The infirmary door opens beneath the attendant’s watch. A house servant, a thin young man in a brown waistcoat with rolled sleeves and a wary, narrow face, brings Parsley inside from the cricket field.
Parsley sits stiffly on the nearest bed, his small frame swallowed by the navy blazer and short dark uniform trousers. One side of his jaw is darkening beneath the skin.
The Matron
Look at me, Parsley. Does your jaw move freely? I shall examine it carefully, and you will tell me if anything hurts.
The Matron
Now give me a plain account. Who struck you, where did it happen, and what was said immediately beforehand?
Parsley
I fell near the pavilion, Matron. It was nothing. I must have caught the edge of something.
From the study, Lewis hears the tremor beneath Parsley’s words. The Matron glances toward the attendant, then returns her attention to the boy without softening the question.
The Matron
Silence is not consent, Parsley. Fear is not an account, and I will not record an accident merely because naming someone seems dangerous. Tell me what you can.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure accountable medical protection for Parsley’s injury
The boy is liable to receive punishment for his lack of positive demeanour.
“I reassure Matron that Parsley often falls accidentally, and that I'm sure that Parsley is not being bullied.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Oratory, rolled -1)
From the study, Lewis speaks without leaving his watched place. The attendant remains near the door, ensuring that his confinement is not mistaken for permission to intervene physically.
C. S. Lewis
Matron, Parsley often falls accidentally. I am sure he is not being bullied.
The reassurance reaches the infirmary, but its smooth certainty sounds less like testimony than protection. Parsley’s eyes flick toward Lewis, then down again.
The Matron
You are sure, Lewis, though you were not at the pavilion. That is not an account of what happened, and it will not close my inquiry.
Parsley
I am all right, Matron. Truly. It was an accident.
Parsley forces his mouth into a smile despite the darkening jaw. The effort appears strained rather than cheerful, and the house servant quietly reports his poor demeanour to the attendant.
The Matron
Parsley, you will maintain a proper expression while under care, or the Housemaster may treat your misery as another offence. Lewis, your assurance has not protected him. It has made his silence more conspicuous.
The boy is liable to receive punishment for his lack of positive demeanour.
“I tell Parsley to admit how recently he was caned for insolence”
FAILURE (Mediocre Oratory, rolled -1)
C. S. Lewis
Parsley, tell the Matron how recently you were caned for insolence.
The instruction carries through the doorway, but its careful purpose is lost beneath the Matron’s scrutiny. Parsley’s strained smile collapses before he can answer.
Parsley
I cannot, Lewis. If I say it, they will ask who ordered it, and then they will say I am making trouble.
The Matron
Parsley, you will not be pressed into an account by another boy. Lewis, you are confined to the study and will not direct this inquiry.
The house servant reports Parsley’s miserable expression to the attendant. The consequence is immediate: his failure to appear cheerful is entered as a disciplinary concern alongside the injury.
The Matron
Parsley, compose your face. You are liable to punishment for appearing miserable, however unjust that requirement may be. I will question you without Lewis’s prompting.
Parsley
Lewis meant to protect me, but now even my silence looks guilty.
The boy is liable to receive punishment for his lack of positive demeanour.
The boy is liable to receive punishment for his lack of positive demeanour.
“Do the prefects already know that Parsley has come here?”
NO, BUT (Unlikely, rolled 44)
The house servant withdraws toward the corridor to report Parsley’s miserable expression. No prefect follows him, and no message has yet carried Parsley’s arrival beyond the infirmary.
The Matron
The prefects do not know you are here, Parsley. That reprieve is accidental, and it may not last beyond the servant’s report.
Parsley
Then they will come when they hear I look miserable. I cannot make my face cheerful while they ask me to accuse myself.
The Matron examines his jaw again, then glances toward the open doorway. The attendant’s attention remains fixed on Lewis’s confinement, leaving the infirmary’s side passage temporarily unwatched.
The Matron
You are liable to punishment for appearing miserable, Parsley, and I must report that fact. But I can send the report myself, before a prefect turns it into another accusation.
Parsley
If she reports only what she saw, perhaps Fribble cannot reach the story first.
The discovery is narrow but usable: the prefects remain ignorant, while the Matron can control the first official account. Her writing desk stands beside the door, within reach but not yet opened.
The boy is liable to receive punishment for his lack of positive demeanour.
“Will the other boys find Parsley's plight amusing?”
YES (Likely, rolled 36)
From the corridor comes a burst of youthful laughter, quickly smothered beneath the house servant’s cough. The sound carries clearly into the infirmary.
Parsley
They are laughing because I look afraid. If I smile now, they will laugh at that too.
Two younger boys, one freckled with sandy hair and the other dark-haired with a narrow face, both in rumpled grey school uniforms peer around the corridor corner, grinning at Parsley’s swollen jaw and miserable expression before retreating when the attendant turns toward them.
The Matron
You find another boy’s distress amusing? Then you will explain that amusement to the Housemaster, and you will do so with a proper demeanour.
The laughter dies. Yet the damage remains: Parsley now knows his suffering is entertainment to some boys, while the school’s rule makes his visible misery another punishable offence.
Parsley
I did not mean to make them laugh, Matron. I will try to look cheerful.
The Matron
Do not perform cheerfulness for them. Sit still, let me examine your jaw, and I shall report both the injury and the mockery before anyone can improve the story.
The boy is liable to receive punishment for his lack of positive demeanour.
“Will the two younger boys be caned because of their mocking Parsley?”
YES, BUT (Even, rolled 41)
The two younger boys are brought back from the corridor, their grins gone. Freckled Sandy-Haired Boy keeps his eyes lowered; Dark-Haired Narrow-Faced Boy trembles beside him.
The Matron
You mocked an injured boy and appeared cheerful while he suffered. The Housemaster will correct you both for cruelty and for insolent laughter.
The Housemaster of School House arrives with the attendant and hears the Matron’s account. He orders both boys to receive the cane, witnessed by her and entered in the infirmary record.
Freckled Sandy-Haired Boy
Please, Matron. We only laughed. We did not strike Parsley.
The Matron
That distinction may lessen your guilt, but it does not excuse the mockery. Parsley’s injury and your punishment will be recorded together.
The boys are led away for the correction, but the cost lands immediately: Parsley’s name is fixed in the official account as the occasion of their punishment, making Fribble’s interest in him easier to conceal.
Parsley
They will say I caused this, even though they laughed before anyone punished them.