25

They reached the school when it was already getting dark and they had missed tea. The journey had been filled with laughter and jokes and funny games. The girls had made it their goal to get Claire and Alex together and they started as soon as they were heading off at Killarney always dropping hints at the two adults who seemed to overhear them but dived in on the fun.

When the four emerged the car now Charlotte and Emily took their rucksacks and wanted to head straight to their rooms but they were held back by Claire and Alex.

"Hey…" Alex said "Where are you two going? You two have a meeting with your headmaster and Ms Wellesley. Just because you already have a couple punishments doesn't mean there isn't room for more…and Charlotte, we still have to call Peter. Just because we didn't reach him before we left doesn't mean you'll get around that."

Charlotte rolled her eyes but before she could say anything Emily took her arm and said "Come on Char, Mr Vandermark will be waiting for us…"

So the girls made their way up the stairs towards the headmaster's office with Claire and Alex following.

All four of them had to sit down till Ms Wellesley was informed and could come as well then it was time for Claire and Alex to go inside first and talk about what had happened. They had called the school before they had picked up the girls at the police station to tell them the girls were all right but they hadn't talked about the reasons for the girls' escape yet.

When Ms Wellesley walked through the door she took a strict look at Charlotte and Emily before she greeted Claire and Alex.

"Mrs Newbury, nice to see you again despite the circumstances and you must be Mr Ryan. Mrs Bridgeport, can we go inside?" she asked the secretary who nodded and informed the headmaster.

Inside his office Mr Vandermark sat behind his desk and got up when his visitors entered the room. Alex looked around. Even though he had never been to Westminster College before, the headmaster's office looked just like the ones of his own headmasters and although he was a grown up man he felt a little like a 14 year old again as he took a look around. He knew they weren't here about him but he still felt uncomfortable. His school experiences were not his fondest memories, that was for sure.

'Get a grip Ryan…you didn't do anything wrong…' he told himself as he sat down in the chair Mr Vandermark offered him.

"Well…" the headmaster started "Those girls out there sure got us all busy this weekend. But we're all glad that nothing happened to them. Thank you for being here Mr Ryan even though you're not the legal guardian of Charlotte."
"No worries, I'm her godfather…we've tried to reach her father but couldn't get a hold of him. Charlotte will have to call him later…" Alex replied.

"Right, what we'd like to know before we ask the girls themselves is…do you have any idea why they ran away? Did they tell you anything?"

Alex looked at Claire. He knew how hard it would be for her to tell the teacher everything so he was silently asking for her permission to do it for her. They had talked about what they wanted to tell the headmaster and what not. When Claire nodded and smiled he started.

"Yes Mr Vandermark, we do have an idea why the girls ran away and we even had before they were found. The situation is very complicated and even Mrs Newbury and I haven't fully worked everything out yet but while I think it was stupid of the girls to run away their reaction was quite understandable. Basically they wanted to talk to me about something they had found out and couldn't do it on the telephone…"
"Could you maybe explain the situation a little further? We'd like to know if there's anything that needs to be done so it won't happen again." Mr Vandermark said and looked at Alex who then looked at Claire. This was her part to tell.

"Like Mr Ryan said the situation is very complicated and we ourselves are not completely sure we understand everything…but…" Claire had to take a deep breath "The bottom line is that the girls found out they're sisters which none of us knew at that time. And like I said we're still not sure about the exact circumstances but I'd like you to take that into consideration before you decide what to do with them. Also I want you to know that Emily won't be a part of the riding team for at least two weeks."

"I'm sorry to hear that Mrs Newbury but I'm sure you know what you're doing. And the part about the sisters is very surprising for me as well as Ms Wellesley I can say but it indeed explains why they wanted to talk to you. Right, I'm sure both girls have enough punishment from you so I think from our side a warning and one week confinement to their room will do." Mr Vandermark nodded to Ms Wellesley to bring the girls in but turned to Claire and Alex one more time "And I hope once you know the exact family relationships you'll let us know…"he said which sent Alex right back to being a teenager who was about to be kicked off the school.

Charlotte and Emily had stayed outside the headmaster's office wondering what Claire and Alex would tell their teachers and what punishment they would get. When Ms Wellesley opened the door and told them to come in they took each others hands and followed her inside.

Alex and Claire were sitting opposite of Mr Vandermark so the girls stood behind them still holding hands.

The headmaster looked at them strictly "Well, after talking to your mother Emily and your godfather Charlotte we've come to the decision you already have enough punishment from home so I'll let you off this time with a warning and one week confinement to your room. That means you go to school every day but you will have to eat your meals at an extra table and will go straight back to your rooms whenever you're done. I expect a full, written apology to Ms Wellesley from each of you for all the stress you caused her and I hope it is very clear to you that what you did was very thoughtless and dangerous. I hear you still have to inform your father about your break away Charlotte but after that you're off to your room for the rest of the week." Mr Vandermark looked at Emily and Charlotte who both nodded with their heads down "You can go now and thank you for coming Mr Ryan and Mrs Newbury. It was nice to talk to you despite the circumstances."

Ms Wellesley followed them outside and turned to the girls. "I expect you up in your room as soon as you're finished with Mr Ryan and Mrs Newbury…"
"Sure Ms Wellesley…I'm really sorry." Charlotte said and looked at the teacher.

Emily nodded and added "I'm sorry, too…"
Ms Wellesley smiled at them and answered "We'll talk about that when you're upstairs, now go and say goodbye, I'll see you shortly."

With that she left the four of them standing in the hallway.

"Right, where can we find a phone so we can call Peter?" Alex asked and put his hand on Charlotte's back.

"Do I really have to do it tonight?" the girl asked him.

"Yes you do, now go on, where are the phones?"
Charlotte sighed and all four of them went back into the big hall to the phone booths. While Charlotte and Alex entered one, Claire and Emily sat down, Emily on Claire's lap.

"You know the number?" Alex asked and Charlotte nodded and dialled while Alex held the receiver.

"Hello?" he heard Peter's voice on the other end.

"Peter? It's Alex…"
"Alex? Something wrong with Charlotte?" he could hear the concern in Peter's voice.

"No, don't worry, she's fine. But she's got something to tell you." With that he handed the receiver to Charlotte.

"Dad?"
"Hello Charlotte, what's up?"
"I'm sorry Dad but…I have to tell you that I ran away from school with…a friend to go and see Alex on Friday. I know it was a stupid thing to do and I promise you I'll never ever do it again. Please don't be mad at me. Or Alex…it was just a very stupid idea I had…a really stupid one…" Charlotte waited for Peter's reply.

After a while of silence he said "So you ran away from school and went to Alex? Why didn't you call him? Don't you know how dangerous that is Charlotte?"

"I know Dad, I'm sorry. I really won't do it again…"
"Ok, can you give the phone to Alex again, please? I'd like to talk to him…"
"Don't be mad at him Dad, it's really not his fault!" Charlotte shouted out.

"I won't, I promise. Now give him the phone. I love you Charlotte…"
"I love you too Dad…Bye!" she said and handed Alex the phone. Alex motioned with his head for her to go outside and sit down next to Claire while he talked to Peter.

"Peter?"
"Why did she run away Alex? Did she tell you anything?"
"It was just all a misunderstanding…" Alex hated to lie but right now he didn't wanna talk about the circumstances so he changed the subject "When are you coming back?"
"Umm, I don't exactly know…this is taking longer here than I thought…would it be all right for you if Charlotte visited you another weekend? I know she hates staying in school alone…"
Alex was surprised. He hadn't expected that from Peter. He had rather thought Peter would be mad at him and Charlotte so this got him completely off guard and saved him from asking if she could come back to Killarney.

"No, I think we'd both like that…listen Peter…this is getting expensive…I'll take Charlotte till you're back, no problem. Just let me know in time when you're planning to come home…"

They said goodbye and when Alex left the phone booth he was looked at very curiously by three sets of eyes. He had to smile at the sight of Claire with Emily on her lap and Charlotte snuggled up to her. It looked good.

"What did he say?" Charlotte finally asked him.

"Not much, he won't be coming back soon so you can come and stay with me as often as you want…let's get you to your room girls so we can say goodbye and Ms Wellesley can have a word with you…"

They took the girls' rucksacks and made their way to the room. Ms Wellesley was already waiting in the lounge room and Peggie and Babette were already in their room.

Claire asked the teacher if they could have another five minutes and on Ms Wellesley's nodding closed the door.

"Before you say anything Mum…Charlotte and I would like to ask you and Alex something…" Emily said as her mother turned around and Alex looked at her curiously

"Well…since we now know that you are Charlotte's mother…"
"And you are Emily's father…" Charlotte continued. "We'd like to ask if it was all right for you if…"
"if I called Alex Dad and Charlotte called you Mum…" Emily finished her sister's sentence. Alex felt his heart overflowing at the sound of those words but took a look at Claire first to see her reaction. But when he saw her smile he knew he was doing the right thing when he said "I think that's ok, right Prue?"

Claire nodded and once again the four of them hugged till Claire said "Now I forgot what I wanted to say…so I'll just say…be good girls, don't cause any more trouble…call us and we'll see you in two weeks…"

She kissed each of the girls and so did Alex, then they left the room and let Ms Wellesley take over…