Leaving school (or Even First Mates get Examination results)

by constantlearner

This story is set in the Easter holidays after Great Northern? and, I hope, explains the "hotel scene" in Baltic adventure and some discrepancies between Swallowdale and The Picts and the Martyrs.

My very first Swallows and Amazons story was a rather complicated story explaining how the Swallows, Amazons and Callums managed to be in Hebrides in June, as the plot of Great Northern? seemed to demand. It was frankly rather dreadful and relied extremely heavily on co-incidence. This isn't it. This story is set in the Easter holidays after Great Northern? and, I hope, explains the "hotel scene" in Baltic adventure and some discrepancies between Swallowdale and The Picts and the Martyrs.

Leaving School (Or Even First Mates get exam results)

It wasn't somewhere they usually stopped. Later, when she discussed with Peggy on Wild Cat Island, Nancy wondered aloud if that was something deliberate on Mother's part.

"Not associating any particular place with bad news." she explained. "Not somewhere we're likely to go again."

"Or so there was no way of being overheard." Peggy said, more prosaically. "Pretty rotten for Cook if she'd heard that. Some of it any way."

Of course, that was some time afterwards. Even the Amazon pirates had been speechless when Mother had first given them the news.

"I didn't think you'd mind quite so much." Mother said tentatively, after the stunned silence had stretched on for uncomfortably long time. "I'm not saying you can live on Wild Cat Island, of course, but you will be able to sail every day. At least, every day with the right sort of wind."

Peggy spoke first. "Not go back at all. Not even finish the year? We just leave school like that?"

"What about Peggy's school cert?" Nancy asked. Her voice was quieter than usual, but Molly did not miss the harsh tone in it. Nancy was going to be difficult about this.

"Lots of people don't have school certificates." said Molly. "You've never even said you wanted to go to college or anything like that, Peggy."

"I don't, not especially." said Peggy, "but school cert. was something to aim for. And we've pretty much finished the work. Next term would be mostly revision."

"Peggy really is jolly good." said Nancy, "I don't mean she's academic like Dot, but she knows her stuff, and she's worked her socks off this term Mother. Can't you at least find the money to let her take her exams? I've got mine and it seems so unfair Peggy not getting a chance."

"I handed the letter in to your headmistress's secretary when I came to pick you up. I am sorry about this, girls, but you've had a lots more chances than most girls, and I know you have made the most of them, recently, at least. Even Aunt Maria admits as much."

"It's a pity she can't bring herself to admit that we probably wouldn't have done if we hadn't met the Walkers." Nancy said sourly. "Isn't there anything we can do, even just to give Peggy one more term?"

"We aren't selling Amazon." said Peggy, quickly. "Not for anything. We just couldn't."

"I don't expect Amazon would bring anything like enough." Nancy admitted. She was trying not to show that she felt very relieved. Once Amazon was gone, she would be lost forever. It seemed a high price to pay for one term, even a term with school certificate.

"She wouldn't." Mother admitted. "The launch might, but you don't get very much for a thing when you try to sell it in a hurry."

Nancy was frowning. "Look here mother, you'd better tell us how bad it is right away. There's no point trying to break it in dribs and drabs, and it'll be pretty beastly not knowing when you're going to spring the next problem on us. This has been going on for longer than you've been letting on, hasn't it?"

"In a way," Molly said. "but really it hasn't been so bad. The thing with investments is that they do go up and down and so on. The land your father bought when he bought Beckfoot is still there, of course and rents get paid just the same, and the shares in your grandfather's business - I mean Bob's father- still bring in something. But my father mostly left shares in mines, and eventually there's less and less in a mine."

"And it costs more and more to get out." said Nancy.

"So really, it could be worse. We've got a roof over our head and enough to eat. Once I don't have to pay school bills, we shall be able to carry on quite comfortably at home."

Nancy was frowning. "We never got another housemaid after Ada left and got married. Was that to pay our school fees?"

Her mother nodded then shook her head "Partly. At least, not exactly. I wasn't relying on the money saved there to help with the school fees, but it seemed sensible not to spend money that didn't need spending. But really, apart from having everything the way Aunt Maria thinks it ought to be, we truly didn't need anyone else with both of you at school for most of the year and camping half the time when you weren't. I don't make very much mess by myself, you know."

"Cook isn't going to have to go is she?" Peggy asked in sudden alarm. "I mean, she's always been at Beckfoot."

"No," said Mother, "not unless things get an awful lot worse and to be honest…."

"You wouldn't chuck Cook out just to keep us at school." said Nancy. "Don't worry, we wouldn't expect you to either." She frowned fiercely at the view. "Come on. Sitting around here isn't going to help. May I drive now, Mother?"

Peggy suppressed a sigh. She had been quite surprised when Nancy had passed her driving test, although Peggy had to admit that Nancy drove better than Mother. She knew the signs of Nancy plotting, however and wasn't sure how much of her sister's mind would be on the road.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It could, thought Peggy, have been much worse. Luckily Nancy was inclined to enthusiastic use of the horn on before sharp bends and narrow bridges. Instead of taking the road that went round the head of the lake, Nancy drove into Rio, parked in a space Peggy would have sworn you could not get Rattletrap into, and got out.

"First mate, there's someone I've got to speak to." she said, "When you've had a cup of tea and got into comfortables, bring the rowing galley across to meet me at the landing stage. At least, I suppose Amazon and Scarab are still out of the water?"

"Scarab is." Mother replied. "Your Uncle and Timothy put Amazon back in the water last week for you."

Amazon's captain nodded almost absent-mindedly. "Your choice of vessel, Mister Mate." She said to Peggy and walked away before Peggy had even finished saying "Aye, aye sir."

"I didn't think she'd take it this badly." Mother said.

"I suppose there's no money for her to train to be a games mistress either?" said Peggy. "She's pretty good with the junior teams really. Nancy's not the Head Girl sort, of course, but I think she was pretty safe to be Captain of Games and a full prefect next year. She loved teaching the D's to sail. She gets people doing things, even the girls in the third form who aren't interested in anything if it's not a pony. You said that father had left a little money in trust for us when we got to twenty one. Couldn't that be used? When she's trained she'll been earning money, so it's an investment really. I'll lend mine."

"Oh dear." said Mother, "No, I'm afraid that won't work. I'm not the only trustee. The other one is a solicitor and he rather takes the view that training like that is a bit of a luxury, because you'll both be married in another half dozen years or so at most."

"A year to finish Highers - two years to train – maybe they don't pay them much in the first year – no, I can see how he won't allow it if that's what he thinks. At least you tried to find out."

"Now I've got to get Rattletrap out of this space." Mother said. "Don't talk to me while I'm doing it."

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"I give in." Peggy said, once they were clear of the islands around Rio. "What were you doing?"

"Getting a job in a hotel." Nancy said, as though it was the sort of thing she did every day. "I'm on a month's trial from next Friday. Even if I'm satisfactory, Mrs Burns doesn't promise she'll keep me on after the end of September, but it's better than nothing, and I've got no time to waste looking round if it's going to do you any good next term."

"What's the job as? A receptionist?" Peggy asked.

"No, they've already got one of those. At least, I might have to cover for her while she has her breaks. Mostly it's just cleaning the bedrooms, fetching whatever the guests want, serving meals."

"Look here, Nancy, you'll be working all the time the Swallows and the D's are here."

"It had to happen sometime."

"Not if you were a teacher. You'd always have the same holidays, more or less."

"I expect John would like to be here, too, but he's not. And I'll have Wednesdays off. John can't get back from the Caribbean for one day. I'll row myself across and you can have Amazon, when they're here. I'm sure Susan will lend you an able seaman. You and Susan will have to settle between yourselves who is commodore."

"But Nancy, I'm sure you won't get paid enough to cover my school fees."

"I'm sure, too," said Nancy, "but it puts something towards them and if Mother isn't having to pay for mine as well and she knows it's just for one term it might be enough."

"She could see if the GA will lend her money." said Peggy.

"And have the GA go on about how beholden you are to her and try to dictate everything you do for the rest of her life? No, I'm not going to let that happen if I can jolly well help it. Anyway, you'd better keep swotting away these holidays.

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Dear Miss Cromwell,

I understand from my mother that the last day of term was in fact my last day of school, although I did not realise it at the time. I therefore did not have the opportunity to thank you or the other mistresses for all you have done for me since I joined the school, and for all you have done for my sister. (Nancy sucked the end of her pencil. It was all true enough, but did it look too much as if she was buttering up the headmistress? Better leave it there and move on.)

My mother must have explained to you that the reason for us leaving was financial. (Surely the school would have insisted on a term's notice otherwise. I couldn't be the first time it would happen.) I have been lucky enough to obtain employment today as a chambermaid in a local hotel. (Nancy frowned and changed lucky to fortunate. It seemed a more headmistressy sort of word. It wasn't exactly the sort of employment the school boasted of for its Old Girls and mentioning it might be a mistake. On the other hand it was letting Miss Cromwell know that Peggy's sister was doing her best for Peggy, which might incline the school to stretch a point on the matter of when the fees were paid. And Miss Cromwell was always exhorting them not to "let grass grown under their feet.") I know Peggy has been studying very hard for her school certificate examinations, (It was true too. Nancy knew that Peggy was never less than third in her form these days and was often second. If Peggy couldn't produce a set of results to match Nancy's it wouldn't be Peggy's fault.) and that her results will uphold the good name of the school if she is able to return for one more term to sit the examinations which she, and of course the mistresses who have taught her, have worked hard towards.

Nancy frowned at the letter. It was always so much harder to persuade people when you weren't actually there. She thought she had better err on the side of caution and leave it at that. Crommie was no fool and would see what Nancy was getting at straight away. Nancy hoped it would be difficult to fill Peggy's place until September. Not many people started school in the summer term surely? She'd better do something about that preposition at the end of the sentence if she wanted to keep Crommie sweet. She'd wait until the morning before she copied it out neatly on writing paper. She was sure to make a mistake if she did it now.

Privately, Nancy could admit to feeling ridiculously tired. The conversation with her mother had been more difficult than she expected. Nancy, to her shame, had come very close indeed to weeping.

"I'm not going to forbid you to take the job." Mother had said, "Although heaven knows what Aunt Maria would say."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of in honest hard work." Nancy had said firmly.

"You even say it the way Nurse does." Mother had admitted wryly.

Nancy grinned at her. "You know that's what she'd say – and you know she'd be right."

Nancy was rather counting on this as an argument. Mother's old nurse had been their old nurse and that could sometimes be an advantage. Mrs Lewthwaite was not known for leaving people in doubt about what she thought. Even Colonel Jolys was afraid of her.

"But all the same, Nancy, your father left money to be used looking after you both. The money you earn, if that's what you insist on doing, should be for you to use."

"I had the chance to take school cert. Peggy should have the same chance. I know she doesn't really know what she wants to do yet, but she can't go back and take it later if she misses on them now. And she's already done all the work for it. I know what I earn won't be a whole term's fees but isn't there a bit of money to make up the rest?"

"Yes… yes I suppose there is. But they always want the fees in advance and you'll be paid after you've done the work. And Peggy's education isn't your responsibility."

"Daddy said I was to look after her. You can't say Peggy isn't my responsibility." Nancy wished she hadn't said it as soon as the words were out of her mouth. This wasn't how she wanted to win her point. She felt a stab of guilt before she had even finished speaking. She felt a lump in her throat too.

"Oh Nancy." There was no fooling Mother on some matters, at least. Mother held out her arms.

Nancy stood where she was. "You'll write to the headmistress? See what they'll say? Today?"

"Tomorrow. First thing. Before eleven, anyway."

Nancy allowed herself to be hugged.

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Nancy already in bed, candle extinguished, when Peggy came into the bedroom.

"Mother spoke to me." she said. "Thank you."

Nancy rolled over. "It is what you want, isn't it, Pegs?"

There was a pause in the undressing sounds. "Yes, only I thought, since I don't know what I want to do, not like Susan …"

"Find an appropriate husband and be a good wife and mother?" Nancy was going to hide behind teasing. Peggy knew that if she felt like that you couldn't do anything about it.

"Pity the poor appropriate husband!" Peggy replied.

"Oh, I don't know. You could be rather good at it."

"At least we won't have the great aunt going on about parties and dances and mixing with the right sort of people and so on."

"There is that. Goodnight Peggy."

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The terrace, with its little tables and parasols gave a fine view over the lake and was generally crowded at afternoon teatime. Two waitresses were at work, but Nancy made sure that she was the one to serve the little group of four at the far end.

Her sister, in her school Sunday frock, grinned up at her and handed her a folded piece of paper and Nancy proffered the menus. Glancing around quickly to be sure that no one was trying to catch her eyes, Nancy read it quickly.

Universities of Manchester Liverpool Leeds…

There was no time for that. Nancy's eyes skipped to the list of subjects.

English Language Credit

English Literature Credit

History Credit

Geography Credit

Scripture Pass

French (written and oral) Very Good

Mathematics Pass

Music Credit

Nancy couldn't stop herself from grinning widely.

"Well done, Peggy."

She could see that Susan wanted to show her own certificate, but could see too that the manageress's eyes were upon her.

"And what would you like to order, Mrs Walker? Mother?" Nancy asked formally. "The meringues are especially good today." They were also Peggy's favourite.

"We'll have some of those then," said Mrs Walker, "and some tea of course."

Nancy didn't get the chance to see Susan's results until she came to collect the empty crockery.

It was a different examination board, not Joint Matriculation, but they seemed to use the same system of very good, credit and pass.

English Language Credit

English Literature Pass

History Pass

Geography Credit

French Credit

Mathematics Very Good

Biology Very Good

Chemistry Pass

"That's jolly good, Susan. Do you have to take Highers or can you start training straight away?"

"I'd have to be seventeen to start nursing." Susan said. "A year younger if it's children, but that's not what I want, so I'm going to stay at school until I'm seventeen anyway."

"And there's a vacancy at the post office – or there's going to be. Mr Jones is retiring and going to live with his brother in Morcombe." Mother said.

"So I'm going to go and apply for the job tomorrow." Peggy finished.