THE HUNTING SEASON
By Pink Panther
At last, I”ve managed to finish another chapter. I”m sorry it”s taken so long, but life got in the way big time! Now read on and enjoy!
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CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
February 1961
It was Monday morning. By eleven o”clock Alex and Bradshaw had finished their maths tutorial. It was time for them to enjoy themselves.
“Sir,” Bradshaw asked. “You know you said that you”re having sex with Pennington. Does he know you”re doing it with me?”
“I don”t think so,” Alex admitted.
“Aren”t you going to tell him then, sir?”
“I”ve not really thought about it. Because I don”t teach Pennington, I don”t really know him that well. Although I realised he was `available”, shall we say, I wasn”t going to approach him. It would have been too awkward. But as I told you a few weeks ago, after the football match against Lakefield, he pretty much ambushed me. Well, I wasn”t going to turn him down, but I”m still not really close to him, nothing like I am with you.”
“Oh! I thought you might want to have us together, sir.”
“Really? Would you like that? To be honest, you and Pennington are such different personalities, I”d never even considered it. I mean, I can”t see you two ever being friends.”
“He”s very sexy though, isn”t he, sir?”
“So you”d like to have sex with him?”
“Yes sir.”
“Fair enough. What do you think you”d do? You”re not ready to fuck him yet.”
“We could suck each other off. Does he like kissing, sir?”
“Yes.”
“Then we could do that too, couldn”t we? D”you think he”d want to fuck me?”
“I”m not sure. He”s never mentioned wanting to do that.”
“So does he like taking it up his bum, sir?”
“You could say that. As soon as I found out he”d taken it before, I went straight for it. I really shouldn”t have. He”d only taken it once, almost three months earlier, and it had been his cousin”s, who was thirteen at the time. Well, he squealed when I stuck it into him, so I know I hurt him. But a couple of days later he was back asking for more.”
“Wow! I”d love to watch you doing that, sir!”
Alex was rather taken aback. Of course, he knew Bradshaw wanted to have sex with other boys. The lad had even talked about wanting to fuck one, which in due time he would. But hearing his prot�g� say that he wanted to want to watch him fuck Pennington”s bottom was a total surprise.
“Well, I”m not making any promises,” he said quietly. “I”ll have to see what I can arrange. Meanwhile,” he added, stroking the twelve-year old”s thigh, “I think it”s time we had some fun.”
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
Alex and Martin sat on their chairs, watching Whitney and Pennington”s sex-play. The boys were totally involved in what they were doing, which made it a very erotic spectacle. Finally, it moved towards its conclusion. After smearing K-Y over Whitney”s cock, Pennington rolled onto his back, allowing the older lad to lift up his legs. Moments later, the teenager was kneeling in position, guiding his hard prong onto his younger friend”s boy-hole.
Alex turned to Martin and smiled.
“Go on,” he urged. “This is what you asked for.”
Getting onto the bed, the young choirmaster moved in behind Whitney, waiting patiently while the thirteen-year old”s penis slowly disappeared into Pennington”s bottom. Finally, Whitney bent at the waist, lowering his torso between the youngster”s legs until their lips met in a sensuous kiss.
“Okay,” Martin instructed. “Just keep still for a moment.”
He moved right in, aiming his cock at Whitney”s anus. With one well-practised thrust he penetrated the lad. The teenager reacted immediately, drawing back to impale himself on the man”s cock, before thrusting hard into Pennington”s bottom. Within seconds he hit his rhythm, pistoning back and forth as though his life depended on it.
It was everything that Martin had wanted; the sensations were sublime. Although not especially athletic in other ways, when it came to sex, Whitney was a star performer. The lad was quickly developing into the sort of young man that he”d admired since his own prep school days.
In just a few short weeks Noel, the fifteen-year old rent-boy that he”d been seeing for the past few months, would leave school and move to London to work for and live with Mr Robinson, his music publisher friend. That was when he”d make his offer. He was sure Whitney wouldn”t turn him down.
Sitting in the armchair, Alex licked his lips, his eyes focussed on his associate. The look of sheer ecstasy on Mr Brown”s face said it all; this was exactly what he wanted. Strange though it seemed, it was clear that the man was even more enamoured of Whitney than he had been twelve months earlier.
Almost without warning, Pennington bucked wildly, his anal ring spasming sharply around the teenager”s thrusting penis. Although it was only a few hours since he”d last cum, Michael was more than ready for him. With his balls churning into action, he thrust in as deep as he could, several volleys of teen spunk spurting powerfully into the twelve-year old”s bottom. The chain reaction worked to perfection. Instantly tightening his grip on the teenager”s hips, Martin deposited his creamy semen deep inside Whitney”s boy-hole.
After a few seconds, he carefully withdrew. Following suit, Michael got off the bed and headed to the bathroom. Pennington didn”t follow him. There was no need, the lad reasoned. In any case, Mr White was about to fuck him. He”d have to go to the toilet after that. As if reading the youngster”s mind, Alex joined him on the bed.
“Did you enjoy that?” he asked, drawing the lad towards him. “It looked like you did.”
“Yes sir, it was super! You”re going to fuck me now, aren”t you sir?”
“In a short while. There”s no hurry. I want to make sure you”re really horny again first.”
“I”m horny now, sir!”
“And in a few minutes, you”ll be even hornier,” Alex whispered, nuzzling the twelve-year old”s ear. “That”ll make it better for both of us.”
Returning from the bathroom, Michael joined Mr Brown, who had taken Mr White”s place in the armchair. Although he could not have explained why, he felt more at ease with the young choirmaster than he did with either his uncle or his form master. After grinning indulgently at each other, Michael and Mr Brown settled down to watch the action unfolding in front of them.
On the bed, Alex was almost ready. He glanced across at the armchair, remarking to himself that Whitney and Mr Brown could easily have been mistaken for boyfriends. Reaching down to the side of the bed, he retrieved Pennington”s discarded briefs from where the lad had left them.
Still seated on the armchair, Michael gave Mr Brown a knowing grin. He knew what was about to happen, and suspected that Pennington did not. He could hardly wait to see how the boy would react when Mr White entered him.
“Okay,” Alex said quietly. “Get on all fours.”
Pennington complied immediately, just as he always did. Doing as he was told was what kept him in his parents” good books, his mother”s especially. It worked with his teachers too. The fact that he showed little inclination to do more than the required minimum did not seem to bother them.
With the lad in position, Alex placed one of the pillows in front of the youngster”s knees and covered it with an old towel.
“Right,” he said in a tone of quiet kocaeli escort bayan authority. “Now lie down for me, there”s a good boy.”
Once again, Pennington obeyed without question. Sitting back on his haunches, Alex coated his cock with K-Y. He smiled and licked his lips. The boy looked absolutely perfect. Having spread the youngster”s legs a little wider, he lowered himself between them, his penis homing in on the twelve-year old”s rosebud. Utilising all his experience, he pushed hard. After a moment”s resistance, the lad”s sphincter muscle relented. He was in!
“Yeowwww!” Pennington protested, shocked by the sudden stabbing pain.
Alex picked up the youngster”s underpants.
“Bite on these,” he ordered, stuffing them unceremoniously into the boy”s mouth.
Having dealt with the threat of disturbance, Alex continued to push down, his ramrod advancing deeper and deeper into Pennington”s boy-tunnel until the lad was completely impaled. After a few seconds, he eased back a little.
“Are you okay now?” he asked.
Pennington nodded.
“So are you going to keep quiet for me?” Alex continued.
Pennington nodded a second time. Smiling, Alex reached forward, removing the gag from the boy”s mouth. A moment later, he set to his task, fucking the lad with long, powerful thrusts. Very gradually, he picked up the pace, spurred on by the youngster”s quiet moans and whimpers.
Beneath him, Pennington hardly knew what was happening, the man”s warm, musky breath flooding his nostrils like a magical sex-drug. The pain of entry was still there, but it no longer seemed to matter, overtaken by the wonderful sensations generated by Mr White”s penis slamming repeatedly over his prostate, while his boy-prick rubbed against the coarse old towel. After little more than a minute, his breathing became harsh and ragged.
“Oh, sir!” he gasped. “I”m going to cum!”
He shuddered from head to toe, his feet flailing uncontrollably. As his anus flared and tightened around Mr White”s invading appendage, his cock swelled and jerked, little jets of boy-juice squirting onto the towel.
“Oh, you sexy boy!” Alex growled triumphantly. “You”ve cum on the towel! Now take what I”ve got for you!”
He plunged in deep, just in time for rope after rope of warm, creamy spunk to flood into the twelve-year old”s bottom. Suddenly, it was over. For almost half a minute, Alex lay where he was. As his breathing returned to normal, he savoured his latest achievement. Not only had it been the perfect fuck, he knew it wouldn”t be long before Pennington asked him for a repeat performance.
After Alex had pulled out, Pennington got up onto all fours, allowing Whitney to lick him clean. After a couple of minutes, the twelve-year old headed to the bathroom. Alex was left with both Whitney and Mr Brown. He found it rather disconcerting. Although he could talk to either of them separately, trying to conduct a conversation with the two of them together was extremely awkward.
“So what would you fancy doing on Saturday?” he asked, turning to Mr Brown.
“Oh, I think a re-run of last Saturday would be rather good,” Martin told him.
With that, they lapsed into silence.
“I”m just going to check on Pennington,” Alex said finally, getting to his feet. “Make sure he”s alright.”
After strolling along the entrance hall, he stuck his head around the bathroom door. Pennington was sitting in the bath, the water up to his nipples.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked.
“Yes, thank you sir. It was okay for me to have a bath, wasn”t it?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Sir, why did it hurt so much when you stuck it in me?”
“The muscles in your bottom can”t relax properly when you”re lying stretched out like that. So it is more painful, especially if you”re not used to it. Very exciting though, isn”t it? You came really hard.”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay, I”ll let you get on with it. Don”t be too long.”
He wandered back to the bedroom. Whitney and Mr Brown had disappeared. He strolled into the lounge to find them canoodling on the sofa. While they weren”t actually kissing, they were pretty close to it. It was clear that Mr Brown had become far closer to Whitney than he had ever been.
It was all very odd, Alex considered, but he wasn”t going to object. On this evidence, the young choirmaster would soon take the teenager off his hands, and that would make his life much simpler.
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
With Whitney and Mr Brown on their way home, Alex accompanied Pennington down to his car. Moments later, they set off on the short journey to the area where the boy lived.
“I”ve got something I need to tell you,” Alex said evenly. “But before I do, I want you to promise not to say anything.”
“Of course, sir!” Pennington responded. “I won”t breathe a word, I promise!”
“Okay then. What I have to tell you is you”re not the only first-year boy that I”m having sex with.”
“You mean at Woodchurch, sir?”
“Precisely.”
“So who are the others?”
“Actually, only one other,” Alex said quietly, “Bradshaw.”
“Wow! I wouldn”t have expected that sir. I know you teach him on his own. I just wouldn”t have expected him to . . . well, like doing sex-stuff.”
“What made you think that?”
“I don”t know, really. I guess it”s because he”s really good at football. He”s tough too. He never worries about getting hurt.”
“And boys like him wouldn”t want to have sex with someone like me. Well, I guess most of them wouldn”t, but there are always exceptions.”
“So how did you know he”d like it?”
“I didn”t, but teaching him on his own gave me opportunities to get closer to him than I normally would. That”s all I”m going to say. Anyway, he told me he thinks you”re sexy, and asked if he could meet you at my flat.”
“So he knows about me then, sir?”
“Yes. He noticed you hanging back after football training. He soon worked out why. He asked me about it a few weeks ago. I wasn”t going to lie to him. But it”s up to you. You don”t have to meet him if you don”t want to.”
“I”d like to, sir, but what would he want to do?”
“Whatever feels right to you. He won”t push you into doing anything you don”t want to do.”
“Can he cum, sir?”
“Yes, but only just. He produces a drop or two, but he”s not squirting properly yet.”
“So could we suck each other off?”
“Definitely! He”d like that.”
“So when could we meet?”
“He”s coming over for a maths lesson tomorrow morning. Have you got a bike?”
“Yes sir.”
“You could ride over to my place. Just make sure to lock up your bike when you get there.”
“I”ve never been anywhere like that on my bike before, sir.”
“Well, it”s about time you did. Whitney”s been cycling to mine for more than a year, and he lives further away than you do. You”ve been to the flat often enough. You should be able to find it.”
“Yes sir.”
“Aim to get there for eleven o”clock. It should only take you about ten minutes, but allow yourself a bit longer, okay?”
“Yes, sir.” He paused for a moment. “Sir,” he asked. “Does Bradshaw take it up the bum?”
Alex swallowed hard. This was more information than he wanted to give, but if the boys were going to have sex, there seemed little point in withholding it.
“Yes,” he said simply.
“So he likes it then?”
“Yes, of course. Otherwise we wouldn”t do it. He likes it for the same reasons that you do, and the same reasons that I liked it when I was your age. It”s exciting.”
“Yes sir. I understand.”
“Bradshaw”s very keen to fuck another boy as soon as he”s ready.”
“When will that be, sir?”
“Hard to say exactly. Probably after Easter. He should be able to cum properly by then.”
“So he”s like Whitney then? He likes taking it, but he wants to do it too.”
“I guess you could say that. Have you thought about putting your cock into another boy?”
kocaeli sınırsız escort “Not really. I like taking it.”
“That”s what Whitney said before he actually did it. You”ll have to try it some time.”
“Sir, has Bradshaw met any of your other friends?”
“Yes, he”s been with Mr Brown and Arrowsmith a number of times. And a few weeks ago, he met Holdsworth and Mr Smith.”
“I haven”t met Mr Smith yet, have I sir?”
“No, we haven”t had a suitable opportunity.”
“Whitney says he”s got a really big cock,” Pennington reported.
“That”s right. It”s certainly bigger than mine.”
“Holdsworth”s coming over on Thursday. I like him. He”s really nice.”
“Yes, he is. Are you meeting up with him?”
“Yes sir. We”ll go to Whitney”s house again. Whitney”s so lucky, being an only child and having both his mum and dad out at work. He can do as he likes.”
Alex gave Pennington a wry smile, unsurprised that the lad was envious of the apparent freedom that Whitney enjoyed. As they approached the end of the road where his young passenger lived, he brought the car to a halt.
“Well, here we are then,” he said smiling. “We”ll see you tomorrow, eleven o”clock.”
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
As the time ticked towards eleven, Alex brought Bradshaw”s maths tutorial to a close. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
“This must be him now,” Alex whispered, running his fingers over the boy”s exposed thigh. “Right on time! You remember what to do?”
“Yes sir,” Bradshaw confirmed, grinning.
Alex strode to the door, opening it to find Pennington standing there looking even sexier than usual. He quickly ushered the lad inside.
“Is he here, sir?” Pennington asked.
“Of course. You”ve timed it perfectly. We”ve just finished our lesson.”
They sauntered into the bedroom. Bradshaw was packing his maths books into his bag.
“Hi,” he said, sounding uncharacteristically nervous.
“Hi!” Pennington responded, giving the lad a blast of his killer smile.
“Well, I”m going to let you two get to know each other,” Alex said, settling into his armchair. “Ignore me. Just forget I”m here.”
Even though it had been Bradshaw that had suggested the meeting, Pennington sensed immediately that he would have to take charge. Taking off his wind-proof jacket, he walked over to the desk.
“Let”s take our shoes and socks off,” he suggested. “Then we can undress each other. Is that okay?”
“Yeah,” Bradshaw agreed, struggling to get the word out.
After discarding their footwear, the boys began to remove each other”s clothes. Pennington was in his element. Even so, it was the first time he”d done it with a boy who was both smaller and less experienced than he was. For all Bradshaw”s prowess on the football pitch, Pennington was three inches taller and at least ten pounds heavier.
And so, as Bradshaw seemed a little apprehensive, he led the way. It just seemed the natural thing to do. He enjoyed it immensely. Bradshaw, he observed, was dressed in his school uniform, which looked very ordinary, nothing like the expensive leisure clothes that he was wearing.
It wasn”t long before they were down to their underpants. Even here, Bradshaw”s were inferior, bought at Littlewoods rather than from Marks the other half needed it to end.
“Pennington!” Alex ordered. “Play with his cock!”
Reaching up, Pennington wrapped his fingers around the smaller lad”s four-inch nail. The effect was immediate. Bradshaw bucked like a wild animal, his bum flaring and tightening around his teacher”s prong. His penis swelled and pulsed, another drop of boy-juice emerging from his pee-hole and landing on Pennington”s chin.
“Oh yes!” Alex crowed. “Now I”m going to fill your bottom!”
He tightened his grip on Bradshaw”s thighs, volley after volley of thick, creamy spunk spurting deep into his prot�g�”s rectum. Seconds later it was Pennington”s turn, his cock jabbing against Bradshaw”s palate, another jet of watery cum squirting onto his friend”s tongue.
After several seconds, they disengaged. Bradshaw was leaking, his mentor”s spunk trickling down his thighs.
“If Whitney had been here, he”d have licked that up,” Pennington commented.
“Don”t you want to do it?” Alex enquired.
“No thank you, sir.”
“Okay, you”d better go and get cleaned up,” Alex said gently, his arm around Bradshaw”s shoulder. “Have a bath if you want. That was super; it really was.”
As Bradshaw made his way to the bathroom, Pennington stretched out on the bed.
“Wow, sir!” he said, grinning. “That was incredible! You gave his arse a real pounding!”
“Yes,” Alex agreed. “And he loved every second of it!”
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
The following Monday morning, Alex headed into school with a spring in his step. Despite the indifferent weather, the half term break could hardly have gone better. He”d had sex on eight days out of nine, four times with Bradshaw, three times with Pennington and once with Holdsworth. As an added bonus, Bradshaw had been given the all-clear to resume playing football. As he strode towards the staffroom, he met Glyn Daniels.
“Just the man I needed to see!” the geography master said brightly. “We”ve got this relay race coming up on Saturday. I was hoping that the first-year boy Thorpe would be available to run for the B-team, but I understand he”s been playing for your football team for the last few matches because Bradshaw”s been injured.”
“Yes, that”s right. But Bradshaw”s been back to the doctor, who said he can start playing again, so Thorpe may well be available. I”ve got them both for first-year games this afternoon. I”ll have a better idea after that.”
“Would it be too much trouble for you to come and tell me how they got on? I”ll be in my classroom. If it looks like Thorpe will be able to run, I”ll leave a note in 1-Blue”s register, telling the boy to come and see me tomorrow morning break.”
“No trouble at all,” Alex assured him. “Of course, what you”d really like is for Bradshaw to be available to run.”
“No, actually I”m rather glad he isn”t,” Mr Daniels responded. “Putting Newton into the A-team was never an issue because he beat all my regular runners and they want him to run. If Bradshaw had been available, I”d have had to put him in the A-team too, in place of Locke, simply on the basis of the time he ran. I wouldn”t have liked having to do that. Locke”s worked really hard and he”s improving all the time. Being dropped from the A-team and replaced by a first-year boy would have dented his confidence.”
Alex nodded his understanding, impressed by the care that the older man showed for his runners. Although football always had first pick of the available talent, the cross-country teams still did very well, particularly in the older age-groups. He was beginning to understand how and why that happened.
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
For Alex, the rest of the week simply glided past. Everything happened when expected and as expected. For the first time since he began teaching, he felt under no sort of pressure. Although he was still working hard, he felt in total command. He could actually relax and enjoy it.
For all that, it was anything but dull. In Monday”s games class, Bradshaw was back to his usual self. Not only was that a huge relief, it allowed him to release Thorpe to run in the cross-country relays. The following day, he and Bradshaw had their usual assignation in the storeroom.
On the Wednesday, football training went especially well. Afterwards, as the boys were getting changed, he paid Okikiolu considerably more attention than he ever had previously. The youngster had a wonderful physique, just as Bradshaw had said. Although tall for his age and generally slim, his thighs were strong and well-muscled and were topped by a delectably rounded, and very fuckable bottom. The lad”s flaccid izmit anal yapan escort uncut penis was much the same size as Pennington”s, with a pair of well-formed balls immediately beneath. There were no signs of pubic hair, but with the lad being black, a little patch of fuzz would be difficult to see. Within a couple of seconds, Alex had a raging hard-on. He mentally kicked himself for not having checked the lad out earlier.
On leaving school, he collected Pennington from outside the Kings Head and took him back to the flat, and the next day he had his usual appointment with Whitney. On the Saturday morning, the under-12 football team produced their best performance to date, winning convincingly.
Afterwards, as the boys were getting changed, he took the opportunity to admire the Nigerian boy again. It was the perfect hors d”oeuvres for what was to follow. Ninety minutes later, he collected Whitney from outside the Kings Head for a visit to Mr Smith”s house, where they met up with Southcott. It was the first time that they”d seen the wild boy since before Christmas.
Finally, it was Sunday afternoon. With their maths lesson completed, Alex and Bradshaw were snuggled up on the teacher”s bed.
“Yesterday, sir,” Bradshaw said in a conspiratorial whisper. “When we were getting changed after the match, I noticed you looking at Kiki.”
“Well, after what you said, I thought I ought to pay him some attention. You were quite right. He”s got a beautiful body. He”s also got a wonderfully fuckable bottom.”
“You love boys” bottoms, don”t you sir?”
“Definitely. Yours in particular.”
“So how are you going to do me today?”
“Any way you like. You choose.”
“I want you to get on top of me again so you can give it to me really hard.”
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
The following morning, Alex headed into school in an even more buoyant mood than he had the week before. On entering the staffroom, he was accosted by Glyn Daniels.
“Newton ran superbly on Saturday,” the man enthused. “As I told you, I put him on the last leg. We were in seventh place when he took over, but not that far away from the medal positions. He didn”t panic. He just took his time picking them off. Halfway round, he was up to fourth, with the boys in second and third about thirty yards ahead. Well, he gradually reeled them in, caught them with a little under half a mile to go. By this time, the leader was way in front and going away. So instead of trying to go past these two, Newton simply ran on their shoulder. When they turned towards the finish, they were still together. One of the other lads made a break for it, but Newton went with him, and a few yards from the line he found a bit extra and went past, so we finished second. I know the winners were a long way in front, and it was only for silver and bronze, but it was one of the most exciting finishes I”ve seen in a long time. The other lads were delighted, of course. They”ve never won anything in an event like that before. And as the icing on the cake, we won the B-team prize. Young Thorpe acquitted himself extremely well.”
“Wonderful!” Alex said, smiling. “It”s a shame that Newton won”t take it more seriously, but he”s adamant that he doesn”t want to.”
“Yes, it is,” Glyn agreed. “He”s obviously got the ability, and he seemed to enjoy it well enough.”
Twenty minutes later, Alex took his form for registration.
“Okay lads,” he said firmly, the task completed. “Time for us to make our way to assembly. Newton and Locke, a quick word please.”
As their classmates headed for the school hall, Locke and Newton held back.
“I hear that things went rather well on Saturday,” Alex said to them.
“Yes sir,” Locke confirmed. “Newton was fantastic sir, especially at the finish.”
“You had to play your part too,” Alex reminded him. “So well done, both of you.”
He followed the boys out of the room and along to the hall. He”d have liked to say more to Newton, to encourage him once again to make more use of his ability, but he resisted the temptation. The lad was stubborn, and hated being pushed into things. Trying to persuade him to join the cross-country team would have been a serious mistake.
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
Things continued in much the same vein until Thursday afternoon. Ten minutes after the bell sounded for the end of school, Michael arrived at Alex”s classroom, freshly scrubbed after second-year games. He was thoroughly miserable.
“What”s the matter with you?” Alex enquired. “Every time I”ve seen you today, you”ve looked like a bear with a sore head.”
“Newton”s joined the cross-country team,” Michael responded, almost spitting the words out.
“Really? That is a surprise, I have to say.”
“When I asked him why,” Michael went on. “He said that after Saturday”s race, he”d decided he ought to give it a try. When I told him I wished he hadn”t, he said that they train on Mondays and Thursdays, and as we don”t see each other after school on those days, what difference did it make? He was as good as telling me it was none of my business.”
“He does have a point, of course. So is he training with them now?”
“Yes sir. In September, when the new season starts, on Saturday mornings, instead of us being together, he”ll be off racing.”
“You”re making a mountain out of a molehill,” Alex admonished, irritated by the lad”s blatant selfishness. “They don”t race every Saturday. They do about six races before Christmas and around the same number in the new year. You”ll soon adapt to it. Remember, this is something he wants to do. Instead of making things difficult, what you need to do is to give him your support.”
“Yes sir,” Michael answered through gritted teeth.
“Do you still want us to go into the storeroom?”
“Of course,” Michael shrugged. “It”s why I”m here, isn”t it?”
“Fair enough. I just wanted to be sure. We don”t have to.”
Alex was frustrated. Despite his many excellent qualities, Whitney seemed to expect Newton to be there for him no matter what. Unless he changed his attitude very quickly, he”d be on the road to disaster.
0 o 0 o 0 o 0
Having sent his period 3 class out to morning break, Alex waited in his classroom. After a couple of minutes, Newton appeared.
“You asked to see me, sir?” he said.
“Yes, come and sit down,” Alex said brightly indicating the spare chair near his desk. “I understand you”ve joined the cross-country team,” he added as the lad took his seat. “That”s a pretty remarkable change of mind.”
“Yes sir, well, I”ve sort of joined.”
“Sort of?”
“Yes sir. I enjoyed it last Saturday much more than I thought I would. Everyone made me feel welcome. One of the third-year boys lent me a pair of spikes to run in, and the lads I was running with were really good company, especially Coulter and Sherwood. You know you told me about being part of a team? Well, I didn”t really understand it at the time, but after Saturday, well, I”m starting to anyway. And it”s good, isn”t it, sir? So on Monday I went to see Mr Daniels. I asked if I could come and train with them to see if I liked it. He said that would be fine.”
“So you ran with them on Monday and again yesterday?”
“Yes sir.”
“So was that it?”
“Not exactly, sir. One thing I”d been worried about was that running after school would make me tired, and when I came to do my homework, I wouldn”t be able to concentrate.”
“And did it?”
“No sir, it wasn”t like that at all. It was weird. Running with the other boys didn”t seem hard at all, and after I”d had a shower, I felt fresher than I did before I started.”
“So no problems with doing your homework then?”
“No sir.”
“Excellent! Having played sport all the way through school, I know exactly what you”re talking about. After spending a day sitting in classrooms, running around in the fresh air helps to blow the cobwebs away.”
“Yes sir.”
“Well, I”d better let you go. You”re missing your break.”
He watched carefully as Newton left the room. The lad”s explanation made perfect sense, as far as it went. He just had the nagging feeling the there was more to it than he”d been told.