That was a bad time for everyone. Harry was furious at what he saw as a basic betrayal of trust; the Head was furious because of the threat of a scandal at St. Oswald’s; the Chaplain was equally furious because of Harry’s reaction; the Satanic Mr. Speight was furious because Nutter’s story had brought his Church into disrepute; and Stephen Nutter, MP, was furious because, having paid good money for Charlie’s education, he hadn’t expected to deal with a lot of unnecessary parental problems.

Shakeshafte was unapologetic, however. For the sake of St. Oswald’s, he said, it was best not to get any further involved. And, to do him justice, although he said some harsh things to Harry in private—and some equally harsh things to me, for lying to the Chaplain; for failing to investigate Harrington’s story; and, most of all, for having known something he himself had not—he stood by both of us throughout.

Shitter Shakeshafte was old school. He believed above all in protecting his staff. I doubt if later Headmasters would have been so loyal. Certainly, Johnny Harrington would not hesitate to throw a colleague to the wolves. But Shakeshafte just ordered Harry Clarke to lie low for a couple of weeks, and to take a little time off School, until the crisis was over.

Oh, there was some unpleasantness, mostly from the family. But Nutter, MP, was as reluctant as Shakeshafte to involve the police. Nutter, MP, had a reputation to protect, and when it became more than clear that any mud flung at St. Oswald’s would also damage him and his son, he soon became cooperative. The Church of the Omega Rose had already denied involvement. Harrington Senior made a statement, describing Charlie Nutter as a “troubled young man,” but declined to comment on any therapies the Church had offered to cure him of homosexual thoughts. When challenged by the Malbry Examiner about rumours of demon exorcisms within his congregation, he said:

“I’m aware that some Churches encourage belief in the literal existence of demons. But we prefer to take the psychological view. We encourage our worshipers to look inside themselves for the truth. The days of the Inquisition are gone. We are a progressive ministry.”

And so the scandal was contained, barring the inevitable rumours. Nutter, MP, and his entourage left Malbry early in ’82, citing the pressures of government as the reason for their departure. Charlie never came back to School, although they paid his fees in full. The story grew old; the rumours died. Little by little, St. Oswald’s returned to a kind of normality.

We lost two dozen boys that year, and the next year’s intake was not good, but that was to be expected. Ballast in the wake of the storm; the old ship sailed on, regardless of the time bomb waiting to explode belowdecks . . .

Chapter 8

8

October 3, 2005