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Chapter Twenty-Three
Miss Drill had gone to see Miss Cackle to explain everything that had happened during her PE class. Miss Hardbroom had joined them, as the deputy needing to know as well what was going on and Miss Cackle listened in silence until the woman finished speaking.
"Are you sure Mrs Hallow didn't talk to her daughter about this?" the bespectacled woman asked her.
"If she had Esmerelda would not of being scared she is about to drop dead, the woman has two other daughters Ada and I don't want this to happen again, I think it would be wise to call her mother and we can discuss this with Esmerelda present" Dimity said. Hecate looked from Dimity to Ada and then Ada nodded with a sigh. Mrs Hallow really should have known better.
"Alright go and find Esmerelda, I will contact her mother" Ada told Dimity who smiled.
"Thank you Miss Cackle" Miss Drill said as she transferred back to the young girl.
"What are you going to do Ada? I mean can we really get Mrs Hallow in to discuss something like this?" Hecate asked not wanting to judge the woman for her parenting. It went against the witches code.
"We have to discuss why Esmerelda wasn't told Hecate, I am going to contact her it is for the best" the woman told Hecate as she walked to her mirror to call the woman in question.
Esmerelda was still shook up when Miss Drill went to find her. She was talking to Lily and she wasn't freaking out as much as she was before but it was clear she was still trying to come to terms with everything and was scared.
"Esmerelda, Miss Cackle is bringing your mum in" Miss Drill told her. Esmerelda though became upset again, she was worried the woman was going to be angry at her for disturbing her.
"She will be angry, please don't let her!" Esmerelda said looking at her teacher with pleading eyes.
"Sorry Esmerelda but we need to let her know, come on it will be okay" Miss Drill told her as she transferred away with the young blonde after they had said goodbye to Lily.
Ursulla Hallow appeared in the office of Miss Cackle looking annoyed. She was never an easy person to deal with anyway, but Ada had caught her at a bad time.
"Miss Cackle, I was on my way to a very important meeting" the woman said glaring at the woman. She was very angry because she had had to postpone the meeting as Ada told her she urgently needed to see her. Esmerelda being her first child to be at Cackles, they hadn't had to deal with the woman as a mother very much and even though Hecate was not a mother herself and was harsh on the children she looked after, she had to admit she was surprised the woman did not seen concerned they needed to see her urgently about her daughter's well-being and was more concerned about her work.
"Mrs Hallow I am sorry to disturb you but we need to talk to you about Esmerelda" Ada told her, already feeling the woman was being off. She knew this conversation was going to be difficult.
"Why, what has happened?" the woman asked but unlike other parents who would ask that question in a right panic, Ursulla asked as if it was just wasting her time.
"Your daughter started her period" Miss Cackle told the woman bluntly knowing they would never get anywhere in this conversation anywise. The blonde woman didn't react, Ada knew she might be upset about it, as her daughter was growing up but after a few minutes of no reaction Ada was just starting to wonder if she understood her when she finally replied.
"Okay" the blonde woman said not seeming to have much reaction "And you couldn't tell me this through a mirror call because…?" Ursulla said confused and looking more annoyed. It was after all an all girls school, she didn't understood why they were so panicked over it. It was a natural thing they dealt with daily.
"Because Mrs Hallow, this is about the fact Esmerelda was not prepared, she had a breakdown because she didn't know what was happening because you never spoke to her about it beforehand" Hecate replied, becoming frustrated with the woman.
"Why would she have a breakdown?" the woman asked. Ada was starting to wonder if the woman was just playing dumb or if she actually was clueless because she didn't think anyone could be so stupid.
"The girl started bleeding out of nowhere, anyone who saw themselves bleeding without an explanation would panic about it" Ada replied trying to stop herself shouting, she was about to add, 'well most normal people' but thought against it. Just then there was a knock on the door and Esmerelda walked in, led by Miss Drill.
"Hello Esmerelda, take a seat" Miss Cackle told her seeing how fearful the girl still looked. She had never seen her like that before and it worried her. The girl looked like a little part of her had died with what she had found out earlier.
"Well you have told her what to do haven't you?" Mrs Hallow, ignoring her daughter and carrying on like she never walked in.
"Yes I explained to her what was happening, but the question is why didn't you speak to Esmerelda about this before she started school" Dimity asked, unable to hide her anger as easily as her colleagues.
"Them talks are awkward for me, I thought Esmerelda would have come across it in a book at some point, always has her head in a book this one" she replied. Esmerelda kept her head down looking at her lap.
"The talks are awkward for everyone, doesn't mean we just shouldn't give them" Dimity went on, beyond angry at the woman and her uncaring attitude. "Your daughter thought she was dying because you never explained that it was a normal thing" she told the woman hoping hearing that would shock the woman and get her to take some responsibility.
"The thing is Mrs Hallow I still don't understand what the problem was, if you were not up to talking to Esmerelda about it why did you not ask your mother, or mother in law to do it? There is no excuse for leaving the poor girl in the dark" Ada said. She was at first sympathetic to the woman, thinking maybe she just honestly had made a mistake, she had forgotten, or she thought she had told the girl but she hadn't, but she knew she had ignored the subject and didn't care her daughter suffered as a result. She was a cold person.
"I didn't know Esmerelda would get upset" Mrs Hallow replied as if it was her daughters fault for overreacting about it.
"Well in any case this can't happen again" HB replied as she folded her arms to look at the woman.
"I can't go back in time and change it, we haven't invented that spell yet" Mrs Hallow replied, she didn't know what they wanted her to do.
"I don't expect you to change it, the damage is done, but I do expect this not to happen with your other daughters, when they start at this school I don't want a repeat of this situation" Miss Drill replied, not wanting this to happen three times.
"We are not saying you even have to talk to the girls if you find it to distressing, but for goodness sake next time buy a book and tell them they have to read it" Ada went on, agreeing with Dimity she needed to learn. The woman then turned to Esmerelda instead, done with the woman, they weren't going to get anywhere.
"Are you alright now Esmerelda?" the woman asked, worried about the girl and how this would mentally affect her.
Esmerelda didn't look up but shrugged. She was upset and embarrassed about the whole thing. She didn't want this, she wanted to go back to yesterday before this happened, she still felt so sick and she hated it.
"She will be Miss Cackle, I will keep an eye on her" Miss Drill said, always wanting to protect the girl.
"Thank you Miss Drill" Ada said smiling
Ursulla looked around and then turned back to the teachers as she checked her watch as if they were wasting her time.
"Is that it? May I go now I have a meeting to go to" the woman asked. Ada knew if they gave the woman a brain transplant she still probably wouldn't of realised how serious the situation was and she was sick of her so she nodded.
"Yes thank you for coming in" she said as the woman disappeared "And good riddance" she said to the air once she had gone from her sight.
"Esmerelda if at anytime you need to talk my door is open, I reassure you, you will be alright and I am sorry you were left in the dark, hopeful this means that your sisters will be spoken to" Ada said and Esmerelda looked up for the first time. She hoped her mother had learned something from this even if it seemed she hadn't.
Her sisters were not gojg to be spoken to. Miss Cackle didn't seem to understand her mother very well, she knew it would probably come down to her talking to them, but at least they would not be terrified like she was.
"Thank you Miss Cackle" Esmerelda said with a small smile as she stood up to leave, trying to wrap her head around the days events.