1 darrell goes back to school with felicity

darrell rivers was very excited. it was the day to return to malory towers, her boarding-school—and this time she was taking her young sister felicity with her.

felicity stood on the front steps beside her fifteen-year-old sister, dressed in the same brown and orange uniform, feeling excited, too. she was almost thirteen, and should have gone to malory towers two terms before, but she had been ill and had to stay at home.

now it was the summer term, and she was to go with darrell at last. she had heard so much about her sister’s school—the fun they had there, the classrooms overlooking the sea, the four towers in which the two hundred and fifty girls slept, the great swimming-pool hollowed out of the rocks on the shore . . . there was no end to the things that darrell had told her.

“it’s a good thing we’re going by train this time, not by car,” said darrell. “you’ll travel down with the girls then, and get to know some of them. sally’s going by train, too.”

sally was darrell’s best friend, and had been ever since her first term at malory towers almost four years ago.

“i hope i get a friend like sally,” said felicity, nervously. “i’m shyer than you, darrell. i’m sure i shall never pluck up enough courage to speak to anyone! and if miss potts gets cross with me i shall sink through the floor!”

miss potts was the first-form mistress, and also the house mistress for north tower, the tower to which darrell belonged, and to which her young sister would go, too.

“oh, you needn’t be afraid of potty,” said darrell, with a laugh, quite forgetting how scared she had been of her when she was in the first form. “dear old potty—she’s a good sort.”

their father’s car drew up at the front door, and the two girls ran down the steps. mr. rivers looked at them and smiled.

“both off this time!” he said. “well, i remember quite well darrell going off alone for the first time almost four years ago. she was twelve then—now you’re fifteen, aren’t you, darrell!”

“yes,” said darrell, getting into the car with felicity. “and i remember you saying to me, ‘you’ll get a lot out of malory towers—see that you put a lot back!’?”

“daddy’s said that to me, too,” said felicity. “i’m jolly lucky to have an older sister to show me round—though honestly i feel as if i know every corner of malory towers already.”

“now, where’s mother?” said her father, and he hooted the horn. “really, this is a dreadful family to collect. if your mother appears in good time, one of you girls is missing, and if you girls are here, your mother is not! we shall miss the train if we don’t look out!”

usually they went all the way down to cornwall to malory towers by car, but this time it was impossible, so mr. rivers was driving them up to london and seeing them off in the school-train. felicity had sometimes been to see her sister off by train, and had felt scared of all the girls chattering and laughing on the platform—now this time she was actually going to be one of them! she hugged her tennis-racket to her and thought joyfully of the coming term.

mrs. rivers came running down the steps, looking very pretty in a simple grey suit with a little blue blouse. darrell and felicity looked at her proudly. parents mattered a lot when you were at boarding-school! everyone wanted to be proud of the way their fathers and mothers looked and spoke and behaved. it was dreadful if a mother came in a silly hat, or if a father came looking very untidy.

“my dear, we were just going without you,” said mr. rivers. “now—have we really got everything? last time we got five miles on the way and then you said you’d forgotten darrell’s night-case.”

“yes, we’ve got everything, daddy,” said darrell. “i’ve checked every single thing—night-cases, with brush-and-comb, tooth-brush and paste, night-things, health certificate, everything! tennis-rackets to carry, and bowler hats for riding! we can’t pack those, they’re too awkward.”

felicity glanced round to see if her new bowler hat was there, too. she felt very proud of it. she had only had a jockey-cap before.

they set off in the car to drive to london. felicity’s heart sank a little as her home disappeared from view. three whole months before she would see it again! then she cheered up as darrell began chatting about the girls.

“i hope bill will arrive with all her seven brothers on horseback,” she said. “it’s such a sight to see them all galloping up the school drive. bill was supposed to come in her parents’ car the first term she came, but she slipped off, got her horse, thunder, and came with all her brothers on their horses, too!”

“bill’s real name is wilhemina, isn’t it?” said felicity, remembering. “do even the mistresses call her bill?”

“some of them,” said darrell. “not the head, of course. and miss williams, our fourth-form mistress doesn’t either. she’s a bit starchy—very prim and proper, but i like her now. i didn’t at first.”

it didn’t seem long before they were all on the station platform, finding their way between hosts of excited girls to a north tower carriage. felicity felt shy and nervous. oh, dear—so many girls, and they all knew one another, and she didn’t know anyone. oh, yes, she did—there was sally, darrell’s friend, coming towards her, smiling.

“hallo, darrell, hallo, felicity—so you’re really coming to malory towers at last. jolly good! wish i was coming for the first time too, so that i would have years and years of it in front of me, like you. you don’t know how lucky you are!”

“i remember someone saying that to me on my first day,” said darrell. “i was twelve then—now i’m going on for sixteen. gosh, how old!”

“yes—and don’t forget we’ll feel jolly old before this term’s out!” said a familiar voice behind darrell. “we’ve all got to work for school certificate! my hair will be quite grey by the end of term!”

“hallo, alicia!” said darrell, warmly. “did you have good hols? look, this is my young sister, felicity. she’s a new girl this term.”

“is she really?” said alicia. “well, i must find my cousin then. she’s a new girl this term, too. now where is she? i’ve lost her twice already!”

she disappeared, and sally and darrell laughed. they were sure that alicia wouldn’t bother much about any new-girl cousin! however, she appeared again almost at once bringing with her a twelve-year-old girl, very like her.

“this is june,” she said. “you might as well make friends with felicity, june, because you’ll see plenty of her this term and for a good many years to come! though whether felicity will want to see much of you after she knows you well is very doubtful.”

darrell looked at alicia to see whether she meant this or not. you never knew with sharp-tongued alicia! june looked all right, and had a very determined chin and mouth. a bit domineering, darrell thought—but being in the bottom form of the school didn’t give you much chance for that kind of thing. the older girls just sat on you hard if you didn’t keep your place.

“look!” said alicia, nudging darrell and sally. “there’s gwendoline mary—come by train instead of car—and staging the same old scene as ever!”

felicity and june turned to see. they saw a fair-haired girl with large, pale blue eyes, saying good-bye to her mother and her old governess. it was a very sentimental farewell, and a lot of sniffing was going on.

“gwendoline always does that,” said alicia in disgust. “at her age, too! you can forgive a first-former going away from home for the first time—but a fifteen-year-old, no!”

“well, it doesn’t last long,” said sally. “gwendoline won’t even bother to remember to wave to her mother, i’m sure, once she gets into the carriage.”

sally’s mother was talking to darrell’s parents. there were no tears or protestations there! darrell was thankful that her mother and father were so sensible. she looked at felicity, and was pleased to see her young sister looking interested and happy.

more girls came up and surrounded darrell and the others. “hallo! had good hols? i say, is this your young sister? has she got a temper like yours, darrell?”

this was from irene, harum-scarum as usual, her night-case coming undone, and her coat lacking a button already.

“well—felicity has got a temper,” said darrell, with a laugh. “all our family have. i don’t expect felicity will show hers much though. she’ll be too shy her first term.”

“i don’t know about that!” said sally, slyly. “i seem to remember you going off the deep end properly in your first term, darrell! who sent me flying to the ground that first-half-term—and who gave dear gwendoline some very hearty slaps in the swimming-pool?”

“oh, dear—yes, i was dreadful,” said darrell, and she blushed. “really awful. i’m sure felicity will never do anything like that.”

“my cousin’s got a bit of a temper, too,” said alicia, with a grin. “she’s only got brothers, and you should hear them shout and yell at one another when they disagree.”

“here’s miss potts,” said sally, as the first-form mistress came up with a list in her hand. “hallo, miss potts, have you collected everyone?”

“yes, i think so,” said miss potts, “except irene. oh there you are, irene. i suppose it didn’t occur to you to come and report your arrival to me? thank goodness belinda is going by car. that’s one less scatterbrain to see to. now, you’d better get into your carriages. there are only four more minutes to go.”

there was a scramble into the carriages. sally and darrell pulled felicity into theirs. “the new girls are supposed to go with potty in her carriage,” said darrell, “but we’ll let you come in ours. good-bye, mother, good-bye, daddy! we’ll write on sunday and tell you all the news.”

“good-bye!” said felicity, in rather a small voice.

“thanks for lovely hols.”

“thank goodness we haven’t got gwendoline in our carriage,” said alicia. “we are at least spared the history of all her uninteresting family, and what happened to them last hols. even her dogs are uninteresting!”

everyone laughed. the guard blew his whistle. doors slammed, and the train moved off slowly. parents and girls waved madly. darrell sank back into her seat.

“off to malory towers again!” she said, joyfully. “good old malory towers!”