Winter Term at Malory Towers (4 page)

Soon the old girls felt as if they had been back at school for weeks, not just days. Sylvia, too, settled down in her own way, though she often irritated the others with her never-ending chatter, and the way she always tried to take the lead.

This was particularly galling to Felicity, Susan and June, who had always been the leaders of their form, and the three of them often found it necessary to put Sylvia in her place.

‘I thought that June was going to explode yesterday, when Sylvia took it upon herself to show her the best way to hold her lacrosse stick,' said Felicity, smiling, as she remembered.

Susan grinned too, and said, ‘She
will
explode, one day, if Sylvia keeps it up. And I can't honestly say that I blame her! Sylvia is such an expert on everything—even things she's not very good at, like lacrosse.'

‘It's difficult to dislike her wholeheartedly, though,' said Felicity, looking thoughtful. ‘She's annoying, but she doesn't have any mean, petty faults.'

‘Unlike dear Olive,' said Susan, with a sigh. ‘Who has so many mean, petty faults that it is quite impossible
to like her!'

‘I really don't think I've ever met anyone so unfriendly in my life,' Felicity said. ‘I tried to start a friendly conversation with her in the dorm yesterday morning, just to see if I could get through to her, and almost got my head bitten off!'

Felicity had seen the girl putting a photograph on her bedside cabinet, and went over to take a look. It was a picture of Olive, with a man and woman, whom Felicity took to be her parents. Her mother and father were smiling happily, but Olive's mouth was set in its usual, sullen droop.

‘Are these your parents?' asked Felicity, pleasantly.

‘That's my father,' Olive answered flatly. ‘And my stepmother.'

As Felicity leaned forward to take a closer look, she noticed something odd about the photograph. Mr Witherspoon had his right arm out at an odd angle, as if he had it around someone's shoulders. But there was no one on his right side at all. In fact, the edge of the photograph was jagged, as if a piece had been torn off.

‘There's someone missing,' said Felicity, mildly curious. And Olive's temper had flared up at once.

‘No, there isn't!' she had cried. ‘I tore part of the photograph off so that I could fit it into the frame, that's all. Not that it has anything to do with you—interfering little busybody!' With that, Olive had snatched up the photograph and flung it into her bedside cabinet, slamming the door shut.

‘I wish I had never been sent to this beastly school!' she
raged, angry tears starting to her eyes. ‘I knew exactly how it would be, with everyone poking their noses into my private business!'

Felicity was quite flabbergasted, of course. She hadn't meant to pry at all, and had only been making polite conversation. Just as she was on the verge of giving the new girl a thorough dressing-down for her rudeness, Felicity received some unexpected support.

‘Pooh!' said a small, lisping voice. ‘Who on earth is interested in
your
business, Olive?'

It was Bonnie, of course, her little nose wrinkled in disdain, as she went on, ‘I think that you are quite the rudest girl I have ever met.'

Olive had turned on Bonnie, saying scornfully, ‘Do you think I care what people like
you
think of me? Why, you're nothing but a silly, babyish little doll!'

‘
Doll?
‘ Bonnie had squeaked. ‘
Doll?
How dare you! Do you know, Olive, I'm beginning to think that Amy was right, and you are jealous! I can't think of any other reason why you dislike me so much.'

And Bonnie had flounced off, while Felicity said to Olive, ‘I'd be careful, if I were you. Bonnie is nowhere near as silly as you seem to imagine, and she can be a dangerous enemy. Watch out, Olive!'

But Olive had merely shrugged, so Felicity had left her to it, thinking that it was just impossible to help some people.

‘Yes, she's a strange one, all right,' said Susan now. ‘And I, for one, am quite tired of her and her unpleasant ways.'

‘Let's not waste any more time talking about her, then,' said Felicity, slipping her arm through Susan's. ‘We have our first Drama lesson with the new mistress shortly. That should be interesting.'

As it turned out, it was a
very
interesting lesson indeed!

Bonnie held the door open for Miss Tallant, as she entered the class-room, and gave the mistress one of her sweet smiles. Miss Tallant smiled back, and went to the front of the class, her dark, dramatic eyes sweeping round.

The girls eyed her just as keenly, for they had never seen a teacher quite like Miss Tallant before. Most of the mistresses at Malory Towers dressed neatly and sensibly, in quite plain clothes. The new mistress, though, was wearing a flowing, brightly patterned skirt and a very fussy blouse, with lots of frills. She also wore big, dangling earrings, which swung to and fro every time she moved her head, and Pam murmured to Nora, ‘Heavens! She looks as if she has a couple of dinner gongs hanging from her ears!'

Nora gave one of her explosive snorts of laughter, and Miss Tallant turned her head.

‘Do you find something amusing?' she asked softly, a smile on her face.

‘N-no, Miss Tallant,' stammered Nora, looking rather apprehensive now. ‘I'm sorry, I didn't mean—'

‘Stand up when you address me,' said the mistress, still in the same calm voice, and still smiling.

Very red now, Nora got to her feet, and Miss Tallant asked, ‘What is your name?'

‘Nora Woods, Miss Tallant,' answered poor Nora.

The mistress's smile grew wider, and she said, ‘Well, Nora Woods, it might interest you to know that I don't stand for any nonsense in my classes. Come and see me after the lesson, and I will think of a suitable punishment for you. Sit down.'

A gasp ran round the class as Miss Tallant turned to face the blackboard, and a great many sympathetic glances were sent in Nora's direction. But nobody dared to speak to the girl, for fear that they would be punished too.

The mistress turned to Bonnie, her ridiculously large earrings swinging, and she asked, ‘What is your name, my dear?'

‘Bonnie Meadows, Miss Tallant,' lisped Bonnie, her wide gaze fixed admiringly on the mistress.

‘Bonnie, please hand these round to everyone,' said Miss Tallant, indicating a pile of books on her desk. ‘As quickly as you can, there's a good girl.'

Nimbly, Bonnie skipped round the room, handing a book to each girl, before returning to her seat.

‘Thank you,' said Miss Tallant, smiling at her with approval. ‘Now, girls, we are going to begin reading a play. You will all take it in turns to read, until I tell you to stop. I really want to see you get into character as you read each part, so that I know what you can do. Bonnie, dear, you go first.'

The play was an extremely dramatic historical one, and normally the fourth formers would have enjoyed reading it enormously. But they could not forgive the new mistress for her harsh treatment of Nora, who was an extremely
popular member of the form, and—with the exception of Bonnie, who seemed determined to impress Miss Tallant—they read their parts as sullenly as they dared. After a particularly poor show from Pam, who had read her part in an expressionless monotone, Miss Tallant shook her head, and sighed. ‘Dear me! Bonnie seems to be the only member of the form with any dramatic flair at all. It is your turn next.' The mistress pointed at June. ‘And for goodness' sake, do try and put a little
expression
into it.'

The corners of June's mouth twitched humorously. So, Miss Tallant wanted her to be expressive, did she? Well, she would give the drama teacher just what she had asked for.

‘Do you mind if I stand up, Miss Tallant?' the girl asked politely. ‘I feel that I will be able to throw myself into the part more.'

‘Very well,' said the mistress. ‘But do hurry up, for there are only ten minutes of the lesson left.'

Winking at Freddie, June got to her feet—then what a surprise the class, and Miss Tallant, had. For June really
did
throw herself into the part of the dashing young hero! Putting on a deep, booming voice, she read the lines loudly—so loudly that Mam'zelle Rougier, who was taking a class in the room next door, wondered who on earth could be speaking. The only male teacher in the school was Mr Young, the music master, and that, most certainly, wasn't his voice!

Enjoying herself hugely, June began to add some actions to her performance—clutching at her brow, throwing her arms out, and even, during one particularly
moving moment in her speech, falling to her knees.

Miss Tallant stared at her in astonishment, wondering if the girl really meant to be taken seriously, or if she was playing the fool. The fourth formers, of course, were in no doubt at all, feeling laughter bubble up inside them, though they did their best to hide it. It was fortunate for Nora that June's voice completely drowned out her sudden snort of laughter, or she would probably have been given a second punishment!

‘June…' began Miss Tallant, in her low, calm voice. But it was no use, for June pretended not to hear, and simply carried on with her impassioned speech.

‘June!' said the mistress, speaking a little more loudly. ‘I really think…'

But, to the amusement of the others, the girl ignored Miss Tallant, almost smacking poor Freddie in the face as she flung her arm back, in a dramatic gesture.

‘Here, watch out, June!' cried a startled Freddie, moving her chair back a little, while the others were now quite unable to control their mirth.

Felicity and Susan were holding their sides, while tears slid down Pam's cheeks. Nora had stuffed a hanky into her mouth to stifle her giggles, and even the miserable Olive had a smile on her face. Only Sylvia, who did not have much of a sense of humour, did not seem to understand that June was fooling, and looked puzzled rather than amused.

Miss Tallant, however, noticed none of this, for her attention was all on June. Really, the girl was quite
dreadful! And it seemed as if she would go on and on, right through the morning break and into the next lesson! Miss Tallant pursed her lips. She hated to raise her voice, or appear that she was losing control in front of her class, but it seemed as if she would have to!

‘JUNE!' shouted the mistress and, at last, June stopped, looking round the class as if she had just woken from a dream.

‘So sorry, Miss Tallant,' she said. ‘I tend to get rather carried away when I'm acting a part. Perhaps next time I can show you how I would tackle a humorous role.'

‘Thank you, June,' said the mistress rather frostily. ‘I think that you have now given us a quite adequate display of your—er—talents.'

Just then the bell sounded to signal the end of the lesson, and the girls waited expectantly for Miss Tallant to tell them that they could leave. The mistress looked round the class, her eyes going from one girl to another. At last, she said, ‘Well, if this form is an example of the standard at Malory Towers, I can see that I am going to have my work cut out. What Miss Hibbert taught you, I simply don't know.'

Of course, this little speech did nothing at all to endear the new teacher to the girls. Not only had she insulted their beloved Malory Towers, but she had found fault with Miss Hibbert. The fourth formers felt what little respect they had for Miss Tallant waning, for they knew that there was a strict rule among the staff that they did not speak against one another in front of the girls.

‘Dreadful woman,' said Pam, as the fourth form went to
the cloakroom to fetch their coats. ‘I wonder what she has in store for poor old Nora?'

Nora was not with the others, for, of course, she had had to stay behind to learn what her punishment would be. Sylvia was not there either, for she had gone to speak to Matron about something.

‘Well, perhaps it will be a lesson to Nora,' said Olive, rather smugly. ‘It will do her good to learn that there is one of the mistresses who won't let her get away with anything!'

‘Don't tell me that you're a fan of our spiteful Miss Tallant, Olive?' said Susan, looking at the girl rather hard.

‘Of course not,' said Olive hastily, turning a little red. ‘I'm just pleased that she can see through Nora, that's all.'

‘You keep that nasty tongue of yours still,' said Pam, angrily, giving the girl a little push. It was most unusual for the placid, good-natured Pam to lose her temper, but Nora was her best friend and the girl already felt annoyed with Miss Tallant for picking on her, without this spiteful new girl saying beastly things about her as well.

Seeing that Pam was really upset, Felicity gave her arm a squeeze, saying, ‘We'll all back Nora up against Miss Tallant, Pam, you know that. And against anyone else who is mean to her as well.'

This last remark was obviously meant for Olive, who scowled at Felicity, before putting on her coat and going outside.

‘Mean beast!' said Bonnie, pulling a face, as the door shut behind the new girl. ‘What a lot of spite we are going
to have to deal with this term, what with Olive
and
that horrid Miss Tallant.'

‘Well, you're a fine one to talk!' said June, quite astonished. ‘You were sucking up to Miss Tallant no end.'

‘Of course I was,' replied Bonnie, calmly. ‘Someone has to.'

‘Whatever do you mean, Bonnie?' asked Susan.

‘People like Miss Tallant always have to have a favourite,' explained Bonnie. And everyone listened intently. Bonnie might be silly in some ways, but she was surprisingly shrewd, and very good at sizing people up.

‘She is the kind of person who needs to have someone who thinks that she is wonderful, and will stick up for her. So, I thought that it might as well be me. It might be useful to us, if she thinks that she has someone on her side.'