The CBB :: View topic - Gillian Says Goodbye.

#1: Gillian Says Goodbye. Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:18 pm

I haven't read 'Three Go' for ages, so I'll apologise now in case this doesn't agree with any of the details in it. I've taken the names of Gill's family from the synopsis of 'Chudleigh Hold'; sadly, I haven't read that either!

It was the last day of term. The Head Girl, Gillian Culver, was sitting alone in the Prefect's room, thinking back over the past year. She had never expected to be made Head Girl, but had given it her best shot and her friends assured her that she had done the job well. She was liked and respected by her peers and the younger girls looked up to her and admired her. Now, though, her time at school was almost over and soon she would leave Plas Howell for the last time. Although she was looking forward to the next year, she was still saddened by all that she would be leaving behind. Hawk was due to collect her from the school in less than an hour, and Gill wanted to spend that time saying goodbye to some of her favourite places. The stately prefects' room was one of those places. Gillian had attended countless meetings there, first as an ordinary prefect and then as the Head Girl. She still recalled her nervousness the first time she sat in the seat at the head of the table, Jacynth on one side of her and Gay on the other, supporting her and giving her confidence. She had got used to it, of course, but still felt thrilled each time she took that special seat, the very chair she was currently sitting in.
Gillian sighed. She had hoped to be spending another two terms at the school, but her sister, Venancy, was travelling to Kenya with her husband and two small boys, and had asked Gillian to accompany them. Ven's husband had just secured a job in Kenya and Ven was nervous about making the journey alone. Gill still remembered the day that her brother Hawk, a handsome young man in his early twenties, had come to the school and taken her out for the day. They had eaten a slap-up lunch and after the meal he had put Ven's proposition to Gillian - she should leave school at the end of term and travel to Kenya with Venancy. Then Ven would have some company on the trip and a ready-made friend until she was settled in her new home, and Gillian would have the experience of a lifetime.
Hawk had assured Gill that she had time to think about the idea. He promised to return the following weekend and to see her again, at which time she could tell him what she thought. Either way, no one in the family would mind. It was to be her own decision; if she wanted to go, she should go, but if she preferred to stay at school, that would be fine, too. Her head spinning, Gillian had returned to school. She had not confided in Gay and Jacynth, her closest friends, for a few days, and they had found her preoccupied and distracted. Finally, they had cornered her in her study and asked her if her outing with Hawk had gone well and she had admitted that she was seriously considering leaving school at the end of the term. Unlike Gay and Jacynth, who already knew exactly what they were going to do on leaving school, Gillian had no such plans. She knew exactly what she did not want to do, but had yet to find a career that she was drawn to and so it would not hurt to put it all off until she had been to Kenya.
When Hawk returned, Gillian had told him that she would be happy to go to Kenya with Ven. She would be sad to leave school, which had been her home for so long, and to leave Gay and Jacynth, the closest friends she had ever had, but she could not miss out on such an adventure. It would be so exciting to travel to the 'Dark Continent' and live there, learning about a new way of life and a different culture.

Last edited by Fatima on Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:52 pm; edited 1 time in total

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

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:53 pm

Thanks, Fatima. I hope Gill has a good time in Kenya - are we going to see her adventures there?

#3: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 7:01 pm

Thanks Fatima.

#4: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 8:49 pm

Thanks, Fatima. It's good to get a whole series of drabbles about someone like Gillian.

#5: Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 10:01 am

Ooh, more Gillian. Hurrah. Thankyou!

#6: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:50 pm

I'm hoping that this is the end of Gillian. You won't be hearing about Kenya, I'm afraid, as I've never been there and couldn't write it. Now if she had gone to Egypt....
And I am worried that my computer is on the blink, so I have posted this rather faster than I anticipated, so please excuse any awful mistakes. Embarassed

"There you are!" exclaimed a voice from the doorway. "We wondered where you had got to."
The speaker, a curly headed girl with a merry smile, came into the room, followed by a more serious looking dark haired girl. These were Gill's closest friends, Gay Lambert and Jacynth Hardy.
"Don't look so wistful," said Jacynth bracingly. "You will soon be having so much fun that you won't remember this at all."
"I don't think I shall forget quite that quickly," Gillian responded, standing up. "Come on, let's go and have a last look at everything else."
Gay and Jacynth linked arms with her and the three of them left the Prefects' room. They headed along the corridor together, all thinking of the fun they had shared during their years at school. They revisited their form room, chuckling at Gill's embarrassment when they recalled the day she had dropped her pen and splattered their beloved Head Mistress with ink. Fortunately, Gillian had a reputation as a conscientious student, and Miss Annersley had accepted the mortified girl's stammered apology without question. They went on to the Senior Common Room, a room full of happy memories rather than embarrassing ones, remembering Dorcas Brown and her famous sister. The girls had looked at some pictures in a magazine and Gillian had been the first to spot the resemblance between the odd new girl and the famous actress.
They went to the splashery to collect their coats and took a very quick turn around the garden. Gay and Jacynth were both very musical girls, and had little time for the school gardens, but they had all enjoyed playing tennis and Gillian had been a reliable lacrosse player, so they revisited the tennis courts and the playing field. They took a final look at the weather, which seemed to promise rain, and dashed back inside.
In the corridor they encountered the school's co-heads, Miss Annersley and Miss Wilson.
"Saying goodbye?" Miss Wilson asked, noticing the wistful look worn by each of the triumvirate. "You know you are more than welcome to visit us any time you like," she added. "We are always happy to see our old girls come back again."
"Thank you," Gillian answered politely. "I hope I shall get the opportunity to return at some point. It won't be for a year or two, though, Miss Wilson."
"I'm sure we won't forget you that quickly," Miss Annersley said gently. "Good luck, Gillian. And if you wish to write about your experiences and send them to us for the Chaletian, we would be thrilled to read them."
"I'll see what I can do," promised Gillian.
Miss Wilson and Miss Annersley both offered her their hands, and once she had shaken hands with them, they disappeared to their offices, leaving the three friends to continue their nostalgic tour of the building.
They slipped upstairs, reaching the dormitory that they had shared in their younger days. Gillian laughed as she reminded her chums of the night they had sat together on her bed to look at Gay's holiday photographs and caused the bed to collapse. Gay also remembered the night she had run away, heading home to see her brother before he was posted overseas, and how she had brought German measles into the school on her return. The dormitory had not been theirs for some time, though, and the fourth form girls packing there looked rather surprised to see the Head Girl and her friends looking round the room and giggling madly.
Jacynth, mindful that the exalted position was to be hers next term, glared at the younger girls. "Hurry up with the packing," she said sternly, and then Gay and Gillian were pulling her out of the room.
Finally, they went to the little room occupied by the Head Girl, as a tribute to her standing in the school. Gillian had packed and her trunk and other bags were waiting downstairs, ready for her brother to put in the boot of his car. The little room looked bare and Gill sniffed suddenly as the realization of her imminent departure hit her fully.
"I'm going to miss all this so much," she said, flinging out a hand to indicate everything they had seen and more besides, and smacking Gay in the face as she did so.
"Ow!" shouted Gay, grabbing her flailing arm before she could do more damage. "We will miss you, too, Gill," she agreed.
"But we'll keep in touch, won't we," Jacynth said, more as a statement than a question.
"Of course we will," Gay added. "We'll write to you with all the hanes and you'll write to us with details of all your adventures."
"Yes, I will," Gillian promised. "Have a good time here, Jac," she said. "It's a really comfortable bed." She glanced at her watch, realizing that the time for her departure had arrived. "Come on, Hawk hates waiting around."
Arm in arm, the trio went back down to the grand entrance hall, where they found Hawk doubtfully eyeing the pile of luggage he was expected to get into his little car. He need not have worried, however, for they finally managed to fit it all in, and it was time to be off. Matron appeared to check that Gillian really had gone and to wish her all the best, then Hawk was getting into the car and starting it up. Gillian turned to her friends once more.
"Goodbye," she said, giving each of them a brief hug. She got quickly into the car, not wanting to appear sentimental, and Hawk put the car into gear. Gay and Jacynth waved wildly and Gillian waved too, looking back at the large house and her friends until she could no longer see either. Then she turned and looked ahead of her, thinking instead of all that lay in store for her in the years ahead.

#7: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:59 pm

Bet she never thought she'd end up as Bill's secretary! Thanks Fatima.

#8: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 5:05 pm

SSSHH!!! I'm trying not to listen to her version of how that happened!! I'm seriously considering having her exorcised!

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

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 6:29 pm

*cheers Gill on*

Thank you Fatima, it's lovely to know more her Very Happy

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

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 10:02 pm

Thanks, Fatima. I hope Gill has a wonderful time in Kenya.

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

Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:57 pm

Thanks Fatima its lovely to hear more about Gill

#12: Author: LadyGuinevere, Location: Leicester

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:37 pm

Thanks Fatima... that was rather sad but lovely.

#13: Author: Lucy, Location: Leeds

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 8:52 am

Thanks Fatima. It was really nice following the triumvirate around the school in this way and seeing them remembering everything that happened.

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