The first term of Grade Ten had come and gone for the Super Six and they were busy packing up their dorm. Their trunks had been brought up from the basement so that they could pack away all their belongings that they would not be taking home with them. It gave the ground staff a chance to give the hostel a good and proper clean. They had all spoken to their parents and told them about the frightening ordeal they had all been through and arrangements had been made for them to leave the next day. They would all be flying home the next morning so they had plenty to do before they could all get on the school bus to travel to the airport in the morning. Calipso’s flight was leaving first and she was very excited about going back to Lima, and the others were just as excited to go back to their homes and see their parents after the busy term. There was so much to tell them.
Jade turned on her CD player and they sang along to her Now 56 CD while they packed and tidied up the dorm that had become so cosy and colourful during the term. When the last of their things was packed away and their trunks were neatly stacked outside in the passage, the Super Six collapsed on Charlotte's bed in the middle of the dorm. There was one thing that Calipso had forgotten to pack and that was her Dream Catcher. They all looked up at it hanging in the window and watched as the circular frame spun in the breeze, the feather fluttering below it.
“I'm really going to miss this dorm,” said Calipso.
“You know, I never thought I'd say it, but so will I,” said Jade, thinking back to the first day of term when she was dreading the idea of living in the poky dorm under the stairs.
“It really is magical! Just think of everything that has happened to us this term thanks to our dreams, how are we going to go back to life without them?” wondered Chelsea.
“I agree, it's such a pity that we have to move into a new dorm at the beginning of every term. Imagine if we could stay here for the whole year, just think of it!” said Annie, her eyes sparkling at the thought.
The next moment Josephine marched through the curtain to check that their dorm was clean and tidy before they left.
“Well girls, you've done a good job here. I am so sorry about the way your term has ended, but maybe this dorm is bad luck after all,” she said, looking around the room. “Anyway, new dorms next term, so check the list on the notice board when you arrive back at school. I don't know who we're going to put in here.”
“Well, actually, we've changed our minds about this dorm, we really like it. If you don't know who to put in here next term, we're happy to stay,” said Roxanne, looking at the others who were nodding in agreement.
“Are you serious? No one has ever asked to be in this dorm...ever...not since I first arrived at Fernwood. And even then we were told it was in no state for anyone to live in which is why they eventually did the renovations last year when we needed more space.”
“Hmm!” they all mumbled.
“Well, it's not as bad as everyone thinks, we'd love to stay!” said Charlotte.
“Ok then, the dorm is yours. You might as well stay for the year, but you can always swop beds if you want to. That certainly makes my job a lot easier!”
“Thanks Jo, that's great,” said Annie.
She wished them all a good holiday and then left, the curtain flapping behind her.
The girls couldn't believe their luck after they had just been talking about staying in the dorm for the year. They squealed in excitement and all wondered what lay in store for them in the second term. It was getting late and they had a very early start the next day so they decided it was time for bed. As they were settling into their beds for the last time, they heard a faint tapping on the window behind Chelsea. She sat up and looked outside to see what it was as they were all feeling a little edgy after what had happened. But Chelsea jumped up as soon as she looked outside. Kyle was standing underneath her window, a handful of stones in his hand. She opened the window as wide as it would go and asked what he was doing outside her hostel.
“Well, I heard about what happened and that you're leaving tomorrow, so I had to come and say good-bye. Can you come downstairs?”
“Josephine will kill me if she sees me but I'll try.”
She pulled a jersey over her head as she ran downstairs to the front door. She was relieved to find that it was still unlocked. She tiptoed across the dark veranda and around the corner to where Kyle was waiting behind Oak House.
“I don't want you to get into trouble, but I had to see you before you left,” he said, holding both her hands. “I'm so sorry about what happened to you all, are you alright?”
“Yes, I'm fine now but it was terrifying at the time!” she said.
“I can imagine. But at least you don't have to worry about your last two exams, and you get a few extra days of holiday,” he smirked.
“Yes, Mrs Sheraton has been so understanding.”
“Well, I can't stay, but I hope you have a good holiday and I'll see you next term. Maybe we can go on another date sometime,” he said.
“I'd love to!” replied Chelsea.
Kyle then took a step forward and put his hand on Chelsea's cheek. They looked at each other for a few moments and then he kissed her. Chelsea closed her eyes and she couldn't believe how soft his lips felt on hers. Her heart was pounding and she started to feel weak in the knees. Kyle put his other arm around her waist and hugged her. Upstairs in the dorm, Chelsea's friends were huddled together on her bed. They watched as the two of them kissed in the moonlight, their first kiss at last! A perfect ending to the term, and suddenly, everything seemed good in the world again!
Chapter Twenty: Mr Thornton to the Rescue (Julie and Miss N)
The term was drawing to a close and the stress levels amongst the girls at Fernwood High were starting to run high. There were only two weeks of the term left but exams still needed to be written before they could even start thinking about their holiday plans.
The Grade Ten girls in Oak house, in the dorm under the stairs, were all determined to do well in their first set of exams of the year. They felt they had done most of the hard work by paying attention during their lessons and diligently completing all their homework assignments, but the time had come for them to knuckle down and revise all that they had learnt during the term in order to achieve good results on their reports.
“This is our second last Sunday before the holidays, girls,” yawned Chelsea, stretching as she climbed out of bed.
“You're right, and what an exciting one it will be down in the study cubes...studying, studying and studying,” sighed Jade.
“It's not that bad Jade, I actually think that our group study sessions have been quite fun, especially with all the rhymes and dances we've made up to remember some of the more tricky facts!” said Calipso, smiling at the thought.
“And now that we are officially on study leave, at least we don't have to go to class anymore, which means we have more time to study during the day,” said Charlotte.
“I guess, but I just can't wait for the holidays,” Jade replied.
Roxanne yawned loudly and walked over to the basin to wash her face. It was actually more of a shuffle than a walk as her muscles were feeling very stiff after a strenuous couple of days of swimming and hockey.
“Ah, exams! I hope they're easy,” she mumbled as she splashed water on her face to try and wake herself up.
“They will be if you're well prepared Rox, which I'm sure you will be,” said Annie cheerfully.
“Mmm, I suppose,” said Roxanne. “I'm honestly quite glad that all the sports fixtures are over for the term. At least I can focus on studying now, no more distractions.”
“You're lucky!” said Chelsea. “I keep thinking about Kyle when I should be thinking about Geometry and Physics.”
“Oh yes, I forgot to ask how your date was yesterday. What did you two do?” asked her sister, starting to feel a little more awake.
“Well, I didn't want to miss your hockey match, so we just went for a milkshake at 'The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf' because it's the closest place to go.”
“Thanks Chels! And how was it?” she asked.
Chelsea's face lit up as she was about to answer. It was the same look she always had on her face whenever anyone mentioned Kyle.
“It was fun. He fetched me and walked me back to school and he paid for my milkshake and we talked non-stop. He's so interested in everything I tell him and he loves hearing about you guys.”
“Cool. So when are you going to see him again?”
She sighed. “I don't know, he also starts exams this week so we'll both be busy studying for the next two weeks.”
“Maybe he'll come and visit during a study break next weekend,” said Jade, sensing the disappointment in Chelsea's voice.
The girls spent the day in the study cubicles downstairs, preparing for their first two exams on Tuesday. They were writing Geography and Maths but none of them seemed to be able to concentrate very well as their minds were on other things. Roxanne kept thinking about the Golden Sparrows and then spent ages on the telephone to her parents. Chelsea's thoughts were of Kyle, wondering how his studying was going. Calipso was thinking about Peru, very excited about going back home for a month. Charlotte was reading a gripping book and kept sneaking a few pages when she should have been learning about Climatology and maps. Jade had asked Chelsea to buy the latest 'Glamour' and 'People' magazines for her when she was in town the day before, so she had her nose buried in those. Annie was the only one who worked all day, not wanting to waste a minute. She flipped quickly through her Geography file and spent the rest of the day on Maths, but she also had trouble on the sums in front of her, the numbers swimming around on the page and too many of her calculations turned out to be incorrect. By the time they went to bed that night, they had blamed their lack of concentration on the Sunday Blues. They decided to draw up a study timetable outlining what they would study when and for how long. It would also tell them when they could take breaks and how long they should be. They would start first thing on Monday morning.
Charlotte's idea of the study timetable turned out to be a great one. The girls worked hard during their study hours and spent their breaks going for walks, swimming, sitting on the grass under the trees outside and listening to music. By Thursday they had written five exams and they all felt that the papers had been relatively easy so far. Calipso was a little concerned about the History paper as she had not had enough time to answer all the questions. Annie was worried about the Maths paper because there were two equations that she had had no idea how to solve. She was hoping that the second Maths paper would be easier and decided that an extra lesson with Mr Thornton would make her feel better and a lot more confident.
After their mid-morning break, Annie decided to go to Mr Thornton's classroom and ask him to go over Geometry and Trigonometry with her in preparation for the next exam. She knocked lightly on his door which was slightly ajar but there was no answer. She pushed the door open and saw that the fan was on and his books were open on his desk as if he had been busy working and had just popped out for a moment. She decided to sit and study while she waited for him to return to the classroom. He hadn't returned by the time the bell rang for lunch so she packed up her things and joined the others in the Dining hall.
“Do you feel better after your extra lesson with Mr T?” asked Charlotte.
“He wasn't there. I might go back after lunch, otherwise I'll have to try again tomorrow. At least the exam is only on Monday so I still have some time to see him,” she replied.
The study timetable that the Super Six had drawn up allowed them some time after lunch for a short nap. They found that a power nap helped them to concentrate better in the afternoons, so they closed the blinds and lay on their beds to rest before their afternoon study session which was allocated to Biology. Annie decided to skip the nap and go back to Mr Thornton's classroom. When she knocked, there was still no answer, but this time the fan was off, his desk was tidy and his books had been put away. She went to look for him in the staffroom, in the office and in the teacher's lounge, but he was nowhere to be found and none of the other teachers had seen him either. Annie was feeling very frustrated about the time she was wasting, so she went back to his classroom and decided to leave a note for him. She wrote what it was that she needed help with and asked if he could please give her an extra lesson before Monday's exam as she was feeling desperate.
That night, they collapsed into bed after a good afternoon of studying and felt excited that it was already the end of the week and only one more week to go. They were about to drift off to sleep when Calipso commented on their lack of dreams lately. Chelsea put it down to the stress of exams and believed it was because their minds were so full of numbers and dates and technical terms.
“Maybe we only dream when our minds are clear and not so full of facts,” she suggested.
The others had already started to nod off and weren't really paying much attention, but Calipso had spoken too soon. That night the girls did dream. They had a fitful night's sleep and they tossed and turned. They dreamt of something frightening.
The next morning, when the six girls opened their eyes after hearing the rising bell, they all felt very uneasy. They all had worried expressions on their faces as they went about their morning routine. The girls then walked to breakfast in silence. They helped themselves to cereal and Friday bagels and sat eating quietly before Jade broke the silence.
“So, Friday morning, end of the week,” she said flatly.
“Mm,” they all mumbled in unison.
“So much for the lack of dreams,” said Calipso, “who's going to talk about their dream first?” she asked.
Annie cleared her throat. “I will, although mine was more of a nightmare than a dream. I dreamt that there was a m-m-man searching for something in our dorm. I didn't see his face but he looked filthy,” she stammered.
“I saw a man's eyes in my dream. One was grey and the other looked red. I couldn't see the rest of his face because he was wearing a black beanie on his head,” said Jade, her voice not much louder than a whisper.
“I saw what he was wearing...he was wearing a torn prison overall,” added Charlotte.
“In my dream, one of the windows in our dorm was wide open, the blind pulled down and lying on the floor,” said Roxanne, her eyes wide with terror. “What about you Chels?” she asked her sister who was struggling to swallow her breakfast.
“In my dream, I saw the front page of the newspaper. It said: 'Prisoner on the loose: Norman Shanks – escaped from county prison two days ago',” she replied.
“Calipso? What did you dream about?” asked Annie.
Calipso could not look at her friends. She stared into her bowl of cereal and then she also spoke in a voice that they could barely hear.
“A knife. I saw the same man, in a prison overall, a black beanie on his head, and-and...he had a knife.” She looked up then, into Annie's frightened eyes. “He was holding your arm Annie, and he was pointing the knife at you.”
They all gasped in horror. What were they to do? When would this happen? How could they stop it?
The Super Six had lost their appetites and pushed their breakfast around on their plates. No one had a single idea or suggestion of what to do so they decided to go back to Oak House and see if the newspaper had been delivered yet. The girls wanted to see if there was an article about an escaped prisoner named Norman Shanks. They walked into Mrs Glover's tiny office at the front of the hostel and they saw that the newspaper had been delivered, but their grumpy matron was poring over it and hated to be disturbed when she was reading the news. They would have to read it later.
They walked downstairs with heavy steps, not knowing how they were going to focus on their work. They reached the curtain at the entrance to their dorm and they all filed through in silence. And then they froze. Standing in the middle of their dorm was a tall man in a torn prison overall, with a black beanie on his head and evil eyes. He looked filthy and smelt even worse. There was a bag at his feet full of cellular phones, iPods, cameras and wallets. They were too late to do anything to stop their dreams from coming true! He put his finger on his lips and signalled to them to sit on Charlotte's bed. Jade thought about making a run for it, but just then she caught the glint of a knife behind his back as it reflected in the sunlight. They all squashed onto Charlotte's bed, holding each others' hands tightly, their hearts pounding in their chests. Not one of them could see a way out of this terrifying situation. No one ever visited them in their dorm, hidden under the stairs, and they wouldn't be missed from class as they were on study leave. No one checked the study cubicles either, to see if everyone was there, as the girls were allowed to study in their dorms or the library too so no one would think it odd that they weren’t there.
They were feeling desperate when all of a sudden they heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and then turning towards their dorm. The girls looked at each other, their eyes full of hope, but the prisoner grabbed Annie's arm and pulled her off the bed. He swung his other arm out from behind his back and the knife that Jade had seen, which was long and very sharp, was now pointed at Annie's small and fragile neck. It was just as Calipso had dreamt.
“Don't you dare make a sound!” he threatened them in a gruff voice. He pulled Annie to the curtain. “Think of something to say to get rid of whoever is coming,” he spat at her, waving the knife in her face and then walking backwards to hide behind Jade's cupboard door.
There was a knock on the door frame.
“Knock, knock,” said a deep voice. Annie gulped. She recognised the voice of her Maths teacher.
“Hello?” she answered nervously, her body trembling in fear.
“Annie, it's Mr Thornton. I found your note about an extra Maths lesson, may I come in?” he asked.
Annie looked at the scary man behind the cupboard. He was scowling at her with his arm outstretched.
Annie opened the curtain just wide enough for her face to stick out.
“Morning Sir, thank you so much for coming to find me but I understand the Maths now. Don't need an extra lesson after all,” she said, trying to sound as convincing as she could.
“Are you sure Annie? Your message made it sound like you wanted to discuss quite a lot with me. Do you want to show me what it was you were struggling with?”
“No thanks Sir, I have lots of other studying to do so I'm going to take a break from the Maths. Thanks for coming anyway, have a good day.”
Mr Thornton stared at his student, a little troubled by her reaction. He knew Annie well. For the past two years, she had been the most dedicated student he had ever taught. She was meticulous in her work and come exam time, she was a bundle of nerves before every Maths paper. He knew from the other girls that Annie didn't spend nearly as much time preparing for her other subjects as she did for Maths, and she still managed to achieve distinctions in everything. But Maths was her favourite and it was not uncommon for her to seek him out for help before the exams. She told him that she always liked to make sure she understood everything perfectly before the time, and she admitted to him that there was something about when he was explaining to her on her own that made her feel calm and confident. He, of course, didn't mind spending the time with her, he offered lessons to a number of the girls in his classes who needed the extra help. As far as he was concerned, that was his job, and he was only too happy to help. Which is why he found Annie's reaction so odd. It wasn't like her to turn down a lesson before the exams, especially after she had waited to see him and in an attempt to arrange a lesson only the day before. It also wasn't like her to be so dismissive. He and Annie had a good relationship and he knew she was fond of him, but it seemed she didn't want to spend another minute talking to him. He frowned and put his hands in his pockets.
“Ok then, glad you feel better about Geometry and Trig. I'll be in my classroom if you need me.” He turned to leave, looking at her one last time to make sure she was okay but she had already disappeared behind the curtain.
Annie now had her back to the curtain and tears had started to well up in her eyes. Seeing her Maths teacher, always so kind and caring, had made her feel so helpless. If only she could have given him some sort of sign that they were in trouble, she knew he would have done anything to help them. Norman Shanks was now towering above her, the smell of him almost making her sick.
“How can I get out of here without being seen?” he barked at the girls.
“Annie?” Mr Thornton was standing outside the dorm again.
“I told you to get rid of him,” Norman breathed into Annie's face. He shoved her towards the curtain and told her to make him go away.
“”Yes sir?” she whimpered.
“I forgot to give you your pen, you left it on my desk after you wrote your note. I know it's yours because it has your name on it.”
“Typical Annie,” thought Roxanne, “Always labelling everything.” Annie was starting to worry that Mr Thornton would be dragged into this nightmare and wished he would just leave.
“Oh,” said Annie, sticking her head back through the curtain.
As she did so, Mr Thornton saw the tears in Annie's eyes and watched as they trickled down her cheeks. He knelt down on the floor and asked if she was alright, mouthing the words so that he made no sound. Annie shook her head, trying to control her misery so as not to anger the intruder in the dorm behind her. Her teacher handed her the pen and touched her cheek. Again he mouthed to her and told her he thought he had heard a male's voice in the dorm and would be right back with help. She quickly wiped her eyes before turning around and told Norman Shanks that her teacher had gone.
“Good! Now get me out of here before I have to hurt one of you!” he threatened. The others jumped up, all six of them now trembling and desperately trying not to cry or shout out.
Chelsea showed the man the emergency key for the fire escape door behind her bed. She showed him where the stairs led to and told him how to get to the back entrance of the school. The prisoner lunged across to the red box on the wall and broke the glass with the back of his knife and grabbed the key, his bag of stolen goods slung over his shoulder. He was struggling to unlock the door which was rusted and stiff from being permanently locked, when Charlotte spotted a movement out of the corner of her eye. Mr Thornton had crept into the dorm and was reaching for Roxanne's hockey stick that was propped up against her cupboard. He motioned to the girls to step back very slowly so that he could move closer to the intruder. Norman Shanks eventually turned the lock and opened the door and then turned to threaten the girls once more about breathing a word of his intrusion. But he didn't have a chance. Mr Thornton swung the hockey stick as hard as he could and hit the tall man over the head. He fell to the floor, crying out in pain, and Mr Thornton immediately retrieved the knife from his hand. The next moment, Mr Walnut and Mr Sheraton barged through the curtain. They both assisted Mr Thornton in trying to get the man back onto his feet and out of the dormitory, away from the petrified girls who were now cowering in the opposite corner of the room. The three men dragged Norman Shanks to the principal's office where Mrs Sheraton was waiting with the police. The officer in charge took the bag off the robber's shoulder and handed it back to Mrs Sheraton. He then handcuffed the escaped prisoner who was still rubbing his head and told him he would be going straight back to his prison cell, with a sentence that was sure to be extended after his attempted robbery and assault at Fernwood High.
Mrs Sheraton sent for the Super Six, very concerned about the terrible ordeal that they had just suffered. They walked into her office and Annie ran straight to Mr Thornton who gave her a big hug and comforted her with his kind words. The principal told them how brave they had been and that she would excuse them from writing the rest of their exams as she could not imagine how they could possibly concentrate on schoolwork after the experience they had just had. She asked the secretary to allow them to phone their parents and to make the necessary arrange to go home early for the holidays.
“What a way to end the term,” said Jade as they watched the police van drive away with Norman Shanks safely locked away in the back. They had all given their statements to the police and Mrs Sheraton had stayed with them during the whole procedure, giving them tissues, hugs and cups of tea.
“I'd say! Although so much has happened this term, it would have been an anticlimax if it had merely ended without and excitement,” said Roxanne.
“Excitement! Honestly Roxanne! I would rather have had the anticlimax than Norman Shanks pointing that knife at me,” said Annie, who hadn't quite recovered from shock yet.
“So, Mr Thornton to the rescue! Thank goodness he came to find you Annie,” said Charlotte, patting her friend’s head that was level with her elbow.
“You see, it pays to bug your teachers sometimes, and label your stationery!” she gloated. “And I always knew there was something special about Mr Thornton. He’s my hero!”
The Grade Ten girls in Oak house, in the dorm under the stairs, were all determined to do well in their first set of exams of the year. They felt they had done most of the hard work by paying attention during their lessons and diligently completing all their homework assignments, but the time had come for them to knuckle down and revise all that they had learnt during the term in order to achieve good results on their reports.
“This is our second last Sunday before the holidays, girls,” yawned Chelsea, stretching as she climbed out of bed.
“You're right, and what an exciting one it will be down in the study cubes...studying, studying and studying,” sighed Jade.
“It's not that bad Jade, I actually think that our group study sessions have been quite fun, especially with all the rhymes and dances we've made up to remember some of the more tricky facts!” said Calipso, smiling at the thought.
“And now that we are officially on study leave, at least we don't have to go to class anymore, which means we have more time to study during the day,” said Charlotte.
“I guess, but I just can't wait for the holidays,” Jade replied.
Roxanne yawned loudly and walked over to the basin to wash her face. It was actually more of a shuffle than a walk as her muscles were feeling very stiff after a strenuous couple of days of swimming and hockey.
“Ah, exams! I hope they're easy,” she mumbled as she splashed water on her face to try and wake herself up.
“They will be if you're well prepared Rox, which I'm sure you will be,” said Annie cheerfully.
“Mmm, I suppose,” said Roxanne. “I'm honestly quite glad that all the sports fixtures are over for the term. At least I can focus on studying now, no more distractions.”
“You're lucky!” said Chelsea. “I keep thinking about Kyle when I should be thinking about Geometry and Physics.”
“Oh yes, I forgot to ask how your date was yesterday. What did you two do?” asked her sister, starting to feel a little more awake.
“Well, I didn't want to miss your hockey match, so we just went for a milkshake at 'The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf' because it's the closest place to go.”
“Thanks Chels! And how was it?” she asked.
Chelsea's face lit up as she was about to answer. It was the same look she always had on her face whenever anyone mentioned Kyle.
“It was fun. He fetched me and walked me back to school and he paid for my milkshake and we talked non-stop. He's so interested in everything I tell him and he loves hearing about you guys.”
“Cool. So when are you going to see him again?”
She sighed. “I don't know, he also starts exams this week so we'll both be busy studying for the next two weeks.”
“Maybe he'll come and visit during a study break next weekend,” said Jade, sensing the disappointment in Chelsea's voice.
The girls spent the day in the study cubicles downstairs, preparing for their first two exams on Tuesday. They were writing Geography and Maths but none of them seemed to be able to concentrate very well as their minds were on other things. Roxanne kept thinking about the Golden Sparrows and then spent ages on the telephone to her parents. Chelsea's thoughts were of Kyle, wondering how his studying was going. Calipso was thinking about Peru, very excited about going back home for a month. Charlotte was reading a gripping book and kept sneaking a few pages when she should have been learning about Climatology and maps. Jade had asked Chelsea to buy the latest 'Glamour' and 'People' magazines for her when she was in town the day before, so she had her nose buried in those. Annie was the only one who worked all day, not wanting to waste a minute. She flipped quickly through her Geography file and spent the rest of the day on Maths, but she also had trouble on the sums in front of her, the numbers swimming around on the page and too many of her calculations turned out to be incorrect. By the time they went to bed that night, they had blamed their lack of concentration on the Sunday Blues. They decided to draw up a study timetable outlining what they would study when and for how long. It would also tell them when they could take breaks and how long they should be. They would start first thing on Monday morning.
Charlotte's idea of the study timetable turned out to be a great one. The girls worked hard during their study hours and spent their breaks going for walks, swimming, sitting on the grass under the trees outside and listening to music. By Thursday they had written five exams and they all felt that the papers had been relatively easy so far. Calipso was a little concerned about the History paper as she had not had enough time to answer all the questions. Annie was worried about the Maths paper because there were two equations that she had had no idea how to solve. She was hoping that the second Maths paper would be easier and decided that an extra lesson with Mr Thornton would make her feel better and a lot more confident.
After their mid-morning break, Annie decided to go to Mr Thornton's classroom and ask him to go over Geometry and Trigonometry with her in preparation for the next exam. She knocked lightly on his door which was slightly ajar but there was no answer. She pushed the door open and saw that the fan was on and his books were open on his desk as if he had been busy working and had just popped out for a moment. She decided to sit and study while she waited for him to return to the classroom. He hadn't returned by the time the bell rang for lunch so she packed up her things and joined the others in the Dining hall.
“Do you feel better after your extra lesson with Mr T?” asked Charlotte.
“He wasn't there. I might go back after lunch, otherwise I'll have to try again tomorrow. At least the exam is only on Monday so I still have some time to see him,” she replied.
The study timetable that the Super Six had drawn up allowed them some time after lunch for a short nap. They found that a power nap helped them to concentrate better in the afternoons, so they closed the blinds and lay on their beds to rest before their afternoon study session which was allocated to Biology. Annie decided to skip the nap and go back to Mr Thornton's classroom. When she knocked, there was still no answer, but this time the fan was off, his desk was tidy and his books had been put away. She went to look for him in the staffroom, in the office and in the teacher's lounge, but he was nowhere to be found and none of the other teachers had seen him either. Annie was feeling very frustrated about the time she was wasting, so she went back to his classroom and decided to leave a note for him. She wrote what it was that she needed help with and asked if he could please give her an extra lesson before Monday's exam as she was feeling desperate.
That night, they collapsed into bed after a good afternoon of studying and felt excited that it was already the end of the week and only one more week to go. They were about to drift off to sleep when Calipso commented on their lack of dreams lately. Chelsea put it down to the stress of exams and believed it was because their minds were so full of numbers and dates and technical terms.
“Maybe we only dream when our minds are clear and not so full of facts,” she suggested.
The others had already started to nod off and weren't really paying much attention, but Calipso had spoken too soon. That night the girls did dream. They had a fitful night's sleep and they tossed and turned. They dreamt of something frightening.
The next morning, when the six girls opened their eyes after hearing the rising bell, they all felt very uneasy. They all had worried expressions on their faces as they went about their morning routine. The girls then walked to breakfast in silence. They helped themselves to cereal and Friday bagels and sat eating quietly before Jade broke the silence.
“So, Friday morning, end of the week,” she said flatly.
“Mm,” they all mumbled in unison.
“So much for the lack of dreams,” said Calipso, “who's going to talk about their dream first?” she asked.
Annie cleared her throat. “I will, although mine was more of a nightmare than a dream. I dreamt that there was a m-m-man searching for something in our dorm. I didn't see his face but he looked filthy,” she stammered.
“I saw a man's eyes in my dream. One was grey and the other looked red. I couldn't see the rest of his face because he was wearing a black beanie on his head,” said Jade, her voice not much louder than a whisper.
“I saw what he was wearing...he was wearing a torn prison overall,” added Charlotte.
“In my dream, one of the windows in our dorm was wide open, the blind pulled down and lying on the floor,” said Roxanne, her eyes wide with terror. “What about you Chels?” she asked her sister who was struggling to swallow her breakfast.
“In my dream, I saw the front page of the newspaper. It said: 'Prisoner on the loose: Norman Shanks – escaped from county prison two days ago',” she replied.
“Calipso? What did you dream about?” asked Annie.
Calipso could not look at her friends. She stared into her bowl of cereal and then she also spoke in a voice that they could barely hear.
“A knife. I saw the same man, in a prison overall, a black beanie on his head, and-and...he had a knife.” She looked up then, into Annie's frightened eyes. “He was holding your arm Annie, and he was pointing the knife at you.”
They all gasped in horror. What were they to do? When would this happen? How could they stop it?
The Super Six had lost their appetites and pushed their breakfast around on their plates. No one had a single idea or suggestion of what to do so they decided to go back to Oak House and see if the newspaper had been delivered yet. The girls wanted to see if there was an article about an escaped prisoner named Norman Shanks. They walked into Mrs Glover's tiny office at the front of the hostel and they saw that the newspaper had been delivered, but their grumpy matron was poring over it and hated to be disturbed when she was reading the news. They would have to read it later.
They walked downstairs with heavy steps, not knowing how they were going to focus on their work. They reached the curtain at the entrance to their dorm and they all filed through in silence. And then they froze. Standing in the middle of their dorm was a tall man in a torn prison overall, with a black beanie on his head and evil eyes. He looked filthy and smelt even worse. There was a bag at his feet full of cellular phones, iPods, cameras and wallets. They were too late to do anything to stop their dreams from coming true! He put his finger on his lips and signalled to them to sit on Charlotte's bed. Jade thought about making a run for it, but just then she caught the glint of a knife behind his back as it reflected in the sunlight. They all squashed onto Charlotte's bed, holding each others' hands tightly, their hearts pounding in their chests. Not one of them could see a way out of this terrifying situation. No one ever visited them in their dorm, hidden under the stairs, and they wouldn't be missed from class as they were on study leave. No one checked the study cubicles either, to see if everyone was there, as the girls were allowed to study in their dorms or the library too so no one would think it odd that they weren’t there.
They were feeling desperate when all of a sudden they heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and then turning towards their dorm. The girls looked at each other, their eyes full of hope, but the prisoner grabbed Annie's arm and pulled her off the bed. He swung his other arm out from behind his back and the knife that Jade had seen, which was long and very sharp, was now pointed at Annie's small and fragile neck. It was just as Calipso had dreamt.
“Don't you dare make a sound!” he threatened them in a gruff voice. He pulled Annie to the curtain. “Think of something to say to get rid of whoever is coming,” he spat at her, waving the knife in her face and then walking backwards to hide behind Jade's cupboard door.
There was a knock on the door frame.
“Knock, knock,” said a deep voice. Annie gulped. She recognised the voice of her Maths teacher.
“Hello?” she answered nervously, her body trembling in fear.
“Annie, it's Mr Thornton. I found your note about an extra Maths lesson, may I come in?” he asked.
Annie looked at the scary man behind the cupboard. He was scowling at her with his arm outstretched.
Annie opened the curtain just wide enough for her face to stick out.
“Morning Sir, thank you so much for coming to find me but I understand the Maths now. Don't need an extra lesson after all,” she said, trying to sound as convincing as she could.
“Are you sure Annie? Your message made it sound like you wanted to discuss quite a lot with me. Do you want to show me what it was you were struggling with?”
“No thanks Sir, I have lots of other studying to do so I'm going to take a break from the Maths. Thanks for coming anyway, have a good day.”
Mr Thornton stared at his student, a little troubled by her reaction. He knew Annie well. For the past two years, she had been the most dedicated student he had ever taught. She was meticulous in her work and come exam time, she was a bundle of nerves before every Maths paper. He knew from the other girls that Annie didn't spend nearly as much time preparing for her other subjects as she did for Maths, and she still managed to achieve distinctions in everything. But Maths was her favourite and it was not uncommon for her to seek him out for help before the exams. She told him that she always liked to make sure she understood everything perfectly before the time, and she admitted to him that there was something about when he was explaining to her on her own that made her feel calm and confident. He, of course, didn't mind spending the time with her, he offered lessons to a number of the girls in his classes who needed the extra help. As far as he was concerned, that was his job, and he was only too happy to help. Which is why he found Annie's reaction so odd. It wasn't like her to turn down a lesson before the exams, especially after she had waited to see him and in an attempt to arrange a lesson only the day before. It also wasn't like her to be so dismissive. He and Annie had a good relationship and he knew she was fond of him, but it seemed she didn't want to spend another minute talking to him. He frowned and put his hands in his pockets.
“Ok then, glad you feel better about Geometry and Trig. I'll be in my classroom if you need me.” He turned to leave, looking at her one last time to make sure she was okay but she had already disappeared behind the curtain.
Annie now had her back to the curtain and tears had started to well up in her eyes. Seeing her Maths teacher, always so kind and caring, had made her feel so helpless. If only she could have given him some sort of sign that they were in trouble, she knew he would have done anything to help them. Norman Shanks was now towering above her, the smell of him almost making her sick.
“How can I get out of here without being seen?” he barked at the girls.
“Annie?” Mr Thornton was standing outside the dorm again.
“I told you to get rid of him,” Norman breathed into Annie's face. He shoved her towards the curtain and told her to make him go away.
“”Yes sir?” she whimpered.
“I forgot to give you your pen, you left it on my desk after you wrote your note. I know it's yours because it has your name on it.”
“Typical Annie,” thought Roxanne, “Always labelling everything.” Annie was starting to worry that Mr Thornton would be dragged into this nightmare and wished he would just leave.
“Oh,” said Annie, sticking her head back through the curtain.
As she did so, Mr Thornton saw the tears in Annie's eyes and watched as they trickled down her cheeks. He knelt down on the floor and asked if she was alright, mouthing the words so that he made no sound. Annie shook her head, trying to control her misery so as not to anger the intruder in the dorm behind her. Her teacher handed her the pen and touched her cheek. Again he mouthed to her and told her he thought he had heard a male's voice in the dorm and would be right back with help. She quickly wiped her eyes before turning around and told Norman Shanks that her teacher had gone.
“Good! Now get me out of here before I have to hurt one of you!” he threatened. The others jumped up, all six of them now trembling and desperately trying not to cry or shout out.
Chelsea showed the man the emergency key for the fire escape door behind her bed. She showed him where the stairs led to and told him how to get to the back entrance of the school. The prisoner lunged across to the red box on the wall and broke the glass with the back of his knife and grabbed the key, his bag of stolen goods slung over his shoulder. He was struggling to unlock the door which was rusted and stiff from being permanently locked, when Charlotte spotted a movement out of the corner of her eye. Mr Thornton had crept into the dorm and was reaching for Roxanne's hockey stick that was propped up against her cupboard. He motioned to the girls to step back very slowly so that he could move closer to the intruder. Norman Shanks eventually turned the lock and opened the door and then turned to threaten the girls once more about breathing a word of his intrusion. But he didn't have a chance. Mr Thornton swung the hockey stick as hard as he could and hit the tall man over the head. He fell to the floor, crying out in pain, and Mr Thornton immediately retrieved the knife from his hand. The next moment, Mr Walnut and Mr Sheraton barged through the curtain. They both assisted Mr Thornton in trying to get the man back onto his feet and out of the dormitory, away from the petrified girls who were now cowering in the opposite corner of the room. The three men dragged Norman Shanks to the principal's office where Mrs Sheraton was waiting with the police. The officer in charge took the bag off the robber's shoulder and handed it back to Mrs Sheraton. He then handcuffed the escaped prisoner who was still rubbing his head and told him he would be going straight back to his prison cell, with a sentence that was sure to be extended after his attempted robbery and assault at Fernwood High.
Mrs Sheraton sent for the Super Six, very concerned about the terrible ordeal that they had just suffered. They walked into her office and Annie ran straight to Mr Thornton who gave her a big hug and comforted her with his kind words. The principal told them how brave they had been and that she would excuse them from writing the rest of their exams as she could not imagine how they could possibly concentrate on schoolwork after the experience they had just had. She asked the secretary to allow them to phone their parents and to make the necessary arrange to go home early for the holidays.
“What a way to end the term,” said Jade as they watched the police van drive away with Norman Shanks safely locked away in the back. They had all given their statements to the police and Mrs Sheraton had stayed with them during the whole procedure, giving them tissues, hugs and cups of tea.
“I'd say! Although so much has happened this term, it would have been an anticlimax if it had merely ended without and excitement,” said Roxanne.
“Excitement! Honestly Roxanne! I would rather have had the anticlimax than Norman Shanks pointing that knife at me,” said Annie, who hadn't quite recovered from shock yet.
“So, Mr Thornton to the rescue! Thank goodness he came to find you Annie,” said Charlotte, patting her friend’s head that was level with her elbow.
“You see, it pays to bug your teachers sometimes, and label your stationery!” she gloated. “And I always knew there was something special about Mr Thornton. He’s my hero!”
Chapter Nineteen: Dreams Really Do Come True (Aameera, Alexa, Miss N)
The rising bell rang and Jade yawned loudly as she climbed out of bed.
“Another Monday morning, the start of another week,” she sighed.
“Swimming champs this week, and hockey trials. I’m so excited!” Roxanne leaped out of bed, her loud announcement waking the rest of the girls who were still only semi-conscious.
I’m a little nervous too, but mostly excited!” Roxanne was talking to herself, nobody was really listening to her but she continued talking about her upcoming events with much enthusiasm.
“When is the gala?” mumbled Annie from across the dorm, not really interested in the answer.
“It’s on Friday and it’s being held at Braxton House as usual because they have such a beautiful swimming pool. All the best swimmers in the country are coming down and we’re all staying at Braxton House after the gala. We're also having a big fancy dinner so that we can get to know some of the other swimmers.”
“Mmm, sounds fun,” said Annie, rolling her eyes. The gala, the dinner, the other swimmers, none of it really sounded that exciting at this time of the morning.
“And the hockey trials? When are they?” asked Calipso, already dressed and making her bed.
“They’re on Saturday afternoon. All the best hockey players in our region will be there as well as a few international coaches. They will be looking for talented hockey players to award sports’ bursaries to overseas schools and universities. Can you imagine how great it would be to impress one of them and be chosen to play hockey overseas? Now that would be a dream come true!” said Roxanne, full of hope and wishful thinking.
The week that followed was rather uneventful as the girls spent most of their time studying for exams. They found that testing each other made it much easier to remember and learn their work, so they allocated a different subject to each day of the week and they all took turns asking and answering questions. Except Annie. Aside from Maths, she felt she knew her work very well, so she spent all her time in the library working through pages and pages of sums and equations. She loved Maths, but she was worried about making careless errors and wanted to make sure that she had gone over everything as well as she possibly could. Roxanne also missed a few group study sessions because she was feeling anxious about the gala. She spent every spare minute down at the pool practicing for her big event, the individual medley.
After lunch on Friday, Roxanne packed a small bag to take with her to Braxton House and then asked her friends to wish her luck. They all hugged her and promised to be on the stands to watch her races straight after Biology with Miss Jiggleweed. It was always exciting to watch as the various schools competed against each other, even more so when Roxanne finished in the top three.
Biology seemed to last forever and the girls were worried that they would be kept in after the bell if they hadn’t completed their experiment. But ten minutes before the end of the lesson, Miss Jiggleweed told them to pack up their equipment, whether they were finished or not, and, surprisingly, she dismissed them early.
Chelsea and Charlotte were the first to race out the door, and once they had dropped their books off and signed out with Mrs Glover, they skipped along the path to Braxton House.
The girls arrived just in time to see Roxanne win the freestyle race, and then the backstroke and breaststroke races. They cheered excitedly as they watched race after race. Chelsea was thrilled that she was able to watch Kyle come first in two of his races too.
The last two events of the day were the boys and girls individual medleys. If the winner of the girl’s race was from Fernwood, they would receive a special school trophy and their name would be printed on the swimming board in the school hall. Roxanne was desperate to win it. The swimmers stepped onto the starting blocks and took their marks. The gun fired and they were off. Roxanne’s dive gave her a good start and she was in the lead. She managed to stay a good distance in front of the others for most of the race until the last length of freestyle. The girl in the lane next to her, from Langdon High School, suddenly started to catch up until they were right next to each other. They were meters away from the wall and it looked like Roxanne was losing the battle, when suddenly, from somewhere, she gathered the last of her strength and kicked her way into first place. The crowd roared and everyone was on their feet. She had done it! Roxanne's friends were on their feet and the noise from the crowd was deafening. What an end to the gala. The girls were jumping up and down in excitement when they spotted Miss Jiggleweed three rows in front of them doing the same thing. Her left hand was in the air but her right hand was holding the hand of the gentleman sitting next to her.
“Who is that with Miss Jiggleweed?” asked Charlotte as they all leaned forward to have a closer look.
“It’s ‘The Nut’!” squealed Annie. “Miss Jiggleweed and Mr Walnut!”
As they watched, the two teachers turned to each other and laughed. Mr Walnut bent down to whisper something in Miss Jiggleweed’s ear and in response she giggled and turned a slight shade of pink.
“'The Nut' and 'The Weed', who would have thought?” said Jade. “They actually make a great pair.”
“They do, they look so happy,” agreed Annie.
After the short prize giving, the crowds slowly started leaving the pool area. Roxanne spotted her friends just before they reached the gate and quickly caught up to them. They all smothered her with hugs and kisses, they all felt so proud of their sporty friend. They then watched her rush off and join the other swimmers. They knew that she was looking forward to mingling with all the visitors from the other schools and making new friends. Each school group had been allocated a dormitory at Braxton House where they would spend the night after their dinner. The after-party, however, continued late into the night and neither the coaches nor the swimmers seemed to notice. When Roxanne did eventually see what the time was, she started to feel a little anxious about her hockey trials the next day and she knew that she had to be sensible and have a good night’s rest. So she slipped away quietly and found herself a bed in the corner of her temporary dorm. As she lay down, she realised how exhausted she felt and it wasn’t long before she was fast asleep.
The next morning Roxanne woke up early and joined the other early risers for breakfast in the Braxton House Dining hall. She ate quickly and then rushed back to Fernwood to meet the hockey girls. Everyone at Fernwood was at breakfast, so she rushed to the dorm to exchange her swimming bag for her hockey bag and went up to the fields to hit a few hockey balls. She ran around the field a few times to warm up and when her team eventually arrived they practiced a few short corners and then sat down to discuss their positions and game tactics. Once all the school teams had arrived, Roxanne and her fellow teammates spotted Mrs Dothesplitz introducing a group of strangers to all the other coaches. They realised they were the international coaches and they suddenly felt very nervous.
A few minutes later, Mrs Dothesplitz’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker as she called the first two teams to take their places on the field. Fernwood was only playing in the second match so they found a seat on the stands to watch. Roxanne was about to sit down when someone behind her yanked her arm. She spun around and saw Annie’s little face staring anxiously into hers.
“Come with me!” she ordered, pulling Roxanne by her shirt sleeve.
She followed Annie to where the rest of the Super Six were standing and she noticed that they also had anxious looks on their faces.
“What?” she asked concerned, although she was a little disappointed to be missing the game being played behind her.
“It’s about our dreams,” said Jade, “It’s important.”
“We all dreamt about you last night and it’s not good, so we’ve come to warn you,” said a worried Charlotte.
“Warn me about what?” asked Roxanne, starting to feel more than a little worried herself.
Calipso decided to speak up and be the one to tell Roxanne the news.
“You’re going to play very well today. However, at some point you’re going to be in the perfect position to score a goal but when Jennifer passes the ball to you, it’s going to be deflected off one of your opponents' sticks and hit you in the face. You’re going to split your lip and pass out and the first aiders are going to have to rush you off the field. You’re not going to go back onto the field and you’re not going to be considered by the international coaches for a chance to play overseas or for a bursary.”
Roxanne was speechless.
“So, all you have to do is move out of the way every time Jessica passes you the ball,” suggested Jade.
“I can’t do that Jade!” replied Roxanne, looking horrified at the idea.
Just then, the whistle blew to signal the end of the first match and the next two teams were making their way onto the field.
“I have to go,” said Roxanne, turning and running onto the field to her position in the center.
The whistle blew and the second match began. In the first half, both teams struggled to get the ball anywhere near the goals as the defenders on both sides were playing exceptionally well. Just before the half-time whistle blew, Fernwood nearly scored a goal from a short corner but the girl playing wing was too quick and she hit the ball out. The second half was just as tough. There were only a few minutes left and Roxanne was desperately hoping that her team would score to win the game. She tackled the wing and dribbled the ball past the left-half and then the left-back. The sweeper from the other team charged towards Roxanne but she managed to pass it to Jessica just in time. She ran to the top of the 'D' and shouted to Jessica to pass it back to her. Jessica hit the ball hard but, out of nowhere, the sweeper dived back and tried to intercept the pass. In that instant Roxanne knew what was going to happen. She dived forward onto the grass but held her hockey stick in the air with her left hand. The ball flew through the air where she had been standing seconds before, and as her stomach hit the ground, the ball somehow deflected off her stick in the direction of the goals. The goal keeper wasn’t expecting such brilliance, who would have? She reacted too slowly to stop the ball and it flew into the top right-hand corner of the goal box. It all seemed to happen in slow motion for Roxanne and when she finally realised what had happened, her teammates were pulling her off the ground and hugging her. And once again, the crowd were on their feet, cheering for Roxanne. She dusted the mud and grass off her shirt and off her knees. The final whistle blew and the rest of Roxanne's team just about carried her off the field. They were the winners of the match, thanks to Roxanne's amazing goal. When she looked up, she saw five girls running onto the field towards her. It was her best friends and she was so excited to see them. She hugged them all without saying a word, but they knew what she was thinking and they felt so relieved – relieved, happy and proud of their friend once again.
They sat together to watch the rest of the matches and couldn’t stop talking about Roxanne’s brilliant goal. Once all the teams had played, Mrs Dothesplitz confirmed that the provincial team would be announced the following week. The visitors then left the stands and headed for their school buses while the Fernwood girls walked back to their hostels. The Super Six wandered slowly along the path, not in any hurry, when Roxanne heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw that it was Mrs Dothesplitz. She ran towards her coach who hugged her star player tightly.
“You were unbelievable Roxanne, what an incredible goal! I’m so proud of you!”
“Thanks coach, but I had a little help,” she replied, thinking about the helpful warning she received from the rest of the Super Six, not her teammates as Mrs Dothsplitz was probably thinking.
“There’s someone who would like to meet you,” said Mrs Dothesplitz. Her coach led her to the table where they had all been sitting and the strangers that she had seen earlier stood to shake her hand.
“Hi Roxanne, my name is Robert McDougall,” said the tall, skinny man in a Scottish accent.
“Afternoon Sir,” she replied in a shy voice.
“You played very well Roxanne, and as for that goal, it was quite something. You really stood out on that field today, and we’d like to offer you the opportunity to play for the Golden Swallows, and come on tour with us to France.”
Roxanne couldn’t believe what she was hearing, the Golden Swallows were currently ranked the number one Girls' Junior Hockey team in the world.
“Thank you, thank you so much, I would love to!” she replied, overwhelmed with excitement.
“Your coach will discuss the contract with you and your parents. You will have to miss a few days of school during hockey season so you will need to first get permission fro your principal, but there is no rush. We will meet with you next month to finalise the arrangements so there is plenty of time to worry about the minor details.”
Roxanne thanked Mr McDougall over and over and then shook hands with him again before running back to her friends. She told them the news and they were thrilled. They all knew how much it meant to her.
That night, as the Super Six sat in their dorm discussing everything from the gala, Miss Jiggleweed and Mr Walnut to the dreams the night before. And there was the goal and the Golden Sparrows. Roxanne couldn’t help thinking how lucky she was. Lucky to be at such a good school, lucky to have such sporting talent, and lucky to be in the dorm under the stairs. But most of all, she felt lucky to have such wonderful friends. She watched them as they relived her individual medley and that amazing goal and they seemed even more excited than she was. It was really thanks to all of them that she scored the goal that made the coaches notice her and then select her for the Golden Sparrows. “Dreams really do come true...” she thought to herself, “...in every sense of the word!”
“Another Monday morning, the start of another week,” she sighed.
“Swimming champs this week, and hockey trials. I’m so excited!” Roxanne leaped out of bed, her loud announcement waking the rest of the girls who were still only semi-conscious.
I’m a little nervous too, but mostly excited!” Roxanne was talking to herself, nobody was really listening to her but she continued talking about her upcoming events with much enthusiasm.
“When is the gala?” mumbled Annie from across the dorm, not really interested in the answer.
“It’s on Friday and it’s being held at Braxton House as usual because they have such a beautiful swimming pool. All the best swimmers in the country are coming down and we’re all staying at Braxton House after the gala. We're also having a big fancy dinner so that we can get to know some of the other swimmers.”
“Mmm, sounds fun,” said Annie, rolling her eyes. The gala, the dinner, the other swimmers, none of it really sounded that exciting at this time of the morning.
“And the hockey trials? When are they?” asked Calipso, already dressed and making her bed.
“They’re on Saturday afternoon. All the best hockey players in our region will be there as well as a few international coaches. They will be looking for talented hockey players to award sports’ bursaries to overseas schools and universities. Can you imagine how great it would be to impress one of them and be chosen to play hockey overseas? Now that would be a dream come true!” said Roxanne, full of hope and wishful thinking.
The week that followed was rather uneventful as the girls spent most of their time studying for exams. They found that testing each other made it much easier to remember and learn their work, so they allocated a different subject to each day of the week and they all took turns asking and answering questions. Except Annie. Aside from Maths, she felt she knew her work very well, so she spent all her time in the library working through pages and pages of sums and equations. She loved Maths, but she was worried about making careless errors and wanted to make sure that she had gone over everything as well as she possibly could. Roxanne also missed a few group study sessions because she was feeling anxious about the gala. She spent every spare minute down at the pool practicing for her big event, the individual medley.
After lunch on Friday, Roxanne packed a small bag to take with her to Braxton House and then asked her friends to wish her luck. They all hugged her and promised to be on the stands to watch her races straight after Biology with Miss Jiggleweed. It was always exciting to watch as the various schools competed against each other, even more so when Roxanne finished in the top three.
Biology seemed to last forever and the girls were worried that they would be kept in after the bell if they hadn’t completed their experiment. But ten minutes before the end of the lesson, Miss Jiggleweed told them to pack up their equipment, whether they were finished or not, and, surprisingly, she dismissed them early.
Chelsea and Charlotte were the first to race out the door, and once they had dropped their books off and signed out with Mrs Glover, they skipped along the path to Braxton House.
The girls arrived just in time to see Roxanne win the freestyle race, and then the backstroke and breaststroke races. They cheered excitedly as they watched race after race. Chelsea was thrilled that she was able to watch Kyle come first in two of his races too.
The last two events of the day were the boys and girls individual medleys. If the winner of the girl’s race was from Fernwood, they would receive a special school trophy and their name would be printed on the swimming board in the school hall. Roxanne was desperate to win it. The swimmers stepped onto the starting blocks and took their marks. The gun fired and they were off. Roxanne’s dive gave her a good start and she was in the lead. She managed to stay a good distance in front of the others for most of the race until the last length of freestyle. The girl in the lane next to her, from Langdon High School, suddenly started to catch up until they were right next to each other. They were meters away from the wall and it looked like Roxanne was losing the battle, when suddenly, from somewhere, she gathered the last of her strength and kicked her way into first place. The crowd roared and everyone was on their feet. She had done it! Roxanne's friends were on their feet and the noise from the crowd was deafening. What an end to the gala. The girls were jumping up and down in excitement when they spotted Miss Jiggleweed three rows in front of them doing the same thing. Her left hand was in the air but her right hand was holding the hand of the gentleman sitting next to her.
“Who is that with Miss Jiggleweed?” asked Charlotte as they all leaned forward to have a closer look.
“It’s ‘The Nut’!” squealed Annie. “Miss Jiggleweed and Mr Walnut!”
As they watched, the two teachers turned to each other and laughed. Mr Walnut bent down to whisper something in Miss Jiggleweed’s ear and in response she giggled and turned a slight shade of pink.
“'The Nut' and 'The Weed', who would have thought?” said Jade. “They actually make a great pair.”
“They do, they look so happy,” agreed Annie.
After the short prize giving, the crowds slowly started leaving the pool area. Roxanne spotted her friends just before they reached the gate and quickly caught up to them. They all smothered her with hugs and kisses, they all felt so proud of their sporty friend. They then watched her rush off and join the other swimmers. They knew that she was looking forward to mingling with all the visitors from the other schools and making new friends. Each school group had been allocated a dormitory at Braxton House where they would spend the night after their dinner. The after-party, however, continued late into the night and neither the coaches nor the swimmers seemed to notice. When Roxanne did eventually see what the time was, she started to feel a little anxious about her hockey trials the next day and she knew that she had to be sensible and have a good night’s rest. So she slipped away quietly and found herself a bed in the corner of her temporary dorm. As she lay down, she realised how exhausted she felt and it wasn’t long before she was fast asleep.
The next morning Roxanne woke up early and joined the other early risers for breakfast in the Braxton House Dining hall. She ate quickly and then rushed back to Fernwood to meet the hockey girls. Everyone at Fernwood was at breakfast, so she rushed to the dorm to exchange her swimming bag for her hockey bag and went up to the fields to hit a few hockey balls. She ran around the field a few times to warm up and when her team eventually arrived they practiced a few short corners and then sat down to discuss their positions and game tactics. Once all the school teams had arrived, Roxanne and her fellow teammates spotted Mrs Dothesplitz introducing a group of strangers to all the other coaches. They realised they were the international coaches and they suddenly felt very nervous.
A few minutes later, Mrs Dothesplitz’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker as she called the first two teams to take their places on the field. Fernwood was only playing in the second match so they found a seat on the stands to watch. Roxanne was about to sit down when someone behind her yanked her arm. She spun around and saw Annie’s little face staring anxiously into hers.
“Come with me!” she ordered, pulling Roxanne by her shirt sleeve.
She followed Annie to where the rest of the Super Six were standing and she noticed that they also had anxious looks on their faces.
“What?” she asked concerned, although she was a little disappointed to be missing the game being played behind her.
“It’s about our dreams,” said Jade, “It’s important.”
“We all dreamt about you last night and it’s not good, so we’ve come to warn you,” said a worried Charlotte.
“Warn me about what?” asked Roxanne, starting to feel more than a little worried herself.
Calipso decided to speak up and be the one to tell Roxanne the news.
“You’re going to play very well today. However, at some point you’re going to be in the perfect position to score a goal but when Jennifer passes the ball to you, it’s going to be deflected off one of your opponents' sticks and hit you in the face. You’re going to split your lip and pass out and the first aiders are going to have to rush you off the field. You’re not going to go back onto the field and you’re not going to be considered by the international coaches for a chance to play overseas or for a bursary.”
Roxanne was speechless.
“So, all you have to do is move out of the way every time Jessica passes you the ball,” suggested Jade.
“I can’t do that Jade!” replied Roxanne, looking horrified at the idea.
Just then, the whistle blew to signal the end of the first match and the next two teams were making their way onto the field.
“I have to go,” said Roxanne, turning and running onto the field to her position in the center.
The whistle blew and the second match began. In the first half, both teams struggled to get the ball anywhere near the goals as the defenders on both sides were playing exceptionally well. Just before the half-time whistle blew, Fernwood nearly scored a goal from a short corner but the girl playing wing was too quick and she hit the ball out. The second half was just as tough. There were only a few minutes left and Roxanne was desperately hoping that her team would score to win the game. She tackled the wing and dribbled the ball past the left-half and then the left-back. The sweeper from the other team charged towards Roxanne but she managed to pass it to Jessica just in time. She ran to the top of the 'D' and shouted to Jessica to pass it back to her. Jessica hit the ball hard but, out of nowhere, the sweeper dived back and tried to intercept the pass. In that instant Roxanne knew what was going to happen. She dived forward onto the grass but held her hockey stick in the air with her left hand. The ball flew through the air where she had been standing seconds before, and as her stomach hit the ground, the ball somehow deflected off her stick in the direction of the goals. The goal keeper wasn’t expecting such brilliance, who would have? She reacted too slowly to stop the ball and it flew into the top right-hand corner of the goal box. It all seemed to happen in slow motion for Roxanne and when she finally realised what had happened, her teammates were pulling her off the ground and hugging her. And once again, the crowd were on their feet, cheering for Roxanne. She dusted the mud and grass off her shirt and off her knees. The final whistle blew and the rest of Roxanne's team just about carried her off the field. They were the winners of the match, thanks to Roxanne's amazing goal. When she looked up, she saw five girls running onto the field towards her. It was her best friends and she was so excited to see them. She hugged them all without saying a word, but they knew what she was thinking and they felt so relieved – relieved, happy and proud of their friend once again.
They sat together to watch the rest of the matches and couldn’t stop talking about Roxanne’s brilliant goal. Once all the teams had played, Mrs Dothesplitz confirmed that the provincial team would be announced the following week. The visitors then left the stands and headed for their school buses while the Fernwood girls walked back to their hostels. The Super Six wandered slowly along the path, not in any hurry, when Roxanne heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw that it was Mrs Dothesplitz. She ran towards her coach who hugged her star player tightly.
“You were unbelievable Roxanne, what an incredible goal! I’m so proud of you!”
“Thanks coach, but I had a little help,” she replied, thinking about the helpful warning she received from the rest of the Super Six, not her teammates as Mrs Dothsplitz was probably thinking.
“There’s someone who would like to meet you,” said Mrs Dothesplitz. Her coach led her to the table where they had all been sitting and the strangers that she had seen earlier stood to shake her hand.
“Hi Roxanne, my name is Robert McDougall,” said the tall, skinny man in a Scottish accent.
“Afternoon Sir,” she replied in a shy voice.
“You played very well Roxanne, and as for that goal, it was quite something. You really stood out on that field today, and we’d like to offer you the opportunity to play for the Golden Swallows, and come on tour with us to France.”
Roxanne couldn’t believe what she was hearing, the Golden Swallows were currently ranked the number one Girls' Junior Hockey team in the world.
“Thank you, thank you so much, I would love to!” she replied, overwhelmed with excitement.
“Your coach will discuss the contract with you and your parents. You will have to miss a few days of school during hockey season so you will need to first get permission fro your principal, but there is no rush. We will meet with you next month to finalise the arrangements so there is plenty of time to worry about the minor details.”
Roxanne thanked Mr McDougall over and over and then shook hands with him again before running back to her friends. She told them the news and they were thrilled. They all knew how much it meant to her.
That night, as the Super Six sat in their dorm discussing everything from the gala, Miss Jiggleweed and Mr Walnut to the dreams the night before. And there was the goal and the Golden Sparrows. Roxanne couldn’t help thinking how lucky she was. Lucky to be at such a good school, lucky to have such sporting talent, and lucky to be in the dorm under the stairs. But most of all, she felt lucky to have such wonderful friends. She watched them as they relived her individual medley and that amazing goal and they seemed even more excited than she was. It was really thanks to all of them that she scored the goal that made the coaches notice her and then select her for the Golden Sparrows. “Dreams really do come true...” she thought to herself, “...in every sense of the word!”
Chapter Eighteen: A Perfect Opportunity(Tamarah, Daariah and Nausheenah)
The next day, the girls slept in with no clanging bell to wake them early for inspection and breakfast. The sky was still dark and grey so they spent the whole day in their pajamas and lazed around, watching TV and playing charades. They discovered that Calipso was very good at acting out different movies, books and songs. The didn’t see much of the boys as they went into town with Mr Thompson to buy some supplies for a big Technology project that they were busy with. Before they knew it, Saturday had come and gone and the girls hadn't even left the house. But they'd had so much fun playing games indoors and had been spoilt by Mrs Thompson and her freshly baked goods.
On Sunday morning, they all emerged from their bedrooms and the smell from the kitchen summoned them straight downstairs. Mrs Thompson poured them each a mug of coffee and treated them to some of her infamous blueberry pancakes. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. It seemed as though the stormy weather had passed. They showered, dressed and then joined the boys in the back yard. They were involved in a serious game of soccer with two players against one.
“Do you girls want to play?” asked Stuart, hoping to gain a few team members so that he could beat Adam and Kyle.
“I’ll play,” replied Roxanne, “but I doubt any of the others will join in.”
“Yeah, we’ll play,” said Jade, looking apologetically at her friends who followed reluctantly into their positions, none of them quite sure where to stand or what to do.
“The teams are even without me so I’ll sit out. It's not like I'll be of any help anyway,” Chelsea pointed out and hobbled away to find some shade.
The girls struggled to tackle the boys and couldn't really kick the ball further than a few feet in front of them. Added to that was Jade's squealing every time the ball went anywhere near her. Annie, Roxanne and Charlotte were in Stuart’s team. The girls persevered and after a great pass from Stuart to Annie, who then passed it to Roxanne, the ball flew past Adam and right between the goal posts.
“Goal!” they shouted and gave each other high fives while the ball continued to sail through the air and hit Chelsea on the head.
“Ouch!” she yelled.
“Oh no Chels, are you okay?” asked her worried sister.
“Yes, I’m fine, but that’s quite a kick you have!” she replied.
“You’re really in the wars these days, aren’t you,” said Kyle, kneeling down on his haunches in front of her. He saw the red mark on her forehead where the ball had hit her. “Come on, let’s go inside and put some ice on that,” he said as he helped her up. He put his arm around her and helped her to the kitchen and then found an ice-pack buried at the bottom of the freezer.
They sat down at the kitchen table and Kyle held the ice-pack gently against Chelsea’s forehead.
After a few moments of silence, Kyle asked Chelsea how things were going at school. He was
very happy to have a chance to be alone with Chelsea and to talk to her.
“It’s fine. It’s a real bonus to have this extra weekend out,” she answered.
“Mmm, those dreams have paid off then haven’t they?”
“What? How do you...?”
“Adam told me. Jade told him and asked him not to tell anyone, but he thought I might like to know since you’re...well...because,” he suddenly felt embarrassed and didn’t know what to say.
“Because what?” she pressed him.
“Because you’re in the dorm, and because....well...because I like you, and I worry about you,” he managed to explain, looking down at his feet.
Chelsea could feel her cheeks turning pink. “Oh,” she whispered, trying to control her excitement over the fact that he’d said that he liked her.
“So anyway, exams are coming up soon, have you been studying hard?” Kyle asked, trying to change the subject.
“Kind of, but the work has been quite easy this term so I’m not too worried about them. Not like Annie, she’s completely stressed out, especially about Maths.”
“Me too, we have the worst Maths teacher ever, Mr Jenkins. I don’t understand half of what he teaches us,” complained Kyle.
Chelsea sighed in sympathy. “That’s a pity, we have the best Maths teacher. He makes everything seem so easy and he’s really funny, although he does tend to give us a lot of homework.”
They chatted about school for a while and then Kyle asked Chelsea how her forehead was feeling.
“My head feels much better thanks, that ice-pack did the trick,” she answered cheerfully, secretly thinking that it was spending time with Kyle that had made her feel better. Kyle removed the ice and touched his fingertips to a small bump that had appeared above her left eye. They looked into each other’s eyes and time seemed to stand still.
“Shush, it’s my turn to look,” whispered Jade as she peeped through the keyhole. Suddenly the four girls fell through the door into a heap on the floor and looked guiltily up at Chelsea and Kyle, by now their faces only millimeters apart. Kyle leapt off the kitchen stool and stood looking at the girls on the floor. After a few awkward moments, he bent over to help the girls up and then made an excuse to leave the room.
“Not again,” mumbled Chelsea through gritted teeth. She glared at her friends and was about to give them a thousand words when Jade’s mom walked in and told them to pack up their things as it was time for them to go back to school.
Once the car was packed, the boys and girls all piled in the car, leaving the back seat empty for Kyle and Chelsea again. Stuart had brought his guitar with him, so he played all their favourite songs while the others sang along, all the way back to school. Jade’s parents drove to Fernwood to drop the girls off first. The six of them climbed out the car and thanked Mr and Mrs Thompson for the lovely weekend. Just before they turned to walk away, Kyle jumped out of the car and grabbed Chelsea’s arm.
“Do you have town leave next Saturday?” he asked.
Town leave was an opportunity for the girls to go into town with at least one friend, although they were only entitled to three town leaves per term.
“As a matter of fact I do,” she answered. “Why?”
“Can I fetch you and take you out for coffee, or a milkshake, or to the movies?”
“Sure,” she replied. “That would be lovely.”
“Great, so it’s a date!” He smiled as he repeated the same line he had used when he asked her to the dance.
“See you on Saturday,” said Chelsea.
“See you then, have a good week at school.”
And then they both turned and went their separate ways.
The girls walked back to Oak House, slowly and in silence. Sunday was the worst day at boarding school, especially after returning from a fun weekend away. It was quiet, but there was always plenty to do before the week started – laundry, unfinished homework and they always spoke to their parents on Sundays which left them all feeling a little homesick. It was almost like they felt empty inside and they had named this feeling the Sunday Blues. They went into their dorm and opened the blinds and the windows. A draft caught Calipso’s dream catcher and the feathers fluttered in the light breeze. The Super Six stood watching it and wondered to themselves what dreams were in store for them now that they were back in their dorm under the stairs.
On Sunday morning, they all emerged from their bedrooms and the smell from the kitchen summoned them straight downstairs. Mrs Thompson poured them each a mug of coffee and treated them to some of her infamous blueberry pancakes. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. It seemed as though the stormy weather had passed. They showered, dressed and then joined the boys in the back yard. They were involved in a serious game of soccer with two players against one.
“Do you girls want to play?” asked Stuart, hoping to gain a few team members so that he could beat Adam and Kyle.
“I’ll play,” replied Roxanne, “but I doubt any of the others will join in.”
“Yeah, we’ll play,” said Jade, looking apologetically at her friends who followed reluctantly into their positions, none of them quite sure where to stand or what to do.
“The teams are even without me so I’ll sit out. It's not like I'll be of any help anyway,” Chelsea pointed out and hobbled away to find some shade.
The girls struggled to tackle the boys and couldn't really kick the ball further than a few feet in front of them. Added to that was Jade's squealing every time the ball went anywhere near her. Annie, Roxanne and Charlotte were in Stuart’s team. The girls persevered and after a great pass from Stuart to Annie, who then passed it to Roxanne, the ball flew past Adam and right between the goal posts.
“Goal!” they shouted and gave each other high fives while the ball continued to sail through the air and hit Chelsea on the head.
“Ouch!” she yelled.
“Oh no Chels, are you okay?” asked her worried sister.
“Yes, I’m fine, but that’s quite a kick you have!” she replied.
“You’re really in the wars these days, aren’t you,” said Kyle, kneeling down on his haunches in front of her. He saw the red mark on her forehead where the ball had hit her. “Come on, let’s go inside and put some ice on that,” he said as he helped her up. He put his arm around her and helped her to the kitchen and then found an ice-pack buried at the bottom of the freezer.
They sat down at the kitchen table and Kyle held the ice-pack gently against Chelsea’s forehead.
After a few moments of silence, Kyle asked Chelsea how things were going at school. He was
very happy to have a chance to be alone with Chelsea and to talk to her.
“It’s fine. It’s a real bonus to have this extra weekend out,” she answered.
“Mmm, those dreams have paid off then haven’t they?”
“What? How do you...?”
“Adam told me. Jade told him and asked him not to tell anyone, but he thought I might like to know since you’re...well...because,” he suddenly felt embarrassed and didn’t know what to say.
“Because what?” she pressed him.
“Because you’re in the dorm, and because....well...because I like you, and I worry about you,” he managed to explain, looking down at his feet.
Chelsea could feel her cheeks turning pink. “Oh,” she whispered, trying to control her excitement over the fact that he’d said that he liked her.
“So anyway, exams are coming up soon, have you been studying hard?” Kyle asked, trying to change the subject.
“Kind of, but the work has been quite easy this term so I’m not too worried about them. Not like Annie, she’s completely stressed out, especially about Maths.”
“Me too, we have the worst Maths teacher ever, Mr Jenkins. I don’t understand half of what he teaches us,” complained Kyle.
Chelsea sighed in sympathy. “That’s a pity, we have the best Maths teacher. He makes everything seem so easy and he’s really funny, although he does tend to give us a lot of homework.”
They chatted about school for a while and then Kyle asked Chelsea how her forehead was feeling.
“My head feels much better thanks, that ice-pack did the trick,” she answered cheerfully, secretly thinking that it was spending time with Kyle that had made her feel better. Kyle removed the ice and touched his fingertips to a small bump that had appeared above her left eye. They looked into each other’s eyes and time seemed to stand still.
“Shush, it’s my turn to look,” whispered Jade as she peeped through the keyhole. Suddenly the four girls fell through the door into a heap on the floor and looked guiltily up at Chelsea and Kyle, by now their faces only millimeters apart. Kyle leapt off the kitchen stool and stood looking at the girls on the floor. After a few awkward moments, he bent over to help the girls up and then made an excuse to leave the room.
“Not again,” mumbled Chelsea through gritted teeth. She glared at her friends and was about to give them a thousand words when Jade’s mom walked in and told them to pack up their things as it was time for them to go back to school.
Once the car was packed, the boys and girls all piled in the car, leaving the back seat empty for Kyle and Chelsea again. Stuart had brought his guitar with him, so he played all their favourite songs while the others sang along, all the way back to school. Jade’s parents drove to Fernwood to drop the girls off first. The six of them climbed out the car and thanked Mr and Mrs Thompson for the lovely weekend. Just before they turned to walk away, Kyle jumped out of the car and grabbed Chelsea’s arm.
“Do you have town leave next Saturday?” he asked.
Town leave was an opportunity for the girls to go into town with at least one friend, although they were only entitled to three town leaves per term.
“As a matter of fact I do,” she answered. “Why?”
“Can I fetch you and take you out for coffee, or a milkshake, or to the movies?”
“Sure,” she replied. “That would be lovely.”
“Great, so it’s a date!” He smiled as he repeated the same line he had used when he asked her to the dance.
“See you on Saturday,” said Chelsea.
“See you then, have a good week at school.”
And then they both turned and went their separate ways.
The girls walked back to Oak House, slowly and in silence. Sunday was the worst day at boarding school, especially after returning from a fun weekend away. It was quiet, but there was always plenty to do before the week started – laundry, unfinished homework and they always spoke to their parents on Sundays which left them all feeling a little homesick. It was almost like they felt empty inside and they had named this feeling the Sunday Blues. They went into their dorm and opened the blinds and the windows. A draft caught Calipso’s dream catcher and the feathers fluttered in the light breeze. The Super Six stood watching it and wondered to themselves what dreams were in store for them now that they were back in their dorm under the stairs.
Chapter Seventeen: An Accident Waiting To Happen (Daariah and Nausheenah)
“Well, I guess I'll have the dorm to myself this weekend then,” said Calipso as the girls walked to lunch after their last lesson on Thursday afternoon.
“What do you mean?” asked Charlotte.
“Well, our dorm is my only home besides Peru and that's a little far to travel for two nights. So while you're all away for the weekend, there'll be peace and quiet for once,” she teased.
“Don't worry Calipso, I spoke to my mom this morning and she said we can all go back to the cottage in Shelley Bay. So no such luck I’m afraid. Besides, you didn't really have the chance to enjoy it properly last time after being knocked out by that huge wave. So girls, if you haven't made any arrangements to go home yet, you're all invited!” she said cheerfully.
“That would be great Jade. It is a bit far for us to go all the way home since it is nearly the end of the term anyway,” said Roxanne.
“Yes, that would be great because my parents are away on a business conference for the whole weekend, so I can't go home anyway,” said Annie.
“And I'd hate to miss out on all the fun you might have without me so I’m definitely in!” said Charlotte.
“Ok then, Shelley Bay it is!” Jade cheered loudly.
They were all given permission by their parents and then packed their bags before getting into bed on Thursday evening. Their bags were piled in a heap against the wall in the corner of the dorm so that they would be ready to leave straight after school the next day. As always, Jade had twice as much luggage as the others but they had all given up asking her why she needed so many things for only two days. They had all just accepted that there was no changing Jade.
“I can't wait to sleep in that luxurious bed again, with those lovely soft pillows and that puffy duvet,” said Annie.
“Ooh me too,” said Roxanne. “I can't remember when last I had a proper night's sleep, with all these dreams we've been having lately,” she added.
“I haven't been able to sleep much lately either but that's because I can’t stop thinking about the Valentine’s Ball,” blushed Chelsea.
“Well, the rest of us could be fast asleep right now if you’d all stop jabbering!” moaned Jade in frustration.
The girls woke up the following morning to pouring rain. Annie opened the blinds to look outside and it was clear from the expression on her face that she was nervous about something. But what? Chelsea and Roxanne’s eyes met briefly as they climbed out of bed but neither of them said so much as a word to each other. Once seated at their table with their breakfast of toast and a cup of tea, Calipso cleared her throat.
“Um, I had quite a scary dream last night,” she began.
She was about to explain in more detail when she was interrupted by a tap on the microphone and then the loud voice of Mrs Dothesplitz.
“Good morning ladies, I do apologise for interrupting your breakfast.
There will be no class swimming today due to the heavy rain. You are to please bring your gym kit to the hall instead,” she informed them.
“Darn, I was so looking forward to swimming today, I need to work on my butterfly for the gala next week,” said Roxanne.
The girls all turned back to Calipso to hear about her dream when they suddenly realised how late it was and they had to walk all the way to Mr Thornton’s classroom for Maths. They stacked their plates and cups and raced out of the Dining hall to make sure they weren’t given weekend homework for being late for class.
They didn’t have much of a chance to talk to each other during the day. After the last bell rang, they all met back in the dorm to collect their bags and then carried them down to the common room to wait for Jade’s mom.
“Ok Calipso, now you can finally tell us about your dream!” said Charlotte, settling into the couch.
“I also had a freaky dream,” interrupted Jade, looking nervously at her friends. “I dreamt about a car swerving on the road, and it was pouring with rain.”
“Mine was similar,” Charlotte blurted out, “but mine was just of a highway which was very slippery from the rain.”
“Hmmm, I dreamt about a road, also slippery from the rain, and there was a sign showing a speed limit of one hundred,” added Roxanne.
“There was an ambulance and a police car in my dream. People were being carried and lifted into the ambulance, and everybody was soaking wet. It was terrible!” said Annie.
“I dreamt about a hospital. I couldn’t see the name of it above the entrance but there was a blue emblem on the door,” added Chelsea.
Calipso waited for all of them to finish talking and as she was about to add the final piece to the puzzle, Jade’s mom burst through the door, dressed in a raincoat down to her ankles and holding a large umbrella but somehow still drenched from the rain.
“Sorry I’m late girls, dreadful weather,” she said out of breath and shaking out her umbrella.
They all jumped up to hug her, grabbed their bags and ran to the car. Once they had left the school and were on the road, Jade felt she should warn her mom about what they’d all dreamt about.
“Awful weather isn’t it mum, not good for travelling on the roads. Just drive carefully, there might be other cars on the road that could lose control on these slippery roads,” she said, trying not to sound too worried.
“You should also be careful of...” Calipso started, but Mrs Thompson didn’t hear her over the heavy drops pelting onto the car.
“Thanks Jade, you’re quite right, I’ll keep my eye on the other cars,” she agreed.
The girls didn’t really discuss what they thought the dreams meant but they all sat in silence, watching the road for any sign of a swerving vehicle. Calipso was feeling very uncomfortable and decided that she had to speak up.
“Mrs Thompson,” she called from the back seat, trying to speak over the rain.
“Yes dear,” she replied and looked at Calipso in the rear view mirror.
“You should also look out for...”
Just then Mrs Thompson's mobile phone began to ring. She reached for her handbag and gave it to Jade, asking her to please find it and answer it.
A few moments later, Roxanne saw the sign with the speed limit of one hundred from her dream and just after that she caught a glimpse of a large tree branch that had obviously blown into the road during the storm. The car suddenly swerved to the right as Mrs Thompson tried to avoid the branch, and then again to the left as she tried to miss the car that was travelling towards them. And then everything went black.
***
When the girls opened their eyes, they found themselves in a hospital ward at St. Catherine's Hospital.
“Welcome girls,” said Dr Barnard, who had just walked in to check on his patients.
“Where are we? Is everyone alright?” asked a frightened Annie.
“Just relax Annie, everyone is fine. There were no serious injuries. It could have been a lot worse, but luckily Mrs Thompson was able to avoid the tree branch in the road and the oncoming traffic, and the car veered relatively safely into a muddy bank. The worst thing you’ve all suffered from is shock,” he said in a soft and gentle voice.
He turned to face Annie and continued.
“Annie, you’ve also sprained the index finger on your right hand.”
“What?” she gasped, staring at the bandage she had just noticed on her hand. “How I am going to write exams in two weeks time?”
The doctor laughed. “It should be as good as new by then.” He turned to his next two patient in the beds next to Annie.
“Chelsea, you sustained a slight sprain to your right ankle and Roxanne, you’re absolutely fine.”
“That’s a relief, I have hockey trials for next season and swimming champs next week and there’s no way I would miss either of them!” she replied.
The doctor then turned around to face the girls on the other side of the ward.
“Charlotte, you have a bruise on your left arm and Jade, you have nothing but a scratch on your forehead,” he said, staring at Jade's pink tracksuit and immaculate hair.
“What? Did you say forehead?” She jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror to assess the damage to her face.
“Oh, that’s not too bad. It’s nothing that my new Revlon foundation can’t fix. What about my mom, is she ok?”
“She’s absolutely fine, she’s just gone in search of some coffee,” he reassured her and then told them that they could leave whenever they were ready.
The Super Six climbed out of the small metal beds and Annie suddenly realised that Calipso wasn’t in the room with them.
As if she had read Annie’s mind, Calipso came rushing into the ward a moment later.
“Calipso, there you are! Are you ok?” she asked.
“Yes I’m fine, not even a scratch. But this is what I was trying to tell you about this morning at breakfast and then again in the common room and in the car, but I was interrupted every time. I dreamt about the tree branch in the road and then the six of us were lying in hospital beds. I knew our car was going to be the one swerving on the road, not someone else,” she explained at last.
“Calipso, we’re so sorry, we should have listened to you. I suppose we were all so excited about our weekend away that we didn’t really give our dreams enough thought,” said Charlotte.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad none of us was badly hurt and we can now go home to the cottage to enjoy the weekend,” she replied.
“We need to be more careful when it comes to these dreams. We must discuss everything that we see as a group in case we leave out on an important piece to the puzzle,” warned Annie, also feeling guilty about not listening to what Calipso had dreamt about.
That evening, safely home at the cottage, they all sat around the fire drinking tea. Mrs Thompson decided that they needed the warmth to comfort them after their accident. It was still pouring with rain and the wind was howling.
“Where’s dad?” asked Jade, wondering why he was taking so long to get to the cottage after work.
“He went to fetch...”
All of a sudden there was a loud bang as the front door opened and slammed shut. An icy draft blew into the lounge followed by four wet faces.
“He went to fetch the boys,” finished Mrs Thompson.
“What are you guys doing here?” Jade asked her brother, full of surprise to see Adam and his two best friends.
“We’ve only had one weekend out of school this term so we thought we would come home and check on you girls,” replied Adam, leaning over the couch to give her a hug.
The boys sat quietly on the floor while the girls told them all about what had happened and how well Mrs Thompson had driven to avoid what could have been a much more serious accident. Eventually they all fell silent and watched the flames as the light and shadows danced in the fireplace.
“Well, I think we’ll all sleep very well tonight,” yawned Charlotte, the events of the day starting to weigh down on her.
“That’s for sure,” agreed Annie, unable to stop a yawn herself.
“Come on then, let's go to bed,” said Jade, standing up and stretching before stumbling towards the stairs.
The others all followed her lead but Chelsea winced as she stood up, forgetting about her sprained ankle.
“What’s wrong?” asked Kyle anxiously, immediately at her side.
“I’m fine, it’s just my ankle,” she replied. “It's slightly sprained.”
“Well I can help you there,” he grinned. Kyle then lifted her off her feet and held her tightly against his chest.
“Is that better?” he asked, carrying her gently up the stairs to her bedroom.
“What do you mean?” asked Charlotte.
“Well, our dorm is my only home besides Peru and that's a little far to travel for two nights. So while you're all away for the weekend, there'll be peace and quiet for once,” she teased.
“Don't worry Calipso, I spoke to my mom this morning and she said we can all go back to the cottage in Shelley Bay. So no such luck I’m afraid. Besides, you didn't really have the chance to enjoy it properly last time after being knocked out by that huge wave. So girls, if you haven't made any arrangements to go home yet, you're all invited!” she said cheerfully.
“That would be great Jade. It is a bit far for us to go all the way home since it is nearly the end of the term anyway,” said Roxanne.
“Yes, that would be great because my parents are away on a business conference for the whole weekend, so I can't go home anyway,” said Annie.
“And I'd hate to miss out on all the fun you might have without me so I’m definitely in!” said Charlotte.
“Ok then, Shelley Bay it is!” Jade cheered loudly.
They were all given permission by their parents and then packed their bags before getting into bed on Thursday evening. Their bags were piled in a heap against the wall in the corner of the dorm so that they would be ready to leave straight after school the next day. As always, Jade had twice as much luggage as the others but they had all given up asking her why she needed so many things for only two days. They had all just accepted that there was no changing Jade.
“I can't wait to sleep in that luxurious bed again, with those lovely soft pillows and that puffy duvet,” said Annie.
“Ooh me too,” said Roxanne. “I can't remember when last I had a proper night's sleep, with all these dreams we've been having lately,” she added.
“I haven't been able to sleep much lately either but that's because I can’t stop thinking about the Valentine’s Ball,” blushed Chelsea.
“Well, the rest of us could be fast asleep right now if you’d all stop jabbering!” moaned Jade in frustration.
The girls woke up the following morning to pouring rain. Annie opened the blinds to look outside and it was clear from the expression on her face that she was nervous about something. But what? Chelsea and Roxanne’s eyes met briefly as they climbed out of bed but neither of them said so much as a word to each other. Once seated at their table with their breakfast of toast and a cup of tea, Calipso cleared her throat.
“Um, I had quite a scary dream last night,” she began.
She was about to explain in more detail when she was interrupted by a tap on the microphone and then the loud voice of Mrs Dothesplitz.
“Good morning ladies, I do apologise for interrupting your breakfast.
There will be no class swimming today due to the heavy rain. You are to please bring your gym kit to the hall instead,” she informed them.
“Darn, I was so looking forward to swimming today, I need to work on my butterfly for the gala next week,” said Roxanne.
The girls all turned back to Calipso to hear about her dream when they suddenly realised how late it was and they had to walk all the way to Mr Thornton’s classroom for Maths. They stacked their plates and cups and raced out of the Dining hall to make sure they weren’t given weekend homework for being late for class.
They didn’t have much of a chance to talk to each other during the day. After the last bell rang, they all met back in the dorm to collect their bags and then carried them down to the common room to wait for Jade’s mom.
“Ok Calipso, now you can finally tell us about your dream!” said Charlotte, settling into the couch.
“I also had a freaky dream,” interrupted Jade, looking nervously at her friends. “I dreamt about a car swerving on the road, and it was pouring with rain.”
“Mine was similar,” Charlotte blurted out, “but mine was just of a highway which was very slippery from the rain.”
“Hmmm, I dreamt about a road, also slippery from the rain, and there was a sign showing a speed limit of one hundred,” added Roxanne.
“There was an ambulance and a police car in my dream. People were being carried and lifted into the ambulance, and everybody was soaking wet. It was terrible!” said Annie.
“I dreamt about a hospital. I couldn’t see the name of it above the entrance but there was a blue emblem on the door,” added Chelsea.
Calipso waited for all of them to finish talking and as she was about to add the final piece to the puzzle, Jade’s mom burst through the door, dressed in a raincoat down to her ankles and holding a large umbrella but somehow still drenched from the rain.
“Sorry I’m late girls, dreadful weather,” she said out of breath and shaking out her umbrella.
They all jumped up to hug her, grabbed their bags and ran to the car. Once they had left the school and were on the road, Jade felt she should warn her mom about what they’d all dreamt about.
“Awful weather isn’t it mum, not good for travelling on the roads. Just drive carefully, there might be other cars on the road that could lose control on these slippery roads,” she said, trying not to sound too worried.
“You should also be careful of...” Calipso started, but Mrs Thompson didn’t hear her over the heavy drops pelting onto the car.
“Thanks Jade, you’re quite right, I’ll keep my eye on the other cars,” she agreed.
The girls didn’t really discuss what they thought the dreams meant but they all sat in silence, watching the road for any sign of a swerving vehicle. Calipso was feeling very uncomfortable and decided that she had to speak up.
“Mrs Thompson,” she called from the back seat, trying to speak over the rain.
“Yes dear,” she replied and looked at Calipso in the rear view mirror.
“You should also look out for...”
Just then Mrs Thompson's mobile phone began to ring. She reached for her handbag and gave it to Jade, asking her to please find it and answer it.
A few moments later, Roxanne saw the sign with the speed limit of one hundred from her dream and just after that she caught a glimpse of a large tree branch that had obviously blown into the road during the storm. The car suddenly swerved to the right as Mrs Thompson tried to avoid the branch, and then again to the left as she tried to miss the car that was travelling towards them. And then everything went black.
***
When the girls opened their eyes, they found themselves in a hospital ward at St. Catherine's Hospital.
“Welcome girls,” said Dr Barnard, who had just walked in to check on his patients.
“Where are we? Is everyone alright?” asked a frightened Annie.
“Just relax Annie, everyone is fine. There were no serious injuries. It could have been a lot worse, but luckily Mrs Thompson was able to avoid the tree branch in the road and the oncoming traffic, and the car veered relatively safely into a muddy bank. The worst thing you’ve all suffered from is shock,” he said in a soft and gentle voice.
He turned to face Annie and continued.
“Annie, you’ve also sprained the index finger on your right hand.”
“What?” she gasped, staring at the bandage she had just noticed on her hand. “How I am going to write exams in two weeks time?”
The doctor laughed. “It should be as good as new by then.” He turned to his next two patient in the beds next to Annie.
“Chelsea, you sustained a slight sprain to your right ankle and Roxanne, you’re absolutely fine.”
“That’s a relief, I have hockey trials for next season and swimming champs next week and there’s no way I would miss either of them!” she replied.
The doctor then turned around to face the girls on the other side of the ward.
“Charlotte, you have a bruise on your left arm and Jade, you have nothing but a scratch on your forehead,” he said, staring at Jade's pink tracksuit and immaculate hair.
“What? Did you say forehead?” She jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror to assess the damage to her face.
“Oh, that’s not too bad. It’s nothing that my new Revlon foundation can’t fix. What about my mom, is she ok?”
“She’s absolutely fine, she’s just gone in search of some coffee,” he reassured her and then told them that they could leave whenever they were ready.
The Super Six climbed out of the small metal beds and Annie suddenly realised that Calipso wasn’t in the room with them.
As if she had read Annie’s mind, Calipso came rushing into the ward a moment later.
“Calipso, there you are! Are you ok?” she asked.
“Yes I’m fine, not even a scratch. But this is what I was trying to tell you about this morning at breakfast and then again in the common room and in the car, but I was interrupted every time. I dreamt about the tree branch in the road and then the six of us were lying in hospital beds. I knew our car was going to be the one swerving on the road, not someone else,” she explained at last.
“Calipso, we’re so sorry, we should have listened to you. I suppose we were all so excited about our weekend away that we didn’t really give our dreams enough thought,” said Charlotte.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad none of us was badly hurt and we can now go home to the cottage to enjoy the weekend,” she replied.
“We need to be more careful when it comes to these dreams. We must discuss everything that we see as a group in case we leave out on an important piece to the puzzle,” warned Annie, also feeling guilty about not listening to what Calipso had dreamt about.
That evening, safely home at the cottage, they all sat around the fire drinking tea. Mrs Thompson decided that they needed the warmth to comfort them after their accident. It was still pouring with rain and the wind was howling.
“Where’s dad?” asked Jade, wondering why he was taking so long to get to the cottage after work.
“He went to fetch...”
All of a sudden there was a loud bang as the front door opened and slammed shut. An icy draft blew into the lounge followed by four wet faces.
“He went to fetch the boys,” finished Mrs Thompson.
“What are you guys doing here?” Jade asked her brother, full of surprise to see Adam and his two best friends.
“We’ve only had one weekend out of school this term so we thought we would come home and check on you girls,” replied Adam, leaning over the couch to give her a hug.
The boys sat quietly on the floor while the girls told them all about what had happened and how well Mrs Thompson had driven to avoid what could have been a much more serious accident. Eventually they all fell silent and watched the flames as the light and shadows danced in the fireplace.
“Well, I think we’ll all sleep very well tonight,” yawned Charlotte, the events of the day starting to weigh down on her.
“That’s for sure,” agreed Annie, unable to stop a yawn herself.
“Come on then, let's go to bed,” said Jade, standing up and stretching before stumbling towards the stairs.
The others all followed her lead but Chelsea winced as she stood up, forgetting about her sprained ankle.
“What’s wrong?” asked Kyle anxiously, immediately at her side.
“I’m fine, it’s just my ankle,” she replied. “It's slightly sprained.”
“Well I can help you there,” he grinned. Kyle then lifted her off her feet and held her tightly against his chest.
“Is that better?” he asked, carrying her gently up the stairs to her bedroom.
Chapter Sixteen: Just in the Nick of Time Ashleigh
Standing in front of the principal, and trying to sound confident and convincing, Calipso explained on behalf of the Super Six how they had seen the army of rats earlier that morning and that they all had a 'hunch' that the health inspector would be visiting Fernwood High School very soon .
“Hmmm, this is an interesting matter that you have come to discuss with me girls,” said Mrs Sheraton, removing her glasses from the end of her nose.
“But what exactly has brought on this 'hunch' about a surprise health inspection?” the principal asked curiously.
“Uh...how do we know about the inspection?” Chelsea asked nervously, looking at her friends for help.
Jade rescued her. “Well...we're doing a project on it...”
“Yes, a project on Health and Hygiene...” added Roxanne.
“Health and Hygiene, specifically regarding food...” Annie chipped in.
“Health violations in kitchens, restaurants, hotels, schools, that kind of thing,” said Charlotte.
“Yes, and while we were busy with our research, we read a newspaper article about health inspectors that have recently been visiting schools with kitchen facilities. It mentioned that the Board of Health and Hygiene believe that hygiene in kitchens is of the utmost importance and that they would be doing all they could to ensure that schools, restaurants and hotels in our province comply with the health regulations as outlined in the Health Code.”
Calipso swallowed and hoped that her improvised speech had been believable.
“It seems that they don't like to warn anyone about health inspections. The inspectors prefer to arrive unannounced so that things aren't cleaned up just before they arrive and then forgotten about and neglected again afterwards. If an inspection is passed successfully, it proves to the Board that those concerned are making a concerted effort to keep their facilities clean and hygienic at all times.”
Jade had liked Calipso's improvised white lie about finding an article and decided to mention more about the element of surprise behind the inspections. Between the two of them, they delivered a very convincing argument.
“Hmmm, that does make sense. I'm very impressed girls, you have clearly worked hard on this project of yours and you seem to have done some excellent research. Now, the only problem is, how do we get rid of the jolly rats?” she asked, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
“There must be some sort of exterminating company in the area. Surely they would be able to come and lay rat poison around the school?” thought Chelsea aloud.
“Yes, exactly,” agreed Mrs Sheraton. “Do you girls have any idea about when this inspection might take place?”
“We think it might be within the next few days,” answered Calipso.
***
The next morning, as the girls were walking to their first lesson of the new week, they happened to walk past Mrs Sheraton talking to a very enthusiastic young man with a spray canister strapped to his back.
“That should do it ma’am, I've covered the whole area and have treated all the hotspots with my special potion,” they overheard the man saying. They couldn't help but giggle at his obvious excitement.
The principal caught sight of the girls and signalled to them to join her.
“Ah, girls, this is Nick, from 'Extreme Exterminators'. Nick, these are the girls that discovered the beastly little rodents on our property. Perhaps they can show you exactly where they saw them, just in case you missed that spot.”
“Alrighty,” he answered cheerfully.
The girls nodded, muffling more giggles, and led Nick past the school hall to the drain behind the kitchen.
“Yip, I've given that spot a generous spray of my lethal Pest Potion. The rats do love to huddle near the drains and pretty much wherever they can find food scraps. But they won't be around for much longer, ha!” gloated Nick, pointing his spray gun at an imaginary rat. His job clearly gave him great satisfaction.
“How long does it take for that poison to work?” asked Jade out of curiosity.
Nick suddenly broke into song. It was a rap song with actions and everything:
“It takes seconds for my potion
to kick into motion,
Ladies you can say good-bye
to every rat, bug and fly.
You can show me any pest
And I'll lay them straight to rest.”
“I see,” said Jade, not quite sure what to make of Nick's song which he sang twice, both times with very dramatic actions and dance moves.
“Not long, sweet ladies, not long at all. I best be off, enjoy the rest of this spectacular day,” he lifted his hat as he turned and walked away.
The girls turned back towards the classroom block and howled with laughter as they repeated Nick's rap all the way to English.
During the next few days, the girls checked every drain they walked past. They also found plenty of excuses to go into the kitchen, to ask for more butter, juice or napkins, and while they were there they checked every nook and cranny in the huge kitchen. They didn't see a single rat anywhere. The girls weren't sure of it was Nick's poisonous spray or his awful singing that had chased te rats away, but whatever it was it seemed to have worked.
A few days later, the girls were deep in conversation while walking to the swimming pool for an afternoon swim. They had to walk past the front office to get from Oak House to the pool, and just as they rounded the corner, they saw an elderly man in a grey uniform walk into the office block. They looked at each other with eyes as big as saucers and there was no need for them to say a word, they knew exactly who the man was.
“Quickly, behind that bush,” whispered Annie.
The others followed her and they all huddled behind the rose bush underneath Mrs Sheraton's office window. They heard the knock on Mrs Sheraton's door and then a deep voice introduced himself as Mr Snickhelberg. He went on to explain that he was a Health Inspector and was at the school to inspect the health and hygiene of Fernwood's facilities.
“Certainly Mr Snickhelberg, it's a pleasure to meet you,” replied Mrs Sheraton, who did not show as much surprise as Mr Snickhelberg had expected.
If you would like to follow me, you can start your inspection right away,” said Mrs Sheraton, and they heard two sets of footsteps leaving her office.
The girls stayed hidden behind the bush and looked at each other in amazement. They couldn't believe that they had been right yet again. A job well done was what the girls were thinking. They began congratulating each other when they suddenly heard somebody clearing their throat right behind them. They hadn't been as well hidden as they thought they were, and they were startled to see Mr Snickhelberg and Mrs Sheraton standing behind them on the path.
“Good afternoon Sir, welcome to our school. My name is Calipso, and these are my friends Annie, Roxanne, Chelsea, Charlotte and Jade.”
“That's fantastic,” the short little man replied sarcastically.
“Now, if you would kindly step aside girls, I have a school to inspect and if I find one health violation, I'm closing down this school!” he spat and marched smugly down the path.
The girls waited for Mrs Sheraton to reprimand them for hiding behind the bush and eavesdropping, but instead, their principal followed the grumpy inspector without a word. The six girls stood frozen on the spot as they watched her walk away. Just before she disappeared around the corner, she turned to face the girls and winked. They beamed and felt certain that their school would pass the inspection with flying colours.
That night, just before they all went to bed, Jade did another rendition of Nick's rat potion rap and the others collapsed in fits of laughter. They had received a message from Mrs Sheraton after supper, letting them know that Fernwood had passed the health inspection. They were feeling very chuffed with themselves and agreed that the special power that the dorm under the stairs had given them had allowed them to rescue their school from a dire situation. Apparently Mr Grumpy was not able to find one health violation at Fernwood and he actually remarked on the wonderfully clean and well-kept state of the kitchen and the school grounds in general. Mrs Sheraton thanked the girls repeatedly in the note she had sent them, and said that she thought that the six of them deserved an extra sleep-out weekend before the end of the term. The girls were very excited about that as it was always refreshing to have a change of scenery.
Jade flicked the light switch once she had finished imitating Nick and climbed under her duvet.
“Well girls, we saved the day...just in the Nick of time!” she sighed.
They all giggled at Jade's clever pun. Their giggling soon died down and they lay quietly in their beds feeling content, relieved and proud of themselves. The girls eventually drifted off to sleep, a smile on each one of their peaceful little faces.
“Hmmm, this is an interesting matter that you have come to discuss with me girls,” said Mrs Sheraton, removing her glasses from the end of her nose.
“But what exactly has brought on this 'hunch' about a surprise health inspection?” the principal asked curiously.
“Uh...how do we know about the inspection?” Chelsea asked nervously, looking at her friends for help.
Jade rescued her. “Well...we're doing a project on it...”
“Yes, a project on Health and Hygiene...” added Roxanne.
“Health and Hygiene, specifically regarding food...” Annie chipped in.
“Health violations in kitchens, restaurants, hotels, schools, that kind of thing,” said Charlotte.
“Yes, and while we were busy with our research, we read a newspaper article about health inspectors that have recently been visiting schools with kitchen facilities. It mentioned that the Board of Health and Hygiene believe that hygiene in kitchens is of the utmost importance and that they would be doing all they could to ensure that schools, restaurants and hotels in our province comply with the health regulations as outlined in the Health Code.”
Calipso swallowed and hoped that her improvised speech had been believable.
“It seems that they don't like to warn anyone about health inspections. The inspectors prefer to arrive unannounced so that things aren't cleaned up just before they arrive and then forgotten about and neglected again afterwards. If an inspection is passed successfully, it proves to the Board that those concerned are making a concerted effort to keep their facilities clean and hygienic at all times.”
Jade had liked Calipso's improvised white lie about finding an article and decided to mention more about the element of surprise behind the inspections. Between the two of them, they delivered a very convincing argument.
“Hmmm, that does make sense. I'm very impressed girls, you have clearly worked hard on this project of yours and you seem to have done some excellent research. Now, the only problem is, how do we get rid of the jolly rats?” she asked, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
“There must be some sort of exterminating company in the area. Surely they would be able to come and lay rat poison around the school?” thought Chelsea aloud.
“Yes, exactly,” agreed Mrs Sheraton. “Do you girls have any idea about when this inspection might take place?”
“We think it might be within the next few days,” answered Calipso.
***
The next morning, as the girls were walking to their first lesson of the new week, they happened to walk past Mrs Sheraton talking to a very enthusiastic young man with a spray canister strapped to his back.
“That should do it ma’am, I've covered the whole area and have treated all the hotspots with my special potion,” they overheard the man saying. They couldn't help but giggle at his obvious excitement.
The principal caught sight of the girls and signalled to them to join her.
“Ah, girls, this is Nick, from 'Extreme Exterminators'. Nick, these are the girls that discovered the beastly little rodents on our property. Perhaps they can show you exactly where they saw them, just in case you missed that spot.”
“Alrighty,” he answered cheerfully.
The girls nodded, muffling more giggles, and led Nick past the school hall to the drain behind the kitchen.
“Yip, I've given that spot a generous spray of my lethal Pest Potion. The rats do love to huddle near the drains and pretty much wherever they can find food scraps. But they won't be around for much longer, ha!” gloated Nick, pointing his spray gun at an imaginary rat. His job clearly gave him great satisfaction.
“How long does it take for that poison to work?” asked Jade out of curiosity.
Nick suddenly broke into song. It was a rap song with actions and everything:
“It takes seconds for my potion
to kick into motion,
Ladies you can say good-bye
to every rat, bug and fly.
You can show me any pest
And I'll lay them straight to rest.”
“I see,” said Jade, not quite sure what to make of Nick's song which he sang twice, both times with very dramatic actions and dance moves.
“Not long, sweet ladies, not long at all. I best be off, enjoy the rest of this spectacular day,” he lifted his hat as he turned and walked away.
The girls turned back towards the classroom block and howled with laughter as they repeated Nick's rap all the way to English.
During the next few days, the girls checked every drain they walked past. They also found plenty of excuses to go into the kitchen, to ask for more butter, juice or napkins, and while they were there they checked every nook and cranny in the huge kitchen. They didn't see a single rat anywhere. The girls weren't sure of it was Nick's poisonous spray or his awful singing that had chased te rats away, but whatever it was it seemed to have worked.
A few days later, the girls were deep in conversation while walking to the swimming pool for an afternoon swim. They had to walk past the front office to get from Oak House to the pool, and just as they rounded the corner, they saw an elderly man in a grey uniform walk into the office block. They looked at each other with eyes as big as saucers and there was no need for them to say a word, they knew exactly who the man was.
“Quickly, behind that bush,” whispered Annie.
The others followed her and they all huddled behind the rose bush underneath Mrs Sheraton's office window. They heard the knock on Mrs Sheraton's door and then a deep voice introduced himself as Mr Snickhelberg. He went on to explain that he was a Health Inspector and was at the school to inspect the health and hygiene of Fernwood's facilities.
“Certainly Mr Snickhelberg, it's a pleasure to meet you,” replied Mrs Sheraton, who did not show as much surprise as Mr Snickhelberg had expected.
If you would like to follow me, you can start your inspection right away,” said Mrs Sheraton, and they heard two sets of footsteps leaving her office.
The girls stayed hidden behind the bush and looked at each other in amazement. They couldn't believe that they had been right yet again. A job well done was what the girls were thinking. They began congratulating each other when they suddenly heard somebody clearing their throat right behind them. They hadn't been as well hidden as they thought they were, and they were startled to see Mr Snickhelberg and Mrs Sheraton standing behind them on the path.
“Good afternoon Sir, welcome to our school. My name is Calipso, and these are my friends Annie, Roxanne, Chelsea, Charlotte and Jade.”
“That's fantastic,” the short little man replied sarcastically.
“Now, if you would kindly step aside girls, I have a school to inspect and if I find one health violation, I'm closing down this school!” he spat and marched smugly down the path.
The girls waited for Mrs Sheraton to reprimand them for hiding behind the bush and eavesdropping, but instead, their principal followed the grumpy inspector without a word. The six girls stood frozen on the spot as they watched her walk away. Just before she disappeared around the corner, she turned to face the girls and winked. They beamed and felt certain that their school would pass the inspection with flying colours.
That night, just before they all went to bed, Jade did another rendition of Nick's rat potion rap and the others collapsed in fits of laughter. They had received a message from Mrs Sheraton after supper, letting them know that Fernwood had passed the health inspection. They were feeling very chuffed with themselves and agreed that the special power that the dorm under the stairs had given them had allowed them to rescue their school from a dire situation. Apparently Mr Grumpy was not able to find one health violation at Fernwood and he actually remarked on the wonderfully clean and well-kept state of the kitchen and the school grounds in general. Mrs Sheraton thanked the girls repeatedly in the note she had sent them, and said that she thought that the six of them deserved an extra sleep-out weekend before the end of the term. The girls were very excited about that as it was always refreshing to have a change of scenery.
Jade flicked the light switch once she had finished imitating Nick and climbed under her duvet.
“Well girls, we saved the day...just in the Nick of time!” she sighed.
They all giggled at Jade's clever pun. Their giggling soon died down and they lay quietly in their beds feeling content, relieved and proud of themselves. The girls eventually drifted off to sleep, a smile on each one of their peaceful little faces.
Chapter Fifteen: The Super Six Smell a Rat (Georgie and Alice)
The Super Six struggled to get up the next morning after very little sleep. They hauled themselves out of bed, put on their dressing gowns and walked lazily to the bathrooms hoping that a shower would leave them feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead.
“Ugh, I feel sick,” groaned Annie.
“Me too,” said Charlotte. “Too many sour worms and too little sleep.”
The others giggled when they thought of the two of them devouring all of Annie's secret stash of sweets and biscuits after the Ball.
The girls were just starting to feel a little more awake when they heard Josephine ringing the bell for breakfast. They trudged up to the Dining hall, the thought of Sunday morning egg and bacon not as appealing as it usually was. They had just passed the school hall when Jade suddenly let out an ear-piercing screech as she caught sight of a fat grey rat scuttling across the pathway.
“Calm down Jade, it's just a rat,” said Calipso, patting Jade on the shoulder. “It actually looks a little bit like the pet rat I had in Peru, Miffles,” she added.
“You owned a-a-a rat?” she shrieked, looking horrified.
“Look at all those rats in that corner, near the drain,” Annie pointed out. “I’ve seen the odd one before, but that’s out of control!”
Jade gasped and looked as though she was about to faint.
“Come on, let’s just get to breakfast, you're making me lose the little appetite that I have,” said Charlotte, marching past them and rounding the corner to join the queue.
***
Once back in their dorm, Charlotte and Calipso settled down to read their books. Annie took out her notebook and looked over her Science notes while Jade decided to change the colour of the nail polish on her toes. Chelsea went to the music room to practice the piano and Roxanne and the rest of the 1st hockey team were meeting for a practice on the field behind Willow House. It was a very lazy day and after hiding in the dorm during lunch, none of them in the least bit hungry, Charlotte suggested that they have an afternoon sleep.
“I'm so tired,” she yawned, “and I still have no appetite, especially after seeing those rats this morning. I think we should close the blinds and have a little nap.”
“I think that's a great idea,” agreed Roxanne and collapsed onto her bed.
The others all did the same, and soon their breathing had become slow and heavy and they were fast asleep.
***
Annie woke up with a start and bolted out of bed.
“Oh my gosh, we only have fifteen minutes until Maths, we've overslept!” she cried.
“Annie, relax, it's Sunday afternoon,” mumbled Jade, her eyes still closed.
“Oh, oh yes,” gasped Annie, climbing back into bed.
“What a pity it isn't Maths in fifteen minutes, hey Annie?” said Roxanne sarcastically, grinning to herself.
“Did any of you dream this afternoon? I had a very strange one,” said Chelsea as she sat up and leaned against her pillows so that she could see the others. “I dreamt that there was an elderly man in some kind of grey uniform, walking around the school property.”
“Oh yes, I dreamt alright! I dreamt about those dreaded rats we saw this morning,” moaned Jade.
“Yip, I also dreamt, but mine was about the school being closed down. Whoopee!” Roxanne cheered excitedly.
“Don't say that Roxanne, that would be dreadful!” frowned Annie.
By now they were all sitting up in their beds, trying to make sense of the snippets of their dreams.
“What about you Calipso, did you dream about anything during your nap?”
Calipso nodded while yawning. “I dreamt about Mrs Sheraton and Josephine and they were involved in a serious argument with someone called Mr Snickhelburg. He was also wearing a grey uniform, and there was a badge on his pocket that said 'Health and Hygiene is our Business'.”
“I also dreamt about Mrs Sheraton, but in my dream she was standing in the kitchen with her hands on her hips and she looked terribly upset,” said Annie, her voice full of concern.
Charlotte thought she was slowly beginning to understand. “I also dreamt about Mr Snickhelburg, he introduced himself to Mrs Sheraton as the health inspector. She was trying to tell him that she knew nothing about his visit and he told her that she wasn't supposed to, it was a surprise visit to check that the school was meeting the correct standards set by the Department of Health.”
“So that means Mr Snickhelberg is going to be visiting our school, he'll see all those rats running around near the drains and in the kitchen, and then he's going to close down the school,” concluded Chelsea.
“We have to do something!” said Annie, jumping up with her arms in the air.
“Yes, we do have to do something before it's too late. I really don't want to go back to Peru, I love it here!” shouted Calipso in agreement.
“Come on, we need to think,” said Jade, jumping off her bed and pacing up and down.
“I say we go straight to Mrs Sheraton,” suggested Roxanne.
“How do we know that she will believe any of this?” asked Annie.
“We don't, but she listened to Calipso when she went to her about Suzy and the shoplifting incident, so if Calipso does all the talking, then our chances might be better,” said Jade. So the girls neatened themselves up and marched out of the dorm, on a mission to save Fernwood High School from the rats.
“Ugh, I feel sick,” groaned Annie.
“Me too,” said Charlotte. “Too many sour worms and too little sleep.”
The others giggled when they thought of the two of them devouring all of Annie's secret stash of sweets and biscuits after the Ball.
The girls were just starting to feel a little more awake when they heard Josephine ringing the bell for breakfast. They trudged up to the Dining hall, the thought of Sunday morning egg and bacon not as appealing as it usually was. They had just passed the school hall when Jade suddenly let out an ear-piercing screech as she caught sight of a fat grey rat scuttling across the pathway.
“Calm down Jade, it's just a rat,” said Calipso, patting Jade on the shoulder. “It actually looks a little bit like the pet rat I had in Peru, Miffles,” she added.
“You owned a-a-a rat?” she shrieked, looking horrified.
“Look at all those rats in that corner, near the drain,” Annie pointed out. “I’ve seen the odd one before, but that’s out of control!”
Jade gasped and looked as though she was about to faint.
“Come on, let’s just get to breakfast, you're making me lose the little appetite that I have,” said Charlotte, marching past them and rounding the corner to join the queue.
***
Once back in their dorm, Charlotte and Calipso settled down to read their books. Annie took out her notebook and looked over her Science notes while Jade decided to change the colour of the nail polish on her toes. Chelsea went to the music room to practice the piano and Roxanne and the rest of the 1st hockey team were meeting for a practice on the field behind Willow House. It was a very lazy day and after hiding in the dorm during lunch, none of them in the least bit hungry, Charlotte suggested that they have an afternoon sleep.
“I'm so tired,” she yawned, “and I still have no appetite, especially after seeing those rats this morning. I think we should close the blinds and have a little nap.”
“I think that's a great idea,” agreed Roxanne and collapsed onto her bed.
The others all did the same, and soon their breathing had become slow and heavy and they were fast asleep.
***
Annie woke up with a start and bolted out of bed.
“Oh my gosh, we only have fifteen minutes until Maths, we've overslept!” she cried.
“Annie, relax, it's Sunday afternoon,” mumbled Jade, her eyes still closed.
“Oh, oh yes,” gasped Annie, climbing back into bed.
“What a pity it isn't Maths in fifteen minutes, hey Annie?” said Roxanne sarcastically, grinning to herself.
“Did any of you dream this afternoon? I had a very strange one,” said Chelsea as she sat up and leaned against her pillows so that she could see the others. “I dreamt that there was an elderly man in some kind of grey uniform, walking around the school property.”
“Oh yes, I dreamt alright! I dreamt about those dreaded rats we saw this morning,” moaned Jade.
“Yip, I also dreamt, but mine was about the school being closed down. Whoopee!” Roxanne cheered excitedly.
“Don't say that Roxanne, that would be dreadful!” frowned Annie.
By now they were all sitting up in their beds, trying to make sense of the snippets of their dreams.
“What about you Calipso, did you dream about anything during your nap?”
Calipso nodded while yawning. “I dreamt about Mrs Sheraton and Josephine and they were involved in a serious argument with someone called Mr Snickhelburg. He was also wearing a grey uniform, and there was a badge on his pocket that said 'Health and Hygiene is our Business'.”
“I also dreamt about Mrs Sheraton, but in my dream she was standing in the kitchen with her hands on her hips and she looked terribly upset,” said Annie, her voice full of concern.
Charlotte thought she was slowly beginning to understand. “I also dreamt about Mr Snickhelburg, he introduced himself to Mrs Sheraton as the health inspector. She was trying to tell him that she knew nothing about his visit and he told her that she wasn't supposed to, it was a surprise visit to check that the school was meeting the correct standards set by the Department of Health.”
“So that means Mr Snickhelberg is going to be visiting our school, he'll see all those rats running around near the drains and in the kitchen, and then he's going to close down the school,” concluded Chelsea.
“We have to do something!” said Annie, jumping up with her arms in the air.
“Yes, we do have to do something before it's too late. I really don't want to go back to Peru, I love it here!” shouted Calipso in agreement.
“Come on, we need to think,” said Jade, jumping off her bed and pacing up and down.
“I say we go straight to Mrs Sheraton,” suggested Roxanne.
“How do we know that she will believe any of this?” asked Annie.
“We don't, but she listened to Calipso when she went to her about Suzy and the shoplifting incident, so if Calipso does all the talking, then our chances might be better,” said Jade. So the girls neatened themselves up and marched out of the dorm, on a mission to save Fernwood High School from the rats.
Chapter Fourteen: Misunderstood (Julie)
Kyle turned on his heel and rushed out of the hall after Chelsea.
“Chelsea, wait!” he called after her. He spotted a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye and when he caught up to her, she was standing at the fountain outside.
“What's the matter Chelsea, are you alright?” he asked while gently wiping a tear from her cheek.
“I'm f-f-fine,” she sobbed.
“Are you sure? You don’t seem fine,” he persisted.
“Well, Holly! Are you two together now?” she stuttered.
“What? No! Chelsea, Holly is my cousin. She saw me standing on my own while you were in the bathroom, so she asked me to dance with her. She told me she was given strict instructions from my aunt Hilda to give me a big hug and kiss.”
“Oh,” she whispered while trying to compose herself. “It's just that...well...it was as if she was trying to make me jealous.”
“That's just Holly. Don't take her seriously, everything she does is a bit of an act. She can be very sweet sometimes,” Kyle explained, trying his best to reassure Chelsea.
“Maybe to you,” answered Chelsea, who was starting to feel a little ashamed of her jealous outburst.
Kyle sighed and took both of Chelsea's hands.
“I'm sorry,” she said, looking at his handsome face, “I misunderstood.”
“Don't apologise, I'm sorry you felt upset and I'm so sorry about spilling punch all over your beautiful dress.”
Chelsea laughed and showed him that the mark from the fruit punch could hardly be seen.
They sat down on the edge of the fountain, still holding hands, and talked and laughed under the clear and starry night sky. After a little while, they were quiet for a moment and they could hear the muffled beat of the music in the hall. Chelsea suddenly felt nervous as Kyle turned her face towards his, the corners of his mouth turned up into a cheeky smile. He looked into her eyes and tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. Chelsea's heart skipped a beat when she realised that Kyle was about to kiss her. But all of a sudden the clock tower behind them broke the silence as the clock struck midnight. Within seconds the hall door swung open and everybody shuffled outside, the boys linking arms with the girls ready to escort them back to their hostels.
Kyle and Chelsea stood up quickly and joined the others, both feeling a little awkward after what had almost happened.
There was lots of chattering and laughing amongst the boys and girls as they walked back to Fernwood, and once the Super Six had been wished good night by their partners, the chattering continued down the stairs and into the dorm.
There was a lot for them to talk about, so they put on their pajamas, took off their make-up and then they all climbed onto Annie's bed to discuss every detail of the evening. Annie reached under her bed for her snack box, which was always full of exciting treats, and they all tucked in as they relived the evening at the Ball. There was Suzy's arrival in her beautiful red dress, Ben's good looks without his glasses and Annie's discovery of his great sense of humour. There was also Adam and Calipso's attempt at Latin American dancing, Charlotte and Roxanne's special treatment at the matric table, and of course Chelsea's almost-first-kiss. They giggled non-stop into the early hours of the morning and when they finally climbed into their own beds it took them no time to fall fast asleep. Just before Chelsea closed her eyes, she picked up the rose that Kyle had given her. The soft, sweet petals tickled her nose.
“I know what I'm going to dream about tonight,” she thought to herself, gently laying the rose down on her pillow. Then she turned over and closed her eyes.
“Chelsea, wait!” he called after her. He spotted a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye and when he caught up to her, she was standing at the fountain outside.
“What's the matter Chelsea, are you alright?” he asked while gently wiping a tear from her cheek.
“I'm f-f-fine,” she sobbed.
“Are you sure? You don’t seem fine,” he persisted.
“Well, Holly! Are you two together now?” she stuttered.
“What? No! Chelsea, Holly is my cousin. She saw me standing on my own while you were in the bathroom, so she asked me to dance with her. She told me she was given strict instructions from my aunt Hilda to give me a big hug and kiss.”
“Oh,” she whispered while trying to compose herself. “It's just that...well...it was as if she was trying to make me jealous.”
“That's just Holly. Don't take her seriously, everything she does is a bit of an act. She can be very sweet sometimes,” Kyle explained, trying his best to reassure Chelsea.
“Maybe to you,” answered Chelsea, who was starting to feel a little ashamed of her jealous outburst.
Kyle sighed and took both of Chelsea's hands.
“I'm sorry,” she said, looking at his handsome face, “I misunderstood.”
“Don't apologise, I'm sorry you felt upset and I'm so sorry about spilling punch all over your beautiful dress.”
Chelsea laughed and showed him that the mark from the fruit punch could hardly be seen.
They sat down on the edge of the fountain, still holding hands, and talked and laughed under the clear and starry night sky. After a little while, they were quiet for a moment and they could hear the muffled beat of the music in the hall. Chelsea suddenly felt nervous as Kyle turned her face towards his, the corners of his mouth turned up into a cheeky smile. He looked into her eyes and tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. Chelsea's heart skipped a beat when she realised that Kyle was about to kiss her. But all of a sudden the clock tower behind them broke the silence as the clock struck midnight. Within seconds the hall door swung open and everybody shuffled outside, the boys linking arms with the girls ready to escort them back to their hostels.
Kyle and Chelsea stood up quickly and joined the others, both feeling a little awkward after what had almost happened.
There was lots of chattering and laughing amongst the boys and girls as they walked back to Fernwood, and once the Super Six had been wished good night by their partners, the chattering continued down the stairs and into the dorm.
There was a lot for them to talk about, so they put on their pajamas, took off their make-up and then they all climbed onto Annie's bed to discuss every detail of the evening. Annie reached under her bed for her snack box, which was always full of exciting treats, and they all tucked in as they relived the evening at the Ball. There was Suzy's arrival in her beautiful red dress, Ben's good looks without his glasses and Annie's discovery of his great sense of humour. There was also Adam and Calipso's attempt at Latin American dancing, Charlotte and Roxanne's special treatment at the matric table, and of course Chelsea's almost-first-kiss. They giggled non-stop into the early hours of the morning and when they finally climbed into their own beds it took them no time to fall fast asleep. Just before Chelsea closed her eyes, she picked up the rose that Kyle had given her. The soft, sweet petals tickled her nose.
“I know what I'm going to dream about tonight,” she thought to herself, gently laying the rose down on her pillow. Then she turned over and closed her eyes.
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