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#1: The School by the River Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 5:40 pm
—
No one faint, please Wink

I've decided to re-start this drabble - but first I need to repost everything that was lost in the hacking, which was a great deal! Serves me right for asking everyone to leave the archiving to spur me into updating, I suppose...

Anyone, for anyone who's forgotten what happened (including me! Embarassed

) the first two pages of The School by the River can be found here:
Part One
Part Two

I'm picking up where the drabbleorum leaves off of Part One, will post the rest of it here, and start a new thread for Part Two.

*****

Twisting her hands nervously, Madge wondered for the thousandth time what exactly was going through her husband’s mind. The telegram that she had received as soon as they’d arrived had simply said: COMING TO PLATZ STOP SYBIL TOO STOP JEM STOP. Part of her hoped, prayed even, that he’d had the same thought that she had. That desperate need to see her, in the way that she had to be with him. Yet something inside of her heeded Joey’s quiet warning as she’d left – Be careful, Madge. Whatever happens, I love you. She hadn’t understood it then; had simply marched off with her head held high in indignation that Joey Maynard presumed to know her husband better than she did.

Even a stranger knew her husband better than she did now.

Madge saw that now; saw the two bodies living together but so very apart. And once again she strove to understand the incomprehensible, to recognise some part of the strangers that they had become. People changed; she knew that – oh, how she knew that. But she hadn’t expected the absolute lack of appreciation that they would have for each other, nor the alien that inhabited her body, forced out hurtful words in an attempt to define her own pain and only succeeded in causing more.

There was no time for ruminations now though; the plane had landed, passengers streaming through the big double doors. Where was he? Standing on tiptoes, Madge searched the room for the familiar face. She was searching so hard for something that she’d never find that she missed the voice calling her name; saw him only when he touched her arm.

“Jem!” Madge exclaimed, turning to face him, pulling him into an unwilling embrace. He pulled away stiffly after a moment, noticing her eldest daughter standing quietly behind Jem. Even as she moved over to greet her daughter, Madge couldn’t help but notice the tension between father and daughter, the anger in Sybil’s eyes as she looked at Jem. “It’s good to see you again, Sybs,” Madge said warmly, grasping her daughter’s hand and squeezing it gently.

A smile crossed Sybil’s face. “It’s wonderful to see you, Mummy,” she responded quietly. “I’ve missed you.” Her words had a thousand meanings, and Madge saw every one of them.

“Well, shall we make a move?” Madge asked cheerfully. “I have Jo’s little runabout – it’s just outside. She’s in a bit of a state, for reasons I shall later explain,” she added with a grin, realising that neither her husband nor her daughter would have heard about the latest events. “She’ll run well enough though.”

Jem’s hand on her arm stopped her. “Wait a minute, Madge,” he said, haltingly, hating himself more than he had ever done before. Behind Madge, Sybil’s red-haired temper was making itself known in the form of a fierce glare – Jem was more grateful than ever that looks could not and would not kill. “We need to talk.”

#2: Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:00 pm
—
Madge pulled away from him, sharply. “What?” Her voice was high-pitched, her body tense, ready to break at the slightest touch. “What are you saying, Jem?”

Her pallor was alarming, and Sybil, with a final glare at her father, moved to slip a supporting arm around her mother. “Mummy, let’s go and talk somewhere,” she suggested quietly. “This isn’t the time, or the place.” Flinging an apologetic glance at a nearby attendant, who was pursing his lips in disapproval, Sybil attempted to usher her parents out of the crowding airport. She didn’t get far, however; after only a minute Madge stopped in her tracks and spun to face her husband.

“What do we need to talk about, Jem?” she demanded, and held up a hand to Sybil briefly. “Don’t worry, Sybs. I won’t make a scene, but I deserve to know. More than that, I need to know.” Her words caught in her throat, tears dangerously near. Something in Jem’s eyes suggested a decision already reached, the results of their ‘talk’ inconsequential, and the terror which struck at a break long coming was startling to a heart she had believed numbed.

Joey’s words came to her again – Be careful, Madge. Whatever happens, I love you. Had she known, then? Was there anything to know? Her head spinning with each possibility, every one more horrifying than the last, Madge looked up at her husband with tear-filled eyes. “Jem, please just tell me now,” she whispered. “I’m scared.”

“Oh, Madge.” Unconsciously, Jem’s arm slipped around his wife in the so familiar position. “Would it really hurt you, so very greatly, if I were to question us in any way?” he asked quietly.

“What?” Madge’s tone was incredulous as she drew away, wiping her eyes on her handkerchief in a most unladylike manner. “Jem, you’re my husband. My lover, my soulmate, the man that I want to – and will, if I’m given any choice in the matter – spend the rest of my life with. How can you doubt that?”

Had she been paying attention, Madge would have heard a distinct murmur from behind her. “That’s what I said,” Sybil muttered, still glaring at Jem. She was still sufficiently in awe of him, however, to quieten as he shook his head at her, and she reluctantly turned, with a quick nod at her father, to go and wait by the car.

“Sybs said, when I asked her, that you’d say that,” Jem told his wife quietly. “And I know you don’t like me talking to the girls about things like that, but I needed a woman’s perspective,” he chuckled, and Madge came to the startlingly verdict that her daughter was now a woman.

“Did you talk to Joey?” she questioned, a sudden anger flaring.

Jem frowned in confusion. “Joey? No, why on earth would I do that? She knows nothing of it as far as I know, Madge. And Sybs and I only spoke on the plane – there’s no way that she could have told her.” As Madge opened her mouth to protest, Jem shushed her quietly. “Anything that Jo knows, Madge, is derived from how well she knows you. Nothing else. And this isn’t about her, either,” he added. “This is about us.”

“Fine.” Madge shook her head impatiently, pushing a stray curl out of her eye. “Do you want a divorce, Jem?”

***

Jem didn’t respond immediately. Instead, slipping an arm around his wife, he gestured her to the nearest seat. “I don’t know,” he answered, finally. His voice was low, but his expression was firm when he looked up. “Do you?”

“I think we’ve already established that divorce is that last thing that I would want,” Madge responded curtly. “I need you to tell me the truth, Jem. Do you want to stay married to me?”

“If things are to continue the way they are, then no,” he snapped back, jumping to his feet and pacing briefly. A glare towards the attendant stopped the young man in his tracks, but Jem resumed his seat nevertheless. “I want us to be happy, Madge. Both of us. And whatever you may say, you’ve hardly seemed happy over the past few months!”

The words struck her almost as a physical blow. “You think that you’re the reason?” she whispered. Closing her eyes, she thought back over the past few months, flinching at every harsh word that she’d spoken, every forced argument. He’d been supportive and loving throughout, and she'd pushed him away.

“Well what else it likely to be?” he demanded, and Madge’s eyes shot open. Steady on, Madge, she thought wryly. He’s pretty close to perfect, but he has his moments. And this appears to be one of them.

“You think the only reason why I might be unhappy is because of you?” she asked, quietly, reaching over to grasp his hand. “Jem, I love you. More than anything. But you can be an idiot at times!” she informed him decidedly.

“Hey, that’s a little unfair!” he protested, relief showing on his face. “It’s not me?” he checked.

Madge shook her head firmly. “No! I’ve been unhappy, I’ll admit it, but none of that seems so important now. I just wish that you’d realise…” she checked her growing anger abruptly, but still withdrew her hand. “I’m not just your wife, Jem, and you’re not the only thing in my life. Please don’t just assume that you’re responsible for everything that happens. It’s degrading and more than a little egotistical on your part.” As he opened his mouth to protest, she laughed quietly, slipping a finger against his lips. “This would be a good time to nod and say nothing more, Jem.”

Jem chuckled. “All right, I’ll obey.” They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then he turned to his wife again. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked quietly. “What’s been bothering you?”

“I don’t think I need to, any more,” Madge responded, after a moment’s hesitation. “I – I think I just forgot to look at everything that I have instead of everything that I thought I’d lost.” She smiled at her rather surprised-looking husband. “Don’t look so alarmed, Jem! Some very good friends brought me to my senses.” Suddenly, she jumped to her feet and dusted off her skirt briefly. “What I would like to do now is go and find our daughter, and then you, as the male of the household, can buy us both lunch! Does that sound acceptable to you?”

The sound of his laughter followed her out of the door. “Sounds perfect!”

#3: Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:01 pm
—
“Hello, Nancy!”

Joey looked up from her book, and leapt out of her seat with startling energy as she heard Rosalie’s greeting. “Nance, my love!” She couldn’t help but scrutinise her friend as she moved over to greet her, noting the pale cheeks and weary movements with more than a little apprehension; however, the satisfaction on Jack’s face told her all was well, for now.

“Right, bed for you!” Jack interrupted the greetings firmly. Ignoring Nancy’s protests that she’d only just left bed, he ushered her up the stairs. Kathie paused only to reassure the rest of the party at her partner’s health, and then disappeared herself.

Leaning back in her chair with a sigh of relief, Joey gave a quick glance at her watch. “I wonder where Madge, Jem and Sybil have got to?” she mused. “They’re taking their time!”

“Traffic, probably,” Len murmured idly, glancing up from the book of baby’s names that she was perusing. “They’ll be fine, Mama.” She caught her mother’s surprised expression, and flushed slightly. “Oh, I know we’ve a way to go before worrying about naming her – or him,” she added with a teasing glance at her husband. “All the same, it’s interesting. And I want a different name this time,” she said firmly. “We’ve too many family names! It’s time to bring a few new ones in,” Len chuckled. “Ideas, anyone?”

“Male or female?” Con demanded, putting her own book aside for a minute. “I’ve always rather liked Lydia.” She caught her mother’s grimace, and wondered at it before remembering her Aunt Lydia on her father’s side of the family. She and Joey had never quite seen eye to eye, to put it mildly. “Maybe not, then. How about Christopher for a boy?”

Jo shook her head determinedly. “Absolutely not! Have you forgotten that Kester is the old English form of Christopher? For heaven’s sakes, Len, don’t pitch on that one if you want to get away from the family names!”

“It is a lovely name,” Con argued stubbornly. “And Kester and Christopher don’t sound the same. Most people wouldn’t even notice.”

Len chuckled as she looked at the book her sister was reading. “I suppose if she were a girl, you’d want me to use Robin, then?” she asked teasingly, leaning over and twitching the copy of A. A Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner from Con’s fingers.

“I thought it would be a good idea to re-read them before I get to read them to your child, being the oldest auntie,” Con said by way of defence, flushing slightly.

Nell flung a wicked glance at Hilda. “Nothing to be ashamed of, Con! They’re excellent books. And you must remember that your old Headmistress still takes great pleasure in the Just William’s.”

“Less of the old if you don’t mind, please, Nell,” Hilda murmured distractedly, turning away from the window. “Madge, Jem and Sybil are back,” she added, by way of explanation for her preoccupation as she noticed Nell’s concern.

“We heard,” Joey said dryly as the door slammed open and Sybil tore into the room. “Auntie Joey!” she exclaimed, flinging herself on her aunt. “It’s been so long!”

Laughing, Joey stood up only to be hugged vociferously once more. “That it has, Sybs. How long? Two years?”

Sybil nodded, before turning to her cousins and greeting them in a similar fashion as Joey turned to welcome her brother-in-law. As she hugged him, she couldn’t help but notice her sister’s expression. Though the arm slung through Jem’s reassured her on that score, the regret on Madge’s face, as she watched her daughter fling her arms around Hilda, was almost unbearably painful.

***

“I can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas!” Sybil exclaimed, dropping into a chair. “Josette’s little Hilary turned one last week – how time flies!”

Several blank faces greeted this statement, and the bearer of the news laughed out loud. “Don’t look so dropped on! You’ve over a week to prepare, and no-one can blame you for it having slipped your minds.”

“I can’t believe we forgot,” Con said uncomfortably. “Christmas! Of all the things to forget!”

“I’ve just said it’s not surprising that you have, Con,” Sybil returned sharply, noting the guilt-stricken faces of her companions. “Never mind that! You know now. Auntie Hilda, when will you be able to move everything to the new school?”

Hilda looked mildly surprised at this change of tack. “As soon as possible,” she responded after a moment’s thought. “We certainly can’t impose on Herr Bauer’s hospitality for much longer, and the sooner we’re all safely off the Platz the better in my opinion,” her voice trailed off.

“Agreed,” Nell nodded, smiling her support at her friend.

Joey’s eyes lit up. “Do you think that we might be able to be set up by Christmas? It would be lovely to have a Christmas in Italy,” she added wistfully. “After that, of course, the family and Jack and I will have to go to Austria. But I’d like this last Christmas together.”

Her voice choked suspiciously as she finished, and Jack, who had been standing in the door unnoticed for the past few minutes, interrupted swiftly. “Don’t be ridiculous, Jo! It won’t be the last by any means! And as for the moving, there’s very little to move,” he added, more gently as he squeezed his wife’s shoulder. “Quite a lot was destroyed, I’m afraid – at the back of the first floor anyway. No-one’s going to risk going upstairs, not with the threat of avalanches still and the school structuring as weak as it is at the moment. It’ll have to wait until spring when it can be properly reinforced. Don’t worry, Hilda,” he added hastily. “That huge desk of yours did its job – and it’s a good job that your office was at the very front of the building. Everything in there has been taken out, and the papers are in my office at the San.”

Hilda sighed in relief. “Thank heavens! I’d been worrying about those. Thank you, Jack.”

He gave her quick supportive smile, the doctor’s expert eye noting with relief the strain which was leaving her face. She was still too pale for his liking; they all were. Nell looked tired, and the anxiety in her face as she looked at Hilda was concerning. Yet there was something in her expression that hadn’t been there before; the same thing that he saw in Hilda’s eyes and in Madge’s face as she looked at her husband. It took him a moment to place it, but when he did his breath caught in his throat and a smile slowly crossed his face.

Hope.

***

“What do you think of Joey’s idea then, Hilda?” Nell asked her friend with a quick smile as they strolled down the hill towards Interlaken’s main shopping center, preparing to do a month’s worth of Christmas shopping in a day. “It’s rather ambitious, don’t you think?”

Hilda chuckled. “Since when did Jo come up with ideas that weren’t ambitious?” At Nell’s laughing nod of agreement, she smiled. “Oh, I agree that it will take a lot of work, and planning, to be ready in time. If it can be done though, I’d like to.” She hesitated, pondering over her next words. “I don’t want to spend Christmas here.”

Her friend shot her a quick glance, but attempted to hide her concern. “I can see why,” she said casually, looking away. “The Platz doesn’t hold many pleasant memories at the moment.”

“Hardly,” Hilda agreed quietly. She turned to meet her friend’s eyes. “Do you agree? If you think it’s better to stay, then we will. I trust your judgement.”

“And I trust yours,” Nell responded instantly. “If you think we should go to Italy, then we’ll go if it’s humanly possible in this amount of time.” She broke off to laugh. “Besides, it will hardly be a pleasant Christmas in a hotel. Much better to get settled as quickly as we can.”

Hilda made no comment, but nodded in agreement as they made their way down into the town. The snow was falling lightly, not enough to cause any danger, but enough for Sybil and Con to slip and slide, clutching at each other and laughing. Madge and Jem and Len and Reg had separated into their respective couples, but the fact that they were a group was evident – every so often Len would turn to call back to her mother, walking alongside Rosalie and Matron, or Madge would call out anxiously to an admittedly over-excited Sybil. Whether Sybil was just generally excited or trying to enthuse the tired group, Hilda couldn’t tell. Either way, it was impossible to look at the animated face of Madge’s eldest daughter and not laugh.

Glancing quickly at her friend, Nell noticed the wistful expression, and in a sudden moment of sentimentality, squeezed Hilda’s arm. Neither was given to demonstrations of affection, but that small gesture meant a lot.

Smiling as she returned the gesture, Hilda returned her attention once more to her friends ahead of her. Joey had moved to walk beside her sister, her arm slung through Madge’s, whilst their respective daughters hurried ahead of them, talking urgently. They looked, Hilda realised with a moment’s suspicion, as though they were plotting, and she chuckled at her brief concern. They were all grown women – she didn’t have to worry about pranks any longer. Not that any of the three had really participated in such activities – Sybil had always considered herself above it as a young girl, and it had simply never mattered to Len or Con. For that, she felt a moment’s brief regret – pranks and harmless rule-breaking were parts of a schoolgirl’s life and it seemed unnatural that they’d missed out on it. Looking at them now though, it had hardly harmed them, and Hilda struggled to think of students that she was more proud of, or grateful for.

***

“Are we agreed, then?” Nell asked again, glancing through the various papers strewn across the desk. She, Rosalie, Hilda and Madge had been in Herr Bauer’s office for much of the morning, attempting to draw some conclusions regarding the immediate future of the Chalet School.

Sighing in frustration, Rosalie flipped through her notebook. “I don’t see an alternative, Hilda,” she admitted. “I know you’d rather avoid closing if we possibly can, but I see no other way around it. We can’t possibly be ready to start teaching at the beginning of the term – apart from anything else, no-one will have had any holidays. You haven’t even had a day off – and nor has Nell.”

Hilda, who had opened her mouth to protest at her friend’s argument, closed it abruptly at the last comment, and Rosalie bit back a laugh. Whilst she knew well enough that the headmistress would have no objections to sacrificing her own holidays, Nell was another matter entirely.

“I hate interfering with the girls’ schoolwork,” Madge agreed, “but Rosalie's right. If we re-open at half term and keep them hard at it for the rest of the term, they shouldn’t loose too much ground. We can always send work home for exam students – those that are taking exams this year should certainly be capable of working alone.”

Nell nodded, resisting the urge to ask Madge what she meant by ‘we’ when she would presumably be flying back to Australia in the near future. “It seems the most sensible plan,” she approved the suggestions reluctantly. “We’ll start again at half term – we’ll be ready by then.”

Seeing nothing else for it, Hilda settled the plans with a short nod. “What else is there to do, then?” she asked, leaning over to read Rosalie’s notes. “The decorating in Italy has gone ahead, with Aberto overseeing it. The insurance companies have been spoken to, and the Swiss Federal Confederation is willing to vouch for our concerns.”

“All that’s left to do is get it furnished as a proper school should be, and the furniture should be arriving shortly after Christmas anyway,” Rosalie said after a minute, looking down the long list. “I think that we’ve dealt with everything else – thank goodness!”

“It’s certainly taken enough time,” Hilda agreed. This was the fourth day in a row that they’d spent in the same office, making and re-making plans, discussing the future of the Chalet School in Italy. However, it seemed that the organisational nightmare might be ended at last, and on Tuesday – the day being Thursday – they would fly to Italy once more. It had been decided that the Maynard family would take the longer, but much more affordable journey by train, and they would rejoin the party on the Wednesday. Sybil, Len, Con and Roger had already left for Italy to allow Len to look for a home for herself and her husband, since Reg was still needed at the San. Biddy Courvoisier was in Italy on a similar errand, leaving her children with Hilary Graves.

It seemed, Hilda reflected sadly, that the community built up so carefully on the Platz would be separated as never before. It was impossible to even consider that they would be able to live in such close proximity in Italy – but she hadn’t expected Grizel Sheppard’s announcement of their impending move to England, nor Joey's acceptance of the fact that she would have to separate from the school. Once again she bit back her anger at the changes that were thrust upon them with no choice involved. Change is unavoidable, she repeated to herself, remembering the amount of times that she’d said something similar to her pupils; but that didn’t make it any easier to acknowledge.

#4: Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:02 pm
—
The two buildings, once standing tall against the scenery of the Swiss mountains, lay almost crippled across the ground. The damage was not beyond repair - by all other accounts, they had been lucky; but it was not the same. The carefully tended gardens were destroyed, the “stomping grounds” lost amongst piles of snow, rocks and tree. The fence that had linked the school and Freudesheim was nowhere to be seen. Yet the damage to the surroundings could, in time, be mended. The buildings could be made the same, maybe even better. To Joey, though, the shattered windows and collapsed walls of her home and of her daughters’ school could never be replaced. Time passed and memories faded had convinced her of the necessities of tangible objects, to hold, to touch. To remember.

India, and her parents, was gone for her now. Times of England had faded, of a period when things had been easier, simpler. Yet Austria was still strong in her mind, helped by photographs, evenings passed in front of the fire with friends remembering some of the best times of their lives. She could go there, see the place where she had lived, grown older but still young, still seen as it had been when she had been a twelve-year old girl. Her children wouldn’t have that, not any more.

Suddenly, an arm slipped through hers, and Joey turned slightly. Nell stood there beside her, staring at the ruins of her own home. “Are you all right?” she asked quietly, unobtrusively. Pretending she didn’t see the tears making their way down the younger woman’s cheeks.

Joey nodded, wiping the tears away with a harsh hand. “Fine. I just – I didn’t think it could have really happened.” She hesitated, but the understanding nod from her friend urged her to continue. “Jack didn’t want me to, but I had to come and see it. Before we left.”

“I understand,” Nell’s voice was barely a murmur. “Hilda and Madge and I came yesterday. I think the girls came before they left, as well.”

“The girls?” Joey laughed. “I’d like to see their responses if you called them that to their faces.”

“I’ve a good thirty years on your two,” Nell protested. “And I’m at least twenty-five years older than Sybil. I think I’m allowed to call them girls still.”

Chuckling, Joey acquiesced. “I’ll grant you that.” She turned slowly, wincing slightly. Switzerland’s cold seasons aggravated her injury of over a year ago – maybe Italy would be better for her in that respect. “Come on, Nell! Jack’s waiting for us with the car, and we have to catch the plane in a few hours.”

Nell gave a suppressed squawk as she glanced at her watch. “Few being the operative word! We have to be at the airport within the hour!” Recalled to their senses, the two women made their way towards the van, taking care of the snow still hindering their progress. Jack was waiting patiently for them, the engine still running to protect him against the biting cold, and he jumped out to open the doors for the two.

“Ready?” he asked Nell cheerfully, noting his wife’s reddened eyes and squeezing her hand discreetly.

Joey turned to look one last time, closing her eyes briefly to see her home and the school as it had been before. Strong, still standing crippled against the forces of nature. Timeless. If she closed her eyes she could see Jeanne skiing in front of the school, skimming so lightly that she barely touched the ground; and if she concentrated she heard Ruth laughing in the staffroom. For a moment the loss was unbearable – she wanted to take those memories and somehow imprint them in her mind, a promise that she would never forget.

Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

Hilda’s voice came to her, quoting the poem that had supported her when she thought she might fall. Their friends were not lost to them; they never would be. They wouldn’t let them be.

“Yes, I’m ready,” Joey smiled. Dropping a light kiss on her husband’s cheek, flinging a smile at her friend, Joey Maynard turned away from her home. “It’s not goodbye,” she whispered. “’Till we meet again.”

#5: Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:02 pm
—
The Mount Brione loomed in front of them; snow touching its tip, perfect white against the darkening sky. Silver lining against the clouds that seemed everlasting.

Con tried to ignore the lines taunting her, wondering for a moment why poetry always struck when she least wanted it to. Poetry provided a way for her to understand the non-understandable; rhyme led to reason when she wished it wouldn’t. Not for the first time, she wished she could have Margot’s bright optimism, enthusiasm that never failed to lift her from the dredges of despair. That brought another pang of pain as she thought of her sister, and then bit her lip, pushing away the loneliness that pervaded more often than she cared to dwell upon at that moment. She had so much – nine other brothers and sisters, loving parents and a fiancé – but Margot’s diminished place in her life stung more than she had thought possible.

“It will be lovely for the family to be together for this last Christmas,” Joey said brightly, interrupting her second daughter’s reflections – probably a good thing, Con decided wryly, trying not to snap at her mother.

“We’re not all together, really, though, Mama,” Len interrupted quietly, glancing at her fellow triplet’s tight expression. “Margot isn’t here.”

Joey smiled. “Oh, I know that, Len. I’m hardly likely to forget my daughter, am I? But Margot is happy, and I’m grateful for that. She’s doing so well,” she chattered. “Becoming a nun – my little girl! I’m so proud of her.”

Briefly, Con wondered if her mother would have been less proud of Margot if she had not chosen that particular path, her thoughts straying to her own career prospects, and then decided it was a question better left unanswered. Len’s expression showed a similar line of thought, but she simply glanced over at her sister and rolled her eyes affectionately. They both knew well enough that their mother never meant anything by the thoughtless comments that occasionally escaped – she was just being Joey.

“I’m rather surprised that Sybil and Madge didn’t want to come shopping with us,” Joey commented after a brief pause.

Len resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. “I’ve told you, Mama. They’re planning everything for the party tonight. Auntie Madge is shopping for food with Auntie Hilda, and Sybil is decorating.”

“Why are we having a party, again?” Joey questioned, and Con gave up any hope of a peaceful journey back to the hotel. “Surely it would be nicer to just go to a service and then go to bed.” She looked mildly upset – Len had veto-ed any suggestion of games at the party, claiming that they were rather too exhausting considering the strenuous few weeks that they had all suffered through.

It was Christmas Eve, and at last the entire party was in Italy - staying in the new Chalet School which was, to their shock, nearly ready. Len had her suspicions as to the amount of time that Aberto’s children and grandchildren had put into getting the new school up and running, despite their insistence that no payment was required. However, they would receive their just desserts in time, and a main reason for the party tonight was to thank them for all their hard work. But Mama won’t understand that, Len thought bitterly, then chastised herself. Her mother was accustomed to having willing servants around her on a day-to-day basis – yet in some ways times had moved on, and occasionally Joey found it difficult to move with them. It’s just the way that she is. She knew well enough that her mother was to blame for very few of the little irritations that she kept picking up; tiredness and strain had affected them all, and it was telling on her now.

Blinking back the threatened tears, Len turned to look at the pristine hotel as Steve, who had been silent for much of the journey, drew up outside it. “I’ll get the bags,” he said quietly, urging Con away from the boot. “You three go on inside. There’s not much to get.”

Flinging her brother a quick smile, Len slipped one arm through her mother’s and the other through her triplet’s as the three made their way up the steps, ducking under a stepladder which Mike was perched precariously on, attaching a big wreath to the outside of the hotel. “Sybil’s certainly gone all out for this,” Con commented with a giggle. “I’m going to go and see if she needs a hand, Len. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Don’t forget that we’re going to the service at 7 o’clock!” Len called after her as Con bolted up the stairs. “Can you remind Kathie and Nancy, and Biddy if she’s there please?”

“Sure, there’s no need for you to be yelling like that, Len,” that lady retorted as she came up behind her former pupil. “I’m here, and I can hear you perfectly well. Kathie and Nancy are aware of the time that we’re leaving, and have been since the last time you reminded them.”

Len flushed, and looked at the floor briefly as Joey left them with a quick nod. “I just want everything to go as planned tonight,” she said in her defence.

Biddy smiled up at the taller woman. “If everyone has a good time, Len, then it’s all gone as planned, no matter the little details.” Her voice was sympathetic as she touched the eldest Maynard’s shoulder briefly. “Not everything has to be perfect.”

***

“All that remains, now, is for me to wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.” The pastor stepped away from the lectern, gently closing the large Bible that he had been reading from. “May God be with you.”

Madge swallowed a lump in her throat as she rose from her seat, turning to the woman beside her; someone she didn’t know but loved, just because she was here with her, celebrating this night. “May God be with you,” she said warmly, grasping the woman’s hand.

“And also with you,” her new friend responded, her eyes glimmering with the same emotion that had touched them all.

The congregation made its way from the small church where one of the English-speaking ministers had kindly held a separate sermon for the English visitors, out into the cold. It was crisp, but not snowing, and though Joey wished for the snow to which she had become accustomed, Madge smiled as she felt the gentle chill on her face. Slipping an arm through her sister’s, she added a small skip to her walk, doing her best to ease the silence that had settled across the group of friends, each lost in their own thoughts.

Nancy, who had one arm slipped through Kathie’s and the other through Sharlie Andrews’ – the two smaller women either side of the taller woman provided something of a comical picture – heaved a sigh of satisfaction as they made their way slowly back to the hotel. She’d flatly refused to allow any of the men to drive her back, insisting instead that she wanted to walk with her friends; but she was under orders to take it easy. Squeezing her partner’s arm in response to Kathie’s concerned glance, Nancy allowed her thoughts to drift, shutting her eyes tightly for a second as they returned to where they so frequently dwelled. Determination and strength rose within, from a place she didn’t even know existed, as she felt Kathie’s glance upon her, and then realised that Sharlie’s was just as concerned.

“I’m just going to go and talk to Biddy a second,” Sharlie interrupted brightly, moving away to sling an arm through Biddy’s. Hilary Graves was walking with Rosalie and Matron – Aberto’s youngest daughter had insisted on taking care of the children for the evening since she would attend the midnight mass – and the rest of the party, noting Sharlie’s stern expression, moved away to give the two women time to talk.

Slipping her arm from Nancy’s, Kathie slipped her hand into her partner’s instead. “Are you all right?” she asked gently, recalling the expression that she had seen on Nancy’s face as she had lit the two candles for their friends.

An instinctive “I’m fine,” threatened to escape her lips, but Nancy bit it back, knowing well enough that Kathie would see straight through it. She wouldn’t push her; but Kathie deserved more than that. Looking down at their entwined fingers, Nancy thought over the question, wondering how exactly one defined ‘all right’. Was it that state of not knowing, not examining feelings and emotions too closely for fear of what she would find? Or simply an inherent response, devoid of any kind of passionate emotion, no matter what its roots were?

Or maybe, just maybe, it was the feeling that touched her as she looked around, at her friends, at her partner, as she thought of those that would never be there again, but would never truly leave her. Maybe ‘all right’ really meant ‘I’ll survive’. It suggested that there had been something to endure, meant that there was always something worth fighting for; and perhaps that was the best way to be.

Barely noticing as Kathie reached up to wipe a tear from her face, Nancy gave a half-laugh, half-sob. “I’m fine.”

***

Madge Russell turned away from the window out of which she had been peering. “I rather wish it was snowing,” she remarked wistfully, making her way over to a spare seat beside her sister, who was talking to Hilda and Nell. “I’d prefer not to trudge through it when we’re outside; but it would be lovely tonight.”

Joey flung her a laughing glance. “Less than four weeks ago you were complaining about it snowing in Switzerland,” she teased. “Not fussy, are you, my dear? Heavens!” she interrupted herself. “That was less than a month ago!”

The four friends were shocked into silence for a moment, realising the sheer extent of all that they had undergone in such a short time. Characteristically, Joey was the first to recover herself. “Well, I’ll be!” she exclaimed. “If all this can happen in a month, I wonder where we shall all be a year from now? It isn’t as though it shall be a quiet one, you know. Not with settling the school, houses to find, and with you two retiring – ouch!” Nell’s swift pinch to her side didn’t come in time, unfortunately, and Madge very nearly leapt from her seat.

“What?” she exclaimed. “This is news to me! Why didn’t you say something?”

Hilda sighed as she flung a mildly irritated glance at her former pupil. “Jo, I wish you’d learn to curb your tongue! You’re as bad as Con ever was! The reason why we didn’t mention anything, Madge,” she addressed her friend, “is because telling you makes it official, and we’re simply considering it at the moment. Christmas is no time for business talk. Though since Jo’s let the cat out of the bag, to use one of her own expressions, I might as well tell you that Nell and I both plan to retire from the end of the academic year.”

Madge couldn’t help but flinch at Hilda’s insinuation, though she almost certainly hadn’t meant it so – that she was little more than an employer to them now. After all, she’d hardly been supportive in one of the worst times of their lives. Now was the time to prove otherwise. “Well, I can’t say I’m not surprised,” she responded quietly, after a moment’s thought. “I hadn’t seen this coming – and neither had you, I suspect,” she added with a glance at Hilda.

The Head of the Chalet School gave the suggestion due consideration. “No, I can’t say I had, until this past month” she agreed. “Teaching is a big part of who I am – who we both are – but there’s more to life for us than teaching, and I for one would like to explore that before I’m too old to do so,” she added with a chuckle. “Oh, I know I’ve a fair few years to go yet – but we thought that we’d first try and discover exactly what Jeanne did see in all her ‘prancing around mountains’, as Nell so kindly phrased it. We’ll both need to be in the best of health for that.”

Madge’s laugh rang out across the hall. “Well, in that case I wish you the best of luck! You both have my blessing – but don’t you become strangers, I expect plenty of visits!”

“Now is it likely?” Jo demanded, leaping to her feet. “You do talk nonsense at times, Madge! And now may I remind you three that we’ve spent a good half hour talking business when we promised we wouldn’t? Len will have our heads!” she gave an exclamation of mock horror, and suddenly darted towards the piano in response to her eldest daughter’s calls.

“It’s nearly twelve o’clock!” Len called, tapping a fork against her glass with rather more force than was probably necessary. “Mama, may we have a song to calm us all down please? Felicity will play for you,” she nodded at her younger sister, who was thrilled at being allowed to stay up so late. Len had decided it was an ingenious move on her mother’s part – the younger Maynards would be so tired come bedtime that the adults would be able to sleep for longer on Christmas morning.

Nodding, Joey shuffled through the music before selecting the song that she’d been thinking of all night. She showed the page to Felicity, who nodded and began to play the song, perfectly in tune with her mother’s voice.

Tears threatened to fall from Madge’s eyes as she watched her friends, happy despite all that they had been through, cursing her God for hurting them and thanking Him for helping to bring them through it. Somehow, she found herself by the window again, looking out at Lake Garda in the distance, wondering what would come for her school by the river.

Joey finished her song, her eyes fixed on her sister, stood apart, watching, praying. “One more,” she said quietly. “In the Bleak Midwinter, please, Felicity.” Madge turned sharply as she heard her sister speak, her hand still resting against the window as she watched her friends.

Hilda, Nell, Matron and Rosalie stood to one side, talking, laughing at the antics of Mike Maynard, who was attempting to balance a spoon on his nose and failing miserably. Kathie and Sharlie, both merry from wine consumed, were attempting to dance in time to Joey’s singing as Nancy watched them and called comments that neither woman considered particularly helpful. Sybil, Len and Con were curled up on one of the big couches, talking animatedly, Sybs gesticulating wildly as she always did when excited.

As she watched, Madge felt an arm slip around her shoulders, sensed Jem’s unspoken support. “Amazing group of people,” he commented quietly. She nodded quietly, not wanting to break the spell as she felt herself looking through the window at the perfect Christmas scene, hope tinged with a little fear, knowing what might face them in the future but willingness to face it with all that they had.

Their wounds would heal, in time; sharp agony would ease to be replaced by the dull pain of a scar – a mark to remind of the effect that their friends had had upon their lives, yet something more. The healed wound was testament to their strength, their survival. Life had knocked them down and yet they rose ready for more.

For now, though, the wound was still fresh; but they would heal.

Yet what I can I give Him; give my heart

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

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:27 pm
—
Yay! It's back!

*bounces*

#7: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:38 pm
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Yay, Thanks Gem

#8: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:18 pm
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It's great to see more of this Gem!

Thank you Very Happy

#9: Author: Ally, Location: John Bettany's Cabin!

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:17 pm
—
*promply faints*

Wink

Huzzah quite frankly

#10: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:56 pm
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Thank goodness. I thought this was lost and gone for ever. Thanks, Gem.

#11: Author: pim, Location: Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 10:25 am
—

Ally wrote:

*promply faints*

Wink

*does the same thing*

#12: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 12:19 pm
—

pim wrote:

Ally wrote:

*promply faints*

Wink

*does the same thing*

*thud*

Thanks Gem! Was really ace to re-read this

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

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 6:47 pm
—

Mia wrote:

pim wrote:

Ally wrote:

*promply faints*

Wink

*does the same thing*

*thud*

Thanks Gem! Was really ace to re-read this

*joins the heap on the floor!* Wink

#14: Author: Lizzie, Location: A little village on the Essex/Suffolk border

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 10:33 pm
—
WOW. This is BRILLIANT. I didn't find this Pre-Hack, so have a lot to catch up with. At present, I'm two installments into Part I, so I may be some time...

Write more, Gem! On second thoughts, would you wait for about a month, then I can catch up without getting further behind? Very Happy

#15: Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:16 pm
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Lizzie - sorry - am posting as I'm writing otherwise it'll get left behind again Wink

If you like, though, I'm happy to send a non-yibbled copy to you or anyone else who wants one - just pm me with your email address and I'll send it over Very Happy

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

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 5:02 pm
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Bah! I thought that was more, Gemberta!! Evil or Very Mad

#17: Author: Nell, Location: London, England

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:08 am
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Wow its back! Thank you Gempie!

The CBB -> Ste Therese's House

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