Her pale forearm pushed up through the thin air.
“Yes Gertrude, what is it?”
Gertrude went to speak, stopped then looked up into the left of her brain. The question had gone. To where she knew not.
“Sorry miss. I forgot what I was going to ask.”
The other girls shared hushed tittering. It was not clear to either Gertrude or Miss Averly which of them the girls were laughing at, if they weren’t simply laughing at the situation.
“I will thank you Gertrude, not to interrupt my lessons without good reason.”
The question returned, sneaking mischievously back into her mind at the least opportune moment. Again her hand moved for permission to unburden the question. She stopped it, unwilling to test Miss Averly’s patience and having little faith the question would keep her company again. The question would remain with her unanswered, indefinitely.