Carved in Stone: Monochrome Destiny (10 page)

“Uh, Sir?”
 Robyn
half shouted as she made her way down the passageway.  “Can I have a
word?”

David
Rowe, Head Teacher, looked at Robyn running like a schoolgirl up the corridor,
her skirt hitched up and her shoes clattering on the parquet and sneered. 
His glare stopped Robyn in her tracks.  She skidded to a halt as he tilted
his head back and scrutinised her down the long sharp nose which was his most
prominent feature.

“Are
you running in my corridor?” Each word was clipped, slow and deep, a sound of
authority and judgement. “How do you expect pupils to behave if the staff
cannot?”

Now
Robyn felt like a child, properly chastised and put in her place.

“Oh.”
The realisation of how unprofessional she was being hit her with one look from
the Head’s firm, disapproving face.  Her shoulders slumped.  “I’m
sorry.  I just wanted to ask about Kat, um Katherine Harris. Did she
really call? Has she really left teaching?”

“I
would think that you have better things to do than waste time asking silly
questions about a silly girl. 
Like teaching your class
perhaps?”
  He nodded behind Robyn and she turned to see that her
door was now ajar with several of her year twelve class listening intently to
their conversation. When she turned back to the Head, his piercing hawk-like
eyes made her insides shrink a little, but all sense was already lost within
the blanket of desperation that covered her.

“I
know that it can’t be true. There is no way that Kat would go without telling
me.  Someone is not telling the truth.” She had no choice, she told
herself.  Something was desperately wrong and Robyn had to get to the
bottom of it.

“And
you think it’s me, do you?” David Rowe puffed out his chest as Robyn challenged
him.  “How dare you!  I took the phone call.  I spoke to Miss
Harris myself.  Are you calling me a liar, Miss Darrow?”

Taken
aback, Robyn shook her head.  “Uh. . . No . . .  I. . .  No of
course not . . . I . . .”

“I
think we’ve wasted time enough.  Don’t you have a class to teach?” And
with that he pointed to her classroom in clear dismissal. “I wouldn’t want to
lose two staff members today.”

Robyn
felt like she’d been slapped and that pain broke through all her irrational
thoughts.  She turned without saying a word and walked quickly back to her
classroom, head down and defeated.

Separated
from reality, from time itself, Robyn sat on her stool as the world went on
without her, her thoughts deep and disturbing.  Kat had been her rock ever
since their first introduction.  She’d become the centre of Robyn’s
universe and Robyn couldn’t believe that it had all been a lie.  There was
no way that Kat had made such important plans without consulting Robyn,
especially as her friend would have known the impact that the decision would
have on Robyn.  The lump of discomfort still sat large and painful in her
gut.

The
bell rang, snapping Robyn’s head up, but she found herself alone.  In
front of her were several workbooks placed in an orderly pile, but the year
twelve’s were gone.

As
Robyn picked up the books in order to return them to their rightful place on
her shelves, the door opened.

“What
did I tell you?” Andrew’s voice was stern, and unwelcome.

She
didn’t want to face him, he sounded so irate and she couldn’t get her thoughts
together for an altercation, but he wasn’t going to just leave.

“I
don’t have to do what you say, Andrew.”  Nervous anxiety had been pumping
adrenaline throughout her system for the last hour and more.  Now she had
little energy to fight and her tone was more resigned than angry.

Andrew
stepped into the room and allowed the door to close behind him, but he said
nothing.

Robyn
rubbed her eyes and stared at the floor.  “She wouldn’t just leave.” 
The words weren’t for him, they were for her.  She had to believe
that.  She couldn’t face the alternative.

Andrew
didn’t move but his voice was solemn.  “People leave, it’s just
life.  You can’t blame yourself.”

Robyn
looked up.  “Why do you think I blame myself?”

He
shook his head.  “You sound dismayed.”  He stepped forwards but
stopped himself before advancing further.  “Katherine is a grown woman who
never really fit in here.  If she chose to leave, it probably had nothing
to do with you.”

He
was right, of course.  If Kat had chosen to leave and damn her career, she
had made the decision on her own.  But he was wrong about it having
nothing to do with Robyn.

“We
had a fight.  I hurt her.”

Andrew
placed his hands on her teaching bench and leaned into it.

“Katherine
didn’t make this decision because you had a falling out.”

It
was more than that, Robyn knew it, hadn’t fully understood until now.  Kat
wasn’t one to bear grudges, but she’d brooded for days.  Robyn had really
hurt her.  Looking at Andrew she realised that Kat’s feelings must have
run deeper for this one man than for any of the droves that had gone before
him.  Robyn hadn’t believed Kat was capable of a serious relationship,
fidelity being a big issue, but Kat must have thought she was, and this was the
man she had chosen.  Robyn had befriended him inadvertently and therefore
stepped on Kat’s toes.  Friends didn’t do that to each other.  Kat
could forgive many things but probably not that and after all, who knew her
better?

Robyn
glanced away.  Who knew her better?  That was it.

“It
wasn’t her.”  Strength had returned to her voice as she turned back to
Andrew.

“What
wasn’t her?”  Wary, he stood up straight.

“It
wasn’t her, couldn’t have been.”  Robyn’s body filled with heated
determination.  “Anyone could have made that call.  The Head wouldn’t
know her voice from any other.”

Andrew
shook his head as his brow furrowed and he stepped forwards.  “Whatever
you’re thinking of doing, don’t.”

“You
don’t own me,
Obursen
, and you certainly don’t tell
me what to do.”  Robyn grabbed her keys and pulled her bag out from under
the desk.

“Will
you listen to someone who is trying to help you?  You were the one who
brought up being friends.  As your friend, I am advising you to not do
anything whilst you’re emotional.”  Andrew grabbed her arm firmly to show
his point and make her look at him.

As
he spun her around, Robyn was glad that she wore a jacket, for had his skin
have touched hers she knew that she would have been incapable of standing her
ground.  As it was, she had found the determination to not be thwarted.

“If
you want to help me, then cover for me.  I don’t have any more lessons and
I’m getting out of here.”  His eyes bore into hers, they were so
expressive, filled with a mixture of anger and concern, but he released his
grip.

“I’ll
cover.  As long as you’re out of here you can’t upset the Head
anymore.”  He turned and left.

Robyn
went out the fire door at the back of her room and ran to the car.  She
peeled out of the car park with little concern for who was watching.

She
knew exactly what she was going to do and Andrew
Obursen
wasn’t going to like it, but if she was right, Kat could very well be in
danger, or worse.

Two hours later,
Robyn was sat in her lounge with local police officer, PC Godwin.  She had
given him an outline of Kat’s disappearance, made a statement and officially
reported her missing.  After showing him Kat’s room, where there were
still clothes and toiletries and Kats abandoned car, the PC had begun to take
her seriously.

Now,
it was the holes in her knowledge of her friend that was giving him cause for
concern.  Robyn couldn’t say much about Kat’s other friends.  She
only knew first names, no surnames.  She didn’t even know exactly who Kat
was running with during her trip or where she was supposed to be staying. 
She did know Kat’s parent’s names, Susan and Daniel, but she didn’t think
anyone knew exactly where they were, even Kat.  All she could provide was
a recent photograph.

Then
the hard questions came.

“Why
didn’t you report her missing on Wednesday when she didn’t show up?” PC Godwin
looked at her, pen in hand.

“Um,
I thought that she had extended her trip or something.”

“And
was extending her trip without telling you, something she was likely to do?” He
focused on Robyn’s face, trying to discern the sincerity of her answer.

“Yeah,
I guess it was.  I thought that she would have phoned, but we had a
falling out just before she left, and I found her charger here.  I thought
that her phone was out of charge.”

“So
why report her missing today?”

“She
didn’t turn up for work.  That’s when I knew something was wrong. 
She might have extended her trip but she wouldn’t miss work.”

“Where
is it she works?” He wrote down her every answer.

“The
secondary school, she’s a PE teacher.”

He
was nodding as he wrote.  Robyn was certain he had known that fact before
walking through the door.  Kat and Robyn were already well known in the
small town and Kat was hardly a person who would go unnoticed.

“What
did school do when she didn’t turn up today?” He looked up at her now.

Robyn
sipped tea, trying to stop the slight quiver in her hands.

“Um,
initially they didn’t know, but I went to the office as soon as I was told and
they were cross about having to put emergency cover in place and then they said
that she phoned and quit and won’t be back.”

It
came out in a garbled rush but the police officer missed nothing.  He sat
back against the sofa, picked up the tea she had made him, drank and sighed “So
why are you reporting her missing if she rang the school to explain?”

“It’s
wrong, it’s all wrong.  I know Kat.  I know that she wouldn’t just
make a decision like this without talking to me.  I know that she meant to
come back.  Something is not right, I just know it.” Robyn was begging and
she knew it.  Her voice pleaded what her heart wanted to say.

The
officer looked at her, assessing and making judgements about her no doubt.

“Look!
I know how it sounds and yes, Kat wasn’t the most reliable person but we were
,
are, friends and she would have said something.  The
Head took that call.  How would he know that it was definitely her? 
She wouldn’t just quit.  Kat’s made of sterner stuff, I’m sure of
it.”  Robyn found that resolve was stiffening her spine.  She
returned the PC’s stare head on, trying to show that she spoke only the truth.

“Does
Katherine have a Facebook account or Twitter or anything other than the email
address you’ve given me?”

“She
has a Facebook account, not Twitter.  She used it occasionally to keep in
touch with old friends, but I always got the feeling that she wasn’t too
concerned about it.  She lives for the moment, not the past.  If you
know what I mean?” He noted that down before staring at Robyn again.

“Do
you?”

Robyn
looked at the floor before answering.  “No.  There’s no-one for me to
keep in touch with anymore.”

She
kept her gaze lowered.  This conversation was hard enough without seeing
the pity that would be on his face.

“Has
Katherine ever expressed any ideas or plans to hurt herself that you know of?”

“What?”
shocked, Robyn looked up and put her cup back onto the table, “Of course she
hasn’t.  She’s not like that.  She’s strong.”  She swallowed as
the uncomfortable thought had left her throat dry.  “She’s not suicidal.”
She spoke the words but did she truly believe them?  Today had thrown her
self-belief into turmoil.  Could she be certain of anything anymore?

“Has
Katherine any reason to leave?  For instance, is there anyone who she
might be hiding from?”  Again he looked at Robyn intently.

“No,”
she said, calmly meeting his gaze.

They
sat in silence for a moment before a hollow disjointed voice sounded from the
radio speaker on the officer’s shoulder.  He looked at Robyn solemnly
before rising from the sofa and heading out of the house.

“Go
ahead.”  She heard the PC say as he pulled the front door closed behind
him.

When
he walked back in, Robyn was on tenterhooks.  PC Godwin sat down,
indecision obvious on his face before he spoke.  “Okay! Look, I’ll admit
that she left some stuff here, including her car, which is unusual if she had
planned to leave, and not contacting you, in particular, is peculiar.  But
it could just be that she just left.”

“I
can’t believe that.”

His
shoulders dropped a little as he sighed.  “I know.”  He sat
forwards.  “I’ve just been informed that no person with the name Katherine
or Kat Harris has been admitted to hospital or picked up by the police in the
last few days, so we can rule out incidents or injuries for now.”

Robyn
heaved a large sigh.