Chapter 25
Feud
When the Principle of St David's school, ' a certain Mrs Hill' suffered pangs of conscience that Honey Marie's academic gift had almost slipped by unnoticed, as well as the memories of Mrs Hofstadter's accusing stare that still kept haunting her, (actually Penny had been scrutinizing her and trying to imagine what Mrs Hill might look like if she had the same large unsightly wart that the Principle in the movie 'Uncle Buck', had.
Mrs Hill, then firmly stressed to other staff members, (during an impromptu staff meeting lasting two hours,) that they must in future be vigilant in spotting other children with certain talent in academic studies, and must without fail inform Mrs Hill Immediately, upon which all halfheartedly agreed, Miss Prentice because she was annoyed at having to cancel a date at short notice, a date Miss Prentice had every confidence in leading to white dress and Church Minister.
Also Mr Price, the Science Teacher, who was not a little annoyed when he was informed of Mrs Hill's last minute staff meeting and Muttered under his breath "Oh daro!".
As when he was angered Mr Price would often lapse back into His native tongue of Wales. Particularly so that day, because that very morning he had received by Fed-Ex the 00 scale model steam locomotive of the LNER A3 class Tornado 4-6-2 , on which Mr Price, was itching to try out on his layout as soon as he had returned home from a hard day of inculcating science into young minds. (Mr price was proud to own a layout large enough and made by himself, that would even impress a certain Dr Sheldon Cooper).
And even now, Honey Marie on rising in the morning, would often greet her Mother with, "Bore da", as Mr Price was apt to greet his Pupils in such a fashion on his arrival at the school every Morning.
And Penny could never be really certain whether Honey Marie was swearing at her or not.
Especially when Honey Marie was encouraged by Mr Price to try and pronounce the place name in the Isle of Anglesey, "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch". And every attempt Honey Marie made, As it appeared to Penny, only seemed to cause Honey Marie to spit everywhere.
Therefore, after said meeting, it was not long before the twins, Angela and April were discovered to have the same talents as Honey Marie and to Honey Marie's chagrin, also passed the entrance examination with an 100% pass rate, and as a result quickly ended Honey Marie's record as the youngest ever to pass with full marks.
And after that a sibling rivalry developed between the twins and their older sister as to who was the best, (It seemed that all three girls had received their Father's ability to soak up knowledge, and as the violent struggles later on, bore out, according to Leonard, also their Mother's fire), which quickly developed into open warfare when Honey Marie was chosen to be Marie Curie in the end of term play put on for the Parents, governors of the school, and special Guests. And Leonard, to Penny's immense pride, found He himself was included in the 'special' Guest category.
The hostilities though first descended into violent conflict, after Leonard had inadvertently placed a toy belonging to April in Honey Marie's room, Resulting in Angela, immediately standing up for her twin and accusing Honey Marie of taking it.
And Penny, though she loved her Husband very much, felt like strangling him, as she held a damp cloth to Honey Marie's nosebleed, while trying to discipline Angela who was complaining loudly to her Mother that Angela herself was the injured party.
Leonard had been begged, cajoled and Persuaded by Dr Peregrine Leyton' Smythe PhD the Headmaster of Newton Academy, to give a prize for the highest academic achievement that term, and was therefore extremely worried lest one of his own Daughter's would win. And therefore escalate tensions still further between the girls.
At news of the play, Uncle Sheldon Cooper took a great deal of interest in helping his protege and favourite niece, perform to her utmost ability,
(Sheldon had, ever since her proud Parents brought Honey Marie home from the hospital, to be greeted by Amy, and finally after much encouragement from Amy, Sheldon himself. And as he tremblingly put a hand in her bassinet, (Sheldon's nervousness was more because he was afraid of catching some nasty virus, rather than from the awe of the sight of a perfectly formed Baby), Honey Marie grabbed his finger in her tiny hand and ever after that Sheldon considered her to be a very close relative of his.
although Penny firmly drew the line when Uncle Sheldon suggested that Honey Marie lose some weight in order to correctly portray a haggard and ill woman suffering from the radiation poisoning from her own discovery in order to add more realism to her performance.
It would have to be that very afternoon when Leonard had just left Cal-Tech when his car suddenly lost power, leaving Leonard no choice but to pull over to the side. He quickly rang AAA, then after dialing Penny's number, then Leonard nervously pressed call and mentally prepared himself for the explosion which would surely come from the other end of the line. "Hi Honey, Guess what?, my car has broken down," Leonard told Penny, thankful that he took the precaution of not holding his cell close to his ear, "yeah I called them, Yes, there was plenty of gas in the tank, No I don't know what's up with it?. It's been running fine till now?, Okay I'll wait here for you then, see you in a few minutes then", then Leonard ended the call.
Penny just threw an exasperated look at her cell, "trust Leonard to break down now of all times", she muttered as she grabbed April and wiped the dinner off her face which April had failed to do so when she was sent up to wash earlier, but in the ensuing struggle Penny laddered her tights on a kitchen chair and then rushed upstairs to change them.
Just then an excited Sheldon arrived with Amy to pick up Honey Marie early, so they could go through her lines with her, in spite of Penny's efforts to prompt Honey Marie all week. (Penny had originally planned for all the immediate family to travel together, but after the bickering earlier, between the girls, Penny decided perhaps it would be best if the twins would travel apart from their older sister and allowed Sheldon and Amy to take her instead.
Then once they had left, Penny about to leave to pick up Leonard, noticed a dirty mark on Angela's skirt and sent her up to change it.
"Mom, where's my white skirt?, Angela asked Penny, who was just hurriedly putting on her new pair of tights. Then Penny wasted even more time in sorting through the clean Laundry before finding the garment and then hurriedly ironed it for Angela to put on, and while waiting for Angela, Penny frantically searched for her car keys, before eventually finding them nearly disappearing down the back of the sofa after Penny had carelessly thrown them down in her hurry to read her new magazine.
At last Penny and the twins were on their way to pick up Leonard, arriving just after the breakdown truck, then Penny impatiently waited as Leonard's car was inspected before discovering that the automatic choke had stuck closed and the car would have to be towed to a garage, so after giving the breakdown driver the address of the garage, Leonard got in Penny's car, and to Penny's huge relief they were on their way
"God I'm so nervous, Penny commented after they parked then quickly grabbing a brush from her purse she proceeded to smooth down a couple of stray curls that had refused to lie down on Leonard's head then straightening his tie, before after more burrowing in her purse, Penny pulled out a packet of wet wipes for Leonard to clean himself up a bit.
The play went quite well there were a couple of hiccups, Thomas Alva Edison switched on his light only for the bulb to immediately blow, at which Sheldon began reeling off a list of all the materials Edison tried before his eventual success only to get shushed by Amy.
And the operator of the curtains brought them down a little too soon on the first part with Isaac Newton getting hit on the head, while sitting under a flower of Kent apple tree, and according to Penny some years ago, invented gravity. ( the curtain came down simultaneously with the apple.
Leonard, with some difficulty struggled to concentrate on the play as Penny was quietly saying Honey Marie's lines for her, and Angela got an attack of the hiccups halfway through, then Leonard got another reproving stare from Penny as his stomach growled noisily. (as he had missed his dinner because of the breakdown). While April fidgeted all the way through wishing she had had her Nintendo DS with her as this is so boring, prompting another reproving stare from her Mother.
Finally as the curtain fell, (properly this time,) after all the cast took their bow, and Penny tried desperately to wipe her tears so that Honey Marie wouldn't see them and feel embarrassed by her Mother, as they waited for Honey Marie to return after changing out of her stage clothes.
"Mom, did I really have to do all this acting garbage, I hated it, acting is so for lamebrains", Honey Marie told her Mother after they had all hugged and congratulated her.
"Thanks very much sweetie, that really makes me feel good about choosing it for my career, remind me to tell Kay and J.G. about your interesting observation".
Then just before the interval ended, the Headmaster's assistant told Leonard that the prize giving was about to start, and to a very relieved Leonard it was announced later, that the winner of the most outstanding academic achievement award, was won by Malachi Sewell, (To the sheer pride of one Howard Wolowitz, when Leonard told him about it all later).
"Did you know?, your Mom starred in a commercial on T.V. once". Leonard told his oldest daughter as they were leaving.
"What was the commercial for?", Honey Marie asked her Mother.
"I'm sorry sweetie it was so long ago I don't think I can remember", she told her Daughter.
"I think I might be able to recall it", Leonard said, grinning at his wife.
"Shut up Honey", Penny told him so the girls didn't hear, "Come on let's go home", she said to them all.
If Penny hoped the armistice would begin the next day after the play, she was wrong.
It took just a, "Well I thought you looked a dork", from Angela to Honey Marie for the war to resume.
But by this time Penny had had enough , with a struggle she halted hostilities and forced them out into the garden, then pointing to a long patch of ground to the side of the garden she told them, "as you three seem to have so much energy?, perhaps you would like to weed this patch of ground for me?. Now I am going for coffee with your Auntie's Bernadette, Amy and Kay. And I want you Honey Marie to tell me if the twins start slacking and I want you twins to tell me if Honey Marie idles the morning away. Do I make myself clear?,) Penny demanded.
And after hearing a chorus of "yes mom", Penny left for Bernadette's.
(When on one occasion, Penny had given Amy and Bernadette a tour of the studio, she had introduced them to Kay, who had found she had so much in common, with Penny's two dear friends, that now Kay was included in their regular girl club meet ups.)
Leonard was instructed before Penny left to keep a discreet eye on the girls and told him of her scheme to get the girls to be friendly again.
The girls worked together in a strained silence for two hours before Angela asked Honey Marie for a truce. "look, I'm sick to death of pulling up weeds, and I think we've done enough now, let's pack it in and have a game together?", Angela asked.
Honey Marie too had had enough and welcomed a halt to the task. "Yes alright then, what shall we play?", she asked Angela.
Leonard standing by the kitchen window but unseen by the girls smiled as they played happily together, 'Penny might not be a genius where physics are concerned, but she is an absolute phenomenon when it comes to handling people', he thought.
