Fun and Games at Malory Towers Page 14

  ‘Perhaps,’ said Gillian, making up her mind to develop a sore throat at the earliest opportunity.

  Gillian really did feel quite exhausted, and she surprised the others by going to bed at eight o’clock that evening.

  ‘Heavens!’ said Bonnie. ‘Fancy going up to bed early when you don’t have to.’

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ said Delia.

  ‘You don’t have to,’ said Gillian. ‘Stay up and chat with the others if you want to.’

  But Delia insisted that she felt tired as well, so the two girls said goodnight to the others and made their way up to the dormitory.

  In fact, Delia had made a plan. She intended to get to sleep early, and wake up a few hours later, just to see if anyone did come into the dormitory and try to steal anything.

  Gillian fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, and as soon as she had dropped off, Delia set her little alarm clock for one in the morning and placed it under her own pillow. Of course, it might be that the thief would not strike tonight, in which case Delia was in for a long, lonely and very boring night. But that was a chance she would have to take, and if the thief did come in it would all be worth it.

  Very soon Delia was asleep too, and the rest of the fifth formers were careful to make as little noise as possible when they came up a couple of hours later, so as not to disturb the sleeping girls.

  Soon all was quiet, and remained so until one o’clock, when Delia’s alarm clock went off. She woke at once and slipped her hand under the pillow to stop the muffled ringing. Then the girl sat up and looked round, relieved to see that no one else had heard it, for everyone was fast asleep.

  Half an hour crept by very slowly indeed, and Delia wished that she had a torch, so that she might have read under the covers. At last, more for something to do than because she really wanted it, she went to the bathroom to get a glass of water. And while she was in there, she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the landing. Delia waited until she heard them going downstairs, then, very softly, she opened the bathroom door and peeped out.

  Yes, someone was walking down the stairs. Someone wearing spotted pyjamas, and with a very distinctive head of red hair. Gillian!

  Delia’s heart sank. Surely she hadn’t woken up in the hope of catching the thief only for it to turn out to be her best friend? But she could think of no other reason for Gillian to be wandering around in the middle of the night. She waited for the girl to reach the bottom of the stairs, then padded soundlessly after her, keeping her distance and staying in the shadows.

  Delia watched as Gillian went into the common-room, her heart thumping so loudly that she was sure the girl must be able to hear it! But Gillian was intent on whatever she was doing, and didn’t so much as glance round.

  Delia hid herself in an alcove just along the corridor and waited and listened. Gillian was muttering something to herself, and Delia strained to hear what it was. It sounded as if she was saying, ‘Where is it? Where is it?’ over and over again. How odd! What on earth could she be looking for? A few moments later Gillian emerged. She was carrying something, Delia saw, and the girl had to stop herself from gasping out loud when she saw what it was. A delicate little embroidered spectacle case that Bonnie had made for her aunt’s birthday. Bonnie had only finished it last night, and had put it in her needlework box, which she kept in the common-room cupboard. But what on earth did Gillian want with it? She didn’t even wear spectacles. Delia shook herself. What did that matter? What was more important, and deeply shocking, was the discovery that Gillian, her dearest friend, was the thief. Oh dear, now what was she to do?

  Someone else had woken up in the fifth-form dormitory. Felicity, disturbed by a sudden, loud snore from Susan, in the next bed, had woken with a start and, after trying unsuccessfully to get back to sleep again, sat up and rubbed her eyes. That was when she noticed that two of the beds were empty. One was Delia’s, but whose was the other? Oh yes, Gillian’s, of course. But where on earth could the pair of them be?

  Surely Gillian hadn’t been so foolish as to go and practise her music at this hour, and had persuaded Delia to go with her? If one of the mistresses caught them they would be in big trouble, and it would reflect badly on the whole form.

  Felicity glanced across at Pam, and debated whether to wake her. But the head-girl was sleeping so soundly that she didn’t have the heart. Instead, Felicity climbed out of bed, put on her slippers and decided to try and track down the absentees herself.

  Fortunately she didn’t have far to go, for when she got downstairs she could see Gillian quite clearly. But what on earth was she doing?

  Under the stairs was a big cupboard, which was used for storing all sorts of odds and ends. Gillian had opened the door, and appeared to be putting something in there, Felicity saw, feeling completely bewildered. What very peculiar behaviour!

  Delia suddenly appeared behind Gillian, so intent on what her friend was doing that she didn’t even notice Felicity standing in the shadows.

  Delia moved closer to Gillian, and peered into the cupboard, giving a gasp as she saw what else was in there. Nora’s watch, Susan’s chocolates, Amy’s perfume – all the things that had been taken from the girlsrecently.

  Poor Delia felt quite sick. How could she have been so mistaken in her reading of Gillian’s character? She would have to tell the others, of course. It was only fair. Then they would all get their things back, and the form as a whole would decide what was to happen to Gillian.

  ‘Gillian!’ she hissed, standing right behind the girl. But Gillian didn’t turn round. In fact, she didn’t even seem to know that Delia was there at all. Instead, she was inside the cupboard, arranging all of the stolen things into a neat pile.

  Felicity had been watching all this with a puzzled frown on her face, and she stepped out of the shadows, making Delia jump.

  ‘Felicity!’ she gasped. ‘Oh, you did give me a fright.’

  ‘Never mind that,’ said Felicity. ‘Delia, what on earth is going on here?’

  ‘See for yourself,’ said Delia sadly, indicating the pile of stolen belongings in the cupboard.

  Now it was Felicity’s turn to gasp, but before she could ask for an explanation, Gillian turned round, a strange smile on her face.

  ‘I’ve found it,’ she said. ‘I just hope that I remember where I put it tomorrow.’

  There was a queer, glassy look in her eyes, and she seemed to be staring straight through the two girls. It sent shivers up and down Delia’s spine, and she said, ‘Stop it, Gillian! You’re talking nonsense.’

  ‘Wait a minute!’ said Felicity, realisation dawning on her. ‘Delia, she’s sleepwalking! I don’t believe that Gillian knows we are here! I remember when I was in the first form, there was a girl in the dorm next door who used to do it. She came into our dorm a few times, and it was jolly frightening at first, until we realised what she was doing.’

  ‘Oh!’ said Delia, her brow clearing. ‘We had better wake her up, then.’

  ‘No, don’t do that,’ said Felicity quickly. ‘I remember Matron telling us that you should never wake sleepwalkers. The shock can do them terrible harm.’

  ‘Then what do we do?’ asked Delia.

  ‘We simply guide her back to bed,’ said Felicity. ‘You take one arm, Delia, and I will take the other.’

  Gillian proved quite unresisting, and the two girls got her out of the big cupboard, then shut the door. Then they led her back upstairs and to her own bed, watching in astonishment as she climbed in, and went straight off to sleep as though nothing had happened.

  ‘Well!’ whispered Delia. ‘What a very strange night this has been.’

  ‘Very strange,’ agreed Felicity in a low voice. ‘And it’s not over yet. Come with me, Delia.’

  ‘Where are we going?’ asked the girl.

  ‘To the bathroom,’ said Felicity. ‘We need to discuss this, and I don’t want to disturb the others.’

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  Things are cleared up
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  The two girls tiptoed to the bathroom and shut the door softly behind them. Then Felicity turned to Delia, and said, ‘Am I to understand that Gillian took those things?’

  ‘It looks like it, I’m afraid,’ said Delia, and explained how Gillian had come out of the common-room with Bonnie’s spectacle case.

  ‘She was muttering to herself all the time she was in there,’ Delia said. ‘Something that sounded like, “Where is it?”, over and over.’

  ‘This is a strange business,’ said Felicity. ‘But there is one good thing that has come out of it.’

  ‘Oh?’ said Delia, quite unable to think what it could be.

  ‘Of course,’ said Felicity. ‘Gillian must have been taking those things while she was sleepwalking. So although she is the thief, she’s not really a thief, because she didn’t know that she was stealing.’

  ‘Yes!’ said Delia, looking much happier suddenly. ‘I say, Felicity, the others will see it that way too, won’t they? I mean to say, they won’t want to haul poor Gillian up before the Head, will they?’

  ‘I am quite certain that they won’t,’ said Felicity. ‘Once they know the whole story they will see that Gillian wasn’t to blame. And they will be jolly glad to get their things back, too.’

  Delia seemed reassured by this, and lapsed into thoughtful silence for a few moments. At last, she said, ‘Sleepwalking isn’t a good thing, is it, Felicity?’

  ‘No, it’s not,’ said Felicity, looking very grave. ‘I believe that it usually means the sufferer is troubled about something, or is overdoing things.’

  ‘Well, poor old Gillian has been doing far too much,’ said Delia, feeling very guilty indeed. ‘I just wish that I had been firmer with her, and tried harder to get her to relax. But I’m afraid I’m not very good at being firm with people.’

  The girl looked so forlorn that Felicity felt touched, and she gave her a pat on the shoulder, saying, ‘Well, Gillian is one of those people who sticks to a decision once she has made her mind up. You mustn’t blame yourself, Delia, for people like that are very hard to move. I know that Pam tried speaking to her too, and she failed to make any impression on her.’

  Felicity paused for a moment, then went on, ‘But I am afraid that the sleepwalking puts a different complexion on things. Gillian must be made to listen to reason, and I think that we will have to call in someone in a position of authority to talk to her.’

  ‘Miss Grayling?’ said Delia, looking rather scared.

  ‘I was actually thinking of Matron,’ said Felicity. ‘She has had experience in these matters, you know. I remember how well she took care of Jenny, the girl who started sleepwalking when we were in the first form.’

  ‘Of course!’ said Delia, brightening. ‘Matron is just the person.’

  ‘Well, you and I will go to her tomorrow, Delia,’ said Felicity decidedly. ‘She will know what to do for the best, you may be sure.’

  Now that they had decided on a course of action, the two girls suddenly felt tired, and Felicity gave a yawn.

  ‘Heavens, what a night!’ she said. ‘Come along, Delia, we’d better get some sleep, for it will be time to get up before we know it.’

  So the two girls crept back into their dormitory, and, as Gillian had earlier, fell asleep at once.

  After breakfast the following morning, there was half an hour before the first lesson began. Felicity and Delia had put their heads together in the dormitory that morning and made a plan. As soon as breakfast was over, Delia said to Gillian, ‘How about a quick walk in the grounds before Maths?’

  Gillian had agreed to this, and, once the two girls were out of the way, Felicity said, ‘I would like you all to come with me, please. I have something to show you.’

  The fifth formers were rather startled at this, and Nora said, ‘What is it, Felicity? A surprise?’

  ‘In a manner of speaking, yes,’ said Felicity. ‘Do come along, everyone, and you’ll see.’

  Felicity led the curious fifth formers to the big cupboard where Gillian had hidden their things, and she pulled open the door. There was a moment’s astonished silence, then the astonished cries of the girls filled the air.

  ‘My purse!’

  ‘And mine! And Nora, there is your watch.’

  ‘My perfume is here,’ said Amy in delight. ‘And it looks as if it hasn’t been used at all.’

  ‘Felicity, how did you discover this?’ asked Pam, looking bewildered. ‘Do you know how they came to be here, and who the thief is?’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ answered Felicity and, as quickly as possible, she told the others the story of how she and Delia had discovered Gillian sleepwalking last night.

  As she had expected, the fifth formers were most sympathetic, and didn’t blame Gillian at all for her actions.

  ‘I just feel relieved that there is a simple explanation, and that we know there isn’t a thief in the fifth form,’ said Nora.

  ‘Yes, it’s a weight off all our minds,’ said Freddie. ‘It really was horrible feeling that there might be a thief in our midst.’

  ‘Poor Gillian,’ said Susan. ‘I should think she will be absolutely mortified when she discovers that it was she who took our things – even though she did it in her sleep!’

  ‘Well, I don’t want her to find out just yet,’ said Felicity. ‘At break-time Delia and I are going to tell Matron about Gillian’s sleepwalking, for I really feel that this is something we can’t deal with ourselves.’

  ‘Yes, you’re quite right,’ said Pam. ‘Very well, we shan’t say a word to Gillian, and we shall all have to try and behave quite normally towards her until Matron has seen her.’

  This wasn’t easy, of course, for the girls felt so sorry for Gillian that they went out of their way to be extra nice to her. So much so, that the girl began to wonder what she had done to deserve it! And the two who were nicest of all were June and Millicent, for both of them felt a little guilty, knowing that it was largely their fault that Gillian was so overworked that she had begun sleepwalking.

  Pam too felt a little guilty, for she had known that Gillian was tired, and doing far too much. True, she had tried to speak to Gillian about it, but when the girl brushed her concerns aside, perhaps she, Pam, as head-girl, should have gone to Matron or Miss James and let them deal with it.

  At break-time Felicity and Delia went off to tell Matron the extraordinary story of Gillian’s sleepwalking, though they left out the part about her taking their things. Matron listened, her expression becoming more serious as the tale went on, and when the girls had finished she said gravely, ‘You did the right thing in coming to me, girls. This is a very serious matter, and must be dealt with before Gillian exhausts herself completely.’

  Delia looked rather anxious, and said, ‘I’m afraid that she will be angry with Felicity and me for going behind her back like this.’

  ‘Now, don’t you worry your head about that,’ said Matron, kindly. ‘I daresay she may feel annoyed with you at first, but once she has had a good rest and feels better, she will soon realise that you did it for her own good.’ Matron got to her feet. ‘Now I had better go and find Gillian, and break the news to her that she has been sleepwalking. Then I’m going to tuck her up in bed in the San.’

  ‘She won’t like that, Matron,’ said Felicity.

  ‘She won’t have any say in the matter!’ said Matron with a grim smile. ‘I had better tell Miss Grayling all about it, as well, for it won’t do to keep her in the dark.’

  Indeed it wouldn’t, for the Head took a keen interest in the welfare of all the girls, and would certainly want to be kept informed of Gillian’s progress.

  Gillian was very surprised when Matron approached her in the courtyard and said, ‘Gillian, may I have a word with you in my room, please?’

  ‘Of course, Matron,’ said Gillian, looking rather puzzled. ‘Is something the matter?’

  ‘No, but we need to have a little talk,’ Matron said, laying a firm but gentle hand on Gillian’s shoulder an
d leading her away.

  The others felt very subdued when they went into their French lesson, and Mam’zelle Dupont, noticing how listless they seemed, felt quite concerned about them, and gave the fifth formers a very easy time indeed.

  Gillian did not return to class that day and, after tea, an anxious Delia went to Matron’s room in search of news.

  ‘She is sleeping now,’ said Matron. ‘And I’m hoping that she will go right through until morning.’

  ‘When will she be able to come back to class, Matron?’ asked Delia.

  ‘Not for a few days, I’m afraid,’ said Matron. ‘And when she does, she must give up this nonsense of being in the tennis team and the school orchestra. Oh yes, I know all about that,’ said Matron, smiling a little at Delia’s surprised expression. ‘Gillian and I had a very long talk earlier. She has known for some time that she has been overdoing things, but didn’t know how to get out of it without letting either June or Millicent down. Well, the outcome is that she will have to let the pair of them down, for she is in no fit state to take on any extra activities.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Delia, looking very unhappy. ‘I do feel that I am partly to blame for this, Matron, for I promised Gillian’s mother that I would keep an eye on her. I’m afraid that I haven’t done a very good job.’

  ‘Well, I’ve no doubt you did your best,’ said Matron, kindly. ‘But you could hardly force Gillian to give up one of her commitments.’

  ‘No, but it’s jolly lucky that you managed to talk some sense into her,’ said Delia. ‘I can’t think how you got her to listen to you.’

  Matron laughed at this, and said drily, ‘Well, Delia, I have a great many years’ experience in dealing with stubborn, strong-willed girls. Gillian soon realised that she had met her match in me! Now, off you go and you may come and visit Gillian tomorrow. Tell the others that they may come too, but no more than two at a time.’

  Delia went off to relay this news to the fifth formers. They were all pleased to learn that Gillian would be able to return to class in a few days, but June and Millicent were dismayed to learn that they had both lost their star player.