In the Fifth at Malory Towers (17 page)

June’s knees were shaking. Miss Potts saw them but she took no notice. If ever anyone wanted a good shaking up it was June.

“This matter must go to Miss Grayling,” she said. “Come with me now. You may be interested to know that it was because Mam’zelle found this note — to Felicity — that I discovered who was the writer of the other letters.”

June took a quick glance at the note to Felicity. “I didn’t give it to her,” she said. “I meant to — and then I didn’t. I must have left it somewhere in a book.”

“Our sins always find us out,” said Miss Potts, solemnly. “Always. Now, come with me.”

“Miss Potts — shall I be — be — expelled?” asked June — a June no longer bold and brazen, but a June as deflated as when her balloons had been suddenly pricked that day in class.

“That rests with Miss Grayling,” said Miss Potts, and she got up. “Come with me.”

The news went round the fifth form rapidly. “The letters were written by June — the little beast!”

“She’s gone to see Miss Grayling. I bet she’ll be expelled. She’s no good, anyway.”

Alicia listened in horror. Her own cousin! She disliked June as much as anybody else — but this was her own cousin in terrible trouble and disgrace. She was very distressed.

“It’s a disgrace for our whole family,” she thought. “And what
will
June’s people say? They’ll never get over it if she’s expelled. They’ll think I ought to have kept an eye on June more — and perhaps I should. But she really is such a little beast!”

Felicity came tearing up to the fifth-form common-room that evening. She was in tears. “Darrell!” she said, hardly waiting to knock. “Oh, Darrell — June’s going to be expelled. She is really. Miss Grayling told her so. Oh,
Darrell
— I don’t like her — but I can’t bear her to be expelled. Surely she’s not as bad as all that.”

Everyone in the fifth-form common-room sat up with a jerk at this news. Expelled! It was ages since anyone had been sent in disgrace from Malory Towers. And a first-former, too. Alicia sat silent, biting her lips. Her own cousin. How terrible.

Poor Felicity began to sob. “June’s got to go tomorrow. Miss Grayling is telephoning her people tonight. She’s packing now, this minute. She’s terribly, terribly upset. She keeps saying she’s not a coward, and she didn’t
know
it was so awful, she keeps on and on... Darrell, can’t you do something? Suppose it was
me
, Darrell? Wouldn’t you do something?”

The fifth form were aghast at all this. They pictured June packing, bewildered and frightened. Miss Grayling must have had very bad reports of her to make her go to this length. She must have thought there was no good in June at all not to give her one more chance.

“Darrell! Sally! Alicia! Can’t you go and ask Miss Grayling to give her a chance?” cried Felicity, a big tear running down her nose and falling on to the carpet. “I tell you, she’s
awfully
upset.”

Moira had been listening with the others. So it was June! She looked round at Gwen, Maureen and Catherine, three of the girls she had suspected. It was a load off her heart that it wasn’t any of them. It was an even greater relief that it wasn’t Bridget, her sister.

But suppose it had been? It would have been Bridget who was packing then — Bridget who would have been so “awfully upset”. It would have been her own parents who would be so sad and miserable because a child of theirs had been expelled.

Moira got up. “
I’ll
go and see Miss Grayling,” she said. “I won’t let her expel June. I’ll ask her to give her another chance. After all — I’ve been pretty awful myself this term — and it’s not to be wondered at if a mere first-former hated me — and descended to writing those letters. There was quite a lot of truth in them! June deserves to be punished — but not so badly as that.”

She went out of the room, leaving behind a deep silence. Felicity ran with her, and actually took her hand! Moira squeezed it. “Oh, Moira — people say you’re hard and unkind — but you’re not, you’re not!” said little Felicity. “You’re kind and generous and good, and I shall tell every single person in the first form so!”

Nobody ever knew what happened between Miss Grayling, Moira and June, for not one of the three ever said. But the result was that June was sent to unpack her things again, very subdued and thankful, and that Moira came back to find a common-room full of admiration and goodwill towards her.

“It’s all right,” said Moira, smiling round a little nervously. “June’s let off. She’s unpacking again. She won’t forget this lesson in a hurry.”

Alicia spoke in a rather shaky voice. “Thanks most awfully, Moira. You’ve been most frightfully decent over this. I can’t ever repay you — it means an awful lot to me to know that my cousin won’t be expelled. I — er — I — want to apologize for resigning from the pantomime. If — if you’ll let me withdraw my resignation, I’d like to.”

This was a very difficult thing for Alicia to do — Alicia who had said that nothing in the world would make her withdraw her resignation or apologize! Well, something
had
made her — and she was decent enough and brave enough not to shirk the awkwardness and difficulty but to say it all straight out in public.

Everyone went suddenly mad. Darrell gave a squeal of delight and rushed to Alicia. Sally thumped her on the back. Mavis sang loudly. Irene went to the piano and played a triumphant march from the pantomime. Bill and Clarissa galloped round the room as if they were on horseback, and little Mary-Lou thumped on the top of the table. Moira laughed suddenly.

What had happened to all the spite and malice and beastliness? What had happened to the squabbles and quarrels and worries? They were gone in an instant, blown to smithereens by Moira’s instinctive, generous-hearted action in going to save June.

“Everything’s right again,” sang Mavis, and Mary-Lou thumped the table in time. “Everything’s right, everything’s right — HURRAY!”

CERTAINLY everything was much better now. Alicia went to see June and addressed a good many sound and sensible words to that much chastened and subdued first-former. It would be a long time before June forgot them, if she ever did. She didn’t think she ever would.

Moira was basking in a new-found admiration and liking, that made her much more amenable to the others” suggestions, and rehearsals became a pleasure. Even the sulky Bridget came smiling into the fifth-form common-room to say she was glad Moira had saved June. “It makes me feel you might do the same for
me
, Moira!” she said.

“Well — I would,” said Moira, shortly, and Bridget went out, pleased.

Mam’zelle had been very shocked and upset about everything. “But it is terrible! How could June do such a thing? And Moira —
Moira
, that hard Moira to go and save her like that! Miss Potts, never would I have thought that girl had a generous action in her! Miss Potts — it shocks me that I know so little of my girls!”

“Oh, you’ll get over the shock,” said Miss Potts, cheerfully. “And you’ll have plenty more. Well, well — the girls have cheered up a lot — the fifth-formers I mean. They really were a worried, miserable, quarrelsome crew last week! I was seriously thinking of playing a trick on them to cheer them up!”

Mam’zelle looked at Miss Potts. In her desk were the trick teeth which had arrived that morning. Miss Potts must not play a trick — if a trick was to be played, she, Mam’zelle would play it. Ah yes — to cheer up the poor girls! That would be a kind act to do.

There was a house-match that afternoon — North Tower girls against West Tower. Mam’zelle decided she would appear as a spectator at the match — with her teeth!

Ah, those teeth! Mam’zelle had tried them on. They might have been made for her! They fitted over her own teeth, but were longer, and projected slightly forward. They were not noticeable at all, of course, when she had her mouth shut — but when she smiled — ah, how sinister she looked, how strange, how fierce!

Mam’zelle had shocked even herself when she had put in the extraordinary teeth and smiled at herself in the glass. “Tiens!” she said, and clutched her dressing-table. “I am a monster! I am truly terrible with these teeth...”

That afternoon she put them in carefully over her others and went downstairs to the playing-fields, wrapping herself up warmly in coat, scarf and turban. Darrell saw her first, and made room for her on the form she was on.

“Thank you,” said Mam’zelle, and smiled at Darrell. Darrell got a tremendous shock. Mam’zelle had suddenly looked altogether different — quite terrifying. Darrell stared at her — but Mam’zelle had quickly shut her mouth.

The next one to get the Smile was little Felicity who came up with Susan. Mam’zelle smiled at her.

“Oh!” said Felicity in sudden horror, and Susan stared. Mam’zelle shut her mouth. A desire to laugh was gradually working up inside her. No, no — she must not laugh. Laughing spoilt tricks.

She did not smile for some time, trying to conquer her urge to laugh. Miss Linnie, the sewing-mistress, passed by and nodded at Mam’zelle. Mam’zelle could not resist showing her the teeth. She smiled.

Miss Linnie looked amazed and horrified. She walked on quickly. “Was that
really
Mam’zelle?” she wondered. “No, it must have been someone else. What awful teeth!”

Mam’zelle felt that she must get up and walk about. It was too cold to sit — and besides she so badly wanted to laugh again. Ah, now she understood why the girls laughed so much and so helplessly when they played their mischievous tricks on her.

She walked along the field, and met Bill and Clarissa. They smiled at her and she smiled back. Bill stood still, thunderstruck. Clarissa hadn’t really noticed.

“Clarissa!” said Bill, when Mam’zelle had gone. “What’s the matter with Mam’zelle this afternoon? She looks
horrible
”

“Horrible? How?” asked Clarissa in great surprise.

“Well, her
teeth
! Didn’t you see her teeth?” asked Bill. “They seem to have changed or something. Simply awful teeth she had — long and sticking-out.”

Clarissa was astonished. “Let’s walk back and smile at her again,” she said. So back they went. But Mam’zelle saw their inquisitive looks, and was struggling against a fit of laughter. She would not open her mouth to smile.

Matron came up. “Oh, Mam’zelle — do you know where Gwen is? She’s darned her navy gym pants with grey wool again. I want her indoors this afternoon!”

Mam’zelle could not resist smiling at Matron. Matron stared as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. Mam’zelle shut her mouth. Matron backed away a little, looking rather alarmed.

“Gwen’s over there,” said Mam’zelle, her extra teeth making her words sound rather thick. Matron looked even more alarmed at the thick voice and disappeared in a hurry. Mam’zelle saw her address a few words to Miss Potts. Miss Potts looked round for Mam’zelle.

“Aha!” thought Mam’zelle, “Matron has told her I look terrible! Soon Miss Potts will come to look at my Smile. I shall laugh. I know I shall. I shall laugh without stopping soon.”

Miss Potts came up, eyeing Mam’zelle carefully. She got a quick glimpse of the famous teeth. Then Mam’zelle clamped her mouth shut. She would explode if she didn’t keep her mouth shut! She pulled her scarf across her face, trying to hide her desire to laugh.

“Do you feel the cold today, Mam’zelle?” asked Miss Potts anxiously. “You — er — you haven’t got toothache, have you?”

A peculiar wild sound came from Mam’zelle. It startled Miss Potts considerably. But actually it was only Mam’zelle trying to stifle a squeal of laughter. She rushed away hurriedly. Miss Potts stared after her uncomfortably. What was up with Mam’zelle?

Mam’zelle strolled down the field by herself, trying to recover. She gave a few loud gulps that made two second-formers wonder if she was going to be ill.

Poor Mam’zelle felt she couldn’t flash her teeth at anyone for a long time, for if she did she would explode like Irene. She decided to go in. She turned her steps towards the school — and then, to her utter horror, she saw Miss Grayling, the head mistress, bearing down on her with two parents! Mam’zelle gave an anguished look and hurried on as fast as she could.

“Oh — there’s Mam’zelle,” said Miss Grayling’s pleasant voice. “Mam’zelle, will you meet Mrs. Jennings and Mrs. Petton?”

Mam’zelle was forced to go to them. She lost all desire for laughter at once. The trick teeth suddenly stopped being funny, and became monstrosities to be got rid of at once. But how? She couldn’t spit them into her handkerchief with people just about to shake hands with her.

Mrs. Jennings held out her hand. “I’ve heard so much about you, Mam’zelle Dupont,” she said, “and what tricks the naughty girls play on you, too!”

Mam’zelle tried to smile without opening her mouth at all, and the effect was rather peculiar — a sort of suppressed snarl. Mrs. Jennings looked surprised. Mam’zelle tried to make up for her lack of smile by shaking Mrs. Jennings” hand very vigorously indeed.

She did the same with Mrs. Petton, who turned out to be a talkative mother who wanted to know
exactly
how her daughter Teresa was getting on in French. She smiled gaily at Mam’zelle while she talked, and Mam’zelle found it agony not to smile back. She had to produce the suppressed snarl again, smiling with her mouth shut and her lips firmly over her teeth.

Miss Grayling was startled by this peculiar smile. She examined Mam’zelle closely. Mam’zelle’s voice was not quite as usual either — it sounded thick. “As if her mouth is too full of teeth,” thought Miss Grayling, little knowing that she had hit on the exact truth.

At last the mothers went. Mam’zelle shook hands with them most vigorously once more, and was so relieved at parting from them that she forgot herself and gave them a broad smile.

They got a full view of the terrible teeth, Miss Grayling, too. The head stared in the utmost horror — what had happened to Mam’zelle’s teeth? Had she had her old ones out — were these a new, false set? But how TERRIBLE they were! They made her look like the wolf in the tale of Red Riding Hood.