Сургуулийн ард дахь хаалга

The bell has gone, and the school yard is empty. A low sound comes from the store room behind the hall. Sara stops by the door to listen, and her curious face turns towards the narrow gap.

Ben pulls at the handle with both hands. “Mr Bell's dog is shut in there,” he says. The door will not move. Ben is good at doors, but this one has swollen in the rain. Sara kneels down by the gap and talks to it. The dog is afraid of the dark.

Ben kicks the frame once, then twice. From the far side of the yard his determination looks like something uglier. Mr Owen crosses the wet stones with a pencil still behind his ear. “Stop that at once,” he calls. “That boy is aggressive,” the strict teacher says. “He is rude, loud and impatient.”

Sara steps in front of Ben. Her honesty comes out fast, even when nobody wants to hear it. “There is a dog behind that door, sir. Ben has been pulling at it for ten minutes.” Mr Owen is angry with Ben. Sara stays where she is, loyal and very calm.

Ben says nothing at all. He is more sensitive than his loud voice suggests, and his ears go red. Nina comes through the gate with her sleeves pushed up. She is kind to both children before she asks a single question. “Why are you angry with him?” Nina waits, and her patience fills the cold yard.

Ben lifts a plank and a length of rope, and his creativity turns them into a lever. The door swings open, and Mr Bell's dog runs out to Sara.

Nina looks at the teacher for a long moment. He is not good at listening. “That was courage, not temper,” she says. Mr Owen is proud of them both now.