First Term at Malory Towers (6 page)

“HAVE YOU A COLD?” roared the class, coming in like a well-trained chorus.

“Oh,
COLD
! Why don't you speak clearly, then I should hear you,” said Alicia. “Yes—I've had a cold, of course.”

“Ah—then it has affected your poor ears,” said Mam'zelle.

“How long ago was this cold Alicia?”

Darrell repeated this question at the top of her voice, followed by Betty.

“Oh—when did I have it? About two years ago,” said Alicia. Irene buried her nose in her hanky again. Mam'zelle looked a little blank.

“It is of no use the poor child trying to follow the French lesson,” said Mam'zelle. “Alicia, sit by the window in the sun and read your French book to yourself. You cannot hear a word we say.”

Alicia looked enquiringly at Darrell, as if she hadn't heard. Darrell obligingly repeated it all at the top of her voice. Betty unfortunately was too overcome by a desire to laugh to be able to repeat it too. But the rest of the class obliged with a will.

“YOU CANNOT HEAR A WORD WE SAY!” they chorused.

The door opened suddenly and a most irate Miss Potts looked in. She had been taking Form 2 next door, and could not imagine what the shouting was in Form I.

“Mam'zelle, excuse my interrupting you, but is it necessary for the girls to repeat their French lesson so very loudly?” she asked.

“Ah, Miss Potts, I am so sorry. But it is not for me the girls repeat words so loudly, it is for the poor Alicia,” explained Mam'zelle.

Miss Potts looked most surprised. She looked at Alicia. Alicia felt uncomfortable. She also looked as innocent as she could. But Miss Potts was always on the alert when Betty or Alicia looked innocent.

“What do you mean Mam'zelle?” she snapped. “Has Alicia suddenly gone deaf?” She was all right this morning.”

“She is quite, quite deaf now.” Mam'zelle assured her. Miss Potts looked sharply at Alicia.

“Come to me at Break, Alicia.” she said. “I would like a few words with you.”

Nobody dared repeat these words to Alicia, but Mam'zelle herself obliged. She shouted across to Alicia.

“Miss Potts says, will you...”

“Don't bother to repeat what I said, Mam'zelle,” said Miss Potts. “Alicia will come all right. I shall expect you at eleven, Alicia. And please stand up when I speak to you.”

Alicia stood up, her face a flaming red. Miss Potts went out of the room, and she did not shut the door very quietly. Mam'zelle disliked people who banged doors.

“Ah, this door, it goes through my poor head!” she said. “Miss Potts, she is very good and clever, but she does not have the head-ache, as I do...”

“Nor the earache,” put in Darrell, but no one raised a giggle. Miss Potts's entry and fierceness had damped the cheerfulness of the class considerably.

Alicia said no more about her earache. She took a book and sat down by the window in the sunshine, feeling sure that Miss Potts would not appear again. She thought she might as well get something out of her performance! Mam'zelle took no further notice of her, and devoted herself to a whole-hearted search for someone in Form l who could and would conjugate a whole French verb properly. Not finding anyone really good, she lost the good temper she had entered with that morning, and gave the class a bad time.

She stalked out when the bell for Break went. The girls crowded round Alicia. “Oh, Alicia! I nearly died when you said “beer”.”—”Wasn't it a shame Potty coming in like that?”—”Will you get into a fearful row, Alicia?”

“Darrell nearly yelled the roof off,” said Irene. “I almost burst with trying not to laugh.”

T must go and hear what Potty has to say,” said Alicia. “Pity I forgot she was taking Form 2 next door! So long, mils!”

ALICIA got a good scolding, and extra prep. She came out from Miss Potts's room, and ran straight into Mam'zelle. “Have you been to see Miss Potts, Alicia?” asked Mam'zelle, thinking that perhaps Alicia hadn't heard what Miss Potts had said.

“Oh, yes, thank you. Mam'zelle,” said Alicia, and walked off. Mam'zelle stared after her. How queer! Alicia had heard perfectly what she had said. Could ears get better so quickly then? Mam'zelle stood still and frowned. Miss Potts came out of her room and saw her.

“If Alicia shows any further signs of deafness, send her to me,” said Miss Potts, coldly. “I can always cure it at once.”

She walked off. Mam'zelle began to breathe quickly. “The bad girl, Alicia—She has pulled my foot,” said Mam'zelle, who sometimes got a little mixed! “She has hood-winked me! Never again will I believe her, the bad girl.”

Darrell had thoroughly enjoyed the absurd affair. How cleverly Alicia had pulled it off! She looked at her admiringly, and Alicia liked the admiration. It always egged her on to further misbehaviour. Mary-Lou stared at her too, as if she was somebody most remarkable. Alicia went up and took Darrell's arm.

“We'll think of something else soon,” she said, “You and I and Betty. We'll be the Bold Bad Three, or something like that!”

“Oh,
yes!
” said Darrell, thrilled at the idea of being one of a gang with Betty and Alicia. “Do let's! Maybe I could think of something, too.”

If was decided, however, that it would be best not to try anything further until a little time had gone by. Perhaps something could be tried on Miss Linnie next.

Gwendoline was jealous of the way Alicia and Betty, recognized leaders in the first form, had made friends with Darrell. After all, Darrell was as new as she herself was. And she, Gwendoline, was much prettier, and had, she was sure, much more charm of manner.

She took Sally Hope into her confidence. “I don't like the way Darrell Rivers pushes herself forward all the time, do you?” she said to Sally. “Thinking she's so marvellous! Chumming up with Alicia and Betty. Not that I would if they asked me.”

Sally didn't look very interested, but Gwendoline didn't mind. She went on grumbling about Darrell. “She thinks she's got such good brains, she thinks she plays such a marvellous game of tennis, she thinks she's so good at swimming! I've a good mind to show her that I'm
twice
as good as she is!”

“Well, why don't you?” said Sally, bored. “Instead of showing everyone you're twice as bad!”

Gwendoline was annoyed. To think that the quiet little Sally Hope should say such a thing to her! She looked at Sally as if she would like to wither her up.

“All right,” said Gwendoline grandly. “I
will
just show you, Sally. I haven't really tried before, because it didn't seem worth it. I didn't want to come to Malory Towers, and Mother didn't want me to either. It was Daddy that made me come. I did marvellously with my governess. Miss Winter, and I could do marvellously now, if only I thought it was worth while!”

Alicia came up and heard this curious speech. She laughed loudly.

“You can't play tennis, you can't swim, you squeal when your toe touches the cold water, you don't even know all your twelve times table, baby! And then you talk of it not being worthwhile to show what you can do! You can't do a thing and never will, whilst you have such a wonderful opinion of yourself!”

Sally laughed too, and that made Gwendoline angry. How she would like to slap them both! But Miss Winter had always said that a little lady kept her hands to herself. Anyway, it would be decidedly dangerous to slap Alicia.

Gwendoline walked off, her nose in the air. “Dear Gwendoline Mary,” remarked Alicia, in a loud voice. “Mummy's pet, Daddy's darling, Miss Winter's prize pupil. And can't do fractions properly yet!”

That evening the girls were in the swimming pool, having a lovely time. Alicia swam under water the whole width of the pool, and then back again. Everyone applauded her.

“How can you hold your breath all that time?” cried Darrell. “I wish I could! Do it again, Alicia, when you've got your breath.”

“The water's got properly into my ears this time!” said Alicia, shaking her head violently. “They feel all bunged up. I'll wait till they're clear. I'll do a spot of diving.”

She was just as good a diver as a swimmer. Gwendoline, paddling about in the shallow end, envied her. She was certain she could swim and dive better than Alicia-—if only she could get over the unpleasant beginnings. She did hate the first cold plunge. She couldn't bear going under the water. She spluttered and gasped if she got water up her nose, and felt as if she w as drowning.

There was only one person worse than she was, and that was poor Mary-Lou. No one teased Mary-Lou too much. It was too like teasing a small, bewildered kitten. Gwendoline saw her floundering about near her, and because she knew Mary-Lou was even more afraid of the pool than she was, she felt a sense of power.

She waded over to Mary-Lou, jumped on her suddenly and got her under the water. Mary-Lou had no time to scream. She opened her mouth and the water poured in. She began to struggle desperately. Gwendoline, feeling the struggles, spitefully held her under longer than she had intended to. She only let her go w hen she felt a sharp slap on her bare shoulder.

She turned. It was Darrell, trembling with rage, looking as if she was shivering so great was her anger. “You beast!” shouted Darrell. I saw you duck poor Mary-Lou—and you know how scared she is. You nearly drowned her!”

She pulled Mary-Lou to the surface, and held her there, gasping and choking, blue in the face, almost sick with the amount of salt water she had swallowed.

Girls began to swim across to the scene of excitement. Darrell, her voice shaking with rage, addressed Gwendoline again. “You just wait a minute! I'll duck
you
under, Gwendoline, and see how
you
like it!”

Mary-Lou was clinging with all her might to Darrell. Gwendoline, rather scared by the anger in Darrell's voice, thought it would be just as well if she got out of the pool before Darrell or somebody else carried out the threat. She began to wade towards the steps that led down into the pool.

Just as she was climbing up them, Darrell, who had given the weeping Mary-Lou to Alicia, caught her up.

“I'm not going to duck you, you little coward!” she cried. “But I am going to show you what happens to people like you!”

There came the sound of four stinging slaps and (Gwendoline squealed with pain. Darrell's hand was strong and hard, and she had slapped with all her might, anywhere she could reach as Gwendoline hastily tried to drag herself out of the water. The slaps sounded like pistol-shots.

“Hey, Darrell!” came the voice of the head-girl of her dormy, Katherine. “Stop that! What are you thinking of? Leave Gwendoline alone!”

Still blazing, Darrell rounded on Katherine. “Some-body's got to teach that cowardly Gwendoline, haven't they?”

“Yes. But not
you
,” said Katherine, coolly. “You put yourself in the wrong, slapping about like that. I'm ashamed of you!”

“And
I'm
ashamed of
you
!” burst out Darrell, much to everyone's amazement. “If
I
were head-girl of the first form I'd jolly well see that girls like Gwendoline learnt to swim and dive and everything, and left people like Mary-Lou alone. See?”

No one had seen Darrell in a temper before. They stared. “Get out of the pool,” ordered Katherine. “Go on, get out. It's a good thing no mistress saw you doing that.”

Darrell got out, still trembling. She went to where she had flung down her towel-cloak and put it round her. She climbed up the cliff slowly, her heart pounding.

Hateful Gwendoline! Horrid Katherine! Beastly Malory Towers!

But before she reached the top of the cliff and came to the little gate that led into the grounds of Malory Towers, Darrell's anger had all gone. She was dismayed. How
could
she have acted like that? And she had absolutely
meant
always to keep her temper now, and never let that white-hot flame of rage flare up as it used to do when she was smaller.

Very much subdued, Darrell went back to the school, dried herself and changed. She had been publicly scolded by Katherine. Nobody had backed her up at all, not even Alicia. She had shouted at the head-girl of her form. She had behaved just as badly to Gwendoline as Gwendoline had behaved to Mary-Lou—except that it must have been sheer cruelty that made Gwendoline almost drown Mary-Lou, and it was anger, not cruelty, that made her slap Gwendoline so hard. Still—anger was cruel, so maybe she
was
just as bad as Gwendoline.

She felt sorry she had slapped Gwendoline now. That was the worst of having such a hot temper. You did things all in a hurry, without thinking, and then, when your temper had gone, you were terribly ashamed, and couldn't manage to feel better until you had gone to say were sorry to the person you had hurt, and whom you still disliked heartily.

Darrell heard somebody sniffling in the changing-room. She looked to see who it was. It was Gwendoline, dole-fully examining the brilliant red streaks down her thighs. That was where Darrell had slapped her. Gwendoline sniffed loudly.

“I shall write and tell Mother,” she thought. If only she could see those red streaks—why, you can see all Darrell's fingers in this one!”

Darrell came up behind her and made her jump. “Gwendoline! I'm sorry I did that. I really am. I was just so awfully angry I couldn't stop myself.”

Gwendoline was neither generous nor gracious enough to accept such a natural apology. She drew herself up and looked at Darrell as if she smelt nasty.

“I should hope you are sorry!” she said contemptuously. “ I shall write and tell my mother. If she thought girls at Malory Towers would behave like you do, she'd never have sent me here!”

The girls left in the pool discussed the sudden happenings with interest and much surprise.

“Who would have thought quiet old Darrell would have lashed out like that!”

“She can't be allowed to cheek Katherine. That was jolly rude of her.”

“Katherine, are you going to do anything about it?”

Katherine was now out of the pool, her usually calm face red and disturbed. She had liked Darrell so much—and now in one minute she had quite a different idea of her! Alicia was puzzled too. She shook her head from side to side, trying to get the water out of her ears. Who would have thought Darrell had such a temper?