Aneisha had been right, Frank thought, as he surveyed the papers flying around Stella's classroom. Indeed, he would be spending more time with Stella while she was undercover at St Heart's, although he was pretty sure cleaning up the classroom was not what Aneisha had in mind.
"Dinner monkeys?" Frank asked as he began to pick up the papers that Stella's class had thrown around.
Stella shrugged and joined him in the clean-up. "Long story. Any news from Dan and Keri?"
There was a snapping noise and Frank stepped on someone's pencil. He picked up the two halves and lobbed them into the bin. "That's what I came to tell you about. The Runners were testing if Dan could keep up, so he ran off and left Keri behind. We haven't heard from him since."
Stella frowned, bending down to pick up another textbook. "That's not good. We have no idea what these Runners are up to and by the sounds of it, Dan idolises them far too much."
"This is going on his assessment, isn't it?" Frank asked worriedly, trying to sneak a glance at Stella's clipboard.
Stella, of course, did not miss the action and flipped the clipboard over, shielding the assessment sheets from view. "Frank, I'm sorry. As much as I want your team to remain as it is, I have to do my job."
Someone had thrown a book behind the teacher's desk, and Stella was struggling to move it out of the way to get to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Frank came over to help her, and they lifted the desk away from the wall.
'I know, Stella," Frank said as he reached for the book, pulling it out from between the desk and the wall. "I'm not blaming you on anything. Just worried about Dan." He pushed the desk back into place, the heavy timber scraping across the floor.
Stella smiled. "I'll do my best to be as positive and truthful as possible in this assessments, Frank. It's great that you care so much about your agents."
Nodding his appreciation for her compliment, Frank ducked outside to empty the bin, then quickly brought it in again so they could resume cleaning up the classroom. By now, the classroom was completely free of loose paper and books, but neither Frank nor Stella was in a hurry to depart from the other's company.
"At any rate," Frank said, straightening a desk that was already perfectly in line with the rest. "I'm glad they sent you and not Stark."
"I volunteered," Stella replied. She was removing artworks from the wall and pinning them up again, in exactly the same positions as before. "They needed someone unbiased and Stark was far too biased to be sent."
"You're biased too," Frank pointed out.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I can't put forward an unbiased assessment. I thought you were glad I came?"
"I am," Frank said quickly. "The others are as well. They love your classes. Apparently you make a great teacher as well as a great spy."
"Then you should sit in on one of my lessons," Stella said with a laugh. "Mr Flatley was in this one."
Frank opened his mouth to reply, but his mop started flashing. Grabbing the mop, he covered the flashing light with his hand and spoke briefly into the handle. Stella listened to Frank's half of the conversation, trying to work out what's going on.
"Dan's back," Frank said, putting down the mop. "Let's go."
The teacher and the caretaker ran out the room to meet Dan in the playground. Meanwhile, the classroom they left behind had never been so immaculately tidy.
