The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2781 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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The day after Bonfire or Guy Fawkes Night came round quite quickly. Si said no more about fireworks and where we are, apart from the odd distant flash from a rocket or one of these fireworks that throws debris high into the air, we were mostly untouched. Somehow the girls had been reminded of Julie’s ordeal and there was no request from anyone to go to a display or to buy our own.

Livvie did say some girls they knew were going to a display but when Julie winced the matter was quickly switched to other business. I spoke to Hannah afterwards to ask if Cecily Lomax had said anything to her and she said only that she said she was going to get her. I decided that I would speak with Sister Maria the next morning as no one was bullying my girls while I drew breath.

After some more sewing where Hannah actually sat with Mima from the beginning and helped her and Danni, Trish and Livvie were involved in Trish’s dress, sorting out the other dart, Julie came and sat with us doing some repairs to a couple of smocks from her shop. Her usual partner in crime, Phoebe was out with some girls from college. Julie had been invited but decided to stay home, hence her sitting in with our sewing bee.

“So how come you didn’t fancy going out tonight?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh okay,” I wasn’t going to push it because that would mean she’d never tell me. Having learnt I was interested, she might now tell me but in her own time.

“How come you’re not up to your ears in dormice?” she asked me, meaning records not actual animals.

“I decided to have a break from it and I had some mending to finish. I’m going to advertise for someone to input records and do simple analysis of the figures.”

She leant across and put the back of her hand across my forehead, “Hmm,” she said then sat back. “You’re not running a temperature, so why are you going to let someone else play with your toys?”

“I should have done so a long time ago.”

“Just a minute, I’m going to call the doctor.”

“Why?”

“You’re delirious, I thought you said you should have done so a long time ago. You’re actually agreeing with everyone else. Somebody must have stolen my mother and put you in her place.”

I let her tease me for a few more minutes before I called a halt. “I hadn’t done it before because I didn’t think they’d allow any new posts for which we hadn’t received funding, usually research posts but when I talked it over with Gramps, he seemed to think we had funding. It took me all afternoon to confirm that with the finance department, but it seems I can.”

“Good for you, so you can let that go and do two other jobs instead.”

“No, just one—the one they pay me for, plus I’ll have some time to liaise with Dan at Billie’s field centre.”

“They doing much up there?”

“Aren’t they just, he’s got the local school helping him put up bird boxes, bat boxes and dormouse boxes. He’s also got two of our post grad students doing a survey of the trees and larger shrubs—the bank is paying for that.”

“Courtesy of your wonderful relationship with Grandpa Henry, no doubt.”

“I wasn’t actually involved beyond identifying the two best students for the job. Dan made a request to the bank for some funding and got it.”

“I thought you were there advisor in all things biological?”

“I deferred the decision back to another director as I might be accused of a conflict of interest and he said it was okay. So two of our lads got a chance to earn some money while mapping the reserve. It’s a very tedious job but they’ll get plenty of fresh air and exercise while they do it.”

“What they’re out in all this rain?”

“Not necessarily. They’ll have plenty to do in the centre as well. What they’re doing is..” and I explained that we had someone fly over the reserve mapping it on camera with a resolution high enough to capture every tree. This was then put onto a computerised map and the two surveyors would then go round confirming what tree was where. I also explained it was probably the most comprehensive survey ever done in an existing woodland. They would also be putting numbered tags on the trees which we could use to identify where we put up different boxes.

“How long is that going to take?”

“Six months if we don’t get any snow or really persistent rain.”

“Da da,” called Trish and we had to congratulate her on getting her dress right at last. Danni then pressed it for her and she began pinning up the hem.

“Hannah seems to have settled in very well,” observed Julie as Hannah and Mima were now fitting the clothes on the dolls and they worked. Mima came to show us and then dragged Hannah off to her stash of dolls.

I told her about what happened the day before. “Nooo?” she gasped and I wasn’t sure if it was at the temerity of the older girl’s accusation or Hannah’s riposte, probably the latter. “She can’t go round making accusations like that, surely what her father does shouldn’t have any effect on her, should it?”

“She shouldn’t be in a position to hear things like that because he shouldn’t be saying things like it at home.”

“That’s what I meant, Mummy. What y’gonna do about it?”

“I’ve made an appointment to see the headmistress first thing tomorrow.”

She nodded, “What can she do?”

“I will suggest she call in the parents and then confront the child in front of them. If the girl retaliates on Hannah or any of the others, I’ll speak with the Chief Constable. He’s a friend of Henry’s so I’ll get an appointment.”

“Didn’t you save his wife’s life a while back?”

“I might have done.”

Julie dropped her mending and stood up to stretch, “Cuppa?”

“You have to ask?” I replied and she chuckled before going off to make us a couple of cups plus one for Danielle.

The next morning I went to see Sister Maria who was horrified to learn of Cecily Lomax’s attack on Hannah and amused by the riposte she got. When I mentioned that Trish intervened to prevent a physical assault, she shook her head, “I wondered when she’d be involved.”

She then asked me what I’d like her to do and I proposed calling in her parents and confronting the child in front of them. She wasn’t too keen on the idea but agreed to do it and to let me know of the outcome. If she got any grief, I told her to let me know and I’d arrange to crap on them from a great height by meeting with the Chief Constable. She liked that reassurance and told me she try and set up the meeting as soon as possible. I thanked her and went off to the university only to discover to my horror and sadness that Spike had died, she was nearly eight, immensely old for a dormouse. It cast a shadow on the rest of the day.