"Diana Wynne Jones - Witch Week" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jones Diana Wynne)

was busy making neat stacks of books on the staff room table, and she went on making them all the time
Mr. Crossley was telling her excitedly about the note. She spared the note one glance.
"No, I can't tell who wrote it either," she said.
"But what shall I do about it?" Mr. Crossley pleaded. "Even if it's true, it's such a spiteful thing to
write! And suppose it is true. Suppose one of them is-" He was in a pitiable state. He wanted so badly to
attract Miss Hodge's attention, but he knew that words like witch were not the kind of words one used in
front of a lady. "I don't like to say it in front of you."
"I was brought up to be sorry for witches," Miss Hodge remarked calmly.
"Oh, so was I! We all are," Mr. Crossley said hastily. "I just wondered how I should handle it-"
Miss Hodge lined up another stack of books. "I think it's just a silly joke," she said. "Ignore it. Aren't
you supposed to be teaching 4C?"
"Yes, yes. I suppose I am," Mr. Crossley agreed misera-bly. And he was forced to hurry away
without Miss Hodge's having looked at him once.
Miss Hodge thoughtfully squared off another stack of books, until she was sure Mr. Crossley had
gone. Then she smoothed her smooth hair and hurried away upstairs to find Mr. Wentworth.
Mr. Wentworth, as deputy head, had a study where he wrestled with the schedules and various other
problems Miss Cadwallader gave him. When Miss Hodge tapped on the door, he was wrestling with a
particularly fierce one. There were seventy people in the school orchestra. Fifty of these were also in the
school choir and twenty of those fifty were in the school play. Thirty boys in the orchestra were in various
football teams, and twenty of the girls played hockey for the school. At least a third played basketball as
well. The volleyball team were all in the school play. Problem: how do you arrange rehearsals and practices
without asking most people to be in three places at once? Mr. Wentworth rubbed the thin patch at the back
of his hair despairingly. "Come in," he said. He saw the bright, smiling, anxious face of Miss Hodge, but his
mind was not on her at all.
"So spiteful of someone, and so awful if it's true!" he heard Miss Hodge saying. And then, merrily,
"But I think I have a scheme to discover who wrote the note-it must be someone in 6B. Can we put our
heads together and work it out, Mr. Wentworth?" She put her own head on one side, invitingly.
Mr. Wentworth had no idea what she was talking about. He scratched the place where his hair was
going and stared at her. Whatever it was, it had all the marks of a scheme that ought to be squashed.
"People only write anonymous notes to make themselves feel important," he said experimentally. "You
mustn't take them seriously."
"But it's the perfect scheme!" Miss Hodge protested. "If I can explain-"
Not squashed yet, whatever it is, thought Mr. Went-worth. "No. Just tell me the exact words of this
note," he said.
Miss Hodge instantly became crushed and shocked. "But it's awful!" Her voice fell to a dramatic
whisper. "It says someone in 6B is a witch!"
Mr. Wentworth realized that his instinct had been right. "What did I tell you?" he said heartily. "That's
the sort of stuff you can only ignore, Miss Hodge."
"But someone in 6B has a very sick mind!" Miss Hodge whispered.
Mr. Wentworth considered 6B, including his own son Brian. "They all have," he said. "Either they'll
grow out of it, or we'll see them all riding round on broomsticks in the sixth grade." Miss Hodge started
back. She was genuinely shocked at this coarse language. But she hastily made herself laugh. She could
see it was a joke. "Take no notice," said Mr. Wentworth. "Ignore it, Miss Hodge." And he went back to his
problem with some relief.
Miss Hodge went back to her stacks of books, not as crushed as Mr. Wentworth supposed she was.
Mr. Went-worth had made a joke to her. He had never done that before. She must be getting somewhere.
For-and this was a fact not known to Theresa Mullett or Estelle Green-Miss Hodge intended to marry Mr.
Wentworth. He was a widower. When Miss Cadwallader retired, Miss Hodge was sure Mr. Wentworth
would be head of Larwood House. This suited Miss Hodge, who had her old father to consider. For this,
she was quite willing to put up with Mr. Wentworth's bald patch and his tense and harrowed look. The only