We in the staff room were naturally preoccupied with the 'O' and 'A' level candidates, and there were athletics, and tennis matches, and concerts and plays and school outings to be organised as well. Everyone had something extra on their plate. In the third week of term one of the French teachers fell ill and had to go into hospital which meant extra teaching all round for the rest of us. As a result I hardly had any time left over for poor Timothy although I was, as ever, conscious of his presence. He of course would not be sitting his 'O' levels until the following year when he would be sixteen. Timothy had returned from Saudi Arabia looking taller, suntanned and healthy but he seemed to have withdrawn more than ever into his shell. He still came to see me, but not quite so often as before, partly, I suppose because I was so busy, but partly, no doubt, precisely because he was becoming more withdrawn. I could not contemplate this withdrawal of his without a bitter twinge of fear.
