this is something of a surprise for you,’ said Tame with a smile.
Did he mean the desk or his appointment?
thought April. She didn’t think it really mattered to him. The idea was to get her off balance – and she certainly had no intention of playing his game.

‘Not such a surprise, actually,’ said April as calmly as she could. ‘I seem to remember you had been a teacher, maybe even a headmaster before?’

Tame nodded. ‘Well remembered – “know your enemy” and all that, I suppose. And that is actually why I asked you here. I’ll get straight to the point: April, you’re a liability.’

April swallowed. ‘A liability?’

‘Come now, April, let’s not be coy. You know very well what I’m getting at. Far too many of Ravenwood’s pupils seem to be turning up dead, and you have been present or involved with every death.’ He ticked the names off on his long fingers. ‘Isabelle Davis, you found the body. Layla? – you found her too. And you were involved with both Milo and Marcus.’

‘I was not!’

Tame continued, ignoring her protests. ‘Then there was the unfortunate tragedy with your father, of course. And now we have the situation with two of your teachers and poor Benjamin Osbourne – the situation which brings me here.’ He smiled, but there was no humour in it. ‘So what am I to do? If I expel you, it reflects badly on the institution. Given your father’s connections in Fleet Street, we could well expect headlines like “Elite School Abandons Grieving Child” – and that wouldn’t be helpful, especially at this delicate time. On the other hand, I can’t do nothing. That would look weak – and I’m not a weak man, April. Not at all.’

April looked at him, unsure if she was supposed to respond.

Tame steepled his fingers in front of his face. ‘I’ll get straight to the point – I would like you to be the new Head Girl at Ravenwood. I think the challenge will keep you busy.’

April was so surprised she actually laughed, but the laughter quickly trailed off as she realised he wasn’t joking. ‘Me? You want
me
to be head girl?’

‘Why not? You’re smart, well liked and – most importantly, it deals with the PR problem rather neatly, don’t you think?’

With a sinking feeling, April could see that he was right. Instead of shunning her and thereby accusing her of being involved with the many “inconvenient” deaths of Ravenwood’s pupils, this way it would appear the school was embracing her, supporting her in her hour of need. It would seem sensitive and forward-looking – and Tame knew that  refusing the offer could make April look ungrateful. He gave one of his trademark smug smiles – he knew he had her.

April sat there bewildered. ‘I ... I don’t know if ...’

‘I’ll take that as a yes, then,’ Tame said, standing and thrusting his hand out across the desk toward her. ‘Super to have you on board, April. I know you will be a credit to the school.’

‘
Clever’
,
said Caro, when April told her what had happened in the headmaster’s office. ‘Very, very clever.’

‘You sound as if you respect him,’ said April. It was lunchtime and they had arranged a rendezvous in the little-used ladies’ toilets by the library. Caro was sitting on the sink, her back to the mirrors, painting her nails a vivid shade of green.

‘Oh, it’s not
respect
respect,’ she said, ‘I still think Charles Tame is the spawn of Satan, but it’s a very smart move, you’ve got to give him that. It’s a classic politician’s trick: spin a positive out of the disaster, turn the focus onto the bright pretty girl rising above the tragedy – don’t dwell on the torture and the mound of bodies.’

‘Caro!’ said April. She had already checked that the cubicles were all empty, but April was still worried someone would overhear and accuse them of making light of the situation. April knew Caro was only joking to keep their spirits up – other people might not understand. Caro rolled her eyes.

‘What? You don’t like me to point out that eight people have died – no, nine if you count Alix Graves. And that’s not including all the times the Suckers have tried to kill you.’

‘Yes, I know,’ said April urgently. ‘But some people at Ravenwood are cousins and friends of the people who died and we don’t need any more enemies than we already have.’

‘Fair enough,’ shrugged Caro, blowing on her nails. ‘Anyway, the bottom line is that you seem to have taken the Big Doc’s offer. Actually, he knew you couldn’t turn it down. Which is all part of his evil genius.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘With the best will in the world, A, you need all the help you can get on your university application forms, don’t you?’

‘Unlike you, you mean?’ said April, sulkily.

‘Well, yes actually. Like Simon, like Ling. We’re all brain-boxes; why fight it?’ said Caro matter-of-factly. ‘Face facts, April, you’re going to be up against people like us if you want to get into one of the super swanky unis, so why not use all the leverage you can?’

‘Uni?’ said April with a laugh, ‘If I’m still alive when I’m eighteen, I’ll worry about it then. My CV isn’t really a priority right now.’

‘Yeah, well Herr Doktor has out-manoeuvred you on that one too,’ said Caro. ‘He probably guessed you wouldn’t give a monkeys about it, but knows you could never go home to Grampa Thomas and tell him that you turned down Head Girl. Your grandad would blow a gasket.’

April groaned – she hadn’t considered that aspect of it, and she wouldn’t put it past Charles Tame to call her grandfather and tell him the news. Caro was right: she had been completely out-flanked. She had underestimated Dr Tame. She mustn’t make that mistake again. ‘So now I’m trapped – is that it? Now I’m part of the Ravenwood machine?’

‘But it’s brilliant, don’t you see?’ said Caro. ‘They’ve played right into our hands and they don’t even know it. Tame thinks he’s keeping you where he can see you, under control as his little lapdog. But he doesn’t know we
want
to get on the inside, we want to be part of the Establishment. Now you’re the face of Ravenwood, maybe they’ll let you in on their secrets. We don’t know how deeply our new leader is involved, but you’ve got to guess he’s pretty connected to get this job. And, at the very least, you’ll probably get to meet the governors.’

‘Yes, but ...’

‘No buts about it, April,’ said Caro firmly. ‘You’ve
got
to do it, especially after this morning.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘What do I
mean
? – the hero worship of Dr Tame. It was as if the whole assembly had been brainwashed.’

‘It’s not that bad yet – is it?’

‘God, April, sometimes I wonder if you walk around with your eyes closed. Not only have they replaced the headmaster, we have three new teachers, all of whom look decidedly vampy, especially Miss Holden’s replacement.’

‘They’ve replaced her already?’

Caro nodded. ‘Miss Marsh. Pale skin, gorgeous black hair, knee-high leather boots, like a walking Sucker cliché. But that’s not the half of it.’

She crooked a finger towards April as she jumped down off the sink. ‘Come on, it’s better if I show you.’

April followed Caro back into the main school building. As they walked along the corridor, April was aware that people were turning to look at her. She was used to that, of course; they had been gawking at her since her first day. But this time, it did seem different. Girls were standing in little huddles talking, and the glances they threw towards April and Caro as they walked past weren’t the usual gossipy “hey look, that’s the girl who found a dead body” whispers. Now they seemed to be having their own secret conversations, exchanges they didn’t want April and Caro to hear, as if they regarded the two girls as outsiders.

‘They’re like little witches’ covens,’ aren’t they?’ murmured Caro. ‘They’ve already bought into Tame’s “new world order” rubbish. It’s like he’s invented electricity or something.’

‘That was damn quick,’ said April.

‘Yeah, well – it’s not just Tame,’ said Caro. ‘Remember I was telling you about Miss Holden’s replacement? Come and see.’

Caro led April towards the refectory and, halfway down the corridor, they turned the corner and saw a group of students gathered around a classroom door. Joining the group at the back, April craned her neck to see what they were looking at. Inside the classroom Miss Marsh – it had to be her from Caro’s vivid description – was sitting on the edge of the desk holding court.

‘... and I think it’s been the same, throughout history,’ said the teacher. ‘There’s always been an assumption that the older generation knows better. This means we must have missed out on so many ideas, limited so much potential – just because the person involved was young. This is ridiculous – we must acknowledge that because young people are unburdened by all the “received wisdom” that adults fill their heads with, they have a greater chance to make genuine discoveries. Adults can’t risk making you too self-reliant – otherwise we'd be out of a job.’

There was a ripple of laughter and in the pause, the woman’s eyes flicked up and met April’s. ‘That’s why I’m so envious of you. You have a huge opportunity here, to be leaders, to show the rest of the world just what you can do.’

April felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Was this woman addressing all the pupils, or talking directly to her?

Caro pulled on April’s sleeve, and they moved away from the door.

‘See?’ said Caro, ‘It’s like one of those evangelical TV shows from American cable. “Be all you can be”, “shoot for the moon”, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they started playing “Simply The Best” over the school tannoy.’

They walked into the refectory and joined the queue for food.

‘I can’t believe they’re buying this,’ said April, picking up a tray.

‘You’ve got to remember, these kids are frightened,’ said Caro. ‘They’re geeks, their idea of a hobby is chess, not kung fu. They see people are dying in Highgate, and they’re scared to go out after dark. So along comes Dr Tame who’s worked with the police, tells them they’re all special – suddenly they’re listening. Then he says he’s going to treat them like adults? It’s a slam-dunk. The guy’s a rock star.’

Suddenly April didn’t feel like eating. And anyway, she had spotted something – or rather, someone – on the other side of the hall. ‘Look, see you at the table,’ she called to Caro and threaded her way over to the lonely figure sitting on her own.

‘Hi, Davina,’ said April, sitting down next to her. At the back of the refectory, the rest of the Faces were laughing and joking in their usual place at the top table. Normally Davina would – should – have been right up there in the centre of things, surrounded by clucking, fawning admirers. But instead, she was here, on her own. It was
weird
.

‘Is everything okay?’

‘Of course,’ said Davina, her back stiff. ‘Why wouldn’t it be?’

‘Well, it’s just that ...’

‘Just that I’ve been ostracised? Sent to social Siberia – is that what you mean?’

‘Something like that, yes,’ said April glancing back at the Suckers.

‘I am
persona non grata
,’ said Davina, sticking her fork into a lettuce leaf. ‘Apparently, it doesn’t do to have a brother who brings Ravenwood into disrepute. We couldn’t have the school’s reputation suffering, could we?’

‘Who said that? Chessy?’

Davina let out a bitter laugh. ‘As if! That air head could never have come up with something so intellectual. No, it’s our new leader, Dr Tame. My guess is that he’s passed the word to his supporters that I’m not to be trusted or listened to. Presumably he thinks, as I was so close to his predecessor, I might stage a coup or something.’

April put her hand on Davina’s arm. ‘Oh honey, I’m so sorry.’

‘Don’t worry,’ she said, glaring over towards Chessy, ‘they haven’t seen the last of me yet.’

April’s heart sank as she saw Ling and Simon get up and approach their table. Simon was wearing all black, with thick make-up around his eyes. He didn’t look much like the Simon who had befriended April back in the autumn; he looked harder, more edgy. Ling, meanwhile, was wearing a tight mini-dress and looked as if she had made the complete transformation from geek loser to fully-fledged Sucker. Had she really made the final step and been turned?

‘Now then, who do we have here?’ challenged Ling, leaning on Simon’s shoulder. ‘Is it the Face of Ravenwood?’

‘Listen, Ling, if you’ve just come to ...’ began Davina, but Simon stepped forward.

‘She wasn’t talking to you,’ he said with disdain. ‘She was talking to the new Head Girl.’

‘Head Girl?’ said Davina, her eyes flicking to April.

‘Dr Tame asked me this morning after assembly,’ April said sheepishly. ‘I couldn’t very well turn him down.’

‘And why should she?’ said Ling looking contemptuously at Davina. ‘She’s the perfect girl for the job.’

Davina looked as if she’d been punched in the stomach. She had always been top dog at the school, undisputed queen of the Faces and, all in the space of a few days, she had been demoted and marginalised. April saw the hurt in Davina’s eyes, but could also understand why Ling was so gleefully twisting the knife. Davina had never exactly made her followers feel as if they had any significance; rather she treated them as if they were just minions she would graciously allow to bask in her reflected glory. The truth was, Davina really could be a grade-A bitch, but even so, April couldn’t stand to see her squirm.