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Change. The screech of the brakes rang out clearly in the chill morning air. Brian had arrived! By the dull light allowed through by the thick scudding clouds, St Catherine’s School looked like a grey hulk looming out of the mist, void of any colour or character. Brian had been sent to this school, away from the happy former boundaries of his old primary school, hand in hand with the discomfiture yet excitement of his family moving to a new house. His father, who was in the Royal Air Force, had been posted to the small village of Black Torrington, in Devon. This sudden change had come as a shock to Brian who had been floating along merrily in the sheltered walls of his old school, avoiding trouble and having a general good time at his former house on the outskirts of bustling London. All in all he was a bit disappointed with the new house but was willing to give the new school and the new life a try. He parked his old and slightly mauled bike next to the myriad and, in some cases, motley collection of the bikes of the other students, with this in mind he thought that his old bike, being in better condition than many of the others, with its electric blue frame and padded seat, might earn him a little respect in this new environment. How wrong he was. First on his agenda this damp September morn, was to find and visit the Principal, who would then give him a tour of the school and show him where he would be placed. Once this ordeal was over he was to be let out to “mingle” with his fellow pupils. As he followed the signs for the Principal’s office, he took a chance to survey his surroundings. The interior of the school was pretty unexciting, with dirty beige carpets and smudged cream walls and a pervading musty smell which hung heavily around the whole school. At the finish of the signs, he came to a thick wooden door with a dull plaque on it stating “ Mr McKinlay” which signified the Principals’ office. Brian crept timidly towards the door dwarfed by the immense size of a door that a titan could cleanly fit through.
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