‘Come on, spill the beans. You promised!’
Mary nodded. ‘Yes, I did. But this is between you and me. You must tell no one. I’m still investigating.’
‘Investigating? You’re not making any sense.’
‘All right, but you must listen carefully and not interrupt. My father is in the secret service. He works for the government. That is the first thing you must not divulge to anyone. Do you promise?’
‘Of course! Go on!’ Ros replied, her eyes wide in amazement.
‘There’s a man in the Abbey ruins, and Miss Eggleton visits him during the night. Remember, you promised not to tell anyone. At first I thought it might be the armed man Miss Tibbs told us about, but I followed her last night, and I’m convinced he’s not. I’m watching them, gathering information before I make my move.’ Mary was quite pleased with herself – she hadn’t lied at all. Both statements were perfectly true.
‘Gosh! You are brave, Mary! What did they say?’
‘Nothing much. Just a lovers’ tryst, I think. I was too far away to hear clearly, but I know he’s not the armed man.’
‘Don’t you think we should tell someone?’
‘Don’t you dare! You promised!’
Ros held up her hands. ‘All right, I promised. But if it gets out of hand, I’ll have to report it to Miss Tibbs or one of the other teachers.’
‘Fair enough. Just give me some more time to collect more evidence.’
Ros nodded and they finally arrived at the changing rooms, where Miss Eggleton was waiting for them.
‘Come on girls, we haven‘t got all day! Out on the field in five minutes, please!’
She was dressed in a navy blue top and white shorts, and looked very fetching. Mary felt herself blushing again and hurriedly bent down to undo her holdall and got out her hockey kit. She’d always been good at hockey, and it came as no surprise to her that Miss Eggleton picked her, and Ros, and Jen and Gloria for the team to play against Saint Hilda’s in a month’s time. The lesson passed quickly enough, and then it was time for another English lesson, again with Miss Eggleton.
‘Right. Yesterday we didn’t have time to introduce ourselves properly, so today I want to go round the class. Each of you is to say a little about yourself, your family, your pets, what you like, what you dislike, and so on. We’ll start with Gloria.’
Ros leaned across to Mary and whispered in her ear: ‘How does she know all our names already?’
‘I don’t know. It must be a knack teachers have.’
‘Anyway, what will you say when you have to speak about your family?’
‘Leave it to me.’
‘Girls!’ Miss Eggleton’s voice rang out, and as they turned to face her they could see she was a little cross. ‘Mary, you seem to have a lot to say for yourself this morning. Perhaps you would care to share it with us?’
‘I’m sorry Miss Eggleton. I was just discussing the play with Ros.’
‘I see,’ Miss Eggleton said, but the frown was still on her face. ‘Save it for after the lesson, please. In the meantime, the rest of the class and I would like to hear about you and your family.’
‘Yes, Miss,’ Mary said, colouring fiercely. She hated being shown up in class, especially as she was the youngest. It would simply confirm what the others probably already thought, that she was simply not old enough to be a senior. She stood up and cleared her throat. ‘My father works for the government. I’m afraid I can’t say any more than that. My mother travels everywhere with him as his secretary. His work takes him abroad quite often. I have one brother, Tom, who is at Thomas Moberley’s School just down the road. He’s a year younger than I am. Other than that, there’s little more to tell. I love reading and sports, except swimming, which I detest because I can’t swim very well, I like going to the cinema and the theatre, and I love Aunt Lucy’s home-made Victoria sponges!’ That last comment raised a few laughs, but when Mary caught Miss Eggleton’s eye she saw that the teacher was still not smiling.
After each girl had introduced herself, the remainder of the lesson was taken up with reading poetry, and then it was time for the mid-morning break. Mary was the first to leave this time, and avoided looking at Miss Eggleton, knowing that she was still cross with her. As it happened she was waiting for her as Mary entered the refectory, but now she was all smiles again.
‘Sorry I gave you a hard time in English, Mary. I’ve a lot on my mind.’
‘Yes, Miss? Is there anything I can do to help?’
‘No, it’s fine. I’m just worried about something – a friend, actually.’
‘Here, at the school?’
‘No, not at school.’
‘I see. Is there anything else, Miss? Can I go now?’
‘Of course. I’ll see you later.’
‘Later?’
‘Hockey practice, after tea.’
‘Oh, yes, of course.’
‘Mary, are you all right? You look a little pale.’
‘No, Miss, I’m fine, really, thank you.’
‘Right, run along, then.’
‘Yes, Miss. And don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be all right.’
‘Who?’
‘Your friend, Miss.’
‘I don’t think I said it was a man, Mary.’
Again Mary blushed. What a stupid mistake to have made! She made her apologies and raced after Ros, who was already making her way to the French classroom, where Monsieur Casseau was waiting to introduce them to some very difficult French verbs.
