Ivy quickly pulled the pillows from her own bed, arranging them along the bottom of the door, before switching on the light. Then she gave a gasp, as she saw Willow’s head poking out from Violet’s dressing-gown.
‘Willow!’ she cried. ‘Oh, Violet, you brought her after all. How marvellous!’
‘For goodness sake, keep your voice down!’ hissed Daffy, before turning to Violet and saying angrily, ‘I told you that you weren’t to bring Willow to the feast.’
‘Why should I do what you say?’ said Violet, tossing her golden curls. ‘You aren’t head of the form, though you sometimes behave as if you are.’
‘No, but it’s my feast,’ said Daffy. ‘And I have the right to say who comes and who doesn’t. I’ve a good mind not to let you share in it, Violet!’
Violet was about to make a sharp retort when Jenny said, ‘We can hardly throw Violet out of her own dormitory while we enjoy the feast. Besides, she has provided us with that lovely tin of sweets, as well as that delicious-looking chocolate cake, so it wouldn’t be fair not to let her share.’
‘Very well,’ said Daffy with bad grace. ‘But that cat had better not cause any trouble.’
‘She will be as good as gold,’ said Violet, removing Willow, who was beginning to wriggle, from her dressing-gown and placing her on the bed.
Then the first formers sat on the floor, in a big circle, and settled down to enjoy their feast.
‘Scrumptious!’ sighed Maggie, taking a bite of pork pie. ‘Simply scrumptious.’
‘You know, I normally hate sardines,’ said Ivy. ‘But for some reason I can eat no end of them at a midnight feast.’
‘Well, save some for the rest of us!’ laughed Ivy. ‘I say, Faith, pass the ginger beer, would you?’
The girls ate hungrily, until all that was left was the chocolate cake, sweets and biscuits.
‘Shall I cut the cake?’ asked Violet.
‘Yes, do,’ said Jenny. ‘I feel awfully full, but I daresay I shall find room for a slice.’
But it was as Violet finished cutting the cake that Willow, who had behaved very well throughout the feast, sitting on the bed, being fed the occasional tit-bit and watching the proceedings with interest, decided to take a little exercise.
The cat suddenly leapt from the bed, landing right in the middle of the cake and showering Daffy, who had just leaned forward to take a slice, with crumbs, chocolate and cream.
There was a horrified silence, and everyone waited for Violet to throw a tantrum and scold the cat. But, to everyone’s astonishment, she threw back her head and laughed until the tears poured down her cheeks. One by one, the others started to laugh too, for Daffy really did look comical with cream all over her face and crumbs everywhere.
Daffy, however, was not at all amused. That beastly cat had ruined her feast, and made her a laughing stock! Had it been one of the other girls who had been covered in cake, Daffy would have joined in the laughter with everyone else, but although the girl liked to play jokes, she didn’t care to be on the receiving end of them, and felt extremely humiliated.
‘It’s all very well for you to laugh,’ she hissed. ‘But just look at the state of my dressing-gown! I shall get into a dreadful row with Matron, and it’s all your fault, Violet, for bringing that cat in here.’
‘I’m sure that we can get the worst of it out, without Matron knowing anything about it,’ said Katie soothingly, seeing that Daffy’s feathers were seriously ruffled. ‘Come on, let’s go along to the bathroom and see what we can do.’
The two girls went out quietly, the muffled laughter of the others ringing in Daffy’s ears and making her feel simply furious.
‘That horrid cat!’ she said to Katie, once the two of them were in the bathroom. ‘I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Violet had trained her to do that, just as I was leaning over.’
‘I don’t think that one can train cats,’ said Katie doubtfully, thinking of her own cat at home. ‘They seem to do pretty well as they please.’
‘Well, it’s all her fault, anyway,’ said Daffy. ‘I ordered her not to bring it to the feast and she went against my wishes. I’ll pay her back for this, somehow, Katie, you see if I don’t!’
‘What are you going to do?’ asked Katie, her eyes wide.
‘I don’t quite know,’ answered Daffy. ‘But I’ll think of something, you may be sure.’
Then the two girls set to work sponging Daffy’s dirty dressing-gown. Fortunately, it was as Katie had said, and they managed to get most of the sticky mess that the cake had made off it. Then Daffy washed her face and rinsed her hair, thinking that she should be sitting with the others, enjoying the biscuits and sweets, instead of wasting time like this – and at her own feast, too!
The others had cleared away the ruined cake when Daffy and Katie returned to the dormitory, and Violet, glancing at Daffy’s wet hair, couldn’t resist saying, ‘My word, Daffy, you do look a drip.’
The others laughed at this, and it was just too much for Daffy, who gave the girl a shove. It wasn’t a particularly hard or violent shove, but the unexpectedness of it caught Violet off balance, and she fell against one of the bedside cabinets. Unfortunately, two large, heavy bottles of ginger beer were perched precariously there, and they fell to the floor with a resounding crash.
The first formers stood rooted to the spot, gazing at one another in horror and, at last, Maggie whispered, ‘Do you think anyone heard that?’
‘I should jolly well think they did!’ said Faith, beginning to collect the plates up. As head of the form, she would be held responsible if they were caught out. ‘Come on, everybody, don’t just stand there! There’s a very good chance that one of the mistresses will be upon us in a minute.’
That thought made the first formers spring into action, and they scurried round, pushing bottles, empty tins and all other evidence of the feast under beds and into cabinets.
Violet, meanwhile, scooped up Willow, and said, ‘I must get her back to the box-room quickly.’
‘There isn’t time,’ said Faith. ‘If one of the mistresses comes along and finds your bed empty, you will really be in hot water! You’ll just have to take Willow into bed with you, and do your best to keep her quiet.’
‘This is all your fault, Violet,’ said Daffy with a scowl. ‘If you hadn’t brought Willow to the feast – ’
But Faith, for once, wasn’t taking any nonsense from Daffy, and she interrupted to say sternly, ‘This is no time to argue over who is to blame. Get into bed at once, Daffy – all of you, in fact – and settle down.’
For a moment it looked as if Daffy was going to argue with Faith, too, but then the girls heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching, so she quickly scrambled into bed and snuggled down under the covers, closing her eyes tight. The others did the same, Violet putting Willow right down under the bedclothes, and praying that the cat wouldn’t give herself away by mewing.
Everyone held their breath as the footsteps got closer, the landing light clicked on and, at last, the door opened. The first formers wondered which mistress had heard them. Stern Mam’zelle Rougier, perhaps? Or the hot-tempered Mam’zelle Dupont? Worse still, what if the noise had roused Miss Grayling herself?
But, as the light from the landing showed, it was none of these feared mistresses who stood in the doorway. It was Felicity!
In fact, the crash the bottles had made hadn’t been quite as loud as the girls had feared, and hadn’t woken anyone. Felicity, however, had been unable to get to sleep, for, although she was tired, something was playing on her mind. At last she remembered that she hadn’t gone back to her study before going to bed, and had left the light on in there. Inwardly groaning with annoyance, the girl had got out of bed and gone to her study, which was directly below the first formers’ dormitory. That was when she had heard the crash, and, as Miss Potts was away, had gone to investigate.
All of the girls were in their beds, apparently sound asleep, as she opened the door, and Felicity began to
wonder if the noise had come from somewhere else. But, just as she was about to leave, a nervous, smothered giggle came from Maggie’s bed. Instantly suspicious, Felicity snapped the light on, and a few of the girls sat up slowly, blinking.
‘Felicity!’ said Daffy, with a very convincing yawn. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘I heard a noise from this dormitory,’ said Felicity, staring hard at the girl. ‘A very loud noise.’
‘Well, we didn’t hear anything,’ said Katie, rubbing her eyes. ‘Perhaps you were mistaken, Felicity.’
Felicity’s instincts told her that she hadn’t been mistaken at all, and that the first formers had been up to something. Then, glancing down, she saw a pile of biscuit crumbs in the middle of the floor, and she knew. The little monkeys had been having a midnight feast! Felicity’s lips twitched, as she instantly made up her mind not to report the girls to Miss Potts. It would have been quite another matter if they had broken a very serious rule, such as leaving their own tower, but a feast was just a bit of fun, and something that most schoolgirls enjoyed at some time. Felicity had certainly enjoyed them when she was lower down the school.
‘Perhaps I was mistaken,’ said Felicity, her eyes twinkling. ‘Faith, you are head of the dormitory, aren’t you? Well, perhaps you will see to it that it is thoroughly tidied before Matron does her rounds tomorrow. I am sure that you don’t want to get an order mark, for that really would – er – take the biscuit!’
Those girls who were sitting up stared at their Head Girl in astonishment, while the ones who were pretending to be asleep could hardly believe their ears. Then Felicity went, shutting the door softly behind her. As soon as the sound of her footsteps died away, a flurry of whispering broke out.
‘Well, isn’t Felicity decent?’
‘Golly, what a sport!’
‘I always knew that old Felicity was a good sort!’
‘I say, Violet, thank heavens Willow didn’t mew and give herself away!’
‘Yes, she’s fallen asleep, thank goodness,’ said Violet. ‘Perhaps I had better take her back to the box-room now.’
But Faith, taking a stand, said firmly, ‘No, we’ll have no more wandering around tonight, for we have been jolly lucky so far. Violet, she will have to stay here tonight, and you must take her back in the morning, before we go down to breakfast.’
‘All right, Faith,’ said Violet, pleased at the thought that she would have her beloved pet with her all night.
Some of the girls began to whisper again, and Faith said, ‘We’ll have no more talking, either. You never know, Felicity might take it into her head to come back, and I don’t think she would be so lenient with us a second time.’
And, much to her surprise and pleasure, the first formers fell silent immediately, and in a very short time, all of them were fast asleep, worn out by their late night.
Everyone found it very difficult to get out of bed the next morning, and again Faith took charge.
‘Violet, do get up!’ she begged, shaking the girl. ‘You must get Willow back to the box-room at once! And you others, we need to sweep these crumbs up and clear all the rubbish from under the beds. There is no time to waste!’
Groaning, the girls reluctantly got out of their warm, cosy beds.
‘I feel sick!’ groaned Maggie, clutching her stomach. ‘I can’t possibly eat any breakfast.’
‘You must eat a little,’ said Katie. ‘Or the mistresses will guess that something is up. Though, I must say, I don’t feel terribly hungry myself.’
‘I don’t suppose any of us do,’ said Faith. ‘Ivy, run along and see if you can find a dustpan and brush, would you? And Jenny, do you mind taking the plates back to the kitchen? The rest of us will clear this rubbish away.’
But one person still remained in bed, the covers over her head, and that was Daffy. Faith frowned, for she didn’t see why the girl should get out of the cleaning up. She walked across to Daffy’s bed, and said, ‘Come on, Daffy, there’s work to be done.’
‘Just five more minutes,’ mumbled Daffy sleepily.
‘No, Daffy!’ said Faith sharply. ‘We need everyone to pitch in if we are to have the dormitory tidy before we go to breakfast.’
Slowly, Daffy sat up and looked round the room, at the first formers all busily tidying up, and she said, ‘I don’t see dear Her Highness pitching in! It’s too bad, especially as she was responsible for spoiling the feast.’
‘You know very well that Violet is hiding Willow away,’ said Faith. ‘And as for her spoiling the feast – well, Daffy, you were the one who pushed her, and that is what caused the bottles to crash to the ground.’
‘She had already spoiled it before that,’ said Daffy, getting out of bed. ‘By allowing that cat of hers to jump on the cake.’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Ivy, returning with the dustpan and brush in time to hear this remark. ‘Personally, I thought it was jolly funny.’
‘It was,’ agreed Maggie with a grin. ‘What a pity Violet didn’t have her camera ready. She could have taken a marvellous photograph of you, Daffy, all covered in chocolate cake!’
Daffy was most displeased, especially when Ivy handed her the dustpan and brush, saying, ‘Make yourself useful, Daffy!’
The girl toyed with the idea of flatly refusing, but she sensed that many of her form were still feeling cool towards her, partly because she hadn’t made Willow welcome at the feast, and partly because she had pushed Violet and brought things to an abrupt end. It really was most unfair, thought Daffy. She had suggested the feast so that she could get back into the good books of the first formers, but the opposite had happened – and all thanks to that silly Violet!
All in all, it wasn’t a good morning for the first formers. Maggie felt so sick after breakfast that she was sent to Matron, and given a large dose of extremely nasty-tasting medicine. And the whole class was so tired and inattentive that both Mam’zelle Rougier and Miss Potts gave them extra prep as a punishment.
Most of them agreed that it had been worth it though, for they really had enjoyed the feast. And Violet had enjoyed it most of all, for not only had she annoyed Daffy by bringing Willow to the feast, but she had had the pleasure of seeing her enemy humiliated. She really would have to buy Willow a special treat for that!
Daffy, however, was extremely subdued and downcast – until tea-time, when she was struck by a simply marvellous idea for getting back at Violet.
‘Katie,’ she whispered to her friend. ‘Come to one of the little music-rooms after prep tonight. There is something I simply have to tell you.’
So, after prep, the two girls sneaked away to one of the little music-rooms, and Katie, looking at Daffy’s mischievously sparkling eyes, said eagerly, ‘What is it? You’re up to something, I can tell.’
Daffy grinned, and said, ‘I have worked out how I am going to teach Her Highness a lesson.’
‘How?’ asked Katie at once.
‘By taking away something that she values,’ said Daffy. ‘Listen carefully, Katie. This is what we are going to do.’
16
A shock for Violet
An outbreak of flu ran through the school over the next week, and it seemed that half of the girls and several of the mistresses went down with it.
June was in despair, for several of her best lacrosse players were taken ill, and she groaned to Freddie, ‘We shan’t have a hope of winning our matches at this rate! Even some of the reserves have gone down with this beastly flu, so I am going to have to make up completely new teams.’
Poor Matron was run off her feet for, as she complained to Miss Potts, ‘No sooner do I get one sick girl back on her feet and out of the San, than someone else goes down with it.’
‘Well, let’s just hope that you don’t catch this wretched flu, Matron,’ Miss Potts had replied. ‘I don’t know what we should do without you to care for all these sick girls.’
Violet and Maggie were both confined to the San for several days, and although Maggie was pleased to
be under Matron’s expert care, Violet fretted terribly about Willow.
‘Don’t worry,’ Faith assured her when she came to visit one day. ‘The rest of us are taking great care of her.’
But there was a dreadful shock in store for Violet on the day that she returned to class. Of course, she wanted to satisfy herself that Willow hadn’t pined away without her, and before the first lesson started, she and Faith made their way up to the box-room.
‘Willow!’ Violet called softly, as she pushed open the door. ‘Willow, I’m back.’
She waited for the cat to pad across the floor to her, purring loudly, but Willow did not appear.
‘How odd!’ said Faith. ‘She usually comes running as soon as someone opens the door.’
Violet looked rather worried, then she heard a purring sound coming from the cat’s basket, and she walked across and peered in. Then she gave a little shriek, which startled Faith and made her rush to Violet’s side, saying, ‘Violet, do be quiet! No one must know that we are here.’
‘Yes, but look, Faith!’ said Violet, lowering her voice a little. ‘Willow is gone, and this – this creature – is in her place.’
Faith looked down at the basket – and gasped. For there, instead of the sleek, well-fed Willow, was Queenie, the stable cat!
As though sensing Violet’s disapproval, Queenie suddenly leapt out of the basket and fled through the open door. She knew where she wasn’t wanted!
‘I thought you said that Willow was fine,’ said the distressed Violet, rounding on Faith. ‘You told me that you and the others were caring for her.’
‘We were,’ said Faith, feeling quite shaken. ‘Why, I fed her myself just before breakfast. And Ivy took her out on the lead immediately afterwards.’
‘Ivy must have left the door open then,’ said Violet. ‘And Willow has got out. Why, she could be anywhere!’
‘Of course Ivy didn’t leave the door open,’ said Faith. ‘For it was firmly closed when we got here.’