‘I’ve put all the gauze and bandages in one package with the paracetamol and a couple of rolls of sticking plaster. I’m not sure about the codeine though. It’s very strong and pharmacists always tell you not to use it for more than three days. That’s adults. If it’s one of the students who’s injured–’
‘Just put it in with everything else. With any luck it’s one of the gunmen who’s hurt and it’ll knock him out,’ Cam snapped. ‘I don’t see–’
He was interrupted by the phone ringing. Ruth stared at it for a few seconds and then locked her frightened eyes on Cam’s.
‘Answer it,’ Pearson instructed, moving closer to the reception desk. Ruth picked up the receiver.
‘It’s him,’ she said. ‘He says he wants to talk to the police officer.’
9
Tom Cleaver pressed a fresh sanitary towel to his wound, wincing at the stinging pain. He was fairly sure that the blood flow was slowing down and that he wasn’t too badly hurt. He’d felt the knife go in like a hot sizzle in his flesh and then the sight of his own blood had made him woozy, so he’d slumped down against the wall. Annie had been fantastic; much stronger than he would have believed possible, but he shouldn’t have been surprised. Since they’d resumed their relationship after the blip in the summer when they’d discovered that his dad and her mum were seeing each other, they’d opted to keep things quiet – only a handful of their friends knew that they were an item – anything else would have been too complicated. Tom had barely spoken to his dad about Ms Bainbridge; he’d hardly spoken to him at all since July because, really, what was there to say?
It was weird, sitting on the floor. It was almost like Tom could see what was really going on amongst his friends. Above the desks they were alert and attentive but, underneath there was a completely different story. Jamie Anderson’s leg was jiggling manically up and down while his upper body remained still and tense. Katie Davies had her eyes fixed on the man next to the door and was probably unaware that her right hand had almost completely unpicked the hem of her blouse. Some were holding hands. Jess and Louise had their fingers wound together, clinging to each other for support while Stacey had her fingernails almost embedded in Alex’s arm.
Only Harley had both hands above his desk. He was resting his head on his clenched fists, the back of his neck exposed and almost vulnerable looking, as though he were presenting it to an executioner. What the fuck had he been thinking bringing a knife into school? And why had he used it? It’s not like Tom had backed him into a corner or done much to provoke him. He’d always suspected that Harley had a short fuse – he’d seen him boss a few year sevens around – but he’d never expected him to do anything like this.
‘You doing okay?’ Annie asked. ‘You look a bit pale.’
Tom nodded. ‘Not too bad. I think the bleeding’s slowing down.’
‘Shh,’ Annie said and, for a second, Tom thought she was telling him to keep quiet to save his energy, but her eyes told him something different. She didn’t want the men to know that his injury might not be as serious as they’d thought.
‘What…?’
She put her index finger to her lips. ‘I’ve got an idea,’ she murmured. ‘You need to look really ill and in pain.’
‘What are you two whispering about?’ Larry snapped. Tom could see that the stabbing had him rattled. It wasn’t in the script and he obviously hadn’t been prepared to improvise. Larry was supposed to be in charge but his eyes, behind the ski mask, looked wide and frightened. And a frightened man was a dangerous man. A frightened man with a gun, well that didn’t bear thinking about.
‘I’m just trying to keep him calm,’ Annie said. ‘I don’t want him to go into shock. He’s not doing very well.’
Larry’s eyes flicked from Tom to Annie. ‘Just do what you need to do. But no whispering. I’m in charge so everything goes through me.’
‘How long until we get some medical supplies?’ Annie asked. ‘I’m on the last of the sanitary towels. If I can’t stop the bleeding, he’s not going to stay conscious for much longer.’
Larry ignored her.
‘I said, how long?’
Tom reached out to grab her wrist. What the hell was she trying to do? If she antagonised the man in charge, it was less likely that this situation would go well. He looked round the room. All eyes were on Annie. Even Miss Frith was looking at her with a mixture of apprehension and awe.
‘Look!’ Annie held up a bloody sanitary towel that Tom had used about five minutes previously. It was sodden and dripped as she squeezed the top. ‘I need something else and I need it now!’
Larry turned to face her. ‘Shut the fuck up!’
Annie stood up and Tom heard several of his classmates inhale loudly in anticipation of a confrontation. ‘I need something absorbent to stem the blood flow. There’s nothing in here and there’s no guarantee that there’s anything on the way. For all you know there might be armed police ready to storm the block in the next few minutes. But even that might be too late.’
Tom could see that Larry was uncertain. The man’s eyes were darting from side to side as he considered his options. Still unclear about Annie’s plan, Tom shifted his position and gave a mostly fake hiss of pain.
‘There’s a sanitary towel machine in the girls’ toilets, just down the corridor. One of you could go and get some.’
Larry smiled, the effect chilling because his eyes remained narrowed with suspicion.
‘Oh, that’s your plan? Get rid of one of us, shorten the
