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Salmon returned to the school after a few weeks rest. The children greeted him with beaming smiles and lots of cheers. They made him a huge ‘get well soon’ card, which he opened and read in front of them all, the tears welling up in his eyes.
Life had changed. So had the school. A curious uncertainty hung over it now, the edginess in the parents when they came to pick up their children, the police car parked down the road. It all seemed so alien, so unnecessary.
At the end of that first day back, Mrs. Winston called to him and Salmon sat and waited, as he always did, for her to begin.
She seemed edgy too, that assuredness that he had grown to loathe now gone. “Peter,” she began, not even daring to look him in the eye. “I hope you’re feeling a little better.”
“Yes. Thanks.” She hadn
