"Young boys like Charlie in my experience are less likely to be lost than to be in hiding."
Oh yes, Miss Hardbroom knew more about young boys than most people would think.
Miss Hardbroom's life out of school was very much a mystery, always had been. She never shared any personal information, no anecdotes, no photos, no names of loved ones. Everybody assumed that she was alone but this was very much untrue or at least had been.
About three years ago (the year before she came to the school) Mrs Constance Haynes received a call that would change her life forever. That day had been the day her son Chris turned seventeen. Her and her husband had bought him a new car, they decided to go out for a drive but Constance had decided that she would stay home and let them have a bit of boy time.
At twelve minutes past three the phone rang. It just seemed like an ordinary phone call…until…
"Hello is this Mrs Haynes?" asked a friendly voice on the other end of the line.
"Yes, this is Mrs Haynes" Constance said not yet even contemplating the horrors to come.
"Okay Mrs Haynes. I'm phoning to let you know that your son (Chris) and your husband (John) have been in a car accident. They are at…" The rest of the conversation was a bit of a blur to Constance. All she managed to get was the hospital that they were at.
After the phone was put back onto the receiver Constance got into her car and started to drive. Once she was in the hospital and had found her way to her family, she was met with a sight that she would never forget for the rest of her life. Her John and Chris were laid on beds beside each other fighting for their lives.
When she went into the room she found out some more about their injuries but she knew in her heart that neither of them was going to make it out of this room alive despite what the doctor said.
Constance was given a seat in between the two beds. She sat for about five minutes and told them both how much she loved them even though they were unconscious and then it happened. At exactly the same time, alarms started to go off on their machines. It was the most gut wrenching sound anybody could ever hear. John and Chris were dead.
The doctors didn't even try to resuscitate because they were too far gone. It was as if they had waited for Constance to have said her goodbyes and then left to go to whatever comes after life.
That was the end of Constance Haynes.
After the funerals and months of grieving she became the woman we know today as Miss Constance Hardbroom. She never explained to anybody that she had been married or had a child, it pulled up too many painful memories. That is why she went back to using her maiden name, too many memories and too many questions to be asked.
People thought that Constance didn't like men but the truth was that many of them reminded her of what she had lost. Constance's clothes all being black (except her night wear) is no coincidence either, she is still in mourning but from time to time you can see something in her eyes, that little sparkle of her former self showing through but you really need to look hard because it doesn't stay for long.
Today was hard for Constance she had to deal with a boy that looked exactly like Chris but a few years younger and when he went missing she couldn't help but say something helpful, but that meant bringing up the memories again.
"Young boys like Charlie in my experience are less likely to be lost than to be in hiding."
Then it happened Miss Hardbroom, the scariest woman in the world with no past and no emotions, let a single tear trickle down her cheek and a small smile lift the corners of her mouth. She had grieved but now she was ready to accept it and move on.