The Father's House Read Free Page B

His half-sister, Dorothy, had been caned a couple of times too. They must have inherited the same genes for cheekiness. Lucy knew she would drop dead with the shame if the guidance ever happened to her.
    Suddenly her heart sank. A small brazier was being wheeled on from the side of the stage. The headmaster, with a flourish, poured a scented liquid into it and it burst into flames. John, the skinniest boy in her class – in the whole school – was being called up yet again. She closed her eyes and quickly ran her fingers back and forth along her reminder, trying to soothe the beating of her heart. Would he remember what she had told him? “Just stroke your reminder and the Magnifico will help you. It always works for me.”
    The headmaster stood John in front of him and looked into his eyes. “What do we have here, Boy?” He waved his hand towards the brazier.
    John’s face twitched as he whispered, “The fire of the burning flesh, Sir, or melting flesh, Sir.”
    â€œAnd why is it here, Boy?”
    â€œTo remind us what awaits the sinner, Sir.”
    â€œAnd what is this for, Boy?” said the headmaster, unhooking the guidance cane from the side of his chair. “To guide sinners along the path towards righteousness, Sir.”
    Lucy could barely hear the response. She was willing John to listen to her mind.
Stroke the reminder, stroke the reminder
.
    â€œRoll up your trouser legs, Boy.” Red marks from the previous caning still showed on John’s calves. This was the fourth time in two months
    Lucy’s lips moved silently as she begged the Magnifico to forgive John’s sin. She remembered the first time he had pulled a face when the teacher spoke to him in class. His mouth had twisted and his right eye twitched. The other children had looked on horrified at his impertinence, and then someone had giggled. Despite the first beating he had done it again, and again, and the twitch got worse each time. Once Lucy had asked him why he didn’t stop, and he said he couldn’t.
    â€œDon’t be silly. Of course you can!” she had said.
    Now she opened her eyes and held her breath. John’s face was twisting and twitching. His fingers ran frantically back and forth along the full circle of his reminder. Then, as he silently accepted the grievance, Lucy knew he had spoken the truth. He genuinely couldn’t stop. A wave of shame swept through her as she remembered what she had said. She looked sideways at David and saw his fists were clenched till they were white to the bone. The entire assembly was silent.
    When it was all over and the brazier had been wheeled back into the wings, and the closing hymn to the Magnifico had been sung, the subdued children shuffled down the hallway to their various dreary classrooms. Lucy settled herself at her desk and pulled out her books for the first lesson. She looked neither right nor left. Each child stared straight ahead, at the teacher or at the board. All hands rested on the desktops. No-one whispered to his or her neighbour, or giggled, or sniggered, or fidgeted. Absolute silence reigned until the teacher spoke, and then the school day started on its usual routine of prayers, maths, English, prayers again, Spanish or French, geography, then prayers and the lunch break. After lunch there would be reading from the Magnifico’s
Holy Vision
, followed by computers or carpentry for the boys, sewing or cooking for the girls, and more prayers.
    The morning dragged. Lucy couldn’t concentrate. The board, and even the teacher, were eclipsed by John’s poor twitching face and the reminder round his skeletal wrist. At last it was geography, which meant it was nearly lunchtime. Lucy perked up a little. She liked geography because sometimes the class would be allowed to watch documentaries on a television set perched high up on a shelf in the corner of the classroom. Father Copse didn’t allow television at number