The Green Garnet Ring
Harriet stepped warily along the narrow, rocky trail, using the sturdy walking stick for balance. To her right, a steep drop off the cliff edge meant great danger. On her left, the emerald green slopes were covered with wildflowers. As Harriet turned to admire the bright purple, white and yellow flower faces, her right foot slipped on a mossy rock and wobbled. Her stomach turned inside out. She had to hold the stick firmly or…
‘Earth to base. Earth to base. Come in, Harriet Cooper. Are you there?’
The teacher's words rang sharply across the classroom, jolting Harriet into attention. Just a moment ago, she had been hiking through the French Alps. She straightened her back and met the teacher’s gaze, bumping her hand absentmindedly across the top of the desk.
Harriet's pencil clattered to the floor, followed by her container of markers. She retrieved them quickly and answered the question. Her green eyes met the teacher’s again, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
‘Yes, Mr Facey.Sorry. I am listening.’ She squirmed in her seat,readjusting her clothing, which had twisted as she bent.
Harriet admired her teacher. He was a softly-spoken man who smiled a lot, but sometimes, he needed to be firm.
On the days when class work finished early, he would sit on the front of his desk, telling stories of his worldly travels, before the school bell rang at three- fifteen. Around the classroom walls were photos of the places he had visited: France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. There were some poster-sized prints of him in his younger days, abseiling, hiking, hang gliding and cycling through the French and Swiss Alps, the very pictures Harriet had been daydreaming about. His favourite cycling program every July was the Tour De France. Harriet listened closely as he spoke about the ancient past of some of the places he’d been. She loved history and fantasised about visiting one of those countries, touring and adventuring.
Today, he was setting the class a history task, one of Harriet’s favourite activities. Clearing his throat, he continued. ‘Thank you. Now, Year 5, I’m giving you a project to work on. You are to pick an ancient civilization and research it. Write about how they lived: food, clothes, sports and hobbies. Find out what they did to entertain themselves. Create one page for each heading, and make sure you include pictures.’
‘Today is Monday, the fourth of March, and projects are due next Wednesday, the thirteenth, so that gives everyone a week from tomorrow to complete their task. There will be a mark given out of a hundred, which goes towards your end-of-year reports.’
Harriet was excited. The project would be excellent (Harriet’s word of the week). Her best friend Will also enjoyed working on projects.
‘Hey Harry, maybe we could buddy up!’ he said, leaning forward and nudging her in the back. His round-framed tortoiseshell glasses slid to the end of his nose, making him appear professor-like.
Raising her hand, she asked, ‘Can we work with a friend? Is it okay if Will Taylor and I do our project together?’
‘Yes, everyone can work in pairs. But here’s a fair warning to you all. Don’t copy anyone else’s work, or I will be able to tell, and no points will be awarded.’
‘Oh, goody!’ squealed Ella Harrington. ‘That means Josie and I can work together.’
Mr Facey was not impressed by Ella’s outburst. He knew the two friends often cheated on their assignments and sometimes bullied others into helping them.
Harriet wasn’t impressed either, but she was glad the teacher had agreed to teamwork. She scrunched her nose up at Ella, who constantly sucked lollipops. Ella stuck out her bright yellow tongue.
Ella and Josie were normally too busy fooling around to do anything properly, and it might have stopped the rest of the class from working in pairs.
Harriet turned to face Will. They had been friends since kindergarten and often worked together.
‘Yep. I bet we could do a great job. What do you think about studying ancient Rome for our subject? We could start at the library this afternoon.’
‘Cool,’ replied Will. ‘See you at 3:15.’
