Sorry for not updating sooner. I got a bit discouraged by the lack of feedback and then, when you lovely people left me some, I went on holiday. Since then I've been a bit busy. Anyhow here's the next bit. I hope to have some more written soon but i'm still quite busy. Also a horse bit my arm and it's a tad painful!
It turned out that Kipper was wrong. Very few people were concentrating on lacrosse. When the junior lacrosse team assembled for its training session the next day it was apparent that most of the team members had given up the sport in favour of hockey. Whereas there had previously been enough people to put out two sides, there were now barely enough for one. The team members looked at each other in dismay. "Never mind" said Miss Fox bracingly "better one volunteer than ten pressed men".
It was already dark and so the training session took place on the floodlit astroturf; much to the relief of the team who had not relished the prospect of tramping across muddy fields to one of the few pitches that hadn't been given over to hockey. It wasn't a long session and it went well, Sam was rather rusty after missing games for most of the previous term but everyone else was up to speed. Sophie, who had been restored to the team following her clash with Sam, played very well. Their first match of the term would take place in a week and everyone felt confident.
As she walked back to North Tower to shower Sam realised with a start that she was alone. There were a couple of North Tower second years walking ahead of her but she was the only first year. No Becky of course, she was at a maths coaching session, but also no Izzy. Well that wasn't surprising, Izzy had never been one of the first choice players so it was quite reasonable that she'd switched to hockey. However the absence of Lauren really stung. Sam's own decision to persist with lacrosse had been made as a result of Darrell saying how much she valued the sport and she knew that Felicity, who was Lauren's great-grandmother, felt much the same. How could Lauren just disregard all of that family heritage?
Sam had fallen out with Lauren the previous term but she hadn't learnt much from it. She had, however, inherited her Grandmother's short and foul temper and now it came to the fore. She dropped her lacrosse stick in its place in the cloakroom, slung her lacrosse boots into their pigeon hole, and stumped upstairs to the dormitory intending to fetch her shower things and clean clothes. Unfortunately Lauren happened to be in the dormitory. Alone. The presence of other people might have caused Sam to rein in her temper but now it vented itself with full force.
Angrily she accused her cousin of betraying their family. Of betraying all the traditions of Malory Towers. Lauren initially took all this as a joke. Once she realised that Sam was serious, she too flared up into an impressive outburst of temper. She told Sam that she was being ridiculous, that if Malory Towers relied on lacrosse to keep its traditions alive then those traditions must be pretty rubbish. As for letting down their family by not playing lacrosse, Lauren thought that was a ridiculous idea and that if Sam wanted to let down the family she should get herself expelled. Ideally as quickly as possible – which, with a temper as foul as that, shouldn't be a problem.
The exchange was brought to an end by an irate fourth year poking her head around the door and telling them to either shut up or go and argue somewhere else. She also pointed out that it was only a matter of time until one of the staff heard about the argument and then they would be in trouble. In the meantime they might like to know that half the house was stood outside the door listening. She wisely removed her head from the room before either of the warring cousins could find anything to throw.
A few seconds later the door opened again, this time admitting Becky and Kipper who had been sent in by their dormitory mates to ascertain whether it was safe to come in and get ready for supper. They gazed open mouthed at the combatants and then looked at each other, as if wondering whether they were imagining things. This brought Sam and Lauren to their senses and they looked at each other in embarrassment. Finally, wordlessly, Sam snatched up her things and ran to the shower. Was she doomed to fall out with Lauren every single term? If she was then the next few years were going to be rather long.
Everyone was very diplomatic at dinner, having apparently made a collective decision to pretend that nothing had happened. Sam was grateful for by now she was beginning to feel extremely embarrassed. What a ridiculous thing to have done. Why on earth couldn't she have been polite to Lauren? She knew her cousin wouldn't be persuaded by being shouted at, and persuaded she must be. For Darrell's sake Sam must make sure that lacrosse lived on at Malory Towers.
When the meal ended Sam was not surprised to find herself tackled by Kipper and more or less dragged off to one of the music practise rooms. "What on earth is going on?" Kipper demanded, her blue eyes boring into Sam's brown ones. "How can you be so ridiculously angry about lacrosse of all things?"
"How do you know I was angry about lacrosse?" demanded Sam angrily.
"Most of Malory Towers knows, the volume you were shouting at. Most of Cornwall probably".
"You don't understand. It's not like you have any family traditions at Malory Towers to live up to".
"Maybe not but at least I know that screaming at people won't persuade them to do what I want".
Sam groaned "can't argue about that. It was a bit ridiculous I admit. But you really don't understand what it's like to have all these family traditions to live up to".
Kipper grinned "thankfully no. As it happens my mother's old school has closed and my father's is still all boys. So no family school traditions for me to live up to".
"You could establish your own. I think I'm doomed to fall out with Lauren every term, your tradition can be forcing us to get back to being friends".
"No thanks. I think I'd prefer running naked round the court once a term".