The CBB :: View topic - Chalet School

#1: Chalet School - Golden Jubilee Author: Katarzyna, Location: North West England

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 7:48 pm

It's been a while since we did a serious communal drabble and, what do you know, that blasted bunny decided to suggest something! so here you go - try to keep it EBD (ish)!

“Here, this should interest you!” Paul said thrusting part of the newspaper across the breakfast table sending the milk bottle to the floor with a loud crash.
“Oh clever,” she took the paper and cast a withering glance at her husband, “I don’t suppose you want to clear it up?”

Paul showed no sign of moving as he lifted his toast from the plate and continued to read the sports supplement. With a sigh, she put the newspaper to one side and went to fetch the cloth. She didn’t speak whilst she cleared up, nor when she put away the breakfast things and washed the dishes. She remained silent until Paul had left for work, she knew it was childish but she couldn’t help herself. Eventually, she picked up the paper, walked through to the sitting room and settled herself in the chair in front of the window.

“Thank goodness for long holidays!” she said with a sigh as she looked out over the garden. The grass was parched and yellowing in the heat of the long summer they were having, the flowers wilting despite the fact that it was only a little after eight in the morning. She lent forward and switched on the little radio, listening to mindless pop songs interspersed with high speed chatter and inane advertising jingles. The ongoing heat wave was the main topic of conversation, hosepipe bans were in place in most of the country and the moors which her home overlooked had seen the outbreak of several fires causing the Countryside commission to ban walkers from using the area.

With another sigh she finally looked at the paper. The notice seemed to jump out from the page of adverts Paul had been looking at.

The Chalet School is 50

Former pupils and staff of the Swiss and English branches (together with those who attended the school in Austria and Guernsey) are invited to attend in order to mark the school’s golden jubilee For more information please contact either of the school’s branches Her eyes misted as she read the notice, her mind slipping back into the carefree days she enjoyed as a pupil at the Swiss branch of the Chalet School. Her own choices after leaving had taken her away from most of her friends, whilst they married and started families she chose to go to university and study further.

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

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:18 pm

Oooh!!! this looks good!!!

#3: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 1:30 pm

This looks good. I suppose the first thing to do is to hang, draw and quarter Paul, who sounds to be a real MCP.

#4: Author: claire, Location: South Wales

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 2:36 pm

A new undergraduate at Oxford University had read the same article the previous day and was currently trying to reach his grandmother on the telephone. At some length she picked up the receiver
"Oma," he said in fluent German, "what was the name of the English school you went to before the war? I thought it was, they're celebrating their Golden Jubilee. You keep saying you don't want anything for your birthday, your sixieth birthday is a big one don't say it isn't, so Vater and I hav decided we're going to pay all your expenses for you to join your old school friends, what do you think?"

Thekla Scmidt, as she was now, made all the right noises, knowing how determined her son and grandson and they would ensure that she would go to the reunion. She couldn't think of a way to get out of it without mentioning the expulsion she had kept secret from her family so that summer she would attend the trip

#5: Author: Katie, Location: A Yorkshire lass in London

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 5:21 pm

Very sneaky, Claire! Who'll appear next, I wonder?

#6: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 5:35 pm

In a cluttered London house, another old girl read the advertisment. After a troubled beginning at the school, she had settled down under the influence of one the mistresses, to become one of the schools best headgirls. Carefully she cut the advertisment out and placed it into an envelope, then after spending half an hour searching for a very old and battered address book she wrote an address on the envelope.
"I just hope she still lives there." She said to her-self as she posted the letter into the post box at the end of her street.

#7: Author: Donna, Location: Liverpool

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 5:50 pm

Meanwhile, in a small, private nursing home in Devon, an elderly lady was reading The Times through her half-moon glasses. She noted the advertisement with interest and although she was slightly upset to realise that no-one had thought to notify her personally, she began to make plans for her own attendance. After making a short list, she turned to her telephone and called the old friend who lived upstairs.

#8: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 6:00 pm

Jo Maynard sat at the breakfast table in Freudesheim, reading the advertisement with a mounting sense of anger. A reunion, a Golden Jubilee, and no-one had consulted her! This would never do!

Why, when the idea had first been mooted, she should have been consulted as to how many times she was willing to speak about the early days of the Chalet School, and her own adventures as its first pupil. That was what came of appointing a new Headmistress who had never been educated there. The very idea, bringing the School up to date!

Jo had been against this woman right from the start, and now she had even more reason to dislike her. She had refused to give any more new girls' tea-parties at Freudesheim, and indicated, somewhat coldly, that she was no longer willing to sort out problem girls to help them fit in with the school and its ethos, but it seemed that she was not wanted anyway.

When she had tried to nip through the gate between her own home and the school, she had found the gate nailed shut and climbing roses being trained against it. She decided not to take any precipitate action, no, she would consider her moves carefully.

#9: Author: Sophoife, Location: down under Down Under

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:52 pm

The advertisement also appeared in The Times Online, and thus was seen by members of the School Family all over the world. Eleven hours and thousands of miles away from London, the Chaletians Down Under mailing list hummed with the exciting news.

Of course, all the former pupils knew how old the School was, and those still in direct touch with the School rejoiced that their beloved Madame was still alive to see this significant milestone. Sadly, Sir Jem had died ten years previously, five years following a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, but all the Russell children now lived in Australia, and it was with a mounting sense of excitement that their friends of different generations now awaited the forthcoming reunion.

Twins Kevin and Kester Russell ran a racehorse stud in Tasmania, and both their wives were Old Girls. Both couples had produced twins in their turn, and all four girls were alike anough that Kevin's daughters Margaret Aline (Margie) and Margaret Sybil (Maggie) were often mistaken for their cousins Daphne Margaret (Daffy) and Josephine Margaret (Josie).

Kevin's wife Jane had been the catalyst for the two families' move to Tasmania - her father had been a studmaster of note on the island, and as she said to her sister-in-law June,
"It's far enough away that the girls won't be able to reasonably travel to the Chalet School, and nobody will bat an eyelid when we send them to Collegiate or Grammar."

Jane's mother was an Old Girl herself and had made the considerable sacrifice of spending five years apart from her own husband in order that her daughter could attend the Swiss branch of the School. Jane wasn't going to follow in those footsteps if she could help it! June, who had spent five miserable years as a tone-deaf accent-deaf champion athlete at the English branch, heartily agreed.

However, the eight of them would be expected to attend the Golden Jubilee, and in fact a letter of invitation (aka command) from Sir David Russell was sitting in the half-oildrum that did duty as a letterbox at the property's main gate.

#10: Author: Guest,

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:55 pm

not to be picky folks but the golden jubilee would have occurred in 1978 or 9 - don't think the times was on line at that point!

#11: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:27 pm

Anonymous wrote:

not to be picky folks but the golden jubilee would have occurred in 1978 or 9 - don't think the times was on line at that point!

Well don't be then! I'm enjoying it, Thanks everyone

#12: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:31 pm

Beatrice looked at the notice in the Times and sighed. She was in two minds over this. Part of her longed to attend, for she had enjoyed so much of her time at the Chalet School.

It was only the last two or three years, when she had lost her way so dreadfully, that made her hesitate. That and the shame she felt which had kept her from making any contact with any of her old school friends, even though she had seen news of some of them in the papers. Well, she had time to consider her options. She was old enough now, and confident enough, to brave anything.

Last edited by Pat on Wed Feb 16, 2005 3:43 pm; edited 1 time in total

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

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 1:16 pm

In a small cottage in the Cotswolds, someone else looked at the advert and wondered. She had only been at the Chalet School for one term, after the merger - did that qualify her to go? One the other hand, she had spent several years in the Tirol, and it would be lovely to go back there. Maybe There would be other girls she had known there as well - Hilary and Nancy whatshername - they'd stayed at the school a bit longer she knew, but she had lost touch during the war. With sudden decision she pulled out the telephone directory, and looked up the details for a travel agent.

#14: Author: Daphne, Location: Letchworth Garden City

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:15 pm

Late that Saturday evening, a teenage girl bought herself some fish and chips. She was on her way home from a date with Simon, a seventeen year old apprentice mechanic with an unsavoury reputation. She had finished the chips and was puzzling over the newspaper they had been wrapped in as she let herself into the house.

“Hey Ma!” she shouted as she shut the door behind her. Her mother appeared at the top of the stairs. She was wearing her favourite frock, although it was now becoming a bit worn, made from a bright scarlet jersey-cloth heavily braided in black. She wore it, as always, with a large cameo brooch that swore at the red of the dress. “Isn’t this that posh school you went to?” the girl said, thrusting the newspaper in her mothers face.

Her mother glanced at the article whist putting the finishing touches to her hair, which was inclined to be untidy and rough despite the “perm” she had had since leaving school.
“Yeah, that’s the place.” she replied “Not like I’m going to get to that reunion. Where would I get the money from?” She smeared on her lipstick and glanced at herself in the mirror. “Now the kids are in bed so I’m off. I’ll be back in a couple of hours don’t eat everything in the fridge!”

She put her coat on and reached in the pocket for her keys, pulling out a wad of receipts and rubbish. “Oh,” she said, handing over one of the papers to her daughter, “there’s my ticket. I didn’t catch tonight’s draw. Will you check the numbers on Ceefax for me?” And with that she shut the door and set out to meet her friends in the local, wolfing down one of those cheap cakes from the grocers that she liked so much on her way.

#15: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 9:58 pm

at Daphne's post

#16: Author: Mihiri, Location: surrey england

Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 11:31 pm

This is brilliant. Am trying to think of aomething to add btu in the meantime am enjoying guessing who all these people are. Some are obvious but cant guess others. Love the idea of the gate from freudesheim being nailed shut

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

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:04 am

A small, delicate looking woman looked at the notice in the Times in wonder. The Chalet School had been so good to her when she was a small obstinate girl and it had brought her the mother she had always longed for, not to mention a sister who had been a thoroughly excellent influence. She would quite like to see the school again, not having had much contact with it after leaving to study at the Royal College of Music.

Carefully cutting out the notice she put it in an envelope and adressed it to Professor Trelawney, c/o The British Embassy, Brasilia, Brazil. She only hoped it would reach her sister-by-marriage in time. Picking up the telephone, she dialled the number of the international operator.

Six weeks later

Mary-Lou looked at the envelope in her hand, forwarded to her expedition by the embassy. The writing on the front was clearly recognisable as that of her sister by marriage and the envelope was marked "URGENT". Shaking her head to chase away the unbidden thoughts of the last "URGENT" letter she had received she opened the envelope. Out fluttered a newspaper cutting and a small note. She stooped to pick them up, recognising Verity's distinctive writing.

"Wouldn't it be fun to go?" Mary-Lou frowned and turned her attention to the newspaper cutting.

The Chalet School is 50

Former pupils and staff of the Swiss and English branches (together with those who attended the school in Austria and Guernsey) are invited to attend in order to mark the school’s golden jubilee For more information please contact either of the school’s branches

"Wouldn't it be fun to go?"

'No, not really' Mary-Lou thought. She tossed the cutting into the Amazon and watched it float away.

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

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:06 pm

The replies started coming in thick and fast, in a variety of languages and mostly with some query or other.

"Has it really been 50 years? Where does the time get to?"
"Is there a reduced cost for OAPs?"
"What priviledges will ex-head girls get?"
"Do we need to be there the whole time?"
"Can I bring my three children, seventeen grandchildren and next door's cat?"
"Will we stay in original style dormitories?"
"Will you be arranging transport?"
"Is the Chalet School still going - I thought it had closed down years ago?"
"Do we have to wear uniform? If so, I know a magazine that would pay well for pictures."
"I get paid to make appearances, so I assume I can expect to receive my usual fee if I attend?"
"Will there be any unmarried doctors there?"
"Can you let me know who else will be there before I decide?"
"Can you explain why my lavatory is still blocked?" [This caused considerable confusion, as did a letter received by Brent council saying "I would be delighted to attend"]
"Will Joey be present to autograph copies of her books?"
"I am due to give birth around that time - will there be a midwife present?"
"It would be so lovely to recreate some of our experiences, will we be able to get stranded in a mountain hut overnight?"
"Don't you know that there was a Welsh branch?"
"The voices in my head want to know if I should bring a rocket launcher."
"What kind of entertainment will be arranged? Should I buy shares in bedlinen?"

Anne Lambert wished once again that she'd never volunteered [been coerced] to organise this reunion.

#19: Author: Robin, Location: London

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:08 pm

Several sleepless days later, Anne had finally finished replying to all the letters. Some of the queries had quite baffled her, such as requests for Doctor Jack to do a strip - did they not realise that he was now in his 60s, and not the virile young doctor that they had all had secret crushes on?.

Other requests were just going to be impossible - Anna had been dead for several years, and the recipe for her lemon biscuits had gone with her to the grave. That was one guest who was going to be disappointed. Now that she had established that there would be sufficient interest, it was time to plan the day. She needed reinforcements. Anne picked up the phone.

#20: Author: Sophoife, Location: down under Down Under

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:30 pm

Robin wrote:

Anna had been dead for several years, and the recipe for her lemon biscuits had gone with her to the grave.

ha-h'm! (to quote the immortal HH) Anna's lemon biscuits recipe is in the Recipes thread on the Completely Off-Topic forum. we now return you to your scheduled drabble

Meanwhile, back in Tasmania, Jane and June Russell were both having some trouble with their twin daughters. Not one of the quartet was keen on attending the golden jubilee of a school they themselves had never seen and barely heard of, except when mentioned in disparaging tones by either of the two mothers.

Kevin and Kester were happy enough to be catching up with family at the family's expense - Sir David seemed to have no idea how much money might be made in bloodstock, especially if unpaid family provided the bulk of the staff.

#21: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 8:55 pm

LizB wrote:

"Has it really been 50 years? Where does the time get to?"
"Is there a reduced cost for OAPs?"
"What priviledges will ex-head girls get?"
"Do we need to be there the whole time?"
"Can I bring my three children, seventeen grandchildren and next door's cat?"
"Will we stay in original style dormitories?"
"Will you be arranging transport?"
"Is the Chalet School still going - I thought it had closed down years ago?"
"Do we have to wear uniform? If so, I know a magazine that would pay well for pictures."
"I get paid to make appearances, so I assume I can expect to receive my usual fee if I attend?"
"Will there be any unmarried doctors there?"
"Can you let me know who else will be there before I decide?"
"Can you explain why my lavatory is still blocked?" [This caused considerable confusion, as did a letter received by Brent council saying "I would be delighted to attend"]
"Will Joey be present to autograph copies of her books?"
"I am due to give birth around that time - will there be a midwife present?"
"It would be so lovely to recreate some of our experiences, will we be able to get stranded in a mountain hut overnight?"
"Don't you know that there was a Welsh branch?"
"The voices in my head want to know if I should bring a rocket launcher."
"What kind of entertainment will be arranged? Should I buy shares in bedlinen?"

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

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:57 am

Quote:

"Don't you know that there was a Welsh branch?"

How did Katkin get into this drabble? Wink

#23: Author: Mihiri, Location: surrey england

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:38 pm

Love Liz's post. Thanks

#24: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:56 pm

Lovely drabble. So funny. More soon please. I can't think of anything at the minute.

#25: Author: Bookwormsarah, Location: Cambridge, UK

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 2:24 pm

Robin wrote:

Some of the queries had quite baffled her, such as requests for Doctor Jack to do a strip - did they not realise that he was now in his 60s, and not the virile young doctor that they had all had secret crushes on?

Oh, ow ow owwww! (seriously aching ribs) I'd just read this and the phone rang - had to try not to giggle when answering. Serves me right for reading this at work...

#26: Author: asgaard, Location: Scotland

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 1:34 pm

ok this may be awful, first attempt lol, Heather

Meanwhile Verity was sitting on the sofa gazing out the window, she had recieved no reply, and a realisation was dawning on her, there wasn't going to be one.

As the thought drifted into her head she started panicking slightly, how was she going to get to Switzerland on her own, there were tickets to organise, how to get to the airport, the list seemed endless. With a deep sigh she turned to the phone book to start looking up travel agents, stuff her she thought.

Just then the phone rang..................

#27: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 3:28 pm

Beatrice (or Betty as she had once been known) organised her trip with swift precision before she found herself chickening out of the whole enterprise.

She had long acknowledged to herself that her expulsion had been very much for her own good. It had forced her to look at herself, and she didn't like what she had found. T

he next step was to admit that the split from her old firend Elizabeth Arnett had been her fault, her inability to mature and change. Well now was her chance to show everyone that she had changed.

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

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:02 pm

Continuing from Daphne’s on pg. 1

Katharine slobbed on the couch, channel flicking idly. She looked at the ticket on the table, wondering whether she should even bother to check the numbers on Ceefax. Ma never won anything – but if she did…. Katharine’s first thought was for herself and her sisters: some new clothes maybe, a doll for Rosie, decent food….. But then her thoughts turned to her mother.

Despite the excellent education paid for by her grandfather, Joan had married young and had four girls. Her husband had left her for his secretary when his wife became too old and tired for his tastes. They had little money, other than what Joan could scrape from cleaning jobs and her evening pursuits.

She could scarcely afford new clothes, making do and mending – why that frock Ma had been wearing was a relic from her schooldays! It ‘ud be good to send her back to see all her old friends, see the school. Maybe the laughing mother Katharine remembered could resurface.

On impulse Katharine checked the numbers. 1 – 24 – 32 – 35 – 50 ONE WINNER FROM POOLE IN DORSET She reached for the ticket, not really hoping for anything. 1 she search for the next, eagerly. 24 32 well that was a tenner at least 35 could it? could it just? 50 Katharine picked up the phone, she had some phone calls to make.

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

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:23 pm

Of course! The only way Joan could get back to the school. Laughing

#30: Author: Bookwormsarah, Location: Cambridge, UK

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:10 am

Meanwhile, in a garden in middle England, a woman was carefully repotting a herbaceous border and trying to work out who had killed the vicar.

She had changed a lot from her school days, the thick rope of black hair had vanished, and she used a different name. A stint in prison as a result of an unfortunate mixup with some garden chemicals had meant that to continue to be employed as a gardener she needed a new identity. Also, Lilley and Thyme was a silly name for a company.

As she patted the soil into place, she caught sight of a snail nibbling on a barely noticable fragment of a watch strap, thus cunningly proving that the vicar's secret half brother had been in the area with his rare pets.

The mystery solved, she relaxed and turned her mind to another problem should she risk resuming her old identity and going back to her school's Golden Jubilee? -- or is this too silly?

#31: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:50 am

As a Rosemary & Thyme fan I liked that post. No it is not too silly.

#32: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:03 pm

Jo sat in her study at Freudesheim and carefully penned her answer to the invitation. Making it quite clear that she had been the School's first pupil, she enquired, in her best grand style, whether some of the most notable Old Girls would be giving talks on their life experiences during this august gathering. She added a short paragraph to make it clear that she considered that this would be the most profitable way to spend the time.

'That should settle her hash' she thought. 'Imagine not consulting me first.'

#33: Author: Sophoife, Location: down under Down Under

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:14 pm

Sir David Russell sighed as he hung up the phone. As head of the limited company that ran the Chalet School, he would necessarily be involved in the forthcoming Golden Jubilee. He was actually quite looking forward to the full family reunion his mother seemed to think was an essential adjunct to the School's Jubilee.

He did, however, wish his young brothers weren't such...so...didn't smell quite so much of horse muck! He was sure he could smell it even now, after a telephone conversation that spanned many thousands of kilometres. He heard a whine as the chairlift on the front stairs came round the last curve in the banisters, followed by the clang of the safety bar being locked into its vertical "off" position.

"Mother? That you?" and the still clear and musical voice of the Dowager Lady Russell answered him in the affirmative. "Well, Mother, it seems we'll really have the whole kit and caboodle together at last - I've just been on the phone with Kester, and he promises me all eight of them are coming. Now it only remains for me to call Cousin Peggy and confirm the Bettany numbers."

Madge wondered why David couldn't get his secretary to do this type of thing. Jem would have...and her eyes grew misty. David wondered what he'd said to cause his mother to get that look in her eyes...he knew it meant she was thinking of his late father.

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

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:38 pm

Quote:

Madge wondered why David couldn't get his secretary to do this type of thing. Jem would have...

Well, yes, what are secretaries for otherwise? Although, David might just feel the personal touch would be appreciated by his family...

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

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:58 pm

Kate replaced the phone and turned to her partner.

"Yes, they've booked us to do a tennis exhibition, cut rate prices though." Blossom made a face.

"I suppose it's good publicity. Goodness knows we could use it! Now Roger’s hit the big time, he doesn’t female coaches anymore.”

After Katharine had her successes at Wimbledon, her career as a tennis star had fizzled out. Blossom had never really done anything other than help at home, so when Katharine (or Kate as she now preferred to be known) set up a coaching business, Blossom was happy to join her. However, they were both now finding it harder to attract new business, and cope with the rigours of tennis coaching.

#36: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 1:40 pm

Some lovely osts there - just wish I could think of something to add! Goes off for a think.

#37: Author: jonty, Location: Exeter

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 2:47 pm

"Susanne, ma douce, come here, I've a little job for you."

The elderly woman drew in a quick breath, firmly stamped the two envelopes and handed them to her grand-daughter. If she was quick, she would just about make the evening collection, and Simone was determined the letters should go before her resolution failed her.
"Run, ma cherie, it is of the greatest importance that these letters reach their destinations as soon as possible". Susanne buttoned her coat at top speed and, trained to instant obedience, set off to do her grandmother's bidding.

Simone stared after her fleet-footed grand-daughter, seeming to see another little dark-haired girl setting off to the Tyrol for the first time. Ah, the happy times she had had there, how peaceful life had been with her dear aunt, with their young headteacher whom they all adored for years after she left the school to marry, and of course with her dearest friends, Joey, Frieda and Marie.

At this last thought her face darkened. How well she remembered the anguish of longing for Jo to be her best friend, her amie intime. No matter how full the days were of rowing, stitching sheets, reasoning from cause to effect and all those other happy pastimes, nothing could ever properly distract her from the desperation to know that her affection for Jo was returned. Eventually she had come to learn that she must share her friend, and, yes, it had been fun of a kind to hang around in a foursome, but there had always been something sad, bittersweet, about Simone's school days.

And she sighed, snapped back to the present, looked again at the invitation to the Chalet School reunion and remembered the letters that Susanne would now have posted. Too late to do anything about it now. Should she have sent the letters? It was so many years since she had seen Marie and Frieda, she really felt rather nervous about their reaction. How could she know how they would really feel? After all, there were so many things left unspoken between them. Would they fall in with her plan? Or just dismiss it as the irrelevant ramblings of a confused old woman?

#38: Author: Donna, Location: Liverpool

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:35 pm

"Jo, Jo is that you?"
"Well of course it's me!" Joey winced as she spoke. It would be just like Hilda to pull her up over a simple grammatical mistake. There was a part of Jo which wished her old headmistress would leave her alone. It was all very well before Hilda had retired, but it was starting to get a bit much.

Luckily for Joey, Hilda chose to pass over the mistake.
"Right, are you going to this reunion?"
"Well yes, but -"
"Good. You may have the privilege of escorting Nell and myself." Hilda sounded very definite that this was a privilege.
"Why can't you escort yourself? I know you're getting quite old now, but there are companies who organise trips for-"
"We're not that old you know!"

Joey privately disagreed with that statement - Hilda had to be at least 80 by now - but she knew arguing never did her any good. She continued to listen.
"Anyway, we've already tried - the companies won't accept responsibility for 'two old biddies in wheelchairs who don't know their own minds'." Hilda's voice held so much disgust as she spoke that Joey had to work hard to suppress a giggle. "Can you believe that one rude young man actually said that? Young people have no manners these days! So we need to get there some other way, and we knew you wouldn't begrudge us a lift. It will be so wonderful to see everyone again, and see how all our girls are doing now."
"But Hilda, I'm expecting to be asked for a speech, you know as the first pupil - I'll probably have to get there early..."
"Well I'm the longest serving headmistress, so it seems quite appropriate that we shall arrive together. Now I must go I'm afraid - it's time for lunch here and the nurses do get ever so angry if we're late. I'll be in touch."

With that Hilda put the phone down. Joey stared at her receiver for a moment or two in disbelief before she followed suit.
"Well! The nerve of the woman!" Still, she knew that if Hilda had decreed it, so it would happen. And she did owe the old woman a lot. But suddenly, she wasn't looking forward to the reunion quite so much.

Apologies if this has ended up a bit too silly - it started off seriously! Smile

#39: Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:24 pm

When the invitation arrived at the Chateaux, Odette Mercier’s first instinct was to tear it into shreds and then burn it. A reunion! Goodness knows she’d been miserable enough there during her schooldays, she was hardly likely to return voluntarily all these years later!

Catching sight of herself in one of the long mirrors as she crossed the hallway, she was forced to reconsider. With her immaculate hair, flawless make up, tailored suit and smart shoes, she was hardly the little watering spout she had been as a child. Yes, on second thoughts, she would go. If only to see the expression on Len Maynard’s smug face when she walked into the room.

#40: Author: asgaard, Location: Scotland

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:37 pm

Lala Lestrange grabbed the post her maid had left on the hallway table, she took the letters to the sunny conservetory that looked out over the bay. once she had settled herself in her favourite squishy chair she rang the bell for the maid to bring her coffee. Bills, bills bills , oh letter from Polly, what does she want, money, she thought. She read the letter through, Chalet School Renunion hmmm ok sounds fun, suppose I'd better invite her here she'll need me to pay, she thought smiling to herself. Hope this is ok

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

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 7:04 pm

Thekla Schmidt came down the stairs of her modest house in Hamburg, not expecting her family to be awake yet, given the early hour. The Chalet School had instilled one good habit in her: early rising, but much as she might try and persuade the other members of her family they would not get out of bed before they must.

Her slight deafness prevented her from hearing the quickly stifled excited giggles from the kitchen. Opening the front door, she collected the milk and the morning paper, scanning the headlines as she walked into the spacious kitchen.
“Überraschung!”
“Happy Birthday!”
“OH!” Thekla said, dropping the paper in her surprise. “Vielen danke alle!!!!”
“We surprised you, Grossmutter!” her youngest grandchild cried.
“You did indeed,” Thekla said, laughing. “You make an old woman very happy.”

Her grandson, home from university in England for this occasion, led her to the place of honour at the head of the table. She sank into her chair and reached for some coffee. Her daughter-in-law beat her to it and poured it for her, handing Thekla a cup of perfectly brewed coffee.
“Mmmmmmm,” Thekla said.
“Oma, look at your plate!” her grandson cried, unable to contain his excitement. Thekla looked at the slim envelope that lay on top of the pile of cards and small presents. A cold dread seized her heart as she recalled the telephone conversation with her grandson.
“Vater and I have decided we're going to pay all your expenses for you to join your old school friends….” ‘But I was expelled,’ she thought wildly. ‘I can’t go back, not for the Golden Jubilee, not ever! What am I going to say?’ Her hand stretched out for envelope unbidden and she opened it, aware of the eyes of the family on her.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have!” she said. ‘You really shouldn’t.’ Her grandson beamed.
“Vater and I knew you would be thrilled. You leave next week so you can have a short holiday in Austria before you join the school. It is in Switzerland now, you see.”
“Oh?” Thekla said, fighting the desire to scream. She didn’t want to visit Austria, she didn’t want to go to Switzerland, but what could she do?

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

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:21 pm

Poor Thekla! She's obviously changed a lot or her family wouldn't want to treat her to a holiday. Let's hope everyone at the school will give her a chance to show this.

#43: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:15 am

This should be some reunion! Bad girls gone good, and good ones bad, and Joan winning the pools, and Hilda & Nell arriving early with a reluctant Joey, and .... ROFL

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

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:50 am

Her golden hair and beauty owed a little more to artifice than it used to, but Joyce was not too displeased with the reflection looking back at her from her mirror. She carefully blotted her lipstick and turned once more to look at the advert.

Why not go? She could do with a break and it might be fun. She would phone Gillian and see if she was going - then at least she could leave all the travel organisation to her!

It would be good to see some of her old friends again and, thank goodness, there was no chance that Thekla von Stift would get invited or even dream of coming!

#45: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 10:02 am

Why do I get the feeling that this is going to turn into a FCS very soon?

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

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 7:43 pm

basially there's no way we could write a serious story with all the unlikely assortment of characters that we have - much as we might try

#47: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:37 pm

Maybe not, but it's quite good seeing how people think the girls turned out - 90% of the old girls/staff in the books end up either teaching at the school for ever or packing in their careers as soon as they find nice doctors to marry! How about Matron?

Gwynneth Lloyd put down her newspaper and memories of her days as Matron at the Chalet School began to flood back. She had always envisioned herself remaining at the school until she was too old to work and then finding herself a little chalet where she could remain close to her old friends, but fate - or rather the new Head - had decreed otherwise.

Gwynneth had resigned after a fierce argument in which the new Head had told her that she would have to change her ways before some enterprising parent sued the school for giving the girls unprescribed medicine just because they looked pale or weren't sleeping well, leaving the medicine cabinet unlocked so that sulphur and cod liver oil got used in cookery lessons, or rubbing their chests with camphor oil.

It hurt her more than she could say that Jo, whom so many people had described as "her heart's dearest", didn't keep in touch. She still kept her last uniform and had never ironed it because the creases had been caused by Jo's farewell hug. On reflection, she decided that she had better go. When you were catering for that many people, someone - probably Joyce Erroll nee Linton if she were going- was bound to get a stomach upset. Then she'd show them that the old remedies were still the best. She would go and she would take her castor oil with her.

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

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:03 pm

Quote:

She would go and she would take her castor oil with her.

LOL!!![/b]

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

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:17 pm

oh brilliant!!! Jo arrived in Devon still feeling slightly resentful. She was also rather worried that the new headmistress hadn't been in touch about her opening speech. She wished she hadn't allowed herself to be co-erced into escorting Hilda and Nell, but Hilda always had been rather good at making people do things they didn't really want to.

"I've come for Miss Annersley and Miss Wilson," she said haughtily to the young nurse who answered the door.

"Of course, you must be Mrs Maynard," the girl said, smiling in what Jo thought was a far too familiar manner. "I adored your books when I was younger!" Jo nodded, mollified. "Hilda and Nell will be along in a minute. Thank you so much for offering to take them, Hilda's been looking forward to this trip ever so much!" the nurse continued breezily. "Nell's been a bit poorly though, and her colostomy bag will need emptying every three hours - but I'm sure she told you that herself!"

Jo's eyebrows snapped together. Nell had evidently omitted to mention that little detail.

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

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:30 pm

Jo stared, in shock, at the two elderly ladies coming down the corridor. Hilda looked the same as ever, sitting with her back erect and her eyes, which had never needed glasses, taking in all the details: the crooked picture, the dust gathering on the windowsill.

It was in Nell that Jo had the greatest surprise. Nell looked.....old. She sat in her wheelchair passively, her hands curled on top of the rug over her knees. She was pale and thin, her once clear eyes clouded and unfocussed.
"Nell!" Jo gasped, before she fainted dead away.

#51: Author: asgaard, Location: Scotland

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:39 pm

"What happened to our girls not turning into spineless jellyfish", Nell mumbled to Hilda. "It's disgraceful, the schools fist pupil making an exibitionist scene like this....in public"

Hilda replied. "We will retire to the lounge", they informed the Nurse, "when she has recovered, please inform us" and of they stalked. Leaving the unfortunate nurse to attend to her childhood hero.

#52: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:49 pm

As Joyce had hoped Gillian soon had the trip planned and they were in posession of their plane tickets waiting for the taxi to take them to the airport.It was only now she began to have doubts.

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

Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:59 pm

Thekla stared for a final time at the chalet she had known as the Chalet School. By the side of the Tiernsee it was as though the years had vanished, and she remembered the sequence of events as if it were yesterday.

"Still," she said, holding her head high. "It's in a different place now, different people. I can easily avoid anyone I don't want to talk to."

With that final thought, she picked up her case and set off on the last leg of her journey to the Gornetz Platz.

#54: Author: Daphne, Location: Letchworth Garden City

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 4:26 pm

Joan stepped out of the shiny, black, chauffer-driven Bentley, and wobbled a little.

“Stupid shoes” she thought to herself glancing down at the red stilettos she had donned for the occasion. Then she looked up and surveyed the scene. Hiring the car from the airport had been so worth it. No-one else seemed to have arrived in such style. And there had been that lovely complimentary bottle of pink champagne just for her.

She straightened out her dress and pulled her new red leather coat around her. Women of all ages were clambering out of cars and coaches and even off motorbikes. They were calling to each other, squealing, hugging and then linking arms in groups as they climbed the steps into the house.

“Just as I thought they’d all turn out really,” she thought to herself. “All that hard work just to marry a doctor! And by the look of those clothes, not even a rich one in most cases!” I knew this was going to be fun!

“Bring the bags Jenkins” she ordered loudly as she put on her sunglasses and marched off towards the house, holding her new large, red hat firmly on her head and smirking silently as heads turned, mouths open in her direction.

#55: Author: aitchemelle, Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:38 pm

Daphne wrote:

“All that hard work just to marry a doctor!

ROFL
This is such a good read! I am desperately searching for my imagination so I can add to it! Very Happy

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

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:12 pm

Thekla approached a slight young woman that she vaguely recognised with lists spread across a trestle table.

"Your name?" the woman asked, brushing her dark hair back from her face.

"Frau Doktor Schmidt," Thekla said, glancing at the women behind her. She accepted the information package, including a map and a name badge and stepped away, just in time to hear the two women behind her registering.

"Mrs Joyce Erroll," the fair one said.

"Mrs Gillian Young," added the dark one.

Thekla paled, and moved away, her heart beating rapidly.

#57: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 9:29 pm

As she entered the room everyone turned and stared ,
as she approached the desk she heard someone say"Joan, Joan Baker? Is that you?"

#58: Author: aitchemelle, Location: West Sussex

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 5:25 pm

"Yes" she said, smiling shyly.
There was a gasp from the other side of the room.

#59: Author: Lisa_T, Location: Belfast

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 1:55 pm

Hilda hung up and cackled. That phone call had been made with malice aforethought- and pity for the current unfortunate HM. Everyone knew that Joey would be likely to go overboard, and everyone also knew that (Jack being dead) that Hilda was the only person who could control her. Consequently, the old peoples' home that sheltered both Hilda and Nell these days had suffered from a positive deluge of Old Girls and Old Staff, all of whom had only one message: SHUT JOEY UP. Needless to say, Hilda had been only to happy to bring her famous powers of repression to bear on her one time pupil and friend.

#60: Author: MaryR, Location: Sale Cheshire

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 3:35 pm

Desperately wishing I had a vivid enough imagination to add to this very amusing read.

Rolling Eyes

Do keep it up, folks. Love the bits with Hilda being her usual autocratic self!

#61: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 8:43 pm

As one of the very first pupils and later a teacher Simone should be looking forward to the reunion BUT was dreading Jo's reaction to the celebration.

#62: Author: AnnaJ,

Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 9:23 pm

As was Stacie Benson. Reading the advertisement had caused her back to twinge and remind her of the selfish person she had once been. Then, as she reflected on the matter further, she remembered that she hadn't been to Switzerland since teaching at the School some years ago. Being a good Chalet girl meant doing things for other people.

Sitting in her comfortable book-lined house in London, more open to new research than Oxford, she took a couple of ibuprofen for her back and sipped her glass of red wine. One of her new PhD students had told her about this wonderful combination. She'd endured the reunion, chatted politely, eaten cream cakes and listened to Joey's wisdom. Not that she had much choice of course, unless you just blocked it out. Never married, no children, an academic career - she really wasn't up to it. Stacie's current work was on feminine communities in the ancient world, so she decided to go along and seek out some modern case studies. There was bound to be a book in it somewhere - she could compare the fact, perceptions of outsiders and fiction. The work on beauty and the male form had been well-received, there had to be a market for something for women.

[FYI: not recommending drinking and ibuprofen together! Though another PhD student I know swears by it]

#63: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 7:51 pm

By the time she arrived the school was very busy, 2 coaches had just arrived and there was a terrific noise as everyone greeted each other but Hilda Annersley walked slowly to the top of the steps and turned to face the throng.

#64: Author: ElKel, Location: Miles away

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:03 pm

[quote="AnnaJ"]The work on beauty and the male form had been well-received, there had to be a market for something for women.

Er, Stacie hasn't suddenly gone all Australian and switched her allegiance to Cambridge, has she? Very Happy

I'm loving this, BTW. Where on earth do you all get your imaginations from?!

#65: Author: Elle,

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 9:38 am

Joey, who had been busy changing Nell turned round to see Hilda about to address the assembled crowds. She gave a gasp of anger, surely as the first pupil it was her perogative to address the crowd. Abandoning poor Nell she began to push her way through the expectant crowd, trampling ex students and teachers alike in her bid to reach Hilda before she could speak...

(Yay! My first attempt at anything remotely drabble like!)

#66: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 11:04 am

Unfortunately, she bumped into Grizel Shepherd, who grabbed her arm and asked her if she would like to see the latest pictures of Nigel.

Jo was desperate to get away and address the crowd, supplanting Hilda, but Grizel kept clinging to her arm.

Then Grizel uttered the words that Jo had not anticipated hearing.

'.........simply dreading having to stand up in front of everyone and talk, but of course, as I was the School's first real pupil, you know Jo, the first one who paid fees to attend, I felt that I ought to agree to the Head's request.'

Jo heard nothing more, her whole being felt out of kilter, and a wave of blackness spread over her.

Last edited by Jennie on Sat Jul 16, 2005 3:08 pm; edited 1 time in total

#67: Author: RuthY, Location: Anyone's guess

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:05 pm

Jennie wrote:

'.........simply dreading having to stand up in front of everyone and talk, but of course, as I was the School's first real pupil, you know jo, the first one who paid fees to attend, I felt that I ought to agree to the Head's request.'

Jo heard nothing more, her whole being felt out of kilter, and a wave of blackness spread over her.

lolololol !!

Ruth

#68: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh, Eire

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 4:13 pm

The world swam hazily round as Joey started to come to. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked up, to become immediately betwitched by the eyes that met hers. She had never seen anything as blue as his eyes, at least not since she last saw the bluest blue waves of the Tiernsee. A timid smile crept up on her ageworn cheeks and a shiver ran up her spine, the kind of shiver she had not felt since her twenties (even though Jack had not died til her fifties).

"Mama! Are you alright?" Responsible Len rushed to her side.
"I'm fine!" Joey snapped at her eldest. She was angry at being torn from this beautiful young man's gaze. She returned her attention to him. "And who may I thank for ... for ...saving my life?!" she whispered.

#69: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2005 3:20 pm

'Oh, you haven't met my fiance yet, have you Mamma?' asked Felicity.

Felicity's fiance, not if Jo could help it. She gathered her wits about her and began to make a mental list.

Avoid Grizel
Get onto the platform to make a speech
Interrogate Felicity's fiance, to break up the relationship.

She allowed the young man and Felicity to help her into the hall, where they carefully seated her in a chair.

Then, as if to deliberately humiliate her, the new Headmistress announced the first speaker, introducing Gisela Marani, the very first Head Girl of the Chalet School. What made it worse from Jo's point of view was the huge round of applause as Gisela slowly made her way up to the platform and put the typed pages of her speech on the reading desk.

#70: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:19 am

Gisela s speech was articulate as she expertly translated into the three school languages, she told of their desire to be like the English school girls and some of their adventures. Noone notice as Jo turned a strange colour as Gisela told of the need to help and understand the other pupils.She ended by handing over to Grizel.

#71: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 3:35 pm

Grizel's speech was clearly audible and well-polished. She explained that she had also been a Head Girl, and credited the School's trust in her as the making of her.

She glossed over her unhappy years with her family and as a music teacher, concentrating on the benefits that the school had given to her, and was still giving to the present-day girls. She extolled the virtues of the Prefects' system and the lessons that it taught in self-government.

What became very clear was that she was in close touch with the school.

#72: Author: Liane, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:55 pm

Miss Annersley re-gained the stage and cleared her throat. Reasonably (in her own mind) expecting to be called on next, Joey began to stand.

#73: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 7:15 pm

But she called on Mollie (nee Maynard) to speak as one of the first teachers in the Tirol.Jo sat herself down and slouched down in her seat.

#74: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 7:20 pm

Staring gloomily around the room, Jo suddenly froze. She could see something in the far corner of the room, something she didn't expect to see...

#75: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 7:27 pm

Just for a minute Jo thought she saw...No It couldn't be.....she wouldn't come back.....no she'd never dare .........she was rejected......looking round noone else seemed to hsve seen her,Jo thought she must have been mistaken, as she focussed back on the speeches Mollie was giving a tribute to the late Madge Bettany, Madge Russell, Madam.

#76: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh, Eire

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:16 pm

Joey's eyes misted over as she thought of her long-dead sister, who had been like a mother to her. Madge, Jem, Jack - all dead and sometimes she felt so alone.

Felicity, sitting next to her mother, saw the sudden weary look that had come over her face and clutched Joey's hot sticky paw in her own. Joey smiled thinly, keeping her eyes fixed determinedly on the stage and the speaker.

Mollie did not go on for long and soon both she and Miss Annersley left the stage. Long red velvet curtains that had been drawn behind the speakers all the while they had been on stage, now parted, to reveal a beautiful grand piano, with Margia Stevens sitting before it, Nina Rutherford next to her. Amid great loud applause and cheering, the two women smiled before beginning a rousing instrumental duet of the school song.

Unable to take any more of the lack of attention that was being paid to her, Joey took it upon herself to join them onstage, and all present were treated to her gloriously golden voice as it soared and dipped like a lark through the wellknown notes and lyrics.

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

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:38 pm

The current Head turned to Miss Annersley, a panicked look upon her face.

"How did she get in?" she hissed furiously. "Couldn't Security keep her out?"

Miss Annersley fixed the younger woman with a look. The Headmistress of the Chalet School paled in terror.

"Mrs Maynard has every right to be here," Miss Annersley said icily.

"Of...of course, Miss Annersley," the unfortunate woman stuttered, having discovered earlier in the day that it wasn't done to address your predecessor by her first name until invited to do so.

Miss Annersely's glare softened. "Now we have only one thing to accomplish....."

The current Head paled even more, if that was indeed possible.

"And...and what would that be?" she asked nervously.

#78: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:34 pm

"It is imperative that Mrs Maynard be persuaded to sing the Red Sarafan." Miss Annersley replied.

#79: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:34 pm

Who is she going to resuscitate with it? No zombies, please.

#80: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:14 pm

Mia wrote:

"It is imperative that Mrs Maynard be persuaded to sing the Red Sarafan." Miss Annersley replied.

So as usual the raffle was announced ,Third prize on these occaisions was to become "still , grey etc.etc. and later after the singing of the Red Sarafan , the 'winnner' would receive a single doctor from the san, Matrons were all on standby (to do nothing!) and the tickets were drawn.

First prize-A gift voucher for school fees ,went to a decendant of Rosamund Lilley

Second prize-A lifetime supply of Annas lemon biscuits , went to Jack Lambert and then it came,

All the older chalet girls knew what was coming and started squabbling over tickets(A doctor was a great catch!) and eventually Miss Annersley held out the bucket for Miss Wilson to pull out the ticket.

"Green 609" announced the New Head

Everyone looked at their tickets and suddenly there was a scream from the back of the crowd and everyone turned to see who was the winner.
Laying on the floor still, grey and to all appearances dead was.................,

#81: Author: Elle,

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:54 am

Miss Bubb, who having heard from an as yet unnamed source about the Chelet School Jubilee had arrived in order to tell them how ithe celebrations should be done if they wanted to compare favourably with other similar schools...

#82: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:58 pm

but upon winning the raffle she decided that a Doctor was a bettercatch so promply fainted!
The crowd parted to make a path from Jo to Miss Bubb, Jo stood and walked towards her looking round to see the admiring glances from the crowd.
Then she saw her.
Yes it definatly was.
What was she doing here?
Jo turned and pushed through the crowd.
The woman realising Jo was heading for her turned and ran.
Jo ,still a Chalet school girl, set of in pursuit.

#83: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh, Eire

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:23 pm

The door swung on its hinges as Joey's scarf disappeared after her. She was in hot pursuit.

Inside the room, there was a moment's surprised silence before the natural commotion resumed and the headmistress of the Chalet School could be heard to whisper to her secretary "Thank goodness! I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with her for much longer." The secretary nodded fervently.

Speeches and musical contributions over, Grizel, Gisela, Margia, Nina and Miss Annersley retired from the stage. Margia and Grizel made their way over to the refreshments table, where Felicity Maynard and her young man were nibbling on Anna's lemon biscuits and some welshcakes, which Anna also made to perfection. Margia smiled and held her hand out to Felicity's fiancé,
"Hello, I don't believe I've had the pleasure..." she started to say.
Grizel interrupted, nodding. "Neither have I!" she smiled. "Felicity, you've kept this young man under wraps!"

Felicity blushed prettily. "Auntie Margia, Auntie Grizel, this is James."
James gave a little bow.
Impressed, Margia questioned him further. "And where are you from, James?"
"Bradford, madam, Bradford."
"Oh!" Margia exclaimed and pulled her new woollen shrug from her shoulders. "I was only in Bradford myself a few weeks ago. It was there that I purchased this wonderful wrap. Such fine knitting - such good quality wool!"
James' neck reddened and he smiled sheepishly. "May I thank you madam, for complimenting my family's company in such an eloquent way."

Grizel, smiling politely throughout this, suddenly felt a nudging sensation at the back of her brain, and peered curiously at the tag on Margia's wrap.

"Kettlewell Woollen Enterprises"

She frowned as she tried to remember where she had heard that name before. Then, abruptly, her head snapped back to attention and she stared at Felicity's fiancé again.

#84: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:31 pm

"Auntie Grizel ar you alright?"
Felicity was stood staringat Grizel looking worried.
Grizel snapped back to reality
"yes I'm fine, I think I need a sit down"
Grizel excused herself and made her way over to Hilda Annersley who was enjoying amilky coffee.
She explained about Felicity and James
"I just felt the name was so familier" She said,"Then I remembered"
Hilda nodded "but is it the same family?"

The CBB -> St Agnes' House

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