Don't own anything...

"John?" Nancy asked, waving a hand in front of his face until he looked at her. "Are you alright?"

He frowned in response, and got a determined look on his face. Nancy sighed inwardly, expecting an outburst.

"Tell me honestly Nance; is there something going on between Dick and my sister?" Nancy bit her lip in response.

"Not exactly. There might be in the future but not right… John!" She grabbed his arm, stopping him from approaching Titty.

"Look. I understand that you want to protect your sister, but… listen to me." She made him turn and face her. "One, it's Dick. You've known him for years- you know you can trust him. Two, you're not going to be around all the time, so you're going to have to get used to the fact that she'll have to look after herself at some point. Three, it's time to eat so can you hold your overprotective issues in until afterwards please? Yes? Good." Without giving him a chance to respond, she dragged him over to the dining room. Susan caught her eye as she did, and rolled hers. 'Brothers' she seemed to say. 'Hopeless, the lot of them.'

"Well, are you all ready to go tomorrow then?" Mrs Blackett asked cheerfully, thankful that the Great-Aunt dilemma had been resolved so easily. "You must have an early night, all of you. Travelling is so tiring, and it is a particularly long journey tomorrow. So I want you all in bed by nine. You're still only young you know, so we must keep you from tiring yourselves out…" she carried on with these instructions, apparently oblivious to the scandalised glances she was receiving from Nancy and Peggy.

"Sorry about this," Peggy murmured to Susan. "She tends to forget that we're sixteen and seventeen, or at least, she claims to forget. I think she does it on purpose to tease us though really."

"…and of course, I shall be asking a conductor to keep an eye on you." Mrs Blackett was still going. "I cannot have children in my care travelling so far unaccompanied…" She would have continued along this thread but this was the last straw for Nancy.

"Mother! We don't need supervision for goodness' sake. John's eighteen, I'm seventeen, and Roger, the youngest of us is thirteen. Barbecued billygoats, we are perfectly capable of looking after ourselves. Dick and Dot and the Swallows travelled up here on their own, so I'm sure that together e can all manage."

"Calm down Ru- sorry Nancy, dear. I'm only teasing you. I am perfectly aware that you can look after yourselves. I still think, however, that you should get an early night. It's no good looking at me like that Peggy dear, it's true." The Blacketts gave up glaring at their mother and finished dinner in silence. After they're things had been cleared, Mrs Blackett left them and they headed to the sitting room.

Dot proceeded to interrogate her brother on what he had packed, while Susan, with Nancy and Peggy's assistance lectured John on how to handle Titty and Dick's relationship. Roger and Titty were worrying over Swallow, Amazon and Scarab, and whether they'd survive the journey to Norfolk, where they'd been sent down the day before.

Nine o'clock cane and went and it was nearer ten when Mrs Blackett returned and shooed them all off to bed. Excited about the coming day, they didn't argue, but it was a while before any of them got to sleep.