Winter Term at Malory Towers (7 page)

‘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.'

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. This 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.

So Miss Williams strode briskly into the room and said, ‘I am sorry to interrupt your meeting, but…Why, Miss Tallant, what are you doing here? Susan, I distinctly remember you telling me that you intended to produce the play yourself, with assistance from Felicity and Sylvia. And
I must say that I was very pleased to hear it. Don't tell me that you have changed your minds?'

‘No, Miss Williams,' said Susan, noticing a glint in Miss Williams's eye and realising that the mistress was well aware of what had been happening. ‘Miss Tallant very kindly offered her services, but I was just telling her that there was no need for her to trouble herself over us.'

‘Most commendable!' said Miss Williams warmly. ‘It's always nice to see you girls using your initiative and doing things for yourselves. Miss Tallant and I shan't hold you up any longer.' Then she turned to the other mistress, and said brightly, ‘Come along, Miss Tallant. The girls are very busy, so let's leave them to it.'

Miss Tallant had no choice but to follow Miss Williams from the hall. And once the door had closed behind the two mistresses, a perfect hubbub broke out.

‘Of all the nerve!'

‘Who does Miss Tallant think she is? How dare she try to order us about like that?'

‘Thank heavens that Miss Williams turned up when she did.'

‘Yes, she has sized Miss Tallant up, all right,' said Susan. ‘And now that they have both gone, let's get down to business!'

So, one by one, Jennifer, Bonnie and Nora took to the stage, as the rest of the fourth form watched with interest.

Jennifer's singing was so lovely that the fourth formers cheered when she came to the end of her song. She read a few lines from the play, too, and Felicity murmured to
Susan and Sylvia, ‘She's not a bad actress. A little stiff, perhaps, but I daresay that's because she feels nervous.'

Then Mary sat down at the piano and played a lively tune, while Jennifer danced. Alas, her dancing was nowhere near as good as her singing or her acting, and Sylvia said, ‘Well, I suppose it would be too much to expect her to be good at everything.'

‘That's just it, though,' said Susan. ‘The girl who takes this part
has
to be good at everything.' Then she raised her voice and said, ‘Thank you, Jennifer, you may sit down now. Bonnie! Your turn next.'

There was no doubt that little Bonnie certainly looked the part of the fairy to perfection. She seemed even smaller and daintier than usual as she stood alone on the big stage. She danced gracefully and, when it came to reading the lines, the girl really threw herself into the part. Alas, Bonnie floundered when it came to the song, for not only was she out of tune, her voice was so high pitched that some of the listening girls covered their ears. Grimacing, Susan said, ‘Simply awful! A pity, because she acts and dances well.'

Then it was Nora's turn. Nora's singing voice was not as pure as Jennifer's, but it was very pleasant, and the fourth formers clapped eagerly when she finished her song. And she was by far the best dancer of the three girls. Nora proved, too, that she was a fine little actress, and Felicity said, ‘Nora is very humorous, too, and I feel quite sure that she will be excellent at doing the jokes and the funny lines that June and Freddie are going to write.'

Susan and Sylvia agreed with this at once, and Susan said happily, ‘Well, it looks as if we have found our fairy! I shan't tell Nora yet, though. We shall audition for the other parts first, and let everyone know what we have decided at the end.'

‘Bonnie isn't going to be too pleased,' said Felicity. ‘I just hope that she doesn't throw a tantrum. You know how difficult she can be if things don't go her way.'

‘Don't you worry about Bonnie, Felicity,' said Susan firmly. ‘I shall deal with her when the time comes.'

Felicity felt a little apprehensive. Susan had a blunt way of speaking at times, and didn't always see that it was sometimes necessary to handle things with a little tact.

The auditions went very smoothly indeed, and both Felicity and Susan found themselves warming to Sylvia. The girl hadn't tried to push herself forward at all, and had worked amicably alongside Felicity and Susan. Soon all of the parts had been cast, and it was time to let the fourth formers in on the decisions that had been reached.

Susan stood up to face the girls, and said, ‘Thank you to all of you who auditioned. Everyone did very well indeed. And now it's time to tell you who is going to play each part.'

The listening girls sat in expectant silence, those who had auditioned feeling both nervous and excited. At last Susan said, ‘We have decided that the lead role of the fairy doll will be given to…Nora!'

A great cheer went up at this, while Nora looked as if she simply couldn't believe her ears. Those closest to the
girl clapped her on the back, and Pam cried, ‘Splendid choice! You'll be marvellous, Nora, old girl.'

Jennifer managed to hide her disappointment, and congratulated Nora, but Bonnie was quite unable to hide hers. Her bottom lip jutted out, and she scowled fiercely at Susan.

‘Horrid beast!' she lisped to Amy. ‘Susan has never liked me, because I used to be friends with Felicity, and this is her way of getting back at me. I don't like Miss Tallant, but perhaps it would have been a good thing if she had stayed after all, for I'm sure that
she
would have chosen me for the part.'

Once the noise and excitement had died down, Susan announced, ‘Amelia, the little girl, is to be played by Molly.'

Molly, a very small girl from East Tower, with rather a serious expression, suddenly found herself beaming from ear to ear, as a rousing ‘hurrah!' went up from the East Tower girls.

Quickly Susan gave out the other parts. Pam was to play Amelia's aunt, Julie was going to be a toy soldier, and Lucy laughed out loud when she learned that she was to dress up in a big, furry costume and play a teddy bear!

‘There will be something for everyone to do,' said Susan. ‘Mary is writing a song for us, of course, while June and Freddie are adding some humorous touches to the script. And we're going to need plenty of people to help paint scenery and do hair and make-up, and so on.'

‘I've a good mind not to do anything at all to help,' muttered a disgruntled Bonnie to Amy.

But Susan hadn't finished. ‘There is one more thing,' she said. ‘There is one person I haven't mentioned, who is going to be very important to our little play. In fact, I would go so far as to say that she is vital.'

The fourth formers looked at one another in surprise. Who on earth could Susan be talking about?

‘That person is our wardrobe mistress,' said Susan, looking very serious indeed.

‘Because there are so many costumes, we really need someone who is an expert at needlework. Someone who has flair and taste, and a good eye for detail. Someone who, once she sets her mind to a task, works tirelessly to complete it. There is only one person in the form—in the whole
school
, in fact—who fits that description. And that person is Bonnie Meadows.'