‘Come on! Don’t be a sissy. Lorna does it all the time, it’s easy.’ Crowed David.
Throwing her right leg over, Diana climbed onto the polished mahogany. Tentatively, she began to let her body slide down the long sweep of stairs, gathering speed the further down she went.
‘What do you think you’re doing, young lady? Don’t you realise how dangerous that is? If you fell you’d break your neck!’
Glancing round in panic, Diana met the gaze of a tall man standing at the foot, hands on hips and a stern look upon his face.
‘You silly girl look at the height at the top,’ he paused. ‘You’re new here, I believe. What’s your name?’
‘Diana Rivers, sir.’
‘Well Diana, I’m Mr Allen and I’m duty teacher today. Normally, such bad behaviour would result in a detention. However, as today is your first day, I’ll be lenient - just this once. Any other misdemeanour and you are for the high jump, my girl. Do you understand?’
‘Yes sir. Thank you sir,’ she stammered.
‘Now run along and get some fresh air. Explore the grounds. But no more pranks, do you hear?’
Diana shook her head and headed for the front door. Confused, she looked around. Where on earth had David and Lorna got to? Looking both ways along the driveway, she could see no sign of either of them. Shrugging, she crossed over and made her way down a flight of steps leading towards the other dormitories. Hesitating at the bottom, she couldn’t decide which way she should go.
‘Psst! Come on, this way.’
Startled, Diana looked towards the voice and met the grinning face of David and the more uncertain one of Lorna’s. They were kneeling down and half-hidden behind a large tree-trunk.
‘How on earth did you manage to get here so fast? Did you see that teacher coming? I got into awful trouble and on my first day too.’
‘Yeah old baldie Allen. He’s a right old misery. You’re lucky he didn’t gate you for detention or worse, no pocket-money!’ David stood up, brushing the grit from his hands but ignoring his dirty knees.
‘Let’s go then.’
‘Where are we going?’ Diana asked, not sure if she trusted David to keep them out of mischief.
‘We’re going to show you the netball court and there’s some swings there that Lorna likes, don’t you, sis?’
Giving his sister a warm smile, he slipped a thin arm around her shoulders. Lorna nodded, giving her brother a look that spoke of hero-worship and admiration. For a moment, Diana felt left out. She caught a feeling of a real bond between them. For the first time since she’d left home to begin her adventure at boarding school she missed her own two sisters back in Kuala Lumpur with their parents. Feeling a bit sniffy she turned to look the other way.
‘Which way do we go then?’
Taking command, David led the three down a concrete path past a sign marked, “Surgery”, and a neat looking bungalow.
‘The matrons live there. We have two of them, did you know? Matron Cocksedge and Matron O’Neill. We like Matron Cocksedge best; she’s stern but nice really. Matron O’Neill has a funny slurry voice and smells a bit strange.’
‘I haven’t met her yet, just Matron Cocksedge and Mr Allen now. I haven’t seen any of the children either.’
‘You will. They’ll all be arriving during the day.’
They had reached the netball court and finding a discarded ball, David practised getting it into the net.
Diana and Lorna went over to the swings and Diana gave the little girl a push, sending her soaring high over her head. Her excited shrieks filled the air and Diana felt pleased to be the one causing her so much fun. After a while the three lost interest and left the playground to explore further. Diana was shown a gym-come hall with a stage at one end, where Lorna excitedly told her the schoolchildren put on plays that were “ever so good”. She especially liked Christmas when there was a Nativity-like story and all the children were given a present from baby Jesus.
They walked on, David swishing at tall grasses with a switch he’d cut from a bamboo, until they arrived at what looked like an impassable thicket of jungle. David found a narrow path and led them through into a tiny glade. Beneath the tree canopy the air was thick and humid. Insects buzzed and droned, and Diana could hear nearby birdsong and chattering monkeys lost high above them. She felt strange; almost like she was stepping back in time. All the other sounds surrounding them before; like the man cutting the lawn, another clipping a hibiscus hedge and far-off traffic faded away.
David broke into her reverie. ‘We love it here. It’s special. We’ve brought no one else, so you’d better keep it secret, or else,’ he said in a fierce sounding voice.
‘Gosh! Of course I will.’ She felt tremendously flattered and thrilled to be part of their special secret and she a new girl!
Diana sat down on a fallen, rotting log. A swarm of butterflies rose from the crumbling wood, filling the air with a myriad of colour.
‘Oh! How pretty!’ she exclaimed in wonder. There must have been over a hundred filling the space around them.
‘It happens every time we come here. This is their home, I expect.’ Lorna said, following Diana’s gaze.
‘It must be the flowers that attract them. My teacher in my old school used to collect butterflies. He said they liked being near water. Is there any nearby?’
David and Lorna shook their heads. The three children watched as the butterflies rose and fell, alighting here and there and occasionally on their heads and shoulders. All too soon, Diana realised it was approaching midday.
‘It’s nearly lunch-time. I’d better go back. I don’t want to cop it and get into more trouble by being late, do I?’ Scrambling to her feet she stood up. ‘Are you coming too?’
‘No, we’ll see you later on. We have to do something else first don’t we, Lorna?’
‘Okay. Which way do I go?’
As Diana looked round she couldn’t see the pathway that had led them through the jungle into the glade. All around the vegetation looked completely impenetrable.
‘Here. Over here.’ David strode over to a tree that had a small pile of rocks lying at its foot. Going to the side of the tree and slightly behind it he pushed a branch aside.
‘Here’s the path,’ he repeated.
Feeling silly that she hadn’t found it for herself, Diana saw the path clearly leading straight out of the tight jungle. Stepping onto the path, she brushed against the leafy bough and turned back to say goodbye. In amazement she saw there was no path behind her. The thick foliage was dark and without any gaps leading through. Neither could she see the tree that she’d just brushed against. Shaking her head she looked again. Feeling muzzy and confused, she called her friends’ names.
‘David? Lorna?’
Nothing answered, neither of the siblings, or birds or insects. The thicket was in complete silence.
~~~~~
‘And I’m Becky and this is Tamsin.’ The plump dark-haired girl sat down next to Diana on her bed. ‘We’ve already been here over a year now, why didn’t you come before?’
‘Because at first my mum and dad thought that a school in England would be better. But I hated it. So they decided the send me here. I can easily go back home to KL from Singapore on the train. And it’s more fun.’
‘Yeah loads of us travel down each term. I go all the way to Ipoh with some of the others.’
The girls were interested in Diana and her things. They sat and watched while she unpacked her trunk, alternately admiring and smirking at her clothes and other belongings.
‘I like your hipster skirt. Mum wouldn’t let me have one. She said I looked like a sack in one. Do you wear a bra yet? How much pocket money are you allowed each week? Are you getting the full lot? Tamsin is, but my dad says he can’t afford three dollars each week for me and I have to make do with a dollar-fifty. Talk about mean.’
Diana finished refolding her shirts and put them away in her cupboard. She smiled at Becky who never seemed to wait for an answer to her questions as she prattled on. They’d had high tea earlier and afterwards they’d spent an hour writing their weekly letter back home to their families. Diana thought it silly that she’d had to write one as she’d only just arrived that day. But the teacher said it was good practice and Diana supposed she could take the opportunity to tell them all about her new boarding school and her friends. So far, she’d not had time to ask any of the girls about David and Lorna.
‘Tonight we’re lucky. We’re watching a film. It’s called “Whisky Galore!” and it’s supposed to be really funny. You have to be quick to get a good seat. We usually try and sit near the back, near the boys. Tamsin’s got a boyfriend and they sit and hold hands when it’s dark and the teachers aren’t looking. Have you got a boyfriend yet?’ Becky peered at her hopefully.
Diana shook her head. ‘No I haven’t.’
‘Shame you could have told us what he’s like.’ She tossed her head. ‘Never mind, I expect you’ll get one soon, you’re quite pretty and I noticed the boys nudging each other when you went to collect your tea from the kitchen. Mum says I have to lose some weight before I get one. But I’m not too worried. I like me as I am, and I’m not stopping eating sweets, even if they do make you spotty. Do you think I’ve got too much puppy fat?’
Diana looked more worried than Becky. Her new friend
was
chubby, but she didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and she needed some friends at her new school.
‘No, of course not.’
Becky looked pleased. ‘There, I knew it. Just my mum being fussy as usual. Come on let’s go and grab a seat, you can share my crisps if you like.’
The film was good and while Mr Allen changed reels the girls took the opportunity to visit their dormitory and go to the bathroom.
Switching on the overhead lights in the dormitory, Becky gave a gasp of shock that turned to annoyance.
‘What? Look at that! Some cheeky blighter has thrown talcum powder all over my bed. What a mess.’
The other girls crowded in behind Becky and Diana.
‘Mine too.’
‘And mine.’
Looking around the room, it soon transpired that every bed had a fair sprinkling of talcum powder peppering the coverlet.
‘Whoever did this?’
Diana bent down and sniffed the talc. ‘Lily of the Valley! I know that scent anywhere, my mum uses it.’
‘Sonja! It’s your talc,’ said Becky with a look of accusation written all over her face. Everyone turned to look at a red-faced Sonja.
‘Oh come on! I’d hardly waste my own talc now, would I?’
There was a general muttering as they all agreed.
‘Look footprints. One set is bigger than the other.’ One by one the girls traipsed over to get a better look, making a right racket as they did so.