‘Well, Julie!’ said Miss Tallant, looking sternly at the girl. ‘I understand that you were foolish enough to help Lucy with her punishment yesterday evening.’
Startled, Julie looked at Lucy. Surely her friend couldn’t have been so foolish as to tell Miss Tallant the truth? But Lucy, guessing what Julie was thinking, gave the tiniest shake of her head.
Miss Tallant spoke again, a smile of satisfaction on her face, as she said smoothly, ‘Of course, you must both be punished for such deceit. And your punishment will be that you are both forbidden to take part in the rehearsal this afternoon. Instead you will sit here, under my eye, and write an essay on the importance of obeying one’s elders and betters.’ The girls stared at Miss Tallant in dismay. Julie actually groaned out loud, and opened her mouth to say something, but Lucy gave her a nudge. There was no point in antagonising the mistress, for they would only end up with an even worse punishment. If there was anything worse than missing their first rehearsal! They had been looking forward to it so much, and now they were going to miss it. Not only that, but they had let the rest of their form down too, and all through their own deceit.
‘I know that what we did was wrong,’ said Julie angrily, as the two girls escaped from Miss Tallant’s presence, her instructions to come back to the classroom at two o’clock sharp ringing in their ears. ‘But we did it for the good of the play, so that you could learn your lines. The mean beast who split on us to Miss Tallant had no good intentions at all!’
‘No,’ said Lucy miserably. ‘She just intended to cause trouble for us with Miss Tallant—and to spoil our rehearsal.’
‘Well, she has succeeded,’ said Julie, who felt very angry and upset.
Felicity and Susan were angry, too, when the two girls told them that they had been forbidden to attend the rehearsal.
‘What rotten luck!’ cried Felicity. ‘We can’t possibly rehearse properly without the whole cast there.’
‘Oh, Julie!’ wailed Susan. ‘I know that you were trying to help, and did it for the good of the play, but I do wish that you hadn’t offered to do half of Lucy’s lines for her. There are so few characters in the play, that I really don’t know if it is worth carrying on with the rehearsal now.’
Julie hung her head and said, ‘I’m sorry, Susan. I wish that I hadn’t done it now.’
‘It’s not all our fault, Susan,’ said Lucy. ‘The person who sneaked on us is to blame, too.’
‘I realise that,’ said Susan, looking angry. ‘But as we don’t know who is to blame, we can’t deal with them as they deserve.’
‘Were both Sylvia and Olive in the common-room last night?’ said Felicity, thinking hard.
‘Yes, they were,’ said Lucy. ‘I remember seeing them.’
‘Lucy and I were sitting at the table doing our lines,’ said Julie. ‘I suppose it would have been easy enough for one of them to peep over my shoulder and see that I was helping Lucy. Bother, why couldn’t I have been more careful? Susan, you aren’t really going to cancel the rehearsal, are you? Do say that you aren’t, or I shall feel even more dreadful than I do already.’
‘Well, I suppose we shall have to go ahead with it, as all the others are looking forward to it,’ said Susan, still sounding rather disgruntled. ‘We shall just have to get someone to stand in for you two, though they won’t know the lines, of course. For heaven’s sake, do take care not to get on the wrong side of Miss Tallant again, for I shouldn’t be at all surprised if she is deliberately setting out to spoil our play, simply because we wouldn’t let her be involved.’
Fortunately the rehearsal went smoothly, though Olive was not at all happy when Felicity told her that she was going to stand in for Julie, and take the part of the toy soldier.
‘Can’t you get someone else to do it?’ said Olive, sullenly.
‘Everyone else is busy with their own parts, or with jobs behind the scenes, so I’m afraid you really have no choice, Olive,’ said Felicity firmly. ‘And it doesn’t matter if you can’t act well, because you’re only standing in for Julie. All you have to do is read the lines.’
And with that, Felicity pushed a script into Olive’s hands and walked away to check that all was well behind the scenes.
A girl called April, from South Tower, was taking Lucy’s part—much more graciously than Olive was taking Julie’s—and once the two girls joined the rest of the cast on stage, the rehearsal began.
The three producers sat at the front of the hall, and all of them were very pleased with the way things turned out.
There were a few mistakes, of course. Several of the girls fluffed their lines, and Olive somehow managed to trip Nora up during her dance. She hotly denied doing it on purpose, when Nora accused her of this, but most of the girls were quite certain that it had been deliberate.
Susan gave the girl a scold, and Sylvia intervened, saying in a low voice, ‘Susan, there’s no point in losing your temper. We can’t prove that Olive tripped Nora on purpose, and all we’re doing is wasting valuable time.’ Then she clapped her hands together briskly, and said in her loud voice, ‘Come along, girls, back to your places, please, and let’s start the dance again. Olive, you stand further back, then if Nora should happen to trip again, you can’t be held responsible.’
Both Susan and Felicity looked rather taken aback, and none too pleased at this, but as one of the producers, Sylvia was quite within her rights. And both girls had to admit that what she said was very wise and sensible.
The rest of the rehearsal went without mishap, and at the end of it Susan said, ‘Well, that wasn’t bad at all!’
‘I thought that it went very well indeed,’ said Sylvia. ‘Of course, the girls aren’t word perfect yet, but that is only to be expected.’
Felicity, who felt cheered by how well the rehearsal had gone, said, ‘You were very good, too, Sylvia. You handled the incident with Nora and Olive perfectly.’
Sylvia shrugged, and said, ‘Well, of course, I’m quite an old hand at all of this, you know. Being a former head-girl, and having produced a play myself, I’m used to being a bit of a bossy-boots!’
But both girls noticed that Sylvia had turned pink with pleasure at Felicity’s remark and, as she walked away, Susan said, ‘Actually, although she can be dreadfully pushy and bossy at times, I think Sylvia is rather nice.’
‘So do I,’ agreed Felicity. ‘And I know it’s a horrid thing to say, but I actually want Olive to be Miss Tallant’s niece, for that would be so much easier to bear than finding out that it is Sylvia.’
‘Yes, I feel the same,’ said Susan with a sigh. ‘What a beastly business it is!’
‘Cheer up!’ said Felicity, slipping her arm through her friend’s. ‘There is still an awful lot to look forward to this term, you know. As well as our play, it will be half-term very shortly.’
‘So it will!’ said Susan, brightening. ‘I had almost forgotten about that.’
She chuckled suddenly, and went on, ‘And I must say, I’m rather looking forward to finding out how June intends to pay Miss Tallant back. Whatever she has in mind, I’ll bet it’s something quite ingenious. And I, for one, can’t wait to see Miss Tallant get her comeuppance!’
11
An interesting half-term
The fourth formers took great care not to give Miss Tallant any cause to punish them over the next couple of weeks. They didn’t want anyone else missing rehearsals, so they were polite, well-behaved and worked hard in her classes. But, as Pam remarked in the common-room on the evening before half-term, ‘She doesn’t seem terribly pleased! Any other mistress in the school would be delighted to teach such model schoolgirls.’
‘Of course she’s not pleased!’ said June. ‘She likes punishing us, and she’s disappointed that we haven’t given her any opportunity to vent her spite.’
‘Well, Miss Tallant might not be pleased, but I certainly am,’ said Susan, beaming round. ‘Our play is really taking shape, and the last two rehearsals have gone swimmingly.’
‘Shh!’ hissed Freddie suddenly. ‘Sylvia is coming this way, so don’t mention Miss Tallant. Change the subject, quickly!’
At once the girls began to talk about the forthcoming half-term, and Sylvia joined in, saying in her hearty way, ‘I simply can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to my first half-term at Malory Towers, and to showing my people round properly.’
‘It’s going to be super,’ said Julie happily. ‘Lucy’s parents aren’t able to come, so she is coming on a picnic with my people.’
‘And I bet Jack and Sandy will be going along too,’ laughed Felicity, knowing that the two girls never went anywhere without their beloved horses unless they absolutely had to. Susan glanced round at that moment, and caught sight of Olive, sitting alone, as usual, a sour expression on her plain face.
‘Are your people coming tomorrow, Olive?’ Susan asked.
‘Yes,’ answered Olive, in her curiously flat voice. But she volunteered no more information, and discouraged the others from asking any more questions by immediately burying her head in a book. And she didn’t look as if she was terribly excited about seeing her family again, thought Susan. She turned to Felicity, and murmured in a low voice, ‘I’m jolly well going to keep an eye on Olive and her people tomorrow. If she is Miss Tallant’s niece, then one of them may give something away.’
‘Good idea,’ said Felicity. ‘And I suppose we had better watch Sylvia’s parents too, for we can’t rule her out yet.’
But as it turned out, there was no need to watch Sylvia’s parents.
The girls leaped out of bed eagerly on the morning of half-term, even lazy Nora, who hated leaving her warm bed on cold mornings.
‘Thank heavens it isn’t raining,’ said June, pulling the curtains open. ‘Otherwise the upper-school lacrosse match would have to be cancelled.’
Ruth Grainger, the games captain, had chosen two teams from the upper school to play an exhibition match for the parents, and June had the honour of being the only fourth former to be chosen.
‘Just make sure you play up, June!’ called out Felicity.
‘Yes, we’ll all give you three cheers if you shoot a goal,’ said Pam.
‘I shall do my best,’ said June, in her usual off-hand manner. But the others knew that June was as pleased as punch to have been chosen, and felt very proud indeed, though she would never admit it.
After breakfast, Sylvia was called to Miss Grayling’s study, and when she returned to the common-room afterwards, she looked so woebegone that the others felt quite alarmed.
‘What’s up, Sylvia, old girl?’ asked Felicity kindly.
‘My parents aren’t able to come today, after all,’ said Sylvia miserably. ‘My grandmother has been taken ill, so they have had to go and look after her.’
The others were terribly sorry to hear this, for they knew how disappointed Sylvia must feel.
‘I say, what rotten luck!’
‘Awfully sorry to hear that, Sylvia.’
‘I do hope that your grandmother isn’t seriously ill?’
‘No, I think it’s just a bad dose of flu, but she’s too ill to do anything for herself,’ answered Sylvia with a sigh. ‘Of course, I quite see that Mother and Father have to go to her, but I can’t help feeling upset that they won’t be here.’
The kindly Pam gave Sylvia a pat on the shoulder, and said, ‘Cheer up, Sylvia! I know it’s awful to have news like this at the last minute, but why don’t you come out with me and my people instead?’
Sylvia’s face lit up and she said, ‘Thank you, Pam. That’s jolly decent of you, if you’re sure your parents won’t mind.’
Since Pam’s parents were as good-natured and easygoing as their daughter, Pam was able to reassure Sylvia on this point, and the girl cheered up considerably.
‘There are some cars coming up the drive!’ cried an excited Bonnie, who was peering out of the window. ‘Amy, your parents are here! And June, yours are right behind.’
With an excited whoop, June ran from the room, Freddie—who was spending the day with June’s people—right behind her. Amy followed at a more dignified pace, while Felicity and Susan went to join Bonnie at the window.
‘I do hope my mother and father aren’t going to be late,’ said Bonnie fretfully. ‘They promised to be here early.’
Felicity laughed, and ruffled Bonnie’s curly hair. ‘Don’t worry, Bonnie,’ she said. ‘Your parents always keep their promises, for you know how to wrap them round your little finger.’
Olive, nearby, muttered under her breath, ‘Spoilt brat!’ Fortunately for her, no one overheard, for at that moment Bonnie’s father’s car drew up beneath the window, and the girl squealed loudly in excitement, before darting from the room.
‘Someone else’s people are here too,’ said Susan, leaning out of the window. ‘I don’t think they belong to anyone here, though, for I don’t recognise them.’
Felicity followed Susan’s gaze, to where a man and woman were getting out of a car.
With them was a very pretty, dainty girl of about thirteen, with curly golden hair and big eyes.
‘The two grown-ups look vaguely familiar to me,’ said Felicity. ‘Though I don’t recognise the girl with them. Oh, I know who they are! Olive, it’s your father and step-mother. I remember them from your photograph. Is the girl with them your sister? How pretty she is!’
‘She’s not my sister!’ snapped Olive, her pale skin turning a dull red. ‘She’s not related to me at all!’
‘Well!’ exclaimed Nora, as the girl stomped out of the room. ‘How odd!’
‘Olive is odd,’ said Susan in disgust. ‘Her behaviour gets more peculiar by the day.’
‘I wonder who that girl is,’ said Felicity. ‘Why on earth would Olive’s father and step-mother bring someone who isn’t related to Olive to visit her at half-term? It doesn’t make sense.’
‘Oh, who wants to worry about silly old Olive on a day like this?’ said Nora. ‘If she wants to act all odd and bad-tempered, let her! But I intend to enjoy half-term.’
The others felt exactly the same, and, as more and more parents arrived, went off to greet them excitedly.
Felicity, of course, was delighted to see her own pretty, sensible mother and her tall, distinguished-looking father, and flew into their arms as soon as they got out of the car.
‘Mother! Daddy! How super to see you both again!’ she cried. ‘Do come and say hallo to Susan and her people.’
Felicity’s parents and Susan’s parents knew and liked one another, and the two girls were thrilled when both families agreed to join up and go for lunch together at a restaurant.
But before that, there was plenty to see and do.
Parents had to be shown around the dormitory, common-room and classroom, then there were displays of art and needlework to admire, and mistresses to talk to.
Felicity spotted Olive and her family talking to Miss Tallant, and noticed that the mistress was laughing and joking.
‘Hmm, that looks very suspicious,’ said a low voice behind Felicity. She turned to see that June had come up behind her, and was also watching the little group.
‘Miss Tallant spoke to my parents a little while ago, and she wasn’t nearly as friendly, I can tell you,’ June went on. ‘Just look how relaxed and jolly she is with Olive’s people, though. But then, I suppose she would be if she is related to them!’
‘It does look suspicious,’ said Felicity. ‘Look, she is even talking to the girl that Olive’s parents brought with them, as if she is very familiar with her.’
‘Well, it looks as if we have discovered who Miss Tallant’s niece is,’ said June in a hard little voice. ‘All we have to do now is catch her out.’
There was no time to say any more just then, for Freddie came over with June’s parents, and the four of them went off together.
So Felicity went to join her own parents, who were chatting with Mam’zelle Dupont, feeling rather troubled.
But it was half-term, and Felici
ty found it impossible to stay troubled for long. Especially when her mother gave her a hug, and said, ‘You’re doing marvellously, dear. I have had glowing reports of you from every mistress I have spoken to.’
‘Yes, Miss Potts said that she is delighted to have you in North Tower,’ added Mr Rivers. ‘She told me that it is girls like you who makes Malory Towers what it is, for you bring a wonderful spirit to the school. And I must say, darling, I agree with her.’
Felicity felt as if she would burst with pride! Fancy Miss Potts, the strict head of North Tower, saying that about her. She simply couldn’t wait to tell Susan.
The two families went off to a restaurant for lunch together, and had an absolutely marvellous time.
‘I don’t want half-term to end,’ said Felicity to Susan, as the two girls tucked into ice-creams. ‘What a super day it’s been!’
‘Well, it’s not over yet,’ said Susan. ‘We still have the lacrosse match this afternoon, then a scrumptious tea to look forward to, and all of tomorrow as well. Marvellous!’
Bonnie was also enjoying herself, for her parents spoiled her dreadfully, hanging on her every word as she chattered away to them. She was taken to a restaurant for lunch too, and was surprised—and none too pleased—to find that Olive and her family had chosen the same one.
‘Is anything wrong, darling?’ asked Mrs Meadows, noticing Bonnie’s frown.
‘Oh, it’s just that I’ve seen someone I don’t like very much, Mummy,’ said Bonnie. ‘That girl at the table in the corner. She’s in my form and she’s simply horrid. No one can bear her.’
‘Well, we shall sit as far away from her as possible,’ said Mrs Meadows, patting Bonnie’s arm. ‘What a plain girl she is. Her sister is very pretty, though. Actually, she reminds me a little of you, Bonnie.’
Bonnie hadn’t noticed the other girl with Olive, and she looked across at her table again now, spotting the golden-haired girl. Heavens, could that really be Olive’s sister? There was absolutely no resemblance between them at all.