Benworden Read Online Free PDF

with a green glass shade.
    Behind the desk was his big brown leather chair. It was well-worn with the odd button missing, and due to its age there was some cracking beginning to appear in the leather as well. The left wall was almost covered by an enormous original tapestry that depicted the monastery in its younger years, while on the other wall stood an old timber bookcase.
    The lower shelves had books that were used frequently. Those on the top shelf, however, hadn’t been touched in years, and one of those books wasn’t an original. It had been placed there by the club and contained a small surveillance camera and microphone.
    Over the door was a coat of arms depicted on a timber shield, reminding Mr Gowdy of his family history and that a speck of royal blood ran through those cold arteries of his.
    The man had a strong connection to the school, in fact, in his youth he had once been a boarder at Benworden. His parents were extremely wealthy and mixed in all the elite social circles of their day. His mother had been the head of the Country Women’s Association and his father was a surgeon.
    As a child he was given everything by his parents and he had a tendency to look down his nose at the other students. He was constantly running to the teachers telling them who was up to what and many of the students wouldn’t include Mr Gowdy in their games or social gatherings because of his attitude: if he couldn’t be the leader or the head of a group he would find some way of getting the other students into trouble. but more than any other issue he had with other students was his fear of being left out.
    He always felt that there was some sort of secret society, gang or group that had excluded him and he spent a lot of time obsessing over exposing this group that had so long evaded his detection. Although he didn’t know it, that group was the Bull Ants, and he always vowed that if he found them he would permanently put an end to their shenanigans and make them rue the day they had rejected and excluded him.
    Mr Gowdy’s secretary’s name was Zahra Fickle, and although she was very much of a stickler for protocol and a bit of a busybody, she had a gentle and caring soul which she shielded from the outside world. Miss Fickle had never married but she loved kids; she was also the first aid officer and doted over the students when they hurt themselves. Mr Gowdy resented the care and attention that she gave these ‘brats’, ashe called them, but this didn’t deter her from what she felt was her duty to those who needed her most.
    It isn’t hard to describe Miss Fickle. She was a very lanky lady, much like those white herons you often see near lakes or lagoons, and she had a rather long neck with a pencil-like nose. In summer she usually wore long, flowing, floral dresses, while in winter she’d wear tight slacks with woolly cardigans. She always wore high heel shoes.
    Miss Fickle loved her two little Maltese-cross Shiatsu dogs, Molly and Lippy, and was often seen walking them down Main Street on weekends. Her other love was her job and she was very good at it, but her biggest worry came from the way that Mr Gowdy growled at the kids. She felt it destroyed their self-esteem.
    She’d stopped speaking to him on these matters, however, as one time she had made a comment on his harshness and he had bellowed at her, “Mind your business!” He’d growled that there were plenty of others that could do her job just as well as she could.
    I think he knew there weren’t many who would put up with his domineering behaviour, but by saying things like that he made her feel insecure, which helped him retain her for the position.
    Nevertheless, even though their characteristics were like chalk and cheese it was still plain to see that there were warm feelings between them (although many would say that Mr Gowdy was so heartless that if you stuck a sharp needle in him he