Winter Term at Malory Towers (8 page)

Bonnie gave a gasp, her big brown eyes growing even bigger. Instantly, her disappointment at not being cast as the fairy was forgotten. And Susan was no longer a mean beast. On the contrary, she was very shrewd and perceptive indeed. Bonnie couldn't imagine how she had ever thought that she didn't like her!

Felicity grinned to herself. Good old Susan! She was learning that, with some people, a little tact worked wonders. Now she had turned Bonnie's sulks to smiles, and made sure that the fourth formers had an excellent wardrobe mistress, in the neatest possible way! Most of the others guessed what Susan was up to as well, and played along by cheering Bonnie, and praising her extravagantly.

‘Simply marvellous! I can't think of anyone who would do a better job!'

‘Yes, we can be sure of having just the right costumes now, with old Bonnie in charge.'

‘I should say! Good for you, Bonnie!'

Bonnie beamed round and thanked everyone prettily. ‘I shan't let you down,' she said. ‘And I shall be glad of some help from anyone who is good with a needle, for there will be a lot of work to do.'

Several girls from other towers immediately volunteered their services, and Bonnie said, ‘Perhaps tomorrow afternoon we can all go and look in that little room behind the stage, where all the old costumes from past Malory Towers plays are stored. We are sure to find some things that will be useful to us in there.'

‘My word, you're eager, Bonnie,' called out Julie.

‘If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well,' said Bonnie, briskly. ‘I intend to take my responsibility as wardrobe mistress very seriously indeed. Now, if you'll excuse me, the library has a fine book on play costumes, so I think I shall pop along there and borrow it.' Then she called out to the girls who had offered to help her, ‘Two o'clock sharp, tomorrow afternoon, you girls.'

And with that, she walked purposefully from the room, as Felicity chuckled, ‘Bonnie really
does
go all out when she takes on a task. I feel quite sorry for the girls who have offered to help her, for I think that she may turn out to be quite a slave-driver!'

Susan laughed at that, and said, ‘Well, I call that a
highly successful meeting—in spite of Miss Tallant's attempts to sabotage it! Mary told me that she has almost finished writing the song, and June and Freddie have already written a few jokes into the script—and very funny they are, too. At this rate, it won't be long before we are able to hold our first rehearsal. Shall we go back to the common-room before tea?'

Felicity agreed to this at once, and as the two girls were walking along the corridor, June and Freddie caught them up. June's expression was unusually serious, and Felicity asked, ‘Anything up, old girl?'

‘Yes, there is, actually,' said June. ‘It has just occurred to me that Miss Tallant knew the name of the play we are doing. But how
could
she know, for we haven't told anyone outside the form. And we agreed that we weren't going to tell Miss Tallant anything.'

‘Perhaps someone let something slip out by accident,' suggested Susan.

‘Who would do
that
?' asked Freddie rather scornfully. ‘It's not as if any of us are in the habit of having cosy chats with Miss Tallant, for none of us can bear her.'

June's brow cleared suddenly, and she snapped her fingers. ‘Bonnie!' she cried. ‘She's always hanging round Miss Tallant, offering to help tidy the classroom and what-not.'

‘Yes, but only as part of her plan to suck up to her,' Felicity reminded June. ‘She certainly doesn't do it because she has any real liking for Miss Tallant.'

‘I know that,' said June. ‘But she could easily have
given something away by accident. And there's something else, too. Miss Tallant mentioned that business with the mouse, and it was pretty clear that she suspected I was involved. I don't see how she can have reached that conclusion unless someone told her.'

‘Yes, we all heard her say that,' said Susan, looking grave. ‘I didn't think anything of it at the time, but you're quite right, of course. We certainly don't want our dear Miss Tallant poking her nose into fourth-form business.'

The others were in wholehearted agreement with this, and June said, ‘Bonnie said that she was going to the library, didn't she? Well, let's find her and tackle her about it. She has to learn that it simply isn't on to give away fourth-form secrets!'

June stormed off down the corridor, the other three in hot pursuit. Susan caught up with her as they reached the library, and grabbed her arm.

‘Now look here, June,' she began. ‘Don't go rushing in and accusing Bonnie of things, when, for all we know, she may be quite innocent.'

‘Susan is quite right,' said Felicity. ‘I know that Bonnie can be devious in some ways, but I really don't think…'

Her voice tailed off suddenly, for through the glass pane in the library door, Felicity had spotted Bonnie sitting at a table with a book. And bending over to speak to her, her blonde head very close to Bonnie's darker one, was Miss Tallant. Both of them were smiling, and Miss Tallant patted Bonnie's shoulder, before reaching into her bag and pulling out a bar of chocolate. She handed this to Bonnie, then walked towards the door. Swiftly, the four girls outside retreated along the corridor before they were spotted, and went into one of the empty music-rooms.

‘Well!' said Freddie, looking astonished. ‘Did you see that?'

The other three nodded, and June said grimly, ‘Well, that seems to point to Bonnie being the culprit. And from
the look of things, the information she passed to Miss Tallant certainly didn't slip out by accident.'

June felt just as shocked and dismayed as the others, for although she had suspected Bonnie, she had never, for one second, imagined that the girl's actions had been deliberate.

‘It certainly looks that way,' said Susan, frowning deeply. ‘Why would Miss Tallant have given Bonnie chocolate, unless it was in return for a favour?'

No one could imagine, and Felicity said thoughtfully, ‘This puts a different complexion on things. If Bonnie
is
sneaking fourth-form secrets to Miss Tallant, it might be best not to tackle her just yet, for it will put her on her guard.'

‘Quite right,' said June. ‘Until we can think of a way of catching Bonnie out, we must carry on as usual, and all behave in a perfectly normal way towards her.'

‘What do you think, Susan?' asked Freddie. ‘You are head of the form, after all.'

‘Yes, I agree with Felicity and June,' said Susan, who was looking very upset indeed. ‘I must say that I am terribly disappointed in Bonnie. I know that she and I have had our differences, but I really didn't think that she would stoop this low.'

‘Shall we tell the others?' asked Felicity.

Susan thought for a moment, then said, ‘No. Obviously we can't say anything in front of Amy, for she is Bonnie's friend. We can't rely on Sylvia to keep her mouth shut either, and as for Olive—well, I certainly don't trust
her
!'

All the same, the four girls found it very difficult to stick
to their word and behave normally with Bonnie. They had very strict ideas of honour, and anyone who sneaked, or gave away secrets, was beneath contempt, as far as they were concerned. It was June who came up with an idea to trap Bonnie, a few days later. She and Freddie got into a huddle with Felicity and Susan in the courtyard one break-time.

‘We will pretend that we are planning to play a trick on Miss Tallant, and make sure that Bonnie overhears us,' explained June. ‘Then Bonnie will run off and tell her tales, and Miss Tallant will try to foil our trick.'

‘And that will prove that Bonnie is working against the fourth form,' said Felicity with a sigh. ‘What do you have in mind, June?'

‘Well, I thought we could pretend that we are going to do something similar to the mouse trick that we played on Olive,' answered June. ‘We could say that we are going to put a big spider in the drawer of Miss Tallant's desk, perhaps.'

‘Good idea,' said Freddie. ‘Miss Tallant is very like Mam'zelle Dupont in that she doesn't care for spiders, or mice or anything like that.'

‘Exactly!' said June. ‘We will make sure that Bonnie is nearby when we are plotting, and we shall be able to judge from Miss Tallant's reaction when she goes to her desk whether Bonnie has sneaked.'

‘Very well,' said Susan. ‘The sooner we get definite proof that Bonnie is the one giving things away to Miss Tallant, the better, I suppose.'

So when the four girls went into the common-room that evening, they made a point of sitting close to Bonnie. The girl had her head bent over her needlework, as usual, and was chattering away to Amy as she sewed. Pam, Sylvia and Olive were there as well, while the others had gone off to see a slide show in the big hall.

‘I simply can't wait to see Miss Tallant's face when she opens her drawer tomorrow and that spider runs towards her,' said June, in rather a loud voice.

Freddie giggled. ‘We're going to find a spider in the gardener's shed,' she said. ‘A big, fat one, with thick, hairy legs.'

‘Ugh!' said Susan, giving a shudder. ‘I can't say that I'm awfully keen on spiders myself. It will be funny to see how Miss Tallant reacts, though. And it will jolly well serve her right for trying to spoil our meeting the other day.'

‘When are you going to play the trick?' asked Felicity. ‘Monday morning? Jolly good.'

The four moved away then, to join Pam, who raised her eyebrows and said, ‘What's this? Hatching a plot?'

The four girls looked at one another, and Susan said, ‘Shall we tell Pam our secret? Let's, for we know we can trust her.'

Quickly, June explained that they suspected Bonnie of telling tales to Miss Tallant, and of their plan to catch her out.

Pam listened intently, her expression very serious. At last, she said, ‘I simply can't believe that Bonnie is on Miss Tallant's side.'

‘None of us wants to believe it, Pam,' said Felicity, earnestly. ‘I know that Bonnie has some funny ways, but I honestly believed that she was completely straight. But if you had seen her in the library with Miss Tallant, you would agree that her behaviour was most suspicious.'

‘Hush!' hissed Freddie. ‘She's coming over.'

Bonnie joined them, saying excitedly, ‘Susan, I have some super ideas for costumes. I've made some sketches and must show them to you.'

‘I'm looking forward to seeing them,' said Susan, forcing herself to smile at the girl. ‘Bring them to me tomorrow, if you like.'

‘I will,' said Bonnie. ‘I say, did I hear you talking about playing a trick on that horrid Miss Tallant.'

‘Yes,' said June, winking slyly at the others. ‘We are going to put a huge spider in her desk on Monday, but you must promise to keep it to yourself.'

‘Of course,' said Bonnie, clapping her hands together in excitement. ‘I shan't say a word. Oh, how I shall enjoy hearing her squeal!'

With that Bonnie went back to join Amy, and Freddie said, ‘See! Even more proof, if we needed it. What a nerve, coming over like that to try and get more information out of us.'

Pam looked thoughtful, and said, ‘I must say, she's a jolly convincing actress.'

‘Well, we'll see how convincing she is when she's been well and truly caught out,' said June, in a hard voice. ‘And then we will decide how to punish her.'

All of those who were in on the secret were looking forward to Miss Tallant's Drama class on Monday. As usual, Bonnie held the door open for the mistress, receiving a warm smile and a word of praise. June, who was watching Miss Tallant closely, thought that there was a triumphant glint in the mistress's eye as she walked towards her desk. She didn't go right up to it, though, noticed June, but stopped a few feet away from it—almost as if she was afraid that there was something unpleasant in there.

‘Sit down girls,' she said. The girls did as they were told and, for a moment, the mistress stood watching them, her eyes hard and cold. They seemed to linger on June, and, at last, she said, ‘June, please come out to the front of the class.'

June stood up, her head bowed so that the mistress would not see the little smile on her lips, and walked to the front of the room. Miss Tallant looked her up and down coldly, then said, ‘Please open the drawer of my desk.'

June put on a puzzled look, and said, ‘Open your drawer, Miss Tallant? But why?'

‘Don't ask questions, June,' said the mistress. ‘Just do as you are told.'

So June pulled open the drawer, noticing as she did so that Miss Tallant shrank back a little. Then the mistress peered over June's shoulder and said, ‘Now kindly remove the spider that is lurking in there.'

‘Spider? What spider?' said June, looking so puzzled, and so innocent, that Felicity had to clamp her lips tightly together to stop her laughter escaping.

‘The spider that I know very well you have hidden
there,' said Miss Tallant, a triumphant note in her voice.

‘Miss Tallant, I would never do such a thing!' said June, sounding so outraged that Freddie grinned. ‘Why, the very thought of playing a trick on a mistress is—'

‘June, your reputation for playing tricks and jokes on mistresses is well known to me,' interrupted Miss Tallant. ‘So please don't waste your breath. I know that you have put a spider in that drawer, and I insist that you remove it immediately. After you have done so, I shall inform you what your punishment is to be.'

‘But Miss Tallant, there is no spider there,' said June, looking down into the drawer. ‘See for yourself.'

Rather gingerly, Miss Tallant looked. ‘It must be hiding in one of the corners. Remove everything from the drawer, June, and put it on top of the desk.'

Obediently, June did so, then at last she stood back and said, ‘There is no spider there, Miss Tallant.'

Miss Tallant was reluctantly forced to agree that there wasn't, and she said crossly, ‘I believe that you have hidden it, just as you did the mouse. Turn out your pockets, at once.'

June turned out her pockets but, of course, there was no spider, and she said cheekily, ‘You're quite welcome to feel in them yourself, Miss Tallant, if you think that I am hiding anything else.'

But Miss Tallant had no intention at all of doing this. If she did find a spider in June's pocket, she would simply die! Yet she couldn't let this wretched girl get the better of her.

Miss Tallant had been reliably informed that June intended to put a spider in her drawer today, and she was going to punish her for it.

‘June, you will go to bed one hour early tonight,' said the mistress spitefully, and the fourth formers gasped in outrage.

‘You can't punish June without any evidence!' cried Susan, stung by the injustice of this, and Miss Tallant glared at her.

‘I can do anything I please,' she said in an icy tone, before turning back to June. ‘Put your belongings back in your pocket,' she said. ‘Then go back to your seat and we will get on with the lesson.'

Susan opened her mouth to protest again, but Felicity whispered, ‘Don't, Susan. You will only earn a punishment for yourself. We are going to have to think of some other way to defeat Miss Tallant.'

So, reluctantly, Susan remained silent.

June, meanwhile, stole a glance at Bonnie's face as she made her way back to her seat. The girl really
was
a good actress, for she looked just as shocked as everyone else. June made up her mind that she was going to tackle her later over her deceit—and, my goodness, wouldn't she give her something to look shocked about! The girl wasn't terribly upset about her punishment, though having to go to bed early was a frightful bore. But she
was
upset by the fact that the punishment was an unjust one. She intended to use her hour of peace and quiet to good purpose, however—in thinking up a way to get back at Miss Tallant!

‘Phew!' said Pam, when the girls emerged from the classroom. ‘What a lesson! How I dislike that woman.'

‘It's so terribly unfair!' cried Susan. ‘June is being punished for something that she hasn't even done.'

‘Don't worry about me, Susan,' said June. ‘The main thing is that it proved our suspicions are correct, and that Bonnie is giving our secrets away to Miss Tallant. Where
is
Bonnie, anyway?'

‘Oh, she stayed behind to help Miss Tallant tidy up the classroom,' said Nora. ‘But what's all this about Bonnie telling her our secrets?'

‘Of course, you don't know, do you?' said Felicity. And she and Susan told Nora, Julie and Lucy what had been happening.

They were very shocked, of course, and Lucy said gravely, ‘What are we going to do about it?'

‘Speak to her about it, of course,' said June. ‘And I vote we punish the little beast by sending her to Coventry.'

‘That will be a very hard punishment for her to bear, because Bonnie loves to chatter,' said Julie.

‘I wonder if Amy will stand out against the punishment?' said Nora. ‘After all, Bonnie is her friend.'

‘Well, if she does, then I'm afraid we shall have to send Amy to Coventry, too,' said Susan, her expression grim. ‘We'll tackle her in the common-room after tea tonight.'

So, after tea that night, the girls gathered in the common-room.

Susan was sitting with Felicity, Pam and a few others, and she said, ‘Well, I vote that we get this whole beastly
business over with as quickly as possible.'

The others agreed, and Susan called out, ‘Bonnie, can you come over here a minute, please? There is something we need to talk to you about.'

Surprised, Bonnie went over to Susan, who decided that it was no use beating about the bush, and said, ‘Bonnie, I need to ask you something. Have you been letting Miss Tallant in on some of our form's secrets?'

Bonnie gave a gasp, and said at once, ‘Of course not! What makes you ask such a thing, Susan?'

‘She's fibbing!' said June. ‘There's no one who can play innocent as well as Bonnie can. And we all know how good she is at acting.'

‘That's enough, June,' said Susan sharply. ‘The thing is, Bonnie, someone told Miss Tallant the name of the play that we are doing.'