The Story Traveller (13 page)

‘Speckled bull?'

‘Aye, magical creatures an' many folk fear them. But not me. We'd been friends since I was three or four. He was a gift from me ma. We did everything together; even shared the same sense of humour an', bless him, he looked after me, fed me an' protected me.'

‘Where's he now?' Lucy asked. A shadow passed over Ash's face.

‘He's dead. One day I learnt me stepma planned to kill him, so we ran away, only for him to be killed by an angry grey bull.'

‘But he's a magic bull. Surely he'll live again?'

‘Possibly,' Ash said softly. ‘But he's dead to me an' I miss him so. He was me best friend. Just before he died he gave me this sword and told me to make a belt out of his hide, as it would protect me. An' that's what I did!

‘The first time I realised he was still lookin' out for me was when I fought a giant. This giant, a real divil, became really cross because I'd fed some cattle with his fallen fruit. It was rottin' away an' no use to anyone. But he became so angry we ended up fightin' and to my amazement I won, using this sword.' Ash held up the damaged sword. ‘Might as well bury it now: it's too damaged to use again.'

‘I'll help you.'

Then Ash held up his boot:

‘The man I work for paid me for killing that giant and with the money I bought myself a wonderful pair of black boots, soft and comfortable. Now I've only the one.'

The two of them dug in silence for a while, until the sword was safely buried.

‘Look at me now!' he laughed ‘No sword, lost me belt an' I've only one shoe!'

‘Well, you've more than you started with.'

‘How the divil do you work that out?'

‘You still have one boot.'

‘Exactly, one boot. What use is that? Perhaps I should bury that too.'

‘Just keep hold of it,' Lucy insisted. ‘You might find a use for it one day.'

‘Yer a rum one,' Ash said with a laugh.

At that moment Speed came trotting up, ready to take Lucy home.

‘My, what a beautiful animal.'

‘He is, I agree,' Lucy replied as she patted Speed's flank. ‘I'm afraid I have to go now. I've loved talking to you. You're a very modest, kind and brave person. I wish I could be more like you.' Ash blushed.

‘Away with ye, ye wouldn't want me red hair,' he told her, too embarrassed to say anything else.

‘Oh, I don't know. My dad has hair just like yours. I'd rather that than my mousey colour. But I've learnt a lot from you. You might have been really scared of the speckled bull, but you made friends and you've treated everyone you've come across with kindness.'

‘Except me stepma and stepbrothers.'

‘Not true. You were never unkind to them. It was the other way round.'

‘Well then, except for the arhach.'

Arhach? Oh, yes the giant. True you weren't too kind to him, but I think he got what he deserved.'

‘Cheers, Lucy,' Ash said, as he lifted her on to Speed's back.

‘Slan! Have a good life, Ash.' They both waved until they could not longer see each other.

‘Speed,' Lucy asked as they rode home, ‘can I have a quick look at the castle before we go? I was rather busy keeping an eye on the dragon to take in much earlier.'

‘Quick it will have to be, Lucy.'

Speed rapidly brought Lucy to the edge of the town. Once more she could see the King's castle, but now all the black drapes had gone and celebrations were well under way. Every room in the castle was alight and every street in the town festooned with banners and flags.

‘I wish I could see Ash reunited with his Princess, Speed. I bet he goes bright red when she asks him to marry her.' Speed snorted in agreement.

‘It's all very beautiful here. I must come back some day,' Lucy said, as they rose up in the air, ready to fly over the Irish Sea.

Everything went well on their journey. No battling Celtic gods got in their way and, as they were about half way across, Lucy heard Manannan Mac Lir rumble, though it could have been distant thunder:

‘Good journey, Lucy, the story traveller. God speed. Slan.'

‘Slan, Manannan Mac Lir,' she called back, ‘and thank-you.'

Shortly after that Lucy felt the familiar shudder as they passed through the Happy Ever After gate. Her mouth flooded with a faint taste of honey, which reminded her that she was bringing home a four-leaf clover. Gently she patted her apron pocket. Yes, her lucky piece of Irish shamrock was still there.

Thursday morning, Lucy carefully wrapped her four-leaf clover in a tiny plastic envelope and slipped it into her pencil case. She felt sure it would bring her good luck and was not disappointed.

Peter arrived with the Barbie present for Lucy to give to her little sister and she was given a warm welcome by all the boys and girls in her class, with the exception of Anna, Diane and Martha. Lucy was also delighted to see how much Frances was coming out of her shell. Yes, all in all, it was a good day.

During the morning Miss Lewis had taken Lucy to one side and asked again, who was responsible for the bullying, but Lucy still felt she couldn't name names: the time just didn't seem right. So when, in the afternoon circle session, Miss Lewis said they'd talk about bullying, it was as much a surprise for her as it obviously was for Anna, Diane and Martha.

As usual, with these sessions, the whole class went to the small assembly hall and arranged the chairs in two large circles. Lucy, along with Peter and Frances joined the first group, which was to be supervised by Miss Lewis. Anna, Diane and Martha also joined Miss Lewis's group. Lucy wasn't too sure whether this was by chance or design.

After the class had stopped pushing and pulling the chairs into various positions, Miss Lewis got them all to do a Mexican wave, in order to relax them. Then, as everyone settled down she told them the subject to be discussed was bullying.

She said she wanted them to discuss different types of bullying; what it felt like to be bullied and what could possibly make someone a bully. But most importantly, she wanted suggestions from the class that could help to stop people being bullied.

‘Now, as usual, we must agree on the rules. Firstly, you'll take turns to speak and must not interrupt anyone. Secondly, if you don't want to join in that's perfectly alright. Finally, and this is particularly important, when discussing bullying, no one must be made to feel uncomfortable or put down. Are you happy to accept these rules?'

‘Yes, Miss Lewis.'

‘Does anyone want to add any extra rules? No? Then let's get started. Everyone find a partner and start by exchanging stories and experiences of bullying. Maybe you've been bullied, or know some one who has. You can even talk about the fact you might have been a bully yourself.'

‘I can't see that happening,' Lucy whispered to Peter as she looked over at her tormentors.

Lucy turned and gave Frances a quick reassuring smile, before turning back to talk to Peter. She'd also darted a quick glance at Anna, whose face was frozen into an angry mask, as she'd turned towards the petrified Martha. Diane, Lucy noticed, looked moody, as she faced Richard, a hard-working boy, who wouldn't be intimidated by his bad-tempered partner.

Lucy and Peter quickly got into a good discussion on the subject. Of course, Peter already knew of Lucy's problems, but she
was
surprised to learn he too had been bullied, when he first started school, which had led to him taking up the martial arts. After about ten minutes Miss Lewis asked them to repeat what they'd learnt about their partners.

‘Julia, you begin.'

‘Maddy says she's been called names – nasty ones in the past.'

‘Thanks Julia, and what did you learn, Maddy?'

‘Julia's never been bullied, but says her brother once had nasty stories made up about him, Miss.'

And so the stories came tumbling out, covering a wide range of bullying. Then it was Peter and Lucy's turn. Peter spoke first.

‘We all know Lucy's being bullied. Among a list of nasty things she's had some money stolen. That's completely unacceptable.'

‘Thank you, Peter,' Miss Lewis smiled gently at Lucy.

‘I was really surprised when Peter told me he'd been bullied, when he first started school. Mostly name calling, because he wore glasses.'

Next, Frances and her partner Lyn shared their information. Lucy was pleased to hear Frances speak out confidently and to know she had found the courage to share some of her unpleasant experiences with another school friend. But it was what Anna, Diane and Martha had to say that particularly interested Lucy. Anna mentioned silent and abusive ‘phone calls and had the nerve to say Martha had suffered from them. Lucy almost laughed out loud.

As it turned out, the only two who didn't contribute were Diane and Martha, which didn't surprise Lucy. Richard, however, made up for their silence by mentioning several other nasty ways to bully someone, including posting nasty messages on the internet.

When they'd finished, Miss Lewis thanked them for their interesting and valuable contributions.

‘What do you think a person goes through, when they're being bullied?' she asked.

Hands went up in every direction. Again Miss Lewis started the circle off and every pupil had a chance to give an opinion. The group certainly found plenty to say. On this occasion it was only Martha who stayed silent. Diane offered, ‘makes them feel afraid', with a slight sneer on her face.

‘Great, well done! You've really got a good understanding of how miserable being bullied is,' their teacher told them. ‘As you've heard, there's a whole range of feelings a bullied person can go through, from tearful to wanting to die. Every one of these feelings is awful. No one has a right to make another person feel so bad. Bullying is wrong, whether it's a matter of making someone feel lonely or shy or feel life's not worth living. Bullying must never be tolerated by anyone, anywhere.'

Miss Lewis let this information sink in for a few moments and then asked:

‘Who wants to tell me how the bully feels, and why they do it?'

Not one hand shot up. Miss Lewis gave a wry smile.

‘I appreciate it's not so easy to understand what makes a bully, but try.'

Lucy remembered what Cinderella had said about her stepsisters and their mother. She put up her hand.

‘Yes Lucy?'

‘They're sad people, who have something wrong in their lives and bullying makes them feel in control.' ‘Lucy's right. Often a bully has a lot of internal aggression or resentment. Can you give me an example Lucy?'

‘An absent parent or a not very loving parent; or the bully could be abused or neglected themselves.' As Lucy spoke she looked over at Anna and was surprised to see, for the first time, the other girl looked uneasy.

‘Can anyone else suggest what could turn someone into a bully?'

Shyly Frances put up her hand.

‘Yes Frances?'

‘Jealousy.'

‘Yes, anything else?'

‘I thought you wanted to know how a bully feels,' said Diane rather aggressively.

‘Well, Diane how do you think a bully feels?' her teacher replied quietly.

‘Powerful, in charge.'

‘I see. If they do it will be a passing feeling. Bullies are often frustrated people. They may have been bullied themselves; they may have their own problems that they can't deal with.'

‘Bullies are manipulative
⁸
Miss,' Peter said with a scornful glance at Anna and her friends, ‘and some,' he went on looking at Martha, ‘are bullied into being bullies by stronger personalities.' Martha went white.

‘It's interesting how we can all sympathise with the bullied and find something to say about their feelings, but when we come to the bully it is difficult to find the right words: though it could be said that the bully is a victim too.' Miss Lewis said.

‘You don't mean we should feel sorry for them?' Peter said with disgust.

‘Bullying is always wrong, Peter, but if we never find out why someone is a bully, then there is little chance they'll change. However, the important step is to think of ways to stop bullying. I want one suggestion from each of you. We'll start with Michael this time.'

After everyone, except Diane and Martha, had spoken, they'd come up with about ten good solutions. Lucy had smiled when she heard Anna say, ‘Learn judo or something,' as she'd often had the desire to throw Anna clean over her shoulders. She was also pleased to find she'd already tried at least half of the suggestions. She felt she was definitely on the right track to beat her tormentors.

‘We've had some really great ideas from you. Well done, all of you. In fact I think it's worth recording these and using them in a policy to tackle bullying. Bravo!' Miss Lewis stood up and clapped. ‘Now lastly, put your hands up if you've ever been bullied?'

Lucy and Frances were the first to respond, and then slowly other members of the class joined them. Lucy noticed Martha began to, but one look from Anna and her hand went down.

‘That's about twenty-five percent of you. It might, therefore, surprise you to know that approximately fifty percent of school children say they've been bullied one way or another. From now on I expect you all to try and see there's no bullying in this class. I should also tell you that the most serious bullying such as physical violence is an assault at your age; anyone ten or over can be accused of assault. Name calling and threats can be harassment, so what starts out as cruel and often thoughtless behaviour can lead to serious consequences.

‘Finally, remember anyone of you can come to me, or any other teacher, at any time if you are bullied – or,' Miss Lewis said after a slight pause ‘if you find you are becoming a bully. Now off you go to your next class.'

As Lucy put her chair away Frances joined her.

‘I wish Miss Lewis had been at my old school,' she told Lucy.

‘Yes – that was good wasn't it?' Lucy replied. ‘I kept a weather eye on Anna, Diane and Martha. I actually thought Anna looked vulnerable for a while. That's a first. Diane, though, seems to have a backbone of steel.'

‘With Diane, I think it's that she's not in charge. She's a hanger-on and likes a strong leader and she's found one in Anna. As for Martha, I felt really sorry for her,' Frances went on. ‘I thought she was going to be sick.'

The two girls then left the classroom arm in arm and made their way to their history class. That evening, as Lucy wrapped up her sister's birthday present, her mind was on Anna. She felt sure she'd seen a chink in her defensive armour.

‘There's definitely something wrong,' Lucy thought. ‘She wasn't happy when I mentioned it could be because of problems at home. Thank you Cinders, for giving me that insight.'

Lucy took out her four leaf clover and laid it by her bedside.

‘I thought you'd bring me luck,' she said, ‘and you did: thanks to Thomas Murphy.'

As Lucy sent those thanks winging to the little leprechaun in Ireland she felt sure she smelt tobacco. She shook her head and laughed. ‘Thomas would never leave his crock of gold,' then, as she looked out of the window, she was almost certain she saw a swirl of dust. ‘Or would he?'