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A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6008

Author:  andi [ Fri May 01, 2009 2:15 pm ]
Post subject:  A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

I have no excuse for this, other than a mad plot bunny that wouldn't go away. :D

“Now, look here, you people, it simply isn’t good enough.” Ailie Russell’s fair curls bobbed wildly around her head as she thumped her fist on the common-room table.

“Give us a chance, Ailie.” Janet Henderson was the first to reply, but there was a murmured chorus of agreement at her words. “We’ve hardly started the term. You can’t expect-”

“Hardly started? We’ve been back almost three weeks!” Ailie exclaimed. “And what have you done so far, Janet? What have any of you done?” She threw out her arms dramatically.

Janet glowered at her. “I’ve been working, Ailie. That’s what we’re here for, you know. Coming first in the form lists doesn’t just happen by accident.”

“And besides,” Gabrielle Thomé spoke up, “I thought we’d agreed that that Lost Property stunt would be enough to keep us going for a while.”

“The “Lost Property stunt”, as you call it,” Ailie said, her voice heavy with sarcasm, “was last term. But while we’re on the subject, might I remind you who was responsible for that?” She glared at the mutinous faces in front of her. “That’s right. Janice, Judy and me. It’s always Janice, Judy and me. Frankly, it’s time some of the rest of you pulled your weight.”

“But why bother?” Janet said. “It’s always the same. We do something stupid, we get caught, and we end up in the Abbess’s room feeling like idiots. Or worse, in the Prees room. I’m sick and tired of it, I tell you.”

There was a general mutter of agreement. Ailie clutched her curly hair until it was standing on end.

“Look here!” she shouted over the rising noise. “You’re missing the point. We’re Middles, aren’t we? This is what we do. It’s tradition. It’s – it’s our duty!” She pointed at a slim dark girl sitting at the back of the group. “Tessa! You know what I mean. Tell us the story about your mother. Come on!” she added impatiently, as Tessa seemed reluctant to respond. “Or I’ll do it for you!

Tessa sighed. “Oh, all right. Though you all know it perfectly well already. When my mother was at the school, she, Tante Joey, Tante Frieda and Tante Marie sneaked out of their beds one night and poured flour over some other girls’ hair, so when they woke in the morning, they thought they had gone white overnight.”

Despite themselves, the Middles couldn’t help grinning appreciatively as Tessa ended her tale. Ailie sensed a weakening in the opposition and seized it.

“Exactly! Now that’s the tradition we have to live up to. And they were Seniors then, not even Middles.” She paused impressively and surveyed her fellow students. “Do you really want to go down in the legends of the school as the un-enterprising Middles? The Middles who did nothing? The boring Middles?”

“Not much chance of that with you three and your history,” Janet pointed out.

“Yes, well, it’s time you all stopped sitting back and making us carry the load,” Judy Willoughby chimed in suddenly. “I agree with Ailie. We did good work last term, but that’s past now. We have to come up with something new if we want to be worth our salt as Chalet School Middles.”

“Well, can we at least come up with an idea that we have a chance of getting away with?” Tessa said plaintively. “It’s so annoying having to listen to the Prees patronising us once they’ve caught on, and telling us how silly we’ve been.”

“If we get away with it, no one will know we’ve done it. In which case we might as well not have done it,” Ailie snapped back. “The whole point is to be found out. How else will it get into the Legends?”

No one could think of a solution to that. Silence reigned in the room for several moments as they racked their brains to come up with a new “Middles' latest”, something which would bring fame (“notoriety, more like,” Janet muttered) while avoiding the need for a painful session with the authorities.

“We seem to have done everything already,” Tessa sighed. “It was so much easier for Mama and Tante Joey. They didn’t have to compete with fifteen years’ worth of Middles going before them.”

“Well, too bad. We do.” Ailie said firmly. “So be quiet and think.”

At last, Thyra Jespersen raised her head.

“I may have an idea,” she said.

Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Fri May 01, 2009 3:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition

Don't stop now!

Author:  abbeybufo [ Fri May 01, 2009 3:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition

Sounding good, andi - please continue :D

Author:  shazwales [ Fri May 01, 2009 4:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition

This looks like fun! more please :?:

Author:  PaulineS [ Fri May 01, 2009 7:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition

Love the idea of it being the Middles responsibility to add to the School Legends.

Author:  andi [ Sat May 02, 2009 9:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition

“I say, you folk, does it strike you that the Middles are being abnormally quiet at the moment?”

The rest of the Sixth form looked up from their various occupations to where Mary-Lou sat perched on the arm of a chair in their common room.

“Long may it last, I say,” Doris Hill avowed.

“Perhaps they’ve learnt some sense at last,” Clare Kennedy said. “Although with Janice, Ailie and Judy in their midst, it seems unlikely.”

“What if they are?” Hilda Jukes yawned and stretched her arms. “We can’t exactly pull them up for being well-behaved, can we?”

There was a general chuckle, but Mary-Lou didn’t join in. Sliding off the chair-arm, she stood up.

“Come on, you folk! You know as well as I do that when the Middles are quiet, it’s time to look out for squalls. You mark my words, something is going to happen. I can feel it.” She nodded portentously and walked out of the room. Left behind, the remainder of the Sixth looked at each other and sighed.

“I suppose she’s right,” Hilary said. “We’d better keep an eye on them.”

Author:  Lesley [ Sat May 02, 2009 9:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 2/05)

Poor Middles - feeling they have to misbehave and get caught - maybe this time they won't get caught??? :lol:


Thanks andi

Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Sat May 02, 2009 9:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 2/05)

Does Mary-Lou ever take a break from being nosy?

Thankyou, this is lovely.

Author:  Elbee [ Sat May 02, 2009 10:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 2/05)

I'm enjoying this, thank you.

Author:  PaulineS [ Sat May 02, 2009 11:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 2/05)

Pity the middles do not realise that that the best way to upset Mary Lou is to continue to behave!!

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Author:  shazwales [ Sat May 02, 2009 9:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 2/05)

Brilliant! like Pauline S comment about 'the way to upset MaryLou is to behave' I seem to remember other ideas of looking innocent just to get the prees worried. :?

Author:  andi [ Sun May 03, 2009 9:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 2/05)

Darn, you lot are good! :wink:


“I think it’s working,” Tessa murmured to Janice as they packed up their books after prep. “Did you see Barbara?”

Janice grinned. “She can’t have done a stroke of work. All she did was watch us.”

“And I saw Mary-Lou doing the same thing yesterday at Mittagessen. She couldn’t take her eyes off us!” Ailie did a little gleeful caper. “We’ve got them stumped. It’s almost worth being so ridiculously good, just to see their faces.”

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” Janet said. “At least this way I can get some work done.”

“And the best of it is, there’s absolutely nothing they can do to stop us!” Judy laughed. “We should have thought of this ages ago.”




“It can’t last,” Mary-Lou said worriedly.

“Maybe they’re sickening for something?’ Barbara suggested. “We could ask Matey to have a look at them.”

“Talk sense!” Half of the Sixth form spoke in chorus. “Do you want to be eaten alive?”

“They must be up to something,” Mary-Lou said. “There’s no other explanation for it. We’ll just have to keep watching them until we find out what it is.”

“Is anyone checking their dorms at night?” Vi Lucy asked. “Perhaps they’re midnighting. Or telling ghost stories after dark.”

“Or running an amateur dramatics society,” Mary-Lou added. “Good point, Vi. There’s any number of criminal deeds they could be getting up to at night. Who are their dorm prees?”

Doris Hill, Lesley Bethune and Prunella Davis waved their hands in the air. “But please don’t say we have to stay up all night watching those young demons,” Prunella pleaded. “I’ve got work to do.”

“It won’t be for long,” Mary-Lou said confidently. “Only a night or two. We’re bound to catch them by then.”

Author:  keren [ Sun May 03, 2009 10:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 3/05)

In the end the prees will get into trouble for something to do with watching them, and then what excuse will they have?

Author:  Lesley [ Sun May 03, 2009 10:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 3/05)

Oh I like that - and as Janet says - the best thing is they not only seriously annoy the Prefects, they can get their own work done too! :lol:


Thanks andi

Author:  PaulineS [ Sun May 03, 2009 1:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 3/05)

Quote:
Darn, you lot are good!

Thanks. :D :D :D :D :popper: :popper: :popper:

Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Sun May 03, 2009 5:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 3/05)

I feel silly I hadn't even thought of that.

Thanks!

Author:  Cath V-P [ Mon May 04, 2009 2:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 3/05)

Very entertaining to see that paranoia developing - and subtle too!

Author:  andi [ Mon May 04, 2009 9:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 3/05)

“Prunella Davis! That’s the third time you’ve yawned in the last ten minutes. Are you finding the lesson that dull?” Kathie Ferrars folded her arms and glared.

“I’m terribly sorry, Miss Ferrars,” Prunella apologised, swallowing another huge yawn. “I – er – haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

“Well, you’d better go to Matron at break,” Miss Ferrars said, slightly less crossly. “In the meantime, perhaps you’d find it easier to stay awake if you were to explain to the class how rift valleys are formed.” Prunella sighed and cursed the Middles from the bottom of her heart as she struggled to dredge some facts from her sleep-deprived brain.

That day, there was a mutiny in the Sixth form common room.

“I’m not doing this any more,” Prunella stormed. Lesley and Doris, heavy-eyed and grumpy, backed her up.

“You should have heard Matey on the case at break,” Lesley said. “She’ll have us all in the San on invalid diet if we go on much longer.”

“We’ll have to give it a rest, Mary-Lou,” Verity said, in her gentle voice. “After all, the Middles aren’t actually doing anything wrong. In fact, I’ve never known them to be better behaved.”

“But that’s just it!” Mary-Lou cried. “They can’t be this good. It’s just not natural!” She stood up. “You can give up if you like, but I’ll tell you this – I’ll find out what they’re up to or my name’s not Mary-Lou Trelawney!” She strode from the room, leaving the rest looking uneasily after her.

Author:  JS [ Mon May 04, 2009 9:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 4/05)

This is very funny - it's my kind of mischief. Thanks Andi.

Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Mon May 04, 2009 9:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 4/05)

Poor Mary-Lou - you'll end up being the one that gets into trouble!

Thankyou.

Author:  Lesley [ Mon May 04, 2009 9:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 4/05)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well done the Middles! Hope they manage to continue with this.

Thanks andi

Author:  abbeybufo [ Mon May 04, 2009 9:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 4/05)

Thanks andi - enjoying this :D :lol: :D :lol:

Author:  Abi [ Mon May 04, 2009 5:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 4/05)

:lol: Just read all of this - what a brilliant idea! Thanks Andi!

Author:  Miss Di [ Tue May 05, 2009 4:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 4/05)

Very funny Andi!!!

Author:  andi [ Tue May 05, 2009 8:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 4/05)

Mary-Lou was as good as her word. Over the next few days, it seemed that wherever the Middles were, there too was Mary-Lou. She strolled by casually when they were at tennis practice. She popped up in the middle of Hobbies. She was just passing at prep. And gradually the Middles started to feel uneasy.

“Do you think maybe we’ve been a bit too successful?” Ailie asked Janice, after a prep session in which Mary-Lou had sat with her head propped in one hand, her fingers holding her bleary eyes open while her glance flicked from one diligently studying Middle to another. “She looks pretty all in. Perhaps we should re-think this.”

“It’s a shame,” Janice said. “It’s been such a lovely peaceful term. But I agree, we can’t let things go on like this. We’ve got to do something, and fast.”

Author:  JS [ Tue May 05, 2009 8:55 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 5/05, p2)

Mary-Lou will fail her exams at this rate - yet the middles are doing nothing wrong. It's evil - well done Andi!

Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Tue May 05, 2009 9:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 5/05, p2)

Mary-Lou isn't really being very responsible here, is she - making the Middles feel like they have to misbehave. I hope they say so too her!

Thankyou.

Author:  PaulineS [ Tue May 05, 2009 10:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 5/05, p2)

Pity Matey has not spotted Mary Lou's lack of sleep! The middles should keep up their good behaviour or ML has won.

Author:  Emma A [ Tue May 05, 2009 1:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 5/05, p2)

Agree with Pauline! I am enjoying this turning of the tables - thanks, andi.

Author:  Cat C [ Tue May 05, 2009 1:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 5/05, p2)

This is so funny.

Can't wait to see how it all works out!

Author:  Lesley [ Tue May 05, 2009 6:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 5/05, p2)

I don't see why the Middles should have to misbehave - and get in trouble - just because Mary Lou is making herself ill trying to catch them out. She's the one being irresponsible here.


Thanks Andi

Author:  andi [ Wed May 06, 2009 8:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 5/05, p2)

A day later, the Sixth form’s afternoon studies were rudely interrupted by Mary-Lou, almost cross-eyed with exhaustion, but triumphant.

“Didn’t I tell you I’d catch them?” she crowed, holding aloft a curious object.

“What on earth?” Hilary asked, taking it from her and examining it. “It’s a bunch of old socks! Oh – no, I see, it’s supposed to be a doll – of sorts. But what’s this written on it?” She squinted at the scrawled letters, trying to decipher them. “Davy – is that right? – Davy Yoohoo?” She looked at Mary-Lou in confusion.

“Not Davy Yoohoo, idiot! Baby Voodoo! Don’t you see? Those imps have been reading the Legends again. They must have decided to recreate Baby Voodoo.” Mary-Lou lay back in her chair and shut her eyes.

“Rather un-enterprising of them,” Vi muttered to Barbara.

“What’s it do, anyway?” Barbara muttered back

“No idea,” Vi said. Raising her voice, she called across to Mary-Lou. “So what do we do now? I mean, what have they been doing with it? Breaking bounds, scaring the Juniors – what?”

“Dunno,” Mary-Lou said, her voice almost swallowed up by an enormous yawn. “Have them to a Prees meeting – get it out of them – silly little idiots -” She started to slide slowly under her desk. Hilary and Prunella grabbed an arm each and hauled her to her feet.

“Come on,” Hilary said. “Let’s get her to bed. We’ll tell Matey she had a headache.” Between them they marched the sleepwalking super-sleuth out of the room. By the time they came back, Baby Voodoo had been passed around the room and scrutinised for clues, to no avail.

“They haven’t done a very good job on it,” Vi commented, as one of the makeshift doll’s arms nearly came off in her hand.

“Well, there’s only one thing for it,” Hilary said. “We’ll have to get them up here and get an explanation. Preferably before Mary-Lou wakes up.”

“Good idea,” Vi said. “Round up the usual suspects.”

Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Wed May 06, 2009 9:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 6/05, p2)

:lol: That last line makes them sound as if they're the police.

Surely it isn't against the rules simply to make a doll? Wouldn't they have to use it for nefarious purposes first? Or is the 'prevention better than cure' theory being misused?

Thanks, I can't wait to see where this goes.

Author:  Fiona Mc [ Wed May 06, 2009 9:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 6/05, p2)

I hope it comes out how they did it to give Mary Lou a rest. :lol: Thanks

Author:  andi [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (updated 6/05, p2)

And so, with suitably nervous outward expressions and inward resigned feelings of ‘here we go again’, Ailie, Janice and Judy stood before the august body of the Prefects. Hilary adopted the traditional approach to the proceedings.

“So what exactly was the point of this – object?” she asked, in a voice of excruciating politeness.

Ailie looked expectantly at Janice. Janice looked back blankly.

“You tell them,” she hissed.

“Me? I don’t know what the stupid thing’s for! You’re the one who read the book!” Ailie muttered through clenched teeth.

“I read the assembly instructions! I thought you were reading the rest!”

They both looked hopefully at Judy, who grimaced horribly and shook her head.

The truth was that Mary-Lou’s haggard appearance had alarmed them horribly. In a desperate bid to find any excuse for her to catch them out, they’d picked the first thing they’d found in the Legends - Baby Voodoo. It had seemed like a simple solution. They’d stuffed some socks, sewed them hastily together to make the doll, written its name on it and left it in a prominent place for Mary-Lou to find. Now it seemed that there had been a vital element missing in the preparations.

“Well, it – er…” Janice stuttered to a halt and gave Ailie a shove.

“It was for – um – we were going to – um …” Ailie cast around frantically for a good criminal use for the doll, but her mind was blank. Mentally she cursed the term of good behaviour which seemed to have destroyed her mischief-making abilities. They would never live this down.

It was time to resort to desperate measures. Ailie gave Hilary a hard, meaningful glare. Then she burst into loud sobs. Judy and Janice, catching on fast, followed suit.

Fortunately, Hilary took the hint. For the sake of everyone’s dignity, she decided that the best thing to do would be to wrap this up, fast, and try never to mention it again.

“You’ve been very silly little girls,” she said, pronouncing sentence. “You can all spend Saturday night hemming sheets with Matron. Now get out of here, and take your ridiculous toy with you.” Sniffing loudly, the three departed at high speed, not stopping until they reached the Middles Splashery.

“Whew,” Janice said, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. “That was close. Lucky it was Hilary and not Mary-Lou herself, or we’d never have got away.”

“D’you think she’ll be OK?” Ailie asked.

“Course she will,” Janice said. “Mary-Lou’s like one of those rubber balls. She always bounces back.”

“All the same,” Judy said, “I vote next term we just stick to the traditional Middles pranks. This being good lark is more trouble than it’s worth.”

The other two agreed with feeling.

“All I can say,” Janice said, as they made their way back to their common-room, “is roll on the day when we’re Seniors and allowed to be sensible.”

“Never mind,” Ailie consoled her. “At least we’ve got out of going to the Fifth form’s tedious Tableaux performance this Saturday.”

“That’s true,” Janice said, looking suddenly much more cheerful. “ I hope Matey’s kept the scores from our last poker game. She still owes me a fortune in matchsticks.”

THE END

Author:  Cat C [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Excellent!

Author:  JS [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Quote:
“Never mind,” Ailie consoled her. “At least we’ve got out of going to the Fifth form’s tedious Tableaux performance this Saturday.”

“That’s true,” Janice said, looking suddenly much more cheerful. “ I hope Matey’s kept the scores from our last poker game. She still owes me a fortune in matchsticks.”


Very funny, thank you, and a lovely ending. I have some sympathy with Ailie - suspect I would have rather sat quietly hemming than endure some of their Saturday nights of 'having fun'.

Author:  Elbee [ Thu May 07, 2009 1:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Wonderful! Thanks, Andi.

Author:  Emma A [ Thu May 07, 2009 3:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

That was very funny, andi - love the ending, too (just giggling at the thought of Matron playing poker, even for match-sticks) :lol:

Author:  abbeybufo [ Thu May 07, 2009 4:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Great ending Andi - thanks :D

Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Thu May 07, 2009 4:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Oh, the sin that goes unremarked in the CS! Why can I just see them laughing with Matey about how underprepared they were for the prank, and Matey telling them that they had to keep misbehaving to avoid more health scares?

Thankyou, this was brilliant!

Author:  shazwales [ Thu May 07, 2009 5:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Lovely really enjoyed this :D Thank you :D .

Author:  PaulineS [ Thu May 07, 2009 6:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Agree with JS about the ending. Hope they become Seniors soon for every ones sanity.

Author:  Lesley [ Fri May 08, 2009 5:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Love the ending - the thought of them planning to get out of the Entertainent is wonderful! No wonder matey didn't object to the evenings.

Thanks andi

Author:  Fiona Mc [ Fri May 08, 2009 8:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Quote:
“That’s true,” Janice said, looking suddenly much more cheerful. “ I hope Matey’s kept the scores from our last poker game. She still owes me a fortune in matchsticks.”


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks, that was fabulous

Author:  Kathy_S [ Tue May 12, 2009 11:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

*highly amused* :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thank you, andi!

Author:  Tara [ Wed May 13, 2009 12:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Really enjoyed that - thank you, Andi :D .

Author:  Luisa [ Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Just found and loved this.
Thanks!

Author:  Elle [ Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Brilliant - especially the end!

Author:  Chris S [ Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

If word gets out about Matey's evenings, half the school could end up misbehaving. Great story - thank you.

Author:  JellySheep [ Thu Jun 04, 2009 9:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

I've really enjoyed this - very funny and clever, and the ending was good too.

Author:  jonty [ Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Poor Middles! I really enjoyed reading this, thanks Andi.

Author:  Abi [ Sat Jun 20, 2009 3:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A School Tradition (completed 7/05, p2)

Just finished reading this - hilarious! Loved the poker playing :lol: .

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