The Other Side of the Dale Read Online Free PDF

much space as a cubicle in a ladies’ lav. There’s no one in the office today except me since it’s still the school holidays. The other inspectors are all on leave, I’m afraid, so you won’t see them until next week at the beginning of term. Most usually take off the last two weeks of the summer holidays just before the schools start but they’ll be back bright-eyed and bushy-tailed next Monday and then you can get to know everybody. The first week of term is pretty quiet on the whole. There’s no visits for a few days.’ She dug into her handbag, extracted a long nail-file and proceeded to saw away at the broken nail. ‘It gives the children a chance to settle in.’ Julie waved in the direction of the desks. ‘That’s when all these mountains of paper are cleared.’
    ‘I see. I just thought I’d spend a few days up here before the school term starts, find some digs, settle in and see if there is anything urgent I need to do or any documents to read.’ I turned in the direction of the empty desk. ‘But I see there is nothing for me.’
    ‘Oh, but there is,’ replied Julie laughing, and pointed with the long nail-file to a large desk in the corner piled high with papers. ‘That’s your desk over there. The mountain started to grow as soon as everyone heard you’d been appointed. Mrs Young, the last English inspector, used to sit there. She’s sunning herself in Spain at this moment, happily retired. She’s sent you a postcard from the Costa somewhere-or-other, wishing you all the best, by the way. It’s buried beneath that mound of paper.’ Before I couldreply and say how kind it was of Mrs Young, Julie chattered on blithely. ‘Now, let me show you where everyone else sits. Mr Clamp, the creative and visual arts inspector is by the window next to Mr Pritchard who covers mathematics, Ρ Ε and games. Dr Yeats, he’s the Senior Inspector, looks after history, geography and modern foreign languages and that’s his large desk in the middle.’
    ‘I see,’ I replied, not sure I’d remember any of this.
    ‘Now, if you want to make a start on the paper mountain, I’ll make us a cup of tea. I’ve prepared you a folder with some information about this and that, which you’ll find in the top drawer. It has your travel claim forms and engagement sheets which have to be filled in on Fridays so I know where you are during the following week. That’s in case I need to contact you urgently. You can leave those for the time being. There’s also a full school list, education personnel handbook and your diary – all the things you need. Dr Yeats has organized a programme for the second week to take you around some schools with him and introduce you to various people. He also wants you to join him at some meetings and see how things work. You’ll find details of that as well. He’s really nice is Dr Yeats. In fact, they all are in this office. Now is that everything? Oh, yes, there’s also a message for you from Mrs Savage.’ Julie’s voice took on a harder edge, her mouth twisted slightly and I saw a sudden glint in her eyes. ‘She’s Dr Gore’s personal assistant. Not a person I warm to, Mrs Savage. I thought it wouldn’t be long before Mrs High-and-Mighty got in touch.’
    Before I could ask what Mrs Savage might want, Julie headed for the door. ‘Well, I’ll let you get on with things. Give me a shout if you need anything. My cubby-hole is down the corridor, by the way. I’ll be through with the tea in a minute.’ Then she was gone.
    I looked around the cluttered office in something of a daze wondering where to start. The computer hummed and the clock on the wall ticked. A moment later Julie popped her head back around the door. ‘I forgot to say – it’s nice having you with us.’
    I spent the entire day wading through letters, reports, questionnaires, publishers’ catalogues, requests for references, conference papers, county documents, minutes of meetings, agendas and details of