Little Bad Wolf Page 7

  “Will they not notice this?” she said.

  “They may,” said Matt’s dad. “But I don’t think so. They are literally doing all they can to kick you out of the school and we are just trying to tip the scales so that it is fairer.”

  “It’s not go-ing to sto-op,” said Little Bad Wolf. “At least it will not sto-op un-til they get rid of me. This is wor-se than hav-ing to wear clo-othes and the next one will be wor-se than that.”

  “What do you mean next one?” asked Matt.

  “She’s right,” said his dad. “There will be another one and probably another after that and maybe they won’t stop until they have got rid of you. They will be kicking you out of the school but making it look like their noble effort to integrate you did not work. They will say that they tried very hard and are very good people but ultimately the wolf was just not up to it. The question you have to answer is when do you just get sick of it and leave.”

  Little Bad Wolf had known that she is likely to have to leave the school in the end. However, she did not want to give in so easily to their cheating and bullying. She also felt that as she had made some friends who supported her. It was not just about her.

  “I know this,” she said. “Let’s hope for the best and get through this test with a little help.”

  Of the three of them Louise was first to go for the Elocution test. The school had not said in what order they would be doing the tests but it was obvious that they were doing it in alphabetical order. Each day 24 students would complete the test. After the first day, Matt was able to draw up a chart of when he thought they would be examined. By his calculations, Louise would have her test at 10 AM on Tuesday, his own would be on 9.20 AM on Wednesday and Little Bad Wolf would be at 2 PM on Thursday. At exactly 10 AM on Tuesday Louise was called into the test. It lasted 15 minutes and Mr Clogs who was carrying out all the tests showed her a series of cards and then several texts from books. Louise, as you may expect, got a perfect score.

  There was a break after Louise had completed the test and she and Matt spent the time trying to write down exactly what had been asked. The cards had included words like ‘democracy’, ‘philosophy’ and ‘sanctuary’. In total there were fifteen words. The first section she had to read was from “The adventures of Tom Sawyer” where Tom and Huckleberry Finn were in the haunted house and Injun Joe and another criminal came in. The second was the start of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

  The other children knew that Matt or Louise would have no problem with an Elocution test. Together with Samantha they were the top three pupils in the class for English. Because of this no-one had much of a problem talking to them about the test. They even had a long chat with Samantha’s friend, Claire, who was showing off about how easy the test was and how she had no problems with it.

  “Daffodils,” she said. “Can you believe that. Clogs asked me to recite Daffodils by William Wordsworth. What could be easier?”

  “I don’t know,” said Matt. “When we started looking at this poem I had no idea what ‘jocund’ was and did not know how to pronounce it.”

  “Well I had no problem. It means serious. Doesn’t it? I would have preferred something harder. I heard they have also asked some kids to recite a speech from Shakespeare. That would have been more my style.”

  By Wednesday morning Matt’s calculations were proving to be very accurate. He even found out that Mr Clogs had a system where he would ask the same ten words and then five random words from a set of about twenty. There were four different texts to read and he simply rotated. Matt felt during his own test that he knew the procedure so well that he could tell what Mr Clogs would say next and was always right.

  On Wednesday evening Matt, Louise and Little Bad Wolf went to Matt’s house to practise. When his father came home from work they did a live run of the test as it was going to be given at 2 PM on Thursday. Matt was very proud of his impersonation of Mr Clogs, even down to the ‘do not mess with me little schoolchild, unless of course you do not want a long and healthy life’ look. The test took exactly one minute more than average and three minutes more than the test which Matt and Louise had got. Matt explained that Little Bad Wolf’s test would be longer and will be as hard as any that has been asked. He claimed Mr Clogs would take longer with her as he will have been told by Mrs Hurray-Bill to try and get rid of the wolf.

  Little Bad Wolf felt very good leaving Matt’s house. They were her friends. She did not worry about what people said about her. They had never talked about her father when they first met. They still did not talk about him but now they mentioned wolves not getting justice, and people presuming things about them without any evidence. It was nice to have friends like this.

  When Little Bad Wolf was walking to school she was feeling confident and happy but also nervous. Her good spirits were not even damped when she had to walk past the protesters who were shouting “Not much longer” and “How is your pronunciation?” at her.

  Matt explained to her that when the bell rang at 9AM, Samantha would be called and as she is very good her test will last 17 minutes and 30 seconds. He told her that he thought Louise will come first in these tests but Samantha could come as high as number 3. He did not mention that he thought he would be number 2. Matt was not the only one who had figured out the pattern; they overheard Claire wishing Samantha ‘good luck’ a few minutes before the bell was about to ring.

  Immediately before the 9 AM bell Matt put the radio and microphone on Little Bad Wolf.

  “Now we literally just need to wait for the test,” said Matt.

  “Can we te-est this at lu-unch-time?” asked Little Bad Wolf.

  “That is an excellent idea,” said Matt. He then tried to phone his dad but did not get an answer. “Oh that’s right! He is at some meeting until 11 AM. I will send him a text message saying we will have a test at lunch-time.” He said all this while staring not at Little Bad Wolf but at the keypad on his phone and his fingers were busy typing a message to his father. Again he got no reply.

  The bell rang for the start of school. They were to be taught by Ms Potterer who walked into the class with Mr Clogs. Samantha was getting ready to follow Mr Clogs to his office for the test when Mr Clogs cleared his throat and said, “Miss Wolf, will you please come with me.”

  For a moment Samantha looked indignant but then she thought ‘how clever’ and grinned. Matt looked at his papers and his phone which still showed no response from his dad. Louise cried and then looked around the class-room and cried some more. Mr Clogs spotted everything and was very pleased with himself. He did not say ‘At last’ out loud but he came very close to doing just that.

  Little Bad Wolf simply followed Mr Clogs into the office he was using for these tests.

  “And how are you today, Miss Wolf,” asked Mr Clogs.

  When she was first asked “How she was,” Little Bad Wolf had given a long explanation as how she felt. She quickly realised that she was not supposed to do this and that being asked how you were was almost the same as someone saying “hello.” You were expected to respond that you are very well thank you and ask how the other person is.

  Little Bad Wolf did not do this today. “I am not very happy, Mr Clogs.”

  “And why is that?” he asked.

  “I am not looking forward to your test,” she answered.

  Mr Clogs smiled and it was not his usual sneer, he smiled because he was uncomfortable. He knew that Little Bad Wolf knew that this was pretence and the purpose was simply to find some excuse to get rid of her from the school.

  “None of the other students have had any problem with the test,” he said.

  “Yes, but you kno-ow I can-not pro-no-unce some wo-ords and you also know the test is desi-gned so that I will fail,” said Little Bad Wolf.

  “How do I know how you will do until you have taken the test.”

  It was now Little Bad Wolf’s turn to smile. She gave him a look as if to say that you are not fooling anyone. Mr Clogs looked aw
ay and said they should start the test now.

  Matt had explained to her that for every test so far the first ten words had been the same and all had been very easy. Matt said that they were giving you easy words at first to relax you. Little Bad Wolf reckoned that as they had already changed the order in which they asked pupils to take the test that they might also change this part of the text but they did not. She found pronouncing some of the first ten words difficult but she had practised them with Matt, Louise and Matt’s dad and had no great problem with them.

  For the eleventh word, Mr Clogs showed a card with ‘PSYCHOLOGY’ written on it. Little Bad Wolf looked at it and felt slightly sick. She then took a deep breath. This was one of the words she had practised using the micro-radio with Matt’s dad. She shut her eyes and could almost hear his voice breaking this word down and teaching her how to say it. As she imagined the voice she said it out loud “Si – Kol – Ogee.”

  “Very good,” said Mr Clogs and he showed a card with the word ‘SENSIBLE’ written on it. Little Bad Wolf had not practised this word and was unsure what it would sound like. Her voice let Mr Clogs now that she was having difficulty, was a little bit afraid but was also defiant. When they were teaching her to say words they would always the break the word down into smaller parts and say each part. She started doing this out loud. “Sense – E – Bill”

  “Very good,” said Mr Clogs and produced another equally hard word and then another and another. By breaking them into their component parts she was managing to pronounce them. This part of the test had consisted of fifteen words for the other students. She had already done thirty words when Mrs Hurray-Bill walked into the office.

  “And How is Miss Wolf doing, Mr Clogs?” asked Mrs Hurray-Bill. ”I have already contacted some of the other schools to see if they have a place for her if she fails.”

  “She is doing very well,” said Mrs Clogs.

  The smile on Mrs Hurray-Bill’s face disappeared,

  “I am sorry?” she said.

  “She is doing very well,” said Mr Clogs. “I have given her thirty words and she has got them all right so far.”

  Mrs Hurray-Bill did not answer this. She did not look very happy.

  Mr Clogs continued with the test.

  “Have you heard of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain?” he asked.

  “No Sir, we have not do-ne this yet and we do not have ma-any bo-oks at home,” said Little Bad Wolf.

  “Can I interrupt a minute,” said Mrs Hurray-Bill. “Is this the normal text for the exam?”

  “I have not asked any child to read from this book,” answered Mr Clogs. “The texts I have used so far have been, I think, a bit easier.”

  Mrs Hurray-Bill said “Continue” and smiled.

  Little Bad Wolf looked at the text she was supposed to read. She had decided at the beginning of this test to just do her best and see what happens. She scanned the text. Mr Clogs explained it was from the beginning of Chapter 4 where Huck has been living with the Widow Douglas and was going to school for the first time in his life.

  Little Bad Wolf cleared her throat. “Well,” she then paused and looked at Mr Clogs and Mrs Hurray-Bill.

  “Well, thr-ee or fo-ur months run al-ong, and it was well into the win-ter now.” That part went reasonably smoothly. She took another breath. “I had been to scho-ol most all the ti-ime and could spell and re-ad and wri-ite just a lit-tle, and could say...”

  She stopped looked at the next words and broke them down into syllables. “..the mult-ip-lic-ation table up to six ti-imes sev-en is thirty-five, and I don't rey kon I could ever get any fur-ther than that if I was to live for-ever. I don't take no stock in mat-a-matics, any- way.”

  She looked at Mr Clogs wondering if would tell her to stop but he just nodded for her to continue.

  “At fi-irst I hate-ed the scho-ol, but by and by I got so I could sta-and it.” She liked this line. “When-ever I got un-com-mon tired I play-ed hookey, and the hid-ing I got next day done me go-od and che-ered me up. So the long-er I we-ent to scho-ol the easi-er it got to be. I was get-ing sort of used to the wid-ow's ways, too, and they warn't so ras-py on me.”

  “OK, I think we have heard enough,” interrupted Mrs Hurray-Bill. “Never before have I have heard such a bad reading.”

  Little Bad Wolf was horrified. She did not know what she had done wrong and she felt kind of proud at the way she had managed to pronounce the words from the book. It seemed now all was lost. Then Mr Clogs said, “I am afraid I don’t follow you.”

  “Oh come on,” said Mrs Hurray-Bill. “This is a book for children and she has made at least three mistakes and each of these mistakes should mean automatic failure.”

  “I am sorry,” said Mr Clogs. “You must be far more alert than me today. Which three mistakes?”

  Mrs Hurray-Bill was not expecting a challenge from that quarter and grew very flustered.

  “Well I will ignore the fact that it took her so long to say simple words like ‘multipla..’.” Mrs Hurray-Bill had to cough to cover up the slight stutter. “‘kation’ and ‘mathematics’. I will ignore this. But ‘six times seven is thirty-five’- that clearly is not in the book. Then there’s this phrase ‘played hookey’ – again it’s not in the book. As a matter of fact it’s not even a word. The third one is ‘raspy’. I think I heard her say ‘they warn't so raspy on me’. This is a great book which we all know and love and this wolf cannot go making up her own words and putting it in there.”

  Mr Clogs did not know what to say. He took the book from Little Bad Wolf and passed it to Mrs Hurray-Bill and showed her the section which was being read.

  “I think she has passed the test,” he said. “Miss Wolf, please ask Samantha to come in next.”

  Before a relieved Little Bad Wolf could open the door and walk back to her classroom, an angry Mrs, Hurray-Bill stormed out of the office.

 

  Chapter 20 Radio Problems

  Little Bad Wolf heard Mr Clogs whisper “Well done” as she had left the room. She was so surprised that she had got through and without the help of Matt’s dad that she did not even smile at Samantha to show she had won. However, her expression caused Samantha more problems as she was incredibly curious and did not know whether they had succeeded or not in finding a reason to expel Little Bad Wolf.

  Little Bad Wolf still had the little earphone in her ear and the microphone attached to her fur. They had thought that her test would be in the afternoon and at lunch-time when Little Bad Wolf, Matt and Louise were in the school yard during their lunch break, she heard a voice in her ear.

  “Hello, testing 123,” said the voice.

  Little Bad Wolf looked up shocked she had completely forgotten about this device.

  “Someone is talking in my ear,” she said to Matt and Louise.

  “I can hear you. Can you hear me?” said the voice in her ear.

  “I know,” said Matt. “It’s dad. He thinks the test will be literally in the afternoon.

  “Hello, Hello,” said the voice in her ear.

  “Oh hel-lo,” said Little Bad Wolf not sure how she was supposed to talk with these devices.

  “Hi dad,” said Matt. “Can you hear me? Let Little Bad Wolf know if you can hear me.”

  Matt’s dad told Little Bad Wolf that he could hear her and she told Matt.

  “It’s OK. They gave Little Bad Wolf the test earlier and you know what, she passed.”

  “That’s great,” said the voice in her ear.

  “Ple-ase ask him how to get rid of this thi-ing in my ear,” said Little Bad Wolf.

  Matt was about to ask the question again when the voice in her ear told her that he had heard the question. She told this to Matt who felt a bit silly for not realising that his father would hear Little Bad Wolf’s question.

  “I am afraid you are going to have to wait until after school and we can take it out then,” said the voice. This was not the news Little Bad Wolf wanted to hear. The only problem however w
as when Matt’s dad was listening to the radio in the afternoon he had left the radio transmitter on. This happened during Ms Potterer’s class which was the last of the afternoon. Suddenly music could be heard coming from Little Bad Wolf’s right ear. Neither she nor Louise knew how they could deal with this. Ms Potterer might be a friendly teacher but if she caught Little Bad Wolf cheating she would have to tell Mrs Hurray-Bill and that would be that. Matt however was sitting just behind Little Bad Wolf.

  “Excuse me,” he said very loudly and very close to where he knew the microphone was. “I am very sorry I forgot to turn my phone off. I need to turn it off now.” He almost shouted the last bit but it had the effect he wanted as Little Bad Wolf heard a voice in her ear saying, “Sorry. I forgot all about this. I’m turning it off now.”

  Matt was told that he had the write a 5-page essay on problems caused by irresponsible use of mobile phones. Matt thanked Ms Potterer far too much for what was a punishment.

  The three friends went to Matt’s house after school. They had passed some very disappointed protesters on the way out of school. The protesters had been told by Mr Silliman that today would be victory day. It was, but for Little Bad Wolf.

  Matt’s father was very amused when he heard that Little Bad Wolf had been listening to his radio programmes in the afternoon. It took him very little time to take out the ear piece and microphone and Little Bad Wolf decided that she would prefer to go home after that.

  “It does seem that you did rather well,” said Aunt Martha. Little Bad Wolf had just told her aunts what had happened today with the test and the faulty ear piece which was supposed to help her.

  “You did not even need the nice man to help you,” agreed Matilda. “The problem is that they will try something else.”

  “Yes,” said Martha. “They will view this as a defeat and will not want to let you get away with it.”

  “What can they do?” asked Little Bad Wolf.

  “You are still very naïve,” said Martha. “After this they will come up with something which they know you cannot do.”

  “Maybe a bicycle test,” said Martha. The three wolves laughed remembering the time when Little Bad Wolf had said she wanted to ride a bicycle. They had borrowed one to show her how difficult this would be for a wolf and she has spent a whole morning trying to figure out how she could ride this thing.