by Enid Blyton
Susan called a meeting of the North Tower fourth formers in one of the music-rooms that evening. Sylvia and Olive, alone in the common-room, wondered where everyone had disappeared to.
‘Perhaps there’s a debate in the hall, or a slide show, or something,’ said Sylvia, sounding puzzled. ‘Though I’m quite sure I would have remembered. Do you know where they can all be, Olive?’
Olive shook her head and hoped that Sylvia wasn’t going to chatter all evening. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.
‘They can’t be holding a rehearsal for the play,’ Sylvia went on. ‘Or we would have been invited too. Perhaps they’re planning some sort of trick, and don’t want to let us in on it.’
Olive’s ears pricked up at this. ‘Perhaps they are,’ she said, sounding more friendly. ‘Jolly mean of them to leave us out.’
‘Well, they know that I’m not awfully fond of jokes and tricks,’ said Sylvia. ‘I wish that I was, but I never seem to see the funny side of things.’
‘I say! Perhaps they are planning to play a trick on us,’ said Olive. ‘That would explain why they don’t want us involved.’
Sylvia looked extremely dismayed at this, and said, ‘Surely they wouldn’t be so mean?’
‘They probably just see it as a bit of fun, and don’t think that it’s mean at all,’ said Olive. ‘All the same, after that business with the mouse, I don’t really want to be the victim of another of June’s pranks. I vote that we go and look for them, Sylvia, and see if we can overhear what they are up to.’
‘That seems rather sneaky, don’t you think?’ said Sylvia, looking rather uncomfortable.
‘Nonsense! They are the ones who are being sneaky, plotting things behind our backs,’ said Olive. ‘Come on, Sylvia! Imagine how uncomfortable you are going to feel tomorrow, knowing that something may be going to happen to you, but not knowing where or when. Why, you’ll be on tenterhooks.’
This was quite true. Sylvia really did find the thought of a trick being played on her quite horrid. So, reluctantly, she stood up and said, ‘Very well. Let’s see if we can track them down.’
But the fourth formers had hidden themselves well. Susan had chosen a music-room right at the top of North Tower, which hardly anybody used. There was no glass in the door, and once all the girls had filed in, she locked the door behind them.
Bonnie had been most surprised to be invited to this meeting, and had said to Susan, ‘I thought you weren’t supposed to speak to me.’
‘Yes, well, I’m afraid there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding, Bonnie,’ Susan had said, turning red. ‘Amy is invited too, of course. I’ll explain it all to you both later, at the meeting.’
Bonnie had shrugged, and said, ‘You may not get the chance. I don’t know if I shall bother turning up.’
And with that, she had walked off, her little nose in the air.
But curiosity had got the better of Bonnie, and now she was in the little music-room with all the others, waiting to hear what Susan had to say.
‘It’s awfully cramped in here,’ complained Amy. ‘And it smells dreadfully musty.’
‘Well, I shall be as quick as possible,’ said Susan. ‘Then we can all go back to the comfort of the common-room.’
‘I say, Susan, Sylvia and Olive aren’t here,’ said Julie.
‘They weren’t invited,’ said Felicity. ‘And you will understand why, in a moment.’
Swiftly, Susan told the fourth formers what she and Felicity had learned from Clarissa, and, of course, there was a perfect outcry.
‘I wish I knew which one of them it was!’
‘Yes, wouldn’t I like to tell her what I think of her.’
‘To think that she let us blame poor Bonnie,’ said June, who was feeling rather ashamed of herself, for she had been the first to accuse Bonnie. She went up to the girl now and held out her hand, saying forthrightly, ‘I’m most terribly sorry, Bonnie. I should have known that you wouldn’t betray the form like that. I just hope that you will accept my apology.’
Bonnie stared solemnly at June and, for a moment, the others thought that she was going to reject the girl’s frank apology. But then she smiled and took June’s hand, and a sigh of relief went round the room.
‘We are all very sorry, Bonnie,’ said Susan. ‘We misjudged you badly, and we will all do what we can to make it up to you. Amy, too, for we sent her to Coventry as well. She was the only one who had the good sense to realise that you couldn’t possibly have been the sneak, and she was courageous and loyal in sticking by you.’
Amy, unaccustomed to being praised for these good qualities, found herself turning quite pink with pleasure, and graciously inclined her head.
‘Well, thank goodness that is sorted out, at least,’ said Felicity, thankfully. ‘Jolly decent of you to forgive us, Bonnie.’
Bonnie smiled and said, ‘I shall expect you all to make it up to me, though, just as Susan said. You are all to be especially nice to me this term.’
‘We shall be,’ said Pam, giving the girl a pat.
‘Bonnie,’ said Freddie. ‘What was the job that you were doing for Miss Tallant? The one that she gave you the chocolate for?’
‘It was nothing, really,’ said Bonnie. ‘She had torn her skirt, and I mended it for her, because she doesn’t like sewing. That’s all.’
‘But why on earth didn’t you tell us this in the first place?’ said Julie, astonished. ‘It would have saved so much unpleasantness.’
Bonnie’s little rosebud mouth set in a stubborn line, and she lifted her chin.
‘I was cross,’ she said. ‘Because you thought I was a sneak. And when I get cross I can be awfully stubborn. I thought that you should have believed me, without me having to prove myself.’
‘Well, you were quite right,’ said Nora. ‘But now, the question is, what are we going to do about finding out which of the new girls is Miss Tallant’s niece?’
‘We shall all have to put our thinking caps on,’ said Lucy. ‘June, you are usually good at coming up with ideas.’
June, who had been looking rather thoughtful, said, ‘I’m afraid someone else will have to think of something, for I have another thing on my mind.’
‘What?’ asked the others, curiously.
‘I’m going to get my own back on Miss Tallant,’ said June. ‘I don’t know how yet, but I’m going to play the biggest, best trick that I have ever played—on her. If only I knew what her weaknesses are.’
‘Well, we know that she doesn’t care for mice and spiders, and things like that,’ said Felicity.
‘Yes, but we have already used those this term,’ said June. ‘And I do like to be original.’
‘There is something that she is even more afraid of,’ piped up Bonnie. ‘She was talking to me one day when I helped her to tidy the classroom, and I happen to know that Miss Tallant is simply terrified of ghosts.’
‘Really?’ said June, her quick brain turning over all sorts of ideas instantly. ‘How very interesting!’
‘How silly of her,’ said Susan, rather scornfully. ‘There are no such things as ghosts.’
‘Well,’ said Bonnie. ‘Miss Tallant says that she once saw one. It nearly frightened the life out of her.’
‘I believe in ghosts,’ said Nora, her eyes big and scared-looking. ‘I remember once, when I was little—’
‘Tell us another time, Nora,’ said Susan, who didn’t particularly want to spend the rest of the evening in this cramped, musty little room, listening to ghost stories. ‘We really should get back to the common-room now, for it won’t be long until bedtime.’
She unlocked the door, and the girls filed out. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Felicity said, ‘Now, we must all behave perfectly normally towards Sylvia and Olive for the time being. We don’t know which of them is guilty, and it would be terrible if we accused someone wrongly a second time.’
June appeared to have drifted off into a kind of dream, and Susan said sharply, ‘June! Are yo
u listening? We don’t want any accusations flying around until we are absolutely certain which of the new girls is the sneak.’
‘Of course,’ said June. ‘Don’t worry, Susan, I’ve learned my lesson. In fact, I wasn’t even thinking about the sneak.’
‘What were you thinking about, June?’ asked Freddie, noticing the mischievous glint in her friend’s eye.
June grinned, and said, ‘I was thinking about the ghost of Malory Towers.’
10
Miss Tallant strikes again
Sylvia and Olive had returned to the common-room, having failed in their search for the fourth formers. Olive, in particular, felt very disgruntled. She looked across at Sylvia, and thought what a dreadful chatterbox the girl was. Sylvia had kept up a constant stream of talk throughout the search, endlessly speculating on where the girls could be, what they could be doing, and what form any trick they were planning might take. Olive had soon grown heartily tired of her, and thought what bad luck it was that they were thrown together so much.
Just then the door opened, and the rest of the fourth form poured noisily in.
Sylvia and Olive eyed them suspiciously, but Susan grinned warmly and said, ‘Did you think that we had got lost?’
‘Well, Olive and I did wonder where you had got to,’ said Sylvia. ‘It’s been awfully quiet in here.’
The girls had already decided what story they were going to tell, and Julie said, ‘We all popped down to the stables. You see, Lucy has taught her horse Sandy the most marvellous trick. He can count up to five by pawing the ground with his hoof.’
‘Yes, I taught him how to do it in the holidays,’ said Lucy. ‘And, of course, the others were simply dying to see it.’
‘I should have liked to see it too,’ said Sylvia, looking a little put out. ‘I’m very fond of horses, you know.’
‘I didn’t realise,’ said Lucy. ‘If I had known I should have asked you to come along too, Sylvia. Never mind, perhaps I can take you to see Sandy tomorrow.’
That cheered Sylvia up, and she was able to dismiss her worries about the girls playing a trick on her. Julie sat down beside her and asked, ‘Do you have a horse at home, Sylvia?’
‘No, for we don’t have any stables,’ Sylvia answered. ‘My young brother and sister and I go to a local riding school in the holidays, though.’
‘How old are your brother and sister?’ asked Julie with interest.
Of course, Sylvia needed very little encouragement to talk about herself, and was soon telling Julie all about her home and family.
Felicity, nearby, turned to Susan and said, ‘Clever Julie! She is getting Sylvia to talk about her family in the hope that she might let something slip.’
‘Good idea!’ said Susan. ‘If only we could do the same with Olive, but she will just clam up, as she always does.’
‘Perhaps the reason she never talks about her family much is because she has something to hide,’ suggested Felicity. ‘Like an aunt, who also happens to be the most unpopular mistress at Malory Towers.’
‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised,’ said Susan. ‘I must admit, I feel far more inclined to suspect Olive than Sylvia. Sylvia is so open, and will chatter away about herself to anyone who will listen. Hardly the behaviour of someone who is hiding a dark secret!’
‘Miss Tallant never seems to take much notice of Sylvia,’ observed Felicity thoughtfully. ‘Yet she came down hard on Olive over the mouse trick.’
‘Did she, though?’ said Susan, frowning. ‘She may have just pretended to give her a punishment to throw us off the scent. Bonnie said that when she passed the classroom that morning, Olive and Miss Tallant were just talking. Do you remember?’
‘Yes,’ said Felicity slowly. ‘And I’ve just remembered something else! That photo that Olive put on her locker. I asked her about it, and she bit my head off. She threw it in her locker, in a fit of temper, and I haven’t seen it since.’
‘What are you getting at, Felicity?’ asked Susan, puzzled.
‘Well, it looked as if someone was missing from the photograph,’ Felicity said. ‘Olive’s father had his arm outstretched, as though it were around someone’s shoulders, but there was no one there. It was as if someone had been cut off. What if that’s it, Susan? What if the person missing from the photograph is Miss Tallant?’
Susan gave a gasp, and said, ‘I wonder if you could be right, Felicity.’
‘Hallo, you two look very serious!’ said Pam, coming over with Nora. ‘What’s up?’
Felicity told the two girls, and Nora said, ‘So, it’s looking more and more likely that Olive is the culprit. I must say, I don’t altogether blame her for not wanting to own up to having Miss Tallant as an aunt. I certainly wouldn’t, if she was mine.’
‘Well, we still can’t be absolutely certain that it is Olive who is Miss Tallant’s niece,’ Susan said. ‘And until we are certain it might be wise to keep our suspicions to ourselves.’
‘Yes, I suppose it would,’ agreed Pam. ‘Actually, Susan, Nora and I came over to ask when we are going to have our first rehearsal. I know it’s only short play, and no one has many lines to learn, but we all want it to be perfect.’
‘I was thinking about that myself, actually,’ said Susan. ‘Mary has finished her song, and very good it is too. So now we are just waiting for June and Freddie to add their jokes.’ She raised her voice, and called out, ‘Hi, June! Freddie!’
The two girls, who were sitting side by side on a sofa, their heads close together as they talked, looked up, and Susan said, ‘How are the jokes coming along for our play?’
‘Almost finished,’ said June, who had thoroughly enjoyed the task that Susan had given her. Ably assisted by Freddie, she had come up with several very funny lines and jokes to add to the script. Now she said, ‘Another day or two, and we should be finished.’
‘Excellent!’ said Susan, happily. ‘In that case, we could hold our first rehearsal on Saturday, if the hall is free.’
There were ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ at this, and Nora clapped her hands together, crying, ‘Marvellous! I simply can’t wait to begin. Bonnie, how are the costumes coming along?’
‘I have made a start on yours, Nora,’ answered Bonnie. ‘I found the most beautiful dress in the store-room—all white and sparkly. With a little alteration, it will be perfect.’
‘I say, I wonder if that was the dress Mary-Lou wore, when she played Cinderella in the pantomime that Darrell wrote,’ said Felicity, her eyes shining.
‘I’ll bet it was,’ said Pam. ‘My word, that was a jolly good pantomime. I hope our little play will be as big a success.’
‘I’m quite determined that it shall be,’ said Susan, and everyone agreed.
‘We shall spend every spare moment tomorrow finishing our work on the script,’ said June to Freddie. ‘For once that is done, there is something else I need to concentrate on.’
‘How to get back at Miss Tallant?’ said Freddie.
‘Yes,’ said June, her wicked dark eyes glittering. ‘My goodness, I’m going to make her wish that she had never crossed me!’
Freddie grinned, and said, ‘So, when is the ghost of Malory Towers going to make an appearance?’
‘Not until he—or she—is ready,’ said June, grinning back at her friend. ‘This trick is going to be more carefully planned than any trick I have ever played. I really do intend to give that horrid woman the shock of her life!’
‘Well, your brother is coming to see you at half-term, isn’t he?’ said Freddie. ‘He’s always full of good ideas, so perhaps the two of you should put your heads together.’
‘The three of us,’ said June. ‘Don’t forget that you are coming with us at half-term, because your people will be on holiday. And I may need your help, Freddie.’
‘You know that you can rely on me,’ said Freddie loyally. ‘I would like to see Miss Tallant brought down a peg or two as well.’
And Miss Tallant struck again, the day before the first rehearsal was due
to take place. The mistress caught Julie whispering to Lucy, and promptly dished out a hundred lines. ‘I have to hand them in tomorrow morning!’ groaned Lucy. ‘And I was hoping to learn my lines for the play tonight.’
‘Look here,’ said Julie. ‘Why don’t I do half of them for you, Lucy? My writing is a bit like yours and I bet Miss Tallant will never notice the difference.’
‘Oh, would you, Julie?’ said Lucy happily. ‘You are a sport! If we do them as quickly as we can, we shall both have time to go through our lines.’
The plan was duly carried out, and once the lines were finished, the two girls sat down together in the common-room and read through their parts in the play.
But they were in for a shock the following morning, when Lucy handed two sheets of paper to Miss Tallant, both covered in large, rather sprawling handwriting. The mistress did not even glance at them, but smiled at Lucy, saying, ‘I hope that you did not have to waste too much of your evening on these lines, Lucy.’
‘No, Miss Tallant,’ said Lucy a little nervously.
‘Of course you didn’t,’ said Miss Tallant, her smile growing broader. ‘Because Julie did half of them for you, didn’t she?’
Lucy gasped. How on earth could Miss Tallant possibly know that? The girls’ writing was almost identical, and even if there was the very slightest difference, the mistress couldn’t have noticed it, for she hadn’t so much as glanced at the pages. There was only one way Miss Tallant could know, Lucy realised suddenly, her lips tightening grimly. The sneak had struck again!
Just then, a small second former walked past the classroom, and Miss Tallant called out, ‘Elizabeth! Please go and find Julie of the fourth form, and tell her to come to me at once.’
The nervous second former sped off at once, and then Lucy endured a very uncomfortable five minutes indeed! Miss Tallant sat down at her desk and picked up a book, neither looking at Lucy, nor speaking to her. So the girl had to stand in silence, until a puzzled and rather worried-looking Julie arrived. Miss Tallant laid her book aside and got to her feet, and one look at the mistress’s face was enough to tell Julie that she was in serious trouble.
