A Merry Little Christmas by Julia Williams Read Free Book Online

porridge down her top, necessitating a quick change. In fact she wasn’t the only member of staff to arrive after the official time of the meeting’s start, but the way Mrs Garratt, the new Head teacher of Hope Christmas Primary School, looked at her, made Marianne feel that she was a real lightweight.
    Mrs Garratt had been brought in by the governors as ‘a new broom’, according to Diana Carew, after the previous incumbent had left under a slight cloud involving missing amounts of money that the bursar couldn’t account for, but she seemed keen to sweep everything else clean too.
    Marianne’s mood didn’t get any better when, during the course of the meeting, she had to admit that she wouldn’t be able to help on the Year 4 residential trip to the Black Mountains, as it coincided with a week when Jean and David were away, so she had no childcare. Ali Strickland, who had taken over as Year 4 coordinator while Marianne had been on maternity leave, looked smug as she took over and explained to everyone where the trip was taking place, and what the schedule was. She was taking credit for a trip that Marianne had organised the previous year, before she went on maternity leave. She’d left it all ready for Ali just to pick up the pieces, but unfortunately the original date had fallen through, and without telling her, Ali had rebooked for a date Marianne had been unable to attend. Marianne could see from the slightly pursed look on Mrs Garratt’s face that her lack of commitment had been noted. Mrs Anderson might have had her hand in the till, but at least she’d understood about family life.
    In a way, Marianne couldn’t blame Ali. Theirs was a small village school, and there were precious few opportunities for promotion. Marianne had just about managed to negotiate a part-time job share with Jane Sutherland, who’d had a baby the year before her, but Mrs Garratt had made it clear that the situation could be reviewed at any time. Her view was that part-time teachers were not the most effective way of managing staff maternity leave, and Marianne felt conscious that she was under the microscope, the previous five years’ worth of dedication she’d given to the school seeming to count for nothing. But, it was money, she was still hanging on by her fingertips, and for now, Marianne had to be content with that.
    She became vaguely aware the meeting was winding up. Marianne was so tired, she had not exactly been dozing, but her mind had certainly been elsewhere, so it was with a certain amount of trepidation she heard Mrs Garratt saying, ‘So, Marianne, I understand it is normally your job to put on the local nativity. Can we count on you to help the community out again this Christmas?’
    Biting back the retort that, if Mrs Garratt was really interested in the community, she would have known that Marianne had put on the nativity as usual only a month ago.
    ‘Er, to be honest, I haven’t given it much thought,’ said Marianne. ‘I’ve only just got over last year’s efforts.’
    ‘I understand,’ said Mrs Garratt, ‘and I appreciate it’s a long way off, but I was just thinking it would be an excellent opportunity for Ali to show us what she’s made of. So I thought that perhaps next year, we’ll hand it over to her.’
    Marianne had in fact been thinking that putting on the nativity was a bit much now she had family commitments, but the idea that something she’d put her heart and soul into over the last few years could just be taken away from her like that was a further kick in the teeth.
    Miserably, she went to her classroom, and started writing up the literacy topics for the day. Once upon a time she’d loved this job, now she was beginning to hate it. What’s more, every day she was here was a day away from the twins. She felt like she had the worst of all possible worlds.

Mel
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