The spilled ink
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
Ellen saw Rose's sleeve catch the ink bottle as she reached across the desk. The bottle rolled beneath Joseph's bench, while a black pool spread over his copybook. When Mr Bell turned from the board, Joseph was standing in surprise and Rose was sitting with both hands folded.
“Joseph, you will remain after lessons and copy the ruined pages,” said Mr Bell.
Ellen drew breath to speak, but Rose's fingers closed around her wrist beneath the desk. “It was an accident,” Rose whispered. She had been Ellen's closest friend since their first day at the school. Ellen lowered her hand, and Mr Bell wrote Joseph's name in the punishment book.
At the end of the afternoon, the other pupils hurried outside. Joseph stayed at his desk and began copying the first page. Ellen reached the doorway, heard Rose calling her, and then turned back. “Joseph did not spill the ink,” she told Mr Bell. “Rose did. I saw it happen.” Her words seemed to fill the silent room.
Rose's face reddened. “You have betrayed me,” she said. When Mr Bell questioned her, however, she admitted what she had done. He crossed out Joseph's name and sent him home. Outside, Rose walked away without waiting for Ellen.
The next morning, Rose moved her books so that Ellen could not sit beside her. Joseph quietly held the classroom door open. The empty place beside Rose hurt Ellen more than she had expected, but Joseph's name was no longer in the punishment book. Ellen took her seat without wishing her words back.
Evaluate the view that the writer makes Ellen's choice seem both painful and right.
Support your ideas with detailed references to the passage. You may consider:
456 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.