The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2379 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

I woke early, perhaps Simon getting up had disturbed me, perhaps not. I heard the shower running, it was him. I turned over to try and go back to sleep but the brightness of the day seemed to want me to get up. I half thought about a bike ride but it soon faded when Simon came back into the bedroom and began dressing. As he bent down to pull on his trousers with his back to me, I wolf whistled. His response was to turn around and laugh. Then he came over and kissed me. Moments later he was downstairs. I had a little think before rising, having a quick wee and dashed down just in time to see him walk to the door.

“Aren’t you having any breakfast?” I called.

“We don’t have time, babes, early meeting.” He and Sammi pecked me on the cheek and they walked smartly out to his car and I heard it start and pull away a fraction later. I felt all alone—silly isn’t it? I had a house full of people and I felt lonely because the one I most wanted to be with had gone. I consoled myself with a quick cuppa—Si hadn’t even allowed time for his morning coffee. He’s either late or has a very early meeting.

As I drank my tea I realised he’d be able to get a coffee either at the station or just opposite—there was a coffee place there that seemed to be open almost all day and night. I rinsed out the mug and went up to shower, it was only now six o’clock and I yawned as if my body was registering the fact.

I knew I’d probably crash out later as my early morning caught up with me, but for now I enjoyed having time to shower and dry myself, anoint myself with various creams and lotions and dress in a leisurely way before rousing the rest of them.

“Gosh, Mummy, you’re wearing a dress and makeup—are we late?” observed Trish stumbling over the kitten who’d fallen off her bed when she got up.

“No, I got up with Daddy.” I supervised their shower and did their hair for them. I even managed to put Danni’s in a ponytail—it had grown much quicker since the absence of testosterone.

While they were squabbling over school uniforms I went down to start the breakfast, where Cate was standing by her high chair ready for her cereal. I switched on the kettle and gave her some puffed rice.

Next down was Julie soon followed by Phoebe, then the four mouseketeers and Daddy who strolled in through the back door with his ‘dug’. At least this dry weather she doesn’t leave dirty footprints everywhere. Bramble, who followed Trish into the kitchen, made a mock attack on the dog’s rear end and Kiki howled and rushed out of the kitchen like she’d been shot from a gun. There was a momentary silence while everyone worked out what had happened before laughing. A disconsolate dog wandered back with her tail between her legs whilst her attacker sat crunching cat biscuits and purring.

I’d expressed milk last night and Jacquie used some of it to feed Lizzie as I gathered up our schoolgirl army and led them out to the car. I arrived at the university the same time as Daddy, he’d stopped to feed the dog, I had to check the dormice were fed—as Emma had been suspended pending the court case and Hilary had a doctor’s appointment. We should organise a few more helpers with feeding my babies, I’d speak to Daddy about inveigling some of the post grad students into helping, especially as some of them seem to live here at times.

I bumped into Jon, one of the aforementioned group, and sussed him out about helping feed the brood. He asked what it involved and said he’d be happy to do it over the weekend as he needed to use the lab for some microscopy he had to do. Hilary would be back in an hour or so, I’d tell her then—she’d be delighted.

I made myself a cup of coffee and went to my broom cupboard to do some more marking, which Pippa brought down for me in a large sealed buff envelope. “What is it this time?” I asked losing track of which ones I’d done already.

“Final year, final batch, first marking.”

Damn, there’d be at least fifty of those probably nearer a hundred—I’d be at it all day and most of tomorrow.

“Prof asked if you do these first.” She handed me a smaller envelope. It would contain papers where two markers had differed by more than ten marks. I had to effectively decide who was more accurate, I usually related to those students who were borderline pass/fail or the brighter ones who were possible distinction winners.

“How many?” I asked waving the smaller package.

“Seven, so better than last time. If you give me a bell when you’re done with them, I’ll come and collect them...”

“Bearing cups of tea and at least one chocolate digestive,” I interrupted.

“You lot are all the same, you all seem to think I’ve got nothing better than to run around waiting on you.”

“Natch,” I replied grinning.

“Okay, get ‘em done by half ten and I’ll bring two bickies.” On my questioning look she added, “I have to type up the lists of successful students, the sooner I can start the quicker I’ll be finished.”

“Okay, hand ’em over.” I took both envelopes and while I tore them open she went back to her office. I locked my door and after a slug of coffee, started my adjudication of marks.

Most of them were fairly straightforward and I sorted them quickly. However, two were decidedly difficult, not helped by the handwriting of one which looked like it was the tracks left by a drunken spider that had fallen in an inkwell; either that or ancient Assyrian.

I found the extra marks required by identifying some key terms the second marker had not been able to decode from the awful scrawl. I would award a 2.3, not a brilliant degree but a degree all the same.

The other one I declined to offer a distinction and down-marked it, she got a good 2.1 when everything was totalled up but her question on cell biology let her down. She scored 65, so well under distinction level—pity but that’s education for you.

I rang Pippa and she duly appeared with tea and two plain chocolate digestive biscuits—it was only ten fifteen, so I’d kept to our bargain and she went off happy. I set to with the other papers and managed to get through a dozen before Daddy rang and told me I was going for lunch with him. I’d had enough by then and my eyes were starting to close. I locked the package of scripts in my filing cabinet and locked it, then collected my bag and after checking hair and makeup, spritzed a bit of perfume over myself and locked my the door of my office.

Pippa came to lunch with us and we had a nice meal before returning to the treadmill for two hours of hard slog. I got to my office and was astonished to find the door ajar as I knew I’d locked it. My filing cabinet was also unlocked. I didn’t touch anything except to pull the door shut before calling Daddy on my mobile.

“Aye, hen?”

“My office has been broken into and I suspect the exam scripts have been meddled with.”

“Ye sure ye locked it?”

“Positive and the filing cabinet.”

“Richt, I’ll call thae dean an’ thae polis, dinna touch onythin'.”