The next day after a leisurely breakfast and a walk on the piers, it was time to set off for Holby again. Mrs Beauchamp, Mrs Dixon and Mrs Bateman were the 'designated drivers' for the journey, with everybody else filling the passenger space.

"Ooh! Why are we stopping here?" Ethan wanted to know as the cars pulled up at a pretty little pub with a play area outside it.

"It'll save your mums and dads cooking you meals when you get home, and it'll give us teachers a night off from cooking as we get you rogues back in school tomorrow."

Ethan grinned at Mrs Bateman; he liked being a rogue.

"Are we allowed to go in pubs?" asked Louise.

"Yes, it's child-friendly, Lou, look, they've got a play area."

"I'm LOUISE!"

"And I'm still your teacher Louise, so don't get cheeky, okay?" Mrs Bateman was a lot more friendly lately but still didn't relax her standards.

Ethan hoped the waiter would be like Pierre back in Disneyland and put a special salad out for Snap, Sharpie and the kids, but this waiter didn't have the magic touch and said rather irritably to Max and Zoe "Can you move your toys please?" as they brought the food.

"They're not toys, they're gang mascots" Ethan piped up.

"Well okay but they don't want food on them, do they?"

This sounded fair enough and Ethan decided against telling Mrs Beauchamp not to give the waiter a tip after all. Especially when he was very patient as the kids deliberated over favourite ice creams, and even said "Look, tell you what, why don't I bring you all a mixed plate each with a sample of every ice cream on it?"

"I want one of those too!" declared Mr Keogh.

The waiter smiled. Cal wondered if Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman had been doing Lebsion Magic under the table.

Mr Keogh's face fell a bit later on.

"Doggy Day Care and Holiday Homes is closed for the night and I forgot to check on Dervla."

And finally it was time for dropping everybody off. Lofty thought how nice it would be if he was going home with Mrs Beauchamp, Cal and Ethan and then decided he was the baddest boy on earth to think like that.

But when he got home and his mother was at the door, and he put his free arm that wasn't holding Eric Chiltern, out for a hug, she just ignored his gesture and shepherded him inside, saying a little too loudly:

"You can look forward to a low-key Christmas now you've had this treat, Ben."

"Oh, can he indeed" thought Mrs Beauchamp. She was already having other ideas.

The kids were allowed to go into school an hour later the next day because of their travelling on the previous night. This didn't sit too well with Mrs Chiltern either.

"Well you'll have to sit in the playground for an hour, Ben. I have to go to work. Oh don't look at me like that, nobody is going to grab you from the school yard, are they?"

Fortunately Big Mac noticed Lofty and took him to his hut to check on the animals. He even made Lofty a quarter cup of his special strong tea. It tasted horrid but it was lovely and hot.

Lessons began again as normal. Because Ethan had really wanted to show how good he could be after learning how nice Mrs Bateman was, he had worked extra hard with his project and was given a special gold star, which he was the only one in his class to get so far.

And on the Friday Mrs Beauchamp called the kids into the Assembly Hall.

She had news for them that would, she teased, knock their socks off.

"The New Theatre has been in touch" Mrs Beauchamp announced, "And they're doing a musical version of Goldilocks And the Three Bears as an alternate Christmas panto. As all the boys did so well in 'Thorns' they've asked if any of our boys would be interested in trying for Baby Bear."

Louise shouted rudely:

"That's sexist! Why not girls?"

"Please put up your hand before you speak in future, Louise. They've asked for boys so it's no good sulking. Anyone up for it?"

She might have been better asking "Is anybody not up for it?"

Jacob, Noel, Lofty, Max, Jeff and Ethan all put up their hands.

"Will our Cal get a chance too?" Ethan wanted to know.

"He will. So that's seven of you for the auditions then with Cal. They'll be in the same week as Bonfire night – I'll let you know further details soon."

Ethan wanted to go and audition right then and there, but knew he had to wait till they were told.

Naturally there was a problem for one boy straight away:

"Mum, the New Theatre's doing a musical for kids this Christmas."

"For goodness sake, Ben! Haven't you had enough treats this year?"

"It's not to go to see it, Mum. We've got a chance to be in it if we get chosen for Baby Bear. Mrs Beauchamp says whoever gets the part would get paid. I could give it to you and Dad."

"Now hold on, Ben. You know how clumsy you can be. Suppose you fall over and everybody laughs at you?"

"Mrs Beauchamp says if things go wrong they'll laugh with us, not at us. Please let me try, Mum?"

"Well I can't stop you trying, but don't be surprised if they don't think you're good enough."

Max was a little crushed because Zoe said she didn't mind them being apart if Max got Baby Bear.

"We need to do different stuff now and then or you'll go getting stroppy and wanting to pull people's bums off, " she said as she stroked the rabbits in Big Mac's hut.

"Bet you miss me!"

"Dream on, Big Head."

"I might go in for it myself" Big Mac said, which made them both scream with laughter at the thought of Big Mac in a bear suit.

But by the end of the week, Baby Bear was driven from everybody's minds.

Mr Keogh took a call from Doggy Day care, and came back into the staff room, his face almost white.

"Is Dervla all right?" asked Mrs Beauchamp deciding she needed to know the worst.

"It depends by what you mean by all right, Connie. If you mean, is she fit and healthy, well, yes. But what sort of a place let my Dervla go in as a good pure dog and come out as a –a – harlot?"

Miss Freeman couldn't contain herself.

"She's – having – puppies!"

"RITA! Dervla is a pure breed Irish Wolfhound. Thanks to a dirty beast of a Golden Labrador, she's having mongrel puppies! Well she'll get no more doggie toys from me. Let her fancy man Labrador get them for her!"

Mr Keogh stalked out, looking quite terrifying.

The rest of the staff waited until he was out of sight and earshot and then fell about howling with laughter.