The mistress had made up her mind that she didn’t like June at all, after learning that her peculiar performance in class the other day had been a joke, but she felt extremely grateful to her now, and said in a relieved tone, ‘Thank you, June. Please do so at once.’
June strode up to Olive’s desk, saying, ‘Better stand aside, Olive, just in case he makes a dash for it. You don’t want him running up your leg.’
Olive certainly didn’t want that, and she hastily stepped into the aisle, moving towards the back of the room. June opened the desk, and immediately spotted the poor little mouse, cowering in a corner. Standing with her back to Olive, so that the girl couldn’t see what she was doing, she swiftly picked up the tiny creature, slipping it into the deep pocket of her skirt. If only he didn’t poke his head out and give the game away! But the mouse, quite worn out by his adventure, rather liked the warmth and softness of June’s pocket and decided to settle down there for a nap!
Some of the others had seen what June had done, though, and were now struggling to contain their laughter! This became extremely difficult for them when the wicked June began rummaging violently in Olive’s desk for the mouse, scattering books, pencils and all kinds of belongings over the floor. At last she straightened up and, facing Miss Tallant, said solemnly, ‘There is most definitely no mouse in Olive’s desk.’
‘There is!’ cried Olive. ‘I saw it, I tell you.’
Miss Tallant, feeling bolder now that June had assured her there was no mouse, moved towards Olive’s desk and peered in. Of course, there was nothing to be seen, and Miss Tallant pursed her lips, turning to Olive.
‘Pick up your belongings from the floor at once,’ she said coldly. ‘And put them back in your desk.’
The mistress looked and sounded so angry that Olive didn’t dare to argue. But as the girl turned away, her eye caught June’s and she saw the glint of malice there. Suddenly she realised the truth. June was responsible for the mouse being in her desk. And June must have removed it. But where was the creature now? Olive’s eyes fell on the suspicious-looking bulge in June’s pocket, and she thought that she saw a slight movement. So that was it, she thought, her eyes narrowing. June had somehow managed to slip the mouse into her pocket. Olive opened her mouth to tell Miss Tallant what had happened, but June hissed, under her breath, ‘If you sneak it will be the worse for you.’
She sounded so menacing that Olive felt quite alarmed. Sneaks were not looked upon favourably at any school, she knew that. And there was no point in making her life at Malory Towers any more difficult than it already was. So Olive shut her mouth, said nothing and turned to the task of putting her things back in her desk.
June, meanwhile, went back to her place, winking at the others, who grinned back at her. ‘Olive!’ snapped Miss Tallant. ‘Come and see me when you have finished your lunch.’
‘Yes, Miss Tallant,’ said Olive bleakly. What a beastly school this was!
‘That was simply marvellous, June,’ laughed Felicity, as the fourth formers made their way down the corridor after the lesson.
‘Yes, and now I had better get this little fellow back to his home,’ said June, taking the mouse from her pocket and stroking him with one finger. ‘Unless, of course, you want to do it, Olive?’
Olive scowled, then, as June held the mouse out towards her, gave a squeal and ran off down the corridor, the laughter of the fourth formers following her.
‘Serves her jolly well right!’ said Nora. ‘Let’s hope that she will think twice before laughing when one of us gets scolded now!’
Sylvia, who had watched in amazement as June produced the mouse from her pocket, said now, ‘So there was a mouse, after all! But why did June pretend that she couldn’t find it? I don’t understand.’
‘It was a trick, Sylvia,’ explained Pam patiently. ‘To pay Olive back for all the times she has crowed over other people when they have got into trouble.’
‘Oh,’ said Sylvia rather blankly. ‘I do hope that June is going to own up to Miss Tallant.’
‘Of course she’s not, idiot,’ said Freddie scornfully. ‘The whole idea was to teach Olive a lesson. And that is exactly what we have done!’
‘It seems rather mean to me,’ said Sylvia, with a frown. ‘I really think…’
‘Sylvia, if you’re thinking of sneaking to Miss Tallant, don’t!’ Susan warned her. ‘Because we don’t take kindly to sneaks at Malory Towers, and if you aren’t careful you might find that you become just as unpopular as Olive!’
‘I wouldn’t dream of sneaking,’ said Sylvia stiffly, her rosy complexion turning even redder. ‘I just think that June ought to be persuaded to own up. If I were head-girl—’
‘Well, you’re not,’ Felicity interrupted rudely. ‘Susan is, and she agrees that Olive needed to be taught a lesson.’
‘We all agreed,’ said Susan, glaring at Sylvia. ‘Of course, if you want to go against the whole form, that is quite up to you, Sylvia.’
But Sylvia didn’t want to do anything of the sort. She so badly wanted to fit in at Malory Towers and make friends. At once she said, ‘Naturally, I shall go along with what the rest of the form decides. I don’t like Olive any more than you do, you know, but I think that I would have chosen a different way of dealing with her. I’m not awfully fond of jokes and tricks, you see.’
‘How odd!’ exclaimed Bonnie. ‘That’s rather a shame, because we play quite a lot of them in our form. Well, June and Freddie do. Really super ones, too!’
Unsurprisingly, Sylvia didn’t look terribly thrilled by this, but as the fourth formers had reached the dining-room by this time, she said no more.
The girl was unusually silent during the meal, lost in her own thoughts. Olive, too, was quiet and sullen, but then she usually was, so the others didn’t take much notice of this. As soon as she had finished her meal, Olive left the table and went to find Miss Tallant, to discover what her punishment would be.
‘Well, if Miss Tallant gave me fifty lines just for laughing, she’s certain to come down much harder on Olive,’ said Nora, quite unable to keep the note of glee from her voice.
‘After all, she did disrupt the whole class.’
‘I think that what Olive did is worth two hundred lines at least,’ said Bonnie, happily.
‘That ought to keep her busy while we are in the common-room this evening, so she won’t have time to make any of her spiteful remarks!’
But when the fourth formers gathered in the common-room that evening, it seemed that Miss Tallant had not punished Olive at all, for the girl sat down in an armchair and began reading a book.
Felicity nudged Susan and whispered, ‘I say, look at Olive. You don’t think that she’s going to be so silly as to ignore Miss Tallant’s punishment, do you?’
Susan frowned at this and, raising her voice, called out, ‘Olive! Why aren’t you doing the lines that Miss Tallant gave you as a punishment?’
‘She didn’t give me any lines,’ said the girl, sullenly.
‘Don’t tell me that she let you off scot-free!’ exclaimed Pam.
‘Olive, you had better not have sneaked on me,’ said June sternly. ‘I warned you what would happen if you did.’
‘I haven’t sneaked on you,’ retorted Olive, glaring at June. ‘But Miss Tallant has given me another punishment, instead of lines.’
‘What is it?’ asked Felicity. ‘Are you to go to bed early?’
‘No, I’m to do extra prep with Miss Tallant on Saturday morning,’ said Olive gloomily. ‘Not that it’s any of your business!’
This really was a horrid punishment, for the girls enjoyed having their weekends all to themselves. They were happy, jolly times where everyone could do as they pleased, whether they chose to play games, go horse-riding or simply sit around laughing and joking in the commonroom. And next Saturday would be even more fun than usual, for the casting of the Christmas play was to take place that afternoon. But nobody felt in the slightest bit sorry for Olive, for all of the fourth
formers thought that she had well and truly earned her punishment.
The girl ignored the grins of the fourth formers and went back to her book, though Felicity, who stole several glances at her, noticed that she didn’t turn the pages at all. She’s only pretending to be engrossed in her book, thought Felicity. I wonder what is going on in Olive’s head? What a odd girl she is!
Most of the fourth formers were looking forward to the meeting on Saturday afternoon, and the rest of the week seemed to pass by very slowly indeed!
But, at last, it was Saturday, and June, looking out of the common-room window after breakfast, said, ‘It looks quite sunny for the time of year. Freddie, shall we take a walk along the cliffs in a little while?’
‘That would be super,’ answered Freddie. ‘Would anyone else like to come?’
Amy and Bonnie, neither of whom cared for exercise and fresh air, both shook their heads, but several of the others agreed eagerly to the suggestion.
‘Lucy and I will join you,’ said Julie. ‘But, of course, we will be on horseback.’
‘What about you, Olive?’ asked June, in a deceptively sweet tone. ‘Would you like to come with us? Oh no, half a minute! I completely forgot—you have to do extra prep for Miss Tallant, don’t you?’
Everyone laughed, and Olive scowled, before stalking angrily to the door and flouncing out. As the door slammed behind her, Felicity said, ‘Miss Tallant will keep her nose to the grindstone, all right, while we are all out enjoying the fresh air.’
‘It seems a jolly odd punishment to me, though,’ said Bonnie, who had been looking thoughtful. ‘I know that Miss Tallant is not on duty this weekend, for she told me so herself. Yet she has chosen to give up part of her Saturday too, so that she can sit in the classroom with Olive.’
This seemed very strange indeed, for the girls knew how hard the mistresses worked, and how they treasured their free time.
‘I never thought of that!’ exclaimed Lucy. ‘Fancy wanting to give up part of a weekend off to spend time with a sourpuss like Olive.’
‘Perhaps Miss Tallant has nothing better to do,’ said June. ‘The mistresses sometimes go home to visit their family or friends when they have a weekend off. Miss Tallant might not have a family. And I’m quite sure that she can’t have any friends. I don’t think she’s awfully popular with the mistresses here either.’
‘She’s not,’ piped up Bonnie. ‘I stayed behind to help her tidy the classroom the other day, and she told me that Mam’zelle Dupont dislikes her. So does Miss Potts.’
‘She really shouldn’t say such things to you, Bonnie,’ said Susan disapprovingly. ‘I’m quite sure that none of the other mistresses would!’
‘I think it’s a jolly good thing that she did,’ said June warmly. ‘After all, the whole point of Bonnie sucking up to Miss Tallant was so that she could get to know things about her. Well done, Bonnie!’
Of course, this was the first that Sylvia had heard about Bonnie’s plan to become Miss Tallant’s favourite, and she looked extremely startled.
Seeing her expression, Freddie said, ‘I suppose you don’t approve, Sylvia?’
‘You’re wrong,’ said Sylvia, to everyone’s surprise. ‘I don’t like Miss Tallant. She’s sly, and if Bonnie can find out what she’s up to that will be a very good thing.’
Bonnie smiled, and said, ‘Actually, it’s rather lucky for us that she doesn’t seem to have any friends, for that means that I am the only person she has to talk to.’
‘I don’t think it’s lucky at all,’ said Nora, dismayed. ‘If Miss Tallant is going to start dishing out Saturday morning preps as punishment simply because she has nothing better to occupy her time, we shall all have to watch our step!’
‘Golly, yes,’ said Julie, horrified. ‘I always spend Saturdays with Jack, and Lucy with Sandy. And I’m not very good at English or Drama, so I’m certain to get a row from Miss Tallant sooner or later.’
‘Well, perhaps we had better give our dear Miss Tallant something to do,’ said June thoughtfully.
‘Do you have anything in mind?’ asked Felicity.
‘Not yet,’ said June. ‘But I’ll think of something, you may be sure. Now, let’s go and get our hats and coats on and enjoy the sunshine.’
7
Miss Tallant interferes
The fourth formers enjoyed their lunch, for their walk in the fresh air had made them very hungry indeed. Only Olive seemed to have no appetite, pushing the food around her plate with a fork, but eating very little. She looked even more miserable than usual, thought Felicity. Miss Tallant had probably given her a really bad time. Despite her dislike of Olive, Felicity couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her, and said kindly, ‘You must feel glad that your punishment is over, Olive. Did Miss Tallant give you a lot of extra work to do?’
‘Quite a lot,’ answered Olive, who was surprised to discover that she felt a little cheered by Felicity’s interest. Then Bonnie, who was sitting nearby, said, ‘Well, I walked by the classroom earlier, and you certainly didn’t seem to be working very hard then. You were standing by Miss Tallant’s desk, and the two of you were talking about something.’
‘She was explaining the work to me,’ snapped Olive, giving Bonnie a look of dislike. ‘And how dare you spy on me?’
‘I wasn’t spying,’ said Bonnie, with a disdainful little laugh. ‘I just happened to be passing. As if I would want to spy on you.’
Olive flushed angrily, and lapsed into her usual morose silence. When the meal was over and the girls left the dining-room, Olive turned to go towards the common-room. Susan called her name, and said, ‘Where do you think you’re going? Have you forgotten that we are holding auditions for our play in the hall?’
Olive hadn’t forgotten, for the girls had talked of little else for days. But she had been hoping to slip away unnoticed, and avoid having anything to do with the stupid play.
‘Do I have to come?’ she asked Susan now, her mouth set in a discontented droop.
‘Yes, you jolly well do,’ answered Susan sternly. ‘Just for once, Olive, show a bit of team spirit, and do something to help the form.’
So, reluctantly, Olive followed the others over to the big hall. There was a stage at one end of the room, with several rows of chairs set out in front of it. Felicity, Susan and Sylvia, as producers, took three chairs in the front row, while the rest of the fourth form filed into the seats behind. There was a great deal of scraping of chairs and shuffling of feet, but once the noise died down, Susan stood up and addressed everyone. ‘Well, girls, you all know why we are here,’ she said in her clear voice. ‘So let’s begin casting the parts, and not waste any time. Of course, the two most important roles in the play are those of the fairy doll, and Amelia, the little girl who finds her. Now, who is interested in auditioning for the part of the fairy?’
Three girls put their hands up at once. One was Jenny, a tall, dark, West Tower girl, who had a beautiful singing voice. The second was Nora. And the third, of course, was Bonnie.
‘Very well, we shall try all three of you out in the part,’ said Susan. ‘As you know, whoever plays the fairy has to sing and dance, as well as act, so we really need someone who is a good all-rounder. Jenny, if you would like to take the stage first, please, we can—’
Just then the big door at the back of the hall opened, and Susan stared in surprise as Miss Tallant entered. The rest of the girls turned to see who had come in, getting politely to their feet when they realised that it was one of the mistresses. But whatever was she doing here?
They soon found out! Miss Tallant strode briskly to the front of the hall and said, ‘Sit down, please, Susan.’
Astonished, and none too pleased, Susan did as she was told, and Miss Tallant faced the fourth formers.
‘I understand that you have decided to perform a play called The Christmas Tree Fairy,’ she said. ‘Quite a good little play, though rather short.’
The fourth formers looked at one another in consternation. Thi
s was their play. What business of Miss Tallant’s was it? Susan spoke up. ‘We are going to make it longer by adding a few touches of our own, Miss Tallant.’
‘I see,’ said the mistress. ‘What do you have in mind?’
‘Well, we are going to add a song and dance, and June and Freddie are going to write a few jokes,’ explained Susan.
Miss Tallant gave a cold little smile and said, ‘Indeed? Well, I shall have to approve them first. Now, I suggest that we begin casting the parts.’
The girls began to mutter among themselves, quite horrified now. Miss Tallant was trying to take over their play!
Susan, however, had other ideas. As head of the form, it was up to her to take the lead and she stood up and faced the mistress. This was really very brave of Susan, for she knew that Miss Tallant could be spiteful and vindictive, and her knees shook a little. But her voice was steady as she said firmly, ‘Excuse me, Miss Tallant. I don’t mean to be rude, but Felicity, Sylvia and I are going to produce the play, and the three of us would like to decide who to cast in the different parts.’
Miss Tallant stared at Susan as if she was something extremely nasty, and said coldly, ‘And just what do you girls know about producing a play?’
June, whose temper had been rising as she listened to the mistress, got to her feet and said, ‘Nothing at all, Miss Tallant. And we won’t have the chance to learn anything if we aren’t left alone to make our own mistakes.’
Miss Tallant turned quite white with anger and hissed, ‘How dare you cheek me like that, June? I should watch your step, if I were you, or I might feel compelled to enquire a little more closely into that affair of the mouse in Olive’s desk.’
June blinked, quite lost for words, for once. How on earth had Miss Tallant come to suspect that she, June, was behind that? Suddenly, yet another interruption occurred.
Miss Williams, the fourth-form mistress, had seen Miss Tallant go into the hall, and had frowned to herself. She knew very well that her form was holding a meeting about the play, and wondered what Miss Tallant was doing there. Only that morning, Miss Williams had spoken to Susan about the play, and the girl had said politely, but very decidedly, that the fourth formers wanted to do everything themselves, without asking for any assistance from Miss Tallant. Miss Williams had been pleased to hear this, for it would be a very good thing for the girls to take responsibility for their play, and learn how to organise themselves. Moreover, the fourth-form mistress did not like Miss Tallant, and she felt that the new mistress might well be more of a hindrance than a help to the girls. Miss Williams went across to the door of the big hall and pushed it open a crack, so she heard what Miss Tallant said to Susan. She had been about to intervene herself when she heard the way that Susan coolly stood up to the mistress, and she smiled to herself. Then June spoke, and Miss Williams, opening the door a little wider, saw the angry, spiteful look on Miss Tallant’s face. The trouble with June was that she was likely to get carried away, and perhaps go too far in her rebellion against Miss Tallant. And then the girl would only end up getting herself into trouble.