Owls Text Autumn Term 1 2013

1. Owls TextAutumn Term 12013 The Teacher’s Cupboard

3. The Teacher’s Cupboard There was something about Mr. Tredwin’s classroom cupboard. Something strange. Very strange. Hundreds of children have spent a whole year in this classroom over time, without realising it. Quite extraordinary really. This year was different though. Emily Woodhams, Charlie Tivey and Zoey Thomas were in his class. These three children were curious, to say the least. It all started on the second week of term. Just like any other morning, it was assembly shortly after registration. The children filed into the hall, and Mr. Atkins was looking for children who were being quiet. He started the assembly with his usual ‘Good Morning Everybody.’ Meanwhile Charlie was late for school. He often overslept. He had an alarm clock, but never remembered to set it at night. Either that, or his cheeky brother, Ben, used to switch it off. Charlie saw Mrs. Graves at the office, and collected his late card. Charlie didn’t want to go into assembly. It is embarrassing when you are late. Everyone looks at you. So instead he headed straight for Mr. Tredwin’s room. He passed the staffroom, overhearing Mrs. Challis and Mr. Richards moaning about children. He wanted to listen, but thought better of it. It’s interesting really because if you walk past the staffroom at the right moment, you can often hear all sorts of strange conversations!

4. The corridor was very quiet. No-one was around. Charlie entered the classroom, and tidily packed his things away. He knew he shouldn’t really be in the room on his own, but decided to stay there nevertheless. It wasn’t long before he felt uneasy though. He looked around the room. It felt like he was being watched. It felt like he wasn’t alone. Meanwhile, back in assembly, Mr. Atkins was giving out merits awards. Having reached 4C, he suddenly had to stop because there was a fuss in Mr. Tredwin’s row. Emily Woodhams had a nosebleed. She tried her best to stop it, but it was a bad one. Mr. Atkins lowered his glasses and peered up, like he does when he is about to tell someone off. He signalled for Emily to leave the hall. Zoey went with her. At the office it took Mrs. Graves nearly five minutes to stop this nose bleed. She then told them to return to their classroom as assembly was almost over. “Hey you two,” said Charlie as he looked up. “What are you doing here?” “She had a nosebleed,” replied Zoey. “We were sent here.” Charlie closed his book and joined them at their table. “I’m glad you are here. I felt a really strange feeling in this room.” “What do you mean?” asked Emily. She didn’t usually believe Charlie. He had a strange imagination. “Dunno. It was kind of strange. Like I was being watched.” Charlie looked towards the cupboard at pointed to it. “From over there.”

5. The class had never really paid much attention to the cupboard. It was behind a small bookcase, and Mr. Tredwin always kept it locked. The children just stared at this cupboard. The room fell silent for a couple of moments. “Don’t be daft Charlie,” mocked Zoey. “You are imagining things.” Zoey was a brave girl. She was usually the one who would say something cheeky in one of Mr. Tredwin’s lessons. But Charlie heard something. He walked towards where the sound was coming from. “Shut up will you. Listen.” The room was silent yet again. There it was - a moaning sound coming from that cupboard. Emily looked scared. “What is it?” she whispered. The moaning sound stopped. Then it started. It sounded like a voice. It was muttering something. The three children looked at each other. “What shall we do?” whispered Zoey. Charlie thought for a moment. “I’m going to see what it is,” he said, creeping ever closer to the cupboard. Zoey and Emily tiptoed behind. Carefully Charlie pressed his ear against the door. Emily grabbed Zoey’s arm and clenched it tightly. The noise had stopped. For a moment anyway. Charlie looked down at the handle. Was he brave enough to turn it?

6. “Go on,” said Zoey as she nudged Charlie. “Dare you to open it.” He didn’t have a choice. He reached out his shaking hand inch by inch. He grasped the handle. It was cold, and certainly stiff. He started to turn it. At that moment, the children could be heard coming down the corridor. “Quick! Sit down,” shouted Charlie. They rushed to their tables and just made it. Good job too as Mr. Tredwin was the first person through the door. The lesson passed. It was fractions. Boring as usual. The same old children hadn’t understood either. But the hour had passed quickly for Emily, Zoey and Charlie. They had been passing notes around. It was in these notes they had decided to ask Mr. Tredwin about the cupboard. Playtime arrived. As usual the boys rushed outside to organise their football match. Mr. Tredwin was tidying his table. Charlie approached him. “Yes Charlie Chaplin? What can I do for you?” asked Mr. Tredwin. He quite often had something funny to say about most children. “Erm…erm… your cupboard Mr. Tredwin. What is exactly in there?” asked Charlie. He felt quite pleased with himself for asking. “Why do you ask Charlie?” He looked at Zoey and Emily. “Girls? Are you with Charlie too?” Rather annoyingly Mr. Tredwin often replied to a question with a question of his own. “Yes we are. We were just wondering what is in there,” replied Zoey.

7. Mr. Tredwin thought for a moment. “To be honest children, I don’t really know. I have never opened it. I haven’t got a key you see. As far as I know, the cupboard hasn’t been opened for years. Not since Mr. Abbott taught here in the 1880s.” He grabbed his cold cup of tea and stood up, ready to leave the room. “Why do you want to know?” “Nothing really,” replied Zoey. “Just curious. Who was Mr. Abbott anyway?” Mr. Tredwin sighed and sat back in his chair. “Mr. Abbott was a teacher here in the Victorian times. He was strict. Very strict. He used to enjoy swishing his cane every day. At children of course. One year, I think, there wasn’t one child in the class who had escaped it.” “Sounds like a scary teacher,” said Charlie. “He was,” said Mr. Tredwin with a smile on his face. “You children don’t know how lucky you are these days.” “So what happened to Mr. Abbott?” asked Zoey. “No-one really knows. Many people have said that he was last seen on a Friday after school, in that cupboard. Monday arrived, and Mr. Abbott wasn’t in class. In fact no-one ever saw him again. But the cupboard was locked. And the key has never been found to this day. That is what we know about Mr. Abbott. A strange story. Is it true? I don’t know.” “Spooky,” whispered Emily. “Now listen. You only have 5 minutes of your break left,” continued Mr. Tredwin. “You need to go out to play.”

8. The three of them walked into the cloakroom, and waited for Mr. Tredwin to pass. They peered round the corner and watched him walk up the corridor towards the staffroom. They weren’t going out to play. They had other ideas. “Let’s do it,” ordered a bossy Zoey. She led the way back into the classroom and walked straight to the cupboard. She pushed Charlie towards the door. Like before, Charlie turned the handle. To his surprise it wasn’t locked. This time the door creaked open. Charlie’s eyes adjusted as he peered inside. It was cold and dark as the light from the classroom struggled to fill the cupboard. “What’s in there?” asked Zoey. She pushed Charlie forward once more. Charlie looked around. He could see, amongst other things, cobwebs in-between old faded books and boxes of chalk. The smell was musty, like the room hadn’t been used for many years. Brushing off the cobwebs, Charlie crept forward, heading deeper into the darkness. Zoey followed, but Emily stayed in the classroom – partly because she was on look out, but also because she was too afraid. The moaning sound had returned from the cupboard. Charlie was whispering so he didn’t hear it at first. The second time he did. He stopped dead, and a shiver trickled down his spine. “Oh my god!” muttered Charlie. “Did you hear that Zoey?” Zoey didn’t answer. Instead she backtracked towards the safety of the classroom. Too late. The door slammed shut, isolating Zoey and Charlie from the rest of the school.

9. Realising that the door had shut by itself, Emily ran off to get Mr. Tredwin. She knocked on the staffroom door, not bothered that all the teachers were enjoying their coffee break. Mrs. Gaster opened the door. “Emily? What’s the matter?” “Miss. Miss. It’s Charlie and Zoey. They’ve disappeared,” Emily said quickly. “Please come. Is Mr. Tredwin in there as well?” Mrs Gaster wasn’t interested in Emily’s remarks. She was too interested in the gossip happening from within the staffroom. “Go and see Mrs. Challis Emily my dear. She is on duty.” Emily didn’t give up. “B… but… you don’t understand. Charlie and Zoey are in trouble. You must believe me.” Mrs. Gaster reluctantly told Mr. Tredwin. The two of them followed Emily to the classroom. “In there,” she said as she pointed to the cupboard. They are in the cupboard.” Mr. Tredwin knocked on the cupboard door. “Zoey? Charlie? Are you in there?” No reply. He tried again. No reply once more. At that moment the bell rang, and the rest of the children filed into the room, not knowing two of their classmates had disappeared. Mr. Tredwin and Mrs. Gaster searched all of the school. Charlie and Zoey were nowhere to be found…

10. It was 1881, also in the same school. Mr. Abbott took the bell outside and rang it. All the children lined up quickly in the playground. Mr. Abbott marched his children into his classroom, and they sat down without any fuss. “Good morning children,” Mr. Abbot said in a loud voice. “Good morning sir,” replied the children. Upon Mr. Abbott’s gesture, all the class sat down. “Now children. Listen for your name on the register.” Mr. Abbott began the register, calling each child’s name one by one. He reached the end. “Peter Sargeant?” “Yes sir.” “Derek Smith?” “Yes sir.” “Susan Strudwick?” “Yes sir.” “Charlie Tivey?” “Yes sir.” “Zoey Thomas?” “Yes sir.” Zoey Thomas and Charlie Tivey were two more victims of the classroom cupboard’s dark secret… Return to Contents