POOR MISS HONEY
A FIERCE, BRAVE GANG STORY
A/N As Lofty is now at Holby, I couldn't resist bringing a few of the Holby characters into the FBG AU. Trigger warnings: Mentions of child cruelty and minor injury to adults.
When Miss Honey has a nasty fall, the Fierce Brave Gang step in to help in more ways than one. Characters included from Holby and Casualty.
Honey Wright loathed winter. If it wasn't snowing it was raining or there was that horrible gale force wind that was capable of knocking people off balance. Even on cold dry days there was often a treacherous coating of frost on the pavements. Honey could only cope by leaving her pretty shoes and sandals in the cupboard until spring came and wearing clunky trainers or walking boots. Then there were the kids on her road, who had no consideration for anybody and were allowed to slide on the pavements, making them downright dangerous.
She tapped on the window peevishly as Sacha Levy and Matteo Rossini slid past, yelling in glee. Even when Matteo almost went flying into the road and only saved himself by gripping on to a street lamp, he just chuckled and went back to try the slide again.
"That lady's tappin' to us on the window."
"She always does, Sash. She's just a killjoy."
"My cousin goes to Holby Mixed Infants and that lady's their cook. Morven says she's brilliant" piped up little Jasmine Burrows.
Rossini quelled her with a look.
"You're only a baby, Jas. You don't go to proper school yet. I'm gonna slide again."
Honey opened the window:
"Can you please stop sliding? I need to get over that road so I can get to work."
Matteo was feeling a bit sulky. The last Alien comic in the big newsagents had gone already and Matteo knew who'd have got it. That little curly-haired twit from Mixed Infants. His lip curled. His own school, St Cuthbert's, was much tougher and much better.
"I'll take you across, Miss."
Matteo rolled his eyes at the betrayal as Sacha guided Honey across the road, where she was able to catch her bus. He waited until Sacha returned.
"You're not my friend for a week now."
But Sacha was feeling sorry for the lady. She'd been really scared of falling.
"Don't care."
He did, but he wasn't telling Matteo that.
It had been a good day after all, Honey thought, as she rounded the corner. The kids had loved her low-fat home- made yogurt dessert and Cal had walked her to the bus stop. Almost home now…
That was when she suddenly landed hard. The impact had mainly been on her bottom but her foot felt funny. She struggled to get up but couldn't put her foot down. She made one more effort then realised that she'd be spending her evening in the emergency department of the local hospital.
"At least three days? But I've a job to go to tomorrow" she protested.
The nurse was kind but firm.
"You heard the doctor, love. That swelling's got to go down before he can fix your foot. If you like, he can call your work…"
"T-thank you" Honey whispered.
Mrs Beauchamp called them all into the Assembly Hall and told them the news. Miss Honey had had a bad fall and would be in hospital for three days and then off work for at least a week.
"Who'll cook?" asked Ethan, as usual concerned with his own priorities.
"We'll advertise for a temporary cook, but in the meantime it'll have to be sandwiches from Sainsrose this lunchtime" Mrs Beauchamp explained.
Ethan's lower lip jutted. He'd been looking forward to Miss Honey's Carbonara.
"Ethan, Miss Honey had a really nasty time. She'll have to have an operation on her foot and she'll feel horrid afterwards. Then she'll have to wear a big cast on her leg for at least three weeks."
Ethan's cheeks flushed but he stopped complaining. He decided to tell Call all about it at playtime.
"Mrs Beauchamp, if we get a collection for Miss Honey, would somebody go into town and get her something nice with it?" asked Zax. Zax were really Max and Zoe, and were the joint founders of the Fierce, Brave Gang. Even Mr Keogh called them Zax now.
There was another blow to the Gang. Mr Keogh had told them when he first started Dervla Days, that if the weather was too windy, wet or wintry, they wouldn't be able to go.
"Dervla gets a bit giddy in snow and she's likely to pull somebody over" he'd explained. The kids, much as they loved the Wednesday afternoon trip into town with Dervla, with the pupil who'd been best behaved all week holding her lead, understood the problem.
"I fall down easily as it is without Dervla pulling me" confessed Lofty, adding:
"I don't get told off for it now though."
The Gang knew all about how Lofty's mother, the unstable, alcohol-dependent Julia, had begun by belittling her son and then had added slapping and punching to her words, until the day Mr Keogh saw the bruises on Lofty's arm. Lofty was now Mr Keogh's adopted son and there was an unspoken bond between the sharp-tongued Maths teacher and the small boy.
"That Miss Honey from Mixed Infants has fell down and hurt her bum and broke her foot" Sacha said loudly to Morven in the playground at St Cuthbert's the next day. He said it loudly enough so that Matteo, who was leaning against the wall, whistling, could hear him.
Morven looked shocked.
"Will she have to go in a wheelchair for ever?" she gasped. To six-year-old Morven, this seemed perfectly possible with a hurt bum and a broken foot.
Matteo tried to pretend he wasn't listening. Only Sacha could see his head turning slightly.
To compensate for both the loss of Dervla Day and Miss Honey's cooking, Mrs Beauchamp took the kids into town herself, and not only waited patiently until the present had been bought, but took them for sandwiches and drinks at the local café. Zax, as was their privilege, had gone into the shop to buy the romcom DVD that they thought Miss Honey would love.
"Tomorrow afternoon Miss Freeman and I will take this DVD up to Miss Honey in hospital" Mrs Beauchamp assured them.
"Just remember it's an offence for non-hospital staff to be found misbehaving in hospital cupboards. I'd hate to see you and Rita arrested" Mr Keogh added under his breath.
Matteo lay in bed, thoroughly miserable. He knew it was bad of him to make the slide and then make it slipperier, and now that Miss Honey from Mixed Infants had broken her bum and hurt her foot and it was all his fault.
Next morning, he got his piggy bank from the shelf, shouted "Got to go to school early, Gran, we've got a test" and crept off.
Which is why, when Sacha came round later to call for Matteo, his Gran was completely mystified and not a little worried.