Chapter 10- Heights and Hazards
Miss Drill had rigged up climbing ropes on a sheer cliff face, located beside the waterfall for the afternoon. She had also made a giant rope swing that swung out into the centre of the plunge pool.
'Right girls this afternoon is all about facing your fears and having fun. I will split you into two teams. One team will be taught rock climbing while the other take turns using this rope to swing as far as they can go and then let go and drop into the water. I was going to set one team hiking instead of using the pool but lets not waste what time we have left in this setting', Miss Drill said clearly, the glint of excitement in her eye coupled with her energetic gestures showed how proud she was of the exercises she had devised.
'Cool', Jadu said imagining flying towards the pool and creating a massive splash at the end.
'Not a big fan of the outdoors, but this I think I can manage,' added Enid.
'Oh no!' Mildred uttered under her breath.
'Don't worry Millie, just do what you can, Miss Drill won't force you to do anything that you can't', Maud reassured her.
'I guess', Mildred replied but didn't feel very reassured.
'Ok those to my left, you are doing climbing with me first, the rest of you are on the swing!' Miss Drill shouted enthusiastically. 'Come on let's get started'.
'Do you think you can handle falling into water from a few metres above it Millie?' Enid asked sarcastically.
'Yes, thank you Enid, I think I will be able to do this part', she said trying to sound confident but her voice nearly broke with the tension.
'I was just kidding, don't worry we will go first and show you how easy it is!' Enid added, aware that her friend was a little more afraid than she had anticipated.
Enid ran and swung into the centre of the pool with flare. She then bombed into the water and managed to splash Ethel and Drusilla who were standing too close.
'For goodness sake Enid, in your swimwear!' Miss Drill shouted.
'Sorry Miss, I got carried away', she said spluttering to the surface, her clothes soaked through.
Her friends were bent over in floods of laughter.
'Don't you even think about it Ruby Cherrytree, you girls get changed at once', the booming voice of Miss Hardbroom snarled from behind them.
'Yes Miss,' the girls responded dutifully and then went to get changed.
'And as for you Enid Nightshade, you can…' Miss Hardbroom began, but Miss Drill interrupted her sentence mimicking the severe tone but hoping to save Enid from having to sit the rest of the morning out.
'…go and get changed and join the other girls but I want five hundred lines on why it is reckless and immature to jump into water with your school uniform on', she snapped.
Miss Hardbroom looked at Miss Drill with a very shocked expression. She had never been interrupted like that in front of the girls by anyone other than Miss Cackle.
'It seems that Miss Drill has chosen to be lenient in this matter Enid, I would count yourself very lucky indeed', she snarled and then walked away, positioning herself under a tree near the pool so she could keep an eye on events.
The girls spent an hour quite contently cueing up to take turns throwing themselves from great heights into the water. Mildred got more confident each time. The first two had sent her out above the pool where she refused to let go and so returned to the side, safe again on dry ground. Her friends encouraged her until she managed to let go and slid down the rope, barely making a splash as she entered the water.
'Mildred, if you insist on doing that so weakly could you at least stop making so much noise. It is only a short drop girl, hardly worth the panicked screams. Some of us are trying to concentrate', Miss Hardbroom said derisorily at one point.
That gave Mildred the confidence to run and jump, she closed her eyes and clamped her mouth shut when she felt the need to scream. She let go and flew into the air before crashing down and making an enormous splash. The rest of the girls shouted and screamed in praise, much to Miss Hardbroom's annoyance and Mildred's glee. The jumps that followed were not as good but she had certainly conquered a lot of her fear.
Then came the shout from Miss Drill for the groups to change. She gave them half an hour for a break and something to eat to keep them going. The girls got changed again so they were ready for mountain climbing and Mildred took the time to loose all her colour and look quite faint.
'You don't look so good', Maud said commenting on this change in Mildred.
'No,' Mildred said quietly, worried about her fear of heights conquering her again.
When they got to the cliff face Miss Drill had a surprise for Mildred having watched her trepidation over the last activity she had done.
'Right then girls. What I am going to do is put you in pairs. One will hold the lines as a secondary safety measure and one will climb up the cliff in their own time. Once up there you will find a broom so that you can fly down and hold the line for your partner to do the same. Mildred I have set up a much smaller challenge for you and I will be holding your line and talking you through it. Any questions girls?' Miss Drill said with clear authority and complete confidence.
The girls had no questions other than how to attach their harnesses which Miss Drill went through with them slowly, checking each one in turn. When the rest of the girls had begun their ascent she turned her attentions to Mildred.
'You are going to climb this small area here', she said pointing to an area that was probably no more than four times Mildred's height. 'I am going to talk you through it and if you get scared or cannot go any further then I will talk you back down. Is that alright?'
'Yes Miss,' Mildred said, still scared but willing to give this a shot since Miss Drill had gone out of her way to make it easier for her.
'Ok lets get you started then', Miss Drill said smiling sympathetically, 'Just find your grip on the rock and step onto the cliff face to secure your feet…that's good Mildred, now climb a little higher with your hands…that's it take your time and move one foot at a time, checking that you are secure at each point…That's it, now there is no need to worry, I have hold of your rope tightly and I will not be letting go at all, you are in safe hands Mildred', she said calmly, making sure she reassured Mildred at every point.
She leaned back to check on the rest of the girls who were all making excellent progress and laughing and joking at the same time.
Mildred had got two thirds of the way up the cliff face when she started to worry about how high she was. Despite Miss Drill's reassuring tone she started to panic and it did not help when she decided to look down. She lost her concentration for a moment and got her foot wedged sideways and was too nervous to move at all then.
'Just wiggle it free Mildred', Miss Drill shouted up to her.
'I can't miss, I can't move…I'm frozen', Mildred responded, practically hugging the rock and refusing to move an inch.
Miss Drill tried to coax her down several times but it became clear that she was not going to move on her own.
'All right Mildred, don't worry I will come up and free you', Miss Drill said decisively. She saw that some of the other girls were finished so asked Maud and Enid to hold Mildred's line firmly since she knew the girl was more likely to trust her close friends with that task than anyone else.
Miss Drill began to climb the wall without a harness or rope, explaining that she did this a lot and was perfectly safe. When she reached Mildred she freed her foot with ease but the girl then clung to her and could not loosen her grip.
'I am sorry Miss Drill, I am too terrified to….ah….I', Mildred muttered too frightened to talk straight.
'It's all right Mildred you can hold on, I will take us both down slowly', Miss Drill said with more confidence than she was feeling right now. She knew Mildred was safe because she had a rope attached to her, so her priority had to be to make sure she did not slip herself. It would not harm them it would just shatter Mildred's confidence with heights permanently.
They were very close to the bottom when Mildred slipped and pulled Miss Drill down the side of the rock. Miss Drill got her grip back quickly and held Mildred with one arm, her other wrenched above her head supporting them both. There was quite an audience watching now, including Miss Hardbroom who was watching the events unfold from her position under the tree, casually looking over the top of her book wanting to run over and lower them down using magic but not wanting to tread on the PE teacher's toes. Miss Drill swung Mildred gently back around so that the girl could finish the descent and arrive safely on the ground. Miss Drill then cautiously lowered herself down, no sooner had she put weight on her feet she buckled and fell to the ground.
The girls rushed to her to see what was wrong, it was clear Miss Drill was in a lot of pain. As they got close to her they realised she had scraped her back and side and there was a large gash in the back of her leg.
'Oh God Miss Drill, what do we do,' Mildred asked, the adrenaline making her suddenly alert and frantic.
'Constance', Miss Drill said, 'get Constance'.
'Step away girls give the woman some space,' Miss Hardbroom said sharply as she had already made her way to Miss Drill. She knelt down beside the PE instructor and discovered a large amount of blood coming from her leg. Her face filled with fear and she struggled to control her anxiety. She should have intervened earlier, if she had known she could easily have prevented this. Pulling herself together she turned to face the girls.
'Mildred and Ethel I want you to work together to make the potion that is the antidote to deep cuts. Mildred you know the recipe and what you need to make it, Ethel you will find the ingredients. Go now', she said urgently and the two girls looked at each other and then ran off to get what they needed. 'Maud I need blankets, bandages whatever you can find, Enid I require my small black bag, it is in my tent, bring it to me. The rest of you help the others if they require it. Give us some space now'.
Miss Hardbroom ignored the girls that were still standing nearby and lent down to hold Miss Drill,
'Imogen it is ok, you are going to be fine. You have cut your back and side quite impressively on the jagged rock face. I am preparing an antidote, you will be good as new in no time', she said soothingly.
'Constance…Imogen said quietly…don't leave me', her colleague said softly.
'I do not intent to', the stern potion teacher said calmly, cradling the PE instructor in her arms.
'Never, leave…' Imogen said again.
'I won't' Constance said with greater strength and conviction, aware of what Imogen was really asking her.
Ruby and Jadu could not believe what was happening before their eyes. Miss Hardbroom was comforting her colleague, actually holding her in her arms.
'That is unbelievable', Ruby said quietly.
'She is human!' Jadu said astonished.
At that moment Ethel and Mildred returned with everything that they needed.
'Good girls now come closer so that I can see what you are doing…that's it Mildred, exactly how you did it before, only with urgency. Ethel measure everything for her while she sets up her equipment', Miss Hardbroom commanded.
Ethel and Mildred observed each other for a moment, aware that they would have to put their differences to one side and work in unison.
'Whatever you are thinking about, put it to the back of your minds, this needs to be perfect girls. I would do it myself but I cannot leave Imogen's side right now,' Miss Hardbroom said almost pleading with the girls to prove themselves and help the person she cared about above all others.
'Yes, Miss Hardbroom', Mildred said as the seriousness of the situation sunk in, 'let's do this Ethel, I will trust your measurements if you will trust me to mix it correctly'.
'Miss Hardbroom must have her reasons, I have got your back', Ethel said sincerely.
'Thanks', Mildred said as she hurried to set up her tripod and platform and form a small fire beneath them.
Ethel measured out the ingredients and gave them to Mildred who created the potion without a single glitch. She stopped to get the nod from Ethel once the potion was complete and though Ethel had watched her every movement there was nothing she would have done differently.
While the potion was being made, Maud had returned with blankets and scissors to cut them into bandages. Miss Hardbroom wrapped them around the wound to stem the bleeding and made a pillow to go beneath Imogen's head. Then Enid arrived with Miss Hardbroom's bag and so the potions teacher was able to give Miss Drill two drops of the wide awake potion to stem drowsiness. She then took out a potion that cleaned wounds and gave Miss Drill a small vile to drink that would lessen the pain and reduce the trauma caused to the body and mind by shock.
Miss Drill was becoming more delirious as the blood loss was severe. Miss Hardbroom stroked her colleague's forehead and continued to whisper encouragement in her ear, all the time keeping tabs on how Ethel and Mildred were doing with the potion. She became concerned after just five minutes that it was taking too long and attempted to leave Miss Drill to attend to it herself,
'No, Constance, don't go, I want you here', the PE instructor said sharply but only Miss Hardbroom could hear its tone as its volume was so slight.
'I am here, Imogen, don't worry, I am here', she said and realised she would have to be patient. The girls knew what they were doing, she had faith in them. She was trusting Mildred. Mildred Hubble! But, it was the right thing to do, she was certain of that.
After just twelve minutes Ethel handed over the antidote for deep cuts to Miss Hardbroom.
'And this was made correctly?' she asked purely as a precaution.
'Yes Miss, Mildred knew exactly what she was doing and did not falter once', Ethel spoke exactly and with perfect clarity as she knew her form-tutor would want her to.
'Very good,' Miss Hardbroom acknowledged and then turned to face Miss Drill.
'Imogen, this is not going to be pleasant. I am sorry but there is no other way I know of to repair the damage. There is too much blood loss to do it medically. You will feel this for a couple of minutes at most and I will be here with you. Squeeze my hand if you like, brace yourself', Miss Hardbroom said delicately and then poured the potion onto the main wound in her leg before spreading some over her back and side.
Miss Drill felt the pain immediately and began to squirm in Miss Hardbroom's grip. She clenched her teeth together so that she did not shout out in pain and pushed against the potions teacher to stop herself thrashing around. At one point her composure buckled and she cried out in agony.
The girls watching were full of fear and trepidation. Mildred remembered Miss Hardbroom's example of what the potion could do and how much pain she had seen in her emotionless face. This cut was far deeper and it was clearly difficult to mend, even with the use of magic.
'Shhhhh Imogen, it is alright, the pain will simply vanish any moment now. You will be back to your normal self and what you are feeling now will be a distant memory. Think of that Imogen, think ahead to when you will be pain and injury free', Miss Hardbroom said softly, almost pinning Miss Drill down to keep her safe and secure while reassuring her that everything would be alright soon.
All of a sudden Miss Drill settled and looked up at Miss Hardbroom fully alert and conscious of her surroundings.
'Am I ok?' Miss Drill asked unsure because the pain had gone, as had the waves of delirium she had been suffering but she was not really sure what had happened to her.
'Yes, you are alright now', Miss Hardbroom said with visible relief. She was still holding Miss Drill's arm and had her hand resting on her forehead. 'You went to get Mildred down from the cliff as she had frozen with fear. On the way down you both slipped and instead of letting Mildred fall and the rope catch her, you stretched down to stop her fall. I assume that as you slipped yourself before grabbing hold of the rock you had already scraped along it and picked up some very serious injuries. You are lucky there were witches on hand with the skills to save you', she said looking at Ethel and Mildred directly.
'I see', Miss Drill said and began to get to her feet, brushing Miss Hardbroom away from her gently.
'It was Mildred who made the potion that saved you, with Ethel's assistance', Miss Hardbroom added, noting Miss Drill's movement but deciding to ignore it for now.
'Thank you Mildred and Ethel. I never thought you two would be the ones working together to save my life', she said smiling broadly, 'why did you not make it yourself?' she suddenly asked Miss Hardbroom quite directly as that surely would have been the safest option.
'I was busy keeping you calm', Miss Hardbroom said looking away from her colleague's questioning stare.
'Oh I am sorry if I was a difficult patient', Miss Drill asked, still not clear why it was more important to keep her calm. Miss Hardbroom was always very calm in a crisis; she would organise and execute each step of the rescue operation without any emotional or physical signs of worry.
'Not at all, I think you simply needed to be kept apprised of the situation and I was confident that the girls knew what they were doing. It is a great test of their ability under pressure', Miss Hardbroom clarified to deflect attention away from her behaviour which was a little out of character. She was worried about her and Miss Drill wanted her to stay by her side. Who would not do that? She wouldn't! Not usually. She didn't want to leave her side though, there was too greater pull, her heart had ruled her head.
'I am glad I provided a realistic test case for them', Miss Drill said bitterly as quiet as a whisper so that only Miss Hardbroom caught it.
'Girls, make sure Miss Drill gets some tea, the potion will make her very thirsty and I think some bed rest would be sensible given the stress your body has just gone through', Miss Hardbroom advised in her usual detached, authoritative tone.
'I will watch the girls while they study and enjoy the rest of their last day, there is no physical exertion involved in that. Besides my body has healed and I feel fine thanks to the girls', she said smiling at them all.
'Very well. I am behind with my lesson plans, so I will see you at dinner. Be sure to let me know if you feel anything out of the ordinary', Miss Hardbroom said and then marched back towards the camp site.
'I am sorry Miss Drill, this would never have happened if I was not scared of heights', Mildred said as soon as HB was out of ear shot.
Miss Drill was distracted, watching her colleague disappear from view.
'Sorry Mildred….oh no it's alright, I was the one who encouraged you to climb further. Perhaps next time I decide to rescue you I will send someone up on a broomstick or put two guide ropes up in the first place just in case. It was not your fault though, don't think for a second that I ever would think it was', she said placing her arm on Mildred's shoulder for reassurance. Mildred turned and hugged her, relived that she was alright. The hug was returned and she felt herself smiling at the girls who were all obviously visibly shaken and overcome by the outcome of the situation.
'Miss Hardbroom stayed by your side the whole time, Miss. Even, when she was clearly getting impatient she did not leave you. I have never seen that side of her, she looked liked Miss Cackle, caring and concerned', Ruby said.
'Yes, well, I am sure she does not get many opportunities to show it but she cares about people, Ruby, particularly all of you. She is always concerned if anything happens to one of you, she just does not show it very often. Perhaps you do not give her the credit she deserves', Miss Drill said in Miss Hardbroom's defence.
'Well she cares about you, Miss', Maud said plainly.
'Well as I said she cares about lots of people. Now I am certain she would not appreciate us talking about her in this way so let's make the most of the little time we have left in the great outdoors shall we. Go on, do something productive', Miss Drill said sharply, wishing to be left alone with her thoughts for a while. The last half an hour was a bit of a daydream but she was remembering more and more of it with each minute that passed.
'We will fetch you some tea, Miss', Mildred said, meaning her and her friends.
'Thank you girls', Miss Drill said suddenly aware of how thirsty she was.
The afternoon passed without any other problems except for Mildred and Ethel disagreeing on whose turn it was to make Miss Drill's tea, as she had needed a regular supply. Ethel had tried to wriggle out of her turn so her and Mildred were back to being mortal enemies. They had worked together when it mattered though so Miss Drill just laughed at them squabbling and sent them both to make the tea in the end since neither of them could be civil. Nobody felt the need to talk over what had happened that afternoon in front of Miss Drill, so they saved their conversation for later and focused on keeping the PE instructor content by studying, swimming and talking quietly while she dozed off and on under a tree.