LINDA'S NEW SCHOOL

BY JOREYMAY

[ part 14 ]

Aftermath

The rest of the day was unnaturally quiet. Many of the students and teachers were in shock. Matron went about her duties in a wooden manner. Wherever Linda went, a path opened up in front of her. Students and teachers alike regarded her in different mixtures of admiration and fear. While a small part of her felt almost supernaturally powerful as a result, she knew that this reaction would have to be broken. Her plans required interacting with the students as a peer, not as some Olympian deity.

She barely noticed lunch. The rest of her classes were handled in a quiet, businesslike manner. PE was led by the same teacher she had for maths the previous class.

After their last class of the day, she invited Victoria to her office. As a precaution, she used Blue Boy to scan for new bugs. The room was apparently clean. She sat there, hugging the rabbit, as she gazed thoughtfully at her friend.

"This is not good. I wanted to get some of the teachers and staff in line, not stomp the whole school."

"For what it's worth, some of the girls have started humming 'Ding, dong, the Witch is Dead' in the halls. The teachers don't like it at all."

That gave Linda an idea. "Who do we have with a good hand for drawing? Or maybe cartooning?"

"What are you up to?"

"Just an idea to break the mood. But I need someone who can draw quickly and well."

"I can think of a few, but..."

"Bring them. I can interview anyone I want here, and right now, I want to interview them."

Victoria rose to her feet, coming to attention and snapping a salute. "Yes, Ma'am! Right away, Ma'am!"

"Quit that!" she paused, as Victoria grinned. "Oh, you! Just get going."

While she waited, she pulled up the school student records to see whether they contained any information about artistic skill. After a disappointing search, she started looking at the financial records. The school was bringing in a lot of money, but the spending records did not seem to add up, and there were income streams that seemingly came from nowhere. She made a note to look into it later.

By that time, the girls were arriving. With the exception of Victoria, they looked very nervous. Some even looked frightened. Victoria closed the door behind them, and Linda began.

"Oh, relax. You're not in trouble, and I haven't eaten anyone's soul in days." They didn't seem as reassured as she would have liked. "I have some projects in mind, but I am going to need some artistic help. I may even need more than one of you before this is all done. They shouldn't take much time. In fact, time is very important. And I can make sure you don't get in trouble for it. How many of you can draw cartoon style images quickly, but fairly well?" About half raised their hands. "Good. Now, how many can do drawings on the computer?" A smaller group, some from the first group, some not, raised their hands. "Alright. Those who can do both, stay. For the rest, thank you and I'll see you around school. Please don't tell anyone about this meeting or what you think might be happening." About 2/3 of the girls left.

"Ok. How many of you have seen "The Wizard of Oz" more than once, or read the books more than once?" All of the girls indicated they had. "Great! Some of you may have heard your friends quietly humming a song from the movie. Some of you may have been among those doing the humming. We're going to build on that. What I need is an image to secretly circulate. It is important that nobody knows it came from me, however. Do you all remember the scene where they see the Professor behind the curtain, operating the giant head?" More nods.

"We want something like that. We need a big, frightening image that can symbolize the image many people have of me after the recent events. Bigger than life. Scary beyond all reason. You know, that kind of thing. It should be in a school uniform, or something like it. Nearby, there should be a curtain on a rod, pulled aside. Behind the curtain, life size or even a bit smaller, is a naked, blushing, maybe cringing figure which can be recognized as me. It could be holding one of my stuffed animals," she indicated the Gainsboroughs, "or not. Mostly, she should be an ordinary, non frightening girl. And it should say something like 'pay no attention to the girl behind the curtain.'" She looked around the group.

"Some copies will need to be on paper. Some on the computers. They will need to be passed around in a way that the girls see them but the adults don't." She got out some paper. "I would like each of you to sketch something along those lines. Is there anyone here who does not want to do this?" Nobody moved or spoke up. "Then let's begin."

One girl, a blonde about a year older than Linda, spoke up. "Does it have to be one picture? Why not a small series? That way, if one part gets seen it won't seem that important to *them*."

Linda thought a moment. "Good idea. I don't want this to take too long, though. Time is critical."

"All the more reason. With separate images, we can divide up the work much more easily. Some of us are better at some things than at others. We can benefit from that."

"I like the way you think. What is your name, anyway?"

"Saundra."

"I like the way you think, Saundra. Does anyone else have any questions? Comments? Ideas?"

"I have one." A petite brunette, this time.

"Yes?"

"Why? What is this for?"

"That's a fair question. Let me ask you one. Are you afraid of me now?"

"A little."

"As much as when you came here?"

"No. A lot less."

"When you first came in here, would you have been able to talk to me like this?"

"Probably not. I still don't quite understand."

"I need to be able to fit in and work with the girls here. The way things are now, they are too afraid of me. I need to change that."

"And something funny is a good way to change your image? I can see that."

"Anything else? Anyone? No? Ok, let's get those sketches."

They worked and brainstormed, sometimes argued, for about an hour. Finally, they had images they liked. They divided up the work and left, leaving Linda and Victoria in there alone.

"Do you think it'll work?"

"I don't know. I hope so. If nothing else, those girls at least see me as human again. I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Isn't it about dinner time?"

"Pretty soon. I have to do a couple of things before then. Bye." And she was off.

Using the cell, Linda called home. She told her parents about the event in the classroom, and asked them for news. Things were moving quickly, but well, at their end. The governors were as anxious as she was to wrap things up as soon as possible. If not more so. They also advised her that her punishment of the teacher was probably excessive. She had limited her options, leaving herself little room to escalate if it should become necessary.

The call to her monitors also produced interesting news. They had played the recording of the headmistress' willingness to throw her to the wolves to Miss FitzGibbon. Lightly edited. She was shocked, and appeared ready to turn on the school and everyone connected with it. Especially if it would save her from prison and total disgrace. They had things on hold for now, but could not keep it that way much longer. If she ended up wanting to destroy the school, they had a lot more ammunition. And there were some people from the medical board who were eager to investigate Matron. She thanked them and ended the call.

With a sigh, she settled back into her chair. It seemed like she was walking an electrified tightrope, with sharks on one side and crocodiles on the other. Half of her apparent power was little more than bluff and momentum. One slip, and the whole thing could come crashing down. It was thrilling, but exhausting.

But worse than that, it was lonely. She missed her friends. Victoria was the closest thing to a friend she had here, and she was becoming more of an assistant. She hugged Blue Boy tighter. She didn't even dare tell her the real reason for the pictures. She desperately wanted to make some friends among the students there. And as long as she was the Giant Killer, that would be all but impossible.

She glanced at the time. It was nearly time to go eat. She rose from her chair, deposited Blue Boy next to Pinkie, and composed herself to leave.