Little Treasures 6 Part II

 The loudest and most active voice amid a sea of chatterers on the school bus, June had never noticed the man who drove her to and from school every day, which was why she didn't notice he had been replaced until her sister pointed it out on the ride home three weeks before June went missing, and even then she shrugged. When Stella shared the news with her mother, she got exactly the reaction she was expecting. Dahlia got on the telephone and rallied the support of other mothers and arranged a meeting with the schoolboard the very next day. After listening patiently to the women, whom she would dub the Jabbering Gentillery to her partner, Vera, later that evening, headmistress Hilda Abernathy assured them that there was no cause for concern.

'Mr Finn came to us with an unfortunate injury and a glowing reference from the army, and we would have employed him as a driver then and there but, as you all know, Mr. Philips was a veritable institution by then.'

She looked around the room to see whether the witches were buying the story before she pressed on.

'We couldn't, in all good conscience, turn away one of our bravest, so rather than see him restort to begging in the streets, we took him on as groundskeeper, with the proviso that should anything prevent Mr. Philips from safely getting your daughters to and from school, Mr. Finn would step in, so naturally when I was informed of Mr. Philips accident yesterday afternoon, I didn't hesitate. I do undetstand your concerns, but I can assure you that when it comes to my position here, the safety and wellbeing of your girls is my top priority. I would never knowlingly put them in jeopardy.'

She added the word Knowingly as insurance, but when she noticed that the majority of the women were dabbing at their eyes with monogrammed handkerchiefs, Hilda knew she had them. The board was so desperate to hire a groundskeeper that no one had actually bothered to check the man's references at the time, and just took it on good faith that his missing septum ocurred as a result of flying shrapnel from a jeep explosion. Hilda was so desperate to get rid of them that she would have told these miserable snits Finn was royalty if that was what it took, but mercifully they went away satisfied. She wondered if they would care who was ferrying their brats around if they knew the details of Mr. Philips' "accident."

It was well known that not a drop of alcohol had passed Roger Philips' lips in all of his fifty-nine years, so it came as a tremendous shock to Hilda when she found the old man passed out cold at the wheel. No one was more surprised than Mr. Philips himself when he woke up in hospital after having medicinal alcohol flushed from his veins. Whatever questions police threw at him, he always gave the same answers, insisting that the only liquid he ever poured into his thermos was coffee and that, no, he did not take it Irish.

After a quick word from the head of the school board to the officer in charge, and a rather long handshake, no charges were laid, and Mr. Philips signed a letter of resignation which stated that he was regretfully quitting his post for health reasons, but to a man who lived to work, retirement was a nice word for death, and he wasn't ready to go yet. Not while his mind was still sharp. He set about proving his innocence, starting with daily visits to the headmistresses office. She accomodated him at first, as he was a lovely man and she was quite fond of a tipple herself, but then he took his fight to the schoolyard and when that didn't garner the desired result, all over town. He waited outside the school, outside Hilda's green grocer and finally, right outside her house. Hilda had forgiven and forgotten thus far because he reminded her of the brother she left behind in England, but any fondness she harbored evaoprated when she came home to find Philips blocking her front door, and having what looked like a rather one-sided conversation with Vera.

'I've been sympathetic up to now, Mr. Philips, but this has to stop.'

'Call me Roger, or is it only certain people you talk to on a first-name basis?'

'I beg your pardon?'

'You'll be beggin' the school board's silence once I tell them about your living arrangements.'

Vera's eyes widened. Hilda held her composure, barely, and went into business mode.

'What can I do for you, Mr. Philips?'

Philips smiled.

'You can keep and eye on that muck-sweeper, Finn, that's what you can do. It was him put that posion in my flask, and it's only a matter of time before he hurts one of the little ones. I don't want to tell you your business, but I wouldn't want to live with that on my conscience,' he nodded at Vera, 'not with so much else weighing it down already.'

From then on, Hilda did keep an closer eye on Finn, but Finn had been keeping a close watch on her since he first saw Philips waiting outside her office, and all it did was hasten him into action even sooner than planned. He watched the children milling about the school yard on the last day of the month, and thought the way his quarry was lording over them was fitting. They would all grow into models of their spoiled mothers, marry models of their entitled fathers, and settle into lives of unremarkable comfort and regimen. June was meant for better things.

Finn waited outside the door to the north corridor after recess until the tide of excited voices began to ebb, and when he knew in his head there were only three left, he went inside. June and her two little minions were standing around, gossiping about whichever less worthy girl was June's un-favorite this week. Finn waited until the handmaidens went on ahead, allowing her majesty to make a grand entrance as usual before he appoached, affecting as humble a look as he could manage.

'Miss Thomas?'

June looked at him like he had bugs in his teeth.

'Yes?'

Finn was at a momentary loss for words. June didn't appreciate this waste of her valuable time.

'Well?'

'I'm sorry, Miss, but I thought I'd better tell you: the headmistress has got her eye on your little friend there.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, I was in her office yesterday, getting the keys to the bus, and she was talking to her friend on the telephone. I'm not one to speak ill of my emplyer but, well, when I overheard her talking about confiscating your lovely pin, I thought I ought to come tell you, seeing as you love it so much.'

Tears welled in June's eyes. 

'I'll tell my mother.'

'Your poor mother's been through so much already. Tell you what, why don't you let me hold onto it, just til the end of the day? I promise I won't let no one near it, not even her.'

June nodded, wiped her eyes, and unfastened the brooch.

'Promise you'll give it back?'

'Cross my heart and hope to die, Miss.'

June spent the rest of the day feeling naked. Nobody commented on it, but that didn't bother her. They were jealous, that was all, and as soon as she got home, she and her treasure would be together again. Finn almost felt sorry for the girl, and ached to tell her just how special she was, but he couldn't, so he contented himself with closing his eyes and going over every inch of the picture he'd drawn in his head when he was her age, and how sublime it would be when the picture was made flesh.

He also kept this picture in mind while he placed a note in Stella Thomas' locker. Stella, who had only told her closest friends about the town boy she liked, was horrified by the note at first, but then she decided she could forgive whoever it was that told, because if she ended up walking down the aisle with Eddie Townsend, she'd thank them. Finn paced the basement floor and dragged heavily on his sixth cigarette of the hour. This was the one part of his plan where there was no margin for error. If the elder Thomas girl didn't arrive at the appointed time to meet with her grocery store sweetheart, she would board the bus with her sister, and although the quick disposal of a body was something for which he was prepared, he really didn't want to sully what would be an otherwise glorious day. 

Then he heard the unmistakable rhythm of Stella Thomas's dainty footsteps, and stubbed out his half-smoked Camel.

'Hello?'

'Ssh,' Finn whispered, 'or we'll get caught.'

The footsteps stopped on the fourth riser.

'Where are you?'

'Under the stairs. Quick, before that creepy gardener comes back.'

Stella didn't move. FInn started to sweat.

'You look beautiful today, Stell.'

FInn thought he heard the twelve-year-old's breath catch before she rushed down the stairs toward him, two steps at a time.

'Stop.'

Stella stopped dead at the bottom of the stairs.

'Turn around.'

Stella turned to face the wall.

'Close your eyes. I've got a surprise for you.'

Stella closed her eyes. Finn took the cloth out of his pocket, moved up behind her, and covered her mouth until she went limp in his arms. With the elder girl hidden safely away in the cupboard under the stairs, Finn took the bus keys off the wall and walkd outside, whistling as he went. He counted the children as they piled in, a habit he saw no reason to abandon now, and nodded a salutation to the last of them. 

'Afternoon, Miss June. Something wrong?'

'My sister isn't here yet.'

'Oh, that. Your sister went home earlier, with your maid. I think she was feeling poorly.'

June hesitated, finding it difficult to believe that Dahlia would send Cora to pick up any of her children. Finn revved the engine and smiled.

'Better hurry, Miss. Don't want to keep your little friend waiting.'

June scrambled onto the bus and took a seat at the very front, ignoring her friends at the rear. There would be time for explanations later, when there weren't more important things worry about. Finn pulled the leaver just as the headmistress came rushing toward the bus. Hilda managed to lay a hand on one of the glass door panels before the bus turned sharply toward the exit, and she was almost sent ass-first into a mud puddle left by the unseasonable rain. She tottered to her feet, dusted herself off, and went back to the office at a half trot without really knowing why.

Finn smiled at June in the rear view mirror as her friend Dawn, the only thing standing between them now, disembarked. He let out a long, quiet breath, shut the door and pulled away, too focused to notice he was being watched. Like the headmistress, Dawn Horrocks was nursing a nagging doubt that wouldn't go away but with younger legs and only half the patience of a responsible adult, it was Dawn who raised the alarm. Finn slowed the bus down to a stop at the foot of the hill that lead to the Thomas place, consulted his mirrors, and turned the wheel. June shot out of her seat.

'WAIT!'