Creature Teacher

Creature Teacher — page 3 — Me neither said Mr Hyde He was blushing How scary can the principal be anyway She won’t bite will she Heh-heh Mr Hyde had gone very red indeed His face was flushed and even his ears were scarlet And it even looked like was he starting to glow Jake wondered If I was nervous continued Mr Hyde I would just tap a rhythm on my knee Like this Mr Hyde drummed his fingers up and down gently on his leg Tap-tap-tappity-tap Jake rubbed his eyes and looked at Mr Hyde again He was a bit pink but he wasn’t glowing Suddenly the principal’s door burst open and Mr Hyde started tapping his knee furiously MR HYDE COME IN a harsh voice commanded Mr Hyde took a deep breath stood up and ducked in through the door It clanged shut Jake stared at the closed door Had Mr Hyde actually glowed He shook his head He must have imagined it People don’t glow Before Jake had time to think about this the door opened again Mr Hyde shuffled out followed by a dark-haired woman in a suit She saw Jake and frowned Oh yes The new boy This is your teacher Mr Hyde Now let’s get you both to class Mrs Blunt marched them out into a courtyard with a huge pile of rocks in the middle She stopped by the rocks and patted one of them fondly This is my Rockery All the building work is done by students who earn three Sad Faces A Sad Face is given for breaking one of the School Rules Jake’s eyes met Mr Hyde’s The rocks looked very heavy Our discipline is first-rate Mrs Blunt continued leading them into a hallway her heels clicking on the hard floor I hope you will keep 5B in order Mr Hyde They can

Creature Teacher — page 4 — be lively Jake heard the sound of chatter getting louder and louder As they rounded a corner he saw a gaggle of students outside a classroom door There was pushing shoving and loud giggling Mrs Blunt one of the girls whispered The children scurried into line and the hubbub faded One boy dropped his lunch box and several cookies rolled across the hallway He bent to pick them up MCCRUMB roared Mrs Blunt The boy groaned Maaaa’am but got back in line Class 5B Anyone wishing to work on the Rockery continue talking If not go in sit down and do not utter a sound Mrs Blunt ordered The class trooped in Mrs Blunt stopped the cookie-dropper Barnaby McCrumb I believe you have two Sad Faces One more and I will see you at the Rockery Understand Yeeeessss ma’am Barnaby responded Mrs Blunt glared at Barnaby but waved him into the silent classroom and marched Jake and Mr Hyde to the front 5B meet Jake Jones said Mrs Blunt Twenty-five pairs of eyes fixed on Jake

Creature Teacher — page 5 — He would rather have been dangling upside down over a tank full of sharks And this is your new teacher Mr Hyde To welcome them I want you to recite my Joy of School Rules poem you’ve been working on for the Founders Celebration There was a chorus of groans QUIET I did not give you permission to groan Mrs Blunt said A girl in the front row put her hand up Nora Mrs Blunt called on the girl Ma’am we haven’t practiced for a-a-a-ages because Miss Read said it gave her a rash but I thought it might be a tarantula bite because tarantula hairs contain a deadly toxin A boy behind Nora broke in I wrote a tune for it ma’am Shall I sing it for you I’m not interested in songs about tarantula hair Karl I’m interested in Class 5B

Creature Teacher — page 6 — reciting my poem at the Founders Celebration tomorrow correct in every detail with gusto She turned to Mr Hyde The Founders Evening is an extremely important event at which all the classes put on a performance to show their appreciation of the people who established our wonderful school and its excellent Rules she explained She pointed to a large poster on the back wall of the classroom At the top was written THE SCHOOL RULES At the bottom of the poster was a photo of the principal herself glaring furiously out at anyone unlucky enough to be looking The four remaining Founders will be attending and parents and the local press are invited Unfortunately Class 5B are a long way behind in their rehearsals Her eyes bored into those of Mr Hyde But under your direction Mr Hyde I’m sure they will come along in leaps and bounds Jake saw Mr Hyde make an uneasy smile as Mrs Blunt turned smartly on her heels and clicked menacingly out of the classroom

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