Winter Term at Malory Towers (16 page)

‘Yes, I had already thought of that,' said Susan, looking rather gloomy. Bother, now there would be yet another row, and another girl sent to Coventry. She had just been getting to like Sylvia, too.

‘Well, Matron said that she will probably be back in class tomorrow, so we will deal with her then. And June…'

June held her hands up, and said at once, ‘I know, Susan! I shall leave it all to you.'

Olive did not turn up for rehearsal that afternoon, and the girls didn't see hide nor hair of her. When she failed to turn up for tea, Susan grew rather alarmed.

‘I say!' she said to Felicity. ‘You don't think that Olive's done anything silly, do you?'

‘Whatever do you mean?' asked Felicity, startled.

‘Well, it just occurred to me that she might have run away or something,' said Susan.

‘Surely she wouldn't do such a thing?' said Felicity, shocked. ‘Besides, where would she go? We know that she is not happy at home, so it's very unlikely that she would have gone there.'

‘That makes it all the more worrying,' said Susan, with a frown. ‘If she had gone home, at least we would know that she is safe.'

Pam, who had overheard this, said, ‘Steady on, Susan! We don't
know
that Olive has run away. Why, for all we know she may have come back and be up in the dormitory now.'

So, after tea, Felicity and Susan, along with Pam and Nora, went up to the dormitory once more. But there was no sign of Olive.

Looking very worried indeed, Susan marched across to Olive's locker and pulled it open.

Some of her personal belongings were gone, and when Felicity took a look inside the girl's wardrobe she could see that some of her clothes were missing too.

‘Oh, my word!' gasped Nora. ‘It didn't seriously enter my head that she really
had
gone. Now what do we do?'

‘We must report it to Miss Williams,' said Susan gravely. ‘At once, for there is no time to lose!'

But Miss Williams was out, so the girls went to find Miss Potts, the head of North Tower.

She listened to their story with a very serious expression indeed, then said, ‘I must inform Miss Grayling immediately. You girls had better come too, in case she needs to question you.'

So, all feeling rather nervous, the four girls followed Miss Potts to Miss Grayling's study.

The Head called to them to come in, in answer to the mistress's sharp knock, and saw at once that something was wrong.

Quickly, Miss Potts told Miss Grayling what had happened and the Head listened, her expression grave. Then she said, ‘Do you girls have any idea at all where Olive may have gone?'

‘None at all, Miss Grayling,' answered Susan. ‘I only wish that we did.'

‘Then do you know of any reason why she might have run away?' asked Miss Grayling.

The four girls looked at one another, and Miss Grayling
said, ‘If you know something, it is important that you tell me, for it might help us in finding Olive.'

So Susan told the story of how the fourth formers had discovered that Miss Tallant had a niece at Malory Towers, and of how she had been sneaking to her aunt.

‘We all thought it was Olive,' said Susan, rather miserably. ‘And one of the girls accused her to her face. But now we know that we were wrong, and that Sylvia is Miss Tallant's niece.'

‘Yes, she is,' said the Head. ‘I was aware of it from the first, but at the request of both Sylvia and Miss Tallant, I kept it to myself. Both of them felt that they would be able to settle in better if no one was aware of their relationship. But we shall come back to that in a minute, for I must telephone the police at once, so that they can search for Olive.'

Miss Grayling dialled the police station and held a hurried conversation with the person at the other end of the telephone, before replacing the receiver and turning back to Miss Potts.

‘Could you organise a search party of any available staff to search the grounds, please, Miss Potts?' she asked. ‘The police will be here shortly, but I really don't feel that we should waste any time.'

Miss Potts nodded and left the Head's study, and Miss Grayling looked at the girls in front of her.

‘Now that I know the search for Olive is in hand, let us go back to the question of Miss Tallant,' she said. ‘Am I to understand that Miss Tallant has been using her position
of authority to find out what you fourth formers have been up to?'

The girls looked at one another a little uncomfortably. For some of the things they had been up to were things that they did not want Miss Grayling to know about. The midnight feast, for example, and some of the tricks that June had played.

Miss Grayling saw the doubt in their faces, and smiled to herself, for she had been Head mistress at Malory Towers for many years, and guessed a little of what was going through their minds.

‘I am not asking you to reveal any of your secrets to me,' she said. ‘I merely want to know how Miss Tallant has been conducting herself, so that I can deal with her accordingly.'

Felicity spoke up, saying, ‘Miss Grayling, it is true that Miss Tallant has found out things about the fourth form that she could not possibly have known unless she had someone spying on us. And some of us have been punished because of the things that she has found out.'

‘I see,' said the Head, her face very serious. ‘And yet, I find it very hard to believe that Sylvia is a sneak, for she has always struck me as a rather honest, forthright girl.'

‘Yes, that is what we thought, too,' said Susan. ‘We were most awfully disappointed in her when we discovered the truth.'

‘But can you be sure that you know the whole story?' asked Miss Grayling. ‘Just because Sylvia is Miss Tallant's niece, it does not necessarily follow that she is the one
who has been giving away your secrets. In fact, the impression I received was that Sylvia and her aunt were not close at all.'

The girls looked at one another in surprise. They had been so certain that Miss Tallant's niece and the sneak were one and the same!

‘Miss Grayling,' said Pam. ‘Do you think it is possible that Olive
could
have been the sneak, after all? She looked awfully guilty when she was tackled, and didn't attempt to deny it.'

‘It is possible,' said the Head. ‘But I think the first thing to do is speak to Sylvia, so that you can be certain it is not her.'

‘Will you go to her now, Miss Grayling?' asked Susan.

‘Certainly not,' replied the Head. ‘The police will be here at any minute, and my immediate concern is to find Olive. I am going to leave it to you, Susan, as head of the fourth form to speak to Sylvia. And I trust that you will use all the tact and wisdom that I know you possess.'

‘Of course, Miss Grayling,' said Susan, feeling awfully proud that the Head thought she was tactful and wise.

Suddenly Nora, who had remained silent up until now, said, ‘Miss Grayling, I think that there is something else you should know. Bonnie spoke to Olive's step-sister at half-term, and it turns out that the two of them dislike one another awfully, and there have been dreadful problems between them. I don't suppose that that has anything to do with Olive running away, but I thought I would mention it.'

‘Thank you, Nora,' said Miss Grayling. ‘That could prove very useful.'

Just then there came a tap at the door, and a maid announced that the police had arrived, so the fourth formers left the Head's study and went to join the others in the common-room.

There was great consternation when Susan announced that Olive had run away.

‘How dreadful! I wonder where she has gone?'

‘It's an awfully cold night! I do hope that she will be all right.'

‘The police will find her and bring her back.'

‘Well, let's hope so.'

The only person who remained silent was June. How terribly, terribly guilty she felt! If only she had held her tongue, Olive might be here now, safe and warm. Instead, she was out goodness knows where, alone in the dark and the bitter cold. If only, she, June, could make amends somehow! But perhaps she could! The others were all preoccupied discussing Olive's disappearance and, unseen by them, June slipped from the room.

‘I wonder if Matron would let me speak to Sylvia tonight?' said Susan. ‘It is quite early, and I bet she is still awake.'

‘Why don't you ask her?' suggested Felicity. ‘I'll come with you if you like.'

So the two girls went along to the San, where Matron greeted them by saying, ‘You two here again? I had no idea that you were such close friends with Sylvia.'

‘Matron, we need to speak to her quite urgently,' said Felicity. ‘It really is terribly important.'

Matron looked at the watch that was pinned to her crisp, white apron, and said, ‘Very well. You may have twenty minutes, no more.'

Sylvia looked surprised, but very pleased, to receive a second visit from Felicity and Susan, saying, ‘Hallo, there! This is a pleasant surprise.'

‘Well, I hope you will think so when you hear what we have come to say, Sylvia,' said Susan. ‘You see, we know that you are Miss Tallant's niece.'

‘Oh,' said Sylvia, turning red. ‘Well, I suppose I should have known that it would be impossible to keep it secret forever. Perhaps I should have told you all myself, at the start, but I didn't want anyone to know that I was related to her.'

Felicity and Susan noticed the distaste in Sylvia's tone, and Felicity said, ‘Don't you like her, then?'

‘Of course not!' said Sylvia, in surprise. ‘Do you?'

‘No, but she's not my aunt,' said Felicity.

‘Just because you are related to someone doesn't mean that you have to like them, you know,' retorted Sylvia. ‘Aunt Aggie has always been spiteful and vindictive. Even my father dislikes her, and he is her brother! They haven't spoken to one another for years. I half-expected him to take me away when I wrote and told him that Aunt Aggie was a mistress here, but he knew how much I liked it at Malory Towers, so he said that I could stay. My aunt and I bumped into each other on our first day, and—as she
dislikes me every bit as much as I like her—we agreed that we would both keep quiet about being related. I told Miss Grayling, of course, for it didn't seem quite right to keep it from her.'

Felicity and Susan exchanged glances. Sylvia was being so frank and open about things, that it was harder than ever to believe that she was the sneak. Susan cleared her throat, and said, ‘Sylvia, there is something I must ask you, and I do hope that you won't take offence.'

‘Heavens, whatever can it be?' asked Sylvia, looking rather alarmed.

‘You see, we found out some time ago that Miss Tallant had a niece in the fourth form,' explained Susan. ‘And we knew that it had to be either you or Olive. And then we realised that Miss Tallant had someone in the form spying on us and reporting back to her. So we put two and two together…'

‘And decided that the niece was also the spy,' said Sylvia, looking rather hurt. ‘Well, Susan, I can assure you that I am no sneak! And even if I was, Aunt Aggie is the last person I should tell tales to!'

There was such conviction in Sylvia's voice that both girls believed her at once.

‘Well,' said Felicity heavily. ‘It looks as if Olive must be the culprit after all, and that is why she has run away.'

‘Olive has run away!' cried Sylvia. ‘My goodness, do tell me what happened.'

While Felicity and Susan were talking to Sylvia, June had slipped out into the grounds to look for Olive. She
couldn't join the official search party, for Miss Potts would certainly send her back indoors, so she avoided them and hunted for Olive alone. Where
could
she be? June went to the stables, the gardener's shed, and even the changing cubicles by the swimming-pool, but there was no sign of Olive. June shivered. It really was a bitterly cold night and, in her haste to find Olive, June had not stopped to put her coat on.

Perhaps she should try searching
inside
the school, in the store-rooms or attics perhaps. It would certainly be a great deal warmer!

She heard voices—the search party approaching—and hid behind the trunk of a large tree.

‘It looks as though Olive has ventured outside the school grounds,' she heard Miss Potts say heavily. ‘I'm afraid we shall have to leave it to the police to search for her now. I must go and tell Miss Grayling, so that she can telephone Olive's father.'

The search party went towards the school, but June remained where she was for a moment, thinking hard. Her instincts told her that Olive was still here, at Malory Towers somewhere. And if she could be the one to find her, it would go a long way towards assuaging her feelings of guilt. Suddenly June remembered the old boat-house, down the cliff-path. It was the one place she hadn't looked, and she would be willing to bet that the search party hadn't thought of it either.

Swiftly, the girl ran across the lawn, past the swimming pool, and down the path that led to the beach. And there was
the boat-house, unused now and looking very dilapidated.

June knocked on the door and called, ‘Olive! Olive, are you there?'

There was no answer, and, after a moment, a dejected June was about to walk away. But then her sharp ears caught a sound—a muffled sob!

Cautiously she pushed open the door of the boat-house. A heap of old sacks lay on the floor, and there, on top of them, sat Olive, crying as if her heart would break.

June was not the most sympathetic or compassionate of girls, but she felt a pang of sorrow for poor Olive, who was obviously in great distress. Now was the time, she realised, to let her sympathy and compassion shine through, to offer help and comfort to this poor, wretched girl. So June walked forward and said, in a gentle tone, ‘Come on, Olive, old girl. You really can't stay here, you know. Why don't you tell me what's up, then I'll take you back up to the school.'

‘You!' cried Olive, sitting bolt upright, an expression of horror on her face. ‘Go away, June! You don't care what happens to me, you just want to be the one to take me back to school to face Miss Grayling, so that all the others will say what a heroine you are!'

June felt her temper rising, but she conquered it and, flopping down on to the sacks beside Olive, said, ‘You're quite wrong, you know. If you must know, I feel simply terrible about accusing you of sneaking to Miss Tallant earlier, without any real proof. I'm sorry.'