by Anne Digby
When they looked into the adjoining room, Elf was snoring peacefully and Margot, opening one eye, said: 'Are you joking?'
As for the possibility of Holly coming on these runs, that had yet to be arranged.
So, each for their own reason, Rebecca, Tish and Sue jogged elbow to elbow through the school grounds and then down into the bay, scrambling over the dunes and catapulting themselves on to the wide sands. It was the loveliest spring morning, the sea calm and without any early mist, the whole of Trebizon Bay golden and empty and newly-washed by the receding tide and the air exceptionally clear and shimmering after some rain in the night. 'Oh, isn't this wonderful!' exclaimed Rebecca as the three of them pounded along the shore in single file.
It was so exhilarating, that first run of term, it made Rebecca secretly regret Tish's idea about Holly Thomas. It wouldn't be quite the same, having to hang around for a First Year, even for just part of the time! She knew she was being churlish.
And just one look at Holly's face, when the three of them found her during the dinner break that day, banished Rebecca's lingering doubts. To be able to bring such happiness!
'Do you mean it?' said the First Year girl, her face animated with excitement and pleasure.
They had found her curled up reading a book in the First Year common room, upstairs in Juniper House, where all the juniors lived. She was sitting alone by the window, which had a pleasant outlook on to the quadrangle gardens at the back which stretched across to main school. Even viewed from the back the former manor house was delightful on the eye, Rebecca thought, and she could imagine maids and butlers and footmen, scurrying in and out of those servants' quarters in earlier days, leading their separate existence from the grand life that went on in the front of the house.
Holly, quite alone in the common room, was a thin scrap of a girl, small for her age, with wispy fair hair that tended to straggle in her eyes. She had looked up nervously as they'd entered – but now her pale face with its rather withdrawn expression was quite transformed, pretty even. 'Do you really mean it?' she repeated.
'Of course we mean it!' said Sue. 'It'd do you good. Justin's worried about you always getting out of games. You're silly.'
'Will we be seen?' asked Holly anxiously, then.
'No, of course we won't,' said Tish. 'Not so early in the morning. Come on then, Holly.' She took the girl by the hand and pulled her to her feet in the usual purposeful Tish manner. 'Let's go and find matron or someone and get permission for tomorrow morning. Then it'll be all settled.'
Alice, a young assistant matron, was vacuuming one of the dormitories and readily gave her permission. 'Early morning run on the beach tomorrow? Why not? Yes, that's perfectly okay, Holly.'
They agreed to meet Holly at a quarter past seven the next morning, by the little wicket gate at the back of Juniper House that led out into Trebizon Bay; so it was all settled.
'You hardly notice her limp,' commented Rebecca, as the three of them walked over to main school for afternoon lessons. 'Isn't it a shame she's so self-conscious about it.'
'I'm sure it'll do her confidence good,' said Sue. 'She'll soon find she can run as well as any of them. Justin says she can. It's all a matter of getting her started.'
'You two coming out again before tea?' asked Tish, changing the subject.
'I've got a tennis match!' said Rebecca, putting her hand to her mouth. 'Oh, that's not a good start, is it?'
'And I'm down for a violin lesson!' smiled Sue.
'Oh, never mind. I'll just go on my own then,' said Tish, happily. Then: 'Come on, Rebeck, stop dawdling or we'll be late for Latin.'
'And I'll be late for music!' exclaimed Sue.
Joss and Rebecca beat Trisha and Eddie, but not as conclusively as they should have done. In fact they'd had to struggle at times.
'They're used to playing together and we're not,' Joss pointed out afterwards. 'Didn't we make a mess of the first set? Both rushing to the centre at the same time and leaving great gaps at the sides of the court.'
'I'm just glad we've had a practice together before we play Caxton on Saturday,' said Rebecca.
All in all it had been exciting partnering a player of Joss's calibre, though surprisingly she had missed some easy volleys. As they split up in the dining hall to go to their respective tables, Rebecca realized that she still felt as fresh as a daisy. She must be fit. How undemanding doubles were, compared with singles.
'I'm starving!' she said, as she sat down. 'Don't eat all the jacket potatoes, Elf; pass some over.' She looked round the table. 'Where's Tish?'
'She's late,' said Mara. 'We thought she must have gone on to watch your game. Did you win, Rebecca?'
'Must be still out running,' mumbled Sue through some lettuce.
In fact Tish was almost fifteen minutes late for tea. She sidled in through the glass doors and tried to dart across to the table without being seen, but a voice from a Fifth Year table called out: 'You're supposed to sign the late book, Tish Anderson.'
Margaret Exton.
'Trust her!' whispered Mara furiously.
Sheepishly Tish went back and signed the late book and then came and joined them at table; she was slightly out of breath from running and Rebecca noticed that her trainers had left wet footprints on the wood block flooring.
'Where have you been?' she said.
Tish shrugged. 'Just late, that's all.' But there was a very slightly guilty expression on her face and Rebecca noted it.
She noted exactly the same expression shortly before bedtime when, picking up a note pad that had fallen off Tish's locker, she couldn't help noticing something written in block capitals:
N.B. FIND OUT ABOUT PERIGEE TIDES.
'Here, give me that, Becky!' said Tish. 'It's mine.'
'I'm just giving it to you!' said Rebecca indignantly.
But she was mildly intrigued. What had perigee tides got to do with anything – and what was so secret about them, anyway?
Whenever it is, I expect Tish will tell us sooner or later, she thought with a smile, as she, settled down to read in bed for ten minutes before going to sleep. It was an Agatha Christie, borrowed from Margot, and Rebecca reckoned that she had already worked out who the murderer must be (but was eager to see if she were correct) so dismissed all further conjecture about Tish from her mind.
'Don't read all night, Rebecca,' Sue called across, 'remember we've got to be up early in the morning.'
'Crazy people!' laughed Mara.
Sue flung her pillow across at her. 'Lazy lump!' she shouted. 'It's all right for you, you look good all the time in spite of the fact that you never take any exercise at all, as far as I can see!'
Mara laughed again, brown eyes shining as she threw Sue's pillow back to her.
'That is not true, Susan Murdoch,' she shouted back. 'I like dancing.'
'Shut up, you two,' wailed Rebecca. 'I'm trying to read.'
But she was secretly pleased to notice that Sue was in such high spirits. It must be because they were seeing Holly in the morning and because of Sue's promise to Justin Thomas.
They collected the First Year girl, self-conscious in an over-large and very new looking Trebizon track suit, at the little gate at the bottom of the copse at the back of Juniper House, early next morning as arranged. And their first work-out together could not have been more of a success.
'You could be a good runner!' said Tish, impressed. They had only jogged as far as the beach huts and back, but Holly had kept up with them quite well, even though she was now rather out of breath. 'That leg of yours looked fine to me!'
'Was I really all right?' puffed Holly. There was a breeze whipping off the sea this morning and her cheeks had a healthy glow to them now. 'I couldn't run a step further, though.'
'Better get back now, Holly, if you don't want anyone to see you,' said Sue, kindly. 'Though goodness knows why not!'
'I want to get reasonable first!' said Holly. 'Then I won't mind if they know I've taken up running.'
&n
bsp; 'Good for you,' nodded Rebecca. 'See you tomorrow then?'
'Same time, same place!' said Sue.
'Bye!'
And, their duty discharged, the three friends raced off together in the direction of Mulberry Cove for a long and exhilarating run.
This continued for some days, plenty of running morning and evening, but including Holly for part of the time in the early morning, watching her gradually improve, with determination written all over her face.
The weekend came and went and Rebecca was particularly pleased with herself. The running seemed to be keeping her very fit. She and Joss beat Caxton High's first pair on the Saturday with relative ease, even though their opponents were both eighteen, and on the Sunday when they went to Exonford for junior county tennis, they each won their respective singles against a neighbouring county.
Joss was expected to, of course. She had been given back her old Number One county ranking after her year's absence and made short work of her opposite number. Rebecca, now ranked Number Two, was pleased and surprised to win her match as easily as she did.
When she got back to Court House on the Sunday evening, she found a radiant Sue. Justin Thomas had telephoned her during the afternoon and they had talked for nearly twenty minutes downstairs, until there had been a queue of people waiting to use the payphone.
'He's really pleased that we're taking Holly out running,' said Sue. 'Oh, and guess what, he says he'll try and drop over here next weekend if he can, and will I give him coffee?'
'Isn't everything going well, Sue!' said Rebecca happily. Because, to cap it all, Angela Hessel had timed Tish over 1500 metres at Athletics Club on Saturday and told her she was a natural at the distance.
By the following Tuesday, Holly insisted on running all the way across the bay and back and, although her limp was rather pronounced by the end, it was just the breakthrough that they'd been hoping for. Self-confidence was definitely starting to emerge.
'I've decided I don't mind if anyone sees me now,' she pronounced. 'I'm getting much better, aren't I? And guess what – you know it's Junior Charity Week in a fortnight's time? Well, some of them are organizing a sponsored run and I'm going to put my name down for it tomorrow!'
'Oh, Holly, that's wonderful!' said Sue.
'I'll sponsor you!' said Rebecca.
'Can I come running with you this afternoon, then?' asked Holly. She knew the three of them jogged before tea most evenings, for she had watched them wistfully at times, longing to join in but not daring to until now. 'Would you mind? Just for ten minutes? I don't care if they see me!' she repeated.
The three friends exchanged glances and then nodded.
'Sure.'
So they took Holly on a run round the school grounds on the Tuesday evening – and when they passed a little knot of girls that included Sarah Butters, there was no jeering, just an impressed silence. Holly was going along well, no doubt about it. She was limping a little bit, but not so's you'd notice.
'Hi, Holly!' called Sarah Butters, finding her voice at last. 'Why don't you go in for the sponsored run?'
'I'm thinking about it!' Holly called back over her shoulder. 'You going to sponsor me?'
'If you like!'
Rebecca and Co. were delighted. They were even more pleased when, on the Wednesday morning, before they parted, Holly said: 'Don't worry about me coming this afternoon. Harriet Baker's put her name down for the sponsored run as well and she's asked me if I'd like to go and practise with her on the track. Seeing it's going to be on the school track, it's best for me to get some practice there now, isn't it?'
'Of course it is!' said Sue.
'You still going to sponsor me, Rebecca?' asked the First Year girl shyly.
'How about ten pence a lap?' asked Rebecca.
Holly nodded eagerly.
'I'll sponsor Harriet Baker, if you like,' said Tish. 'Tell her to bring her form over to Court House tomorrow.'
'Great! Thanks!'
Holly was already hurrying away, scrambling over the sand dunes in the direction of Juniper House, presumably to tell her new-found friend that she'd found a sponsor for her.
'Why don't you both bring your forms to Court tomorrow?' called Sue. 'We'll go round and twist a few arms for you.'
'Can we really? Oh, thanks, Sue!'
And she scrambled away all the faster.
That evening, when the three of them were out jogging again before tea, Tish said to Sue:
'I don't suppose Holly will manage more than two or three laps, but the main thing is she's going to have a go.'
'And she seems to have made friends with Harriet Baker!' put in Rebecca. 'Even if some of them do laugh at her, I don't think she'll mind now – and when they see she doesn't mind, it won't be any fun laughing at her any more.'
'This is going to be such a relief to Justin,' said Sue.
They had come to a halt on top of the headland that overlooked Mulberry Cove. 'What are you staring at, Sue?' asked Rebecca and followed her gaze. In fact Sue had just been staring into space, seeing nothing, just thinking about Justin. But Rebecca, looking in the same direction, actually did see something.
'Hey – look at that!' she said.
'We'd better get back now,' said Tish hastily. 'Nearly tea-time.'
'Oh, not yet, Tish,' said Rebecca, grabbing her arm. 'Look over there – look at the island. It's hardly an island at all!'
She gazed, fascinated, at Mulberry Island which lay about half a mile out from the cove. The sea which usually cut it off from the mainland had today all but disappeared. The sand ran out all the way to the island, save for a narrow strip of sea no wider than a river which breached the land half-way between the mainland and the island. 'I've never seen it like that before!' cried Rebecca.
'We could almost walk there,' said Sue.
Tish turned away: 'Just exceptional spring tides, that's all,' she mumbled. 'Come on. Let's get back.'
She looked rather shifty; Rebecca had seen that faintly guilty expression before – and two words clicked in her memory. 'Perigee tides!' she said out loud. 'That's it, isn't it, Tish?'
She and Sue both hauled Tish back, intrigued.
'What are you being secretive about?' laughed Rebecca. 'Sorry, Tish. I couldn't help seeing that note you'd written last week!'
Tish blurted it out then. She was so excited, she couldn't stop herself.
'There's going to be perigee tides tomorrow, one in the morning and one in the evening. The one at 17.30 hours is going to be the lowest for years! All the land's going to be completely uncovered for twenty minutes!' she said. 'If you must know, I'm going to run to the island and back – oh grief, I've told you now and I didn't want to. I'll get a rocket if anybody finds out, but I've got to do it. I know I can run fast enough. It'll be easy!'
'Tish!' said Sue, pretending to sound shocked. She and Rebecca exchanged amused glances.
'Are you daring to suggest,' said Rebecca, in just the same tone as Sue, 'are you daring to suggest –'
'Oh, don't be spoilsports!' wailed Tish. 'Don't try and stop me.'
'Are you daring to suggest that we can't run fast enough?' finished Rebecca.
She and Sue burst out laughing.
'If you think you're going to leave us out of an adventure like this,' said Sue, 'then you've got another think coming.'
It was going to be an adventure, all right.
FIVE
AN ALARMING SIGHT
It was most unfortunate, bumping into Holly and Miss Morgan like that, right at the last minute. It couldn't have been more unfortunate. But the three friends were so keyed up with excitement by then, so determined to run to Mulberry Island and back, in secret, that they weren't going to allow even that to stop them. They would never, never get the chance again!
All day Thursday, they hugged the secret to themselves. They thought about telling the other three, but decided against it. 'The more people who know, the more chance there is of getting found out,' said Tish. 'That's somebody-or
-other's law. It's bad enough that there's three of us now –' She gave a bouncy smile. 'Instead of just me!'
'It's going to be marvellous fun!' said Rebecca. She felt a tremor of excitement every time she thought about it. She'd sailed close to Mulberry Island in a sailing boat the previous summer and had long been intrigued by the little ruined house there, once the home of an artist. Now the chance to explore it had come in the most unexpected way – though they'd have to be quick, of course.
When Holly and Harriet came over to Court with their sponsorship forms, during the dinner hour, they were relieved to hear Holly say: 'Me and Harriet are going down to the track again after school. On the day of the run, we want to surprise everyone with the number of laps we can do – don't we, Harri?'
Her new-found friend, a pleasant, plump-faced girl, not noted for her athletic prowess, nodded eagerly. Elf, Mara and Margot sponsored them – Mara particularly generously; ever since Justin's long phone call on Sunday, the other members of 'the six' had realized that this was rather a special business for Sue, taking Holly Thomas under her wing. Jenny Brook-Hayes, Aba Amori, Elizabeth Kendall and Fiona Freeman all chipped in as well – in fact, everyone who was around at the time.
That evening, as Rebecca and Co. strolled towards Juniper House in track suits, intending to go on to the beach via the wicket gate there, Tish said: 'Lucky Holly didn't want to come running with us again, wasn't it?'
They were going at a leisurely pace, saving their energy for the race across to the island. The waters would be rolling back from the sea bed in exactly fifteen minutes' time. 'She'll be down at the track with Harriet now,' began Rebecca. 'Oh –'
As they rounded the corner of the big red brick building where all the juniors lived, they almost cannoned into Holly Thomas!
'Hello!' said Holly eagerly.
She'd been standing at the back of Juniper House talking to Miss Morgan, the housemistress in charge of the junior school. Holly was wearing her track suit, but there was no sign of Harriet.
