Free Mr Majeika by Humphrey Carpenter Page A

Class Three knew a magic carpet when they sawone. After all, they’d read
Aladdin
and all that sort of stuff. There are magic carpets all over the place in
Aladdin
. But this wasn’t
Aladdin
. This was St Barty’s Primary School on a wet Monday morning. And magic carpets don’t turn up in schools. Class Three knew that. So they stared.
    The carpet hung in the air for a moment, as if it wasn’t sure what to do. Then it came down on the floor with a bump. ‘Ow!’ said the man sitting on it.
    He was quite old, and he had a pointed beard and very bright eyes, behind a pair of glasses. His hair and clothes were wet from the rain. On the whole he looked quite ordinary – except for the fact that he was sitting on a magic carpet.
    ‘I just can’t manage it,’ said Mr Potter, still pushing at the folding doors. ‘I’ll have to go and get the caretaker.’
    Then he saw the man on the carpet.
    ‘What – how – eh?’ said Mr Potter. Words usually deserted Mr Potter at difficult moments.
    The man on the carpet scrambled to his feet. ‘Majeika,’ he said politely, offering his hand.
    Mr Potter took the hand. ‘Majeika?’ he repeated, puzzled. Then a look of understanding dawned on his face. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘Mr Majeika!’ He turned to Class Three. ‘Boys and girls,’ he said, ‘I want you to meet Mr Majeika. He’s your new teacher.’
    For a moment there was silence. Then Melanie began to cry: ‘Boo-hoo! I’m
frightened
of him! He came on a magic carpet!’
    ‘What’s the matter, Melanie?’ snapped Mr Potter. ‘I can’t hear a word you’re saying. It sounded like “magic carpet” or some suchnonsense.’ He turned briskly to Mr Majeika. ‘Now, you’re rather late, Mr Majeika. You might have telephoned me.’
    ‘I’m so sorry,’ said Mr Majeika. ‘You see, my magic carpet took a wrong turning. It’s normally quite good at finding the way, but I think the rain must have got into it. I do beg your pardon.’
    ‘Never mind,’ said Mr Potter. ‘And now … Wait a minute, did I hear you say
magic carpet
?’
    It was Mr Majeika’s turn to look bothered. ‘Oh, did I really say that? How very silly of me. A complete slip of the tongue. I meant –
bicycle
, of course. I came on a bicycle.’
    ‘Quite so,’ said Mr Potter. ‘Bicycle, of course …’ His voice tailed off. He was staring at the magic carpet. ‘What’s that?’ he said rather faintly.
    ‘That?’ said Mr Majeika cheerily. ‘That’smy magic –’ He cleared his throat. ‘Oh dear, my mistake again.
That’s my bicycle
.’ And as he said these last words, he pointed a finger at the magic carpet.
    There was a funny sort of humming noise, and the carpet rolled itself up and turned into a bicycle.
    Mr Majeika leant cheerily against the handlebars and rang the bicycle bell. ‘Nice bike, isn’t it?’ he said, smiling at Mr Potter.
    You could have heard a pin drop.

    Mr Potter turned rather white. ‘I – I don’t think I feel very well,’ he said at last. ‘I – I don’t seem to be able to tell the difference between a carpet and a bicycle.’
    Mr Majeika smiled even more cheerily. ‘Never mind, a very easy mistake to make. And now I think it’s time I began to teach our young friends here.’
    Mr Potter wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. ‘What? Oh – yes – of course,’ he muttered faintly, backing to the door. ‘Yes, yes, please do begin. Can’t tell a bicycle from a carpet …’ he mumbled to himself as he left the room.
    ‘Now then,’ said Mr Majeika to Class Three, ‘to work!’

2. Chips for Everyone

    Never had Class Three been so quiet as they were for the rest of that lesson. They sat in absolute silence as Mr Majeika told them what work he planned to give them for the rest of that term.
    Not that any of them was really listening to what he was saying. It actually sounded very ordinary, with stuff about nature-study, and the kings and queens of England, and special projects, and that sort of