A Chalet Girl in Trouble

by Lisa Townsend

Epilogue

IT was Christmas Eve. The snow lay crisply over the mountains and the sound of carol singing filled the air- even at the San.
Grainne O’Malley lay on her side and looked dreamily out of the big window. She could hear the carollers singing ‘Silent Night’ and the beauty of the singing brought tears to her eyes.
Beside her, in a crib, lay a tiny baby girl with a mop of dark hair and the blue eyes of all newborns. Grainne could scarcely believe she was real. After all the worry, panic and fear of the past months, she had been filled with a feeling akin to awe when she saw her little daughter for the first time. The unaccustomed feelings, on top of the pain of childbirth, had led to silent weeping- not sobbing or wailing, just a slow cascade of tears down her cheeks. Concerned, the nurses had taken the baby away from her, and Grainne had had to beg them to bring her back. They had demurred, and it was only when Grainne spoke pleadingly to kind Matron Graves that they had agreed.
Moving slowly, Grainne raised herself and went to lean over the crib. She remembered the events of the last months; remembered the frightened child who had cried and sobbed when she had been told of her pregnancy. Now she looked back at that girl, and felt herself to be immeasurably older than she had been then. She knew that there would be hard times ahead; that, regardless of her special circumstances, she would face prejudice and possibly worse. But now she was strengthened. The kindness she had received from the School and the people at the San had begun to give her the emotional roots she had lacked, and slowly but surely she was developing a sense of security and self worth that would see her through further storms.
A sound at the door of the private ward she occupied made her turn to look. There stood Len Entwistle and the Head. Grainne smiled at them, and Len came quickly to offer her a little support as she returned shakily to the bed.
Once there, she smiled shyly at them. She had been so exhausted after the birth the previous day she had been allowed no visitors. Since she had slept the night through, she had not missed them.
“How are you feeling?” Len asked eagerly, as she shed her coat, hat, gloves and scarf.
“Tired,” Grainne told her with a laugh. “But- I’m happy,” and she looked up at her form mistress who gave her a very tender kiss.
Miss Annersley came forward with a huge bunch of flowers that made Grainne gasp. “Wherever did you get those?”
The Head laughed. “Len and I went to Interlaken yesterday, and we got lots of Christmas roses for everyone. I saved an extra large bunch for you,” and she handed the flowers to Len, who had started poking in cupboards looking for a vase.
Meanwhile, the Head had seated herself next to her pupil, and she scanned her face thoughtfully. Grainne was no longer a child, she decided, and it was as well that she, together with most of the Crew, had been promoted to Inter V in the Autumn term. That also had the advantage of allowing timetable manipulation, as the Senior timetables were easier to alter than those of the Middle School.
Furthermore, it had effectively been decided that Grainne would have a second year in Inter V when the rest of her crowd had gone up to Vb. She had been told that, like them, she would start working for her GCE Ordinary Level exams the following year, but she would only take a few subjects- probably those she was strongest in. Therefore, she would be based in Inter V, but practically would take several subjects with Vb. “Although we may end up doing it the other way round,” the Head had commented when they were discussing it. “It might work better if Grainne is based in Vb with her own friends, and then goes down to Inter V for what’s needful. But there’s plenty of time to decide!”
Once Len had finished with the flowers, she came to perch on the edge of Grainne’s bed. “Not rocking you, am I?” she asked with a grin.
Grainne shook her head. Then, “Would you like to see her?” she asked them both, very shyly.
“Of course!” Len responded promptly. “Why do you think we hared down here in this weather?” and she gave a laughing nod at the window. Six months before, Grainne would have reacted badly to this. Now, more secure in the affections of the women beside her, she only grinned.
“In that case, Auntie Hilda can take her first!” she told her form mistress, and had the satisfaction of seeing that lady subside meekly. Grainne had been using the brevet title for the Head out of school since the summer holidays, as a natural result of spending the holiday with young Hilda, Len and Cecil, and hearing them refer to Miss Annersley by that name. She had drifted naturally into using it herself, and when she finally plucked up the courage to use it directly to the Head, as opposed to when speaking of her, that lady had laughed and said she may as well continue.
Now the Head bent over the cot to gently lift the sleeping baby. Len leaned forward to hover over her.
“She’s lovely,” the Head said softly. “Grainne, I know these last months have been extremely difficult for you, but I’d like to remind you of this: ‘All things work together for good.’” She paused and smiled. “I’m very proud of you, child.”
“So am I,” Len echoed. “Auntie, you’ve been hogging her long enough. Let me have a hold now!” and Grainne smiled at them as the baby changed hands. At first, the easy raillery between the Head and the junior languages mistress out of school had startled her, but now she was used to it.
“I call that a shocking lack of respect for your Headmistress,” Miss Annersley said with mock severity. “Don’t you think so, Grainne?” and she gave the Irish girl a twinkling glance. Grainne only grinned, and they became serious.
“Gron, I’ve some news for you.” Len’s voice was full of suppressed excitement.
“Is it nice?” Grainne asked warily.
Len laughed. “Naturally, it’s nice. I wouldn’t be telling you anything nasty at this point in time, and *especially* not on Christmas Eve!” Grainne remained silent, and Len laughed again. “I’m not going to tell you.” She paused, and grinned at the puzzled look on the girl’s face. “I’m going to show you!” and with that, she rose and went to the door, where she beckoned excitedly to someone beyond Grainne’s view.
Dr Benson, a flush in her cheeks and a light in her grey eyes that her friends had rarely seen there, entered the room. Immediately behind her came a tall man whose dark hair, changeable eyes, and resemblance to Grainne marked him as indisputably her father. She gasped with surprise, and Miss Annersley looked at her anxiously. She had not been certain that this was a good idea, but had been shouted down.
Mr O’Malley came to stand by his daughter’s side. The Head made to rise from her place, but he waved her back to her seat.
“Well, my Grainne?”
Grainne’s only response was to raise her eyes to his, and he flinched as he saw the fear there. He deserved it, he knew- he and Elizabeth, and his jaw hardened as he thought of his wife, currently in the Caribbean.
“Will you not introduce me to my granddaughter?” he tried again.
Grainne stared at him speechlessly for a moment. This was the first time she had seen him for a long time, even though he had written to her from time to time since that memorable weekend at Die Rosen. She held out her arms to Len, who placed the baby there. Grainne looked down at the small face and then up to her father.
“Here she is,” she said, almost in a whisper.
Gerard O’Malley placed one hand on the baby’s head, and the gentleness of that gesture finally convinced his daughter. “Father?” It was very soft, but he swept them both into a tight hug, and the others made to leave.
“No, please don’t,” he begged. “From what Stacie tells me, I have much to be thankful for. Especially for you, Miss Annersley, and Mrs Entwistle, too.” He looked directly at them. “I understand that both of you have offered Grainne and the baby a home here for the foreseeable future. I am more grateful for that than I can express. And that brings me to something I must tell my daughter.” He turned back to Grainne. Stacie went scarlet, and Len glanced at her quickly.
“You mean-“ she began, hardly able to believe it.
He smiled at her. “Yes, Mrs Entwistle. I’ve been able to pull some strings. I’m sure you’ve both gathered that my marriage is quite dead- has been for many years, in fact.” They nodded. “And then Stacie and I met each other for the first time in London last year at a conference, and it went from there. We never thought anything could come of it. I spoke to my lawyers last week and they say that because Elizabeth left without informing me of where she was going and what she was doing with our daughter, I can arrange a divorce or annulment on the grounds of cruelty and desertion.”
Everyone turned to Stacie, who flushed an even deeper red, if that was possible.
“It will take time,” he said earnestly. “But eventually, we hope to marry. And, when we do, I’m going to resign from the Dail, and we’ll both move out here to the Platz. I know Stacie’s health is better for being out here, anyway. When we finally do that, I’ll be able to offer Grainne and the baby a proper home, with Stacie and I. As soon as the divorce is confirmed, Stacie will start looking for somewhere suitable. You’ll help her with that, won’t you, Grainne? And-and if you decide you want to stay at school as a boarder, that’ll be fine too. We’ll look after the baby for you.”
Grainne looked dazed. “Do you mean it?” she asked in a whisper.
Stacie came forward and knelt beside the bed. She placed both her hands on the girl’s arms, which had tightened around the baby.
“We mean it, Grainne. Your father and I-well,” she looked down, slightly embarrassed. She was a reserved woman, and found it difficult to discuss her feelings. “We want to be together,” she said softly. “And we want you to feel that you’ve got people of your own, up here. And we want to make up what’s happened. You’ve had to do a lot of it so far on your own, through no fault of yours- Miss Annersley explained. We won’t let it penalise you in the future. We’ll give you all the support you want or need. You can be in control.”
Grainne looked at her gravely, and both her father and Stacie felt that maturity in her which Miss Annersley had sensed earlier.
“Thank you. That’s good to know.” She looked down at the child she cradled. “I’m sure she’ll thank you too, when she’s older,” she added shyly. Grainne stretched out a hand to Miss Annersley, who still sat at one side, and smiled at Len, perched precariously on the bottom of the bed. “But most of all, it’s the Chalet School I need to thank. They’ve done more for me than anyone else. I hope you don’t mind me saying that, but even if you do, it’s true.”
Grainne’s father nodded in agreement. He could hardly do anything else. An awkward silence fell, but it vanished when Len gave a squawk and grabbed the coverlet, just in time to prevent herself from landing on the floor. The laughter dissipated the tension, and Len, now recovered, was able to turn to Grainne and ask naturally if she had decided what to call the baby.
Grainne smiled at them and held the baby up for a moment. She kissed the tiny girl on the forehead. “I’m going to call her Natalia Aine,” she told them. Her father’s eyes widened as he looked at her, and, almost for the first time, she gave him the full force of a direct smile. “Aine means ‘joy’,” she explained to the others, “and it was my grandmother’s name. You know what ‘Natalia’ means.”
“’Christmas Joy,’” Len whispered. “Has it been that for you, Grainne?”
The girl nodded. “Yes. In spite of everything. I don’t like to think of what would have happened to us if I’d gone anywhere else but the Chalet School. This is my way of saying ‘thank you’!”

THE END

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