Hello everyone!
Well, I'm back after a LONG break! I've had a severe case of writer's block.
I just couldn't think of how I should continue the story.
But everyone has been leaving such encouraging comments, so I sat down and wrote out the ninth chapter.
Still much more to come, don't worry!
Enjoy!
-Estelle
"Well, girls." Nora said glumly as they walked to breakfast the next morning, "I'm surprised that we were able to get up on time for breakfast, after all."
"So am I." Julie agreed, yawning, "I still am awfully tired, though. And I'm not looking forward to the confrontation."
"I'm afraid I shan't be able to join you for that." Pam said, "I have my little chat with Elsie."
"I'm sure that will be just as fun as the confrontation." Felicity conceded.
The girls were very quiet throughout their meal. As they finished their food, Pam gestured across the breakfast hall to Elsie, "Elsie, please accompany me to my office, where we shall have a small chat."
Elsie scowled, "Yes, Miss Boardman."
"Good luck with Emily, girls." Pam said quietly, "Do try not to jump straight into things, though. For all we know, we could be wrong."
"I doubt it." Bonnie sighed, "But we shall take your advice for sure. June, shall the two of us dash to the dormitory and fetch the bedsheet?"
"Yes, I suppose we must." June said, pushing away her plate of toast, "I'm not hungry, anyway. The rest of you, hurry up. Bonnie and I shall be back in a trice."
Pam left for her office with Elsie, while June and Bonnie hurried back upstairs to get the bedsheet.
"This whole thing seems to be a bigger mystery than we suspected." Susan said, "And this is our third day here. We only have seven days left to solve this."
"Eight days, if you include today." Lizzie corrected, sipping some tea, "And while eight days sounds like a long, glorious time, I'm sure it shall simply fly by, as the past two days have done."
"Right you are." Alice said ruefully, "We were silly to think of having a peaceful time, weren't we?"
"I daresay we were." Freddie replied, grinning, "But that's what adds to the fun of Malory Towers."
"This mystery isn't my definition of fun." Gillian said grimly, "The prospect of solving this mess is exciting, of course, but the whole situation is quite serious. We have nearly no clues. We have no idea as to why Emily would pay our dormitory a nightly visit."
The girls ate in silence for some time, the only sounds being chewing and sipping.
"Are you all quite finished?" June asked, reappearing at their table. Bonnie, who was right behind her, had the bedsheet in her hands. It was folded neatly.
"I don't have much of an appetite." Delia said, "That is a first for me! Girls, shall we hurry to the San now?"
Felicity nodded, "Yes. Let's get going."
The girls got up from the table and exited the room. There was an air of tension surrounding them.
They had all seen worse, faced bigger mysteries, but the prospect of a little third-former trying to steal something shook them. Amy said as much.
"I don't know, Amy." Alice replied, "I've done worse. When I was in the second form, I stole forty-five pounds. I am not proud of it, but I can't deny doing so. Little ones can be far more devious than we think."
"And they aren't the only ones." Nora added, "Older ones can make rather stupid decisions as well. Remember when Amanda went into the sea to swim? That was rather idiotic. If it hadn't been for June, she wouldn't have made it."
"Yes." Lucy nodded gravely, "Miss Tallant was another example of an adult who made a terrible choice. And then there was Eleanour Banks. And Daisy, the maid who once worked here."
"We've all seen worse, I suppose." June said, "But coming back to Malory Towers and seeing that students here are capable of such things is quite astonishing." she looked thoughtful, "Not that I'm one to talk. Alice, as you said, I'm not proud of my previous actions, but I shall not deny having done them. I am the same girl who, as a first former, sneaked on the fourth form and got Darrell demoted as head. I am the same girl who once sent wretched anonymous notes to Moira."
The girls processed this.
"You know, June, that actually gives me hope." Bonnie said thoughtfully, "Look at you and Alice today. Nobody would think you were capable of such acts. Maybe we can say the same for young Emily."
"What bothers me.." Delia said, "Is why she snuck into our dormitory. What was she looking for?"
"Wouldn't we all like to know." Felicity smiled ruefully.
"Well." Freddie said, "I suppose we are about to find out. We're at the San."
She pushed open the door and the girls all filed inside. Matron was not at her usual work station, so the girls proceeded into the sick-bed area where Emily had been the day before.
Emily was still there, lying on the bed and looking considerably worse. She was sleeping. Matron was seated next to her, peering at a thermometer.
"Matron! What are you doing all the way in here?" Lizzie exclaimed, "Is Emily alright?"
"Not as well as yesterday, I'm afraid." Matron sighed, "She developed a terrible cough yesterday evening, and hasn't slept a wink all night. I've been sitting here almost since you left the San yesterday."
"Oh dear." Delia said, "Poor girl."
June, however, was staring at Matron, eyes-wide, "Since we left yesterday?"
"Around that time, yes." Matron replied.
"And you were with her the entire night? She was lying on this bed the whole night, and didn't sleep at all?"
"No." Matron stared at the sleeping girl, "A cold certainly does wear one out. And it looks as if she is going to get a sore throat. I'm waiting for her to wake up so I can give her some medicine."
June whirled around to face the rest of the girls, "Don't you see?" she said urgently, her voice low, "If she was here the whole night, with Matron by her side-"
"-it wasn't her who snuck in yesterday!" Alice finished, looking stunned.
"But then..." Felicity frowned heavily, "Who could it be? I don't know whether to feel relieved that it isn't her or worried that we are back on square one."
Bonnie unfolded the bedsheet and turned around to face Matron, "Matron, this is Emily's bedsheet. There are more holes in it, and a tear. We found it lying around yesterday. Do you have any idea how it got out of this room?
"Heavens!" Matron took the sheet and examined it, "Two more holes! And a dreadful tear. This shall take hours to mend. What these mischievous girls get up to these days, I don't know! They are worse monkeys than you lot were."
"Do you have any idea how it got out of the San?" June repeated impatiently, "Bedsheets don't have legs, Matron, as you very well know."
"Cheeky." Matron tutted with a fond smile, "Yes, Elsie took it with her last night before she left, saying that she'd return it to Emily's cupboard."
"She took it with her?" Bonnie squeaked.
"Yes, she did." Matron sighed, "The third form is a group of rowdies, let me tell you that. However did they manage getting these holes into this?"
"I...I don't know." June said, "Tell Emily we wish her an early recovery, we best be going now, goodbye Matron! Come along, girls."
"Alright, I shall tell her. Have a good day, do pop in later!" Matron smiled, rummaging a draw for needle and thread.
"We will!" Freddie called as June tugged her out of the San.
The minute the doors shut behind the, they all started talking at once.
"Elsie, I knew it, she was too suspicious!"
"So this means Elsie is the one who snuck in twice?"
"The nerve of that girl! We have a lot to tell Pam."
"But wait." Susan frowned, "How do we know if it was Elsie?"
"My dear Susan, Matron told us mere moments ago that it was Elsie who took the bedsheet from the San." Amy said impatiently.
"Yes, Amy, that's true. But if she took it back to the third form dormitory with her, it could have been any third former." Susan countered, "Elise could have given the bedcloth to another one of them. It could have been anyone."
"You are right about that." Bonnie agreed, "Let's ask Pam what she thinks. Let's go to her office, she must be there."
Sure enough, Elsie was just leaving Pam's office when the girls arrived.
"Had a good chat with Miss Boardman?" Nora asked sternly, "I'm sure you understand the importance of respecting your elders now, Elsie."
"Yes." Elsie muttered in reply. It was as if her scowl as permanently etched onto her face.
"Where are you off to now?" Felicity asked curiously, "You have the whole morning off, for your first period is free, and the second is Geography, and Miss Nicholson is not here."
"And English is your third period." June added, "If I remember correctly. And that's Pam's subject. She is off this week. You've got a lovely morning ahead of you. Use it to do something productive, Elsie."
Elsie nodded sullenly and walked away, in the direction of her common room.
'Well." Susan said disapprovingly, 'You two were just trying to help her. There was no need for that attitude on her part. Anyways, come on, girls."
She pushed the door to Pam's office open, and the girls rushed inside.
"Pam!" Nora cried, the minute they entered the room, "Pam, we've found out the strangest thing!"
The girls recalled the entire story, taking turns narrating the dialogues and events, inserting their opinions every once in a while.
"The only thing is, we're not sure who the culprit is." Susan finished, "We suspect Elsie, but she could have given the sheet to any of the other girls. We can't be sure. It could be any one of them."
"Pam?" Gillian peered closely at the girl, "Are you alright? You suddenly look a little peaky."
Indeed, Pam had gone white.
"Pam?" Gillian repeated, more urgently, "What's wrong?"
"Well, girls." Pam said, trying to keep her voice calm, "I think we can be quite sure that yesterday's intruder was indeed Elsie."
"What?" Felicity said in confusion, "How can you be sure?"
"As I was lecturing Elsie, I noticed some blood on her right arm, and gave her a bandage." Pam said.
Amy, Delia and Nora looked bewildered. Most of the girls seemed to be putting the puzzle together, but it was as if there was a piece missing. They knew what Pam was hinting at, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.
"Oh my goodness." June whispered. The shocked looks on her's, Bonnie's and Alice's faces showed that they understood immediately.
"What is it?" Freddie demanded.
"The figure who was running away- the cloth got caught on the same sharp nail that Bonnie hurt herself on." June said quietly, "Which means it makes sense."
"The person who was running hurt herself on the sharp edge." Bonnie said slowly.
"And Elsie is the one who took the bedsheet from Matron and she had a cut on her arm..." Alice continued.
"Which means...the culprit is Elsie." Susan finished, looking astonished.
Nobody spoke for a moment.
"What does she want? Why does she keep trying to sneak in?" Julie finally asked, frustrated.
"I don't know. Why couldn't she use her own bedsheet?" Lucy questioned, "Why Emily's?"
"And why was she so reluctant to let Emily sleep in the San?" Delia added.
"You saw how nervous Emily was. I'm sure she knows something about this." Gillian agreed.
Bonnie sighed, "We have so many questions and hardly any answers."
Nora nodded glumly, "Well, Lucy, first thing is first. Return the key to Bill and Clarissa. I don't think it's safe to spread word around before we are even compeletley sure about what's happening, so just tell them you don't think it's safe for the key to be here. You needn't tell them the whole story, they shall understand."
"Very well." Lucy agreed, "And next, we'll let the sixth formers know about the most recent events."
"Shall we head to Five Oaks now?" Amy suggested.
"Erm, yes. You lot go ahead. I'll tag along in half an hour or so." June said.
"Why?" Bonnie frowned.
"I was- I asked the Head if I could use her telephone to call Josh and let him know how I was doing." June admitted sheepishly.
Amy smirked, 'Go ahead June. We don't mind waiting, we'll be in the common room. Let us know when you are finished, and we shall all go together."
"Thanks, girls." June said, a pink flush creeping up her cheeks.
'It's not a problem.' Felicity said, amused.
June turned around and headed for Miss Grayling's room, while the rest of the girls made their way to the common room.
"I can't wait for the day when I meet someone as June met Josh." Bonnie sighed.
"Nor can I." Amy agreed, 'I do wish I could meet Josh, in fact. He makes June so very happy."
"He's a lovely person." Susan assured them, "June has chosen very well indeed.'
"Oh, yes." Lizzie said, "I'd almost forgotten that you, Felicity, Pam, Freddie and June all went to University together."
"We had the most brilliant time there." Pam smiled reminiscently, 'Just as we did here, in Malory Towers. But this shall always be home to us, more than anywhere else."
"Do you remember exactly how you all met Josh?"
"Oh, I do, actually." Freddie nodded, "The five of us were at a little party. It was a gathering to celebrate the end of our exams. And as Josh is elder than us by a year, we hadn't seen him around very frequently before that. So we were all socializing, and June was the center of attention. As usual, she was telling some story or the other." Freddie grinned fondly, "Josh and his friends came around to join the group, and they were all very sweet, so we got along immediately."
"He was quite taken with June from the beginning, wasn't he?" Felicity recalled, "He called her November sometimes, just to tease her."
"He still does that." Freddie chuckled, "Every once in a while, he shall call her November, and she's gotten so used to it that she doesn't even protest anymore."
"November?" Delia frowned, "Why November?"
"Well, June is also the name of a month, as we very well know." Pam explained, "Yet, our June was born in November.""
"So when Josh first asked her if she was named June because she was born in that month, she told him her birthday was in November." Susan finished, 'Ever since then, he called her November instead of June sometimes. Just for fun."
Everyone laughed.
"They do sound like a pair." Lucy mused. By this time, the girls were comfortably seated around the common room.
"Oh, they are indeed." Freddie chuckled.
The girls continued to chat for another fifteen minutes before June herself turned up.
"Sorry." she said, "I do hope I didn't take too long."
'Of course not." Julie answered, surveying June.
June looked far more content and had a small, extremely happy smile on her face.
"I take it your conversation went well?" Nora commented idly, a mischievous grin on her face.
Freddie snorted, "All their conversations go well."
"Do shut up." June retorted, 'And yes, if you must know, my conversation went well. As usual."
"Did you tell him about all the chaos surrounding us?" Gillian asked.
"Not exactly. As we discussed, I don't think it's something we can speak about, as we ourselves are not quite sure about it." June said, "I did tell him that we are experiencing some strange situations, and I'm sure he guessed we have another mystery to solve."
"But then wouldn't he want to know about it?" Bonnie frowned.
"Maybe." June shrugged, "But, see, he never pressurizes me to tell him about things. Usually I tell him everything, so once in a while, if I don't, he doesn't question me. He knows I shall blurt it out eventually."
"He understand you quite well." Lizzie said approvingly, "Now, shall we get going? Lucy, do you have the key?"
Lucy nodded, and the girls got up and pushed open the common room door, heading for Five Oaks.
"Are you quite sure they don't deserve an explanation?" Amy asked worriedly.
"They do deserve an explanation." Bonnie corrected, "Just not right now."
"Very well." Amy sighed.
They rounded the bend to Five Oaks, and much to their surprise, Bill and Clarissa were standing around the riding area and watching a few men canter around on their horses.
"Bill! Clarissa!" Bonnie said, "What are you both doing out here?"
"Hallo, girls. Lovely of you to stop by." Bill greeted them warmly, "These are three horseback riders from the neighboring town." she gestured to the men riding the horses, "They've heard about our stables from Elsie and thought they might stop by."
"Is Elsie here?" Julie asked with interest.
Clarissa pointed to the small, pale girl, who was on the opposite end of the riding-area, also watching the riders with avid admiration.
"She got here about fifteen minutes ago." Clarissa explained, "These men are friends of her father's, so they know one another very well. Elsie had invited them over before. We're thinking about asking them to do a little workshop for some youngsters."
"That does seem like a grand idea." Susan agreed.
"I find it odd how Elsie always turns up wherever we are." Freddie murmured to Julie in a low voice.
"She was here first." Julie conceded, "So I suppose we are turning up where she is. We just happen to cross paths often."
"Too often for my liking." Freddie muttered, and Julie grinned.
Elsie tore her eyes away from the tricks the men were performing and saw the group of girls with Bill and Clarissa. Her eyes narrowed irritably, but she managed a small smile and a wave.
"She looks just about as thrilled to see us as we are to see her." June commented, "But then again, we are 23, and she is merely 14. We shouldn't be too harsh on her."
"True." Felicity agreed.
"Hallo, Elsie." Delia called, with a friendly smile, "Want to come stand with us for a bit?"
Elsie didn't look to pleased with this idea, and nor did Julie, June or Bonnie. But Bill and Clarissa nodded emphatically and gestured the third-former over, so she had no choice.
They watched in silence for sometime, until the horses slowed down their pace and the men dismounted, pulling off their riding helmets.
"Leave them to walk around for a bit." one of the men said, nodding at the three horses, "We'll need them well fed, for we are riding them back into our town, and it's a good twenty minutes away."
"Of course." Clarissa said. Tom, the stable-man, immediately rushed off to get some food for the horses.
The three men opened the gate of the stable area and filed out, closing it carefully behind them. They looked young, as if they were about the same age as Bill and Clarissa. Just a few years older than the rest of the girls.
"It's a beautiful place you've got here." one of the men commented, "Absolutely lovely."
Bill smiled, "Thanks awfully. We're very proud of it. And you three are very good riders as well."
"Ah, it's nothing." he replied, "How did you wrangle a place like this, though? Such a lovely area would have already been bought for sure, and I'm positive the previous owners wouldn't have wanted to give it away."
"Oh, it wasn't nearly as lovely when we first started out." Clarissa laughed "We fixed it up. We only bought the land and the shack."
"You've done a mighty fine job, I'll give that to you." the man said sincerely, "I do hope you don't mind us turning up more often."
"Of course not, it would be a pleasure." Clarissa replied, "In fact, we were wondering whether you might be interested in conducting a couple of riding workshops for the youngsters?"
"That's a great idea." the other man agreed, "We'll sit down and talk it out properly today, fix the timings and everything. I'm eager."
"Brilliant." Bill said, "Oh-girls- where are my manners? As I said, these men are professionals from the nearby town. Edgar, Jamieson- but everyone calls him James- and Robert."
"These girls left Malory Towers about five years ago, and they are back now for a reunion." Clarissa said, "In fact, it was two of these girls- June and Bonnie- who helped save our stables when a family tried to plot against us."
"I see." said the man with fair hair- Edgar, "Nice to meet you, girls. We only graduated from school six years ago, in fact."
"It's a jolly good thing Elsie told us about this place." James added. He had black hair and green eyes, and chiseled features.
Robert, who had brown hair, hazel eyes, smiled and held out his and for Felicity to shake, as she was standing closest to him.
Felicity returned the smile and shook his hand, "Nice to meet you all."
"I trust you've been having a fun morning, then, Elsie." Pam said, 'But do be back at school before your fourth period starts."
Elsie would have normally scowled and nodded sullenly, but as her father's friends and Bill and Clarissa were present, she managed a brighter smile and said, "Of course, Miss Boardman."
"June, you said?" Edgar asked, "From the Lacrosse Cup?"
June nodded.
Edgar flashed her a brilliant smile, "You are a fabulous player. I was impressed. Any more matches coming up?"
"Not for lacrosse." June said, "But I'm to compete in Wimbledon soon."
"I'm sure you shall be wonderful, as always." Edgar's smile grew, if possible, wider, "I myself have great interest in sports. Perhaps the two of us should take a trip into town later today, and get to know one another."
Both Bill and Clarissa suddenly seemed to find the grass very interesting. Felicity and Susan exchanged a quick glance and then looked away at once to keep themselves from laughing. Freddie and Amy didn't bother to hide their amused smirks.
"I don't think so, Edgar. I'm sorry." June said coolly, "I'm here for a reunion with my form. I'm afraid a trip into town doesn't interest me as much as it might some people."
Edgar didn't give up very easily, "It would be fun, though. You never know unless you try."
Before June could say anything, James interrupted, "Edgar, do shut up. She's got a ring."
Edgar peered at the bright diamond ring on June's hand and sighed, "Oh, well. It was worth a try." he shot June a genuine, friendly smile, "I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you."
"And you as well." June spared him a half-smile, still not looking supremely impressed with him.
"Do you mind if we have a look at the other horses?" Robert asked, "The inside of the house is lovely, and so is the general area, but the horses interest me most."
"Of course." Bill said, "How about it, girls?"
"Yes, we'd like to come along, if you don't mind." Gillian smiled.
"Lucy." Amy said suddenly, 'Don't forget the reason for coming here."
"Oh, yes." Lucy said, slipping her hand into her pocket. She pulled out the key, "Bill, Clarissa, I think it's best you keep this here with you."
Clarissa took it, confused, 'Why? I think it's better you keep it with you, just in case."
Julie shook her head meaningfully, "No, you know how careless we are. We might misplace it."
Bill and Clarissa still looked slightly puzzled, but they understood that the girls had a reason for returning the key, so Clarissa took it without another question.
Edgar, Robert, James and Elsie were watching curiously, looking rather bewildered.
"Julie and Lucy work here." Bill explained, "They've taken ten days off for the reunion."
The three men's puzzled confused expressions cleared, "That explains it." Edgar nodded sagely.
Elsie, who had been rather quiet, asked, "May I use the restroom?"
"Of course!' Clarissa said.
Elsie shrugged sheepishly, "Um, I don't know where it is."
"Shall I take her to the one upstairs?" Julie asked.
Clarissa nodded, "Yes, do. And here." she tossed the keys back to Julie, "Put this away while you're at it. You know where it goes."
Julie nodded, pocketing the key again and making her way to the house, with Elsie in tow.
"Meet us at the stables!" Bill called after them.
Julie nodded back, 'We shall."
The girls had a very pleasant morning indeed, spending time with Bill and Clarissa. Elsie had left for school after an hour or so, and Edgar, James and Robert departed soon after that.
"I say." Edgar frowned, his eyes scanning his surroundings, 'Where are our bags? I swear I kept them right there by the fence."
"Oh no." James groaned, 'Don't tell me you lost our bags. How do you manage? They're too bulky to lose sight of."
"Oh dear." Clarissa said apologetically, "I think Tom might have taken your bags inside and kept them in the living room. I'll go fetch them, shall I?"
"No, it's alright." Robert said, "There are three bags, and all of them are rather huge and heavy. I shall go get them. The living room is the room in which we had tea, isn't it? Right after you open the door?"
Bill nodded, "Yes, that's the one. Awfully sorry."
But the men simply waved them away and Robert hurried to the house, returning five minutes later with three enormous bags.
"I had a wonderful time." James said, "Thanks for having us. Elsie was right when she said it was a lovely place."
"Oh, it's nothing. You shall have to come more often, have a little chat about that workshop." Clarissa said.
Edgar, James and Robert nodded.
"Nice to meet you, too, girls." Edgar added to the rest of them.
They tugged at the reigns of their respective horses and cantered down the road, the girls waving after them.
They spent the next couple of hours lounging around with Bill and Clarissa, laughing and reminiscing about the past, talking excitedly about the future.
"That was a fun morning." Bill said, "Are you planning to head back to school for lunch, or would you like to stay?"
"Thanks ever so much for the offer." Alice said ruefully, "But we'd better head back. We're planning to sit at the sixth-form table for lunch today."
"It was lovely to see you." Clarissa smiled, 'Do come again soon. You've got eight days, which is quite a while."
"We shall." Lizzie promised.
As the girls walked sedately back to Malory Towers, enjoying the birds and sunshine, Lucy said, "I really did have a nice morning, didn't you?"
"The best." Susan agreed.
"It wan't too bad, really." Amy admitted, "It's always nice to spend time with old friends."
"I knew you'd come around eventually and admit that you don't mind time spent outdoors." Freddie said triumphantly.
"My dear Freddie, I simply said that I enjoy spending time with friends, not that I also enjoy spending time outdoors." Amy replied.
Freddie rolled her eyes at this.
By the time they reached Malory Towers, lunch had already started. They hurried to the sixth-form table, where the girls had already made space for them.
"Thanks awfully for saving us some space." Lizzie said gratefully.
"No problem." Daffy replied, waving a hand, "Had a good time with Bill and Clarissa?"
"Yes. And we bumped into Elsie." June said, rather irritably.
Ivy laughed, "You can't seem to do anything without bumping into that girl."
"I myself ran into her at the post-office-room an hour or so ago." Daffy added, "She was posting a letter to someone. Probably her aunt in America, or her parents. She's in there nearly every other day."
"She's an odd girl." Jenny agreed.
All traces of laughter left the older girls' faces at once.
"I suppose now is a good time as ever to tell you." Pam said, sounding oddly grave, "We think we did manage to catch the intruder."
The sixth formers gasped, leaning forward as Pam told the entire story, from start to finish, without missing a single detail.
"And so we realized that it was Elsie who snuck in last night, and the night before that." Pam finished.
Faith breathed out slowly, "Oh, dear. I do wish I could say that it is an enormous shock, but out of all the third-formers, Elsie is the most likely to do such a thing."
"Yes. When you came to the part of the story about it being Emily's blanket- that was a real shock." Edith agreed, "I'm quite relieved it wasn't her."
"I'm still a bit stunned, honestly." Jenny said, "For I would never have guessed that it was a member of one of the lower forms."
"Yes, that's true." Violet said thoughtfully, "But we all know that youngsters can be quite cunning. There's a difference between being sullen and spiteful and being downright deceitful and devious."
Alice, Daffy and June shifted uncomfortably.
"But then why not go question Elsie now?" Katie asked, "You have quite enough proof that it was indeed her who snuck in. She might deny it, but she can't fight against all the proof."
"We have a few reasons for that." June said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "The first is that we've had so many experiences in the past where we suspected the wrong people- and then accused them. We certainly thought we had enough proof, for all clues pointed to the same person. But in the end, we were wrong, and if we had waited, given it some time and just observed a bit more, we would have realized our mistake before accusing who we thought was guilty. I, for one, do not want to make that mistake again."
The others nodded, understanding her sentiments.
"The second reason is that we have so many questions and not enough answers." June said.
"What exactly do you mean, June?" Ivy asked, "I'm afraid I don't exactly understand what you're saying."
"Well... look at it this way." June said, "Imagine that it truly is Elsie who has been trying to sneak in. Imagine that we catch her and take her to the head and she is punished for her act. If it happened that way, we wouldn't be any wiser than we are now."
Violet frowned, "You would have stopped her from sneaking into your dormitory at night. Isn't that enough?"
"No." Bonnie shook her head, "I understand what June is trying to say. We have already prevented her from entering our room again, by simply locking it. And we've given her enough of a scare, so she won't try to intrude again. But if we did turn her in to Miss Grayling, and she was punished, that would be the end of it. We would never know why she snuck in, what she was looking for, why she wanted that particular object. We'd never know why she used Emily's bedsheet, or why she's become so close to Emily- though that could truly be a friendship."
"Hmm..." the sixth formers nodded, frowning heavily.
"Those are some very good points." Amy admitted, "And they are questions that we certainly need answers to. But we can't just sit around and wait for them to answer themselves."
June nodded, clearly impressed, "Well said, Amy. We need to start searching. We need to try and find out what Elsie's up to. Only then can we catch her properly. For if we did haul her up to the Head now with the information that we have, it can be very easily classified as a coincidence."
"But how?" Delia asked worriedly, "How are we supposed to make sure that it is Elsie intruding into our room and get answers for all these questions that we have? That too, in eight days?"
"Seven and a half." Alice corrected, "For it is a bit past noon, and we have a week ahead of us."
"That's even worse." Edith groaned, "Very well, let's rule out today completely. Seven days left, and we have an enormous mystery to solve."
"We shan't rule out today." Bonnie disagreed, "Today, June and I shall sit down with a paper and a pen and we shall map everything out. We'll note down all our suspects, all our suspicions and theories. The happenings so far. All the clues. And, of course, all the questions we have about the entire thing."
"That's a good idea." Susan said approvingly, "Our main suspect is Elsie, of course, and I'm afraid Emily must be on the list as well."
"Our clues are Elsie's tiredness, the scratch on her arm, and the drama surrounding the bedsheet." Felicity continued, "And our theory is obvious. Elsie took the bedsheet from the San and cut two more holes in it, which she used for vision. She then tried to intrude into our dormitory, but the door was locked. When she tried to escape, the blanket got caught on that sharp nail, and she also got scratched."
"And don't we have a lot of questions?" Pam added ruefully, "Everything is a question. Why, how, when. Is it really her, what is she searching for, why Emily's bedsheet..."
"Girls!" Bonnie protested, "At least wait until after lunch! We cannot possibly remember all this if you blurt it out now! I haven't a single scrap of paper on me."
"How about you bring a notebook and pen to dinner?" Faith suggested, "Sit with us again and we shall write everything down together."
"That's a good idea." Lizzie agreed, "And that's exactly what we shall do. I'm sure our questions will be doubled by dinnertime."
"Maybe." Julie agreed, "We must watch Elsie carefully, and note down every move we find strange."
"That would be absolutely everything. Almost everything she does is strange." June said flatly, "I am not spending our reunion writing about a little devil."
"Don't be so harsh, June." Freddie said, "You're the one who agreed so readily to noting everything down."
"That doesn't mean I am going to be walking around, notebook and pen in hand!" June said defensively, "We shall bring the notebook down to every dinner for the next week and add our day's observations to it."
"Alright." Felicity agreed, "And we shall hope that we can clear this up by the end of the week. If not, it shall be an unsolved mystery, and those are the worst kind!"
"Don't you worry, Felicity!" Bonnie said, her little face set with determination, "We shall solve this mystery by the end of this reunion, just watch!"
The others nodded readily, hoping that they truly would.