‘We’d like to welcome you back, Col,’ she said, when the class had filed in and taken their places.
He glared at her for a second, sure she was taking the mickey. She certainly wasn’t smiling. Her face was as grim as it had ever been.
‘That was a very brave thing you did,’ she went on. ‘Someone is alive now, because of you.’
A picture of Dominic sprang up before him. Bright, energetic Dominic – all that life still there, because of him?
‘You almost died yourself, and yet … here you are, still alive. You must be here for a reason. You have made a difference. You have changed the world. That boy may go on to be a great doctor, or a great inventor. To do great things, all thanks to you.’ She smiled, a very tight-lipped smile, as if she just wasn’t used to it. ‘Did you ever see a film called … It’s a Wonderful Life?’
Col slunk down in his chair. He shook his head.
Suddenly, Asim waved his hand wildly. ‘I’ve seen it, Miss. I’ve seen it.’ Without waiting he immediately launched into a potted version of the plot. ‘It’s about this guy, see, who wishes he was dead, because he’s a real loser and then, when he is dead he meets an angel and this angel shows him what might have happened if he’d never been born … and he had actually saved his brother’s life and his brother would have died if he hadn’t been there, and his brother went on to save people’s lives as well, so he wasn’t that much of a loser after all.’ He took a breath. ‘Then he wasn’t really dead anyway …’ his voice trailed off. He looked at Mrs Holden. ‘Mind you, it was a rubbish angel, Miss. He didn’t have wings or anything.’
Mrs Holden looked stunned.
‘Sounds really interesting …’ Col said sarcastically.
‘It is a very good résumé of the plot, Asim,’ Mrs Holden said, ‘and put very succinctly.’
Asim looked puzzled. Not sure what she was talking about or whether she had insulted him or not. Mrs Holden turned her attention back to Col. ‘But, like the man in the film, what you have done has changed the world.’
And there it was in her tone, the same tone Col had heard in Blaikie’s. Admiration.
Paul Baxter got to his feet. Paul Baxter, the cleverest boy in school. French, English, Mathematics. He was as good at one as he was at the other. He and Col had hardly broken breath to one another since their first day at school.
‘Can I ask Col something, Mrs Holden?’
‘Well, of course, Paul. What would you like to ask?’
Col steeled himself. Something sarcastic probably.
Confidently, Paul turned to Col. ‘What made you do it?’ he asked. ‘Because, honestly, I don’t think I could ever be that brave.’ And he actually looked as if he meant it.
Mrs Holden looked at Col – the whole class did – waiting for his answer.
Col didn’t stand up. He slunk even further down in his seat, fiddled with his pencils, tried to think of an answer. ‘I wasn’t going to at first,’ he began. ‘It was his own fault. He’d broken the ice himself. I’d watched him banging down a boulder on to it. I heard the ice crack, but I didn’t know that’s what it was … not until I saw him kind of … dancing on the ice, sliding into the water. And even then I still thought, tough. It’s your own fault.’
Col was remembering the icy fog, the stillness, the cold. ‘But he kept shouting for his mam, shouting for somebody to help him and … there was only me. I didn’t even think. Before I knew it, I was running, knowing I couldn’t let him die and that I had to help him.’ His voice wavered. ‘I’ll never really understand why …’
He stopped, embarrassed, sure they were all going to laugh at him. But no one did. They were all silent, watching him. Finally, Paul said, ‘I think that’s brilliant.’
And again, there was real admiration in his voice.
Suddenly, the whole class was talking and laughing and asking questions. Col was the centre of everyone’s attention.
As they were filing out at the end of the lesson Mrs Holden called him back. ‘I know we’ve never really got on, but I want you to know how much I applaud what you did, Col. I never thought—’ she hesitated, realising what she was just about to say.
Col finished it for her. ‘You never thought a McCann would do anything decent.’
She blushed, but she held his gaze. ‘Does it not make you feel good?’
Col remembered Bobby Grant’s words ‘To be on the side of the good guys.’
He wanted to get angry at her, but he couldn’t. Because she was right. He did feel good. ‘Better get to my next class,’ he said. And then he smiled. He smiled at Mrs Holden! ‘Us good guys are never late.’