The first formers were only too keen to go to bed for once, and there were none of the usual groans and grumbles when the bell sounded.
‘I am going to stay awake until eleven o’clock,’ said Katie. ‘Then I will wake Daffy, and she will sit up until midnight.’
‘Then I will have the unenviable task of rousing the rest of you,’ said Daffy wryly. ‘Violet, I warn you, if you don’t get out of bed as soon as I wake you, we will start the feast without you!’
‘Don’t worry, Daffy,’ laughed Violet. ‘I wouldn’t miss this feast for the world!’
‘Daffy, don’t forget that you have to wake me before the others,’ said Edith. ‘I have to go and see what my dear sister is up to.’
‘Oh, I almost forgot!’ said Daffy. ‘Thank goodness you reminded me. Edith, I do hope that your plan to keep Lizzie out of the way works. It will be too bad if you have to spend the whole night leading her on a wild goose chase, and miss the feast.’
‘Don’t worry, it will work, all right,’ said Edith. ‘But I can’t join you others at the feast if I don’t know where it is! Violet, do stop being mysterious and tell us!’
‘Oh, very well,’ said Violet rather grudgingly, for she had planned on keeping her secret until the very last second, and had pictured herself leading the others to Miss Lacey’s classroom, and hearing their gasps of amazement as she produced the key and unlocked the door with a flourish.
So she was determined to extract every ounce of drama from the situation now, and, climbing out of bed, she reached into the pocket of her dressing-gown and produced a key, which she held up so that everyone could see it.
‘This,’ she announced, looking round at everyone, ‘is the key to Miss Lacey’s class-room. And that is where we are having our feast.’
There was a very mixed reaction indeed, for while some of the girls were thrilled at the thought of having their feast in the ‘forbidden’ class-room, others thought that Violet had gone too far.
‘How exciting!’
‘Oh, Violet, dare we?’
‘Of course we dare! I’ve been simply dying to see inside that room.’
‘Yes, but if we are caught we will get double the punishment you know!’
‘Pooh! We shan’t get caught.’
‘Violet, do you mean to tell me that you took the key from the housekeeper’s room?’ asked Faith, looking quite horrified.
‘Oh, no,’ answered Violet, putting the key back in her pocket and climbing into bed again. ‘I took it from Miss Lacey’s study.’
Everyone stared at Violet in silence, then Daffy burst out laughing and said, ‘I take my hat off to you, Violet! I didn’t think you had it in you!’
‘It’s not funny!’ said Faith severely. ‘Violet, you have stolen Miss Lacey’s property from her study.’
Violet looked rather taken aback at this, for she had not even considered that. Then she said stoutly, ‘Nonsense! I haven’t stolen it, merely borrowed it. I shall take it back as soon as I can, and she will be none the wiser.’
‘I hope she won’t, for your sake,’ said Ivy.
There was a little more chat, and Miss Potts, making her way along the corridor outside, frowned as she heard the sound of voices coming from the dormitory. She put her hand on the doorknob, but before she turned it, Faith’s clear voice came to her ears, saying, ‘Quiet now, girls! Let’s all try and get some sleep.’
Pleased, the mistress turned and walked away. Faith had turned out to be a very good head-girl, firm and fair. And it was just as well, for the first formers could be a little unruly at times, and they needed someone who was able to keep them in order.
Excited though they were, most of them fell asleep at once, all except for Katie, of course. She had brought a book to bed with her, to while away the time, and she read it beneath the covers, with the aid of a torch. Even so, the time seemed to pass very slowly, and Katie felt her eyelids drooping several times. But at last it was eleven o’clock, and she padded across to shake the sleeping Daffy.
Daffy sat up at once, blinking a little and wondering why she was being woken in the middle of the night. Then she remembered – it was the night of the feast, and there was only one hour to go!
As Katie snuggled down in her own bed and dropped off to sleep, Daffy sat hugging her knees, her eyes shining in the darkness. She simply couldn’t wait for midnight!
A short while later, Edith, who had only slept fitfully, began to stir. As she got out of bed and put her slippers on, Daffy whispered, ‘Edith, do take care, won’t you? Keep to the shadows, and make sure that none of the mistresses see you.’
‘Don’t worry about me,’ Edith whispered back. ‘I shan’t get caught.’
And, quickly, the girl slipped on her dressing-gown and tiptoed softly from the room.
It took moments to reach the bottom of the stair, and let herself out of the side door that led into the garden. Then, heeding Daffy’s advice, she kept to the shadows, making her way to the cliff path that led down to the pool.
The moon was very bright that night, and Edith hid behind a large tree, looking all around. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful, with nothing to be seen. Then, suddenly, a small movement over by the old shed caught Edith’s eye. Someone was hiding there, and that someone was Lizzie, she was certain of it!
But, before Edith could move, she suddenly saw another figure coming down the cliff path, and her heart leaped into her mouth. Could someone have followed her – and, if so, who?
Hardly daring to breathe, Edith flattened herself against the broad trunk of the tree as the figure drew closer. Then it walked straight past, without having spotted Edith, and the girl let out a little sigh of relief. Edith peered round the trunk of the tree, and saw that the mysterious person was making her way to the shed. Then she frowned. There was something awfully familiar about the person, the way that she walked, her clothes … Edith gave a gasp as she realised who it was. Miss Lacey! But what on earth was she doing out here at this time of night?
Lizzie, hiding beside the shed, also watched Miss Lacey approaching, and didn’t quite know what to do. Should she make her presence known, and tell the mistress that she was waiting to catch the first formers out? Or should she simply keep quiet and wait to see if Miss Lacey went away?
Alas for Lizzie, she had no choice in the matter, for all of a sudden she felt a terrific tickle in her nose and, quite without warning, she sneezed suddenly.
Miss Lacey, almost at the door of the shed, stopped dead in her tracks, and looked in the direction from where the sneeze had come. Of course, she spotted Lizzie at once, and gave a gasp.
Caught out, Lizzie could do nothing but stand up, and stammer, ‘M-Miss Lacey, I daresay you wonder what I am doing here at this hour. The thing is, you see – ’
But she got no further, for Miss Lacey suddenly put a warning finger to her lips, and beckoned Lizzie forward.
How odd, thought Lizzie, moving to Miss Lacey’s side. The teacher was wearing a hat with a little veil, which covered the top part of her face. What a very strange thing to wear for a late-night stroll in the grounds.
‘I thought I heard a noise in the shed,’ whispered Miss Lacey, her voice sounding rather hoarse and strained. ‘Lizzie, open the door and take a look.’
Lizzie hadn’t heard a sound, and said, ‘There can’t be anything or anyone in the shed, Miss Lacey, for the door is locked from the outside. See? The key is still in the keyhole.’
‘I tell you, I heard something,’ insisted Miss Lacey, still in the same hoarse voice. ‘Open the door at once.’
So Lizzie turned the key and pulled open the door, wrinkling her nose at the musty smell that came from the old shed. It was very dark and gloomy in there, and Lizzie could hardly see a thing as she poked her head inside.
Then, suddenly, she felt a hand between her shoulder blades, propelling her forwards, and she was thrust into the shed, only just managing to keep her balance as the door was pushed shut behind her.
‘Miss Lacey!’ cried poor Lizzie as she heard the key turning in the lock. ‘Miss Lacey, let me out at once!’
Bewildered, angry and a little frightened, Lizzie beat at the door with her fists, but the mistress did not answer. Poor Lizzie did not even know if she was still there, or if she had gone away.
Edith, who had watched the whole astonishing scene from a safe distance, ducked down behind a hedge as Miss Lacey walked back up the cliff path and went towards the school. Then, once the mistress was out of sight, she stood up and looked towards the shed, from which she could hear Lizzie’s faint cries.
The girl didn’t have the slightest idea why Miss Lacey had imprisoned Lizzie, and she supposed she really ought to go and let her sister out. But the fact was Miss Lacey had done exactly what she, Edith, had planned to do herself! The first former had been quite determined not to let her older sister spoil the feast, and she had decided to somehow lure her to the shed, then lock her in.
Oh dear, thought Edith, as she stood at the bottom of the cliff path, wringing her hands. What a dreadful dilemma! It was one thing for her to lock Lizzie up, to prevent her from ruining the feast. But it was quite another for Miss Lacey to do it, for her own mysterious purposes! In fact, it was quite dreadful. Whoever heard of a mistress doing such a thing? And what on earth could Miss Lacey be up to? But Edith had no time to ponder that now, for the others would be wondering what had happened to her. She gave a last, regretful look over her shoulder at the shed as she walked up the cliff path. It was most unfortunate, but it wouldn’t do Lizzie any real harm to spend an hour or so in the shed, and Edith would make sure that she was released once the feast was over. Perhaps, thought the girl, it might even teach her a lesson, and she would think twice before spying on the first formers in future!
13
A most dramatic night
‘I wonder where Edith has got to?’ said Faith rather worriedly as the first formers finished setting out the food on the big table in Miss Lacey’s class-room.
‘I daresay she will be here at any moment,’ said Ivy. ‘Do try not to fret, Faith.’
‘Isn’t it marvellous to be able to have our feast in such splendour?’ said Daffy. ‘And to set the food out on the table, rather than the floor, and sit on chairs to eat.’
‘Yes, you’ve done us proud, Violet,’ said Katie, clapping the girl on the shoulder. ‘What gave you the idea of using this room?’
Violet had meant to keep her visit to the room with Amy a secret but, basking in the others’ praise, she couldn’t resist boasting a little.
‘Amy brought me in here once,’ she said. ‘Of course, you mustn’t say a word to anyone else, for the other sixth formers are so stuffy that I don’t suppose they would like it at all if they knew that Amy had let me into their precious drawing-room.’
‘I should think they would be furious with her,’ said Faith, staring at Violet in wonder. ‘Amy really is the limit!’
Violet was about to leap to Amy’s defence, but suddenly Daffy hissed, ‘Hush! I can hear footsteps outside.’
As the others fell silent, they could hear the footsteps too, then they froze as the door was pushed open.
Everyone groaned with relief as they realised that it was Edith who stood there, a smile on her face.
‘Don’t stand there grinning like an idiot!’ said Daffy, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the room. ‘Let’s get this door shut, before anyone sees the light.’
‘Was Lizzie lying in wait for us?’ asked Katie anxiously. ‘Did you manage to get rid of her?’
‘I can promise that Lizze won’t be sneaking on us tonight,’ said Edith, quite truthfully.
She would have dearly loved to tell the others of the strange events that had taken place by the swimming-pool, but one or two of the girls might feel a little uneasy if they knew that poor Lizzie was imprisoned in a shed! It would ruin things if Faith decided to go and let her out! They might also feel uncomfortable if they knew that Miss Lacey was on the prowl.
Edith had kept a wary eye out for the mistress as she walked back to the school, but there had been no sign of Miss Lacey. At one point, Edith had felt sure that she was being followed, but, glancing nervously over her shoulder, she had been relieved to see that no one was there, and had hurried back indoors as fast as she could.
Then she put Miss Lacey to the back of her mind, for there was no way that she could have heard about the first formers’ feast, so Edith felt quite certain that, whatever the mistress was doing, she wasn’t out to make trouble for them. All the same, she turned to Violet, and said, ‘It might be an idea to lock the door. That way if anyone does come prowling around, they won’t be able to get in.’
‘Good idea,’ said Violet, going across and doing just that.
‘And, now that we are all settled,’ said Daffy, ‘let the feast begin!’
The girls sat round the big table and tucked in, feasting on tinned prawns and sardines, pork pie and sausage rolls. Then there were ripe, juicy strawberries, biscuits, chocolate – and a simply enormous birthday cake, which Ivy and Katie had bought between them.
‘It’s so beautiful that it’s almost a shame to cut it,’ said Faith, looking at the pink and yellow sugar roses that decorated the cake.
‘We’ll have to cut it if we are to enjoy it,’ said the ever-practical Ivy, beginning to slice the cake. ‘Help yourselves, everyone, with good wishes from Katie and me.’
‘Happy birthday to you both!’ chorused the girls as they raised glasses full of lemonade.
‘Yes, even though yours was yesterday, Katie,’ said Daffy.
‘And mine isn’t until tomorrow,’ said Ivy.
‘No, it is after midnight,’ pointed out Violet. ‘So your birthday is today.’
‘So it is!’ said Ivy happily, taking a sip of lemonade. ‘Well, this is a jolly good start to it, I must say.’
‘What a super night this is,’ said Faith with a contented sigh. ‘I really don’t think that anything could spoil it.’
But she was wrong. Something could – and something was just about to!
Miss Potts was roused from a deep sleep shortly after one o’clock. She sat up and switched on her bedside lamp, wondering what it could have been that had woken her so suddenly. There were no strange noises to be heard, but something had disturbed her, so the mistress put on her glasses, which were on the bedside table, and went to look out of her window. It was a perfectly still summer night, with no wind and no rain, and there was nothing to be seen outside. Puzzled, the mistress had just decided to go back to bed, when a floorboard creaked outside her room, and there came a sharp rapping at her door.
Miss Potts jumped, and went across to the door, pulling it open. But there was no one to be seen there, either. How very odd! Miss Potts looked along the corridor, just in time to see a figure disappearing round the corner. Who it was she didn’t know, for she only had the briefest glimpse. But whoever it was must be the person who had knocked on her door.
Most annoyed at being disturbed, the mistress quickly put on her dressing-gown and slippers, before setting off in pursuit of the culprit. It was probably one of the younger girls, dared by another to play a prank. But Miss Potts did not care for pranks, especially in the middle of the night, and woe betide the girl when she caught up with her!
The mistress went round the corner where she had seen the figure disappearing. And now she seemed to have vanished completely, for there was no sign of her – how annoying! But then Miss Potts peered over the banisters, just in time to see someone going towards Miss Lacey’s class-room, and she made her way quickly down the stairs.
Now Miss Potts was in luck, for when she reached the corridor where the class-room was, the person was standing right outside, as if wondering whether to go in. Why, it was Miss Lacey! But what on earth was she doing wandering round the school at this late hour? Miss Potts wondered if she could be sleepwalking, but no, she was fully dressed – why, she was even wearing a hat!
‘Miss Lac
ey!’ hissed Miss Potts in a low voice, for although they were away from any bedrooms and dormitories, she didn’t want to risk disturbing anyone.
Miss Lacey turned sharply and, for a moment, Miss Potts thought that she was going to say something. But then she scuttled away down the corridor, leaving Miss Potts feeling most exasperated. What on earth was she playing at?
The mistress was about to follow, when she heard a sound coming from the class-room. The unmistakable sound of girls giggling. She pursed her lips. Really, the whole school seemed to have gone quite mad tonight!
The first formers, busily clearing away after their feast, hadn’t heard anything at all outside. So it came as a terrible shock to them when someone tried the handle of the door.
Katie dropped the plate that she was holding, and the thud it made as it landed on the carpet sounded very loud indeed in the still of the night.
‘Idiot!’ hissed Ivy, giving her a push.
‘Hush!’ whispered Faith. ‘Let’s try to keep calm until we know who is there.’
Then Miss Potts knocked smartly on the door, making everyone jump again.
‘Who do you think it is?’ whispered Violet fearfully, clutching at Daffy’s arm.
‘I don’t know,’ Daffy whispered back, trying to sound brave. ‘But whoever it is, it means trouble for us!’
Then Miss Potts spoke, sounding very angry indeed. ‘I know that there is someone in there, and I insist that you open this door at once!’
‘Oh, help, it’s Potty!’ groaned Edith. ‘Now what are we to do?’
‘There’s only one thing we can do,’ sighed Faith. ‘Open the door and face the consequences. Blow!’