Friday, December 15, 2006

The School for Scruff: 13.

I was woken in the morning by someone tipping my bed up so I rolled out of it and onto the floor. I looked up to see which of my fellow students had done it and saw Matron.
That figured. I'd overslept.
"Assembly!" Matron said. I made a grab for my uniform, but Matron dragged me away before I could grab anything.
I've never turned up at an assembly in just my pyjamas before. I got a lot of funny looks and quite a few sniggers.
I could have slept through it. It was just the Baron doing his Hitler act again, giving us all a whole load of rot about his ruling the world. But Pudding Norton College is co-educational, and there I was in just my pyjamas with a whole lot of teenage boys looking at me. I was just glad my pyjamas aren't revealing.

After assembly I tried to run back to the dorm to put some more clothes on. Haupt wasn't having any of that. Apparently now this was my punishment for daring to sleep in. I hadn't dared, I'd just been exhausted!
I tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen, and I did Geography in my pyjamas. I was able to go back to the drm during break and dress. Boy, am I glad I'm not the sort of girl who takes great pride in her personal appearance. In fact I'm the sort of girl who takes NO pride in her personal appearance, but that's another story.
The novelty of Pudding Norton College was starting to wear off. The maths class just got me down. I can't do maths. Well, not very well. It's one of those subjects I failed at GCSE (well, there were a lot of them), and in my tired state I'm afraid I got cross with the teacher. That was kind of a learning experience. I was grabbed by two prefects, blindfolded, and dragged off. Then I was tied up and put in a black cell until lunch time. I was sure I'd been in there for three days when they pulled me out, and I really needed to go to the loo.
I hoped Sis would get me out soon.

[Back at the Manor].
Sir Richard and I were in the library examining a detailed plan of the manor house and its surroundings. Emily was sitting in an easy chair drinking a milkshake and 'keeping an eye on us' for Lady Arcos. Now, don't take this the wrong way, I like Sir Richard. But I'm just not interested in having an affair with a man of eighty. I'm just not. I don't know any girl my age with my kind of money who is.
"As you can see," Sir Richard said, "there's a tunnel that connects with my wine cellars. Old plans show it connected with the Grange, the building that is now Baron Von Zstrongarms's home. If the tunnel's still intact you ought to be able to use it to get from here to there."
"If it's intact?"
"During the War RAF Pudding Norton was built on the Grance estate. That's now the school. The Grange itself was turned into the Officers' Mess. The RAF might have blocked the tunnel."
"Only one way to find out," I said jauntily. "I'll go and change."
I ran from the room. Lady Arcos was in the hall, and she looked suspiciously at me.
"Your husband's a wonderful man," I told her, "but I don't want to have an affair with him."
"Why not?"
Great, she was suspicious.
"Because you're too good a friend of mine." I hugged her.
"Yeah, you're a pal," she agreed.
The library door opened and Sir Richard stuck his head out.
"Darling, do you mind if I take our guests down one of the secret passages in the cellar?"
"Yeah. I wanna keep Emily here."
"Then Emily stays. You're sure you don't mind my wandering around secret passages with a girl in a close-fitting grey costume?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Then I'll go and change as well."

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