"First lesson", Emily explained to Sally as she demonstrated how to use a timetable properly (and not as a paper aeroplane, as Denzil had unhelpfully suggested), "is French with Miss Lipsett. Do you know any French?"
Sally shook her head.
"Don't worry, Miss Lipsett's really good. She'll help you catch up really quickly."
"Yeah," Denzil agreed as they joined the line outside the classroom. "Ain't that right, Bianca?"
"What's that?" Bianca asked, leaning in between Denzil and Emily.
"Miss Lipsett's a great teacher."
"Well, I'm glad you think so, Denzil." Jo Lipsett smiled as she walked past the line. "In you go."
"You can sit next to me," Emily told Sally as they went to the middle aisle. Denzil pulled out a chair next to Bianca and sat down.
"Bonjour, la classe," Jo announced.
"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Lipsett," came the echoed response. Only Sally stayed silent.
"Right, pens out. I hope you've all revised over the holidays, because you've a test today." A unanimous groan rose up as Jo handed out the test papers. Stopping at Sally's desk, she bent down. "Bonjour. I'm Miss Lipsett, your French teacher. Have you done any French before?"
Sally shook her head.
"Jamais. Right. I'll tell you what, why don't you pull up a chair next to my desk and I can teach you a few basics while this lot do the test. How does that sound?"
Sally nodded and followed Jo to the front of the class. Searching through the cupboard, Jo found a few worksheets from the year seven workbook and set them on the desk. Quietly as so not to disturb the other students, Jo proceeded to help Sally learn a few French words. Getting the young girl to speak was a difficult task, she found, but eventually she managed a correctly-pronounced 'bonjour'.
The bell went a lot sooner than Jo expected, and was startled to see Sally trembling at the sound. Several of the other students sniggered at this, and Jo glared at them.
"You've got a lesson to go to, so clear off."
Emily, Bianca and Denzil hung back to wait for Sally.
"It's alright," Emily told her, touching her arm. "It's only the bell."
Sally nodded.
"You three'll look after her, won't you?"
"Of course, Miss," Denzil smiled.
"Good." Patting Sally reassuringly on the back, she watched the four children leave the classroom.
It wasn't until Rachel briefed the rest of the staff at break time that Jo realised the full extent of Sally's quietness. The girl had never been in a school before, and was obviously overwhelmed by the whole situation. Given careful monitoring and a little coaxing, over time it was hoped she would open up and accept the school life like any other student.
Tom was the next teacher to take Sally's class, and like he had been warned would probably happen, the girl stayed silent. The same happened in Chris' lesson. It wasn't until art with Kim last period that she finally opened up.
A new term meant a new project, and to try and tie in the school's pastoral support with the lessons, Kim had selected to get the children to look at emotion through art. The first task was simple: she presented each child with a piece of plain paper and a selection of paints, and asked them to convey how they were feeling at the moment.
Some were predictable: red blobs for anger, yellow swirls for happiness. Denzil's was a big black circle with a blue centre, and when questioned, he explained it was a black eye which his baby brother had given him over the holidays. Emily's was a colourful representation that vaguely resembled tartan, except the paint had run. Bianca's picture was covered in handprints, with red and orange flame-like streaks over them. But it was Sally's that stood out to Kim the most.
A stick figure was painted in the middle, surrounded by concentric circles of various colours, each with blobs on them. There was a sad expression on the stick figure's face, and Kim knew instantly it was supposed to be Sally.
The bell went for the end of the lesson, and while most of the kids surged out, thankful school was over, Sally lurked behind. She went over to Kim, and quietly stood behind her as she washed up the paintbrushes.
"Oh, hello Sally. I didn't see you there. Was there something you wanted to tell me?"
"I like art."
"That's fantastic to know. You know, if you ever want to come along at lunch and do some painting, you're more than welcome to."
Sally nodded, immediately closing up. As she left the classroom, Kim wondered whether she had just managed to get the most out of Sally that anyone had all day. The lesson had been a success, if only for those three words. She made a point to mention it to Rachel when she saw her.
Rachel herself was in her office, reading through a report when there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," she called, closing the file and setting it down. "How was your day, Sally?"
Sally nodded. "Ok."
Rachel leant under her desk and brought out the carrier bag. "Here you go. I put it on the radiator so it dried off for you, but it's all in there." She handed it to Sally, who clutched it tightly. "Is your mum going to pick you up?"
Sally shook her head.
"So you're going home on your own? Do you know the way?"
Sally shook her head once more.
"Ok. Do you want me to take you?"
A nod.
Rachel opened her drawer and brought out the form Mrs Parseri had filled in that morning. "Right, here we go. 42 Reynolds Place. I'll walk you there, so you can try and remember the way. Is that alright with you?"
Sally nodded again. Rachel picked up her phone from the desk and led Sally out of the office. Passing Chris on the stairs, she quickly explained where she was going.
It was a ten minute walk to the address Rachel had copied onto the back of her hand. Part of one of the roughest areas in town, Sally held her hand tightly. Rachel knocked on the front door, to be greeted by an obese man smoking a cigar.
"Mr Parseri? I'm Rachel Mason. I've brought Sally home."
"Parseri?" The man grunted. "No-one of that name here. I'm Jones. And I've never seen that girl before in my life."
"Sally?" Rachel crouched down to her level. "Is this where you live?"
Sally shook her head.
Rachel stood up again. "Ok, well I'm sorry to bother you, Mr Jones. It seems I've been given the wrong address." She led Sally down to the end of the drive and pulled out her mobile. "Kim? It's Rachel. I want you to confirm Sally Parseri's address for me." Upon hearing her name, Sally looked up, worried. "Definitely number 42? Right. And the phone number?" Rachel scrawled the digits on her arm. "Ok, thanks a lot, Kim."
"Ok, Sally. It seems your mum's made a mistake filling in the form. I'm going to try and call her, and find out where it is you actually live."
Sally simply nodded as Rachel dialled the number. "Hello, is that Mrs Parseri?"
"Parseri? Never heard of her. I think you've got the wrong number, love."
"Oh. Ok. Well, then, I'm very sorry to have bothered you." Rachel hung up and turned back to Sally. "She's not answering. I'll take you back to the school, and we'll see what we can do about getting hold of her from there." Suddenly, Mrs Parseri's words from earlier clicked into her head.
Can you take her?
What if she didn't mean just taking her into the school? Hoping for the best but fearing the worst, Rachel and Sally headed back to Waterloo Road.
