‘But Gillian must play in the orchestra!’ cried Millicent, a look of horror on her face. ‘I simply can’t manage without her. We have already had so many set-backs, and now this.’
‘If that isn’t just like you, Millicent,’ said Felicity scornfully. ‘Poor Gillian is ill, and all that you can think about is your precious orchestra.’
Millicent flushed, and said, ‘Of course I’m concerned about Gillian, and I want her to get well as much as any of you. I can’t help worrying about my orchestra, though.’
‘And what about you, June?’ said Susan. ‘I suppose you’re fretting about who is going to take Gillian’s place in the tennis tournament.’
‘Nothing of the sort,’ said June, coolly. In fact, she was just as bitterly disappointed as Millicent, but was clever enough not to betray it to the others. ‘Freddie is reserve, so she will take Gillian’s place.’
A cheer went up at this, for everyone liked the cheerful, good-natured Freddie, and all were pleased that her chance had come to shine. Freddie herself turned quite pink with pleasure, and said, ‘Now don’t make me practise too hard, June, or I shall exhaust myself too, and end up in the San with Gillian.’
Delia, armed with a large bar of chocolate and the good wishes of the others, went off to visit Gillian the following morning. She felt a little apprehensive at first, for she was afraid that Gillian might be angry with her for going to Matron.
But, much to her relief, the girl greeted her with a warm smile, saying, ‘Delia, how lovely to see you! My word, is that enormous bar of chocolate for me? How super!’
As she sat down on the edge of the bed, Delia was relieved to see that her friend looked much better after a good, long sleep, the colour beginning to return to her cheeks and the dark shadows beneath her eyes much less pronounced.
The two girls chatted about this and that for a while, then Delia said, rather hesitantly, ‘Gillian, I do hope that you aren’t annoyed with me for speaking to Matron about you. But I really was awfully worried, and didn’t know what else to do.’
‘Well, I was a bit cross with you at first,’ admitted Gillian. ‘But now that I feel well rested I am seeing things more clearly, and realise that you have done me a favour. I had begun to see that I was overdoing things, but I’ve always been a sticker, and couldn’t bring myself to say to either June or Millicent that I wanted to pull out. I thought that everyone would think I was weak, and couldn’t keep to my word. But then you and Felicity caught me sleepwalking, and once Matron told me what I had been doing, I knew that I simply couldn’t go on like this without making myself really ill. You’re a jolly good friend, Delia.’
‘Thanks,’ said Delia, rather gruffly. ‘I only wish that I had been firmer with you earlier on. Your mother asked me to keep an eye on you, you know, at half-term. I feel as if I’ve let her down a bit.’
‘Nothing of the sort,’ said Gillian, putting her hand over Delia’s. ‘It was all my own stupid fault for not taking any notice of you. I knew what you were trying to do, in your own gentle way, but I was so sure that I knew what was best for me, I just brushed your worries aside. And you are so lacking in confidence that you let me.’
This was certainly true, and Delia nodded.
‘Well,’ said Gillian, ‘from now on, if you have anything to say to me I want you to tell me straight. Even shout at me, if need be, and, even if I don’t agree with what you say, I shall take notice of you!’
‘I don’t know if I shall shout,’ laughed Delia. ‘But I shall certainly tell you what’s on my mind. Which reminds me, we have cleared up that business of the fifth-form thief.’
‘Really?’ said Gillian, her eyes growing wide. ‘Who was it?’
‘Well, the thing is, Gillian,’ said Delia, ‘it was you.’
Gillian, of course, looked completely taken aback, and, quickly, Delia rushed on, ‘You didn’t take things intentionally. We all know that you would never do that. But you were doing it while you were sleepwalking. Felicity and I caught you in the act.’
And Delia explained everything to an astonished Gillian, who listened open-mouthed.
‘Well!’ she said, once the girl had finished. ‘How very peculiar. My goodness, the others must be furious with me.’
‘Of course they aren’t, silly,’ said Delia. ‘They all know quite well that you couldn’t help it. It really was queer, Gillian, when you were rummaging about in the common-room in your sleep. You kept saying, “Where is it?”, as though you were looking for something.’
‘Did I?’ said Gillian, looking very surprised. ‘I wonder what it could have been. I have absolutely no recollection at all of sleepwalking, or of taking anyone’s things, or of looking for anything! I am glad that the others don’t hold it against me. I bet that June and Millicent aren’t too pleased that I’m going to be out of action, though.’
‘Millicent certainly isn’t,’ said Delia, pulling a face. ‘June seemed to take it quite well, though. She is putting Freddie in your place.’
‘Good old Freddie!’ said Gillian, pleased. ‘Delia, wouldn’t it be fun if we could get a place on the coach and go along to cheer the team on? I might not be able to play, but it would be nice to go and watch.’
Delia thought that this was a very good idea indeed, and just the thing to speed up Gillian’s recovery. She went straight to June, and put the idea to her.
‘Yes, it will be nice if we can take some of the Malory Towers girls along to cheer us on,’ said June. ‘I have already booked a coach for the team, so I shall see if we can get another one to take the girls who want to come and watch.’
The second half of the term was passing very quickly, and there was only a week left until the tennis tournament, and two weeks until the orchestra competition.
Freddie, determined to do her very best for the school, was working hard at her tennis, and, although Gillian’s illness had been a blow, June felt certain that her team would make her proud.
But Millicent was not so confident in her orchestra. She gave Gillian’s solo to Fay, one of the second violins, and, although the girl played every note correctly, she lacked Gillian’s fire and passion. The same could be said of Pam, who rarely made a mistake, but wasn’t a natural musician, as some of the others were.
‘Neither of them do my music justice,’ thought Millicent, who was beginning to think seriously about pulling out of the competition altogether. The dream that she had had of bringing glory to Malory Towers by winning the competition with a first-class orchestra was beginning to slip away. Many of the top musicians had left, and Millicent was forced to admit that it had been largely her fault. She had driven away Anne, Jessie and Kathy. And if only she had been a little more sensitive and understanding with Gillian, and noticed that the girl wasn’t well, she might not have become ill either.
Yes, Millicent was learning some hard lessons in the last few weeks of term. If only she had learned them earlier, how much easier her time at Malory Towers might have been!
17
A big chance for Delia
The day before the tennis tournament, the heavens opened. Walks and horse-rides were cancelled, tennis and swimming were out of the question, and the girls grew very bored indeed cooped up indoors.
June got permission from Miss Grayling to use the telephone in her study, so that she could speak to the games captain of Summerfield Hall, and, reluctantly, both girls agreed that the tournament must be postponed until the following Saturday.
‘The same day as the orchestra competition,’ said Gillian, when June made her announcement. ‘It’s just as well that I’m not playing in either, otherwise I would have to split myself in half.’
Millicent was not at all pleased about this, and felt as if June was trying to steal her thunder. She could just picture the tennis team returning home triumphant next weekend, while the orchestra came home dispirited and empty-handed.
June, seeing the girl’s sour expression, and correctly guessing her thoughts, laughed and said, ‘Don??
?t blame me, Millicent. You can hardly hold me responsible for the rain, you know!’
Fortunately the rain cleared a couple of days later, and the girls were able to resume the outdoor activities they loved so much. Gillian, although she was no longer involved, went along to watch some of the tennis practices, and was pleased to see that Freddie was on top form.
‘It makes me feel better about letting you down,’ she said to June.
‘You didn’t let me down,’ said June, with her usual frankness. ‘I let you down, Gillian, for I knew that you were working too hard, yet I let you carry on pushing yourself because I so badly wanted you for the team.’
‘Well, I’m enjoying taking things easy now,’ said Gillian. ‘Delia is making sure that I don’t overdo it.’
Delia was, though she raised no objection when Gillian asked Millicent if she could sit in on the rehearsal the following day.
‘Of course,’ said Millicent. ‘I only wish that you were playing, for Fay is nowhere near as good as you.’ Then she added hastily, ‘Not that I am trying to persuade you to take her place, for I know that you have been ordered to rest. And I don’t want Matron after me.’
Listening to Fay play her solo, Gillian had to agree with Millicent. Somehow the whole orchestra seemed listless and lacklustre, the girl thought. They needed something to lift and inspire them.
Evidently Millicent thought so too, for, as the orchestra took a break, she sat down beside Gillian and said despondently, ‘We don’t have a hope of winning at this rate.’
A sudden thought struck Gillian, and she clutched Millicent’s arm, saying excitedly, ‘Millicent! Is there anything in the competition rules that says you can’t have a singer in your orchestra?’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Millicent. ‘Why?’
‘I have an idea,’ said Gillian, leaping to her feet. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’
And, leaving a puzzled Millicent to stare after her, Gillian went off in search of Delia.
She found the girl in the common-room, and cried, ‘Delia, come with me, at once!’
‘Come where?’ asked Delia, looking a little alarmed.
‘To the hall,’ answered Gillian, taking her arm. ‘You are going to save Millicent’s orchestra.’
‘Me?’ squeaked Delia. ‘How?’
‘You are going to sing with them,’ said Gillian, pulling Delia out of the door.
But Delia came to a dead stop at this, saying, ‘No! Gillian, I couldn’t possibly. Why, I would be simply terrified!’
‘You can,’ Gillian told her firmly. ‘Think of the honour of the school. Think how proud your father will be. And think how sick your aunt and cousins are going to look when they find out that you do have a talent, after all.’
Delia laughed at that, but said, ‘It’s one thing to sing along when you’re playing your violin, Gillian, but quite another to sing in front of a hall full of people. My voice isn’t good enough.’
‘It is,’ insisted Gillian. ‘You have a beautiful voice, but, as I have told you before, no confidence. Well, my girl, now is the time to look inside yourself and find some confidence. Millicent needs you!’
Millicent looked very surprised when Gillian returned with Delia, and she wasn’t very impressed on being told that the girl was going to sing along to the violin solo. Delia was a complete duffer, everyone knew that. And she herself admitted that she had no talent for anything. Still, the rehearsal couldn’t get much worse, so Millicent allowed Gillian to have her way, and a very scared Delia took to the stage.
She was so nervous that her knees shook as she took her place beside Fay. But then the opening bars of the violin solo started, and something strange happened. The music seemed to take her over completely, so that Delia forgot about Millicent, Gillian and the rest of the orchestra. And as she opened her mouth and began to sing, Millicent gave a gasp.
Delia most certainly did have a talent! A marvellous talent. The rest of the orchestra listened, spellbound, as Delia’s voice filled the room, pure and clear. As for Fay, she seemed inspired, and played as she had never played before. When the song ended, there was silence for a few moments, then thunderous applause broke out, everyone getting to their feet to clap, and those girls who were closest to Delia patting her on the back.
‘My word!’ cried Millicent. ‘You are a dark horse, Delia. That was simply beautiful. Fay, you played superbly as well.’
‘That’s because Delia’s song somehow brought the music to life for me,’ said Fay, grinning with pleasure.
‘That settles it, then,’ said Millicent, firmly. ‘Delia, you must sing with us at the competition.’
The orchestra, along with Gillian, agreed vociferously with this and Delia, overwhelmed and delighted at being the centre of attention, found herself agreeing. Certainly her sweet, simple song seemed to have breathed new life into the orchestra, for the rest of the rehearsal went swimmingly.
Afterwards, in the common-room, Gillian couldn’t wait to tell everyone the news, and Delia was persuaded to sing her song again for the fifth formers. They listened, enthralled, then, for the second time that day, Delia was on the receiving end of a round of rapturous applause.
‘Absolutely marvellous!’
‘You’ll bring the house down at the competition!’
‘My goodness, Delia, have you any other hidden talents we ought to know about?’
‘That’s the song I heard you sing once before,’ said Felicity. ‘You told me that you had heard it on the radio.’
‘Well, that wasn’t quite true,’ said Delia, flushing a little. ‘I wrote the words myself, and set them to Millicent’s music.’ The girl turned to Millicent. ‘In fact, I began writing them at that first rehearsal, when I was supposed to be making notes for you.’
‘And I was so angry with you,’ said Millicent, with a groan. ‘Heavens, if only I had known the way things were going to turn out, I would have encouraged you, instead of ticking you off. I always wondered why there was a page missing from the back of my old notebook, and now I know why!’
Delia gave a self-conscious little laugh, and said, ‘You’ll never know the trouble I went to, to get hold of that notebook, Millicent. I was so afraid that you would read my words and make fun of them.’
Millicent turned red at this, feeling a little ashamed, for she probably would have made fun of Delia. Heavens, what a lot of mistakes she had made this term, and all of them in her dealings with people. Well, she was going to make an effort to be a lot more kind and considerate in future.
‘Aha!’ cried Julie suddenly. ‘That’s what you were doing the day Lucy and I caught you looking in Millicent’s bag! You were trying to find the notebook!’
‘And you must have been looking for it when Amy and I found you going through Millicent’s desk,’ said Bonnie. ‘Well, what a relief to have that cleared up! Of course, I never really thought that you were the thief.’
The fifth formers fell silent all of a sudden, everyone looking at Delia, who had turned rather pale. ‘You thought that I was the thief?’ she said, in a low voice.
‘We did suspect you, yes,’ said Pam, deciding that it was best to be honest.
‘You must understand how it looked,’ said Lucy. ‘Things suddenly started going missing around the same time as you started going through Millicent’s things.’
‘Yes, it did look most suspicious,’ put in Amy.
‘I suppose it must have,’ said Delia. ‘I never had the slightest idea that you thought I might be the thief. And all because I didn’t want Millicent to find the words that I had written!’
‘Well, I forgive you for going through my things,’ said Millicent, clapping Delia on the back. ‘Everything turned out all right in the end. There was no thief, and I have gained a beautiful song and a marvellous singer for the orchestra. Just out of curiosity, though, where did you find that notebook? I had been hunting high and low for it for simply ages, then as soon as I bought a new one it simply appeared on my cabinet.’
>
‘Gillian had it in her bag,’ said Delia.
‘Did I?’ said Gillian, looking most surprised.
‘Yes, it fell out that day we were in the tea-shop,’ said Delia. ‘I suppose you must have taken it one night when you were sleepwalking, and for some reason you hid it in your bag, instead of the cupboard.’
‘Wait, I remember now!’ exclaimed Gillian, clapping a hand to her brow. ‘I slipped it into my bag in French, Millicent, the day you got into a row with Mam’zelle. I thought that if she spotted it on your desk you would have got into even more trouble, so I hid it, meaning to give it back to you later. Then I simply forgot that I had it!’
‘I thought I was supposed to be the scatterbrain of the fifth form!’ laughed Nora.
‘Well, we certainly seem to be clearing up a few mysteries lately,’ said June. ‘The thief that never was, the disappearing notebook and Delia’s hidden talent!’
Everyone laughed at that, and Millicent said, ‘I, for one, am very glad that Delia’s hidden talent has been discovered. She has certainly given the orchestra a new lease of life.’
June looked slyly at Millicent, then she turned to Delia and said smoothly, ‘I say, Delia, I don’t suppose you’re secretly a marvellous tennis player, are you? Now that Freddie’s on the team I could do with another reserve.’
Outraged, Millicent glared at June. Then she saw the twinkle in the girl’s eyes and burst out laughing.
June laughed too, then she held out her hand and said, ‘You and I have had our differences this term, Millicent, but I wish you the best of luck in the competition on Saturday. It will be too marvellous for words if you win it for Malory Towers.’
‘And I hope that your team wins the tennis tournament,’ said Millicent warmly, taking June’s hand. ‘My goodness, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we both came back to school victorious?’
But when Saturday came, Millicent’s victory looked in doubt. In fact, it seemed as if she and her orchestra would not be able to enter the competition at all!