The CBB :: View topic - Bonfire toffee, completed 09/11/08

There's certainly a version of what seems to be coming in Gemma, by Noel Streatfield too - where Gemma is getting attention by being the class bad girl / clown!

She was bound to find some problems somewhere, and that’d give her the chance to go to visit Herr von Francius. She’d long suspected that he had an interest in her: after all, he must have had a very good reason indeed for following the School all the way from Tyrol to Switzerland...

She was going to get to the bottom of this or her name wasn’t Gwynneth Lloyd. (In fact, it might be something else entirely. Gould, perhaps?)

I've really enjoyed this

Thank you Alison

(I nearly said "Alishon". Too much Sean Connery as Bond? :lol:

)

Apparently Bonfire Night was widely celebrated in Australia and even in the USA at one time! I may be wrong here but I think it still is in parts of Canada, New Zealand and the Caribbean. Definitely not in Switzerland, though :lol:

Author:	Alison H [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 4:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Bonfire toffee, completed 09/11/08
“Well, I thought being in Switzerland was going to be much more exciting than this,” Judy Willoughby said disconsolately. “Blossom made it sound as if we’d be off swimming in Lake Thun and ski-ing and tobogganing and having adventures all the time, but we haven’t done anything like that yet. All we’ve really done so far is just normal school stuff.” Ailie Russell nodded in agreement. “It’s all been pretty tame so far, hasn’t it? Josette and some of the rest of her lot got caught in a snowstorm during their first term here, and they had to be rescued by mountaineers! And then the year after that all the roads flooded and they couldn’t get any supplies up to the Platz and nearly ran out of food. The most thrilling thing that’s happened to us so far is Tessa de Bersac falling off her chair during yesterday's maths lesson!” “Babs was in that snowstorm as well,” Janice Chester put in. “One of the mountaineers actually picked her up and carried her, because he thought she looked done in! But we’ve not been here long though, remember – not even two months yet. And it’s too late in the year for going swimming in Lake Thun; and too early for winter sporting – or for getting caught in snowstorms, for that matter. And I certainly don’t fancy the idea of running out of food! I’m still getting used to the idea that sweets and chocolate aren’t rationed over here.” She frowned. “It has been a bit boring so far, though, hasn’t it? Because we’re the youngest we don’t even get to go on proper rambles.” They were just returning from one of the few walks deemed by the school authorities to be of a suitable length for Third Formers. “We haven’t even had the chance to see any of the views from further up yet. All we get to see are dead leaves!” She kicked at a pile of the said leaves as if to prove her point. Doing so actually made quite a satisfactory rustling sound; and some of the other girls joined in. “Fraulein Andrews!” thundered an angry Swiss voice. “Fraulein Andrews, I really must ask that you do not permit your young ladies to kick the leaves about like this! The best part of an hour it has taken me to sweep these leaves up into piles, and now look at the mess! Ach, I am sick of the sight of leaves! Every time I sweep them up either they blow away again before I have had chance to remove them or else the young ladies kick them about! Next time I have swept them up I am going to have a bonfire and burn them all, I tell you! It is hardly as if I do not get enough practice lighting fires, being up whilst you are all still fast asleep to make sure that the building is warm when you awake, and …” Sharlie Andrews meekly apologised for her pupils’ misdemeanours and then hurried the girls inside, leaving Gaudenz still ranting away. Ailie and Judy and Janice weren’t in the least bit disconcerted, however, and carried on chatting as they took their coats off and changed their shoes. “Now there was an idea,” Janice said thoughtfully. “It’ll be the fifth of November soon.” “Don’t I know it,” Ailie said, pulling a face. “It’s Len and Con and Margot’s birthday then, and Auntie Joey’ll probably make Sybs and Josette and Maeve and me go over to Freudesheim with them for a birthday tea.” The others looked at her sympathetically. The triplets were all right; but an evening at the Maynards’ house, being jumped on by that awful dog and having to listen to tales of Joey Maynard’s schooldays in Tyrol – all of which they’d each heard a hundred times before – was not something to be looked forward to with undiluted pleasure. “You’ll probably have to hear about that time she fell in a pit during Guide camp,” Judy said. “And I bet she’ll make you play slidey mats so that she can join in. Pr’haps you could pretend you didn’t feel well?” She frowned and shook her head. “No: that wouldn’t do. Matey’d make you have one of her doses, and that might be even worse.” “If you’d be so kind as to let me finish,” Janice said pointedly, “I was going to say that maybe we could suggest having a bonfire on November 5th. We could use the cricket pitch: no-one’s going to want it for another five months at least so it’d have plenty of time to recover from any mess it all made. And I know that we’re not supposed to stay up late on a week night but it goes dark pretty early now, so it wouldn’t be that late.” “We could have bonfire toffee and toffee apples and parkin: I’ve never had any of them,” Judy mused. “And baked potatoes and sausages. We might even be able to toast marshmallows over the fire.” “We could get other people from around the Platz to come, and sell bonfire toffee and all the other things if we were allowed to make them,” Ailie added. “It’d only be the same as selling things from Hobbies Club at the Sale. And everyone’d think we were really brilliant for suggesting it, instead of thinking that we were just little girls because we’re the youngest form here.” She grinned. “And,” she added triumphantly, “I wouldn’t have to go for tea at Freudesheim!”

Author:	Chelsea [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:22 pm ]
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Why do I get the feeling that things are not going to go as planned?? Lovely new drabble - thanks.

Author:	Elder in Ontario [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:58 pm ]
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Echoing both of Chelsea's comments here! Thanks Alison, I'll look forward to more of this.

Author:	Lisa [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:04 pm ]
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Lovely and seasonal - I'm starting to feel a bit hungry now! Looking forward to the next bit

Author:	Sugar [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 9:49 pm ]
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Lovely drabble Thanks Alison

The CBB http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/

Bonfire toffee, completed 09/11/08 http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5198

Author:	abbeybufo [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 9:52 pm ]
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Love the beginning Alison - hoping for more soon

Author:	PaulineS [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 10:11 pm ]
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Thanks for the new drabble.

Author:	Tara [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:52 am ]
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This sounds fun. Perhaps it'll make me feel more positive about Nov 5th - I have a firework phobic dog and it is NOT jolly! Love the girls' dread of tea with Joey

Author:	Miss Di [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 2:33 am ]
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This does look interesting. Although I had to ask the person sitting next to me what was with November and bonfires!

Author:	Alison H [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:53 am ]
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Apparently Bonfire Night was widely celebrated in Australia and even in the USA at one time! I may be wrong here but I think it still is in parts of Canada, New Zealand and the Caribbean. Definitely not in Switzerland, though . The rest of the form agreed that it sounded like a good idea, and the following day they put it to their form mistress. Sharlie had been thinking herself that life on the Gornetz Platz wasn’t nearly as interesting as she’d expected it to be. Biddy O’Ryan, for example, seemed to have been caught up in one adventure after another in her time in the Oberland, but every time she herself was in charge of a group of girls outside the school grounds they all generally behaved in an annoyingly sensible manner and the weather always remained frustratingly clear and dry. However, being still relatively new to the school, and one of the two very youngest amongst the mistresses, she was a little nervous about the thought of making any sort of suggestion in the staffroom. “Well … I’m not sure,” she demurred, trying to imagine how they might go about organising a Bonfire Night event over here on the Gornetz Platz.. “For a start, there’s certainly no way that it would be considered appropriate for you to go round knocking on people’s doors asking for a penny for the guy!” She suppressed a giggle at the thought of how Hilda Annersley might react to the mooting of that particular idea; and then, seeing the confused expressions on the faces of those in her form who weren’t British, belatedly realised that the idea of burning a “guy” might not go down very well here at the Chalet School full stop. “In fact, I very much doubt that Miss Annersley would agree to the idea of burning any sort of … er, effigy at all. In fact, I’m quite sure that she wouldn’t. And think how dangerous it could be. What if someone were to get hurt by a firework, or stand too close to the bonfire?” Health and safety wasn’t something that there seemed to be much concern for at the Chalet School, she’d noticed – the number of accidents that occurred each and every term was truly astounding - but letting a large number of schoolchildren loose near a bonfire with only a limited number of adults present might be regarded as asking for trouble by anyone’s standards. “Oh, but, Miss Andrews, we could still have a bonfire and fireworks without burning a guy,” Ailie pleaded. “And everyone’d be really careful. Anyway, Auntie Joey’d get Uncle Jack to tell everyone at the San, and so even if someone did manage to singe their hair or something it’d be all right because there’d be loads of doctors here.” Loads of doctors here. Loads of doctors here! Now there was a thought. Sharlie made up her mind. “Very well,” she said. “I can’t promise anything, girls; but I shall raise the idea in the staffroom.” And, she added mentally, I shall do my absolute damnedest to make sure that the powers that be in this place agree to it! Hilda wasn’t overly keen at first. In some people’s eyes Bonfire Night still had anti-Catholic connotations, she pointed out; celebrating it might not go down very well with some of the girls and their parents as a result. Then there was the question of the girls being out in the dark and the cold; and of course there was also the safety issue. However, a group comprised of Sharlie and several other of the younger mistresses - all of whom agreed that living on the Gornetz Platz, where there really wasn’t anywhere to go unless you counted visits to Freudesheim for English tea, was almost intolerably boring at a time of year when there wasn’t much scope for adventures, and that if some of the doctors from the San might attend this proposed Bonfire Night party then it really seemed like a very good idea indeed – eventually succeeding in convincing her that the proposal was at least worth considering. Of course, though, she reminded them, she’d have to speak to Madge Russell and Joey Maynard before actually agreeing to anything. Most people didn’t really understand why it was necessary to consult Joey Maynard on everything, or indeed anything, concerned with the school, but on this occasion the school’s so-called first ever pupil actually did those in favour of marking November 5th a favour. In fact, she was really quite delighted with the idea – because, she said, with it being the triplets’ birthday that day then it would all seem as if it were a big party for them. Hilda couldn’t quite imagine that anyone else would see it that way, but, anxious to escape from Freudesheim before Bruno could slobber over her any more than he’d done already, decided that it really wasn’t worth arguing about. Madge Russell said that she had no objections to the plan provided that it was all properly organised, the effigy-burning element of the usual proceedings was omitted and none of the girls went anywhere near the bonfire – the idea of toasting marshmallows and sausages in the flames was a definite no-no – and so Janice, Judy and Ailie carried their point and plans for the Chalet School’s first Bonfire Night celebration were soon in full swing. Fireworks were purchased from a shop in Interlaken, with Gaudenz being responsible for them and for the bonfire itself. Karen agreed that it wouldn’t be difficult to provide everyone with baked potatoes and sausages to eat outdoors; and Anna Mieders, once she’d ascertained that she’d be able to obtain the necessary ingredients in time, was quite amenable to allowing the making of parkin, toffee apples and bonfire toffee in her domestic science classes. In this respect the Third Formers were to be disappointed. Domestic science classes for pupils of their age didn’t extend to anything that involved stoves or ovens; and both Miss Annersley and Frau Mieders agreed that, special occasion or otherwise, they were not making an exception to that particular rule. The Third Formers, much to their disgust, were told that their only culinary task as far as the Bonfire Night event was concerned would be the buttering of buns in case anyone wanted to make a “hot dog”. Those Sixth Formers who took domestic science were to make the parkin, the girls of the various fourth forms were to make the toffee apples, and those in the fifth forms were to be responsible for producing the traditional Bonfire Night treacle toffee.

Author:	abbeybufo [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:48 am ]
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Poor third-formers - all their good ideas hijacked - love Sharlie wanting 'loads of doctors' in attendance, too Thanks Alison

Author:	Emma A [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:56 pm ]
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This is super, Alison - really looking forward to more (enjoying the slightly satirical tone )

Author:	Elder in Ontario [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 2:43 pm ]
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This really is fun, Alison - like Emma, I'm enjoying the slightly satirical tone!! Just FYI, in my 30+ years here, I'm not aware of Bonfire Night celebrations in Ontario, at least, and I don't think they happen anywhere else in Canada, either. Perhaps at one time, but not since Hallowe'en became the 'big thing' here. Bit we do have fireworks on other occasions - Victoria Day, Canada Day and Labour Day.

Author:	leahbelle [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 2:53 pm ]
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Fantastic. Loving this, thanks, Alison.

Author:	keren [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:38 pm ]
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Margot's trick on ML is beginning ot sound like Enid Blyton, or in fact, I believe there is a scene in Jennings like this. This is an excellent drabble!

Author:	Vick [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:39 pm ]
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Lovely, thanks Alison

Author:	Mrs Redboots [ Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:53 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bonfire toffee, updated 05/11/08
Let's hope both Mary-Lou and Joey get their come-uppance.... Thanks, Alison.

Author:	Cat C [ Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:43 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bonfire toffee, updated 07/11/08
Tee hee hee, I wonder what's going to happen next

Author:	snowmaiden [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:04 pm ]
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Thanks Alison, this is vg so far. Chuckling at the image of Ailie not enjoying the Freudesheim visits!

Author:	Sarah_K [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:14 pm ]
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So they're getting Bonfire Night but most of their fun ideas are being taken for the other Forms... I forsee squalls ahead!

Author:	Lisa [ Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:46 pm ]
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Aah wriggles like a Middle The fireworks display we were going to go to on Saturday was cancelled due to rain, so this will be a fun virtual one!

Author:	Alison H [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:54 am ]
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Margot Maynard was looking forward to the bonfire, but she was slightly concerned that her mother might embarrass her and her triplet sisters. Mrs Maynard seemed to have got it into her head that the idea of the event planned for November 5th wasn’t so much to mark the anniversary of the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot as to celebrate the birthday of her eldest daughters; and Margot kept being tormented by horrible visions of her going around telling everyone so. She poured out her worries to Emerence Hope, who was very sympathetic, as they wandered along the corridor late for a domestic science class. Unfortunately for the two friends, Mary-Lou Trelawney, who was free that period, happened to pass them on her way to the library and took it upon herself to give them each an order mark for talking in the corridor and a severe reprimand for being late for their lesson, in tones that were very clear and bell-like indeed. When they eventually reached their destination, Frau Mieders was severely displeased at their late arrival and scolded them further, which didn’t improve their mood one iota. The domestic science mistress had already begun the lesson and had set the girls to work in pairs: normally she’d have been reluctant to let two known miscreants work together but, as all the other girls were already settled with their ingredients and equipment out, she didn’t have much choice. However, neither Margot nor Emerence, both fuming after their encounter with Mary-Lou, concentrated very hard and, as a consequence, they went rather horribly wrong somewhere along the line and ended up with a batch of toffee which just wouldn’t set properly at all. “Nobody could eat this: it would stick their teeth together!” Frau Mieders proclaimed with more than a touch of irritation. “It will all have to be thrown away: wrap it all up and put it in the bin, please. I am not happy with you two girls at all. First you do me and the rest of the class the discourtesy of turning up to my lesson late for no good reason, and then you waste good ingredients producing something that isn’t even fit to eat. I’ll say no more about it for now, but I trust that you will put in a little more effort in future. I am afraid that I will be able to give you very few marks at all for what you’ve done today.” Margot, who’d been making an effort to move up the form list, pulled a face, which fortunately Frau Mieders didn’t see, and put it down as another black mark against Mary-Lou. If she hadn’t told them off then they wouldn’t have been in a bad mood and then they wouldn’t have made a mess of making the toffee, she thought resentfully. Both she and Emerence were heartily fed up of that young woman, they agreed later. Admittedly they shouldn’t have been dawdling in the corridor, but she was always so bossy and interfering. Speaking to them like they were naughty Middles, when they were in a senior form now and Emerence was almost the same age as she was herself! As for the toffee, it didn’t look all that bad to them; and Emerence sneaked it into her cookery basket when Frau Mieders wasn’t looking. It might not be good enough to sell, she and Margot both had to concede; but maybe they’d be able to eat it themselves. However, when they had a look at it that evening, they had to concede that Frau Mieders had been right. There was no way that anyone would be able to eat it without it sticking his or her teeth together. Emerence shoved it at the back of a drawer and hoped fervently that Matron wouldn’t find it there. It’d have to stay there until after Bonfire Night: they were in enough trouble as it was and couldn’t run the risk of anyone finding out before then that they’d disobeyed Frau Mieders’s orders in case they were told that they’d have to stay in that night and miss all the fun. The evening of November 5th was very cold, but, much to everyone’s relief, it was dry. And, by the time they’d enjoyed thick vegetable soup, served in cups instead of bowls, tucked into jacket potatoes with their skins delightfully crispy and plenty of thick creamy butter inside them, accompanied by sausages which were delicious even if they had been cooked in the school kitchen rather than over the bonfire, and enjoyed mugs of steaming hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows, they were all plenty warm enough. The elder girls took it in turns to man the stalls selling toffee apples, bonfire toffee and parkin, all of which proved to be very popular indeed, and the Third Form girls’ hurt feelings at being excluded from the cooking was soothed by the praise which they received from everyone for coming up with such a wonderful idea in the first place. All the girls, teaching staff and domestic staff were out enjoying the bonfire and marvelling at the fireworks which Gaudenz was having a rather good time setting off. The people from St Mildred’s had come over for the evening; and even Matron was amongst the crowds on the cricket pitch, having for once made it clear that there was no way that she was staying in supervising the turning of sheets side to middle whilst everyone else was having fun. Those of the doctors and nurses from the San who weren’t on duty that night were also in attendance – it was amazing the way that Jack Maynard and most of his colleagues always seemed to be free to attend Chalet School functions whenever they were held –, those amongst them who had families duly accompanied by them, and some of the local Swiss residents had also come along to enjoy the spectacle. Len, Con and Margot agreed that this was an excellent way in which to spend the evening of their birthday, although they’d been mortified when their mother had hugged them in front of everyone and squealed that she couldn’t believe that her little girls were twelve. As if that hadn’t been bad enough, Joey had brought along some photographs of the three of them as babies and was busily showing them to as many people as she could, as well as informing a number of bemused individuals that the event was partly, if not wholly, in honour of her daughters’ birthday. Margot and Emerence were, as a result, skulking well out of her way; but were having a throroughly good time all the same. They’d both had plenty to eat and drink, and were enjoying the spectacle of both the bonfire and the fireworks. “This is absolutely splendacious, isn’t it?” Emerence said happily. She glanced at her watch. “Although we’re going to have to go and do our turn on the toffee stall soon.” Margot nodded. “It’s been a smashing night. Well, apart from Mamma grabbing us all like that and bunging those ghastly photos in everyone’s faces.” “Emerence! Margot!” They both jumped at the sound behind them of the voice of the school’s one and only Mary-Lou. “You know very well that words like “splendacious” and “bunging” aren’t allowed. In fact, I’m not sure that you should be saying “smashing” or “ghastly” either. Pay a fine each, both of you. And don’t let me have to speak to you about your behaviour again this week.” She walked off, wagging her head imperiously, leaving her two victims staring after her in fury. Mary-Lou was renowned for always being “on the spot”, but had she had to be on that particular spot just then – and, even if she had, couldn’t she have let the heinous crime of breaking the Chalet School’s sacred rule of not using slang go just this once? “Mary-Lou’s being absolutely insufferable tonight,” Priscilla Dawbarn, who’d overheard, said sympathetically. “She’s already sent Charmian inside to put a scarf on even though Charmian told her that she wasn’t cold, fined Francie for speaking the wrong language, told Prue that she was worse than a junior because she’d spilt a bit of her soup, and had a go at Heather for not being ladylike because she was licking the toffee off her toffee apple. I don’t know who she thinks she is. I just wish we could find a way of shutting her up!” “Don’t we all,” Margot said with feeling. “And I think I know just the way to do it.”

Author:	Mona [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:11 am ]
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Hmm, whatever can Marot have in mind? Thanks Alison, I'm really enjoying this!

Author:	PaulineS [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 2:24 pm ]
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Mary Lou you asked for what ever Margot and the others do to you. Thanks for the update.

Author:	Cat C [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:45 pm ]
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There's certainly a version of what seems to be coming in Gemma, by Noel Streatfield too - where Gemma is getting attention by being the class bad girl / clown!

Author:	Alison H [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:49 pm ]
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Cat C wrote: There's certainly a version of what seems to be coming in Gemma, by Noel Streatfield too - where Gemma is getting attention by being the class bad girl / clown! Er, yes, that was where the idea came from !

Author:	Jennie [ Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:11 pm ]
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I'd love to see OOAO drooling bonfire toffee down her front because she had been so bossy with Margot and Emerence. Especially if she had her jaws stuck together as well.

Author:	Alison H [ Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:53 am ]
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Kathie Ferrars wasn’t overly impressed when Emerence Hope asked her if she could have permission to go up to her dormitory to fetch a clean handkerchief, explaining sheepishly that she’d been using hers to hold her drink with and had managed to spill hot chocolate over it. (Emerence didn’t mention the fact that the “mishap” had been deliberate.) However, after uttering a few words about the need for care with both hot drinks and one’s possessions generally, she told her pupil that it would be quite all right as long as she didn’t take too long about it. Emerence assured her that she’d be as quick as possible; especially as it would shortly be Inter V’s turn to take charge of the food stalls. Kathie and the rest of the staff, like the girls, were thoroughly enjoying the evening, although Joey Maynard was proving to be rather a source of irritation to them with her constant talk about how impressed everyone had been when she’d produced triplets and how wonderful it was that she now had a total of nine children and hoped to have more in the future. First of all, Joey had offended Rosalie Dene by telling her that she was surprised that she’d never married. She’d followed that up by remarking to Peggy Burnett that PT teaching was really a very young woman’s game – no pun intended – and how of course that hadn’t been a problem for Peggy’s predecessor Hilary Burn, now Graves, because she’d found herself a nice doctor-husband. And then she’d Biddy O’Ryan blush by telling her that she couldn’t imagine that the history mistress would be able to carry on teaching for more than a few months after her wedding because she'd be sure to have far more important things to occupy her time before very long. Kathie herself had been sorely tempted to remind Joey, after being subjected to a lecture on how long families were so much easier to run than small ones and how she always felt sorry for only children, that the reason she herself was an only child was that she’d been her parents’ first child and had been orphaned before she’d even been a day old. And Anna Mieders, who’d been widowed not long after her marriage, had nearly been reduced to tears after hearing Joey gaily chattering on about the wonders of family life. Joey didn’t mean to upset anyone, Kathie was sure of that; but she just didn’t seem to think about the effect that her words might have on people. It was high time that somebody shut the woman up, Nancy Wilmot growled after Mrs Maynard, seeing her with a toffee apple in one hand and a piece of parkin in the other, made a comment about her weight that might have been intended as a joke but was actually very hurtful. None of the other Chalet School staff were going to argue with Nancy there. “Did you get it?” Margot hissed. Emerence nodded. “It’s in this bag here. We just need to make sure that we don’t give it to anyone else by mistake. Mary-Lou’s sure to come over here sooner or later, if only because she’ll think that it’s her job to check that we’re doing everything properly.” “She’s coming over right now,” Francie murmured, seeing Mary-Lou approaching along with Verity and some of her other satellites. “Go on! Here’s our chance!” “Oh Mary-Lou, I wonder if you could come and check that we’ve got these scales set up properly,” Margot called out in her sweetest tones. “We’re not quite sure that we’re weighing out the right amount of toffee for people and we wouldn’t want to cheat anyone; and you’re so good at everything. Would you mind having a look? We’d be ever so grateful!” Mary-Lou didn’t need to be asked twice. She strode over to the toffee stall and proceeded to check the scales very carefully indeed, seeming rather sorry when she was unable to find any fault with them. Margot thanked her profusely; and then Emerence insisted that she must take some of the toffee herself, free of charge. “These pieces are free samples because they’re a slightly funny shape, but they’ll taste fine,” she assured the prefect. “Please, Mary-Lou, take them. As a token of our appreciation.” “Well, if you insist,” Mary-Lou said, trying to look modest and failing utterly. “I was just glad to help, though, Emerence. I’m always ready to get involved in anything. You know that.” “Oh, we do,” Emerence murmured as the other girl moved away. “We certainly do.”

Author:	snowmaiden [ Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:25 am ]
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Thanks Alison, brilliant.

Author:	Elbee [ Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:44 am ]
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I feel there's more than just Mary-Lou to get her come-uppance here Thanks Alison.

Author:	Catherine [ Wed Nov 05, 2008 10:38 am ]
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I hope it's only the 'intended victims' who get the toffee ... Thanks Alison.

Author:	Lesley [ Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:04 am ]
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And perhaps Joey too? Thanks Alison.

Author:	Jennie [ Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:58 pm ]
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I think the staff would definitely like to have Jo's jaws stuck together. Failing that, hitting her over the head with a big hammer.

Author:	Alison H [ Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bonfire toffee, updated 05/11/08
Matron was having a wonderful time, for once actually free to enjoy herself at a school event rather than having to stay in and supervise the troublemakers whilst the teaching staff were off having fun. In fact she’d even, on the pretext of wanting to discuss the best recipe for an effective dose, managed to embroil a handsome young doctor from the San in conversation. She was most severely displeased at being interrupted in the midst of this pleasant activity by a hysterical Vi Lucy telling her that there was something wrong with Mary-Lou. “I don’t believe this,” she muttered angrily. “I was half-expecting some of those imps from the Third Form to burn their fingers with the sparklers or make themselves sick by gorging on all that sweet stuff; but I did think that you Sixth Formers might be able to take care of yourselves for one evening. What on earth’s the problem? I hope it’s nothing that’s going to require a mug of hot milk: I’ve got a horrible feeling that most of the milk’s been used up in the hot chocolate and we won’t be getting any more until the morning.” “She can’t talk,” Vi said frantically. “Oh don’t be so ridiculous,” Matron snapped. Glancing round, she saw that her young doctor had escaped. He’d probably found himself a pretty young nurse to chat to. Gnashing her teeth in frustration, she turned back to Vi. “Mary-Lou Trelawney not able to talk? I’ve never heard such nonsense. The very idea!” “No; she really can’t talk, Matron,” Vi insisted. “Seriously: she can’t. Will you come at once? Please?” Matron was left with little choice. She followed Vi over to where Mary-Lou, surrounded by the rest of the Gang, was struggling valiantly to tell Verity that her coat looked as if it wasn’t buttoned up properly and, astonishing though it was, failing dismally. Anyone else might have struggled to persuade her that Verity really was capable of dressing herself and that she needed to keep her mouth still in order to permit an examination, but Matron was equal to most tasks and it took her only a few moments to achieve this end. On finding that the girl’s teeth seemed to be stuck together she panicked for a moment, fears of tetanus going through her mind; but it soon proved that the cause of the problem was nothing more serious than bonfire toffee. And for that she’d been dragged away from her doctor! She was furious. “You’ve obviously just been greedy and eaten too much toffee too quickly, Mary-Lou,” she said firmly. “It’s your own silly fault: you really ought to know better at your age. I’m afraid that all you can do is wait for it to dissolve: there isn’t really much else than any of us can do. And I’m going to confiscate the rest of this toffee before I can be interrupted … that is, before this can happen to anyone else.” As she strode over to the stall where several members of Inter V were selling toffee, it occurred to her that maybe she’d be able to use this little mishap as an excuse to carry out a dental inspection. She was bound to find some problems somewhere, and that’d give her the chance to go to visit Herr von Francius. She’d long suspected that he had an interest in her: after all, he must have had a very good reason indeed for following the School all the way from Tyrol to Switzerland. Her anger faded away at that idea, and, as she began to think about the incident more clearly, suspicions began to form in her mind. Something didn’t add up somewhere. Hundreds of people must have had some of that toffee, and no-one else seemed to have got their teeth stuck together as a result. She was going to get to the bottom of this or her name wasn’t Gwynneth Lloyd. (In fact, it might be something else entirely. Gould, perhaps?) “So those two wretched girls kept their toffee, after I’d told them to throw it away,” Anna Mieders said angrily. “Well, I shall have something to say to them about that.” She suppressed a grin. “All the same, I’d love to have seen Mary-Lou not able to speak. I’ve been wishing for years that I could find a way to get her to be quiet! Is that the rest of the toffee in that bag?” Matron nodded. “I confiscated it on the spot. I don’t think anyone else has had any of it, but I’m going to carry out a dental inspection tomorrow just to be sure. And I’ll go through everyone’s drawers as well, just to make sure that no-one else is hiding anything illicit there.” Oh goody, she was going to have a lovely time snooping through everyone’s possessions, as well as getting a chance to go and see Herr von Francius! If she could just find that doctor again, it would have been a very successful evening indeed. “I’d better go and throw it away.” “I’ll throw it away for you if you like. I feel partly responsible: they’re my form, after all” Kathie Ferrars, who, along with Sharlie Andrews and Nancy Wilmot, had been chatting to the domestic science mistress when Matron had come over, said apologetically. She took the bag of toffee and giggled. “Although, as you said, Anna, I can’t help thinking that it was rather a good idea. Don’t the rest of you?” Sharlie nodded in agreement, but Nancy had been distracted by the dreaded sight of the mistress of Freudesheim approaching them. “Oh no, here comes Joey,” she groaned. Nancy was normally a very tactful person, but she was blissfully unaware, there being no wild horses in the vicinity, that Mrs Maynard was Matron’s heart’s darling. However, for once Matron’s attention was engaged elsewhere. She’d spied the doctor whom she’d been chatting to earlier, and had headed off at a rate of knots, determined to reach him before any of the nurses or mistresses could beat her to it. Anna Mieders muttered something about needing to check that there were no other problems with the food stalls and was also gone before Joey could reach them; but Kathie, Sharlie and Nancy herself were left utterly stranded.

Author:	abbeybufo [ Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:03 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bonfire toffee, updated 07/11/08
Oh wow - this is great Can't wait for Joey to have the same 'treatment' as M-L Thanks Alison

Author:	Lesley [ Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:55 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bonfire toffee, updated 07/11/08
Now which one of them - Kathie, Sharlie or Nancy - will offer the toffee to Joey... Thanks Alison.

Author:	LizzieC [ Sat Nov 08, 2008 1:51 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Bonfire toffee, updated 05/11/08
Alison H wrote: She was bound to find some problems somewhere, and that’d give her the chance to go to visit Herr von Francius. She’d long suspected that he had an interest in her: after all, he must have had a very good reason indeed for following the School all the way from Tyrol to Switzerland... She was going to get to the bottom of this or her name wasn’t Gwynneth Lloyd. (In fact, it might be something else entirely. Gould, perhaps?)

Author:	Alison H [ Sat Nov 08, 2008 1:06 pm ]
Post subject:
“Coo-ee, Kathie, Sharlie, Nancy.” Joey beamed at the three mistresses happily. “Are you all having a nice time? This was such a good idea of mine, wasn’t it? It’s so lovely to see everyone celebrating my girls’ birthday! Are you enjoying having the three of them in your form, Kathie? They’re all so different, aren’t they? Len’s the responsible one whom I know’d look after Jack and the younger ones if anything ever happened to me, Con’s the daydreamer who doesn’t have any close friends, and Margot’s my bad girl who listens to her devil too much. I knew as soon as they were born that that was what they’d be like!” She paused, but it was only to draw breath: a couple of seconds later she was off again. “Dear me, I can’t believe they’re in a senior form already!” (Neither could anyone else, given that they were younger than most of the Senior Middles.) “It makes me feel quite old! I was around the same age as you and Sharlie are now when they were born… hmm, still, the two of you have got plenty of time yet, I suppose. Although you, Nancy … now tell me, has there never been any nice young man in your life? There are a few single doctors at the San: have you thought of asking Hilary and Phil if they could introduce you …?” “I’m not interested in meeting nice young men,” Nancy growled. “You’re not?” Joey looked puzzled for a moment; then her face cleared. “Ah – I understand! Well, nice middle-aged men, then. You’re right, of course: at your age you don’t really want to be meeting a nice young man, do you? I might have a word with Jack, see if there’s anyone he thinks’d be suitable. I’m sure we could fix you up. I was the one who was responsible for Juliet Carrick and Donal O’Hara getting married, you know.” “No you weren’t: they were introduced by Donal’s sister,” Nancy muttered. “And, for the last time, I do not want to be introduced to any men – young, middle-aged or otherwise! I … Joey, are you listening to me?” Joey wasn’t. She was busying herself in waving the triplets’ baby photos under Kathie and Sharlie’s noses, and not taking the slightest bit of notice of anything that Nancy was saying. Nancy had had enough. “Why don’t you offer Joey a piece of that delicious bonfire toffee that your form made, Kathie?” she suggested sweetly. “Go on, Joey – don’t be shy; take a piece. In fact, take two or three.”