I Want to be Me Page 13

  ‘Oh, that explains it then. Thanks, Jack!’

  Helen felt that she now had a good idea of what had gone on. The college had been left an extremely valuable collection by a benefactor, and the previous master, who had himself been there for years and years, and maybe even the master before him, had kept it secret, under lock and key. She would follow up now on what Julia had told her about the London solicitors.

  ‘Oh, by the way, Dr Brown,’ Jack called out, ‘there’s a message here for you from the master.’ He handed Helen a sealed envelope. She opened the letter on the way up to her room. It was brief. ‘Dr Brown, please see me as soon as possible. The matter is urgent.’

  This, Helen it knew very well, could only mean trouble. She rang his office and made a time for later in the day. Then she slumped into her reading chair. She had to think, and think very well.

  Dr Marcus Fennell swivelled about in the chair in his huge study. He had just finished talking with Mr John Williams, from Canada, and everything had gone better than expected. The deal was in the bag. There would be a new building, exhibitions, tours, and he, the master, could expect to be the honoured guest of the Canadians, and even more than that.

  Mr Williams had gone back to Canada but would come back to sign the deal in two weeks. It was time that he started to assert himself. He was expecting Dr Helen Brown. He would start with her. She would not fit in with his plans and, worse, might even get in the way. There was a knock on the door. He bounced over to the door and showed her in.

  ‘Come in, Dr Brown,’ he half smiled at her. ‘Please sit down.’ He motioned to a green leather Chesterfield chair opposite his huge desk. He decided to be very formal.

  ‘I have called you in, Dr Brown, to explain the situation that is developing in this college quite quickly.’ He wiped his lips and glanced out of the window. Helen sat bolt upright in her chair and stared straight at him.

  ‘The fact is – the fact is, Dr Brown –’ he waved his glasses at her ‘– I – we – the college has been presented with an opportunity, subject to our success on Sunday – a foregone conclusion – that it cannot ignore. I have to tell you that there will be lots of changes, and – most regrettably – despite your good efforts, your position may have to – will have to go.’

  Helen had expected this. She was ready.

  ‘I’ve heard about this proposal, Master – in fact I know quite a bit about it.’

  ‘You do?’ The master was taken by surprise. ‘But this is top secret!’ Helen continued to lead him on.

  ‘I’m afraid not, Master! I know about the – you know – the—’

  ‘—You know about the foundation?’ The master was now rattled. ‘How do you know? How could you possibly know?’

  ‘A certain person – close to it,’ Helen replied mysteriously.

  ‘Sloan! Sloan!’ The master was going red in the face. Helen nodded and smiled approvingly.

  ‘I know about the money, and I also know about what Old College could lose.’ Helen was guessing brilliantly.

  ‘I also know about your special package, Master!’ This was a shot in the dark, but it paid off.

  ‘Sloan again! That idiot!’ The master was going from red to a reddish-purply colour from the neck up. This was not the way he thought things would go.

  ‘What do you know? Tell me right away!’ he shouted, then, thinking better of it, sat down and calmed down a little.

  ‘Please – Dr Brown – tell me what you know,’ he pleaded.

  ‘I’m not keen to go into a lot of detail, Master, but I know about the money, I know what you will get, and I know what the college is sitting on.’ Helen pointed in the direction of the clock tower. ‘I know what the college could lose, and what should be interesting to you, Master, is that I know that it is a lot, lot more than you think!’

  The master was flustered. He tried to calm Helen down.

  ‘Look, these things – the overseas appointments, the consultancies, the travel – it’s all very much up in the air.’ Helen saw her chance.

  ‘I would remind you, Master, that what goes up often comes down with a thud. Even foregone conclusions like the Sunday concert,’ she said, with some feeling.

  ‘This meeting is at an end. Look, your position, I don’t know, it’s probably quite safe.’ Helen wasn’t fooled at all by this half assurance. She just smiled. The master continued.

  ‘I instruct you to keep this matter absolutely confidential!’ he blurted out.

  ‘But, Master,’ Helen replied softly, ‘everyone knows!’

  ‘Sloan again!’ the master exploded. Helen nodded gently and smiled mysteriously. As she walked to the door, she turned to the still obviously upset and shaken master.

  ‘I came to tell you something, Master.’ Helen said.

  ‘What? What now?’ The poor unhappy man was about to become even more unhappy.

  ‘I am going to London this week – to see a firm of solicitors, in my role as college librarian and archivist, you understand, to make sure that you, Master –’ Helen paused for a few seconds to get the maximum effect. ‘– and we, the college, are not in breach of the law. Can’t say any more. By the way, are you dining in the hall tonight? I believe that the chairman of the council will be there tonight. Isn’t that nice?’

  As the door closed, Helen heard the master rush across the room and pick up the phone. She stood there for just a moment.

  ‘Get me Dr Sloan – get Sloan immediately!’ she heard him shout.

  ‘Dear, dear,’ she mused as she walked away. ‘It seems the master is not having one of his better days.’

  Old College was famous for its hall dinners, and this Tuesday night was a special event dinner. The students called these dinners balloon nights. There would be a guest speaker, and the student committee usually provided some entertainment, which was often that individual students were asked to sing a song or some such thing, and of course the food would be excellent. The chairman of the council usually came to special event dinners. It was a chance to get to know the students and staff a little better, but also because it was a fun night that everyone enjoyed.

  The dining hall was one of the best in Oxford. Its soaring ceilings gave it a great feeling of space. On balloon nights, the students hung clusters of different-coloured balloons from the stone animal heads that were built into the beam supports. The person who ran this event was the college cook, someone who had surprising power in the college.

  He was never seen on the night of the dinner, but managed and controlled everything from behind the scenes. His name was John Ward. He was a big man who was always dressed in white clothes and a white apron, and was never seen without his white cook’s hat. Late on Tuesday afternoon, Helen went down into the kitchen to see him. She believed that he was essential to her plans to defeat the master.

  ‘Hello, Dr Brown.’ The cook welcomed her with a generous smile. ‘Whatever brings you down here?’

  ‘I did ask you to call me Helen, you know, John,’ she replied. They exchanged a few pleasantries. Helen had always got along well with John Ward. They had been on the odd committee together, and she had helped one of his children in the library.

  ‘Well, Helen, I’m really busy with this college dinner tonight. What is it then; how can I help you?’

  ‘It’s actually about the dinner tonight. I need a favour.’

  ‘Special dessert? That’s what the master wants.’

  ‘I’m not surprised,’ Helen replied drily ‘No, it’s about the seating arrangements at high table.’

  ‘When it comes to that – you understand that I’m somewhat restricted, but tell me anyway.’

  ‘I wonder if you could do this for me?’ Helen handed John a piece of paper. He looked at it carefully.

  ‘Ho hum – yes – yes, I suppose so. No problem. Consider it done,’ John replied.

  ‘Jus
t between us?’ Helen smiled.

  ‘Between us, the goose and the duck!’ John laughed. Helen left the kitchens with a spring in her step. Things were swinging her way, just a little bit. The fight was just beginning. It wasn’t over just yet, as the master and his cronies might hope.

  When the great doors to the dining hall swung open that evening, there was the usual student scramble for tables and seats. High table was by invitation only. Place names were neatly written on the cards that showed each person’s allocated seat. The master, decorated in his red and purple robes, swanned into the room with his guest speaker and the chairman on either side. He was seated at the head of the table as usual, and the guest speaker, the chief constable of Oxfordshire, Sir Robert Folsom, was seated at the other end. When everyone sat down, the master scowled. He was not happy. He was at the head of the table, with Dr Sloan next to him, while at the other end of the table, well out of conversation range, were the chief constable, the chairman, Sir Michael Wilson, Dr Helen Brown and the new music whiz, Chin Li.

  They were all in a nice little group at one end of the table, and he was stuck with Dr Sloan at the other end. This was especially awkward for both of them because that afternoon they had had a falling-out. As the first course came around, he noted with concern that Helen was in deep conversation with both Sir Michael and Sir Robert. What was that woman saying? If only he could lip-read! John Ward had given Helen exactly what she wanted, and she was certainly not going to waste the opportunity.

  ‘Sir Robert,’ Helen began, addressing the chief constable. ‘I notice that your topic tonight is “The Public Good”. What a fascinating topic.’

  ‘I think so,’ Sir Robert replied. ‘We all have to work for that – make a contribution, you know.’

  Sir Robert took his role as chief constable most seriously, and considered that he had a duty to show leadership in the community.

  ‘Yes!’ Sir Michael, the chairman, chimed in. He loved to be a goody-goody, especially in front of the chief constable. ‘We have to be leaders and show the way!’ He waved grandly in the direction of the students. ‘They – the leaders of the future, are watching us!’ Helen Brown thought that Sir Michael would be the last thing that the students would watch, but she saw her chance.

  ‘I happen to know that the master is keen on standards. Very keen indeed! He believes that if you have a position you have to lead by example. He agrees with you, Sir Michael.’ She turned to Sir Robert, the chief constable. ‘You know, I’m quite certain that he would like you to say something about that in your speech, Sir Robert.’ At this point Helen looked down the table and gave a little wave and smile to the master, who of course was obliged to wave and smile back. The chief constable thought that the master was waving and smiling at him, and he responded. He did like his dinners at Old College. If that was what the master wanted, he would be happy to oblige.

  ‘Well, if he would like it, I can emphasise that a bit in my speech,’ he said to Helen.

  ‘He’d love it!’ Helen said. ‘Don’t you think so, Sir Michael?’ The chairman was busy hacking his way through the entree, but he did like to make an impression.

  ‘Certainly!’ he blustered. ‘Standards, standards, standards! That’s what it’s all about.’

  Helen was satisfied. She smiled again at the master and then turned her attention to Chin Li.

  ‘How are you this evening, Mr Li? We’re all in awe of your talent with the violin.’

  ‘Dr Brown, I am not Mr Li, actually. Li is my – I suppose I should say – my first name,’ the young man replied in perfect English. Helen smiled. He was a polite, well-spoken young man, she observed. He looked intelligent, but he also looked too young to be in college.

  ‘You’re enjoying Old College and Oxford, are you? Not too lonely here for you, I hope? You know, being away from home and all that.’

  ‘I miss my family very much, so much,’ Li replied. ‘All I do here is work and study!’

  ‘No friends – no time to enjoy yourself?’ Helen was just a bit concerned for this young man. She knew that all work and no play was not a great idea. ‘Li, are the other students friendly, do you think, here at the college?’ Li was silent. ‘I hope Dr Sloan has been able to help you?’ Helen offered.

  ‘I’m sorry I ever met him!’ Li blurted out. He then put his face in his hands. ‘I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that!’

  Helen wondered what Sloan had done to Li. She decided to probe a little further. ‘He was a great help with your scholarship, though, wasn’t he? You know…?’

  ‘You know about that?’ Li sounded surprised.

  ‘Only a few of us know,’ Helen replied with a smile. She decided to take another gamble. ‘Let’s see – your real age is only… it’s really only…’

  ‘Fourteen! Dr Sloan put it up to get me in.’

  Li sounded as though being in was the last thing that he now wanted. Poor chap, thought Helen. It must be very difficult to him to be away from home, and to be so much younger than the rest of the students. Helen warmed to Li and spent the next little while chatting to him about his home in China.

  ‘You must drop in and see me from time to time. My door is always open. I like to have a chat over a cup of tea and I’d certainly like to hear a lot more about China.’ Chin Li relaxed a little bit. Perhaps he’d found a friend at last, someone that he could really talk to. Meanwhile, the dinner activities were warming up. Charlotte Brown, the student president, got up and called out a name. A student stood up and was cheered and booed. He had to do something to entertain. He jumped up on the table and proceeded to do a sailor’s hornpipe dance. There was loud clapping and cheering, and a few bread buns flew through the air.

  Then a bell rang and it was time for the main course. Two very large silver plates arrived at the high table. They were filled with a variety of fowl and fish. The food looked magnificent. Over dinner Helen continued to talk to Li. She decided that Li was simply too young to be in college. While he was obviously clever and very gifted, he was also extremely lonely. She made up her mind to do something about it.

  ‘You know, Li,’ she said, ‘I think it would be nice if you could meet a few people who like the things that you like. If I arranged a little supper one evening, would you come?’

  ‘Yes, I would rather like that Dr Brown. Thank you very much.’

  The bell sounded again for silence, as the chief constable rose to speak. This is what Helen had been eagerly waiting for. He rambled along for a while about the public good, until Helen coughed and looked up at him, when he then remembered what he had to say for the master. He was determined to do this as well as possible, and so he turned and stared directly at the master at the other end of the table. He went on to say that leaders in institutions had to carry the flag, to be above reproach, and then he finished with a rather heavy-handed warning: ‘I must say that those of us fortunate enough to be in high positions have a greater duty, and, if we fail, then the fall must be hard.’

  The master was quite flustered by this last statement. The chief constable was looking straight at him and smiling. What did he know? What had that Helen Brown told him? The constable sat down, continuing to smile at the master as he did so. That should please him, he thought. That should be good for another dinner sometime soon. Helen smiled sweetly at the master, who was grabbing at Sloan and asking him what he thought it all meant.

  Helen thought everything had gone well, better than she expected. There was more student entertainment, and it was time for the final course. Desserts of all kinds came around. Strawberries and cream, meringues, fruits, chocolates and everything that students and chief constables especially loved were generously handed out. When it was time to go, Helen tugged at Sir Michael’s sleeve.

  ‘Sir Michael, there is a matter of great urgency that I need to talk to you about. I believe you’re going to the concert on Sunday. Could I have a few minutes
then?’ Sir Michael was in a very jolly mood.

  ‘Of course, Dr Brown. Just a minute. I’ll put it in my diary, then I won’t forget.’ The master, who had had a most uncomfortable evening, was even more concerned to see the chairman writing something in his diary.

  He made up his mind to get Sloan to find out more. Afterwards, Helen made her way back home, quite happy with the way everything had gone. She was sure she would sleep well tonight, but she wondered whether the master would have quite the same good fortune. In any case, it was game on!

  For Dr Sloan, it had been a very forgettable evening. He stomped heavily up the stairs to his room. By the time he opened the door, Mozart was already high up on the bookshelf. Mozart knew from experience which footsteps meant trouble. Despite Sloan’s pleas to come down and listen to his problems, this tabby cat knew when to stay put.

  10

  Rescue Mission

  Claudia and Julia met outside the school gates as agreed and then walked off down to Walton Street in Jericho, an old part of Oxford, which had numerous coffee shops and old bookshops. They went to a cafe near the old pub called Jude the Obscure. It was actually a second-hand bookshop that served coffee, and they soon found a table surrounded by piles of old books. Claudia was excited. What was Julia’s mysterious plan? What did she have in mind? Julia was in no hurry to tell her.

  ‘How was school today?’ Julia began.

  ‘Exam results tomorrow,’ Claudia replied. ‘I want to do okay, but, you know, there’ll be flak if I do – the usual Stella thing. I think that things will come to a head soon with her, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I used to get angry, you know – it just welled up inside. It was bad, but not anymore. Why should I change who I am because of her?’ It really surprised Claudia how low-key the issue had become. What used to worry the life out of her now seemed almost embarrassing to talk about. Julia didn’t even respond. She just moved on to ask about Kate.