Secrets of Malory Towers Page 6

  But worse was to come. On Monday morning, Miss Potts sent Violet to take a message to Miss Parker, of the second form, and as the door closed behind the girl, she got to her feet, looking at her class very sternly indeed.

  ‘Please listen, everyone,’ said the mistress, her tone so crisp and authoritative that there wasn’t a girl in the room who didn’t pay attention. Even Daffy sat up straight in her chair, her gaze fixed on the mistress.

  ‘That was a marvellous trick you played on Violet the other day,’ she began. ‘Even though it was rather a mean one, in my opinion. It has also come to my attention that there was an incident at the swimming-pool on the same morning, which involved Violet and one of the sixth formers falling into the pool and having to be rescued.’

  Miss Potts’s eyes rested on Daffy for a moment, and the girl tried to stop herself from turning red.

  ‘However,’ Miss Potts continued, ‘I understand that the culprit has already been punished by Felicity Rivers, so I will say no more about the dangers of such horseplay. What I will say, however, is that I will not stand for any more nonsense. I understand that not all of you like Violet, but as you go through life you will meet all sorts of people, and will find that it is not possible to like each and every one of them. But, for the sake of harmony, it is necessary that you learn to get along with them. I trust that there will be no more tricks played on Violet, for if I hear about it I will dish out a very severe punishment. Is that quite clear?’

  ‘Yes, Miss Potts,’ chorused the girls in very subdued tones.

  Violet came back then, so Miss Potts let the matter drop, but the girls discussed it at break-time.

  ‘You will have to stop playing tricks on Violet now, Daffy,’ said Faith, with what authority she could muster.

  But Daffy merely said scornfully, ‘No such thing. I shall just have to be more careful, that’s all. Her Highness is such a marvellous victim!’

  ‘Absolutely!’ said Katie, backing her friend up, as always. ‘Besides, Violet deserves another trick because of the way she spoke to Daffy on Saturday night.’

  When the first formers had gathered in the common-room after supper on the fateful night, the others had quite expected Violet to go and change out of her party dress, but she had sat in one of the big armchairs, a vision in pink frills, and picked up a book.

  ‘Aren’t you going to change, Violet?’ Ivy had asked.

  ‘Why should I?’ Violet had said, a stubborn look coming over her round face. ‘I am perfectly satisfied with the way I look. So were Miss Potts and Mam’zelle. Why, even Faith said that I looked very nice.’

  At once, everyone turned accusing eyes on Faith, who turned red. Though, she thought, there was no reason at all for her to feel guilty. She had only been trying to make Violet feel a little less uncomfortable.

  ‘I must say, the colour does suit you,’ Daffy had drawled. ‘When you’re angry your cheeks go all pink, and the dress matches them perfectly!’

  Then Violet had flung down her book and got to her feet, saying angrily, ‘Well, you look like a – a mop, with those silly, untidy curls all over the place! You think you’re so wonderful, don’t you, Daffy Hope? Just because your sister used to come here, and you know the Head Girl! Well, just you remember that pride comes before a fall, and I promise you, I shall get back at you for trying to trick me tonight!’

  ‘Trying to trick you?’ laughed Daffy, quite unmoved by the girl’s anger. ‘I would say that I succeeded very nicely. Wouldn’t you, girls?’

  Of course, the others agreed with Daffy at once, apart from Faith, who said nothing at all.

  The row had ended with Violet flouncing off to bed, but the only person she upset by doing that was herself, for she was far too angry to sleep, and soon became very bored indeed!

  Faith thought of this now, as she watched the others crowding round Daffy, all of them most impressed by her boldness and daring.

  Faith herself, however, was beginning to find Daffy a little tiresome. She didn’t resent the girl’s popularity, for lively, amusing people like Daffy always were popular. But she disliked the way that the girl dismissed everything that she said, and didn’t seem to recognise that she was head of the form. And the others, eager to copy Daffy in everything, were following suit.

  Well, it was her own fault, she supposed, for being a weak character. The first form needed a strong leader, and, as it didn’t have one, it was inevitable that someone would step into the breach. Not for the first time, Faith wondered if the honourable thing to do would be to go to Miss Potts and resign, for there was no denying that she wasn’t making a very good job of things.

  But just then, Daffy glanced round and spotted Faith standing on the edge of things as always, a rather forlorn expression on her face. And since, despite her mischievous ways, she was a kind-hearted girl, she moved across to her, taking her arm in a friendly way, and saying, ‘Come on, Faith, old girl! There’s just time for a quick ball game before Geography. You’ll play, won’t you?’

  Katie and one or two others added their voices to Daffy’s, and suddenly Faith felt a warm glow spread over her, her gloomy feelings dropping away. The first formers weren’t a bad lot, at heart. She would just have to find her own way of dealing with them, and of carrying out her responsibilities as head-girl.

  ‘Yes, you come along with us, Faith,’ cried Katie, taking her other arm. ‘Let’s go and have some fun!’

  7

  Alice’s puzzling behaviour

  The first formers might be having fun, but those sixth formers who were studying for Higher Certificate were working very hard indeed.

  Alice, as always, was eager to help, but not everyone appreciated her well-meaning efforts.

  Pam was most grateful when the girl offered to post a letter for her, so that she could carry on with her studying. June, however, was extremely displeased to enter her study one afternoon, only to discover that someone had tidied it.

  ‘I say!’ she cried. ‘What on earth has happened here? Someone has tidied all my papers away.’

  ‘Well, you must admit that it did need tidying,’ said Freddie, coming in behind her and looking at the neatly arranged desk. ‘Why, there was so much stuff on there before, you couldn’t even see the desk.’

  ‘Yes, but although it might have looked a mess to everyone else, I knew exactly where everything was!’ said June, sounding very dismayed. ‘My lists of teams for sports were in that corner, my English work was there, and my Maths there. I like working in a jumble. Now how am I supposed to find anything?’

  It didn’t take long for June to discover that Alice was the culprit, and she wasted no time in setting the girl straight.

  ‘Look here, Alice,’ she said. ‘I don’t appreciate you coming into my study without my permission and messing about with my things.’

  ‘I – I’m sorry, June,’ said Alice meekly. ‘I was only trying to help.’

  ‘Well, I have had to waste precious time in finding everything that you tidied away and putting it back where it was,’ said June shortly. ‘So you haven’t helped me at all. Run round after the others if you want to, but leave me alone!’

  Felicity, who overheard this, took June to task, saying, ‘You were a little hard on Alice, June. She meant well.’

  ‘I daresay,’ said June. ‘But I can’t bear people trying to organise me! To be honest, Felicity, she gives me the creeps, always hovering around.’

  Felicity protested at this, but she knew what June meant. There was an unwritten rule that if a study door was open, it meant that the occupant was ‘at home’ – as Susan put it – to visitors. If the door was closed, it meant that whoever was in there didn’t want to be disturbed. Most of the girls kept their doors open, for it made them feel more united, and created a friendly atmosphere. But Alice had a disconcerting habit of suddenly appearing in people’s doorways.

  On one occasion she had quite startled Felicity, who had been completely engrossed in her work. Then she had looked up and seen
Alice standing there, and almost jumped out of her skin.

  ‘Alice!’ she had gasped. ‘Goodness, you gave me quite a fright!’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Felicity,’ Alice had said. ‘I just came to see if there was any way that I could help you.’

  Felicity, who was getting on very well on her own, didn’t quite know what to say. She didn’t want to spurn Alice, for the girl was so very eager to please. On the other hand, she badly wanted to pass Higher Certificate, and she couldn’t allow Alice to interfere with that.

  In the end she compromised by asking Alice to copy out some notes that she had scribbled down in class, for they really were difficult to read and Alice’s handwriting was very neat.

  But the incident quite destroyed her concentration, and when the good-natured Pam complained that she was tired of Alice constantly interrupting her studies, Felicity decided that something must be done.

  ‘I don’t quite like to push her off altogether,’ said Pam. ‘For I was very grateful when she cleaned my shoes the other day. It seems mean to make use of her when it suits us, then tell her to go away when we don’t want her.’

  ‘Yes, it’s tricky,’ said Felicity. ‘I suppose the poor girl feels at a bit of a loose end, for we are all so busy studying that none of us has really got the time to get to know her.’

  ‘We’re not all studying,’ Pam pointed out. ‘Nora isn’t going in for Higher Cert, and nor are Amy and Delia.’

  ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ exclaimed Felicity. ‘We can ask those three to take Alice under their wing a bit.’

  Pam laughed, and said, ‘Nora and Delia might agree, but I can’t see you having much joy with Amy. Apart from Bonnie, she looks down on everyone, and I can’t see why she would treat Alice any differently.’

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ said Felicity thoughtfully. ‘Amy seems to think that Alice’s family are wealthy, so she may consider her worthy of her friendship.’

  And it seemed that Felicity was right. She and Pam spoke to Nora, Delia and Amy later that day about Alice, and all three of them agreed that they would do what they could to befriend the new girl. But, to the astonishment of the sixth formers, it seemed to be Amy who was making the most effort, for Alice was constantly in and out of the girl’s study over the next few days.

  ‘Well, it seems that you were right, Felicity,’ said Pam. ‘I’m not sure that I approve of Amy’s reasons for becoming Alice’s friend, if she is only doing it because of her supposed wealth. But at least Alice seems happy.’

  ‘I don’t care what Amy’s reason is,’ said June, overhearing this. ‘As long as she is keeping Alice occupied and out of our way!’

  But none of the girls guessed what was behind Amy’s kindness to the new girl, until Felicity peeped into the girl’s study one evening, and was astonished to see her doing a pile of mending.

  ‘Heavens, Alice!’ she cried. ‘There’s enough mending there to keep you busy for a week! Whatever have you been doing?’

  ‘Oh, it’s not all mine,’ said Alice. ‘Some of it is Amy’s. She so dislikes doing it, and I am only too pleased to be able to help.’

  Felicity frowned at this, for it was the rule at Malory Towers that the girls did their own mending.

  She said as much, and Alice flushed, saying, ‘Well, I couldn’t bear to see poor Amy struggling with her mending, knowing that I could do it more quickly and so much better.’

  Felicity, who knew that Amy was very good indeed at getting out of the little jobs she didn’t want to do, frowned, and, noticing this, Alice said, ‘Oh, please don’t say that I mustn’t do it, Felicity! Amy was so grateful to me, and I should feel that I was letting her down.’

  ‘Well, as you’re so keen, I shan’t try to stop you,’ said Felicity. ‘But don’t let Amy make a slave of you, Alice.’

  ‘I shan’t,’ promised Alice.

  Over the next few days, though, it became clear that Amy was taking advantage of Alice.

  It was Amy’s turn to do the flowers in the classroom that week, and Gillian, who came in to get a book from her desk, was most surprised to see Alice doing them instead.

  ‘Amy is busy with something,’ Alice had explained, when Gillian questioned her. But, a few minutes later, Gillian had seen Amy, strolling arm in arm through the grounds with Bonnie, not looking at all busy!

  Julie, going into the dormitory after prep one evening, was taken aback to find Alice going through Amy’s bedside cabinet.

  ‘It’s quite all right,’ said Alice, turning red as she saw the suspicious look on Julie’s face. ‘Amy sent me to fetch her face cream.’

  ‘Well, I don’t see why Amy can’t fetch it herself,’ said Julie in her blunt way. ‘Spoilt, lazy creature.’

  Then Bonnie popped into Amy’s study one evening, and was surprised to find Alice tidying up in there.

  ‘Thank you so much, Alice,’ said Amy with a dazzling smile when the girl had finished.

  ‘Dear Alice,’ she murmured to Bonnie, as the girl left the room. ‘How she loves making herself useful.’

  ‘And how you love making use of her,’ said Bonnie drily.

  ‘I think it’s rather decent of me,’ said Amy with a righteous air. ‘I’m stopping her from getting on everyone else’s nerves, and making her feel needed.’

  ‘I suppose that’s true,’ said Bonnie, amused at her friend’s reasoning. ‘Make the most of her while you have her, though, for I know that Felicity doesn’t approve of you taking advantage of Alice. Once Higher Cert is over, she is sure to step in and put a stop to it.’

  Felicity didn’t approve of Amy’s behaviour at all, but with her responsibilities as Head Girl, and all her extra studying, she scarcely had time to think about the problem, let alone solve it.

  June was also very busy for, as games captain, she had to coach the younger girls, pick lacrosse teams and arrange matches with other schools. There had also been her swimming lessons with Violet. Fortunately, June didn’t need to spend as much time studying as the others, for she was blessed with an amazing memory and got very good results with the minimum of effort.

  Daffy Hope, who was small and very agile, had a natural talent for lacrosse, and June would have liked to choose her for one of the teams. But the girl played the fool too much, and June decided that, until she settled down a bit, she could not pick her.

  ‘Gather round, everyone!’ called June, at the end of a practice session with the first and second formers. ‘And I will tell you who I have chosen to be in the lower-school team for the match against Marlowe Hall.’

  The girls gathered round eagerly, their faces shining in anticipation, and June began to read out a list of names. The lucky girls whose names were called turned red with delight, as they were cheered and thumped on the back by their friends. Ivy and Katie, of the first form, were simply thrilled when June told them that they were in the team, and Katie murmured to Daffy, ‘You’re certain to be in, old girl, for you are a much better player than Ivy or me.’

  But Daffy’s name wasn’t mentioned at all, even when June told the girls who the reserves were.

  And, rather to her own surprise, the girl felt very hurt, and rather humiliated, for she knew that she was far better at lacrosse than at least half of the girls who had been chosen. She simply couldn’t understand why June had overlooked her, and wondered if she should ask the games captain. But then, June might think that she was awfully conceited. Besides, she didn’t want the games captain to know how much she cared!

  Daffy hung back as the others went to get changed, all of them chattering excitedly, and June called her over.

  ‘Daffy, you are wondering why you weren’t chosen for the team, aren’t you?’ said June, getting straight to the point. She was extremely shrewd, and had seen the hurt and confusion on the girl’s face when her name hadn’t been called out. ‘Well, I will tell you. It is because you fool around too much. Now, I was much the same at your age, so I am not criticising you for it. But the thing is, it’s my responsibility
to choose the best team to represent Malory Towers, and that means I can’t have anyone on there who is going to act the goat at a crucial moment.’

  Daffy felt very downcast at this, but she wasn’t about to let June know, so she shrugged, and said with her usual cheery smile, ‘Oh well, never mind. I daresay it would have been an awful bore having to attend all those extra practices anyway.’

  June stared after Daffy as the girl walked away, whistling a cheerful little tune. Daffy did mind, she thought. She minded a lot. June knew this, because the first former reminded her very much of herself when she had been in the lower school.

  Daffy had a lot of hard lessons to learn before she became a responsible, trustworthy person, and Malory Towers was certainly the right place to learn them! June sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t be too long before the girl found a sense of pride in her school, and a little team spirit.

  But it wasn’t in Daffy’s nature to be downhearted for long. On the whole, she was having a marvellous time at Malory Towers, and there was still so much to look forward to. There was Mam’zelle to play tricks on, Violet to annoy, birthdays coming up – and, of course, the picnic on the beach tomorrow. Daffy was anticipating this eagerly, for the fact that she was disobeying Felicity made it all the more thrilling, and gave an edge to her excitement.

  Violet, who had a great deal of pocket money, had ordered a simply enormous chocolate cake for the picnic, which she was going to collect from the baker’s shop the following morning. She couldn’t resist boasting to the others about it as they came out of the changing-rooms.

  ‘It’s simply magnificent,’ she said. ‘And cost an absolute fortune. But Daddy said that I am to spend as much as I like, and if I run short of money he will send me more.’

  The others rolled their eyes, and Ivy said, ‘But how will you ever learn to manage your money responsibly if you always go to your father every time it runs out?’

  Violet gave a little laugh, and said, ‘My family is so wealthy that I don’t need to worry about things like that. All I need to think about is how to spend it.’