Chapter 17 Chapter Sixteen

During the succession of days at Lay's College, Lucy became more and more able to wake up in the morning.At first, when the annoying bell at 5:30 woke her up, she always turned over after the ringing stopped and went back to sleep.However, habits can be formed.In the last one or two days, not only did she not continue to sleep after the bell stopped, she could even feel that the bell was about to ring the next moment in her sleep.On the day the results were announced, she woke up before the bell rang for the first time. What woke Lucy was a twitch in her own chest; a feeling that had only ever occurred to her as a child, and which brought back fond memories of school awards day.Lucy was always going to get an award, never a big one, like second in French, third in drawing, third in singing, etc., but never came away empty-handed.Occasionally, the occasion featured a performance of a famous piece—such as a superb overture by the composer Rachmaninoff—and it was usually an opportunity to buy a new suit.The vibration in Lucy's chest came from this.Today, the students' years of hard work will be revealed, and Lucy feels the shock again.Over the years, throbbing in the chest and belly area has usually indicated simple indigestion—whether indigestion is really simple or not.Now, among this group of emotionally charged young people, she shares the excitement and anticipation.

She sat up and looked at the sky outside the window.The gray morning mist may disappear without a trace under the sunlight during the day.She got up and went to the window. There was a dead silence, nothing to touch the gray peace except a cat wagging its feet on the dewy stones, protesting against the bad weather.The grass was dewy and damp, and Lucy, who had always had an unreasonable fondness for wet lawns, was quite content. The silence was divided in two by the sound of the bell.The cat seemed to suddenly remember that it had something to do and it jumped away. Giddy the gardener rattled his way to the gymnasium; a moment later the vacuum cleaner started blaring like a distant alarm bell.There were complaints and groans about the weather from the small rooms around the atrium, but no one went to the window to see what happened. Getting up was like a struggle before dying, and the longer the delay, the better.

Lucy decided to get up and change, and go out into the gray and damp morning to feel the coolness and dampness.She wanted to see the golden phoenix flower garden, but she didn't know how it looked without the sunshine.It will probably turn pale yellow.She washed up a bit, put on the warmest clothes around her, and walked through the quiet corridor and down the unoccupied stairs. She stopped by the door of the atrium and looked at the student bulletin board, mysterious and plain. "Students, please note that parents and visitors can enter the wing bedroom and the treatment room, but not the front room." "Students in the lower grades must greet guests and assist the staff during tea time." Afterwards, a separate notice, In simple large letters it reads:

Diplomas will be handed out at nine o'clock on Tuesday morning. As she continues down the shaded aisle, Lucy sees diplomas in stately rolls of vellum with ribbons, and realizes that even diplomas have their own style.Her own graduation certificate is actually a badge pinned to her jacket. This silver-glazed badge pinned to the left chest of her overalls can tell the public where she spent her student days. Lucy walked out of the shaded walkway and wandered all the way to the gymnasium.Giddy had finished cleaning—she had seen him admiring the roses she had planted on the lawn before she walked out of the room—and it seemed that Ruth's morning practice was over as well, as the concrete walkway The wet footprints of the shoes are clearly visible, so the gym is deserted.Lucy paused as she turned toward the passage by the side wall, and walked through the open door.At this time, the track and field hadn't been soiled by the crowd, and the competition field hadn't been painted with traces. The huge gymnasium fascinated her.Empty and quiet, the underwater green lights bring a mysterious majesty invisible during the day.The horizontal bar on which Ruth practiced stood in the shadows, and the light from the mirror under the far audience swayed vaguely.

Lucy wanted to say a password so she could hear her voice in the emptiness, or do a backbend without triggering a heart attack.However, just gazing at it all, she was satisfied.At her age, just seeing with her eyes is enough, not to mention she is a master! Between the pole and her, there was an object flashing, a small shiny object.Nailheads or something, she thought, before remembering that gym floors don't have nails.She stepped forward, a little curious, and picked up the thing.It was a flat rosette of twisted silver metal wire, and she smiled as she absently put it in her sweatshirt pocket and turned to continue walking.If the beating in her chest this morning reminded her of her school days, then this little metal circle reminded her of her own childhood even more.In Lucy's mind, the childhood atmosphere of biscuit jam, white silk clothes, and bronze leather slippers tied at the ankles with an elastic band on each foot, decorated with thin metal wires on the toes, suddenly appeared in Lucy's mind. little rosettes.Reaching the gate leading to the field, Lucy took it out again, smiling and remembering the past.She had almost forgotten her bronze slippers, she had black ones, but good boys wear bronze slippers.

She wondered who on campus would have such a pair of shoes.Students wear firm or soft ballet shoes, and their leather sneakers have elastic inserts.She had never seen any students wearing leather slippers with rosettes on the toes. Maybe it was Ruth wearing it to the gym in the morning, the trinket must have fallen off this morning, because Giddy had vacuumed the gym thoroughly earlier. She paused at the gate for a while, but felt a little cold and disappointed.The bushes were barely visible in the morning mist, the buttercup beds were patinaed in the obscuring light, and the hawthorn hedges looked like dirty snowdrifts.She didn't want to be back at school before breakfast, so she walked to the tennis court.The lower graders are patching holes on the field—they said that it is a bit strange to work today, but all the energy accumulated this year must be vented here, so as not to be assigned to more important tasks—Lucy stayed, It was also helpful to chat with the students before they went back to school for breakfast.Everyone admires her early rise, and young Miss Morris asks if she's tired of the cold toast delivered to her room, when she honestly admits she's too excited to sleep At that time, everyone was happy that she, an outsider, had such emotions, and said that the facts would outweigh expectations.It seemed that until now, she hadn't seen the really exciting part.

She changed her wet shoes, endured the friendly noise from the staff when they saw her coming vigorously, and went downstairs to have breakfast with everyone. When she turned her head to see how Innes was doing this morning, she found a gap in the rows of heads.Since she wasn't familiar enough with everyone's seats, she couldn't tell who was absent, but it was pretty certain that someone was missing.She wondered if Handa had noticed.Handa, as usual, glanced at the crowd before taking her seat, but since everyone was sitting at the same time, the gap was not clearly visible. I don't know if Handa found out, so she hastily turned her eyes back, not daring to probe further.Whether it was because of laziness or him, she didn't want to see any student punished.Of course, maybe someone happened to be "ill" and that would explain why no one noticed.

Miss He Ju finished swallowing the fish roll, put down her knife and fork, and scanned the students with her elephant-like eyes. "Miss Varger," she said, "Miss Nash, please come and talk." Boa Nash got up from the head of the nearest table and stood up. "Is Miss Ruth missing at Miss Stewart's table?" "Yes, Miss He Ju." "Why didn't she come for breakfast?" "I don't know, Miss He Ju." "Send a junior student to her room to ask why." "Okay, Miss He Ju." Du Lei, a likable but slightly dull underclassman, is assigned to this task.Later she reported that Ruth was not in her room, and Boa reported to the staff.

"Where did you last see Miss Ruth?" "I don't remember seeing her at all, Miss He Ju. It's not like being in a classroom or a gymnasium this morning. Everyone is scattered in different places and doing their own things." "Does anyone," Miss He Ju asked all the students, "know where Miss Ruth is?" But apparently no one knows. Handa had put the two slices of toast aside when Du Lei went upstairs just now, and now she said: "Okay, Miss Nash." So Boa went back to her seat for breakfast.Handa folded the napkin and looked at Fu Ruo, but Fu Ruo had already stood up anxiously.

"Furuo, you go to the gym with me." Handa said.The two got up and walked out together, and the other teachers left together, but did not follow to the gymnasium.As Lucy was going upstairs to make her bed, it occurred to her, "How could I have been such a fool not to have thought of telling them Ruth wasn't in the gymnasium earlier." When she was tidying her room—she figured that since the students had to tidy their own rooms, she would too. It was only fair to do so—to keep wondering where and what Ruth was going to do.Is it possible that another mishandling at the horizontal bar this morning resulted in an emotional outburst? This is the only reason that can explain the inexplicable absence of school students from meals, especially breakfast.

She walked through the front room, down the central staircase, and into the garden.The voice of her hurriedly talking on the phone came from Handa's office, so she didn't go in.There were still thirty minutes before morning prayers, which she intended to use to read letters in the garden. The morning mist had dissipated, and a gleam of light penetrated into the originally ashen atmosphere.She went to her favorite seat in the corner and looked out at the country until nine o'clock when she came back inside.The weather will undoubtedly clear up, and the "misfortune" that Handa said will not happen. As she turned the corner, an ambulance was pulling out the front door onto the road.She looked at it in bewilderment, then thought about it, it probably wouldn't be a big deal for an ambulance to appear in such a place, maybe it was to take patients to the consultation room! Before the preparatory bell rang at nine o'clock sharp In the studio, the faculty and staff were not present, only Miss Luc was there. "Did Ruth show up?" asked Lucy. "yes." "Where did you find her?" "Gym, her skull is cracked." Even at this moment, Lucy could still feel the succinctness in Miss Luc's tone, "How could it be? What happened?" "The latch on the pole was not locked tightly. When she was about to jump on it, the pole fell and hit her on the head." "Jesus!" Lucy could feel the heavy wood hitting her head, and she had always hated the horizontal bar. "Fu Ruo accompanied her to the Sirab Hospital in the ambulance." "It's a good thing she can go with me." "Yeah, Sirabo Hospital is not too far away, and fortunately the ambulances are still there at this time of the morning, so you won't be delayed by traffic jams when you start from the school." "It's really scary, but it happens to be the day when the result is published." "Yes, we tried to hide it from the students, but it was in vain, so we had to take it lightly." "How bad do you think it is?" "No one knows. Miss He Ju is calling Ruth's family." "Aren't they going to see the results published?" "Obviously not. Ruth's parents are dead, and she was brought up by uncles and aunts." Here, after a pause, she added, "She used to look like a lost child. ’ She didn’t notice that she was using the past tense. "I suppose it was Ruth's own oversight?" asked Lucy. "It's also possible that the student who helped her set up the bar yesterday was negligent." "who is it? " "It seems to be Irene O'Donnell. Ms. He Ju has already asked her to question her." At this time Handa came in, and when she saw the expression on her face, Lucy's hatred for her old friend that had accumulated in her heart for the past few days disappeared immediately.Handa seems to be ten years older, and strange to say, she also seems to have lost a lot of weight. "Looks like they have a phone," Handa said, following the only event in her mind, "so I can talk to them before they get the telegram. I'm taking a long distance call right now. They should be here by this evening. I'm waiting to answer the phone, so Miss Luc, please lead us to morning prayers.Fu Ruo couldn't make it back in time. " As a senior physical education teacher, Fu Ruo's position is second only to Miss He Ju. "Miss Varger may not be able to attend morning service. She has to go to the gymnasium to prepare the grounds. But Mrs. Rever will be there, and Lucy will help you." "Certainly," said Lucy, "I wish I could be of other help." There was a knock on the door, and O'Donna appeared at the door. "Miss He Ju, are you looking for me?" "Miss O'Donnell, go to my office." "Because you were not here just now, so—" "Never mind, now that you're here, tell me: were you the one who helped Miss Ruth set the bar last night?" "Yes, Miss He Ju." "Which end do you stand on when you set up a pole?" There was silence in the tense atmosphere.Apparently O'Donnell didn't know which end of the bar had come loose, so what she said in the next few seconds would either make her guilty or save her life.But the desperate tone in her speech confirmed that she was telling the truth. "The side next to the wall, Miss He Ju." "You lock the latch into the vertical face against the wall?" "yes." "Miss Ruth stands at the end vertically in the middle of the floor." "Yes, Miss He Ju." "You don't remember which side you took, do you?" "Absolutely not." "How can you be so sure?" "Because I stand against the side of the wall every time." "why? " "Ruth is taller than me, and she can lift the bar higher. So I always lift it against one side of the wall, so I can put my foot on the high brick next to the wall and lock the latch in place." "I see. Thank you for your briefing, Miss Tang." O'Donnell turned to go, then turned back. "Which end fell off, Miss He Ju?" "The other end in the middle of the arena." Miss He Ju looked at the girl lovingly, thinking that she almost forgot to get her cleared of suspicion before leaving. O'Donna's usually pale face flushed. "Oh, thank you." She finished softly and almost ran out of the studio. "Poor thing," said Mademoiselle Luc, "it's been a terrible moment for her." "It's really not Miss Ruth's style to be so careless in the use of equipment." Handa thought thoughtfully. "Are you saying that O'Donnell is lying?" "No, it's not. What she said is obviously true. It's normal for her to lift one side of the wall against external force. But I still can't imagine how this happened. Except Miss Ruth's carelessness Besides, the latches of the bars are hard to lock in, but not so shallow that the whole log falls off. Besides, the stays should not be so loose that the bars fall from a height of three feet." "Did Jidi accidentally touch it?" "I don't know how he could touch it. It's hard to find anything wrong with the latch at that height unless he's touching it on purpose. It's unlikely that he accidentally touched it while using a cleaning tool. Although he is concerned about the Our vacuum cleaner is full of praise, and there is no way that it will have that much suction to suck the latch out." "No way." Mademoiselle Luc thought for a moment. "Only a vibration can move the latch. Some kind of vibration. There is no such thing in the gymnasium!" "Of course not in the gymnasium. Miss Ruth usually locks the door and gives Jiddy the key, and he doesn't open the door until the first bell the next morning." "Then, there's no other reason than Ruth herself being too careless this time. She was the last to leave and the first to enter the gymnasium - no one would have done so at such an early hour except by being required to." Going to the gym - so only Ruth is to blame. Everyone has to be thankful for the statement. It's bad enough, it's worse when it happens because of someone else's negligence and then that person has to take the blame - " The bell for morning prayer rang, and the phone downstairs rang hysterically. "Have you marked the passages in your Morning Prayer Book?" asked Miss Luc. "Start with the blue ribbon." Miss He Ju hurried to answer the phone after she finished speaking. "Has Fu Ruo come back?" Mrs. Lei Fu appeared by the door. "Okay, let's go. As the old saying goes, life goes on. Hope today's morning prayers don't get too close to reality." It was not the first time that Lucy had thought this way. She really hoped to exile Mrs. Levor to an uninhabited island in Australia. An oppressive silence and never-before-seen gloom awaited them at morning prayers, but they all recovered a little in the harmony of prayers, reverent hymns.So is Lucy. "No wounding weapon in hand," she sang earnestly, before stopping suddenly, out of breath. A shock left her breathless and unable to make any sound. She suddenly remembered one thing.She suddenly remembered why she had been so sure Ruth wasn't in the gym in the first place. Ruth's wet footprints were on the cement walkway, so Lucy thought she had left.But Ruth didn't go away.Ruth, who arrived later, jumped up, caught the loose lever, and fell to the ground, where she was not found until after breakfast. So, whose footprints could be those?