Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories but I did invent the new girls.
More about Melanie. If you're wondering about Leoni, it's coming up soon.
The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! Chapter nine
Everyone stared in surprise at the little white bottle Alicia held in her hands. She turned it around carefully. Its blue lid was sealed, showing that it had not been opened. Darrell took it and squinted at the label.
"Anyfyrolixcilin," she read with difficulty. "It's seems like some sort of medicine!"
"Medicine? Let me have a look!" Moira snatched it away and examined it. "Golly, look at the price! 12 pound for this tiny bottle!"
Everyone jostled to look at the bottle. It was a strict rule in the school that all medicine had to be given to Matron, who administered it appropriately. No one was allowed to take anything without the knowledge of the staff. Alicia took the bottle and twisted the lid. It popped off to reveal a thick, white, sickly-sweet smelling liquid inside. She gave it a tentative sniff.
"It's medicine alright!" she said as she replaced the lid. "My brother's taken something like this once. Can't remember what for."
"It must be taken to Matron," said Moira, slipping the bottle into her pocket. "I'm going to give it to her right now."
"You won't say anything about Melanie's stuttering will you?" asked Mary-Lou. "Or about the mean message?"
"Not yet," said Moira. "After all this lands in quite a different category. Sneaky breaking of the rules, I call it! Matron will know how to deal with her. I won't report on anything else yet." She hurried out of the room. Darrell sighed.
"The mystery of Melanie deepens every minute," she said. "I can't think why her sister would have it though."
"If it was new why hasn't it been used yet?" asked Leoni, joining in the conversation for once. "It looked like it had just been purchased, but wouldn't it have been brought at the beginning of term?"
"Perhaps it's something Melanie uses often," said Irene. "And this is part of the supply."
"I don't know!" Darrell picked up a book. "But right now, I just want to forget all about Melanie and have a good read!"
The next morning, while everyone was preparing for breakfast, Melanie silently sidled into the dormitory. Her nose was red and her eyes watery. It was obvious that she had been crying. No one said a word to her as she rummaged around in her drawers to find a hairbrush. Everyone guessed that she had received a very sound scolding from Matron over the medicine.
Before everyone left the room, Moira checked over everything. The whole form would receive an order mark if the dormy was not left neat and tidy. Order marks were like penalties against the form, and if too many were accumulated, punishments occurred. Satisfied that everything was in place, everyone went down to breakfast.
It was in the first lesson of the day that the trouble started. Just before class, Betty came running up to Moira.
"Moira! Why haven't you made your bed? Go and do it at once before a teacher sees. You're lucky I walked past the dormy and spotted the mess. Do you want to get us all an order mark?"
Embarrassed, Moira ran to the dormy. She clearly remembered neatly tidying her things that morning. Whatever could Betty mean? Upon reaching the dormy, Moira was shocked to see her bed in a total mess! The sheets had been pulled out and tangled, and the contents of her drawers had been strewn all over the floor. As quickly as she could, Moira remade her bed and tidied away her belongings. Extremely puzzled, she hurried back to class, arriving late and receiving a ticking off from Mam'zelle Doupont.
The fifth form's French lesson had hardly started when Matron came to the door. She looked stern and cold.
"Excuse me Mam'zelle, but is Moira in this class?"
Everyone turned to look at Moira, who stood up, red in the face. What could have happened now?
"Moira, please explain to me exactly what you did this morning."
"Why Matron, I got up like all the others, dressed and went down to breakfast."
"You did not speak to any teachers or run any errands?"
"No Matron." Moira's face was a flurry of confusion. What was Matron getting at?
Matron looked at Moira, her eyes hard and strict. "Then I believe there was absolutely NO reason why you should have left your bed unmade, left your clothes lying on the ground, your drawers open, your towel half in a pool of water in the sink and your homework on the floor!"
Everyone gasped. Usually Moira was such a neat and orderly person! Moira looked around, as if in a daze. "But Matron! I-I cleaned up the room just before the lesson began! I made my bed and everything!"
"No 'buts' Moira. Come along!" And to Moira's horror, Matron took her firmly by the arm and led her away to the dormitory, calling over her shoulder, "That's an order mark against the whole form I'm afraid!"
Everyone groaned. Mam'zelle, who was quite stunned, began writing work on the board. Everyone settled down, but their thoughts, instead of being focused on the verbs 'come', 'go', 'arrive' and 'leave' in French, were fixed on Moira.
Half way through the lesson Moira returned, fuming. Angrily she sat down at her desk and yanked out her book. She furiously scribbled a note when Mam'zelle had her back turned and passed it around the class. 'Someone deliberately messed up my part of the room to get me in trouble!' it read. To that, there was only one name in every girl's mind. Melanie.
Only ten minutes later, Miss Potts came to the door. She glanced around the room, her eyes finally stopping on Moira. "Moira, stand up!" she commanded. Moira stood up immediately, her face clouded with disbelief. "Not...not the dormy," she stuttered. Miss Potts glared at her. "No, not the dormy. I want to talk to you about the state of the common room. Your locker is hanging right open and all your belongings are lying messily on the floor! Some books of yours are carelessly lying on the ground waiting for someone to trip over, and you left the radio on! Come at once to clean it up! I'm ashamed of you Moira. That's an order mark against the whole form now!"
To be continued...
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