Mary’s chin crumpled a little and she wiped away tears from both cheeks.
I watched as she sat down, and the predictable reaction as her chin crumpled again, wincing while parking herself on the hard wooden seat.
Miss Roberts didn’t immediately ask me to take the plimsoll back, and I wondered with some trepidation if my silent but a fairly obvious exchange of glances with Mary on her return might have qualified me for failure to obey the no communication rule.
Fortunately, she decided against to my great relief, I certainly did not want bruises on my bottom that night.
I returned the slipper safely to its cupboard, remembering to not slap my hand with it again, especially as it was still tingling from the slipper’s outward journey.