The School for Scruff: 6.

[Girl in Grey here] Sir Richard Arcos took us to the village pub. That isn't too surprising on its own, but one of us was Emily 'Outsider' Fairbairn. She's a lovely girl, but she is black and smoky, and her eyes are red and they glow.
"I'll have a pint of bitter," Sir Richard said as we walked towards the pub. I looked nervously at Emily's smoky black form. Sir Richard had said no-one in Little Pudding questioned the squire, but I thought that the idea of the squire bringing Emily into the village pub might be too much even for them.
"I'll have a lemonade," I said.
"With or without vodka? I ask because Sam likes a shot of Vodka in hers."
"JUST lemonade. Emily?"
"Water," she replied. I know it seems odd, but of course Emily has to eat and drink. She's still human (I think).
Sir Richard pushed open the door of the village pub.
"Beer, landlord!" he cried. "Beer!"
"He always says that," Lady Arcos whispered to me. I smiled.
"I know. And you've been married over fifteen years, never a cross word?"
"Actually she bunged a whole tea set at me two months after the wedding," Sir Richard corrected me. "It was a gift from a friend of ours at Scotland Yard. I deserved it, of course. Landlord, a lemonade and a glass of water for my friends here."
The landlord signified his agreement in a Norfolk accent so thick I couldn't understand a word of it.
"And my table," Sir Richard sat down and we joined him.
"I suppose your sister will be settling in at Pudding Norton College right now?" Sir Richard said in his kindly way. "Sam, did you bring a revolver with you?"
"Natch," she replied.
"Why would she need to?" I asked.
"Oh, she has her reasons. Sometimes Sam sees someone she feels like killing. Usually tax inspectors, so you shouldn't worry."
"Yeah. I don't kill people as cute as you," Lady Arcos reassured me. I tried to look reassured.
"I prefer a crossbow," Emily said. She took something from inside her robes and laid it on the table. When she let go of it it resolved itself into a crossbow of a strange Oriental design.
"Come on!"
Lady Arcos and Emily started using the pub's darts board to show off their target-shooting skills.


I used a Judo throw to get the girl off me, then I got my hat back. We were supposed to be settling in. Instead I was helping Lucy keep some of the old Pudding Norton girls off her stuff. We were back-to-back, ready to fight all comers and maybe even to win.
"Girls!"
A fierce-looking lady in a starched white uniform entered. At once the girls snapped to attention.
"Matron!" one exclaimed.
"Matron. And what have we here?" she peered at us. "New girls. Who are you, new girl?" she looked threateningly in my direction.
"I'm Scruff," I said brightly.
"Figures. So you're Lucy. I hope you'll be happy here. Come in!"
Two Upper Sixth girls entered. Both of them looked like prostitutes.
"Carole, this is Scruff. I suppose she's Lilian Hill."
"I am," I said.
"Damn," Carole replied. There are better things to say for a girl's self-confidence.
"Carole will be your mentor this year. You haven't been here before, Scruff, you have to be taught about the College. Amanda..."
"So you're Lilian," Carole sighed. "I was told you're a rich orphan."
"Actually that's my sister. I'm a poor orphan. My stepmother embezzled my inheritance."
"Poor Scruff! I can see why they call you that, though. Hell! I was counting on you being blonde and pretty. No-one's going to pay big bucks for a kid like you."
"PAY?" I asked, astonished.
"Of course! Well, you're new. Oh well, maybe someone wants to swap a first year for you..."
This wasn't what I'm used to.