Hello everyone,
I really need to thank you for your comments and for reading this.
It's all of you that inspire me to keep writing, and more importantly, write every chapter better than the last.
I know that this fandom is not as active as the others, so it means the world to me to get 250 reads.
Thank you, you all are the best!
Enjoy!
-Estelle
"Julie! Julie! Get up!" Susan said impatiently, "And you as well, Nora!"
"Nora, I can understand. This is normal behavior for her. But Julie, you usually wake at the crack of dawn. What on earth has gotten into you?" Freddie asked, leaning over and prodding the sleeping girl as Nora sat up, looking disgruntled.
"I do." Julie mumbled sleepily, "But usually, I don't sleep as late as I did last night. And my sleep was restless. I heard odd noises, like rattling. Do you think there are mice here?"
"Possibly." said Lucy thoughtfully, "I heard noises, as well."
"As did I." Freddie shrugged, "But that is quite beside the point."
"Yes, Julie, if you don't get up now, we shall miss breakfast, and I'm awfully hungry." Bonnie said.
Nora obediently shuffled into the bathroom, but Julie didn't move, "Breakfast?" she questioned tiredly, "What time is it?"
"Nearly eight-thirty." June replied promptly, after a quick glance at the wall-clock.
"Nearly eight-thirty?!" Julie exclaimed, scrambling up with a start, "I'm not in the mood for your tricks first thing in the morning, June. What time is it really?"
"Eight-nineteen, if you want an exact time." Lucy said, "You've slept in quite late. We're all ready, and Nora is getting ready. You'd better hurry."
Julie groaned, "Sorry, girls. This is most unlike me."
Nora reappeared from the bathroom, looking tidy, grinning at Julie's disheveled state.
"We know." Alice assured her, picking up a small bag from beside Julie's bed, "Here's your night case, old girl. Do make it fast."
Julie did make it very fast indeed, grabbing the night-case and bolting into the bathroom.
The girls heard the sounds of running water, and within 5 minutes exactly, Julie was out of the bathroom, looking neat and tidy, wearing a fresh set of clothes.
"Well!" Amy said, "That certainly was quick, Julie. Now we shan't be late for breakfast after all."
"We still have five minutes." Julie said, satisfied, "I'll just brush my hair and put the hairslides in, give me a moment." she picked up her nightcase and began rummaging inside it for her hairbrush.
"Your brush is in your bedside stand, Julie, as well as your hairslides." Felicity said exasperatedly, "Remember? You even mentioned last night."
Julie blinked, and then sighed, "I am never sleeping at eleven pm, ever again."
"That would do good for everyone." Gillian agreed, "Hurry up, or we shall be late for breakfast. After your quick getting-ready, too!"
Julie walked to her bedside table and pulled open the first drawer- before she let out a gasp.
"Julie, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Pam cried, the form hurrying towards their friend.
Julie didn't speak. Then she turned to her classmates, and gestured to the drawer, as if asking them to take a look.
They did, and they, too, gasped.
The drawer was in absolute disarray! The contents were scattered everywhere, the hairslides askew, and the novel crumpled.
"What on earth?-" Amy said faintly, "You didn't put them in like this, did you, Julie?"
Julie shook her head, "Of course not!" she said, sounding shaken, "I promise you everything was tidy when I arranged it. Just look at my book! It's all crumpled, and a couple of pages seem to be torn."
June examined the novel, "Is this an old copy?"
"No, quite the opposite." Julie answered, "My brother was visiting Spain, and he brought this back for me only a fortnight ago."
"From Spain, you say? Do you think someone might be trying to steal it?" Delia wondered, "If it's foreign, it must be expensive."
"It's possible..." Nora said, "But how? And when? We only reached yesterday."
"No, I doubt it, girls." June said.
"What do you mean?" Amy turned to her, "It is possible that someone was trying to steal the book, or else why would the drawer be in such chaos?"
"No, I don't think anyone was trying to steal the book." June repeated, still looking through the novel.
"You've made your point, but what makes you say so?" Amy pressed.
"Well, several reasons." June said, finally looking up from the novel, "Number one, this novel might have been bought in Spain, but it is available in England also. It's not cheap by any means, but it is certainly not too expensive for the average student to afford, if they've saved up for a few weeks."
Nora opened her mouth, but June continued speaking, "And number two, no one, other than us, knew that you had brought a book. And we didn't even know it's name, so how could anyone have known that you had this novel, known the name of it, and come in search of it to take it? Wouldn't it make more sense to simply ask you if she could borrow it in the morning?"
The form digested this, before June gave her final reason, "And the most obvious point is that if someone was really after the book, and that is why Julie's drawer is in complete disarray, I'm quite sure that the thief would have actually taken the book, instead of leaving it torn in the nightstand."
Amy, Nora and Delia suddenly looked sheepish.
"Oh, yes, they would have taken it, wouldn't they?" Delia said, with a bashful smile.
"You should be a detective, June." Nora said appreciatively, "Or a police officer. Though I suppose you do shine at games."
"Well, that means no one is after the book, but that doesn't explain the drawer!" Amy pointed out.
"Yes, I know..." June bit her lip.
Bonnie held out her hand for the book, and June obliged. Bonnie examined it, before, looking up at the others, "The condition of the book is quite bad, as if it was so haphazardly read that the reader accidentally tore the page while flipping it, or-" Bonnie broke off, exchanging a wide-eyed look with June.
"You don't think someone was looking for something...inside the book, do you?" June asked Bonnie.
"Inside the book?" Nora repeated, "I take it you don't mean a phrase, girls."
"No, we mean...people keep letters and cards tucked away inside books all the time!" Bonnie said, "You don't think someone was looking for something specific, expecting it to be inside the book...do you?"
Everyone remained silent, and then Susan said, "I'm not sure. But the only opportunity for this to have happened is during the night, when the rest of us were sleeping."
"I heard a noise!" Julie recalled, "And so did Lucy and Freddie."
"As did I." Pam said.
June stared hard at the row of beds.
"Lucy and Freddie were on either side of Julie." Felicity said slowly, "So it's quite obvious how the three of them heard it. But Pam..."
"Is right next to the door!" Alice cried, "Pam's bed is right next to the door!"
The girls exchanged wide-eyed looks.
"But...if someone was sneaking in, surely we all would have heard her?" Lizzie said, sounding worried.
"Not always. We sleep quite soundly." Amy said, "Remember fourth form, we snuck out for a midnight feast? Olive didn't hear a thing, and so many of us were sneaking out."
"True." Lucy said, "If someone did sneak in, though, it makes sense that Pam heard...but why didn't you say anything?"
"It was hardly a noise." Pam said, "No footsteps. Just faint rattling. I was half-asleep, anyways."
"We were all half-asleep, but the noise didn't sound like footsteps at all." Freddie said, "Not that I can remember much, but there was no pitter-patter."
Julie sighed, "Then that rules out an intruder. What on earth could have happened, girls?"
"Well." said Gillian, with a small smile, "You could have simply struck out at the stand in your sleep, causing it to rattle, and causing the contents to scatter."
Everyone laughed, some of the tension leaving the room.
"I think we can rule that out immediately." June said with a grin.
"Why?" Gillian said, grinning back at June, "I thought it was a genius explanation."
June chuckled, "Yes, because Julie striking the nightstand will certainly crumple and tear the pages of a new novel."
Everyone laughed again, and Lizzie's eyes strayed to the clock.
"Heavens!" she cried, "It's nearly eight-forty-five! Julie, brush your hair fast, we're late for breakfast."
"And check if anything is missing." Bonnie added.
Julie did a thorough check of her drawer, and announced that though her possessions were scattered, and her book ruined, nothing seemed to be missing.
She quickly brushed her hair, before emptying the drawer's contents into her night-case so it would remain safe. Then, the girls departed for breakfast.
"I wonder how it happened though." Julie said, still looking troubled, "I was fond of that book. And brushes, novels and hairslides do not randomly tear and scatter according to their own will. So what happened?"
"I don't know." Susan said, "I really don't think it makes sense."
"I doubt we will be able to find out." Lizzie added dejectedly.
"But we will certainly try." Felicity's face was set with determination, "If it happens once, it might happen again. It's not safe if people are really sneaking around and looking through cupboards."
"I say!" Gillian stopped walking suddenly, "Do you think one of us is sleepwalking, like I did in the fifth-form?"
The girls looked thoughtful.
"But again, wouldn't one of us notice?" Amy said.
"Nobody noticed in fifth form, and it had been happening for nearly a whole term." Gillian countered.
"I don't think any of us sleepwalked." Lucy said with finality, "Gillian, that doesn't happen to you anymore, Pam and Nora, I could hear your snores plain as day, and the rest of you don't really seem like the sleepwalking type."
"What do you mean, 'the sleepwalking type'?" Alice asked with interest, ignoring Pam's and Nora's protests.
"People usually sleepwalk when they are over-exerted or pressurized." Felicity answered readily, "It happens when you work too hard. And while we are all working hard, we are not overly exerting ourselves. It shows in our normal behavior if we do. Constant drowsiness, and an urge to sleep."
"Yes, we all behaved too normal to be sleepwalking." Susan agreed, "Felicity and I studied symptoms of sleepwalking during our training, and I assure you, none of us are sleepwalking."
They entered the breakfast room.
"Very well, then." Julie said, "Then what could have happened?"
"I don't know, Julie, but we shall certainly find out!" Felicity promised.
The form nodded in agreement. They certainly would try to find out, even if it took the entire week!