A Genius at the Chalet School (7 page)

   "That girl should go far," the mistress thought as she closed the door softly and went on her way. "But what a touch - what technique for a child of fifteen - how she can work! I'd like some of my own beauties to hear her! It might open their eyes a little."
   Twelve o'clock came all too soon for Nina, but when the bell rang, she had the sense to stop, pack up her music, close the piano, pulling its baize cover over it, and hurry off to her formroom where she was due for a lesson in English.
   For the first hour of the afternoon session, she was practising again. After that, Va had games. Ordinary games were out of the question, however, for the snow had come back - much more gently, but still it was falling again - and the girls had to resign themselves to no outdoor exercise until it stopped.
   Word came from Miss Burnett that as ski-ing or tobogganing was out of the question, the girls were to change into tunics and plimsolls and come to the gym. This no longer meant going outside, for during the long summer holidays, wooden passageways had been build, linking the art room, domestic science kitchens, geography room, science laboratories and the gym with the school proper. In fine weather, the girls might and did cross over outside; in weather like this, they had to march decorously along the corridors.
   Led by Bess as form prefect, Va went quite joyfully, so far as most of them were concerned. Miss Burnett was waiting for them and with her was Mdlle Lenoir, the junior music mistress.
   "Well," said the P.T. mistress when they were all in the big room, "any sort of outdoor games can be counted out at the moment. Mdlle Lenoir has twenty minutes to give us, thought, so we'll begin with country dancing. Let me see; Nina, have you done any?"
   "Only what we did on Saturday night," Nina replied, having been hauled in and dragged through half-a-dozen of the easier dances by Mary-Lou and the rest of that quartette.
   "Oh, well, we'll begin with
Butterfly
That's easy enough. Take your partners, girls. Yes, Hilary; you take Nina and help her through."
  
Butterfly
was followed by
Bonnets So Blue
. Then, with an eye to the needs of the others, Miss Burnett told Nina to sit out and took her place while the girls danced
Parson's Farewell
and
Maid in the Moon
. Then Mdlle Lenoir had to go to give music lessons and Miss Burnett suggested a round of Beanbags to give them a chance to get their breath. Two of the girls "picked up" for sides and then they all sat on the floor cross-legged in two circles with a good distance between each girl.
   For Nina's sake, the mistress explained the game. "Beginning with your leader, you toss the bags from one to another all round the circle. The last girl to receive the bag runs with it to me and collects the next one which she tosses as soon as she had sat down
properly
. That means cross-legged and right down on the floor. There are eight bags for each ring, so everyone will have a turn at bringing the bag and beginning the tossing. The ring who first brings me the last bag wins. Got your bags, Bess and Hilda? Then begin - NOW!"
   The fun began. The bags went whirling round the rings and Mary Yates, the last in Nina's ring, was up half a second before Vi Lucy and tearing up the length of the gym to toss the bag to Miss Burnett, grab the second one, come racing back and sit down. However, Vi gained time by crossing her legs and dropping to the ground that way so that the new bags started the round together. By the time it came to Nina's turn, she had grasped what was wanted and she was on her feet and flying down to the mistress before Rosemary King had sprung up. Back came Nina, full tilt, moving Hilary to mutter to Lesley Malcolm who was next to her, "Some sprinter!" She dropped into her place, feet crossed, and the bag went on its journey before Rosemary could sit down. Thanks to this, Hilda's side won by one second and the other ring clapped them vigorously.
   "Leapfrog to wind up," Miss Burnett decided. "That ought to shake all the fidgets out of you! Round the room, and mind you space out evenly. Mary-Lou, show Nina what to do. And remember, girls; you only
touch
the back of the girl you are leaping over. Don't press with all your weight. Hilda, be careful! People being leaped over, remember to keep your heads down."
   Mary-Lou took over Nina in her usual capable manner. "Stand here," she said. "Stoop down and grip your ankles - or as near them as you can get. No; keep your feet apart a little to get a firm stance. Now, you're the last, so you'll jump last. When we do it in the garden, of course, we start off as soon as we've been jumped but we can't do that here. Grass is soft to fall on and wood isn't. Now to you quite understand?"
   Nina said she did and Mary-Lou went off to her own place while Bess got ready to do the round. The new girl gasped as she saw long-legged Bess leap lightly over girl after girl in her run around the room. Then the form prefect was coming up to her, so she remembered what Miss Burnett had said and tucked her head in. A minute later there was the light touch of hands on her back and Bess was over and running to stand further along, bent down for Mary-Lou to follow her example.
   All went well with the first seven and Nina was enjoying the fun. Then Hilda Jukes came. Now Hilda was a big creature, kind, pleasant and very well-meaning, but as heedless a girl as you could find anywhere. Miss Burnett warned her once more about not bearing with her whole weight on the bent backs and started her off. Hilda remembered most of the way round. Then she came to Vi, who was behind Nina. In her excitement, she forgot and if Vi had not been prepared, she would have been bowled over. As it was, she just managed to keep her balance. Nina, new to the game, was not prepared at all. Hilda clamped a pair of big hands firmly on her, bore down and leapt. Nina gave way and the pair of them rolled over, Nina undermost.
   Miss Burnett rushed to the spot at once and hauled Hilda off with more speed than gentleness. Then she bent over the new girl who was sitting up holding her left wrist with the other hand and biting her lips to keep from crying out with the pain. Somehow, she had bent the wrist under her and Hilda's weight on top had done the mischief.
   The mistress examined the injured wrist gently but thoroughly, while Hilda, having come to her senses, stood gasping out apologies.
   "Shut up, ass!" Mary-Lou said, hushing her. "Shall I get Nina some water, Miss Burnett?"
   "Yes - do," Miss Burnett replied. "No, Nina, no bones broken, but you've given that wrist a nasty wrench. You must go to Nurse and she'll bandage it for you and give you a sling to rest it. It'll be all right in a day or two. Thank you, Mary-Lou!" as that young woman brought the water. "Sip this, Nina, and then I'll take you to Nurse. Thank goodness there's no serious harm done!"
   No one was prepared for what followed. Nina gave her a look of horror. "But - what about my practice?" she cried.
   "I'm afraid it'll have to go for the present. Don't look so upset, Nina," Miss Burnett said soothingly. "A couple of days' rest will probably be all your wrist will need. You ought to be able to get back to your piano by Monday."
   "Oh, I'm awfully sorry, Nina!" cried tactless Hilda at this moment.
   Nina swung round on her, her eyes flashing. "You clumsy creature!" she exclaimed. "You were warned twice! Now you've stopped my practice! I'll never forgive you - never!" And with the final words, she burst into a passion of tears.

CHAPTER 8

"And so, you see, although Hilda's said over and over again how sorry she is, Nina just won't listen to her. The last time I saw it happen, she turned her back and walked away before Hilda had even begun. I think, myself, she's an idiot - Nina, I mean - for it
was
an accident, even though Hilda should have had more sense than to bear all her weight down on
anyone
, let alone a girl who, to judge by what she says, had never played leapfrog before in her life. I should think," concluded Mary-Lou seriously, " that that's one thing Hilda will never do again."
   "Then that's so much to the good - so far as Hilda is concerned," Joey Maynard said ruthlessly. "I'm sorry for her, but she really is a heedless creature and always has been. If she's learnt her lesson through this silly business, it'll be a mercy!"
   "Yes, but it's not helping Nina. Everyone's told the silly kid that her wrist will be all right in a few days' time, but the way she's going on about it, you'd think she was maimed for life. Matey sent for Dr. Graves as Uncle Jack wasn't available and he's stopped her practice altogether until Monday and you'd think the world was coming to an end!" Mary-Lou said graphically. "What can we do about it, Auntie Jo?"
   Joey finished clipping together the last sheets of the carbon copy of her new book. Then, as she added them to the pile, she said slowly, "But the trouble is that's exactly what she
does
feel."
   Mary-Lou gaped at her. "Just because she's wrenched her wrist and is cut off from practice for a few days? She couldn't possibly!"
   "Oh, yes, she could. You're forgetting that the be-all and end-all of life for her
is
music." Then, as Mary-Lou still looked completely incredulous, she added, "I can understand to a certain extent for I've had spasms of feeling that way myself when I had a chapter of the current book all boiling up in my brain and haven't been able to get down to it at once. And remember this: with Nina it's genius and that makes it a thousand times worse."
   "Then what is it with you?" Mary-Lou demanded. "If anyone asked me, I'd say
you
were a genius - writing, not music," she added.
   Joey shook her head. "
No
, thank heaven! I'd be sorry for your Uncle Jack and the family if it were. It's talent where I'm concerned, Mary-Lou, and that's not nearly such an urgent thing as genius."
   Mary-Lou turned this over in her mind and then dismissed it until she had leisure to think it out for herself. At present, she was limited to one hour away from school and nearly half of that had gone already. It was the Saturday after the accident and, as she had said, Nina stayed grimly unforgiving where the penitent Hilda was concerned. She either could not or would not see that the whole thing was an accident - one due to sheer carelessness, it is true; but still an accident.
   Hilda herself had heard all about her part in the affair, first from Miss Burnett who had been righteously angry because all her warnings had been ignored. She had not spared Hilda a severe tongue-lashing which had reduced the culprit nearly to tears. The Head who came next had pointed out that if she could still be so heedless at her age, she was hardly fit to be in Va with every likelihood of going up to one or other of the Sixths in September and the possibility of being otherwise eligible for a prefectship.
   "If you are going to behave so irresponsibly, Hilda, how can we promote you?" Miss Annersley had said gravely. "You are sixteen and a half now - seventeen in May, isn't it? And yet in some ways you are nearly as heedless and careless as little Margot Maynard. How can we dare to rely on you if you aren't going to try to improve?"
   When Hilda got herself out of the study, what was left of her might have gone into a half-pint mug!
   Her own form, needless to state, told her
their
opinion with brutal frankness. Miss Lawrence had crowned everything that morning when she happened to meet the girl, by telling her exactly what she thought of her for upsetting Nina's music. This had been the finish so far as Hilda was concerned. She had vanished from sight and when Mary-Lou at last found her in the art storeroom where she had hidden herself, she had cried until she was fit for nothing but Matron's care. Being a canny young person, Mary-Lou had refrained from any comments about absence from mending and letter-writing. Instead, she fetched Matron and Matron marched Hilda off to her cubicle and told her to lie down for an hour or two after she had sponged her face.
   During Break, Mary-Lou and her three chums had neatly cut Nina out from the rest of the Seniors and tried by every means in their power to coax her to forgive Hilda. Nina remained implacable and, in despair, Mary-Lou had gone to the Head and begged leave to go to Freudesheim as she wanted to see Aunt Joey about "something frightfully important - and it
is
frightful, too", she had added consideringly.
   Miss Annersley asked no questions though she guessed what was behind the request. She gave leave at once - the more readily because she herself had had a session with Nina after and had made no greater impression on her than the girls had. Nina could see only her own point of view. She had no pity for Hilda's real unhappiness and all the Head could get out of her was a sullen, "It serves her right if she's miserable. She was warned and she didn't bother to remember. I can't practise and I couldn't have my lesson this morning."
   "There are more important things than music, even," Miss Annersley said sternly. "I hope, until you feel differently about Hilda, you won't try to say Our Father, Nina. Have you ever thought what a terrible condemnation of yourself you are calling down if you ask to be forgiven your trespasses exactly as you forgive those of others? Think that over, please, and ask God to give you the grace of pity."
   Nina had looked rather startled, but she said nothing and the Head had dismissed her with a heavy heart. She had almost decided to consult Joey herself, for if Hilda was miserable, Nina was no better, to judge by her looks. So she had instantly gone to ring up Freudesheim and returned to give Mary-Lou permission to wrap up and run across provided she was back within an hour. Mittagessen was to be early to-day and the girls were to have a long afternoon out-of-doors, tobogganing and ski-ing.
   Mary-Lou had skipped across and poured out the whole story to Joey. Now she said anxiously, "But what can we do about it, Auntie Jo? Hilda's awfully miserable and," she added with a flash of insight that Joey had hardly expected of even her, "so is Nina. It can't be let go on, you know."
   "Your English!" Joey said. Then, "It's no use going on at Nina. You'll only make her dig her toes in more. The best thing
you
can do is to pray for her. But Mary-Lou, there
is
something to be said for her. Try to understand a little."
   "I can see that she had every reason to be mad at first," Mary-Lou replied. "But she's gone
on
being mad and that's what I don't understand."
   "You can try. Listen to me. Do you remember last term after your accident when you first roused up and thought for some days that you might never walk again?"
   Mary-Lou stared at her with parted lips. "I do, of course. I don't think I could every forget. But," she added, "it didn't make me
hate
Emerence."
   "Although it was really all her fault. I wasn't thinking of that side of it exactly but as you've brought it up, I'd just like to point out that you find it easy to forgive and Nina obviously doesn't. What I
was
getting at was how you felt until you knew that it would be all right sooner or later."
   The blue eyes darkened at the memory. "I felt simply
awful
!"
   "Yes; well, that's how Nina is feeling just now about her wrist."
   "Auntie Joey, she simply
can't
! She's known from the first that it was only a few days before she was all right again. I didn't - or not at first."
   "Didn't you feel
sick
to get up and move about sometimes?" Joey asked.
   "I did, of course." Mary-Lou paused. Then she said suddenly, "I'll tell you. There was one day when I felt if I had to lie there a moment longer I must scream and scream and
scream
! I wanted almost maddeningly to get up and go flying around as I've always done. It seemed to me that if I had to lie like that for the rest of my life I'd go completely crackers. In fact, I rather hoped I'd die if it meant that."
   "Nina is longing to be at her music in just that way," Joey said; and left it at that.
   "But that's mad! She'll be at it again by the middle of next week at latest. It wasn't a really bad wrench, you know, though it did hurt. Must have done, for she was as white as chalk when we'd hauled Hilda off her."
   "Don't you think that Nina may have been terrified in case the damage was really bad? To be a concert pianist, your hands and wrists and arms must be perfect. Shall I tell you how it looks to me?"
   "I wish you would! I quite like the kid, you know," said Mary-Lou, sublimely ignoring the fact that "the kid" was a bare three weeks younger than herself. "And, of course, we're all fond enough of poor old Hilda and
she's
a long, wet week over it, because Miss Burnett did warn her twice about being careful. So what with that and knowing that the whole thing was her fault and Nina saying she won't have anything to do with her. Hilda's on the verge of weeps half the time. And we honestly don't know what to do about it."
   "I've told you the best and only thing you can do. However, what strikes me is that for the first hour or so Nina really did think her career was done in," said Joey cheerfully forgetting that she was a grown-up, the mother of a long family and a well-known writer, and reverting to schoolgirl language. "Well, she's had a series of quite nasty shocks in the past two months and she wasn't able to take it. She lost her father when he plunged into Maggiore to try to save a kid that had fallen in. She was whisked off to England by her guardian who is a very nice man - I met him when he came to fix her up at the Chalet School - but I should think that his high light in music is Handel's
Largo
and
perhaps
the
Moonlight
. At any rate, I'm certain he hasn't the foggiest notion how Nina feels, In fact, I doubt if any of his family has. Then, after never being at school but just living round with her father, she was plunged headlong into a very fair-sized one and she hasn't had anything like time to feel her feet yet. Her mind must be a whole jumble of muddled impressions and she can't sort them out. It's a pity Hilda made such an ass of herself, but you other people have
got
to be patient with Nina and do your best for her. Let the subject along altogether in future. Keep her occupied with other ideas and don't give her a chance to brood on it."
   "Then what happens to her mind if it's in a jumble to start with?" Mary-Lou demanded.
   "Your ideas will be on the surface. Deep down inside I
hope
things will begin to straighten themselves out a little. But nothing your crowd can say will do it, so ignore it. That's my advice. She's coming to tea with me to-morrow and if I find I can do anything, I will. But I won't promise. I may decide that
I
should leave it alone, too. Now your hour is up and you must go. Before I forget, you can ask leave to come along on Sunday week. I must get all my parties over during this half of the term, After that, I shan't be able to manage."
   Mary-Lou flashed her a look and she laughed. "Oh, I'm all right. Don't you start to worry about me, But I'd like a few weeks of peace and quiet just then, that's all."
   "Well, thanks a million," Mary-Lou said, getting up from her lowly seat on a hassock. I feel better about things now. I'll tell our crowd what you say and try to get the rest to lay off Nina. Perhaps," hopefully, "when she can play again she'll come round and forgive Hilda."
   "I fully expect she will - if she doesn't forget all about it. Don't forget what I said about genius. It isn't selfishness in the ordinary sense. It's just that music means more to her than everything else put together. Only, for her own sake, she must learn to live with other people."
   "Are all geniuses like that?" Mary-Lou asked as she pulled on her coat.
   "It's a very common habit with them - though Bach, at any rate, must have been able to manage music
and
other folk. He had twenty children and married twice!"
   "Gosh! He was worse than you!" cried the candid Mary-Lou.
   "What on earth do you mean? I've only eight, so far!
And
one husband!"
   Mary-Lou giggled. "I don't suppose you'll ever want more than the one husband. You'd have a ghastly time finding anyone else as nice as Uncle Jack! But about the family I wouldn't be so sure. I can just see you with a string of infants coming along for years to come!" She turned and fled to the door after this piece of impertinence and Joey giggled herself.
   "You deserve to have your ears well boxed for that! However, I'll let it pass. Off you go or someone will have something to say to you. It's after twelve now."
   Mary-Lou gave a shriek of horror and sped off as fast as she could go. Luckily, she had put on her nailed boots or she would have floundered all over for the ground was like glass. But she kept her balance and as Joey's clock was five minutes fast, she was able to join her fellows in the commonroom at St. Clare's just before the bell rang for Mittagessen.
   "What luck?" Vi muttered as they lined up at the door.
   "Tell you later. But Aunt Joey says we've got to lay off Nina, so we'll have to get at the rest on that point. There's second bell!" And Mary-Lou firmly held her tongue until they were all sitting down when she equally firmly changed the subject to the afternoon's sport and no more was said for the present.