Winter Term at Malory Towers (17 page)

Olive stared at June, a strange expression on her face.
Then she laughed, rather wildly, and said, ‘There's no need for you to apologise. You were quite right. I was sneaking to Miss Tallant.'

June stared at the girl in astonishment. ‘But it is Sylvia who's the sneak! We know that now. You see, it turns out that she is Miss Tallant's niece. Are you trying to cover up for her, Olive? And, if so, why? It's not even as if the two of you are friends.'

‘I'm not covering up for anyone,' said Olive, dabbing at her eyes with a crumpled handkerchief. ‘I don't know anything about Sylvia being Miss Tallant's niece, but I
do
know that she wasn't the one who was sneaking to her. I was. So now you can go away and tell all the others that you were right, and that I am every bit as bad as you said I was.'

‘I'm not going anywhere until I get to the bottom of this,' said June firmly. ‘Olive,
why
did you spy on us for Miss Tallant? Was it just because you dislike us so?'

Olive said nothing, but merely shrugged, refusing to look June in the eye, and June felt her temper rising again. Olive really was one of the most infuriating girls she had ever met, June thought, with her odd tempers and mean, spiteful nature. Perhaps the best thing that June could do was to haul the girl back up to the school and let Miss Grayling deal with her. She looked at Olive in distaste. And, as she did so, June saw something else. She saw the misery and loneliness behind the girl's facade and, hard-hearted as she sometimes was, felt moved by it. June thought about her own behaviour during her years at
Malory Towers, and did not feel proud of some of the things she had done. Yet she had been given chance after chance to change her ways. Perhaps Olive, too, should be given a chance.

Olive, lost in her own unhappy thoughts, was most astonished when she felt an arm come round her shoulders, and heard June say rather gruffly, ‘You're awfully sad, aren't you, Olive? I would like to help you, if I can. Won't you tell me what is bothering you?'

This sudden, unexpected kindness was too much for Olive, who burst into tears again, and said between sobs, ‘I can't. I'm so terribly ashamed.'

‘Well, we have all done things that we are ashamed of, at times,' said June, patting the girl's shoulder. ‘I certainly have anyway! But the thing I have always found is that if I've done something bad, it seems to become more serious, and weigh more heavily on me, if I keep it to myself. A trouble shared is a trouble halved, and all that.'

Olive's sobs quietened a little, as she thought over what June had said. Then, at last, she turned towards the girl and said, ‘Very well, I will tell you. I don't suppose it matters much if you hate me afterwards, for nobody likes me anyway!'

June said nothing to this and, after a short silence, Olive began, ‘It all started with my step-sister, Annabel. From the moment that she and my step-mother moved in with Father and me, she has done nothing but cause trouble. But because she is so pretty and behaves so sweetly in front of the grown-ups, everyone believes her
when she says that I am to blame. I suppose I don't help myself by flying into a rage every time I am accused of something, but I simply can't tell you how horrid and hurtful it is to be blamed for things that aren't your fault all the time.'

‘I should jolly well think it would be!' exclaimed June. ‘Go on, Olive.'

‘Well, at first Annabel and I went to the same day school together, though she was in a different form from me, of course,' said Olive. ‘And soon she started making trouble for me there too. Taking people's things and hiding them in my desk so that it looked as if I had taken them, and playing petty, mean tricks and blaming them on me.'

‘What a nasty little beast she sounds,' said June. ‘I'll bet that you flew into some fine rages with her!'

‘I did, of course,' said Olive. ‘But that only made matters worse, for everyone would leap to the defence of dear, sweet little Annabel and became more convinced than ever that I was the one in the wrong. Eventually, Father decided that I was too troublesome to stay at home, and he sent me to boarding school.'

June's heart went out to Olive as she listened. No wonder that the girl felt bitter.

‘Of course, I felt terribly unhappy and terribly angry,' said Olive. ‘I hated being away from home, and thinking of Annabel in my place, being spoilt by her mother and my father, and getting all of their love and attention, while I had none. That made me feel mean and spiteful, and I decided that if I was going to be sent away from home for
doing horrid things, then I really
would
do them.'

‘So you turned into the person that everyone had accused you of being,' said June. ‘Poor old Olive!'

‘Yes, but it gets much worse,' said Olive, her voice trembling a little. ‘Everyone disliked me so much at that school, mistresses and girls alike. And, when I look back at my behaviour, I really can't blame them. Things came to a head when I accidentally knocked another girl, who couldn't swim, into the pool. It really
was
an accident, June, but because I had behaved so badly all year, no one believed me and I was expelled.'

June gave a gasp and Olive said, ‘You're shocked. I knew that you would be.'

‘I'm shocked that one spoilt, silly little girl could cause so much trouble for you,' said June in her forthright way. ‘And she will go on doing so, if we don't think of a way to stop her, Olive.'

Olive felt warmed by the way June had said ‘we', and suddenly she felt a little less helpless and more hopeful for the future. With someone as strong and determined as June on her side, perhaps she would find a way to outwit the sly Annabel.

‘But you still haven't told me how you came to spy on us for Miss Tallant,' June said now. ‘I'm very curious about that.'

‘Well, I was just coming to that,' said Olive. ‘You see, Miss Tallant used to teach at my old boarding school, so she knows all about the trouble I got into there, and about me being expelled. Miss Grayling knows too, but she must
have seen some good in me, for she agreed to let me have a fresh start here at Malory Towers and promised to keep my secret.'

‘Well!' said June, looking quite astonished. ‘That explains why Miss Tallant seemed so friendly with your people at half-term. That was one of the things that made us suspect that you were her niece. Now I see that we were quite wrong, and she had already met your people at your old school.' June paused, her expression becoming hard, then went on, ‘And I suppose she threatened to give your secret away unless you reported to her on all the fourth form's secrets and wrongdoing.'

Olive nodded miserably, and June's eyes flashed angrily as she said, ‘Well, Miss Grayling will be very interested to hear that, and I shall take great pleasure in telling her! Olive, you really are silly! If only you had told us this from the very beginning, Miss Tallant's hold over you would have been broken.'

Olive hung her head, and said in a small voice, ‘I couldn't. I felt so ashamed of myself, and I simply couldn't bear to see the scorn on everyone's faces. Oh, June, I started this term with such high hopes! I had made up my mind that I was going to settle down, and make friends, and Father would realise that I wasn't so bad after all, and would let me come home. Then the first person I met on the train was Nora, and she reminded me so much of Annabel that I simply couldn't help being rude to her. And then I found out that Miss Tallant was teaching here, and I realised that there was no point in trying to change.'

‘Oh, Olive!' sighed June. ‘I daresay one or two of the girls might have been a little shocked when they heard that you had been expelled, but once you had explained everything, they would have understood. And as for Miss Tallant, I feel quite certain that the Head will dismiss her immediately once she finds out what she has been up to.'

‘Do you really think so?' said Olive, brightening.

‘I do,' said June, getting to her feet. ‘And now we had better get you back to the school, for the police are out looking for you, and I expect that Miss Grayling has telephoned your father by now.'

Olive turned pale at this, and gave a groan. ‘And he will think that I have caused yet more trouble.'

‘Yes, but no doubt he will be so glad that you have been found that you might not get into a row,' said June. ‘In fact, I rather think that the only person who is going to get into a row is our dear Miss Tallant.'

Miss Grayling was most astonished, a few minutes later, when someone knocked on the door of her study, and June entered, followed by a very scared-looking Olive.

After the Head had telephoned the police to tell them that the missing girl had been found, she turned to Olive and said, ‘My dear, what on earth made you run away like that? The school has been in an uproar, and your father is dreadfully worried. He is on his way here this very minute.'

‘Olive, you must tell Miss Grayling everything, at once,' urged June.

So, haltingly at first, and with much prompting from June, Olive poured out the whole sorry tale.

Miss Grayling listened intently, her brow furrowing as the girl told of the spiteful way her step-sister had behaved. And when Olive spoke of the part Miss Tallant had played in her unhappiness, June noticed with satisfaction that the Head's serene blue eyes grew cold and steely.

‘Well, this is a most extraordinary tale!' said Miss Grayling at last. ‘Olive, you really should have come to me, or one of the other mistresses, and told us about Miss Tallant's conduct.'

‘I know,' said Olive. ‘But I thought that you would be certain to believe Miss Tallant's word over mine. Especially as you knew that I had been expelled from my other school for making trouble.'

‘Miss Grayling, what is puzzling me is
why
Miss Tallant was so intent on finding out all our secrets,' said June, who had been looking thoughtful. ‘Was it just out of spite, or did she have some other motive?'

‘I rather think that Miss Tallant wanted to be offered a permanent post at Malory Towers,' said the Head. ‘As you know, she is only here temporarily, whilst Miss Hibbert is ill. She has lost no opportunity to point out to me, and the other mistresses, that she thinks Miss Hibbert is a poor teacher and a poor disciplinarian. It must have been a great stroke of luck for her to discover that Olive was here. She was able to use her to find out what you fourth formers were up to, punish you, and earn herself a reputation for being strict and able to keep order.'

‘Well!' cried June. ‘Of all the nerve! Miss Hibbert is a splendid teacher, a million times better than Miss Tallant. She is just, and fair, her lessons are always interesting, and—'

‘Quite so, June,' interrupted Miss Grayling firmly, though there was the hint of a twinkle in her eyes. ‘Fortunately I have known Miss Hibbert for very many years, so a few words from a new mistress was certainly not going to change my excellent opinion of her. In fact, I will be telephoning her shortly, to see if she is well enough to come back to Malory Towers before the end of term.'

June and Olive exchanged excited glances. This was good news, and could mean only one thing—the Head was going to dismiss Miss Tallant!

‘Now,' said Miss Grayling. ‘Your father will be here very shortly, Olive, so I suggest you go and wash your face and hands, and brush your hair before he arrives. Then we need to talk to him about your step-sister's behaviour towards you.'

Olive's shoulders slumped, and she said glumly, ‘He won't believe me. Annabel has been very convincing, you see, Miss Grayling.'

‘Yes, he will!' cried June suddenly. ‘I have an idea! Miss Grayling, may I be excused, please?'

‘Of course,' said the Head, looking rather startled. ‘Olive, you go as well, and tidy yourself up, then come straight back here.'

Both girls left the Head's study, Olive to go to the nearest bathroom, and June to go to the common-room, where the others were sitting around looking rather gloomy, as they discussed Olive's disappearance.

June burst in and Freddie cried, ‘Where on earth have you been, June? We were beginning to think that you had run away too!'

‘I went to look for Olive,' said June a little breathlessly, for she had run all the way to the common-room. ‘And I found her. She is with the Head now.'

At once the fourth formers besieged June with questions and, as quickly as possible, she told them what had happened. The girls listened in open-mouthed silence,
but they had plenty to say when June told them about Miss Tallant.

‘Well, I always knew she was a horrid woman, but I had no idea she was that beastly! If only we had known, we might have been able to help poor Olive.'

‘And she was scheming to take Miss Hibbert's job from her too! Lucky that the Head is so shrewd, and saw through her.'

‘Thank goodness that Miss Grayling is going to dismiss her. Good riddance, I say!'

‘Listen, everyone!' broke in June. ‘There is another way that we can help Olive. Bonnie, you spoke to Annabel at half-term, didn't you?'

‘Yes, you know that I did, for I told you so,' said Bonnie.

‘And she told you, quite plainly, that she had deliberately set out to get Olive into trouble, didn't she?' said June.

‘That's right,' said Bonnie, nodding.

‘Good,' said June. ‘Now, Bonnie, I want you to come to Miss Grayling's study with me, and tell Olive's father that. You see, Olive is afraid that he won't believe her, but you are a stranger, and what's more, you don't even
like
Olive, so you have no possible reason to lie!'

Bonnie, looking rather bewildered at the speed with which June rattled all this off, blinked and said, ‘Yes, of course I shall. It's very true, I didn't like Olive at all, but as soon as I saw that Annabel was to blame for everything I began to realise that she might not be so bad underneath it all. I shall enjoy telling Olive's father what a mean little
beast his step-daughter is.'

And with that, June and Bonnie left the room together. As the door closed behind them, Nora said, ‘My goodness,
how
I wish that I could be a fly on the wall in Miss Grayling's study when Bonnie tells Olive's father about Annabel.'

‘I'd like to be there when the Head gives Miss Tallant her marching orders,' said Felicity.

‘How nice it will be to have good old Miss Hibbert back!'

Miss Grayling was seated behind her desk when June and Bonnie returned to her study, a grim-faced Mr Witherspoon and a tearful Olive sitting opposite her. The interview had not gone well, and Olive's father had brushed aside her explanation that Annabel had been to blame for everything that had gone wrong. Miss Grayling had spoken up for Olive too, but Mr Witherspoon had said gruffly, ‘I accept that this Miss Tallant of yours is badly at fault, and I leave you to deal with her as I see fit. But little Annabel is a good girl, and she would never do the things that Olive is accusing her of.'

June and Bonnie arrived outside Miss Grayling's door in time to hear this, for Mr Witherspoon had a booming voice, and, as June knocked at the door, Bonnie pursed her lips.

‘Come in,' called the Head, in answer to June's knock.

The two girls went in, and June said politely, ‘Please, Miss Grayling, Bonnie has something that she would like to say to Mr Witherspoon.'

Mr Witherspoon looked at Bonnie and frowned. He
was a big, rather serious-looking man, and he said, ‘I don't mean to be rude, young lady, but I am here on a very serious matter and I am in no mood for pleasantries.'

Bonnie smiled sweetly at him, and said in her soft voice, ‘That's quite all right, Mr Witherspoon. I didn't come here to be pleasant.'

The two grown-ups and Olive looked so taken aback that it was all June could do not to burst out laughing. Mr Witherspoon opened his mouth to retort, but Bonnie spoke first, saying, ‘I don't know why you should believe Annabel over your own daughter, but I am here to tell you that Olive is speaking the truth. You see, I spoke to your step-daughter Annabel at half-term, and she boasted to me that she has been doing mean tricks to get Olive into trouble.'

There was a note of doubt in Mr Witherspoon's voice now, as he said, ‘Are you sure that you're not saying this to get your friend out of trouble?'

‘Olive isn't my friend,' said Bonnie. ‘She has been mean and horrible to me since the day we met, because I remind her of Annabel. But I'm not like Annabel at all inside, for I don't lie. And, now that you can see that I have no reason at all to be nice to Olive, I hope that you will believe me.'

Mr Witherspoon looked completely dumbfounded by this, and Miss Grayling said, ‘Thank you for coming and telling us this, Bonnie. The two of you may go now.'

June and Bonnie turned, but Mr Witherspoon got to his feet and said, ‘Just a minute! I'd like to thank you as
well, Bonnie. You're a very outspoken and courageous young lady. And my Olive may not have been very nice to you, but you have been a good friend to her today. And you jolly well put me in my place too! Now I can see that I'm going to have to make things up to Olive, otherwise I shall have you after me again!'

‘Bonnie, you were simply splendid!' said June, once they were outside in the corridor. ‘Olive should be very grateful to you, and if she isn't, then I, for one, will wash my hands of her!'

But Olive was grateful. Very grateful indeed! She came into the common-room an hour later, her face glowing with pleasure, looking so happy that the others could hardly believe she was the same girl.

She stood on the threshold for a moment, smiling shyly round, then, spotting Bonnie, she made straight for her, and gave the surprised girl a great big hug.

‘Bonnie, I simply can't thank you enough!' she cried. ‘Everything has come right, and it's all thanks to you.'

Bonnie smiled and said slyly, ‘I didn't do too badly for a silly little doll, did I?'

Olive flushed and said, ‘I could kick myself for calling you that. I take it back, and I apologise. Please say that you forgive me!'

‘You're forgiven,' said Bonnie. ‘But only if you tell us what happened with your father.'

‘He was quite overcome with remorse,' said Olive. ‘And simply couldn't apologise enough for doubting my word and believing Annabel all the time. He is going to
talk to my step-mother when he gets home, and Annabel is in for the scolding of her life tomorrow.'

‘Well, she certainly deserves it,' said Susan. ‘I just hope that she learns something from it, and changes her ways.'

‘She had better, for Father said that he isn't going to stand any nonsense from her,' said Olive with a grin. ‘And the best of it is, that I am to go home when term ends, and go back to my old day school.'

‘Well, I like that!' said Pam, in dismay. ‘You've just changed for the better, and gone all friendly and jolly, and now you tell us that you're leaving!'

‘I daresay you will all be glad to see the back of me,' said Olive rather gruffly. ‘I can't blame you, for I've been quite unbearable.'

‘Yes, you have,' said June in her usual blunt manner. ‘But at least we know that there was a reason for it. And we don't want you becoming unbearable again, for this new, happy Olive is much more likeable than the old one, and she is the one we want to spend the rest of the term with.'

‘Hear, hear!' cried Felicity.

‘Thanks awfully,' said Olive, looking quite pretty now that she was smiling and her eyes were shining with happiness. ‘I promise that I shan't go back to my old ways.'

‘Well, we're jolly glad to hear it,' said Nora, who had also suffered badly from Olive's rudeness.

Olive remembered this now, and said, ‘I owe you an apology too, Nora, and you, Felicity, and…oh, it will probably take me the whole night if I apologise to
everyone one by one, so I'll just say a great big SORRY to you all!'

The others laughed at this, and Olive said, ‘I say, Miss Tallant was walking towards Miss Grayling's study when I left. I shouldn't be a bit surprised if she's packing her bags this very minute.'

A great cheer went up at this, and Felicity said, ‘What a day it's been! But Miss Tallant leaving will just round it off perfectly.'