On the first Saturday of term Mary and Ros were allowed to visit Gloria and Jennifer, who were still looking decidedly sorry for themselves but no longer infectious. Mary sat on Gloria’s bed and told her about the lessons they’d been having. Gloria appeared to have lost a little weight. Jennifer complained of a headache and buried her head under the pillows, but the others ignored her and carried on with their conversation.
‘You’ll miss hockey practice,’ Ros said. ‘Let’s hope you’re both up and about in time for the first match!’
‘Right now I don’t care if I never leave this bed!’ Jennifer said loudly, and turned the pillow over violently. ‘I feel lousy. Where did this wretched virus come from?’
Mary looked around the room and counted three other girls, two first-formers and a sixth-former. ‘Looks like a school-wide epidemic,’ she observed. ‘Come on Ros, if we’re going to get the bus into town, we’d better go, or we’ll miss the tide.’
‘See you soon, you two. Maybe not tomorrow, as it’s church, but Monday for sure,’ Ros said.
‘Any of that cake left?’ Gloria asked wistfully. Mary smiled apologetically. ‘Ros and I decided it would be stale, so we finished it. But how about this? We have domestic science on Monday – it’s free choice. We’ll make another sponge.’
‘I want to get better, not worse!’ Gloria said, laughing. ‘Go on, the pair of you!’
Mary and Ros just caught the little red post bus in time, taking the last two seats at the back. To their surprise, Miss Eggleton was also on the bus. They went into the small town of Haleton and Ros dragged Mary all round it looking for a suitable present for her brother Clive.
‘He’s eighteen in a couple of weeks’ time, and off to Oxford any day now. I wanted to get him something special, you know?’
‘What about a book? What’s he going to study?’
‘History.’
‘There you are, then. What about the book that accompanies that new radio programme on Wednesday nights?’
‘That’s a brilliant idea, Mare,’ Ros said, and they found a small second-hand bookshop in a back street that doubled as a coffee shop and also sold a small selection of new books as well.
‘Shall we have a coffee while we’re here?’ Mary asked, and Ros agreed. They ordered two coffees and cream cakes from the lady at the counter, and while she was making their coffees, they asked her if she had the book Ros wanted in stock. As luck would have it, the woman found a copy in the small stockroom at the back of the shop. Ros duly handed over a pound note for the book whilst Mary paid for the coffee and the cakes.
‘Mmm, that was delicious! We should do this more often!’ Ros exclaimed, wiping cream from her chin. Mary laughed and they took their cups and plates back to the counter, thanking the woman for the excellent snack. The woman muttered something about “very polite children they turn out at the Island school”, smiled brightly and saw them to the door. It was as they were tumbling happily down the step to make their way back to the post bus that they caught sight of Victoria Eggleton. It had not occurred to Mary on the journey out that they should follow the teacher, but now they had seen her, it seemed a terrifically exciting thing to do.
Miss Eggleton was staring into the window of a newsagents, and Ros thought she might be looking at the small advertisements. They watched her for a few moments, hiding behind the ornate brick-built bus shelter. Eventually she took a piece of paper and a pen from her handbag and wrote something on the paper, then walked off in the direction of the town centre.
‘Let’s follow her and see if she meets anyone!’ Ros suggested, and Mary readily agreed. They stayed well out of sight, dodging into shop doorways when she stopped to buy cakes in the bakery and a magazine from another newsagent. Then she walked along the seafront. At one point they almost lost sight of her amongst the throng of late holidaymakers making the most of the fine weather before heading back to work the following week. There were a few children around, but not in the large numbers the little seaside resort saw at the height of the season. Passing the lifeboat station, the two girls stopped to watch two men hanging lights from the street lamp, all the while keeping an eye on where Miss Eggleton was.
‘Isn’t it funny how they put up the decorations when all the holidaymakers are gone and the holidays are over?’ Ros observed.
‘That’s because it isn’t really dark enough during the season,’ Mary said. ‘I do agree, though, it’s a real shame the little children miss all these splendid lights. Can you still see her?’
‘Yes, she’s headed up through the golf course.’
There was a path all the way along this part of the coast. Often the school would hire a coach to bring the girls across the causeway to walk for miles along the coastal path. Some very rare birds and plants were to be seen in this part of the world, especially at this time of the year. At the very top of the hill there was a small building housing seats. Though she was a long way ahead of them, the girls could see that was where Miss Eggleton was headed. They decided to wait on the promenade, where they had a clear view of her. If she carried on with her walk, they would see her leave the hut. If she came back down the hill, they would be able to get out of sight quickly. There were still plenty of people about.
Ros glanced at her watch and her mouth dropped open in dismay. ‘We’ve missed the bus! Quick, Mary, we’ll have to leave Egg to her own devices!’
‘There’s another one in an hour, silly!’ Mary said, but Ros was already gathering up her things and starting to sprint along the promenade. ‘Hey, wait up, Ros, there’s really no hurry!’
‘Oh, yes there is! We’ll miss hockey practice!’
Mary grabbed at her friend’s sleeve. ‘Well, so will Miss Eggleton, then. Just slow down. Anyway, we’ve still got a while before the bus leaves. Look, there’s a man climbing the hill. I think he’s going to meet her!’
They stopped to look for a moment, and then, away in the opposite distance, they saw a flash of sunlight on something red and realised with sinking hearts that the post bus was indeed already on its way back across the causeway. To make matters worse, it seemed that the man was indeed meeting Miss Eggleton, and on top of that, Ros had left her brother’s book on the seat, a good hundred yards back. She retraced her steps quickly with Mary in close pursuit, but when they got back to the seat the book was gone.
‘Mary! Someone’s pinched it! What am I going to do? That was the last of my allowance until next week!’ The girl’s eyes were welling up with tears. Mary put her arm around her friend’s shoulder.
‘Come on, Ros, we’ll nip along to the police station and ask if anyone has handed it in. Besides, if they haven’t, if someone has really taken a fancy to it, you’ve still time to buy another copy.’
‘Yes, but I was hoping to give it to him next weekend. There’s a parents’ do at the school, and Clive was going to come along with Mum and Dad. Oh, it’s all gone horribly wrong! We’ve missed hockey practice, I’ve lost my brother’s present, and we’re miles from anywhere!’
Mary laughed. ‘I don’t think you can describe the promenade at Haleton as “miles from anywhere”, Ros! Come on, there’s a police station in the town. We passed it. It’s quite on the cards that someone has handed the book in. We’ll go and ask, then hang around for the next post bus and make our apologies for missing half the practice. Besides, like I said, Egg is going to miss it, too.’
‘Miss what, exactly, Mary?’ a voice said behind her, and they wheeled around to see Miss Eggleton standing there. How on Earth had she got down the hill in such a short space of time, unless she had run?
