‘Then kindly keep quiet,’ said the teacher, thinking how unlike her sister, Sally, the girl was. ‘Now, you are to write an essay on the rivers of South America, which you may illustrate with maps, if you wish. Please get on with your work quickly and quietly, and if anyone wishes to ask anything, she must put her hand up.’
Though hopefully no one would ask anything, for Miss Lacey knew practically nothing about the rivers of South America!
Violet, watching the teacher closely, saw the flicker of uncertainty in her face, and smiled to herself. Amy didn’t like Miss Lacey. And, because Amy didn’t like her, Violet didn’t like her either. How marvellous, she thought, if she could humiliate the teacher, and make her look small. Amy would be most impressed.
The girl wasn’t brave enough to be openly rude to Miss Lacey, but halfway through the lesson, when they all had their heads down and were busily working away at their essays, Violet put her hand up and said, ‘Miss Lacey, my pen has stopped working.’
‘It probably needs some more ink,’ said Miss Lacey, looking up.
‘Oh no, for I filled it just before the lesson started,’ said Violet, looking at her pen with a puzzled expression. ‘I simply can’t think what’s the matter with it.’
‘Well, you will have to borrow mine,’ said Miss Lacey, rising and picking her pen up from the desk. ‘But please make sure that you give it back to me at the end of the lesson, Violet.’
‘Thank you, Miss Lacey,’ said Violet demurely as the teacher walked towards her. ‘I shall remember to give it back to you. I really don’t understand why mine has suddenly decided to stop working, though!’
Then, as Miss Lacey leaned over to place the pen on her desk, Violet suddenly shook her own pen violently, and a shower of ink flew from it, leaving dark blue spots all over Miss Lacey’s frilly white blouse.
‘Oh!’ cried the teacher, jumping backwards. ‘Violet, you careless girl! Look what you have done. My blouse is quite ruined.’
Some of the first formers had to hide their mirth, for Miss Lacey really did look funny, standing there covered in ink.
‘Miss Lacey, I’m so terribly sorry!’ said Violet, looking and sounding most contrite, though the first formers had seen her smirk triumphantly. The teacher, however, hadn’t, and she said, ‘Oh well, I suppose accidents will happen. Now, I am putting you all on your honour to carry on with your essays and behave yourselves, while I go and get changed.’
‘Yes, Miss Lacey,’ chorused the first form.
But, of course, as soon as she was out of earshot, a perfect babble broke out.
‘Violet, you did that on purpose!’
‘Yes, you did, I saw the look on your face when the ink splattered Miss Lacey’s blouse.’
‘And your pen didn’t stop working at all,’ said Faith, who sat next to Violet. ‘That was a fib. Why, Violet?’
‘I know why!’ said Daffy, suddenly. ‘You’re getting back at Miss Lacey because your precious Amy doesn’t like her.’
‘Violet, is that true?’ gasped Faith, quite shocked.
‘Of course it’s true,’ said Katie. ‘Violet would do anything to score points with Amy. She already follows her around like a little puppy dog.’
‘No, I don’t!’ said Violet hotly. ‘Amy is my friend, and she enjoys my company. Why should any of you mind, anyway? At least I got Miss Lacey out of the room for a while.’
‘I don’t mind at all,’ said Daffy with a shrug. ‘Actually, I thought it was rather funny. But you are kidding yourself, Violet, if you think that Amy really sees you as a friend. Why on earth would a sixth former want to bother with a kid like you? She just enjoys having someone to worship her, that’s all.’
Violet turned an angry red and, anxious to avert a quarrel, Faith said hastily, ‘Miss Lacey is taking simply ages. I wonder where she has got to?’
‘Perhaps she has gone to report Violet to Miss Potts,’ suggested Edith slyly, grinning as Violet turned pale.
But Gwen hadn’t done anything of the kind. Hurrying to her bedroom, so that she could change her clothes, she was spotted by Daisy.
‘Good heavens, Miss Lacey!’ cried the maid, looking at Gwen’s ink-stained blouse in astonishment. ‘Whatever has happened to you?’
‘An accident,’ sighed Gwen. ‘Oh dear, I do hope that the ink will come out, for this is one of my favourite blouses.’
‘Now, don’t you worry about that, Miss,’ said Daisy soothingly. ‘I have something that will get the ink out in a trice. You go and get changed, then bring the blouse to me, and see if I don’t have it looking as good as new for you.’
Then she peered closely at Gwen, and said, ‘There’s a little spot on your skirt, too, so I’d better have that as well. Once I’ve got the ink stains out, I’ll wash and iron them for you, and you shall have them back in a few days.’
‘Thanks awfully, Daisy,’ said Gwen, sounding more cheerful. ‘I really am most grateful.’
Of course, as soon as she had time, Violet rushed off to find Amy, and told her all about the incident.
Amy laughed, and patted Violet’s golden head, saying, ‘Well done, Violet. Oh, how I wish that I had been there to see that horrid Miss Lacey covered in ink!’
Violet giggled. The two of them were standing outside Amy’s study, and the first former looked at the closed door with longing. She had never been invited into Amy’s study, and she would have so loved to go inside. Amy had such lovely things and such marvellous taste, Violet was quite certain that her study would be much nicer than any of the others. How thrilling it would be if Amy were to ask her in, so that they could sit and chat cosily together, perhaps over tea and biscuits. Violet would really feel that she had made a friend of Amy then.
Alas for such grand plans! Bonnie came along at that moment, and Amy said, ‘Oh, there you are, Bonnie! I was just going to put the kettle on, and I have some delicious ginger biscuits that my grandmother sent. Will you join me?’
Bonnie accepted the invitation at once, and Violet continued to hang around, quite certain that Amy would ask her in for tea as well. But, instead, the sixth former turned to her, and said, ‘You had better run along now, Violet. I daresay that your first-form friends will be wondering where you have got to.’
Violet was bitterly disappointed, and her mood was not improved when she spotted Edith coming out of Lizzie’s study.
‘It’s all very well for Edith,’ the girl thought, scowling. ‘I bet she is always being invited into her sister’s study for cosy chats.’
But Violet was quite wrong, for Edith had been summoned, rather than invited, and her chat with Lizzie had been far from cosy.
‘I have come to a decision,’ Lizzie had said heavily, and Edith’s heart had sank. Then it lifted again, as Lizzie said, ‘I am going to give you a chance. I will turn a blind eye to the first-form feast and allow it to go ahead.’
‘Oh, thank you, Lizzie!’ said Edith, a smile lighting up her face. ‘You won’t regret it, I promise! We will be very careful, and – ’
But Lizzie held up her hand, and said, ‘I haven’t finished yet, Edith. The feast can go ahead – provided that you give up any idea of taking part in the swimming gala.’
For a moment, Edith stared at her older sister as if she couldn’t believe her ears. Then she cried, ‘But you can’t ask that of me, Lizzie! It’s just not fair!’
‘I’m sorry that you feel like that,’ said Lizzie. ‘But it is up to you to decide.’
‘Well, I shan’t!’ said Edith, her cheeks flaming. ‘You have no right to give me such an ultimatum, and I refuse to accept it. I will take part in the swimming gala! And if the first formers decide to hold their feast, you won’t stop it!’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Edith,’ said Lizzie, a hard look in her eyes. ‘I shall be watching you all very carefully.’
Not trusting herself to say any more, Edith stalked from the room, resisting the impulse to slam the door behind her. Blow Lizzie! Why did she have to interfere all t
he time?
Then an idea came into her head, and she hurried off to find Daffy and Katie.
The two girls were in the courtyard, and Edith ran across to them.
‘Hallo!’ said Daffy. ‘I say, whatever’s up? You look awfully miserable!’
Quickly, Edith told the two girls of Lizzie’s ultimatum, and they were quite outraged.
‘Who does she think she is?’
‘Thank goodness you stood up to her and told her what you thought!’
‘Yes, but suppose Lizzie really does carry out her threat to stop our feast?’ said Katie. ‘Why, she could be sneaking on us to Miss Potts as we speak!’
‘I don’t think she would be foolish enough to do that,’ said Daffy. ‘She doesn’t know when or where we are having the feast, so she wouldn’t be able to give Miss Potts much information. Besides, Potty doesn’t much care for sneaks and I think she might send Lizzie away with a flea in her ear.’
‘And Potty can hardly punish us for thinking about having a feast,’ said Edith. ‘Why, even if she found our store of food, we could always say that we were planning a teatime party. No, Lizzie means to catch us in the act, then Miss Potts can’t doubt her word.’
‘Well, unless she stays up and sits outside our dormitory every night, I don’t see how she can catch us out,’ said Katie.
‘That’s the thing, though,’ said Edith with a grimace. ‘Lizzie is so persistent, and so used to having her own way, that she is quite likely to do just that!’
‘Then what are we to do?’ asked Daffy blankly.
‘Well, that is where you and Katie come in,’ said Edith. ‘I’m going to throw Lizzie off the scent, and I want her to overhear the two of you talking about our feast on Sunday night. But I want you to say that we are having it by the pool, and going for a midnight swim too. If I know my sister, she will come outside well before midnight, and lie in wait for us.’
‘So she will be out of the way when we leave the dormitory and have our feast indoors,’ said Daffy thoughtfully. ‘Which is all fine, but when we don’t appear at the pool, she’s sure to investigate. And she’ll no doubt start by taking a look in at our dormitory, which will be empty!’
‘Oh no, she won’t!’ said Edith grimly. ‘I gave you my word that I would keep Lizzie out of the way, and I shall.’
‘How?’ asked Katie.
But Edith refused to tell, and would only say, ‘The less you know about it the better.’
Daffy and Katie had the chance to put their plan into action that very evening as they strolled through the grounds before prep.
Coming round a corner, Daffy almost walked right into Lizzie, but the sixth former had her back turned, and didn’t see the two first formers. Daffy swiftly retreated back round the corner and, winking at Katie, she raised her voice and said, ‘My word, I can’t wait until Sunday evening, Katie.’
‘Nor can I,’ said Katie eagerly. ‘A midnight swim, followed by a picnic at the pool. It’s going to be super.’
‘Yes, we will have to come down at about a quarter to twelve, I should think,’ said Daffy. ‘For we shall need to get changed into our swimming costumes first.’
The two girls continued to chatter, talking in detail about the feast, but Lizzie, just around the corner, had heard enough. She knew all that she needed to, and now she hurried back to her study to make plans.
So, the first formers were holding their feast by the pool on Sunday night, were they? Well, they could jolly well think again! She, Lizzie, intended to find a good hiding place by the pool, and be there ready to surprise the first formers. The rules about girls leaving their tower at night were very strict indeed, and Miss Potts would take a dim view. A pang of conscience smote Lizzie then, for although she wanted to stop the feast, she didn’t want to get her young sister into trouble. Or the other first formers, for that matter. But it was quite Edith’s own fault for being so obstinate. If only she had agreed to give up her place in the swimming gala, the first form could have enjoyed their feast in peace. Lizzie still disapproved strongly of such things as midnight feasts, of course, but she had been prepared to compromise a little. In the long run, one late night was going to do less harm to Edith’s studies than this swimming nonsense, which took up far too much of her time. Lizzie really did think that she had been very fair and reasonable in saying that the feast could go ahead, but her sister had thrown it back in her face. Miss Potts was sure to punish the first formers severely, but if it made Edith knuckle down, and realise that school wasn’t all fun and games, it would be worth it.
12
Midnight feast
Lizzie told no one about her plans to sneak on the first formers, for she knew that the others would disapprove most strongly.
Alice, however, realised that the girl was preoccupied and did her best to find out what was troubling her.
‘Oh, it’s nothing,’ said Lizzie, when Alice asked her what was wrong. ‘I’ve just had a silly quarrel with Edith, that’s all.’
But Alice watched Lizzie closely, and it seemed to her that there was more on her mind than just a silly quarrel. Lizzie did not confide in Alice, though, which was disappointing, for Alice had begun to feel that the two of them were growing closer since half-term.
As Sunday dawned, the first formers were very excited indeed about their feast.
‘What a super day it’s going to be,’ said Ivy happily. ‘No lessons, just a glorious day in the sun and a midnight feast to finish off with.’
But that afternoon a thought occurred to Katie as the first formers lazed on the grass, and she sat bolt upright.
‘We don’t have anything to drink!’ she cried. ‘I meant to get some bottles of ginger beer yesterday, but June called an extra tennis practice, so I didn’t get the chance to go into town.’
‘Blow!’ said Faith. ‘We simply must have something to drink.’
‘I suppose we could drink water,’ said Violet, wrinkling her nose. ‘But it just won’t be the same.’
‘Water?’ said Daffy, looking horrified. ‘We can’t possibly drink water at a midnight feast! No, I’m sure I can talk one of the kitchen staff into supplying us with something better.’
The first formers thought that this was a marvellous idea, for the angelic-looking Daffy was a great favourite with the kitchen staff. The girl leaped to her feet at once, and raced to the kitchen.
Cook wasn’t there, but Daisy was, sitting at the big scrubbed table and drinking a cup of tea.
‘Hallo, Daisy,’ said Daffy. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your break. Is Cookie about?’
‘No, she’s gone for a bit of a lie-down, for this heat doesn’t agree with her,’ said Daisy. ‘Is there something I can do for you, Miss Daffy?’
Daffy hesitated, looking at the young maid. Then Daisy grinned, and Daffy saw the twinkle in her eye, and decided that she could be trusted.
‘The thing is, Daisy,’ said Daffy, shutting the kitchen door behind her. ‘I wondered if there was any chance of you sparing a couple of jugs of lemonade for a little party that we first formers are planning tonight.’
‘Oho!’ said Daisy, with a knowing look. ‘And would this party happen to be taking place at midnight, Miss Daffy?’
‘Yes,’ admitted Daffy. ‘But please don’t tell anyone, Daisy, or it will all be spoiled.’
‘You can trust me,’ said Daisy, her grin broadening. ‘There’s no harm in you youngsters having a bit of fun, that’s what I say. I shall leave two jugs of lemonade in here for you tonight, and I shan’t say a word to anyone.’
‘Thanks awfully, Daisy,’ said Daffy happily. ‘You’re a good sort. I’ll see if we can save you a piece of birthday cake!’
Then she went to report back to the others, and Katie said, ‘Hooray for Daisy! Violet, you still haven’t told us where we are having the feast.’
‘All in good time,’ said Violet airily. ‘I shall tell you tonight.’
Violet had planned to go along to the housekeeper’s room that ev
ening and take the key from her room, but she had had an extraordinary piece of good luck. Earlier that day, she had passed the study that Miss Lacey and Miss Nicholson shared. The door was ajar, and Violet could see that it was empty. And there, on the desk, was the key to Miss Lacey’s classroom! Violet hesitated. Dare she sneak in and grab it? It was Sunday, so Miss Lacey would not need to use the key today, and the chances were she would not even miss it. Quickly, before she could change her mind, Violet darted into the little study and snatched the key up from the desk, stuffing it into the pocket of her blazer before dashing out again. She felt horribly guilty, but it wasn’t as if the first formers were going to leave the room in a mess. They would tidy up after themselves, then she, Violet, would find an opportunity to slip the key back on Miss Lacey’s desk before she had even missed it.
Now, as she sat outside with the others, Violet patted the pocket of her blazer, feeling the key safely nestled inside. Oh, what a marvellous night this was going to be!
Lizzie had also made her plans. She intended to go to bed early, and was going to set her little alarm clock for quarter past eleven. That would give her time to dress and slip outside, so that she was there when the first formers came outside for their feast. She had found the perfect hiding place, for there was a small shed down by the pool, where life-belts and the like were stored. If she crouched down beside it, she had a clear view of the pool and the path leading down from the school. Oh, those first formers had a shock coming to them tonight!
Alice put her head round the door of Lizzie’s study that evening and said, ‘I was just about to have a mug of cocoa. Do you fancy joining me?’
‘Thanks, Alice,’ said Lizzie. ‘But I was just about to turn in. I’ve got a bit of a headache, and I’m hoping that a good night’s sleep will cure it.’
‘I thought that you didn’t seem yourself,’ said Alice. ‘Oh well, you get to bed then, and if you’re no better tomorrow, perhaps you had better go along and see Matron.’
Lizzie promised that she would, but when she was alone once more, she sighed heavily. The girl had grown very fond of Alice, for she had proved to be a good friend – and now Lizzie had repaid her kindness by lying to her. But she would make it up to Alice somehow. The girl would receive her meagre pocket money from home in a day or two, and she vowed to spend every penny of it on treating Alice to tea in town, even though it meant that she would be broke for the remainder of the month. Her conscience slightly eased by this decision, Lizzie went up to bed, and was fast asleep when the others came up.