The CBB :: View topic - South of the Alps (completed 19/12/05 )

#1: South of the Alps (completed 19/12/05 ) Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:50 am

Hope this is OK – it’s set during half term in Trials. I don’t like this nasty cold weather so I wanted to write a story set somewhere with lots of nice warm sunshine!

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to come to St Moritz with you after all, Jeanne,” Kathie Ferrars said apologetically to Jeanne de Lachennais. “Originally very few of Vb and none of Inter V were going to have to be considered for the half term holidays, but there’ve been several changes of plan so quite a big group of them need to be accommodated now. They’re nearly all from Vb, my own form, so it’s been agreed that I ought to be in charge of them. There’ll be sixteen of them altogether. Nancy Wilmot’s going to join you instead.”

“We shall be sorry not to have your company on our trip, ma chere, but these things happen,” Mlle said. “I understand perfectly that you are the best person to have charge of the girls from your own form.”

“All the same, Kathie, with that number of girls you’ll need at least one other mistress with you,” Davida Armitage said. “Peggy Burnett and I are going to Vevey and you’d’ve been very welcome to come with us, but we’ve got twenty two girls to take as it is and there’s no way that the pension we’re staying at could take any more. Where are you thinking of going?”

“I’m not quite sure yet,” Kathie said quickly. She did have an idea, but it would have to be put to the Head and she wasn’t at all sure that Miss Annersley would agree. There was one other person whom she wanted to discuss it with first, though.

“Which girls are we talking about?” Davida asked curiously. She didn’t envy Kathie. Both Inter V and Vb contained more than their fair share of firebrands.

“Well, Joey’s not feeling well – she’s “busy” again, as you know – so Jack thought that she ought to be kept quiet and asked if the triplets could stay with the school over half term. Emerence Hope, Richenda Fry and Rosamund Lilley were all supposed to be spending the holiday at Freudesheim as well, so that gives me six to start with,” Kathie said. “Then there are ten others – Joan Baker, Jo Scott, Alicia Leonard, Betty Landon, Heather Clayton, Francie Wilford, Priscilla and Prudence Dawbarn, Primrose Trevoase and Odette Mercier.”

Several other people within earshot shrieked in sympathy. “Oh Kathie, you poor girl!” Ruth Derwent said. “Margot and Emerence, Francie Wilford and the Dawbarns, plus Heather Clayton and Primrose Trevoase who can also still be imps of the first order on occasion, Odette Mercier who always looks ready to burst into tears, Joan Baker who’ll probably take a load of make-up and unsuitable clothes with her, and Con Maynard who spends half the time in a daydream! Even Betty and Alicia can’t always be relied upon to stay out of trouble.”

“They’re not that bad at all,” Kathie retorted indignantly. Honestly, for a school that prided itself on its success with “difficult” girls, it was remarkable how quick the staff could be to criticise the pupils. She didn’t know why they should feel entitled to be so judgmental. After all, it was hardly as if everything in a school staffroom was ever exactly as it might appear to be, was it? Sometimes she wondered just how many of her colleagues hid secrets that they hoped no-one else knew about.

Last edited by Alison H on Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:33 pm; edited 55 times in total

#2: Author: Squirrel, Location: St-Andrews or Dunfermline

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 8:01 am

oooooh - looks very interesting, and how nice to have a member of staff who pauses when the staff commiserate with her over the characters of the pupils she will have with her. Ok, there may well be demons in that grouping, but that doesnt mean that they are all that bad.

Thanks Alison

#3: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 11:04 am

Oooh yay for new drabble! This looks great, thanks Alison. Very Happy

#4: Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!!

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 11:26 am

Hehe, this looks great Alison, thank you. And you are right, the staff always seemed to complain about certain girls.

#5: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 11:27 am

Thanks, I hope there's lots more of this. I especially want to know about the staffroom secrtets.

#6: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 1:27 pm

Oooooh! Yay a new drabble!!!!! Very Happy

This looks great Alison, I can't wait for more!!! Very Happy

#7: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 1:52 pm

Oooh fantastic. Looking forward to see where this leads.

Thanks Alison!

#8: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 3:31 pm

Oh this looks very promising, Alison. I'm glad your bunnies are biting again!

#9: Author: Róisín, Location: Vancouver for now

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 3:36 pm

Hurrah new drabble! Thanks Alison - more please!

#10: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 3:40 pm

Thanks, Alison. This looks great - thanks for starting it. I wonder where they are going? It was interesting to see an insight into Kathie's thoughts on the other staff.

#11: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:30 pm

Ooooh this looks like it could be a fun halfterm

Thanks Alison Very Happy

Liz

#12: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:48 pm

*g* this looks fun - especially with that mix of Middles!

thanks Alison. Very Happy

#13: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:21 pm

A new drabble...excellent. Love Kathie's thought here!

#14: Author: Miss Di, Location: Newcastle, NSW

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:07 am

Go on, spill the staff secrets Alison! We want to know their dirty* little histories.

*Not meaning dirty in the St Hilds sense...

#15: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:55 am

Thanks everyone. Here's some more!

“Could I have a word, Miss Denny?” Kathie asked diffidently. She knew that Sarah Denny was famed for her blunt speaking and would say in no uncertain terms if she didn’t approve of Kathie’s plan. Then again, she knew that everyone thought well of the older woman, who was after all one of the school’s “foundation stones”. Kathie sometimes felt a bit sorry for her. The Dennys lived in a little chalet down the road from Freudesheim and didn’t spend much time in the school when they weren’t teaching, meaning that Miss Denny missed out on much of the camaraderie that the other mistresses shared.

“Oh do please call me Sally,” Miss Denny said. “What was it you wanted to talk about? I’ve just been marking Italian essays by some of your form, by the way: you seem to have a fair number of keen linguists there. Len Maynard, of course, wants to learn as many modern languages as possible because she intends to teach them; Con Maynard’s been fascinated with all things Italian ever since they started studying the Renaissance; Joan Baker wants to be a secretary and she’s realised that having extra languages will help her; and Ricki Fry seems to be developing an interest in Italian art as well as Chinese art.” She yawned. “Oh do please excuse me: I seem to be very tired at the moment. I think it’s the anxiety about Tristan: he’s just getting over a bad cold. He’s all right now, but after that bout of pneumonia he had last year, when he had to pull out of conducting the orchestra for the pantomime, it’s difficult not to worry.”

“Has he always suffered from poor health?” Kathie asked sympathetically. She knew that Mr Denny was considered delicate and that his sister worried terribly whenever he was ill.

Sally shook her head. “It was the War,” she said. “The Great War: the war that was supposed to end all wars and didn’t. His platoon was caught up in one of the German mustard gas attacks. A lot of the men didn’t even live to return home. Tristan did, but his lungs were badly damaged. He was only a young man then, and he’s had health problems ever since. I was a nurse during the war so sadly I saw many men affected the same way.”

“Oh I’m so sorry!” Kathie exclaimed. “How awful for him, and for you.” Maybe that was why the Dennys never spoke much about their lives before they’d joined the staff of the Chalet School, she thought. Maybe it was too painful for them.

“At least he survived,” Sally said simply. “And here on the Platz we’re in the mountain air and there are always doctors always on hand. Now, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

“It was what you were saying about the girls being keen on learning Italian, really,” Kathie said. “With Rosalie still recovering from scarlet fever, I’ve got to make the arrangements for my group’s half term excursion, and I thought that it might be an idea to take them to somewhere Italian -speaking for a change.”

“Ticino, you mean?” Sally looked thoughtful. “I don’t see why you shouldn’t. In fact, there’s some talk of taking the Sixth Form there next half term.”

“Not exactly,” Kathie said. She wasn’t sure what sort of a reaction she was going to get to this. “There’s no rule that says that we can only go on excursions within Switzerland, is there? We’re not all that far from the Italian border, and so long as we don’t stay anywhere too expensive it shouldn’t cost that much more, and the girls really deserve a treat after all this scarlet fever business. I was thinking more along the lines of somewhere in Italy itself.”

#16: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:21 am

Thanks Alison.

Wonder where about in Italy they are going?

#17: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:52 am

And I wonder how much mischief they can get up to while they are there!
Thanks for the update, Alison.

#18: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:59 am

Thanks, Alison. I hope Kathie will be able to take the girls to Italy.

#19: Author: Robin, Location: London

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 12:40 pm

Poor Tristan.
Hope Sally gives the thumbs up (I'm guessing from the title of the drabble that she does! Wink

)

Thanks Alison

#20: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 12:45 pm

I think Sally is too sensible not to realise the benefits of a stay in Italy for the languages students, and to see that Kathie can't do the entire trip by herself.

I'm looking forward to lots more of this.

#21: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:00 pm

Ooooh a trip to Italy could be excellent fun Very Happy

Thanks Alison

Liz

#22: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:13 pm

Oooh sounds like lots of fun on the way!!! With all my favourite characters as well!!! Very Happy

Thank you Alison, I can't wait for more! Very Happy

#23: Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:17 pm

Can't wait Alison!!!!
Great characters and a great country!!! Very Happy

Italy, here we come.

#24: Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:21 pm

This looks good Alison, love the comments about the staff room attitudes.

#25: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:44 pm

Sally raised her eyebrows. “Well, that would certainly be different! As you say, though, we aren’t all that far from the border. And it would certainly do the girls good to hear Italian being spoken all around them. Where would you go, though? I suppose that the nearest big city in North Italy would be Milan, but I’m not sure that that’s quite the place for a school trip.”

“I wasn’t thinking of Milan,” Kathie said. She took a deep breath: she was going to have to come out with it sooner or later. “Ruth Derwent’s been doing The Merchant of Venice with them, and I know that Herr Laubach’s been showing them some Canaletto paintings. I thought that I might take them to Venice.”

“Venice!” Sally exclaimed. “That’s rather a long way, isn’t it? It wouldn’t be so bad if we were still at Briesau, but it must be a good 350 miles from here.”

“I’ve been looking into it,” Kathie said eagerly. “We could get a coach to take us as far as Lugano – it’s be a shame to go that part of the way by train because the St Gotthard Tunnel’s so long that we’d miss the scenery going into Ticino – and then we could take the train from Lugano to Venice. It’d take us the whole day to get there and another day to get back at the end but we’d still have three whole days there. We could stay on the Marghera side of the lagoon where it’d be cheaper, and go into the city by motorboat: coaches aren’t allowed into Venice proper anyway. And … would you come with us, Miss Denny? I mean, Sally. My Italian isn’t up to much so I could really do with an Italian-speaking mistress coming with us, and you said yourself that you were tired so the break would do you good. It’d be lovely if you’d come.”

“Oh Kathie, how kind of you … but I’m not sure that I’d be much use to anyone in Venice. I’ve always been rather afraid of water, you see. Is there no-one else you’d rather ask?” She looked at Kathie keenly. “How about Nancy Wilmot?”

“Nancy’s going to St Moritz with Jeanne de Lachennais and the Sixth Formers,” Kathie said. “I’ve already pulled out so it wouldn’t be fair if Nancy pulled out too.”

“That’s a shame,” Sally said quietly. “I’ve noticed that Nancy seems to be a special friend of yours.”

Kathie was alarmed. Her relationship with Nancy was still in its early days and she wasn’t at all sure where it was going or whether she was doing the right thing. She certainly wasn’t anxious for anyone else to find out about it. Sadly, she was sure that some of their colleagues would hold prejudices that would lead them to disapprove. Sally noticed her discomfiture and patted her shoulder gently. “It’s all right, my dear,” she said quietly. “I have no intention of prying into your private life. So long as you’re happy: that’s all that matters. And I think that I would like to come with you and your Fifth Formers to Venice: it’s usually heavy rain that upsets me, rather than lagoons and canals, and I’d be a fool to turn down the chance of seeing one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Shall we go and put the idea to Hilda Annersley?”

#26: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:51 pm

I really like Sally - she's lovely

And Venice is fab Very Happy

Thanks Alison

Liz

#27: Author: Becky, Location: Newport, South Wales, UK

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:51 pm

Loved your last drabble and this one looks great too - thanks Alison!

Becky

xx

#28: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:59 pm

How nice Sally seems. And just think of the potential for falling into canals there! I hope they have put all the doctors of Venice on standby!
Thank you, Alison.

#29: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 1:01 pm

Can't wait for more of this, thanks Alison! Very Happy

Miss Denny is wonderful

#30: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 3:04 pm

I hope there's lots more of this, Alison. I'm glad Sally Denny is such a sensible, helpful person.

#31: Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:09 pm

This looks a really interesting idea, Alison, looking forward to more of it.

But for everyone's sanity, I do hope that another mistress can go with them as well - Kathie hasn't got eyes in the back of her head, and while Sally Denny is a lovely person, and all the girls respect her, the two of them could well be stretched beyond their limits if some of that group decide on any wild pranks - we know only too well what the Dawbarns, Emerence and Margot are capable of.

Perhaps Miss Annersley will see the trip as such a great idea that she herself would go with them?

#32: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:14 pm

Thanks, Alison. I really hope Hilda will agree to the trip. Where can I sign up to go on the trip myself?!

*Chair firmly reminds herself that this is fiction, not real life*.

#33: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 6:29 pm

This is fab, Alison. Thank you!

I wondered why they never went out of Switzerland....perhaps there's a reason Wink

#34: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 7:06 pm

Lovely!! I can't wait for the trip!! Very Happy

#35: Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 7:09 pm

Sally is so lovely- but how did she know!!
Oooo they're actually going out of the country!!!!!! Laughing

Can't wait for more, this is great. Very Happy

#36: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 11:28 pm

Ooooh! Italy, how exciting!

I'm also hoping that they have more than two mistresses to go with them - especialy with that load of wicked pupils! Is somebody going to fall into one of the canals? Possibly featuring a rescue by a charming young doctor in the time-honoured CS way? (although I'm not sure who he could marry: Sally needs to look after Plato, and Kathie is hardly going to want a 'nice young doctor'!)

#37: South of the alps Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 12:06 am

Just discovered this - how interesting!

Loved Kathie's protective reaction - they might be horrors, but they are HER horrors. Don't envy her having to cope with that lot, all the same.
Avid to know more about these secrets.

#38: Author: JustJen, Location: Dorval, Quebec

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 4:53 am

Quote:

“Well, Joey’s not feeling well – she’s “busy” again, as you know

LOL!!

#39: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:52 am

Thanks for all the comments!

Miss Annersley might under ordinary circumstances have protested that Venice was too far away and the cost of the trip excessive, but with Rosalie Dene still recovering from scarlet fever she had so much work to do that she really didn’t have time to argue. So, on the first day of the half term holiday, the two mistresses and the sixteen girls were up at first light and waiting for the driver to bring the coach round to the door whilst most of the other inhabitants of the school were still asleep. The majority of them were wildly excited about the forthcoming trip, but there were a few people who for one reason or another were holding misgivings about it.

Odette Mercier hated expeditions of any sort. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy seeing different places, but they were always told that they weren’t to go off anywhere alone. Inter V and Vb were notorious for being broken up into little cliques and she didn’t really belong to any of them, meaning that she always had to tag on somewhere and feel that she was in the way. And this trip would probably be even worse than usual because she was the only non-British girl in the group. Con was the only one who made any real attempts to include her with the others. Len and Ricki had seemed inclined to be friendly towards her at one point the previous term, but it hadn’t lasted very long.

Joan Baker was another one who always felt like an outsider. She knew that she’d made some mistakes in her early days at the school; but they’d been fairly mild compared to some of the things other people had done, and yet even after months of trying to fit in no-one ever seemed to want to have much to do with her. She wished that she could have gone home for half term, even though it would have meant spending most of the time travelling, but her parents’ financial problems had made the cost of the journey prohibitive.

Francie Wilford had been looking forward to the trip, seeing as it as an opportunity to spend some time with Margot Maynard whom she’d always had a secret admiration for, but Margot and Emerence seemed to be practically glued to each other’s sides and Francie was in a bad mood as a result. She’d found herself standing next to Con, Margot’s sister, who didn’t interest her at all. “I can’t wait to get to Venice,” Con said dreamily. “I keep thinking about Marco Polo and the Fourth Crusade and the Levantine traders and the Venetian Empire. If only Napoleon hadn’t…”

“Oh dry up, Con!” Francie snapped. “We’re meant to be on holiday: no-one wants to hear you droning on in that stupid moony way. It’s no wonder Len and Margot’ve both got friends and you haven’t: even Ricki prefers Len to you.” Con’s eyes filled with tears and Francie stalked off.

Kathie didn’t hear what Francie had said, but she saw that whatever it was had obviously upset Con, and that both Odette and Joan also had faces like wet weekends. She wasn’t feeling too happy herself, worried about whether or not she was doing the right thing by becoming involved with Nancy. She really needed someone to talk to during this trip away, but the only other adult in the group was Sally Denny and she certainly wasn’t sure that Sally, whom as far as she knew had never had a romantic relationship in her life, was the right person to approach. She sighed. Maybe she should have just gone to St Moritz as she had planned and insisted that someone else take care of Inter V and Vb.

#40: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:09 am

oooh! I can't wait for more! Thank you so much! This is wonderful! Very Happy

#41: Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:12 am

Lots of people being left out- its going to be an interesting trip!
(((Con)))
Thank-you very much!!! Very Happy

#42: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 12:56 pm

Mmm, lots of scope here for problems. This is going to be good.

#43: Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!!

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 1:17 pm

Ooh Venice does sound like a place for adventures. I feel sorry for all those left out of the cliques. Yup, those forms were quite appallingly cliquey despite having Little Miss Perfect around to sort them out. (sorry sometimes Len really annoys me!)

Thanks Alison Very Happy

#44: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 1:24 pm

Alison H wrote:

Sally Denny and she certainly wasn’t sure that Sally, whom as far as she knew had never had a romantic relationship in her life.

Maybe I have just found my next victim!

Thank you for this, Alison. It looks as though this is going to be a very interesting half term for everyone!

#45: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 1:37 pm

Fab update, thank you Alison. I'm looking forward to more of this Wink

#46: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 3:58 pm

Fatima wrote:

Alison H wrote:

Sally Denny and she certainly wasn’t sure that Sally, whom as far as she knew had never had a romantic relationship in her life.

Maybe I have just found my next victim!

Thank you for this, Alison. It looks as though this is going to be a very interesting half term for everyone!

That's only what Kathie thinks - that's not to say she's right ... there are secrets in the staff room after all ... Laughing

#47: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:58 pm

Well, there seem to be a fair few possible developments here!
Thank you Alison - can't wait for more.

#48: South of the alps Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:26 pm

And, for all we know, Sally may have had the sort of romantic relationship which will help her understand Kathie perfectly ...

What possibilities for drama with all these disgruntled and miserable people around.

Thank you, Alison, this is fascinating.

#49: Author: Miss Di, Location: Newcastle, NSW

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:48 am

Boy, the opportunities for disasters on a trip to Venice are just endless.

Looking forward to the next update.

#50: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:07 am

Sally saw the worried look on Kathie’s face and wondered what was troubling her, but didn’t like to ask. She was already concerned that she might have offended the younger mistress by the remark she’d made about Kathie and Nancy Wilmot. She hadn’t meant to interfere. It was just that she of all people knew how difficult it could be to be young and far from home and to have no-one to talk to about personal matters, especially when it came to affairs of the heart.

“Girls, please make sure that you have everything with you that you’re going to need during the journey,” Kathie called. “We’re going to be making one brief stop before Lugano for you to have coffee and freshen up, but there won’t be time for you to be getting things out of your cases. Prudence, will you take this basket of apples, please? Girls, you may have an apple each on the coach if you’re really hungry, but I’d rather that you waited until we stopped. Karen’s kindly packed these for us because the only food they’ll be likely to have at our coffee stop will be cream cakes and I don’t think it’s a good idea to be eating those in the middle of a long coach journey. The roads through the Alps are fairly twisty-turny and we don’t want anyone feeling travel sick.”

The girls began to file on to the coach. Kathie was too busy ensuring that none of the cases got left behind to notice that Prudence had deliberately shoved the basket of apples behind a bush. Apples instead of cream cakes didn’t seem like a very good bargain to her.

Odette had been the only one to hear what Francie had said. “Take no notice of Francie,” she whispered to Con in French. “Everybody likes you: she is just jealous because they do not all like her.” She offered Con a boiled sweet, which Con accepted gratefully. The two of them sat next to each other on the coach and Con, seeing Joan hovering about uncertainly on her own, invited her to take the seat across the aisle from them.

#51: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:23 am

Thanks Alison. Why do I have the words mishaps and mayhem going round in my mind? Laughing

#52: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:31 am

Me too! But how nice of Con to look out for Odette and Joan

Thanks Alison

#53: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:12 pm

The smaller school coaches had already been booked when Kathie had arranged this trip, so the one that was to take them to Lugano was meant for a much larger party. It suited the girls, who crowded together near the back knowing that the two mistresses, who were sitting at the front, wouldn’t be able to hear what they were saying.

“It’s a good job that Sally-go-round-the-moon’s coming with us,” Jo Scott, who was sitting next to Ros Lilley, said. “I don’t think Ferry speaks Italian very well. By the way, how long have Plato and Sally been at the school, anyone? Len, you’ll know.”

“Since the first year it started,” Len said. “They came to spend the winter at the Tiernsee, for Plato’s health. He was a singing master in England and he asked Auntie Madge if he could teach the girls at the school. Sally first came to the school when there was a flood, because the school was on higher ground than the place where they were staying and she’s scared of running water. They’ve been with the school ever since.”

Francie’s eyes gleamed with interest. So Miss Denny was scared of water. That was interesting, considering that they were going to Lugano and Venice. No-one else seemed to have picked up on that, though. They were all listening to Betty Landon, who was famed for being inquisitive. “That was a bit weird, wasn’t it?” Betty was saying. “If he was a singing master in England, then didn’t he have a job to get back to there? And what about their parents: didn’t they mind both of them taking off to live abroad?” She giggled. “Maybe they’d robbed a bank or something and they were on the run.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Betty,” Rosamund said firmly. “Presumably either he’d packed his job in before he went to the Tyrol or he wrote and told them that he wasn’t coming back. And maybe their parents had died by then, or maybe they were happy for them to live abroad if it was good for Plato’s health. All the same, it can’t be much fun for Sally, looking after him all the time. You’d think that she might have wanted to get married and have a family of her own.”

“Probably no-one wanted to marry her,” Francie said spitefully. “She’s not exactly pretty, is she?”

“Don’t be so rotten, Francie!” Len exclaimed. “For all you know, she might have had a sweetheart who was killed in the 1914-1918 war: she’d be about the right age. I must say, though, I don’t think I’d want to be living with one of my brothers for the rest of my life.”

“That’s hardly likely to happen, is it?” Ricki Fry laughed. “I bet you’ll be engaged to a doctor before you’ve even left school.”

“No fear!” Len said. “That is definitely not going to happen! I’m going to be a languages teacher and I won’t be even thinking about getting married until I’m at least thirty!”

#54: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:20 pm

Thanks, Alison. I hope Francie isn't going to cause too much trouble for the mistresses. I'm glad Odette comforted Con.

#55: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 1:31 pm

Isn't Francie a little b*tch in this?

#56: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 1:53 pm

Alison H wrote:

“No fear!” Len said. “That is definitely not going to happen! I’m going to be a languages teacher and I won’t be even thinking about getting married until I’m at least thirty!”

Oh how quickly things change Laughing

Thanks Alison

Liz

#57: Author: Lyanne, Location: Ipswich, England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 4:38 pm

I think Sally would be really on the ball - though we don't see her often (at least in paperbacks), she's very competent when we do she her in Feud..., for example.

#58: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 8:03 pm

Ooooh Francie is a little mean in this!!! Love the part about Len not getting married until shes at least 30!! Laughing

Thank you Alison!! I can't wait for more!!!!! Very Happy

#59: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 8:19 pm

Thanks Alison - I loved Prudence shoving the apples behind a bush. She might regret that later as I don't think Kathie will allow them cream cakes if they may all come down with bilious attacks

#60: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:00 pm

Odette was very kind there. Prudence was an idiot.

Love this Alison, your Francie is a complete beast isn't she? Hope Sally Denny puts her in her place!

Thank you.

#61: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 11:23 pm

Thanks Alison; this is great. Isn't Francie vile? And Prudence is just a nuisance!

#62: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:53 am

Thanks for all the comments. You're all so nice: I wish I knew so many nice people in RL!

Kathie wasn’t at all amused when they arrived at their coffee stop and it transpired that the apples had been left behind. She was quite sure that Prudence had done it on purpose, but she didn’t want to start the holiday on a sour note so she said nothing. They’d had breakfast very early and it would be some time yet before they reached Lugano, where they were to have lunch, so they really needed something to eat now and, as she’d suspected, the small café served no food other than cakes. Most of the girls sensibly restrained themselves to the plainer cakes, but Prudence and some of the others insisted on indulging in the ones that came with large quantities of whipped cream. The small roadside café wasn’t really equipped for dealing with such a large party, and what had been intended to be a brief stop turned into quite a long one. Then, when they’d finally got going again, they had to stop because Prudence felt sick. Then they had to stop because Primrose felt sick. Then they had to stop because Heather felt sick.

Luckily, the traffic on the road leading into Ticino was fairly light: they were running some way behind schedule and a traffic jam would have been the last straw. Despite the trials of the morning, Kathie and Sally didn’t regret the decision to come by road rather than miss the views by taking the train. Even the most talkative of the girls fell silent to concentrate on gazing out of the windows in admiration at the glorious views as the coach wended its way into the lovely Italian-speaking canton and headed for Lake Lugano. It was a bright, sunny day and the beautiful blue lake gleamed in front of them as the coach drew up outside a row of elegant shops and busy cafés.

“We’re running a bit late, so I’m afraid we’ll only have time for sandwiches if you want to see anything of Lugano,” Kathie said. Luckily they found a café where the service was relatively quick, and soon she and Sally and the girls were tucking into delicious Italian-style panini filled with ham and cheese. Some of the girls wanted ice-creams as well, but the mistresses forbade anyone from eating anything sweet. Having to ask the coach driver to make three unscheduled stops had been bad enough: they could hardly expect the cross-border train to draw to a sudden halt if anyone else felt sick.

“We haven’t got much time, girls, but I’m sure you’ll all want a look round the lakeside,” Kathie said when everyone had finished eating. “The coach driver’s gone down to the station to put our cases on the train and then he’s coming back for us. Please make sure that you’re all back here in half an hour sharp or we’re going to miss the Venice train and then we really will have a problem. You can walk about wherever you please so long as you don’t go too far, but in groups of no less than three.”

“Margot and Emerence, you’d better come with Ricki and Ros and Jo and me,” Len called authoritatively. “You’ll probably end up falling in the lake like you did at Lucerne if you haven’t got anyone keeping an eye on you. Con, you come with us as well. You know what you’re like: you’ll be wandering off somewhere in a daydream about the history of the Swiss Confederation and making us miss the train.”

“I can’t believe the way she speaks to you and Margot sometimes,” Joan said incredulously to Con. “I know she’s always saying that she’s the eldest, but it’s only by half an hour! My sister Edna’s years older than my other sister Pam and me but there’s no way she’d ever speak to either of us like that.”

Joan had a point, Con thought resentfully. As if she’d be thoughtless enough to spoil the whole trip by being late for the coach and making them miss the train. “Why don’t you and Odette and I go for a walk along the lakeside, just the three of us?” she said to Joan. “Thanks Len,” she called back, “but I’m going for a walk with Joan and Odette. See you back at the coach. Don’t be late!”

#63: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:50 pm

Do I see the beginnings of an unexpected friendship here?

Thanks Alison Very Happy

Liz

#64: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:57 pm

I'm really enjoying this! Hope Francie doesn't do anything nasty to Sally, that would be so mean!

(It's most unfortunate that's she's called Sally Denny, in my head she always turns into SANDY Denny, the folk singer! As it's another music connection, it's difficult to stop the association of the one with the other! For once, though, it's not EBD's fault for being confusing, Sandy Denny wasn't even born by the time she started to write about the CS. It's just my brain...!)

#65: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:00 pm

Thanks, Alison. I wish everyone in RL was as nice as well! I hope everyone will feel better soon and I'm glad Con is starting to stick up for herself.

#66: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:07 pm

Will just post a bit more before going to boring training course Sad

.

Kathie spent most of the free thirty minutes sitting on a bench by the side of the lake, fretting. Was she doing the wrong thing? She tried to imagine telling her aunt and uncle that she was involved with another woman, and failed completely. They were probably hoping that she’d meet a nice doctor, a nice male doctor, from the San, especially after everything she’d told them about Biddy O’Ryan’s wedding. And what would Hilda Annersley say if she found out that two of her staff were having a relationship under the school’s roof? She and Nancy could both lose their jobs. Maybe she should just quietly give in her notice, go back to the Cotswolds, and try to forget that any of it had ever happened.

Sally, heading back towards the coach as the end of the half hour approached, sighed. Years of working first as a nurse and then as a teacher had taught her a lot about people, and she could guess what was troubling Kathie. She said nothing, though. She certainly wouldn’t want anyone quizzing her about her personal life, so she wasn’t going to start quizzing anyone else about theirs. Everyone had their secrets, after all.

“Right, are we all here?” she said briskly as the girls gathered round the coach, chattering eagerly about the attempts made by those of them who were learning Italian to make themselves understood in the language. “Betty and Alicia, get on to the pavement, please: Miss Ferrars and I would rather not leave any of you here as strawberry jam on the road. Let’s just have a quick head count.” She counted once, and then again, and then stopped, puzzled. Surely she couldn’t have counted wrongly twice. There were meant to be sixteen girls there, but there were definitely only fifteen. “We seem to be one short,” she said agitatedly. “Who’s missing?”

#67: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:15 pm

Eeeek!

Well we know Betty and Alicia are there

Prudence? or is that too obvious? Would quite like it to be Len given her earlier comments! Evil or Very Mad

Thanks Alison

Liz

#68: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:22 pm

Thanks, Alison. I wonder who has wandered off? I wonder what has happened in Sally's past?

#69: Author: RachelD, Location: Norwich, UK

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:35 pm

I'm enjoying this - thanks very much. I like hearing about Sally - she's sort of always there, but nothing important is ever made about her.

#70: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:55 pm

Thank you for that, Alison. I'm hoping it's Len that's missing, too! And what has Sally Denny got to hide??

#71: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:09 pm

Wow thanks Alison, loads to catch up after a horrible morning at work! I like your Joan Very Happy

#72: Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:51 pm

Yep, definitely hoping Len has fallen into the lake and they all left her there! Twisted Evil

Seeing as Odette went off with Joan and Con, I think its more likely to have been Francie though!

#73: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:11 pm

Oooh I wonder who is missing!!! I can't wait to find out!! Thank you Alison, this is fantastic!!! Very Happy

#74: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:19 pm

*g* Would also quite like it to be Len!

Thanks Alison. Am enjoying this! Very Happy

#75: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:24 pm

Another one wanting it to be Len - she was actualy very rude in the way she spoke then - glad Con could stand up to her - and Joan had a valid point.

Thanks Alison. Laughing

#76: Author: Lyanne, Location: Ipswich, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:45 pm

It could be a conspiracy between Margot, Emerence, Ricki, Ros and Jo to leave Len behind! But like Ruth B, I think it's more likely to be Francie.

#77: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:52 pm

Perhaps everyone has conspired to leave Len behind...
And poor Kathie...all those doubts.
Thanks Alison

#78: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:57 pm

Joining the 'wish it was Len but think it's Francie' party.

Very Happy

Thanks Alison!

#79: south of the alps Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 11:44 pm

Oh, poor Kathie. Not only has she all the personal conflict, but to have a pupil missing ... the quickest way to age ten years in half an hour! It's almost got to be Len after all her patronising remarks, surely?

Sally is lovely, so wise and supportive.

#80: Author: Miss Di, Location: Newcastle, NSW

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:21 am

I can't decide if I want it to be Francie or Len who is missing presumed drownded.

But...if that happened, poor Kathie would feel so bad that it would ruin the rest of half term - so I hope the missing person turns up before they miss the train.

#81: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:18 am

Len has not ended up in Lake Lugano ... but there are all those canals in Venice to come ...

Kathie looked at her watch. They were cutting it fine as it was, and the traffic in Lugano city centre was bound to be busy. She looked quickly around the group of girls. “Has anyone seen Francie Wilford?” she asked. “She’s the one who isn’t here.”

“I thought she was with Betty and Alicia and Heather,” Priscilla Dawbarn said. Alicia shook her head. “We haven’t seen her,” she said. “I thought she was with you and Prudence and Primrose.”

“Fraulein Ferrars,” the coach driver called. “I am sorry to hurry you, but we have only a little time in which to make it to the train station. Otherwise I am afraid that your bags will be going without you, and there is not another train from Lugano to Venice until tomorrow.”

“Here she is!” Jo called. Francie, very red-faced, was hurrying along towards them. She’d followed Margot and Emerence and the others they’d been with, at a short distance, in the hope of being invited to join their group, but her shoe had come loose and she’d had to stop to sort it out. By the time she’d been ready to walk on, the others had disappeared out of sight. She’d been following them blindly without looking where she was going, and so had had no idea where she was. She didn’t speak a word of Italian so she hadn’t been able to ask for directions, and by the time she’d got back to somewhere she recognised the half hour had already been up.

“Everyone on the coach, now!” Kathie snapped. She didn’t mean to be sharp but her personal worries were pressing on her mind, and she had made it very clear that they were pressed for time and that they were only to walk about in groups. “Francie, what did I say about not going off on your own? If you girls can’t be trusted, I’ll have to make you walk about in a crocodile and forbid you to go anywhere without Miss Denny or myself. Now hurry up, please.”

By the time they left Lugano, Con, Joan and Odette were all feeling much happier, but Kathie was troubled and Francie was in a vile mood. Everyone else felt that the threat of being made to “croc” was very unfair when it was only Francie who’d been disobedient, and she came in for more than a few black looks on the train, which they caught by the skin of their teeth. Then she tried to speak to Margot about what they were likely to see in Venice, but got her head bitten off in return. Margot’s mood had changed since leaving the Platz, and not for the better. Since when had Con been so pally with Odette Mercier and Joan Baker? And why on earth had she gone off with them instead of coming with her and Emerence and Len and the others? She determined to keep a very close eye on her middle triplet for the rest of the holiday.

It was a long train journey, made longer by a slight delay at the border. The girls hardly noticed the delay, though: they were too excited about crossing into Italy for that. Once they were into Italy and speeding eastwards, however, a few of them dozed off. Others read, or chatted quietly, or looked out of the window at the Italian scenery. “I wish we could have stopped in Verona,” Sally heard Con say wistfully as they passed close to the outskirts of that city. “The Merchant of Venice is good but Romeo and Juliet’s just so romantic.”

Was it, Sally wondered. Did teenage girls really think that a boy and a girl being “a pair of star-cross’d lovers” was romantic? She supposed that they did. Hadn’t she thought the same when she’d been their age? Maybe she still did.

#82: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 8:28 am

Ooooh - lots of little tensions there

And a little hint about Sally's past maybe?

Thanks Alison Very Happy

Liz

#83: Author: Robin, Location: London

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:17 pm

mmm, yes, I think there is more to Sally than meets the eye too.

Thanks Alison! Smile

#84: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:21 pm

Oooh *intrigued*

Thanks Alison Very Happy

#85: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:03 pm

Thanks, Alison. I'm glad that Francie came back in time.

#86: Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:12 pm

Oh dear! This is presumably before the Ted Grantley affair when Margot learnt where jealously could lead her...

Hope Sally and Kathie can manage to confide each other - maybe a heart to heart over a bottle of wine in a very non-CS way?

#87: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:23 pm

Oooh very intigued about Sally!! I hope she and Kathie can have a lovely long talk!! I'm glad Francie made it back in time! Thank you Alison, lovely as usual. More please!!! Very Happy

#88: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:31 pm

*also wondering what Sally's got to hide*

And Margot sounds like she's up to no good.

Thanks Alison.

#89: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:45 pm

Well this is definitely going to be an interesting trip.

Do say Len will take a swim in one of Venice's dee-LIGHT-ful canals Twisted Evil

please....

Thanks Alison

#90: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 4:06 pm

It was late by the time they reached Venice. Despite the girls’ pleas to the contrary, Kathie and Sally insisted that they go straight to their guesthouse. They had left the Gornetz Platz very early, and it had been a long day: there would be plenty of time for sightseeing over the next three days. The guesthouse was run by a friendly, English-speaking widow called Signora Contarini, who was delighted at the novelty of playing hostess to a group of schoolgirls. She had no daughters, she told the girls and the two mistresses – only a son, Alessandro, who had qualified as a doctor after studying at the University of Padua and working in a hospital in that city, and had only recently returned to Venice. He was working late that night, but they would probably see him in the morning. He wouldn’t get in their way, though, she promised.

The girls soon forgot their disappointment at being told that sightseeing would have to wait until the following day in their excitement at trying Italian food, which was never served at the Chalet School. There were several shrieks of amusement at people’s attempts at eating spaghetti politely, and they all vowed that they wished that Karen and her staff would make pizza for them when they got back. The meal was finished off with bowls of delicious Italian ice cream and, expecting ordinary coffee, they were all delighted to be offered steaming frothy cappuccinos.

Drinking her second cappuccino, Kathie wondered how Nancy’s diet was going. She’d tried to reassure Nancy that she looked fine, but Nancy had got it into her head that she was seriously overweight and needed to do something about it urgently. It was very unfair, Nancy often joked, that her sister, who had also been overweight as a schoolgirl, had slimmed down by the time she was twenty without really trying, but that the same thing hadn’t happened to her. Still, Kathie supposed, siblings didn’t necessarily look alike. No-one who didn’t know that they were brother and sister would ever in a million years guess that Tristan and Sally Denny were related. He was tall, and thin to the point of gauntness, whereas she was short and sturdy. There was absolutely no family resemblance between the two of them whatsoever.

#91: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 4:13 pm

Have just caught up with this! It's great, Alison!

#92: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 4:43 pm

Lovely! Thank you! Very Happy

#93: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:07 pm

Thanks, Alison. I'm glad they're staying in a nice place and I'm also glad they're enjoying the food.

#94: Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:07 pm

Thank you Alison!

Hmmm. Is there a clue in that last bit?

#95: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:23 pm

I think there was a clue too! Shocked

Oooh Alessandro, an Italian doctor! Will there be a romance/exciting incident? Very Happy

#96: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:46 pm

Hmmm, also wonder about a clue in that last sentence.

Love the girls all enjoying Italian food. Laughing

Wonder if there will be a serious row between the triplets - Margot is still at the very jealous stage isn't she?

Thanks Alison.

#97: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:51 pm

Ooohh, the intrigue! Are they really going to stay such a short time? Couldn't they stay longer so that we can get to enjoy the Italian doctor and the thought of people falling in canals left, right and centre?? This is just so full of promise, Alison, thank you!

#98: Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!!

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:12 pm

Handy Italian doctors, and hidden secrets. Sounds like much fun is in store. Thanks Alison

#99: Author: Miss Di, Location: Newcastle, NSW

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:09 am

Cappuccinos after 10am! Obviously used to tourists. Laughing

This is very entertaining BTW and I look forward to their further adventures.

#100: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:52 am

Thanks for the comments. Has everyone got it in for poor Len or something?!! & I fear that the good doctor may be in for a disappointment ...

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. Kathie was up and dressed earlier than anyone else, wanting to ask Signora Contarini’s advice about which might be the best order to visit the main sights in. She found their hostess in the kitchen, chatting to a young man, whom she realised must be the son who’d been mentioned the previous evening. “Oh I’m sorry,” she said hurriedly. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I just wanted to ask your advice about where we should go first.”

“You are not intruding at all!” Signora Contarini exclaimed. “I was just preparing breakfast for you and the rest of your party. May I present my son, Dr Alessandro Contarini. Sandro, this is Miss Ferrars, one of the two ladies who are with the school group of which I have been telling you.”

“Piacere, Signorina!” he said, looking at her with interest. “Perhaps I might be able to assist you with planning your morning whilst my mother prepares la prima colazione?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak much Italian,” Kathie said awkwardly. “I teach mainly maths and geography: my colleague is the one who teaches Italian.” She knew that “piacere!” meant “pleased to meet you” but she had no idea what “la prima colazione” was. So this was the Signora’s doctor son. She could imagine that many women would find him attractive: he was tall and well-built and, whilst she always imagined Italians to be dark, he had light brown hair and blue eyes. She guessed that he was perhaps four or five years older than herself.

He laughed. “I am sorry. I should have said “whilst my mother prepares breakfast”. Now, I suggest that you go first to the Piazza San Marco, as it may get very busy later on. And I understand that the school where you teach is not far from the great Sanatorium on the Gornetz Platz in Switzerland?” The two of them were deep in conversation when the girls came down for breakfast.

“That must be Signora Contarini’s son, the doctor,” Priscilla said loudly. “He and Ferry seem to be getting on very well, don’t they?”

“Be quiet: she’ll hear you,” Len hissed. Unfortunately, Kathie had heard everything Priscilla had said, and she had a horrible feeling that Alessandro Contarini had heard it as well. She hastily thanked him for his advice about the city and moved away. Did the girls think that every mistress in the school wanted to “catch” an attractive male doctor?

Actually, that was probably exactly what they thought.

#101: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:52 am

Well, that's what the girls have been brought up to do, isn't it. Be good, be virtuous, work hard, then give up your career to marry a doctor.

#102: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:56 pm

Oh, the poor doctor! Maybe he could get a job at the San and find another teacher! Thanks, Alison, I'm really enjoying this!

#103: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:56 pm

Yes i suppose that's what the girls were used to! Thank you Alison! This is so much fun I feel like I'm there with them! Very Happy

#104: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:57 pm

Fatima wrote:

Oh, the poor doctor! Maybe he could get a job at the San and find another teacher!

Maybe he could find me LOL

Thanks Alison Very Happy

#105: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:26 pm

Hihi, I love the comment about the teachers and the doctors! And considering the close ties between School and San, and the number of teachers that did marry doctors, that must have been what the girls thought!

#106: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:52 pm

Thanks, Alison. I hope Alessandro won't get the idea that Kathie likes him as more than a friend otherwise the holiday might be very awkward!

#107: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:53 pm

Alison H wrote:

She guessed that he was perhaps four or five years older than herself.

Perfect for a holiday toy boy for Sally then Wink

Thanks Alison

Liz

#108: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:58 pm

LizB wrote:

Alison H wrote:

She guessed that he was perhaps four or five years older than herself.

Perfect for a holiday toy boy for Sally then Wink

Absolutely!

Thanks Alison. Loved that last line! Laughing

#109: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:53 pm

Thanks Alison - when you consider just how many Chalet girls or Mistresses did catch a doctor it's not surprising they feel like that. Laughing

#110: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:29 pm

Catching a doctor.. a bit like measles? Very Happy

Loved this Alison.

#111: south of the alps Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:53 am

There's nothing like having your every move watched by a gaggle of pupils to make your social life sparkle! Hope it doesn't get too complicated for Kathie.

Thanks, Alison, this is enormous fun.

#112: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 8:55 am

Thanks everyone! OK, time to start seeing Venice ...

After a breakfast of fresh bread rolls and delicious coffee, everyone was ready to leave the guesthouse and buzzing with enthusiasm at the prospect of seeing one of the most beautiful cities in the world. However, several faces dropped when Kathie informed them that they would be going into the city centre on a motorboat. She laughed. “Don’t worry!” she said. “I promise faithfully that whilst we’re in Venice we’ll be going on a gondola ride. Maybe we should save that for the last day.”

Francie noticed the nervous look on Miss Denny’s face as they boarded the motorboat. She hadn’t forgotten about Sally-go-round-the-moon’s fear of water. The two mistresses had severely reprimanded her about her behaviour in Lugano and she was determined to get even with them. She didn’t quite know how yet, but she was jolly well going to think of something.

Then, as the motorboat made its way across the lagoon, even Francie stopped thinking about other things and concentrated on the sight that lay before them - the city of Venice in all its glory. “Oh look at that,” Len breathed. “Have you ever seen anything so miraculous?” No-one else spoke, but there were gasps of awe and delight from every one of them. The Bernese Oberland was beautiful, and most of them had visited the Tiernsee which was generally considered to be even more spectacular, but not one single member of the party had ever seen anything that came even close to matching their first glimpse of this proud, glorious, shimmering, colourful city. They were in Venice at last.

They disembarked close to the Piazza San Marco, and Kathie told the girls that they could have twenty five minutes to walk round the square before meeting outside St Mark’s Basilica which they would then visit together. Joan stood to one side a little uncertainly, but Con called to her to join her and Odette. Margot, watching jealously, grabbed Emerence’s arm and pulled her friend over to join the trio. “We’ll come with you as well, Con,” she said.

“Do you think we ought to ask Francie to walk round with us?” Con asked. “You know what happened in Lugano yesterday. It’s a shame for anyone to feel left out, and if she gets into any more trouble Ferry and Sally might say that she’s got to stay behind at the guesthouse for the rest of the holiday.”

Margot pulled a face. “No chance,” she said. “Thanks to her we nearly missed the train, and she hasn’t had a nice word to say about anyone or anything since we left the School. I certainly don’t want to be putting up with her in our free time.” She hadn’t really intended for Francie to hear her, but unfortunately her voice tended to carry. Francie, who’d been hovering nearby, caught every word, and rushed off tearfully to tag on to Primrose and the two Dawbarns.

#113: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 8:59 am

Lovely Con Very Happy

Margot

Poor Francie Sad

Thanks Alison

Liz

#114: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:01 am

Thank you, Alison. This is just so good; I wonder how Francie will get even with Miss Denny??

#115: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 10:32 am

Margot deserves to be poked! Poor Francie!

Thanks Alison Very Happy

#116: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:13 am

Oh dear

Foot in mouth there, Margot...

Thanks Alison

#117: Author: Robin, Location: London

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:32 am

joins the queue of people wanting to poke Margot.

I think Alessandro sounds lovely - if Kathie doesn't want him, can I have him? Very Happy

Thanks Alison

#118: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:43 am

Margot. That's the way to get the half-term trips stopped.

#119: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:50 am

Thanks, Alison. I'm sorry that Margot wasn't very nice to Francie - I have a feeling this is going to cause trouble later on.

#120: Author: CatherineS, Location: Smalltown, West of Scotland

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:08 pm

I'm really enjoying this - loving your portrayal of the characters, especially Sally, Joan and Con. Probably as they're all a bit hard done by by EBD herself. Con was always a favourite. Joan deserved a bit more happiness and acceptance. And I just like Sally as you've written her here.

#121: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:22 pm

They were a bit hard done by by EBD, weren't they?! Neither Con nor Joan were allowed to have proper friends, and poor Sally spent most of her time worrying about Plato! Thanks for the comments.

“C’est magnifique,” Odette sighed, looking at the magnificent façade of St Mark’s. Thanks to Con’s friendliness, she was beginning to lose some of her shyness. “It looks more like an Orthodox church than a Catholic one.”

“Venice traditionally had very close links with parts of Eastern Europe,” said Con. “Her main trading partner used to be the Byzantine Empire. The Basilica was based in part on the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul - Constantinople as it was then – which is why it’s got an Orthodox look about it. Venice's economy really declined after the fall of Constantinople, even though she wasn’t as hostile to the Ottomans as most of the other European powers were. Especially once Portuguese explorers started exploring other routes to China and India. She was involved with some of the mainly Catholic areas of Eastern Europe as well, though: she used to rule part of the Dalmatian coast and places like Zadar and Split are still supposed to look as much Venetian as Slavic. She even tried to conquer parts of Belsornia, although that didn’t succeed.” Odette listened with interest and Con decided not to think any more about Francie’s nasty remark about “droning on”.

Kathie made her way straight through the crowds of people and pigeons and into St Mark’s. She began to make her way towards a pew, but then she stopped. Maybe it was inappropriate to pray for help over a relationship that some people might regard as being in some way sinful. But how could it possibly be sinful when she and Nancy were so happy together? She didn’t know what to do. Miserably, she made her way back out into the square. She leaned against the wall of the basilica and her eyes filled with tears.

“Kathie?” It was Sally Denny. “I don’t want to interfere, but I don’t like to see anyone so unhappy. Is there anything I can to do help? Please don’t think that I’m trying to pry, but I can be a good listener if you need one.” She handed the younger woman a handkerchief. “Come on. We’ve got time for a quick coffee before we need to meet the girls. Why don’t you tell me what the matter is? Believe me, nothing you could say could shock me. There are plenty of things that people don’t know about me, I promise you.”

#122: Author: Nicola, Location: Derbyshire

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:41 pm

Poor Kathie.

*Wondering about what Sally has got up to in her time.....*

I'm really enjoying this. Thanks, Alison.

#123: Author: Robin, Location: London

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:41 pm

Quote:

There are plenty of things that people don’t know about me, I promise you

and they are...????

Thanks Alison Wink

#124: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:52 pm

Alison H wrote:

There are plenty of things that people don’t know about me, I promise you.”

Yes, but we are going to find out aren't we Alison? Please? Very Happy

Liz

#125: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:36 pm

Thanks, Alison. I enjoyed reading about Venice. I wonder what Sally has got to tell Kathie?

#126: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:53 pm

Let's hope we find out Sally's secrets soon! Thanks, Alison, this is great stuff!

#127: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:41 pm

Margot is very well portrayed here - such a nasty peice of work - jealous of her sister having friends other than herself but not generous enough to allow another, genuinely lonely person to join them. I hope she has some sort of come-uppance!

As for Kathie and Sarah - hope Kathie can confide in the older woman - it's so sad she's feeling so bad - plus, of course, if she does confide, we'll hear a little about Miss Denny too! Laughing

Thanks Alison.

#128: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:02 pm

Margot!

Alison H wrote:

There are plenty of things that people don’t know about me, I promise you.”

Ooooh?? I hope Kathie confides in her and that Kathie (we) find out about her past life!

#129: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:33 pm

Ooooh, so what happened in Sally's past? *all agog*

#130: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:46 pm

Ooooh goody - mystery!

This is wonderful, thanks Alison. It conjures up all sorts of memories of Venice.

#131: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 4:23 am

Thank you Alison - so nice to hear more of Sally!

#132: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:07 am

They made their way into a nearby café and ordered coffee for two: it was ridiculously expensive but Kathie was past caring. Encouraged by Sally’s reassurances, she poured out the whole story. She’d gone to an all-girls school where she’d had little contact with boys. Then she’d gone on to Oxford where, lonely and away from her aunt and uncle for the first time, she’d made friends with Nell Randolph, who was Miss Annersley’s cousin and a close friend of Peggy Bettany. Nell had started seeing one of the boys at a neighbouring college and, keen to see Kathie as happy as she was herself, had introduced her to several of her boyfriend’s friends; but Kathie hadn’t been even remotely attracted to any of them. It was then that she’d realised for certain that, unlike Nell, she just wasn’t interested in men. She hadn’t particularly intended to take a job at a school where most of the staff were female, but she’d longed to travel and when the job at the Chalet School had come up she’d been unable to resist applying. Then she’d met Nancy Wilmot. If there was no-one else’s opinion to consider, then she knew that she and Nancy could be happy together. But she knew that there were people who would condemn their relationship, and that it would certainly be very difficult for them to carry on doing the jobs they loved if the school authorities were to find out about them.

“So you see, I just don’t know what to do, Sally” she said tearfully. “I feel that I’m in a no-win situation.”

“All I can do is advise you to do what’s best for you,” Sally said. “Sadly there are people who won’t approve if they find out, but you’ll just have to rise above them: don’t let other people’s prejudices ruin your happiness, my dear. As for the school authorities finding out … well, you’d be surprised at some of the secrets people manage to conceal. I should know, believe me.”

Kathie looked at her curiously. “What are you saying?” she asked. “I don’t want to pry either, but … well, you’ve listened to me, so if there’s anything you’d like to talk to me about then I hope you’ll feel able to.”

Sally took a deep breath. “I’m not quite sure where to begin,” she said.

#133: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:10 am

At the beginning sounds great to me, Sally! Thanks, Alison. I'm really looking forward to hearing the secrets!

#134: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:56 am

You just keep talking Sally! Laughing

Glad Kathie was able to confide.

Thanks Alison.

#135: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:38 am

*all ears to hear what Sally has to say*

Thanks Alison Very Happy

Liz

#136: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 12:01 pm

Come on Alison, dish the dirt!

#137: Author: Nicola, Location: Derbyshire

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 3:44 pm

Poor Kathie. I hope we get to see her with Nancy at some stage. And I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for Sally to start telling her story....

Thanks, Alison.

#138: Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!!

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 4:06 pm

Ooh, all intrigued about Sarah's story.

Im glad she could listen to Kathie though. Thanks Alison Very Happy

#139: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:14 pm

Very glad Kathie was able to confide in Sally, and that Saly was willing to listen, but I REALLY want to hear Sally's story!

#140: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:27 pm

Come on please don't leave us hanging to long!!! I can't wait to find out! Thank you Alison!!! Very Happy

#141: south of the alps Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 8:29 pm

Quote:

Maybe it was inappropriate to pray for help over a relationship that some people might regard as being in some way sinful. But how could it possibly be sinful when she and Nancy were so happy together?

Have just tried to do a box. If it doesn't work, use imagination!

Oh poor, poor Kathie. An agonising conflict. Take good old Sally's advice, do what's best for you and don't let other people's prejudices ruin your happiness. Very much easier said than done.

Can't wait to hear Sally's revelations.

Thank you, Alison.

#142: Author: catherine, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:22 pm

Are you about to tell us that Sally and Tristan are not brother and sister after all? Confused

#143: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:33 pm

That was my idea, too...

#144: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 9:39 am

Sally will be telling all ... but unfortunately she's going to keep being interrupted because they've got to look after the girls ...

The striking of the cathedral clock suddenly reminded them that they were meant to be meeting the girls in five minutes. “Another time,” Kathie said apologetically as they hurried to pay their bill and get back to St Mark’s Basilica before the girls did. The interior of the building was even more ornate than the exterior and they were all fascinated by it. Then they walked over to the Campanile, the cathedral’s belltower, one of the most famous sights in Venice. “It’s 314 feet to the top,” Kathie said. “Anyone who doesn’t feel up to climbing it may stay at the bottom and wait for us, but I’m warning you that you’ll miss what are said to be the most spectacular views over the city to be seen anywhere.”

No-one was about to miss out on the views, although most of them were red-faced and breathless when they reached the top of the tower. Walking with your knees bent wasn’t as easy on steps as it was on mountainsides. “Nobody is to walk too close to the edge,” Sally warned. “We don’t want any accidents.”

“Francie, stop pushing!” Emerence said crossly. Francie, who had been trying to jostle the Australian girl out of the way so that she could stand next to Margot, shot Emerence a look of hatred. She could never understand why Margot preferred Emerence to her and, despite what the youngest Maynard triplet had said about her earlier, she still longed to be friends with the girl she’d always admired. Kathie overheard and took action immediately. “Francie! Do you not know any better than to be so clumsy when we’re at the top of such a tall building? You’ve already caused trouble once on this trip: please don’t let me have to reprimand you again.”

Francie blushed hotly. It wasn’t fair. Why had Emerence had to get her in trouble with Ferry? And if only Emerence was out of the way for the rest of the holiday, then maybe she would finally get the chance to take Emerence’s place as Margot’s best friend. She was angry now. As they walked back down the stairs, she managed to push in front of Margot so that she was directly behind Emerence, who was leading the group. There was no-one in front of them. The steps were steep enough for anyone falling down them to suffer, say, a twisted ankle. If she were just to give Emerence a tiny push, she could say that she’d tripped and that the push had been an accident …

#145: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:56 am

Nooo, Francie, don't do it! Shocked

Thanks Alison

#146: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 12:05 pm

No, no, that would be a very bad idea, Francie! Margot is hardly going to like you if you kill her best friend...

#147: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:23 pm

Thanks, Alison. I hope Sally gets to tell her story soon and Francie doesn't do anything to hurt Emerence.

#148: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 3:45 pm

Eeeeek! Don't do it Francie - not even if it means an encounter with a nice young doctor!

Thanks Alison

Liz

#149: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 4:11 pm

“Francie! I don’t know what’s up with you today!” Emerence snapped, saving herself from a nasty fall by pushing her hands against the walls. “You barged right into me then. Will you watch where you’re going?”

“Sorry,” Francie muttered. “I slipped.” Emerence accepted that it had been an accident and said no more. Margot had seen Emerence’s near-fall but hadn’t realised that Francie had caused it. “Careful, Emmy!” she called. “Anyone would think you wanted to do your ankle in and have to be patched up by Dr Contarini!” All the girls were rather taken with the handsome Italian doctor.

Someone towards the back shouted at them to hurry up because they were holding up a group of American tourists, so they carried on walking down the steps and soon they were back on level ground. “Can we go to the Doge’s Palace now?” Con asked eagerly, glancing longingly at the pink and white building across the square.

“After lunch,” Kathie said. “We’re going to have something to eat now, and then we’re going to sit by the waterside and rest for a little while: it gets very hot here at midday, and I wouldn’t be able to face Matey if we had any cases of sunstroke. It’s all right, Con - we aren’t going to miss out on any of the historic sights!”

After they’d eaten, Kathie and Sally found a shady spot affording dazzling views out over the Venetian lagoon. Having settled the girls down, they retreated a little way away, so that they could talk without fear of being overheard. “After all,” Kathie said, “some of that set might be a little lacking in common sense, but Len Maynard and co can be more than trusted to keep an eye on the others.”

It hadn’t escaped Margot’s attention that Len was spending most of her time with Ros, Jo and Ricki. She put one arm through Emerence’s and the other through Con’s and led the two of them along to where Len and her three friends were sitting. “Come and sit with us, Odette,” Con called. “You too, Joan.” Ros gave Joan a friendly smile. They’d been friends at home, after all, and if Joan had treated her badly when she’d first arrived at the Chalet School then it was a long time ago. There were far too many divisions in Vb and it didn’t make life easy for anyone, especially people like Joan and Odette who tended to get left out. She looked thoughtfully at Con. Everyone said that Len was the one who’d inherited their mother’s supposed gift for getting under other people’s skins, but Con was the one who always tried to make Odette feel included, and now it seemed that she was doing the same for Joan as well.

“Are you enjoying Venice, Odette?” Jo Scott asked politely. She was also beginning to realise that the rest of the form had been wrong in letting any of its members feel so left out. She was surprised when Odette nodded enthusiastically: it was rare to see Odette enthusiastic about anything. “It is the most beautiful city I have ever seen,” Odette said. “And most of all I am enjoying feeling like one of the form at last.”

“Me too,” Joan said quietly. “I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to come here, because I probably won’t be at school much longer, and when I get home there isn’t likely to be the money for me to go abroad again for a long time.

“Getting the chance to see different places is one of the best things about being at the Chalet School,” Ricki added. “We’re very lucky to be at school now, and not ten years ago when such terrible things were happening and travelling to Italy would have been impossible.”

“You’re all so serious!” Margot complained. “We’re on holiday, and we’ve all behaved like little angels up till now, unless you count Francie being late back in Lugano and I suppose she must have just got lost. We could do with someone livening things up a bit!”

“How could you possibly make this any more exciting than it is?” Len laughed. The others agreed, and Margot conceded that they were right and laughed with them, but Francie had overheard and her mind was racing. If she could just think of the right thing to do, she could get her own back on Ferry and Sally and impress Margot Maynard, all at one and the same time.

“You were going to tell me something earlier,” Kathie said quietly. “We’ve got plenty of time now, and the girls can’t hear us. You needn’t worry that I’ll tell anyone. I know how to keep a secret. I should do: I’ve had enough practice.”

#150: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 4:17 pm

I'm inching my chair closer to Kathie and Sally so that I can overhear them!
Thanks, Alison!

#151: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 4:18 pm

Thanks, Alison. I'm glad Emerence didn't have a fall and that Odette and Joan are feeling more included in the form.

#152: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 4:42 pm

Thanks Alison

*slipping into a space next to Fatima*

Liz

#153: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 4:54 pm

Wonder how Len feels about Con usurping her role? And doing it rather well!

Want to shake Francie for such a stupid way of thinking.

Thanks Alison - *buys direction microphone so I can eavesdrop on the mistresses with ease.*

#154: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 7:24 pm

Thanks Alison, just caught up on loads of this and it's such fun although I had hoped to be over the Sally-revelation-cliff by now! It's all so realistic - I especially like the way that the girls have fallen for the handsome, young doctor. I remember one school trip when I was 10 or so when my best friend and I constantly wrote love letters to one of the instructors at the place we were staying Embarassed

Thank you

Kathryn

#155: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 8:43 pm

Slips in next to Fatima and Liz (theres going to be a whole crowd soon!) Thank you Alison, I can't wait to find out about Sally!! Very Happy

I'm glad Francie didn't hurt Emerence and that Joan and Odette feel more included in the form! Very Happy

This trip seems to be doing everyone good! Very Happy

#156: Author: Nicola, Location: Derbyshire

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 9:18 pm

What a nasty piece of work Francie is! Thanks, Alison, I'm really enjoying this, and looking forward to Sally getting a few moments of peace and quiet to talk to Kathie.

#157: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 9:41 pm

Oh dear, what's the silly girl going to do? Hopefully nothing too disastrous!

*joining the small crowd aroud Kathie and Sally to hear what she has to say*

#158: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:25 pm

Thanks Alison. (Joins crowd)
Love Ros's thoughts about Con - it makes sense that if she does have the sensitivity to write, then she also has the sensitivity to grasp other people's perspectives as well.
And good thinking on Jo Scott's part too.

#159: south of the alps Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:58 pm

Room for me, too?

Lovely to see the new, happy Odette. Waiting to see what ghastliness Francie will perpetrate.

Thanks, Alison.

#160: Author: Miss Di, Location: Newcastle, NSW

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 2:10 am

Thanks Alison

Joins crowd of people with maddly flapping ears (figurativly that is. My ears aren't that big)

#161: Author: Identity Hunt, Location: UK

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:00 am

Please put us out of our misery and tell us Sally`s secret !
I`m scared of heights and cliffs........ Sad

#162: Author: MaryR, Location: Sale Cheshire

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:36 am

Agreeing with Identity Hunt, Alison. Laughing

Thank you.

#163: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:48 am

Thanks for all the comments! The first bit of Sally's story is quite sad though.... I started writing this bit over Remembrance Day weekend and I thought it was odd that the CS books made so little reference to the First World War.

Sally took a deep breath. “It was when I was even younger than you are now,” she said. “During the war. My family weren’t poor but we weren’t rich either: I always knew that I’d have to earn my own living, and it was always understood that I’d be a teacher. That was what nice middle-class girls did. It wasn’t what I wanted, though. I’d always loved languages and I thought that maybe I could get some sort of secretarial post in one of the embassies abroad. I planned to go university to study modern languages: my mother and father thought that it was with a view to teaching them, but of course it wasn’t. Then war broke out. I was eighteen and I’d just left school. Oh, I started my university course. The war was supposed to be over by Christmas. I was young and foolish then: I never believed that it could last any longer: our boys were going to be in Berlin before the end of the year. Then the male students all started leaving, going into the armed forces. Then they started calling men up. That was when I decided that I had to do something. I left my course and went to work in a hospital. It’d been some sort of government building, but they turned it into a military hospital for the duration of the war. They did that with a lot of buildings. Casualties were coming in far more quickly than the normal hospitals could possibly cope with.

“Nurses had to be twenty one to volunteer for service abroad. I left for France a month after my twenty first birthday, and I worked in one of the field hospitals there. I’ll never be able to forget it as long as I live. They brought men in who were missing limbs, men who’d had half their faces blown away, men who’d lost their minds completely. Sometimes we had to work without proper anaesthetic. We tried so hard to keep everywhere clean but sometimes the smell in the operating theatre was indescribable. And the rain, and the mud. There was a horrific thunderstorm one night, and the hospital was flooded. Ever since then, every time I hear heavy rain I’m back there, back with the men being brought in from the trenches. That’s why I’m nervous of water: I can’t forget, ever. Then, when peace was signed, there came the Spanish flu epidemic. That killed more people than the war had done. Just when we thought our war was finally over, just when we thought the deaths had finally come to an end. It was late 1919 before I finally got home.

“We were told that it was the war to end all wars. I thought I’d seen the worst that human beings could do to each other, but I was wrong. When I think of all those who were lost in the 1939-1945 war …. Herr Marani, the father of Maria Marani who’s been working for Joey, died in a concentration camp. So did Luigia di Ferrara, one of the school’s first pupils. Marjorie Durrant, whom I worked with when I first came to the Chalet School, lost her husband and lost her child as well, killed in an air raid. Several of my former pupils lost their fiancés. All wars are terrible. And sometimes, in wartime, we do things that we wouldn’t do otherwise.”

Sally stopped there. Seeing that she was too upset to continue, Kathie didn’t press her to say any more. She asked Sally if she wanted to go back to the guesthouse. “I can tell the girls that you’re not feeling well,” she said anxiously, but Sally shook her head. “No. I’ll be all right. Besides, I want to see the Doge’s Palace as much as anyone else does.”

#164: Author: Squirrel, Location: St-Andrews or Dunfermline

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:53 am

Oh what a lovely (but sad) glimpse into the workings of such a loved teacher. The books don't mention her much, but when they do, the girls always talk of her with affection.

Thankyou for letting her talk Alison, she must need to get this out in the open, between her and someone else, at least once. Sure, her brother knows about it, but it's different to talking to another woman.

Thanks again.

#165: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:00 am

Thanks Alison.

*wonders what Sally's secret is and what francie is plotting*

#166: Author: Robin, Location: London

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:17 am

thanks Alison
Hope Sally manages to finish her story soon!
Smile

#167: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:55 am

Thanks, Alison. I posted at the same time as Fatima so I wasn't able to join the crowd, but I'll join the crowd waiting for the rest of the story. The first part of Sally's story was so sad to read.

#168: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:52 pm

Thanks, Alison. Sally's story is so sad.

#169: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:22 pm

Poor Sally; I imagine there were a lot of people who would never forget all that they witnessed in whichever war it was. I hope she has some happier secrets to reveal as well. Thank you, Alison.

#170: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:11 pm

Poor Sally...

But as for Francie....they're sitting by a canal right? So Len can get pushed in Very Happy

Thanks Alison

#171: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:08 pm

Ooh I wonder what Francie is plotting! And what the rest of Sally's secrets are! Why does everyone not like Len?? Thank you Alison! I can't wait for more! Very Happy

#172: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:35 pm

So sad - and not an unusual glimpse into that Hell.

Thanks Alison.

#173: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:52 pm

So what did Sally do during WW1 that she wouldn't have done under ordinary circumstances?

I'm firmly telling myself that patience is a virtue, and it's not working!

#174: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:06 pm

Thanks Alison.

So sad, and so true...

#175: south of the alps Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:41 pm

Very evocative - and such a strong explanation of Sally's fear of water. I hope none of the girls are going to play on that, it would be awful for her. We forget about the flu epidemic, but that must have been the last straw. Looking forward to more insights into this interesting woman.

Thanks, Alison

#176: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:06 pm

Chalet_school_lover wrote:

Why does everyone not like Len??

I actually do like Len really - I just find it really annoying that both Joey and EBD treat her like Miss Perfect, that she always gets told to look after the new girls (e.g. Ros and Ted), and that Joey goes on about how wonderful Len is but never seems nearly as interested in either Con or Margot! (Con has always been my favourite character because I also tend to have my head in the clouds, my nose in a history book, or both ... if that's physically possible!) I think EBD would possibly turn in her grave if she could read what gets written about the people who were probably her 3 main characters - Joey, Mary-Lou and Len Laughing

! Thanks for the comments Very Happy

#177: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:08 am

Thanks Alison

Poor Sally - that was sad - and I hope Francie doesn't do anything with water to her.

Liz

#178: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:08 am

The two mistresses called all the girls together, and they set off back to the Piazza San Marco to visit the Doge’s Palace, the Palazzo Ducale. “It was built mainly in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but there would have been a palace here as early as the ninth century,” Kathie read from the guidebook. “It was the residence of the Doge and also housed the offices of various government and legal bodies.” Some of the girls were intrigued by the unique political history of Venice. Others weren’t, but they all marvelled at the magnificent Grand Council Chamber, lined along all its walls and ceilings with paintings, and the descriptions, with Kathie read out to them of the traditional ceremony in which the Doge would be “married” to the sea.

When they left the Palace, Kathie and Sally guided the girls round to the river side of the Palace, where they beheld the Bridge of Sighs, connecting the interrogation rooms in the Palace to the old prisons. “You can just imagine the prisoners walking over there, expecting to be tortured,” Prudence Dawbarn, who loved anything gruesome, said gleefully. “No wonder they called it the Bridge of Sighs!”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Prudence,” Kathie laughed, “but the name Bridge of Sighs wasn’t used until the nineteenth century, and it was coined by Lord Byron rather than by any poor prisoner awaiting his doom, and anyway most of the prisoners would have been going from the interrogation rooms to the prisons rather than the other way round. Byron apparently thought of the name because of the idea that prisoners walking across the bridge would sigh at their last view of Venice from the windows of the bridge before they were thrown into the cells. Now, who wants an ice cream before we go back to the guesthouse?”

Nobody was going to turn down that offer. They were all thoroughly enjoying themselves. Even Francie joined in the other girls’ excited chatter on the motorboat out of the city centre. They all promised faithfully to rest for the remainder on the afternoon, on the understanding that the Chalet School’s rules about avoiding late evenings were to be broken just this once, to allow the girls to enjoy the sight of Venice by night. They returned to the city centre later and, after a walk past the beautiful buildings they’d seen earlier in the day, enjoyed coffee in a café off the Piazza San Marco and, as they were the only ones on the boat taking them back across the lagoon afterwards, Kathie and Sally allowed them to hold an impromptu sing-song of such Italian songs as they knew.

“Your brother would have a fit if he could hear them,” Kathie laughed. She could never bring herself to refer to Mr Denny as “Tristan”. Come to think of it, she wondered why the Dennys’ parents should have chosen a name associated with opera and Celtic legend for their son but a Biblical name for their daughter. It seemed inconsistent, somehow. Still, maybe they’d just liked the names. “The Maynards have lovely voices and some of the others aren’t bad, but some of them are so far off key that I wonder the boat driver hasn’t complained!” she added. Sally didn’t answer, and Kathie looked at her worriedly. She wanted to know what it was that Sally had started to tell her earlier, but she didn’t like to ask until Sally was ready to resume her story

#179: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:19 am

Which will be when?

Thanks Alison!

#180: Author: Nell, Location: London, England

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:58 am

Thank you Alison!

#181: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 10:15 am

They aren't brother and sister at all are they? Wink

Please spill the secret soon Alison Very Happy

#182: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 10:17 am

Thanks, Alison. I would like to find out as well the reasons why Tristan and Sally's parents gave them the names they did.

#183: Author: Robin, Location: London

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 10:20 am

thanks Alison!
(think Mia might be right!) Smile

#184: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:07 pm

Thanks, Alison. I'm also longing for Sally to resume her story.

#185: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:34 pm

Had never occurred to me about the complete difference in names - maybe one was chosen by mother and one by father or something like that Very Happy

Thanks Alison - looking forward to finding out more of Sally's story.

Liz

#186: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:13 pm

Thanks for the comments. More about Sally soon...

“Didn’t Casanova live in Venice at one time?” Kathie heard Heather Clayton giggling. Con Maynard confirmed it and all the girls dissolved into laughter. She bit her lip. The girls might all giggle at the idea of the legendary count and all his lovers, and during the day she’d heard most of them discussing Dr Contarini’s good looks and Italian charm, but she wondered how they’d react if they knew about her and Nancy. Most of them probably wouldn’t even understand. Maybe she should just resign quietly and look for a job elsewhere. She could say that she was missing her aunt and uncle. No-one would think it unusual at all.

Back at the guesthouse, Sally said that she had a headache. She went straight up to bed. Signora Contarini offered to make cappuccinos for everyone, but Kathie politely declined: it was late and she didn’t want them being kept up all night by the caffeine. She dispatched the girls to bed soon afterwards: it had been a long day and some of them were looking weary. She wasn’t tired herself, though, and she settled down in the guesthouse’s pretty sitting room to study her guidebook of Venice. The extensive knowledge of Italian history that some of the girls had was making her feel quite inferior, and she didn’t want to be in the embarrassing position of not being able to answer any questions that they might ask her about the places they were visiting tomorrow.

“Buonasera, Signorina Ferrars.” A male voice interrupted her reading, and she looked up. It was Dr Contarini. “Oh I’m sorry, am I in your way?” she asked hurriedly. “It’s all right: I’ll go and read in my room.”

“Not at all,” he said, his English perfect but spoken with a strong North Italian accent. He’d stayed well out of the way until the girls had gone – having a bunch of teenage girls whispering and giggling and nudging each other every time you entered a room was really very embarrassing – but he’d had a hard day at work and he wanted a relaxing glass of wine. “Please, do not let me drive you away: you are our guest, after all. I was just about to get myself a glass of wine. Perhaps you would care to join me?”

It would have been rude to refuse. Besides, with one thing and another she was badly in need of a drink, and she didn’t mean a cappuccino. She accepted the glass of sparkling Italian wine that the doctor poured out for her and then, feeling that she ought to make the effort to make conversation, asked him about his time in Padua.

“Padua is a lovely city, although not as lovely as Venice,” he said. “I do not want to live in a city for the rest of my life, though, Signorina Ferrars. What I would really like is to live and work somewhere in the mountains.”

“Perhaps you should apply for a job at the Sanatorium at the Gornetz Platz, in that case,” she said without thinking. I can’t believe I’ve just said that, she thought. She hoped that he hadn’t taken her suggestion that he move near the Chalet School the wrong way: she’d only been trying to be helpful. “This wine is really very nice indeed, Dr Contarini,” she said, hurriedly changing the subject.”

“Sandro, please,” he said.

“Er … my name is Kathie,” she said rather awkwardly.

“Kathie. Caterina, in Italian.” He clinked his wine glass against hers. “Your very good health, Caterina. Salute!”

#187: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:25 pm

Oh ho, is there going to be a real misunderstanding here? An eternal triangle, perhaps?

#188: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:29 pm

Oh noooo

Poor Sandro! Poor Kathie!

#189: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:07 pm

How did all the girls know about Casanova?! Maybe someone has been smuggling in forbidden literature again!
Poor Sandro, it seems as though he will be doomed for disappointment!
Thank you, Alison, this is as wonderful as ever.

#190: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:08 pm

Thanks, Alison. I really hope Kathie doesn't decide to leave the CS.

#191: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 7:14 pm

Oh dear, the possibilities for misunderstanding are endless!

Thanks Alison.

#192: Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:36 pm

Oooh dear! Misunderstanding alerts!! Thank you very much! I can't wait for more! Very Happy

#193: south of the alps Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:36 pm

Ouch! This is going to be painful for all concerned.

Thanks Alison

#194: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:38 am

Oops...this could get somewhat convoluted!
Thanks Alison.

#195: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:29 am

I've just read this from the start and enjoying it very much.

I agree poor Sally never seems to get a starring role. She's just always 'there'.

You've got so many plots within plots going on Razz

thank you.

#196: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:55 am

On the following morning, Kathie was glad to find that Dr Contarini had already left for work by the time they came down for breakfast. He seemed like a very nice man and she really didn’t want to have to spell out to him the fact that she wasn’t interested in him. Hopefully she’d got the wrong idea and he’d just been being friendly the previous evening, but somehow she had a horrible feeling that wasn’t the case.

The girls and the two mistresses walked through the San Polo district of Venice, once an important medieval trade centre, and on to the Cannaregio district where the Venetian ghetto had been situated. Kathie explained that the name of that area of the city came from the iron foundries, known locally as geto, but that gradually the word had come into international usage. She also pointed out that the name for the Venetian naval depot, the Arsenale, was another word, although probably of Arabic origin, that had become used internationally, meaning that Venice had the extremely dubious distinction of giving the word Arsenal to the world. ( Evil or Very Mad

Not a happy bunny this morning seeing as United only managed to draw last night's must-win match!) Then she and Sally took the girls to see the magnificent Rialto Bridge, spanning the Grand Canal.

“Oh it’s marvellous!” Betty Landon exclaimed, before belatedly remembering that they weren’t supposed to use that word. “Can we, I mean may we, walk across it?”

“That’s the general idea!” Kathie said cheerfully. As they crossed the bridge, the girls all remarked at the volume of traffic along the Grand Canal. “Isn’t it amazing how everyone and everything travels by water here?” Jo Scott said. “We are going to go in a gondola before we leave, aren’t we, Miss Ferrars?”

“We’ll definitely do that tomorrow,” Kathie promised. “It’ll be our last treat, just to really round off the holiday in a special way.”

Everyone cheered at that and the two mistresses had to hastily call for quiet: they didn’t want people to start staring at them. Then most of girls began to chatter about their plans for the afternoon, forgetting about gondolas for the time being, but Francie was thoughtful. If the gondola trip was to be their last activity, then, if she could think of some practical joke to play during it, she would get her fun and her revenge without being banned from any of the other things that they had planned. There had to be something she could do. Something that would enable her to get her own back on Ferry and Sally and impress Margot with her daring and originality at the same time.

#197: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:59 am

Oh Francie, noooo! Don't do it! Laughing

Thanks Alison, I can't wait for the next update!

Commisserations on the football too! Sad

#198: Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:07 pm

Please, somebody, make sure that Francie gets 'ducked' in the Grand Canal before she can carry out any of her evil schemes!!

#199: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:15 pm

Thanks, Alison. The holiday seems to be going really quickly!

#200: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:54 pm