3 the first evening

darrell went back to her own dormy to unpack her night-things, feeling puzzled and cross. she had so much looked forward to taking felicity round and showing her her dormy, her bed and every single thing. how could her young sister have gone off with june and not waited for her?

“did you find felicity?” asked alicia.

“yes,” said darrell, shortly. “she’d gone off with that cousin of yours—what’s her name—june. it struck me as rather extraordinary. you’d think these youngsters would wait for us to take them round a bit. i know i’d have been glad to have a sister or a cousin here, the first term i came.”

“oh, june can stand on her own feet very well,” said alicia. “she’s a hard and determined little monkey. she’ll always find things out for herself—and as for taking her under my wing, i wouldn’t dream of putting anyone so prickly and uncomfortable there! wait till you hear her argue! she can talk the hind leg off a donkey.”

“i don’t like the sound of her much,” said darrell, hoping that june wouldn’t take felicity under her wing. surely felicity wouldn’t like anyone like june!

“no. she’s a bit brazen,” said alicia. “we all are! fault of my family, you know.”

darrell looked at alicia. she didn’t sound as if she minded it being a fault—in fact she spoke rather as if she were proud of it. certainly alicia was sharp-tongued and hard, though her years at malory towers had done a great deal to soften her. the trouble was that alicia’s brains and health were too good! she could always beat anyone else if she wanted to, without any effort at all—and darrell didn’t think she had ever had even a chilblain or a headache in her life. so she was always very scornful of illness or weakness in any form as well as contemptuous of stupidity.

darrell determined to see as much of felicity as she could. she wasn’t going to have her taken in tow by any brazen cousin of alicia’s. felicity was young and shy, and more easily led than darrell. darrell felt quite fiercely protective towards her, as she thought of the cheeky, determined young june.

they all unpacked their night-cases and set out their things for the night. their trunks, most of them sent on in advance, would not be unpacked till the next day. darrell looked round her dormy, glad to be back.

it was a nice dormy, with a lovely view of the sea, which was as deep blue as a delphinium that evening. far away the girls could hear the faint plash-plash of waves on the rocks. darrell thought joyfully of the lovely swimming-pool, and her heart lifted in delight at the thought of the summer term stretching before her—nicest term in the year!

the beds stood in a row along the dormy, each with its own coloured eiderdown. at the ends of the dormy were hot and cold water taps and basins.

irene was splashing in one basin, removing the dust of the journey. she always arrived dirtier than anyone else. no one would ever guess that the scatter-brain was a perfect genius at music and maths, and quite good at her other lessons too! everyone liked irene, and everyone laughed at her.

she was humming a tune now as she washed. “tumty-tooty-tumpty-tooty, ta, ta, ta!”

“oh, irene—don’t say we’re going to have that tune for weeks,” groaned gwendoline, who always complained that irene’s continual humming and singing got on her nerves.

irene took no notice at all, which maddened gwendoline, who loved to be in the limelight if she possibly could.

“irene,” she began, but at that moment the door opened and in came two new girls, ushered by matron.

“girls—here are the batten twins,” she said in her genial voice. “connie—and ruth. they are fourth-formers and will be in this dormy. look after them, sally and darrell, will you?”

the girls stood up to look at the twins. their first thought was—how unlike for twins!

connie was bigger, fatter, sturdier and bolder-looking than ruth, who was a good deal smaller, and rather shy-looking. connie smiled broadly and nodded to everyone. ruth hardly raised her head to look round, and as soon as she could she stood a little way behind her sister.

“hallo, twins!” said alicia. “welcome to the best dormy in the school! those must be your beds up there—the two empty ones together.”

“got your night-cases?” said darrell. “good. well, if you’d like to unpack them now, you can. supper will be ready soon. the bell will go any minute.”

“hope it’s good,” said connie, with a comradely grin. “i’m frightfully hungry. it’s ages since we had tea.”

“yes—we get a wizard supper the first evening,” said sally. “i can smell it now!”

connie and ruth put their noses in the air and sniffed hungrily.

“the bisto twins!” said alicia, hitting the nail right on the head as usual. everyone laughed.

“come on,” said connie to ruth. “let’s hurry. i’ve got the keys. here they are.”

she undid both bags and dragged out everything quickly. ruth picked up a few things and looked round rather helplessly.

“here. these must be our drawers, next to our beds,” said connie, and began to put away all the things most efficiently. she took the washing-things to the basin and called ruth.

“come on, ruth. we’d better wash. i’m filthy!” ruth went to join her, and just as they were towelling themselves dry, the supper-bell went. there was a loud chorus of joy.

“hurrah! i hope there’s a smashing supper. i could do with roast duck, green peas, new potatoes, treacle pudding and lots of cheese,” said belinda, making everyone’s mouth water.

“what a hope!” said darrell.

but all the same there was a most delicious supper that first night—cold ham and tomatoes, great bowls of salad, potatoes roasted in their jackets, cold apple pie and cream, and biscuits and butter for those who wanted it. big jugs of icy-cold lemonade stood along the table.

“my word!” said connie to ruth. “if this is the kind of food we get here, we’ll be lucky! much better than the other school we went to!”

“i hate to undeceive you,” said alicia, “but i feel i must warn you that first-night and last-night suppers are the only good ones you’ll get in any term. we’re supposed to be jolly hungry after our long journeys to cornwall—hence this spread. tomorrow night, twins, you’ll have bread and dripping and cocoa.”

as usual alicia was exaggerating, and the twins looked rather alarmed. darrell looked round for felicity. where was she? she couldn’t have her at the upper fourth table, of course, but she hoped she would be near enough to say a word to.

she was too far away to speak to—and she was next to that nasty little june! june was talking to her animatedly, and felicity was listening, enthralled.

alicia saw darrell looking across at felicity and june. “they’ve soon settled in!” she said to darrell. “look at young felicity listening to june. you should hear the tales june can tell of her family! they’re all madcaps, like mine.”

darrell remembered how interesting and amusing alicia could be when she produced one of her endless yarns about her happy-go-lucky, mischievous family. she supposed that june was the same—but all the same she felt rather hurt that felicity should apparently need her so little.

“well, if she thinks she can get on by herself, all right!” thought darrell. “i suppose it’s best for her really—though i can’t help feeling a bit disappointed. i suppose that horrid little june will find out everything she needs to know and show felicity the swimming-pool, the gardens, the stables, and all the things i’d planned to show her.”

felicity badly wanted to go to darrell after supper and ask her a few things, but as soon as she said she was going, june pulled her back.

“you mustn’t!” said june. “don’t you know how the older ones hate having young sisters and cousins tagging after them? everyone will be bored with us if we go tailing after alicia and darrell. in fact, alicia told me i’d jolly well better look after myself, because first-formers were such small fry we weren’t even worth taking notice of!”

“how horrid of her,” said felicity. “darrell’s not like that.”

“they all are, the big ones,” said june in a grown-up voice. “and why should they be bothered with us? we’ve got to learn to stand on our own feet, haven’t we? no—you wait till your sister comes over to you. if she doesn’t, you’ll know she doesn’t want to be bothered—and if she does, well don’t make her feel you’re dependent on her and want taking under her wing. she’ll respect you much more if you stand on your own feet. she looks as if she stood on her own all right!”

“she does,” said felicity. “yes, perhaps you’re right, june. i’ve often heard darrell speak scornfully of people who can’t stand on their own feet, or make up their own minds. after all—most new girls haven’t got sisters to see to them. i suppose i shouldn’t expect mine to nurse me, just because i’ve come to a new school.”

june looked at her so approvingly that felicity couldn’t help feeling pleased. “i’m glad you’re not a softy,” said june “i was afraid you might be. hallo—here comes darrell after all. now, don’t weep on her shoulder.”

“as if i should!” said felicity, indignantly. she smiled at darrell as she came over.

“hallo, felicity. getting on all right?” said darrell, kindly. “want any help or advice with anything?”

“thanks awfully, darrell—but i’m getting on fine,” said felicity, wishing all the same that she might ask darrell a few things.

“like to come and see the swimming-pool?” said darrell. “we might just have time.”

darrell had forgotten that the first-formers had to go to bed almost immediately after supper on the first night. but june knew it. she answered for felicity.

“we’ve got to go to bed, so felicity won’t be able to see it tonight,” she said, coolly. “we planned to go down tomorrow before breakfast. the tide will be in then. i’ve asked.”

“i was speaking to felicity, not to you,” said darrell, in the haughty tones of a fourth-former. “don’t get too big for your boots, june, or you’ll be sat on.” she turned to felicity and spoke rather coldly.

“well, i’m glad you’re settling down, felicity. sorry you’re not in my dormy, but only fourth-formers are there, of course.”

a bell rang loudly. “our bedtime bell,” said june, who appeared to know everything. “we’d better go. i’ll look after felicity for you, darrell.”

and with that the irrepressible june linked her arm in felicity’s and dragged her off. darrell was boiling with rage. she gazed angrily after the two girls, and was only slightly mollified when felicity turned round and gave her a sweet and rather apologetic smile.

“the brazen cheek of that little pest of a june!” thought darrell. “i’ve never wanted to slap anyone so much in my life.”