New Term at Malory Towers, Page 3

  When they reached the pool, Freddie’s eyes lit up and she exclaimed, ‘Oh, how lovely it looks! So inviting! I could dive in right now.’

  ‘Well, I shouldn’t dive in with your clothes on, Freddie,’ laughed Nora. ‘Or you’ll get into a row with Matron. But the weather is still quite warm for September, so you may get the chance to go for a dip later in the week.’

  The Malory Towers girls were very proud of their beautiful, natural swimming-pool, which was hollowed out of rocks and filled by the sea as the tide ebbed and flowed. Amy, though, barely glanced at it, merely remarking haughtily, ‘We had a magnificent indoor pool at Highcliffe Hall. It was heated, which meant that we could swim in the winter months too.’

  Even good-natured Pam became exasperated with her, and muttered crossly to Felicity and June, ‘She’ll be going for a swim sooner than she thinks, if she doesn’t shut up. I’m just itching to shove her in!’

  ‘Be patient, Pam,’ laughed June. ‘I’ve one or two tricks up my sleeve and it won’t be too long before dear Amy learns that pride comes before a fall!’

  As the third formers walked back to North Tower, they spotted two sixth formers coming towards them, and Susan said, ‘Look, it’s Kay Foster, the new Head Girl. And Amanda!’

  Amanda Chartelow had been in the sixth form with Darrell last term. She had been a superb sportswoman, but had annoyed many of the girls with her arrogance and superior attitude. But poor Amanda had learned a hard lesson when she broke the rules of the school and went swimming in the sea. The strong current had thrown her on to the rocks, and it was thanks to June that she hadn’t drowned. Sadly, though, Amanda’s injuries had put paid to her hopes of representing her country in the Olympic Games, or of taking part in any sport at all for a while, and the girl had gone through a very bad time indeed. It would have been very easy for her to have moped about, or become bitter, but Amanda had proved to everyone that her character was as strong as her body. Almost overnight, she had lost her arrogance, thrown herself into coaching the younger girls, and had made up her mind that, if she couldn’t pursue a career as a sportswoman, she would train as a Games Mistress. Amanda had become a much nicer person and the girls, who had once disliked her so heartily, now admired and looked up to her. And they were very pleased to see that the slight limp, which had been a result of her injuries, now seemed to have disappeared.

  Amanda greeted the third formers cheerily, then gave them some news which delighted them. ‘Miss Grayling has made me games captain. So I hope all you youngsters are going to work hard for me, for I shall be a real tyrant!’ But there was a broad grin on Amanda’s face, and the third formers knew that she would never be a tyrant again.

  ‘Oh, Amanda, that is good news!’ said Felicity. ‘I must write and tell Darrell. She’ll be absolutely thrilled for you.’

  ‘How’s the leg?’ asked June, who had even more interest than the others in the sixth former. She, more than anyone, had clashed with the old Amanda. But June’s act of bravery in saving her life had created a bond between them, and now they had a great mutual respect for one another.

  ‘Getting better,’ said Amanda. ‘My parents made sure that I spent the holidays resting and, although it nearly drove me mad at the time, it really has done me good. I still shan’t be playing any sport for a bit, but the doctor says that there has been no permanent damage. Anyway, that’s quite enough about me – I suppose you’ve all heard that Kay here is the new Head Girl?’

  ‘Yes, and I’m going to have a jolly hard time living up to the previous one,’ said Kay, with a laugh. She was a tall, dark girl with warm brown eyes, a humorous face and a friendly manner. The younger girls liked her enormously and felt certain that she would be a worthy successor to Darrell.

  As the third formers went on their way, Susan said to Felicity, ‘Well, I think Miss Grayling has made two jolly good choices there. I wonder who will be head of the form?’

  ‘I expect we’ll find out tomorrow,’ said Felicity. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if it was you, Susan.’

  Her friend laughed. ‘That’s funny, I was just about to say exactly the same about you.’

  ‘I don’t think Miss Peters will choose me,’ said Felicity, feeling pleased that Susan thought she would make a good head girl, but quite certain that she wouldn’t be in the running. ‘I can be so indecisive sometimes – and I don’t know if I would be strong enough to keep people like June in order.’

  ‘Even the mistresses have a hard time keeping June in order!’ chuckled Susan. ‘I say, perhaps they will make her head of the form! There’s no doubt that she would make a strong leader.’

  ‘True. But she would lead us all into trouble!’ said Felicity. Then she gave a sigh. ‘I expect it will be Veronica. After all, she has already been in the third for a term.’

  ‘I’d forgotten all about Veronica!’ said Susan in dismay. ‘Blow, we shall have a miserable time of it if she’s head of the form.’

  The first night

  A most delicious supper had been laid out in the dining-room. Each of the long tables was set with big plates of cold meat, bowls of salad and delicious, buttery potatoes baked in their jackets. There was the most scrumptious-looking fruit salad with cream for afters and, as the girls entered, their eyes lit up.

  Two people were already seated at the third-form table. One was Mam’zelle Dupont, one of the school’s two French mistresses, and the other was Veronica Sharpe. The girls eyed her a little warily, but Veronica – eager to make a good impression on Amy – was on her best behaviour and greeted them with a cheery ‘Hallo’ and a wide smile. The third formers looked surprised but – thinking that perhaps the girl had decided to turn over a new leaf, and determined to give her a chance – smiled back. Veronica glanced at the two new girls, noting that one of them was laughing and joking with June. That must be Freddie, so the girl with the straight, shiny hair and rather aloof expression must be Amy. She was standing slightly apart from the others and, although she would never have admitted it, feeling a little lost as they all seated themselves. So when Veronica touched her arm and said in a friendly way, ‘You must be new. Why don’t you have the seat next to mine?’ she felt extremely grateful.

  ‘Ah, welcome back mes petites!’ cried plump little Mam’zelle Dupont, smiling around. ‘How good it is to see you all again – Felicity, Susan, Pam, Julie – ah, and the dear Nora! I see that we have some new girls, also. The good Miss Potts told me to expect you,’ went on Mam’zelle. ‘And she told me your names. I know that one of you is called Winifred, and that –’

  ‘It’s Freddie, Mam’zelle, not Winifred,’ June corrected her, helping herself to a jacket potato.

  ‘Always you interrupt, June,’ said Mam’zelle, looking put out. ‘And I know that you are pulling my foot, for Freddie is a boy’s name.’

  ‘You mean pulling your leg, Mam’zelle,’ said June, with a grin, as the others giggled. ‘But I’m not, honestly. She really is called Freddie – aren’t you, Freddie?’

  Freddie nodded. ‘It’s true, Mam’zelle. People only call me Winifred if I’m in trouble.’

  It seemed very odd to Mam’zelle that this girl should want to be known by a boy’s name, but she had been teaching at Malory Towers long enough to know that English girls could be very eccentric indeed. So she accepted this with a shrug and said, ‘Ah well, I should not like you to think that you were in trouble, so I shall call you Freddie. And you, ma chère.’ She turned to Amy, with a smile. ‘You have an unusual name too, have you not?’

  ‘Not really, Mam’zelle,’ answered the girl, looking puzzled. ‘My name is Amy.’

  ‘Ah yes, but your surname, he is unusual,’ said Mam’zelle. ‘Miss Potts told me. Now, what was it again? Something from one of your English nursery rhymes.’

  Mam’zelle frowned as she tried to remember, while the third formers looked perplexedly at one another and Amy said, ‘But my surname has nothing to do with a nursery rhyme. It’s Ryder –’

  ‘Ah yes, I hav
e it!’ cried Mam’zelle, banging her hand down on the table and making everyone jump. ‘It is Ryder-Cockhorse!’

  The third formers simply roared with laughter at this. All except Amy, of course, who couldn’t bear to be made fun of, even unwittingly, and flushed angrily. Even sourpuss Veronica had to hide a smile, but hide it she did, as she certainly didn’t want Amy to think that she was laughing at her.

  ‘To see a fine lady on a white horse,’ murmured June, once the laughter had died down. ‘Only Amy would never ride a white horse, because she wouldn’t be able to stand the smell.’

  Of course, this made the third-form table erupt again, the girls’ laughter so noisy that Miss Potts, at the head of the first-form table, glared across at them, and Felicity said, ‘We’d better keep the noise down. Potty looks annoyed.’

  ‘Miss Potts,’ explained June, seeing that the two new girls looked puzzled. ‘She’s the head of North Tower. Quite a decent sort, but she doesn’t stand any nonsense. That’s her, over at the first-form table.’

  Freddie glanced across and caught the beady eye of a rather stern-looking mistress, and looked away again hastily. No, Freddie decided, she definitely wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of Miss Potts!

  ‘And over there,’ said June, nodding towards the fourth form’s table, ‘is Mam’zelle Rougier, the other French mistress.’

  Mam’zelle Rougier was tall, and as thin as Mam’zelle Dupont was plump. She also looked rather bad-tempered, and the fourth formers at her table seemed a little glum and subdued.

  ‘Thank goodness we’ve got Mam’zelle Dupont at our table,’ went on June, lowering her voice. ‘She has a hot temper at times, but she’s good fun and a splendid person to play tricks on. Quite unlike Mam’zelle Rougier, who has no sense of humour at all.’

  Mam’zelle Dupont, meanwhile, had returned to the vexed question of Amy’s surname, saying, ‘It is a most unusual name, Ryder-Cockhorse. I do not think that I have heard it before.’

  ‘Actually it’s Ryder-Cochrane,’ said Amy rather stiffly, as muffled giggles broke out again.

  Seeing that Amy’s feathers were seriously ruffled, Veronica seized her chance and murmured in a low tone, ‘You mustn’t mind Mam’zelle. She doesn’t mean to offend – it’s just that she gets things mixed up sometimes. As for the rest of the third formers – well, I wouldn’t take much notice of them either. They have a very childish sense of humour, I’m afraid. Here –’ she passed a plate of cold meat to Amy. ‘Do help yourself. The suppers here are jolly good, and I’m sure you must be hungry.’

  Amy was hungry, and she took the plate with a word of thanks and a faint smile. Encouraged, Veronica began to engage the new girl in conversation, asking her a great many questions, showing enormous interest in her answers, and making her admiration quite clear. Pleased that there was at least one person in this horrid school who appreciated her, and delighted with the opportunity to boast about herself, Amy began to thaw and chatted quite pleasantly with Veronica.

  June, on the opposite side of the table, was busily pointing out various girls and mistresses to an interested Freddie, but her sharp ears picked up snatches of the two girls’ conversation. If she didn’t know better, June would have felt quite certain that Veronica was sucking up to Amy because of her wealthy background. But Veronica hadn’t been in the dormitory earlier and had only just met Amy, so she couldn’t possibly know anything about her. Perhaps Veronica really had changed her ways, and was being kind and unselfish in putting Amy at her ease. But somehow June doubted it.

  Mam’zelle Dupont, however, was quite taken in. Veronica had never been one of her favourites, but watching her now, as she went out of her way to make this new girl feel welcome, the French mistress began to think that she might have judged her a little harshly.

  The bold, wicked June also seemed to be looking after Freddie, and Mam’zelle Dupont smiled to herself. Ah, they might be eccentric, with their jokes and tricks, and their strange names, but these English girls were good and kind at heart!

  Nora, with her fluffy blonde hair and round, blue eyes, was one of her pets. When she covered her mouth suddenly to stifle a yawn, Mam’zelle Dupont cried, ‘You are tired, ma petite! And no wonder. I am sure that you must all be fatigued, after your long journeys and the excitement of your first day back at school. As soon as you have finished your meal, you shall go straight to bed!’

  There was an immediate outcry at this, of course. In fact, the girls felt pleasantly tired and wouldn’t be at all sorry when bedtime came. But as for going up straight after tea, when it was so early, and there was still so much gossip to catch up on, and they wanted to make this precious first day last as long as possible – why, it was unthinkable!

  ‘Only the first-form babies go to bed straight after tea,’ said Felicity, rather loftily. ‘We third formers are allowed to stay up until nine o’clock usually, although we have to go to bed at eight on the first night. And I, for one, am not going up a second before we have to!’

  And stay up until eight they did, although many of the third formers felt their eyelids drooping, and Nora almost nodded off on the sofa in the common-room and had to be nudged awake by Julie.

  ‘Come on, sleepyhead,’ said Julie, hauling the protesting Nora to her feet. ‘The bell for bedtime has just sounded, and you can’t go to sleep here!’

  ‘I say, look at those two,’ said Felicity to Susan, as they walked upstairs together. ‘It seems as if they have become firm friends already.’

  Ahead of them walked Amy and Veronica, still deep in conversation, and Susan laughed, saying, ‘It seems right, somehow, that the two most unpopular girls in the form have teamed up with one another. Although I’m not sure whether this friendship will be good for either of them. But Veronica seems determined to stick to Amy like glue!’

  ‘Rather like Bonnie stuck to me, during the holidays,’ said Felicity, with a wry smile.

  ‘Ah yes, dear little Bonnie,’ said Susan, with a grin. ‘I should think you were as glad to see the back of her as she was to see the back of me!’

  Susan had come to stay with Felicity for a week in the holidays, and the visit had not been a great success. Bonnie, quite overcome with jealousy, had taken an instant dislike to Susan, and had done everything possible to make her feel unwelcome.

  ‘As though she were my best friend and you were the one trying to come between us, instead of the other way round!’ an exasperated Felicity had complained after a particularly trying afternoon, during which Bonnie had been openly rude to Susan. Luckily, the sensible Susan had refused to be drawn into a quarrel and had merely laughed at Bonnie.

  ‘My goodness, how she disliked me!’ Susan said now as they entered the dormitory. ‘I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her, though. It can’t be much of a life not being able to go to school, and make friends, and share in all the happy, jolly times that most schoolgirls have.’

  ‘Oh, Bonnie is quite well enough to come to school now,’ said Felicity. ‘But her mother won’t let her. Honestly, Susan, I think that Mrs Meadows is quite the silliest woman I’ve ever met. If she didn’t fuss over Bonnie, and spoil her so, she might turn out to be quite decent.’

  ‘Well, thank goodness our parents had the sense to send us to a splendid school like Malory Towers,’ said Susan. ‘I simply can’t imagine being anywhere else!’

  Swiftly, the girls changed into their pyjamas, brushed their teeth, and climbed into their cosy beds, but June and Freddie, who were both thoroughly overexcited, continued to talk after lightsout.

  ‘Can’t you two shut up and go to sleep?’ groaned a tired Nora. ‘I’d just dropped off and now you’ve woken me up again.’

  ‘Sorry, Nora,’ said June. ‘We didn’t mean to disturb you.’

  But, moments later, Freddie’s voice could be heard again, followed by a loud snort of laughter from June’s bed, and Veronica frowned to herself in the darkness. As she was to be head of the form, it was up to her to see that the two girls obeye
d the rule about no talking after lights-out. It would be as well, she decided, to start as she meant to continue, and show these two that she wasn’t going to stand any nonsense, so Veronica sat up in bed and said crisply, ‘You two – June and Freddie! Get to sleep at once. You both know very well that no talking is allowed after lights-out, and if you disobey I shall report you to Miss Peters!’

  Now, Nora wasn’t the only one who had been getting a little tired of June and Freddie’s chatter, for several of the girls felt annoyed at the pair for keeping them awake. In fact, Susan had been on the verge of telling them to be quiet herself. But none of the third formers intended to take orders from Veronica until it was announced that she was head-girl, and they rebelled at once.

  ‘Sneak!’ called out Julie.

  ‘You’re not head of the form,’ said Susan. ‘You’ve no right to tell us what to do.’

  ‘Besides, I heard you whispering to Amy after lights-out!’ added Felicity indignantly. ‘And you only stopped because she fell asleep. Hypocrite!’

  Veronica’s cheeks flushed a deep angry red, and she hissed, ‘Felicity Rivers, how dare you speak to me like that! I am the senior member of this form and I consider it my duty –’

  ‘Pooh!’ June interrupted her rudely, sitting bolt upright in bed. ‘You don’t have a sense of duty, Veronica. What you do have is an inflated sense of your own importance. Well, let me tell you, just because you’ve already spent a term in the third form, it doesn’t make you senior to the rest of us, and it certainly doesn’t give you the right to start dishing out orders. Only the head-girl will be able to do that, and I very much doubt that it will be you! Miss Peters knows you too well.’

  Smarting, Veronica opened her mouth to make an angry retort, but just then the girls heard the sounds of footsteps on the landing, and the door opened and Miss Potts stood silhouetted in the doorway.