Part 1 (2/2)

'I can't find her anywhere, Mother,' she said. 'Can you wait a bit?'

'No, we can't,' said Mr. Rivers, impatiently. 'I've got to get back. Tell Felicity we waited to say good-bye. We must go.'

He gave Darrell a hug and then she hugged her mother, too. Mr. Rivers put in the clutch and the car moved slowly off.

There was a shriek behind him. 'Daddy! Don't go without saying good-bye!' Felicity appeared from nowhere and leapt on to the running-board. 'You were going without saying good-bye. You were!'

'I was,' said her father, with a grin exactly like Darrell's. 'Can't wait about for girls who forget their mother and father a quarter of a minute after arriving.'

'I didn't forget you, of course I didn't,' protested Felicity, still hanging on the running-board. I just wanted to go and see our form-room. It's all been done up in the hols and looks super. Good-bye, Daddy.' She gave him a bear-hug that almost knocked off his hat.

She ran round to the other side and gave her mother a hug, too. I'll write on Sunday. Give my love to Cook and Jane and the gardener, and the dogs, and . . .'

The car was moving! 'Jump off unless you want to come back home again!' called her father. 'If you do, get in at the back!'

But she didn't want to! She jumped off, laughing. She and Darrell stood waving as the car made its way slowly down the crowded drive. Then it moved out of the gate with other cars, and was gone.

Felicity turned to Darrell with s.h.i.+ning eyes. 'Isn't it fun to be back again? Did you feel like that your second term, Darrell? I'm not nervous or shy any more as I was last term. I belong now. I know everyone. It's smas.h.i.+ng!'

She tore up the steps at top speed and collided with Mam'zelle Dupont.

'Tiens! Another mad girl! Felicity, I will not have you . . .'

But Felicity was gone. Mam'zelle's face broke into a smile as she gazed after her. 'These girls! Anyone would think they were glad to be back.'

2 MORE ARRIVALS.

THE first day of term and the last day were always exciting. n.o.body bothered about rules and regulations, everyone talked at the tops of their voices, and as for walking down the corridors or up the stairs, well it just wasn't done, except by the staid sixth-formers and the mistresses.

It was fun to go and see what bed you had in the dormy, and whose bed was next to yours. It was fun to go and peep into your cla.s.sroom and see if it looked any different. It was fun to say how-do-you-do to all the mistresses, and especially to tease Mam'zelle Dupont. Not Mam'zelle Rougier, though, the other French mistress. She was as sharp as Mam'zelle Dupont was simple, and as irritable as the other was good-tempered. n.o.body ever teased Mam'zelle Rougier.

Darrell went to look for the rest of her friends in the fifth form. Fifth form! How grand it sounded! She was actually in the fifth now, with only one more form to go into. Oh dear - she was certainly getting very grown-up.

Alicia and Sally came up, with Irene and Belinda. 'Let's go and see our new cla.s.sroom,' said Darrell. 'The fifth! My goodness!'

They all went along together. The new cla.s.sroom was an extremely nice one, high up and overlooking the cliff. Down below was the blue Cornish sea, as blue as cornflowers today, the waves tipped with snowy white.

'I say - this is a wizard room, isn't it?' said Alicia, looking round. 'Lovely windows and view - nice pictures - and all done up in cream and green.'

'Any new girls, does anyone know?' asked Darrell, leaning out of the window and sniffing the salty sea air.

'There's someone called Maureen coming,' said Irene. 'I heard about her. The school she was at shut down suddenly, when the Head died - and she's coming here. I don't know anything about her, though.'

'I suppose you're coming into the fifth, Alicia?' said Sally. I mean - I know Connie's been left down in the fourth because she didn't pa.s.s her School Cert. - and you didn't either, because you had the measles. But surely you won't be left down?'

'Oh no. I'm up all right!' said Alicia. 'Gosh, I wouldn't have come back if I hadn't been put up with the rest of you. Miss Grayling wrote to Mother and said I could pa.s.s School Cert. on my head any time I liked - and I could go up into the fifth with you, and work for School Cert. on the side, so to speak.'

'Anyone left down with us from the old fifth form?' asked Darrell.

'Yes - Catherine Gray and Moira Linton,' said Irene, promptly. There were groans from the others.

'Oh I say - two of the worst of them!' said Sally. 'I never did like Moira - hard, domineering creature! Why has she been left down?'

'Well, actually she's a year young for the sixth,' said Irene, 'so they said she'd better stay down a year - but personally I think she was so unpopular that they just dropped her thankfully and went on without her!'

'What about Catherine?' asked Sally.

'She hasn't been well,' said Irene. 'Worked herself too hard, or something. She's pretty pious, isn't she? I don't really know much about her. She's one of those girls that don't make much impression from a distance.'

'Well, as far as we're concerned that's like three new girls then,' said Darrell. 'Catherine, Moira and Maureen. Who'll be head-girl?'

'You or Sally,' said Irene, promptly.

'No. I don't think so,' said Darrell. 'I imagine it will have to be either Catherine or Moira - after all, they've been fifth-formers for ages. It wouldn't be fair to put an ex-fourth-former over them at once.'

'No. You're right,' said Alicia. 'Gosh, I hope it isn't Moira then. She does love to get her own way! Did you hear how she set all the second-formers a long poem to learn last term, to go and say at Monitors' Meeting, just because one of them wrote a poem about her, and n.o.body would own up to it? Every single one of them had to learn ”Kublai Khan”. They did howl about it!'

'Yes. I remember now,' said Darrell. 'Oh well, I dare say we shall manage Moira all right.'

'If you don't lose your temper with her too often!' said Irene, with a sly grin. Darrell's hot temper was well known. She had tried to conquer it for terms and terms, and just when she prided herself on really having got the better of it at last, out it came again.

Darrell looked ruefully at the others. 'Yes. I'll have to be careful. I lost it really well last term, didn't I, Alicia, with that brazen young cousin of yours, June. I hope she behaves better this term!'

'She came to stay with us in the hols,' said Alicia. 'I've got three brothers, you know - and when June actually dared to disobey Sam, he gave her the choice of being spanked twenty times with her own hair-brush or running round our paddock twenty times each day!'

'And which did she choose?' asked everyone.

'Oh, running round the paddock, of course,' said Alicia. 'And Mother was awfully surprised to see her going round and round it each day like that. She thought she was training for sports or something! Sam stood and watched her, grinning like anything. So she may be better this term!'

'She can do with a lot of improvement!' said Darrell. 'I say - what in the world's that?'

It was the sound of thunderous hooves out in the drive somewhere - so thunderous that the noise even came round to the back of Malory Towers and was heard in the cla.s.sroom where the five girls stood listening.

'I know! It's old Bill back - and her brothers have brought her as usual - all on horseback!' cried Belinda, rus.h.i.+ng out of the room. 'Come along - let's go into the art-room and look out of the window. We can see the drive from there.'

They were soon leaning out of the high window. They saw a sight, which they had already seen two or three times before, and were never tired of!

Wilhelmina, called Bill for short, had arrived on her horse, Thunder - and accompanying her were six of her seven brothers, all on horseback, too. What a sight they were, six well-grown boys, ranging from seventeen down to ten, with Bill, their sister, in the midst.

'Woa there! Now then, quiet, quiet!'

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