Winter Term at Malory Towers (9 page)

‘And they sneaked to her about the mouse that I put in Olive's desk,' said June, who was far too angry to stay silent. ‘And we saw her with you in the library on the day of our meeting. She gave you a bar of chocolate.'

‘Yes, because she had asked me to do something for her, and said that she would give me a bar of chocolate if I did,' said Bonnie, who had turned pale. ‘It was all part of my plan to suck up to her.'

Freddie gave a harsh laugh. ‘Yes, but you went a little too far in your plan, didn't you? You decided that you had more to gain from being on Miss Tallant's side than ours.'

‘That's a horrid lie!' cried Bonnie, tears starting to her big, brown eyes.

‘Of course it is,' said Amy, entering the battle. ‘How dare you accuse Bonnie of such a thing?'

‘I realise that you want to stick up for your friend, Amy,' said Felicity. ‘But we know that Bonnie is the culprit. You see, we let her overhear us talking about June's plan to put a spider in Miss Tallant's desk. And, sure enough, word reached Miss Tallant's ears.'

‘But it wasn't me!' protested Bonnie, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks now. ‘I wasn't the only one who overheard you. Sylvia was there that night, and so was Olive. And Pam! It could just as easily have been one of them.'

Of course, the others knew that it wasn't Pam, for she had come up through the school with them and would never dream of such a thing. Felicity couldn't help glancing at Sylvia and Olive, though. Sylvia was looking extremely startled, while Olive wore her usual miserable expression.
Could
it have been one of them? She said to Bonnie, ‘All right then, you tell us what this mysterious job was that Miss Tallant asked you to do. Then, perhaps, we will believe you.'

But Bonnie had a stubborn streak, and she pursed her lips, saying through her tears, ‘I shan't tell you, for if you were true friends you would believe me, and wouldn't expect me to explain myself to you like this.'

‘So you are refusing to tell us?' said Susan, looking grave.

Bonnie's soft, brown curls shook as she nodded her head.

‘Don't be an ass, Bonnie!' begged Felicity. ‘Just tell us what Miss Tallant wanted you to do, and that will be an end to all of this.'

This time Bonnie shook her head, a stubborn set to her firm little chin.

‘Then I am afraid, Bonnie, that we will have to assume that you are the sneak,' said Susan heavily. ‘And your punishment is that you will be sent to Coventry. Not one girl in the form is to talk to you, or have anything to do with you, for a whole week.'

Then Amy surprised everyone by putting her arm around Bonnie's heaving shoulders, and saying loyally, ‘Well, I am not joining in your silly punishment, and I don't care if you send me to Coventry as well! Come along, Bonnie, let's go somewhere where we can be alone.'

With that, she led the weeping girl from the room and, as the door closed behind them, Susan grimaced and said, ‘Well, that was simply beastly, but it had to be done.'

Most of the others agreed at once, but Felicity remained silent. She remembered how Bonnie had played a big part in reuniting Julie with her missing horse, Jack, last term. The girl had certainly proved her loyalty to the form then. And there were several other past incidents when Bonnie had shown that, although she could be rather unscrupulous when it came to getting what she wanted, she was absolutely straight and honest—in her own, rather strange way!

Oh dear, thought Felicity, I do hope that we haven't made a dreadful mistake!

Several days later Felicity and Susan learned some startling news. It was a pleasant, if cold, afternoon, and the two of them were wrapped up in coats, hats and scarves as they walked through the grounds.

‘I shall be glad when Bonnie's period of Coventry is over,' said Susan with a sigh. ‘It really is horrible. And it is making things awfully difficult as far as the play is concerned, for I can't discuss the costumes with her until I can speak to her again.'

‘Yes, but even when we are allowed to speak to Bonnie again, things will never be the same,' said Felicity thoughtfully. ‘For this incident will always be at the back of our minds. It's a shame, because although I didn't like Bonnie much when she first came to Malory Towers, I've grown quite fond of her now.'

‘Yes, she has many good qualities, although she has a funny way of going about things sometimes,' said Susan. ‘Still, I suppose that no one is completely good, or completely bad. And once Bonnie's punishment is over, we shall all have to do our best to try to forget what she has done, and help her try to make amends.'

Just then, the two girls saw a figure coming towards
them, and both groaned inwardly. For it was none other than Miss Tallant!

‘Susan!' said the mistress sharply, as she drew level with the two girls. ‘I understand that you took a book about play production from my desk yesterday, without permission. Not a very good example for a head-girl to set her form.'

Susan flushed bright red. She had sneaked the book from Miss Tallant's desk, for she knew very well that the mistress did not like her, and would certainly have refused to lend it to her if she had asked.

She had flicked through it in the common-room yesterday evening, and had meant to put it back on Miss Tallant's desk this morning, before the mistress even realised it had gone. But, alas for Susan, she had completely forgotten about it, and now she could have kicked herself!

‘Kindly ask permission before borrowing anything again, Susan,' said Miss Tallant coldly. ‘And please bring the book to me in the mistresses' common-room before prep this evening.'

‘When I will no doubt be given lines, or some other beastly punishment!' muttered Susan as the mistress walked briskly away. ‘Blow! Why didn't I remember to put it back this morning?'

‘Susan,' said Felicity, with a frown. ‘How did Miss Tallant know that you had taken her book?'

‘Well, she noticed it wasn't there, I suppose,' said Susan, shrugging.

‘Yes, I know
that
,' said Felicity, a little impatiently. ‘But
how did she know that
you
took it, when it could have been any one of us fourth formers?'

‘Golly, I didn't think of that!' exclaimed Susan. ‘Well, there is only one explanation. Bonnie must have been tittle-tattling again. Which means that, even after being sent to Coventry, she
still
hasn't learned her lesson! Honestly, that girl is a glutton for punishment!'

‘Half a minute, though!' said Felicity. ‘Bonnie couldn't have known that it was you who took the book, for she wasn't there when you took it. I was, and so were Pam and Nora—but not Bonnie.'

Susan thought this over for a moment, then said, ‘But she
was
in the common-room last night, while I was sitting there reading it. I noticed that she kept glaring across at me, and thought it was because she was still sore at being ignored by everyone. But, of course, she must have been planning to tell on me to Miss Tallant all along.'

Felicity brooded on this as the two girls walked on. They had almost walked as far as the stables, and could see a slim, red-haired girl patting the nose of one of the horses, who had stuck his head over the stable door.

‘I say, there's old Clarissa!' cried Susan. ‘Hi, Clarissa!'

The girl turned her head, smiling when she saw Felicity and Susan coming towards her. ‘Hallo, you two!' she said brightly. ‘You only just caught me. I've just been to see Miss Peters, and was about to go back to Five Oaks.'

‘How are things at Five Oaks?' asked Susan. ‘Bill all right?'

The three chatted together for a while, then Clarissa
said, ‘I met that new teacher of yours in town, the other day—Miss Tallant. We had quite a chat.'

‘Really?' said Felicity. ‘How did you come to meet her, Clarissa?'

‘Well, I was in the little tea-shop, waiting for Bill, and Miss Tallant sat down at the table next to mine. I didn't realise who she was at first, of course, but then we fell into conversation. Very pleasant woman!'

Felicity and Susan exchanged startled glances and, noticing this, Clarissa laughed. ‘Do I detect that Miss Tallant is not very popular?'

‘She's extremely
un
popular!' said Susan, pulling a face.

She and Felicity went on to tell Clarissa about some of the things Miss Tallant had done, and Clarissa exclaimed in surprise. ‘Well, I never! She seemed awfully nice when she was talking to me. And, having a niece of her own here, you would think that she would know the best way to handle young girls.'

‘A
niece
!' exclaimed the two girls in unison, completely taken aback.

‘Well, that's the first we've heard of it!' said Felicity. ‘Who is this niece, Clarissa? Which form is she in?'

‘Why, the fourth form,' answered Clarissa. ‘Apparently she has just started this term.' Clarissa soon went on her way, leaving Felicity and Susan to stare at one another in horror.

‘You know what this means, don't you, Felicity?' said Susan in a very serious tone.

‘Yes,' said Felicity, also sounding very grave. ‘Either
Sylvia or Olive is Miss Tallant's niece. And whichever one of them it is must also be the person who has been sneaking to her.'

‘Which means that we accused poor little Bonnie unjustly,' said Susan, with a groan. ‘I feel simply dreadful! Felicity, we must round up the others at once, and call a form meeting.'

‘Of course,' said Felicity. ‘Wait a minute, though! There are two of the others that we don't want at our meeting—Sylvia and Olive themselves. Whichever one of them is the mysterious niece, she obviously doesn't want anyone to know about the connection. And if we ask straight out she is likely to deny it.'

‘Yes,' said Susan, looking thoughtful. ‘We need to set a trap for her, just as we did for Bonnie. And this time we need to make sure that nothing goes wrong.'

Susan called a meeting of the North Tower fourth formers in one of the music-rooms that evening. Sylvia and Olive, alone in the common-room, wondered where everyone had disappeared to.

‘Perhaps there's a debate in the hall, or a slide show, or something,' said Sylvia, sounding puzzled. ‘Though I'm quite sure I would have remembered. Do you know where they can all be, Olive?'

Olive shook her head and hoped that Sylvia wasn't going to chatter all evening. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

‘They can't be holding a rehearsal for the play,' Sylvia went on. ‘Or we would have been invited too. Perhaps
they're planning some sort of trick, and don't want to let us in on it.'

Olive's ears pricked up at this. ‘Perhaps they are,' she said, sounding more friendly. ‘Jolly mean of them to leave us out.'

‘Well, they know that I'm not awfully fond of jokes and tricks,' said Sylvia. ‘I wish that I was, but I never seem to see the funny side of things.'

‘I say! Perhaps they are planning to play a trick on us,' said Olive. ‘That would explain why they don't want us involved.'

Sylvia looked extremely dismayed at this, and said, ‘Surely they wouldn't be so mean?'

‘They probably just see it as a bit of fun, and don't think that it's mean at all,' said Olive. ‘All the same, after that business with the mouse, I don't really want to be the victim of another of June's pranks. I vote that we go and look for them, Sylvia, and see if we can overhear what they are up to.'

‘That seems rather sneaky, don't you think?' said Sylvia, looking rather uncomfortable.

‘Nonsense! They are the ones who are being sneaky, plotting things behind our backs,' said Olive. ‘Come on, Sylvia! Imagine how uncomfortable you are going to feel tomorrow, knowing that something may be going to happen to you, but not knowing where or when. Why, you'll be on tenterhooks.'

This was quite true. Sylvia really did find the thought of a trick being played on her quite horrid. So, reluctantly,
she stood up and said, ‘Very well. Let's see if we can track them down.'

But the fourth formers had hidden themselves well. Susan had chosen a music-room right at the top of North Tower, which hardly anybody used. There was no glass in the door, and once all the girls had filed in, she locked the door behind them.

Bonnie had been most surprised to be invited to this meeting, and had said to Susan, ‘I thought you weren't supposed to speak to me.'

‘Yes, well, I'm afraid there's been a bit of a misunderstanding, Bonnie,' Susan had said, turning red. ‘Amy is invited too, of course. I'll explain it all to you both later, at the meeting.'

Bonnie had shrugged, and said, ‘You may not get the chance. I don't know if I shall bother turning up.'

And with that, she had walked off, her little nose in the air.

But curiosity had got the better of Bonnie, and now she was in the little music-room with all the others, waiting to hear what Susan had to say.

‘It's awfully cramped in here,' complained Amy. ‘And it smells dreadfully musty.'

‘Well, I shall be as quick as possible,' said Susan. ‘Then we can all go back to the comfort of the common-room.'

‘I say, Susan, Sylvia and Olive aren't here,' said Julie.

‘They weren't invited,' said Felicity. ‘And you will understand why, in a moment.'

Swiftly, Susan told the fourth formers what she and
Felicity had learned from Clarissa, and, of course, there was a perfect outcry.

‘I wish I knew which one of them it was!'

‘Yes, wouldn't I like to tell her what I think of her.'

‘To think that she let us blame poor Bonnie,' said June, who was feeling rather ashamed of herself, for she had been the first to accuse Bonnie. She went up to the girl now and held out her hand, saying forthrightly, ‘I'm most terribly sorry, Bonnie. I should have known that you wouldn't betray the form like that. I just hope that you will accept my apology.'

Bonnie stared solemnly at June and, for a moment, the others thought that she was going to reject the girl's frank apology. But then she smiled and took June's hand, and a sigh of relief went round the room.

‘We are all very sorry, Bonnie,' said Susan. ‘We misjudged you badly, and we will all do what we can to make it up to you. Amy, too, for we sent her to Coventry as well. She was the only one who had the good sense to realise that you couldn't possibly have been the sneak, and she was courageous and loyal in sticking by you.'

Amy, unaccustomed to being praised for these good qualities, found herself turning quite pink with pleasure, and graciously inclined her head.

‘Well, thank goodness that is sorted out, at least,' said Felicity, thankfully. ‘Jolly decent of you to forgive us, Bonnie.'

Bonnie smiled and said, ‘I shall expect you all to make it up to me, though, just as Susan said. You are all to be
especially nice to me this term.'

‘We shall be,' said Pam, giving the girl a pat.

‘Bonnie,' said Freddie. ‘What
was
the job that you were doing for Miss Tallant? The one that she gave you the chocolate for?'

‘It was nothing, really,' said Bonnie. ‘She had torn her skirt, and I mended it for her, because she doesn't like sewing. That's all.'

‘But why on earth didn't you tell us this in the first place?' said Julie, astonished. ‘It would have saved so much unpleasantness.'

Bonnie's little rosebud mouth set in a stubborn line, and she lifted her chin.

‘I was cross,' she said. ‘Because you thought I was a sneak. And when I get cross I can be awfully stubborn. I thought that you should have believed me, without me having to prove myself.'

‘Well, you were quite right,' said Nora. ‘But now, the question is, what are we going to do about finding out which of the new girls is Miss Tallant's niece?'

‘We shall all have to put our thinking caps on,' said Lucy. ‘June, you are usually good at coming up with ideas.'

June, who had been looking rather thoughtful, said, ‘I'm afraid someone else will have to think of something, for I have another thing on my mind.'

‘What?' asked the others, curiously.

‘I'm going to get my own back on Miss Tallant,' said June. ‘I don't know how yet, but I'm going to play the biggest, best trick that I have ever played—on her. If only
I knew what her weaknesses are.'

‘Well, we know that she doesn't care for mice and spiders, and things like that,' said Felicity.

‘Yes, but we have already used those this term,' said June. ‘And I do like to be original.'

‘There is something that she is even more afraid of,' piped up Bonnie. ‘She was talking to me one day when I helped her to tidy the classroom, and I happen to know that Miss Tallant is simply terrified of ghosts.'

‘Really?' said June, her quick brain turning over all sorts of ideas instantly. ‘How very interesting!'

‘How silly of her,' said Susan, rather scornfully. ‘There are no such things as ghosts.'

‘Well,' said Bonnie. ‘Miss Tallant says that she once saw one. It nearly frightened the life out of her.'

‘I believe in ghosts,' said Nora, her eyes big and scared-looking. ‘I remember once, when I was little—'

‘Tell us another time, Nora,' said Susan, who didn't particularly want to spend the rest of the evening in this cramped, musty little room, listening to ghost stories. ‘We really should get back to the common-room now, for it won't be long until bedtime.'