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Jo Scott - Head Girl Part 2
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Author:  Caroline [ 13 Apr 2007, 12:08 ]
Post subject:  Jo Scott - Head Girl Part 2

A few months ago I reposted a story I wrote for FOCS called Jo Scott - Head Girl, about what might have happened in Feud if Jo had been Head Girl instead of Maeve Bettany. Maeve doesn't play a very big part in Triplets, but this is what might have happened at various points in that book had Jo been at the head of the school...

Note: some of the text is EBD's, some is mine - spot the joins!


Part one - Skiing
‘Skiing today, my dears!’ announced Len Maynard joyfully, as she arrived in the Prefects’ Room at the Chalet School at the end of morning school.
‘Who says so?’ demanded several voices at once.
‘Deney when I saw her just now. Move over, Francie, and give other folk a chance to sit down, please!’ Francie Wilford grinned and did as she was asked, and Len subsided gracefully into a chair. ‘She says we've been tied to the house for nearly a week now, thanks to the snow, but it's frozen hard overnight and it's fine today, so we're to have having skiing this afternoon. There’s no tobogganing, though – Gaudenz says some of the pines by the side of the run aren’t safe.’
At this exciting news, quite half the occupants of the room began to talk at once, and it took the appearance of Jo Scott, a tall girl with a thick pigtail of dark red hair who also happened to be the Chalet School’s Head Girl, to subdue them, which she did by the simple method of walking up to the table and banging on it with her clenched fist.
‘Quiet, you people! Do you want us to have one of the staff marching in here to tell us to be quiet as if we’re Jack Lambert’s gang?’
Various people looked conscious and Jo grinned at them. ‘Thought not. Now, what’s all this about?’
‘Skiing!’ said Len succinctly. ‘Miss Dene says – ’
Jo interrupted her. ‘Oh, yes – I know. She caught me in our formroom as I was putting my books away – I was just coming to tell you all. We may ski but not toboggan; we're off as soon as rest period is over; no lessons at all this afternoon; could I make sure all the Prefects are present and correct!’ Jo recited Miss Dene’s instructions in a sing-song voice and the others laughed.
‘Well, that won’t be difficult – we’re all aching for a good run, I should think. I know I am,’ said a tall, athletic-looking girl.
‘You and me both, Monica,’ said Jo. ‘But I think she meant that we should be ready to help out with the kids – there are a few who haven’t skied much, I believe, and besides, it’s always such a job to get them into their gear without things descending into a fearful scrum in the Splasheries. We’re to wear our coloured glasses, by the way – the clouds are breaking and the sun's coming out and you know what the glare off the snow will be like in that case. So don't forget. Nobody wants a touch of snow-blindness, I imagine.’
They were all agreed on this. One or two of them had had one experience and the rest had heard all about it from them. No one was anxious to try it for themselves.
‘Better give an extra eye at the Junior Middles before they go out,’ Maeve Bettany observed. ‘You know how heedless those young monkeys are.’
This, from Maeve who had been a byword for heedlessness in her younger days, brought a series of derisive chuckles from the rest, until Jo hushed them again.
‘Listen up, you people. Maeve’s right. We’re excited at the prospect of getting out of the house – let alone skiing itself – and if we’re worked up about it, imagine what the kids are going to be like! Let’s keep our wits about us and see if we can’t all have a marvellous afternoon. Now, there’s the gong for Mittagessen – en avant mes amies!’

Author:  Sarah_K [ 13 Apr 2007, 12:32 ]
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:D

Oh I'm so glad to see this continued Caroline, I loved your take on Feud and Jo's a rather fabulous Head Girl.

Author:  LizB [ 13 Apr 2007, 14:08 ]
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Hurrah! *sends bunny treats*

Author:  Caroline [ 13 Apr 2007, 14:31 ]
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Thanks for the comments. Here's the conclusion of the first part - more to follow next week.

Part One – Skiing (continued)
Mittagessen was always followed by a half-hour's rest period, but once that was ended the girls couldn't get ready fast enough and they soon set off for the great stretch of meadowland beyond the school's grounds where they usually practised skiing. Those girls who were novices at skiing were helped along by those who were more experienced, and a number of the younger girls were taken, one between two, so that there was no delay in reaching their meadow. Once the School was there, the girls spread out, some practising various movements; others racing; quite a number helping others. The Staff, too, were occupied in this last, but a good share of the teaching was done by the girls themselves.

Len and Con Maynard, experienced skiers both, had taken a twelve-year-old between them. Michelle Cabràn came from the south of France and had seen little snow in her short life. She shivered as she looked round when they reached the meadow. Even with the sun shining on the ice-bound snow, it looked bleak to her.

‘Cold?’ queried Con, who was looking round herself. ‘You'll be warm enough soon. Are you taking her, Len? Then I'm off to help Mélanie – she’s none too steady even yet.’ She dropped Michelle's arm and was skimming off with a beautiful birdlike movement.

Left alone, Len turned to Michelle.

‘Come along, Michelle! You mustn't stand about or you will be cold. See; it's like this. Slide your foot forward, bending a little at the knee. Now the other. Don't be afraid; I've got you and I won't let you fall. Ow! Keep the points of your skis apart - keep them apart!’ She gripped Michelle firmly as she spoke, only just saving her from a fall as the ski-points rushed together.

Michelle shrieked. ‘ Hélas! Jamais ne pourrai je le faire!’

‘Oh, yes, you will,’ Len said bracingly. ‘ Keep to English, by the way. This is English day, you know, and you ought to know a fair amount by this time. Now try again. You can trust me not to let you go, can't you?’

Frightened Michelle thought Len Maynard was cruel to insist like this, but Len was firm and she had to go on. If now and then the elder girl glanced enviously at some of the others swinging past so happily, her pupil never knew it.

Again and again Len guided her steps and, so long as the elder girl held her up, she contrived to manage a little. Once she was left to move under her own steam, over she went! Len wished heartily that someone would come along to help her, but most of the others were either similarly occupied or enjoying themselves at the far side of the meadow. However, someone was keeping an eye on her and her pupil, and to Len’s relief Jo Scott suddenly came flying up to help out.

‘Need a hand, Len? My lamb has proven herself a quick learner, and has joined Monica and her gaggle of Third Formers – our illustrious Games Prefect seems to be trying to start a ski school all by herself!’ announced Jo breezily.

Len laughed and the two big girls turned both their attentions to their Junior. With the advent of Jo, Len found her labours lightened considerably. The Head Girl was an altogether bigger and stronger girl than the eldest of the Maynard Triplets, who was tall but slender, and Jo’s additional strength gave confidence to poor nervous Michelle, who was soon making better progress. Also, with Jo to support the child, Len had greater liberty to observe and correct Michelle’s faltering technique.

So intent were they on the task in hand that the two Prefects didn’t notice that the light had begun to fade. It was only when Len herself stumbled – over she knew not what – that she glanced up at the sky. She promptly gave an exclamation at what she was. The sun had vanished, and yellowish-grey clouds were boiling up in the north – a sure sign that more snow was on the way.

Other people had noticed it, too. The recall whistle rang out, shrill and sharp, halting most folk at once. They knew better than to disobey its call and many of them knew exactly what a sky like that might mean. Everyone formed up in long lines and, without delay, made for the school.

Len and Jo dived for Michelle, who was looking much happier than she had earlier, and Jo issued her orders.

‘Come on! We must scram!’ she said brusquely. ‘Keep your feet together, Michelle, and leave everything to us. We'll take you.’

And that is what they did.

Michelle never forgot the amazing feeling of her first headlong flight on skis, carried along by the two Prefects. It was so exhilarating! She understood little of the danger they might be in if they were caught in the coming blizzard, and so she arrived back at the School with dancing eyes and cheeks scarlet with excitement and the sting of the icy air, and thanked her mentors as prettily as she could for all their hard work. Maybe skiing wasn’t so bad after all!

Author:  leahbelle [ 13 Apr 2007, 16:45 ]
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Thanks, Caroline. Am really glad you're continuing this!

Author:  Lesley [ 13 Apr 2007, 19:17 ]
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That's lovely - and so nice to see someone having to be reminded to speak English!


Thanks Caroline.

Author:  Tara [ 13 Apr 2007, 23:51 ]
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Much enjoying this. Thanks, Caroline.

Author:  Dawn [ 14 Apr 2007, 00:39 ]
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This is brilliant Caroline - thankyou

Author:  brie [ 14 Apr 2007, 09:29 ]
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thanks Caroline, im really glad to see more of this

Author:  Kathy_S [ 14 Apr 2007, 18:02 ]
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I was also pleasingly startled to see the reminder about English day. :lol: Fine picture of school life!

Thank you, Caroline.

Author:  Fiona Mc [ 15 Apr 2007, 08:44 ]
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Thanks Caroline. I loved the first series when it was around so glad to see Part two

Author:  Smile :) [ 15 Apr 2007, 11:27 ]
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This is good, Joa makes a great head girl.

I didn't see the one about feud where can I find it?

Thanks Caroline

Author:  Kathy_S [ 15 Apr 2007, 15:55 ]
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Caroline's original is in the archives, here.

Author:  Alice [ 15 Apr 2007, 20:59 ]
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Thanks Caroline. I an reading this in conjunction with the passages in Triplets and am finding the changes very interesting.

Author:  Caroline [ 16 Apr 2007, 10:27 ]
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Lesley wrote:
That's lovely - and so nice to see someone having to be reminded to speak English!

Thanks Caroline.


I can't lay claim to that, unfortunately - that's actually EBD..... :D

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Triplets was such a strange book to do this for. In Feud, there is one overarching plot for Jo to get her teeth into; here, the plot is basically "Look! They are Triplets! And things happen to them!". Not so much scope for Jo Scott - Uber Head Girl, and really a series of episodes rather than a proper story.
Anyway, on with the story. Again, it's a mix of EBD and me.


Part Two – Middles!
‘I wish I had a cane and the right to use it!’ Maeve Bettany exploded at a Prefects' Meeting. ‘I'd teach some of those brats in Lower IVb a lesson they jolly well need, I can tell you!’

‘What have they been up to now?’ Mary Murrell demanded.

‘Oh, nothing out of the way for them. It's only rather more so.’ And Maeve went on to described the latest sins of those ornaments of the Fourth Form, Gillie Garstin and Jack Lambert.

Len Maynard listened to all this thoughtfully. To some extent, Jack and Co were her lambs. Apart from them nearly all being in her dormitory, from the beginning Jack had adopted her as general mentor, and what Jack did, her gang did. Len knew this and also knew that she had been so busy with her own concerns of late, that she had rather left them to themselves.

‘I'd better do something about it,’ she thought. ‘Or at any rate with young Jack. I must think this over, though. I can't very well start in on her without any excuse. I don't want to put their backs up.’

As it happened, Jack herself had suddenly awakened to the fact that she was seeing less of the Senior she most admired than at any other time since she had come to the school.

‘I'm sick of being in rows all the time!’ she thought. ‘Everyone gets on to me. I’m going to do something about it. I'm not going on like this. Anyhow, I'm bored to the teeth! I know, I’ll get hold of Len and ask her what to do. She can generally make you see straight.’

At that point, the bell rang for the end of Break and Jack had to go off to German Diktat with Miss Andrews. Jack did not forget, however, and that evening, when Len went up to change after Kaffee und Kuchen, Jack popped out of her cubicle and stopped her.

‘Please, Len, I want to talk. When can I come – after Abendessen?’ she asked.

‘Oh, Jack! I can't manage it tonight,’ Len said, dismayed. ‘I have a special coaching then, and after that I'm helping with mending books from the Junior library. You'll be in bed by the time that's done. But I'll tell you what,’ she added as Jack's face fell, ‘ there's a bundle nearly ready to go to old Frau Steinmach and it's my turn to take it. It'll be some time this week, though I can't say just when now. But when I do go, I'll ask if I can take you and any of your pals who w ant to come as well. Will that do?’

Jack's face cleared on the spot. ‘ Rather; and thanks a lot. You really are a whizzer, Len!’

Author:  LizB [ 16 Apr 2007, 13:55 ]
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Thanks, Caroline :D

Author:  Caroline [ 16 Apr 2007, 14:30 ]
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Here's some more. Jo does turn up in this episode soon, honest. :D

Part Two – Middles! (continued)
Everyone knew that the school had various pensioners among the old folk in the tiny hamlets scattered along the side of the motor-road. Staff and girls alike contributed, and Joey Maynard also helped. On this occasion she sent word that she had a knitted patchwork blanket ready and when, on the Wednesday, the Head sent for Len to receive the bundle just after morning school, she also told her to call at Freudesheim on her way to collect her mother's offering.

‘It's such a lovely day, everyone is going for a walk,’ Miss Annersley remarked as she passed over the sizeable parcel. ‘Ask someone to go with you and help you to carry everything – Ah!’ as the communicating door opened and Rosalie Dene appeared, an urgent look on her face. ‘I see I'm wanted. I'll come at once. Run along, Len. You haven't much time to make yourself tidy before Mittagessen.’ And with that, she vanished into the office, closing the door firmly behind her. Len had no choice but to go with her request that her companions be the shining lights of Lower IVb was unuttered.

‘Oh bother!’ the girl thought as she went out with her parcel. ‘Well, I must just catch her as soon as Mittagessen is over. Jack and Co would never forgive me if I didn't keep my word.’ She carried the bundle to the Splashery where she put it down and went to wash her hands and tidy her hair.

It was unfortunate that when, Grace over, Len directed her gaze to the top table she found that the Head was not present. Mlle de Lachennais had said Grace, as she always did in Miss Annersley's absence, being the doyenne of the Chalet School Staff. Len kept glancing towards the high table throughout the meal, but no Miss Annersley appeared. She would have made her request to Mlle or someone else, but by the time she had helped to oversee the clearing of her own table and was free to run upstairs to the Staffroom, every last mistress seemed to have vanished. She tapped on the door three times. Getting no answer, she opened the door a crack and peered in. No one was there. Nor was there any sound from the Staff sitting room which opened out of the Staffroom. As a matter of fact, they were all in the Head's salon, whither she had bidden them for their coffee earlier in the day.

Even Len did not feel inclined to invade the quarters known as The Head's Annexe. It was strictly private and the girls were not supposed to go there unless specially bidden.

‘Oh drat and drabbit it!’ Len thought. ‘ Now what do I do? I certainly can't take those kids out without permission. Anyhow, this is rest period. I'd better go and rest or I'll hear about it from someone. Meantime, unless I can get hold of someone after that, I'd better take one of the other Prees and fix up something else with Jack and her pals. But where on earth have all the staff gone?’

Author:  Ruth B [ 16 Apr 2007, 14:50 ]
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It has just occurred to me, but what would they have done if something serious had happened and there didn't seem to be a staff member in sight? Surely someone should have been on duty.

Author:  Alison H [ 16 Apr 2007, 15:08 ]
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Ruth B wrote:
It has just occurred to me, but what would they have done if something serious had happened and there didn't seem to be a staff member in sight? Surely someone should have been on duty.


It seems to happen a lot in the early books, for example when Joey and the others go after the St Scholastika's girls who're ice-skating on the lake. Given the propensity of the pupils to run off up mountains/try to get back to England on their own/fall in frozen lakes/be kidnapped by crazed relatives, you'd think they'd've had at least one mistress on duty at all times!

Author:  Caroline [ 16 Apr 2007, 15:08 ]
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Ruth B wrote:
It has just occurred to me, but what would they have done if something serious had happened and there didn't seem to be a staff member in sight? Surely someone should have been on duty.


You'd think, wouldn't you? :lol: In fact, when I was rewriting this section, a number of rather gaping plot holes leapt out at me - the main one being, that if Len had simply gone outside with the rest of the school when they were gathering to set off on their walks (rather than run off around the school looking for the Abbess in random cupboards...), plenty of the staff would have been there as they were escorting the girls, and either (a) one of them would have been senior enough to give her permission to take Jack and Co or (b) she could have gone and told Jack that she wouldn't be able to take them. But hey, this is EBD!

Author:  Lesley [ 16 Apr 2007, 17:55 ]
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Basically she needed a way in which Len would appear to break her word to Jack - allowing Jack and the others to do something really stupid. :roll:

She should have thought it through a little more though! :lol:


Thanks Caroline.

Author:  brie [ 16 Apr 2007, 18:03 ]
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thanks caroline

Author:  Caroline [ 17 Apr 2007, 09:14 ]
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Here's the next bit.

Part Two – Middles! (continued)
Len made one final attempt to find someone who could give consent to her taking Jack and Co, but she found no one and finally had to content herself with the Head Girl, who ran into her at the door of their Splashery.

‘I'm taking those things to Frau Steinmach,’ she said. ‘Will you come with me, Jo?’

‘Like a shot!’ Jo replied. ‘I'll just fly and tell Miss Ferrars while you get your things on. She's taking Inter V and they're about the last. The others have all gone. You couldn't see most of the kids for dust. Let's hope,’ she added piously as she left the place, ‘ that they'll come back feeling more law abiding!’

Jo was back in a few minutes to find Len ready and waiting.

‘Ferry says all right. Is that what we have to take?’

Len picked up the parcel. ‘It is. We've also got to call at home on the way out and collect a blanket Mamma's been knitting. You can carry that.’

As they left Freudesheim with Jo carrying the second bundle, Len began to glance around in a haunted way, prompting the Head Girl to ask curiously, ‘What's biting you?’

‘Do you know which way Lower IVb went?’ Len asked. ‘ I don't exactly want to run into them.’

‘Why on earth not?’

‘I promised I'd take Jack and her gang when I went to Ste Cecilie, but the Head was called away the moment she'd given me the bundle so I couldn't ask her. I went to find Mlle or someone – that's why I was late for rest period – but I couldn't see a soul, so I've had to leave it. I'll make time for them all right, but I don't want them to think I've broken my word to them.’

Jo looked serious. Another type of girl might have dismissed Len’s concerns as the work of an overactive conscience, but Jo had enough imagination and understanding of girls to realise how Jack Lambert and her little friends might perceive the situation, if they came across Len and Jo – and how Len was feeling at this precise moment. ‘You mean they might think you’ve broken your word to them?’

‘Yes,’ said Len. ‘Oh, if they give themselves time to think, they’ll know I haven’t – it’s not exactly in my line. But the question is – will they think? You know what young Jack's like! And if she gets that kind of idea into her head, who knows what she might do!’

‘What a worrier you are! So far as I know, they went with Lower IVa along to the footpath near the San. They were lined up behind that lot when I last saw them. But how about this: if it sets your mind at rest, I’ll run back into school and see where their walk was heading – it’ll be listed on the board. Wait for me here, I won’t be a moment.’

This section always makes me think, if Jo / Maeve can find Miss Ferrars so easily and ask for permission to go with Len, why can't Len find Miss Ferrars and ask for permission to take Lower IVb with her... :lol:

Author:  leahbelle [ 17 Apr 2007, 13:03 ]
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I think Jo makes an excellent Head Girl.

Author:  LizB [ 17 Apr 2007, 14:02 ]
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Me too!

Thanks, Caroline :D

Author:  Caroline [ 17 Apr 2007, 15:58 ]
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leahbelle wrote:
I think Jo makes an excellent Head Girl.


Me, too. It always makes me cross in the this section in the real book when Maeve just dismisses Len's concerns about Lower IVb out of hand and basically says 'don't be so daft, never mind those kids, lets have a good old gossip instead'. I can't see another Head Girl being quite so blasé - even if Maeve thinks Jack won't go off on one, Len's a friend, a cousin and a fellow prefect - Maeve shouldn't just dismiss her concerns so easily. But that's Maeve all over IMO - so laid back she's almost asleep, deson't take anything seriously and really doesn't want to be bothered with the whole Head Girl thing.

I guess she makes a refreshing change as she's so different from other Head Girls, but she's just so very different that she never quite rings true to me. Would the same Head Mistress who chose Mary-Lou, Peggy Bettany and Len Maynard as HG really pick such a dizzy girl as Maeve?

I really need to start taking this less seriously, right? :lol:

Author:  Elbee [ 17 Apr 2007, 16:39 ]
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Caroline wrote:
if Jo / Maeve can find Miss Ferrars so easily and ask for permission to go with Len, why can't Len find Miss Ferrars and ask for permission to take Lower IVb with her...


That's what I think every time I read it - surely Miss Ferrars is capable of giving permission for Jack and co?

Thanks Caroline, I'm enjoying this. You've got such an EBD style :D (yes I know some of the words are hers anyway, but I mean all of the writing, not just those bits - it's seamless :lol: )

Author:  brie [ 17 Apr 2007, 16:46 ]
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thanks caroline

Author:  Loryat [ 17 Apr 2007, 18:18 ]
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Jo makes a very good Head Girl.

I confess I'm one of the few who actually likes Maeve as a Head Girl - but Jo does a better job of solving (and preventing) problems.

Author:  Lesley [ 17 Apr 2007, 18:39 ]
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Caroline wrote:
I really need to start taking this less seriously, right? :lol:



No, not at all - it's all real, isn't it? :?


Love your point about Miss Ferrars being the one to ask re Jack and the others - EDB really should have given her plot device a little more thought!


Thanks Caroline.

Author:  Lisa_T [ 17 Apr 2007, 18:59 ]
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She probably pretty much wrote it all in such a rush that she didn't take the time to go over and check for little inconsistencies like that. But then, if she had, we'd have been deprived of sooooo much....

I also really like this, Caroline. I started with 'Triplets' so I have an especial affection for the later books, quality aside!

Author:  Tara [ 17 Apr 2007, 23:01 ]
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I totally agree with Elbee - this really is seamless!

Author:  Caroline [ 18 Apr 2007, 09:50 ]
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Thanks for the kind words, folks. Here's the next part.

Part Two – Middles! (concluded)
Jo was soon back with Len on the road outside Freudesheim and the two of them set off at a brisk pace – they were going to have to walk fast if they were going to make it to Ste Cecilie and back in the time allowed.

‘So, where have Lower IVb gone? Are we going to run into them?’ demanded Len as they swung along side-by-side.

Jo looked thoughtful. ‘Not on the motor-road – the only group headed this way are Va, and we should overtake them some time soon, I expect. We may well see Lower IVb, though – they were only going with IVa for the first part of their walk, and are then making for that path up yonder,’ and Jo flung out an arm towards a mountain path further up the thickly wooded slope, and running parallel to the road. The path led towards a brook, which itself crossed the road a little distance further on, and was a popular destination for the younger girls who liked to see the water skipping and boiling on its way down the mountain side. For the most part, the path was well out of sight of the road, hidden by the pine trees in between, but just before it met the stream, the path dipped a little and the trees thinned out, which meant that the two Prefects would be clearly visible to the younger girls – if they happened to reach the stream at about the same time.

Len grimaced at this news, but there was nothing she could do about it now, so both girls resolved to keep an eye out for the Middles and do what they could to save the situation if they did meet. And meet they did, of course, for just as Len and Jo reached the stream on the motor-road, Jack and her gang also reached it on the upper path.

They spotted the Prefects immediately. Sound carries far in the crystalline air of the Alps and the voices of the older girls reached the sharp ears of Jack Lambert, who swung round to stare down to the road. She saw the two figures with their burdens and instantly guessed who they were. For a moment, she was unable to speak, so indignant was she at what looked to her like Len's meanness. Then speech came – and with a burst!

‘Look at that!’ she exclaimed furiously. ‘It's Len and someone else! And after she promised to take us with her when she went! Oh! How mean of her!’

‘Where? Let me see!’ Gillie Garstin pushed her aside to peer downwards. ‘Look – they’re waving. Isn’t that Jo Scott with her?’

Jack nodded, a frown creasing her brow as her anger faded slightly, to be replaced by hurt and confusion. Why had Len taken the Head Girl with her when she had promised to take them?

Suddenly, Wanda von Eschenau exclaimed, ‘They’re climbing up here – see?’

And it was true, as well. Leaving their burdens secreted to the side of the road, Len and Jo scrambled up the mountain side towards their juniors. As soon as the Prefects were close enough to them to talk without shouting, Jack voiced her woes again. ‘You’re mean, Len Maynard – you’re going to Ste Cecilie and not taking us! You promised!’

Len and Jo looked at each other with rueful grins, and Len began to explain – as much as she could considering how out of breath she was after her rapid ascent.

‘Sorry, Jack – but you know that kind of promise depends on my getting permission to take you. I did try and ask, but I couldn’t manage it and as Miss Annersley had told me to go today, I couldn’t very well do anything else. I’ll fix something else up with your crowd, of course – I was going to come and find you after Kaffee to apologise.’

At that, Jack had the grace to look sheepish and Jo proceeded to rub things in with a sure hand. ‘You kids should be old enough to realise that if Len didn’t take you it was because something had prevented it, not because she was going back on her word. You might try trusting her a little more in future before you go off half-cocked. Now, here come Miss Bertram and Miss Ashley with the rest of your form, so we’ll get on with our errand and you can get on with your walk. Len will see you later, I’m sure, and you can discuss with her whether you think you deserve whatever treat she may have in mind for you!’

And leaving a considerably chastened group of Middles behind them, Jo and Len reported to the two young mistresses and then continued on their way to Ste Cecilie.

Thinking about this plot line a bit more, it really was quite daft of Len to make such a promise to Jack without knowing if she could keep it. Who knows, even if she had been able to ask the Abbess for permission to take the kids, Hilda might well have refused. One quite junior prefect and goodness knows how many of the most wild and wacky form of middles in the school? On a walk together with no mistress? Seems like a recipe for disaster to me! Of course, if she just wanted to take Jack, that would probably be OK, but she doesn't - she offers to take as many of Jack's crowd who want to come, reckless woman...

Next part to follow soon. Watch this space...

Author:  Lesley [ 18 Apr 2007, 18:05 ]
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That works far better than the original, Caroline - with Jack etc learning a valuble lesson.


Thanks. :lol:

Author:  Cath V-P [ 19 Apr 2007, 00:50 ]
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That makes so much sense. Perhaps it's Len who needs to learn a lesson about thinking before she speaks!

Author:  Ruth B [ 19 Apr 2007, 08:57 ]
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Yes, that seems far more realistic!

Author:  LizB [ 19 Apr 2007, 09:10 ]
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Jo handled that well - She really is an excellent head girl :D

Thanks, Caroline

Author:  Caroline [ 19 Apr 2007, 09:37 ]
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Part Three – Toothache

The first faint shadow of fresh trouble appeared when Margot Maynard started toothache. Like her mother before her, she had a horror of the dentist and all his works, so she kept the trouble to herself, even when the occasional twinges became a steady nagging which upset her nerves and made her edgy.

For once, neither of her sisters realised she was in pain, for both were busy with their own concerns, and so silly Margot was left to go her own way.

Margot's contemporaries did notice that she seemed always irritable these days, but most of them remembered that she owned a hair-trigger temper. She had gained pretty good control over it, but even so no one felt like doing anything to rouse it. If she seemed inclined to snub folk they sheered off.

Her behaviour also came to the attention of the Head Girl, though, and Jo Scott was not the kind of girl to ignore someone so obviously troubled. Nor was she particularly wary of Margot's sharp tongue. So when she came across Margot when they were out in the garden, and observed the girl’s drawn face and heavy eyes, she seized the opportunity to make enquiries.

‘Aren't you feeling fit, Margot?’ she asked. ‘You're looking awfully tired.’

‘I'm all right,’ Margot said shortly.

‘No, you’re not,’ said Jo firmly. ‘You’re white as a sheet and you look like you haven’t slept for a week. Out with it – what’s wrong?’

A long pause followed, during which Margot twisted her hands together and winked back tears of pain, and Jo squared her jaw. If Margot had been confronted by one of her own sisters, she might have managed to fob them off – Len, in particular, was scrupulous these days about not interfering where she wasn’t invited, after a very sticky time for the Maynard Triplets a couple of years earlier – but the Head Girl was an altogether different proposition and was obviously determined to have an answer. Eventually, Margot gave in and mumbled one word: ‘Toothache.’

‘Idiot child,’ said Jo, but her kindly tones belied the words. ‘Why haven’t you been to Matey?’

Margot shrugged and looked sheepish before responding tersely, ‘She’d have sent me to Herr von Francius.’

‘Which is exactly the best place for you,’ said Jo bracingly, before putting a comforting arm around the younger girl. ‘Come on, Margot – I’ll take you to Matey myself. No funking, now!’

And Jo marched her victim inside and upstairs to Matron’s room.

:D

Author:  LizB [ 19 Apr 2007, 12:25 ]
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Well done, Jo :D


It seems that under her head-girlship the school will have the fewest alarums and excursions it's ever had!

Author:  Caroline [ 19 Apr 2007, 13:11 ]
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Definitely. She's on a crusade.

It's fun to write Jo saving every situation, but it wouldn't make much of a book!

:lol:

Author:  leahbelle [ 19 Apr 2007, 13:15 ]
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Jo handled that well.

Author:  Ruth B [ 19 Apr 2007, 13:23 ]
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Caroline wrote:
Definitely. She's on a crusade.

It's fun to write Jo saving every situation, but it wouldn't make much of a book!

:lol:


Oh I don't know...

Author:  Lesley [ 19 Apr 2007, 20:30 ]
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Good grief - you mean Betty's not going to get told off for having a bookend thrown at her then? :wink:


Thanks Caroline.

Author:  brie [ 19 Apr 2007, 21:05 ]
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thanks caroline, i lvoe your jo- she is great

Author:  Tara [ 19 Apr 2007, 23:06 ]
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This is proving that sensible can also equal interesting! Jo is splendid.

Author:  Joyce [ 23 Apr 2007, 04:30 ]
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[quote="Lesley"]Good grief - you mean Betty's not going to get told off for having a bookend thrown at her then? :wink: [/quote]

Kep the bookend!! i love the bookend :D

Author:  Caroline [ 23 Apr 2007, 10:14 ]
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Sorry, but the bookend has gone, never to be seen again.... :D

Part Four – Shopping
It was on the Monday morning of half-term weekend that the Prefects went to Lausanne. There were eighteen from the Chalet School and four from St Hilda's, so they made up quite a large enough party.

‘Luckily,’ Len said as the Chalet School group walked down the Avenue de la Gare to turn into the Avenue Georgette, ‘we haven't to think of the Sale this term. Lausanne has some gaudy shops and stores and I've drawn out nearly all my bank money to have a spending orgy for once.’

‘Extravagance!’ Francie Wilford retorted.

‘And what have you done, may I ask?’

‘Exactly the same. What do you think?’ Francie laughed happily.

It was later that day – between déjeuner and Kaffee und Kuchen (or café et pâtisseries, as frivolous Maeve proposed they should call it) – that shopping reached the top of the agenda, and Miss Moore led the girls to one of the big stores where she knew they should be able to buy practically everything they were likely to want. The store was built on a grand scale, and after some debate it was decided that the school should take the lifts to the top floor and work their way down, floor by floor. The top floor was dedicated to ‘Objects of art and vertu’ as Monica Garstin put it. In one part, prints and reproductions of famous pictures and statuary were shown. Woodcarvings filled two sets of shelves in another. In yet another were examples of the Swiss jewellers' work from strings of pretty beads and ‘costume’ jewellery to cases of trinkets set with precious stones and costing considerably more than the girls could spend.

Len Maynard and Rosamund Lilley paused enraptured before one table on which were scattered examples of the delicate filigree work for which Switzerland is famous.

‘It's all lovely, but what prices!’ Rosamund sighed as she examined the price ticket on a dainty brooch she longed to send home as a wedding present to her elder sister Charmain.

‘This is cheaper and it's quite as pretty,’ Len replied, pointing out another. ‘Wouldn't that do, Ros?’

After inspecting it carefully, Rosamund decided that it would and the purchase was made. They wandered on then, some way behind the rest by this time. Suddenly Len stopped and pointed to a sparkling string of baby rhinestones.

‘Wouldn't that be just sweet on Felicity?’ she exclaimed, and Rosamund agreed. Len made a face when she saw the price, but hasty calculations showed her that she could just about manage it.

By the time the necklace was wrapped up and paid for, the last of the other girls was out of sight. A quick glance round told them that no one they knew was anywhere about.

‘Oh, my goodness!’ Len exclaimed. ‘We've lost them! Have you any idea which way they went, Ros?’

‘Not a clue! I wasn't watching,’ Rosamund replied. She looked round, then gave an exclamation. ‘Isn't that Maeve over there?’ She pointed. ‘Come on! Charlie's a poppet, but she won't be exactly pleased if she finds us missing when she counts heads. This way, Len!’

They hurried along in the direction in which she had been pointing, only to find that Maeve, if Maeve it had been, had vanished and so had the others.

‘Oh, bother-bother-bother!’ Len ejaculated. ‘Well, we'd better find the lifts and go there and wait for them. Which department did Charlie say they were in?’

‘The third – I think,’ Rosamund said after a little consideration.

‘Are you sure? Myself, I thought she said the first.’ The pair stared at each other in troubled silence, but before they had to make a decision, a firm hand descended on the shoulders of each. Startled, they turned, only for Rosamund to exclaim: ‘Jo Scott! Thank heavens! We thought we’d lost you all.’

‘You had,’ said Jo with a grin. ‘Dawdling along like a pair of middles in a world of your own, you two were. Luckily for you, I noticed that we’d left you behind and came back to find you! Come on – Charlie’s waiting for us by the lifts in the fifth department. We’re off downstairs to look at the books.’

‘Oh, goodie,’ exclaimed Len. ‘I must buy a book for Con.’

Jo Scott grinned and led the two stragglers away to rejoin the rest of the School.

NOTE: That was the final part of this series of vignettes. Maeve doesn’t really feature in the rest of this book (my, but she’s quiet for a Head Girl – which makes for a nice change after all the busybody types, but does mean she’s not involved in very much and that when she is involved it tends to be rather superficially), and I couldn’t really think of a way to shoehorn her / Jo into the ‘Cecil Kidnapping’ plot. The CS and Jane is quite another matter – I can see plenty of things for Jo to fix there – so maybe I’ll write that Jo Scott Universe version of that next…

Thanks for reading.

Author:  Fiona Mc [ 23 Apr 2007, 10:43 ]
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Caroline wrote:
NOTE: That was the final part of this series of vignettes. Maeve doesn’t really feature in the rest of this book (my, but she’s quiet for a Head Girl – which makes for a nice change after all the busybody types, but does mean she’s not involved in very much and that when she is involved it tends to be rather superficially), and I couldn’t really think of a way to shoehorn her / Jo into the ‘Cecil Kidnapping’ plot. The CS and Jane is quite another matter – I can see plenty of things for Jo to fix there – so maybe I’ll write that Jo Scott Universe version of that next…

Thanks for reading.


Yes please!! I would love to see how Jo Scott sorts out the Jack and Jane argument with the car. It always annoyed me that Jane was blamed for that with Jack. Most unfair. Thanks Caroline

Author:  Dawn [ 23 Apr 2007, 12:31 ]
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Thanks so much - I have really enjoyed these and I'd love to see the re-written Jane

Author:  leahbelle [ 23 Apr 2007, 13:11 ]
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Have really enjoyed this, Caroline, and would love to see Jo in action in Jane.

Author:  Elbee [ 23 Apr 2007, 16:41 ]
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Thanks Caroline. I'm pleased Len and Rosamund didn't get lost in the department store after all - I always thought that was such a silly scene when reading the book.

Yes please, more of Jo!

Author:  brie [ 23 Apr 2007, 16:50 ]
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oooooo caroline please write more :D

Author:  Lesley [ 23 Apr 2007, 19:12 ]
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That was great - thanks Caroline.


Looking forward to the next episode.

Author:  Cath V-P [ 24 Apr 2007, 00:47 ]
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Thank you Caroline - am looking forward to the next section! :D :D

Author:  Lisa_T [ 24 Apr 2007, 01:25 ]
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Elbee wrote:
Thanks Caroline. I'm pleased Len and Rosamund didn't get lost in the department store after all - I always thought that was such a silly scene when reading the book.



Did you really? I didn't. I agree the stealing scene was a bit melodramatic, but getting separated from a school party- especially when you're in the Sixth- is easily done. Happened to me on an art trip to the V&A. I thought I'd let a member of staff know I was going to look at the costume. Came out- and the hall was deserted! I ended up wandering through several of those halls, terrified at the thought of them going off without me- this was before mobiles and pagers, and as a deaf student a PA would be no use anyway. I nearly passed out with relief when my own art teacher (as opposed to the other art teacher, with whom I had very little interaction) came back and found me. I had to sit in the front of the minibus on the way back to school. I must have looked rather white because she kept asking if I was ok!

Author:  Kathy_S [ 24 Apr 2007, 03:50 ]
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Jo saves the day again. :mrgreen:
Thank you, Caroline.

*could more easily be left behind in Books* :lol:

Author:  ElKel [ 27 Apr 2007, 21:45 ]
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Caroline wrote:


"Look! They are Triplets! And things happen to them!".



:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Catching up, so I'm a bit behind the tale. That has got to be the most succinct, and gigglesome summing up of an EBD book I've ever read!



(And as far as Triplets is concerned, it's also scarily accurate. :lol: )

Author:  Caroline [ 29 Apr 2007, 10:25 ]
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Thanks. I thought it was quite neat when I wrote it, and spent a few minutes trying to think of other brief-as-can-be plot summaries for CS books... I couldn't think of any as neat as that one though.

:lol:

School at: We've got no money, so we'll start a school. In Austria!

Feud: Two schools in one building? It's never going to work.

Rivals: Two schools, one lake and a whole lot of squabbling.

Hmmmm. This should probably be a thread in an entirely different house!

Author:  Ruth B [ 29 Apr 2007, 18:05 ]
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*giggles*

Didn't we have a thread on the old board where we tried to come up with new titles for books based on F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode titles?

Author:  Caroline [ 30 Apr 2007, 09:58 ]
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I don't remember that, but I like the idea...

Head Girl: The One Where Grizel Runs Away (again) but Still Gets to be Head Girl

:D

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