“WELL! What do you know about that?” Cecil ejaculated she moved to clear her table. “Prayers straightaway! That’s new! Felicity!”

The older girl swung round to smile at her younger sister, and Grainne found herself marvelling at the difference between them. They shared the same pale, fine complexion and delicate features, but there all resemblance ended. Cecil’s hair was in short black “Bubbles” curls, and her eyes were also black- the same colour as her mother’s, as Grainne would later discover. Felicity, on the other hand, had vivid blue eyes and straight hair that could only be described as silvery fair coiled up on the top of her head.

“What do you want?” the elder demanded.

“If we’re to do dorm work last, do we bring everything we need down with us when the school bell goes?”

“You shouldn’t really have anything in your dormy, as you well know! But I suppose so, as this is first morning. And if you three don’t hurry up, you’ll be late for Prayers and the Head will be pleased!” With which remark Felicity left them. Cecil wrinkled her pretty nose after her. “She would say that,” she remarked in an injured tone. “It’s awful hard having my sister as Head Girl!”

“Is she the Head Girl?” Grainne asked with some surprise. She hadn’t expected that friendly person to be anyone so important. Cecil grimaced again.

“She is, worse luck. But she’s right. What Prayers are you?”

Grainne goggled at her, not sure what was meant by this. “I’m a Catholic,” she said finally.

Cecil nodded. “Good! That means you come with us. If you’d been C of E I’d ‘uv needed to find someone else to look after you for a bit. But no need now!” and with that Cecil dragged the new girl into what she later realised was the bottom half of Hall, temporarily partitioned into two rooms.

Grainne, trained to the routine of convent prayers since babyhood, was startled by the brevity of this little service. She was even more startled to realise that the dark little mistress leading them was French. Later on, she discovered that Mlle de Lachennais had been with the school for many years, and that she was Senior Mistress as well as being Head of the Modern Languages department. For now, she simply concentrated on the brief service, and found herself liking it in spite of its shortness, realising as she did that that did not make it any the less heartfelt.

Once devotions were over, Grainne watched in interest as two bigger girls pulled the partitions back that divided the room, and the school was once again united, and ready to listen to ‘Head’s Remarks.’

Miss Annersley came forward from the big William and Mary chair she had been sitting in at the centre of the dais, together with her staff. Now she leaned on her lectern, and flashed another of her vivid smiles at her assembled pupils. Grainne, scrutinising her as well as she could from a distance, found herself thinking that the Chalet School’s headmistress appeared to be a pleasanter person than Reverend Mother at the Convent. That lady had been very stern and had rarely smiled. She had been implacably fair, and her pupils had respected her, but it was obvious to Grainne from the smiles coming across the room that the Chalet girls had a warm affection for their Head.

“First of all,” began Miss Annersley, “I must welcome you all back to school- especially those of you to whom I know we are new. I hope that you will enjoy yourselves here and do your best for us, and I promise that we will do our best for you!” She paused a moment, and gave a soft laugh. “For the rest of you, this is a busy term. You have the Regatta, the Sale, and of course that old favourite- exams!” Groans came up from around the Hall, and the Head surveyed them with twinkling eyes. Then she continued briskly, “I know that you will continue to do your best. And now, announcements! First of all, news of Old Girls. Jack Lambert has graduated with First Class Honours in Engineering. I’m sure those of you who remember her will rejoice in her success. Mary Lou Trelawney- who some of you know- has been awarded a Professorship in Egyptology at St.Hilda’s College, Oxford. Jane Carew has been nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for her most recent film. In addition, Mrs Entwistle has given me the most up to date news on her triplet sisters, Con Richardson and Margot Maynard. Con has had a particularly exciting time. Her second historical novel was released last week to rave reviews, and yesterday afternoon, she gave birth to a daughter, to be named Josephine Evelyn Ruhannah. I will send her congratulations on behalf of you all. Finally,” the Head paused again, and her lovely voice was serious as she continued. “Mrs Entwistle tells me that her sister Margot took final vows last week with the Blue Nuns. She hopes to be despatched to the tropics, where she will work as a doctor with the needy there. This is has been her lifelong desire, and I know we all share her happiness in having accomplished it.”

Miss Annersley stopped speaking for a moment, as she remembered how troublesome and difficult the youngest of the Maynard triplets had been during her early teen years. She had been more than glad to hear this news, that she was happy and successful, and as she stood thinking of her, the silence was filled by a slow wave of clapping that filled the Hall. Mrs Entwistle, seated behind the Head and next to Mlle de Lachennais, had to bite her lip and avert her gaze for a moment, so touched was she.

When the Head spoke again, her voice was brisk. “And now to school affairs. Mlle Renoir left us last month to get married, as did Miss Stone. We have two new mistresses to replace them, both Old Girls. Miss Bettany, older sister to Daphne in Inter V, is to join the languages department, while Mlle Desmoines will replace Miss Stone as Junior Mistress. Now, girls! You are not to call these two by their Christian names. The usual penalties apply!” and she rested her gaze warningly on those girls most likely to offend, namely Daphne Bettany and her cousins, Cecil and Philippa Maynard, as well as the youngest of the Maynard adoptees, Claire. “It’s time I finished as you people still have your dormitory work to do. The bell will go for the start of morning school at nine sharp. When it does, will the new girls please come to the study, as Miss Dene and Miss Kennedy have had to go to Interlaken unexpectedly. The rest of you, form rooms as usual please. Thank you, Miss Lawrence,” and the mistress seated at the piano began to play the tune of “Onward Christian Soldiers” as the girls filed out of Hall, ready to go their separate ways to their dormitories.

“You managed to keep all that quiet, young Cecil,” Celine accused as they made their way back to Daffodil, taking full advantage of the fact that silence rules in the corridor were not enforced this first day. Grainne remained quiet, preferring to stay in the background. She was worrying about how she was to get to the study, as she had already realised that the school was truly a ‘rabbit warren’ layout.

“I couldn’t very well tell anyone when both Len and Mamma said not to,” Cecil protested. “But it’s stupendous news about Con and Margot, isn’t it?” She gave a giggle. “Mamma was so annoyed last night, when Roger phoned to tell us! The baby wasn’t supposed to come for another month, and Mamma had wanted to be there, and she couldn’t! She was dancing mad.”

Celine laughed, for she had known Cecil’s mother from Junior days. “I can just imagine it! But just think, Cecil, isn’t it rummy Auntie Joey having two grandkids now and you and Phil have still lots of years at school?”

Cecil grinned. “I know, but it was bound to happen, since Len and Co. are fifteen years older than Phil and Geoff,” she pointed out. “It’s a big gap.”

“Quite,” said a voice behind them, and Celine and Cecil, together with the new and very nervous Grainne, turned to face a small wiry woman in a stiffly starched nurse’s uniform. Cecil gave a gasp.

“If you’ve quite finished discussing your family affairs, Cecilia, I suggest you return to Daffodil and do your work there, or I’ll have to think about separating you and Celine.” Matey, as the Head Matron was known, stopped and glared at Celine, who promptly wilted. “Furthermore,” she continued, returning her gaze to Cecil, who shuffled her feet and looked silly, “you know perfectly well that you refer to your sister as ‘Mrs Entwistle’ in school. I’m ashamed of you! And aren’t you supposed to be sheepdogging this new girl? If you’re to do your work, help her, get her to the study and reach Upper IVa in time for nine sharp, you’d better get moving, hadn’t you?”

Cecil gave another gasp as she realised the truth of this. With a mutter to Matron that might have meant anything, she grabbed Celine and Grainne and hustled them off down the corridor as fast as she could without actually running, whilst Matron gazed after them with an amused grin that would have astonished them had they seen it.

For Grainne, the next fifteen minutes were breathless. As soon as she had been dragged back to the dormitory by Cecil, that young lady had raced through her own cubicle work in double quick time before turning to Grainne’s and showing her the school’s favoured method for stripping a bed, talking quickly all the while. Marie, who had decided to keep an eye on the new girl, suppressed a giggle as she saw the stunned expression on her face. Finally, at almost five to nine, she took a hand.

“That’s enough, Cecil! The poor thing is looking absolutely dazed, and no wonder! Have you finished your own cubey work? Well, in that case suppose you run down to the study with Grainne. I’ll finish off here- you don’t want to be late!” and suiting the action to the word, she flung open the big window that crossed Grainne’s cubicle, and gave the younger girls a smile.

Cecil, who had hardly stopped to breathe since leaving Matron, did so now. She then turned to Grainne and said, considerably more calmly than heretofore, “Well, as that’s being sorted we can go. Thanks, Marie. You’re a peach!” and once again she dashed off, with the new girl in tow. The other girls in the dormitory grinned at each other. Well they knew what their Cecil was like!

Meanwhile, Cecil had relaxed a little and realised that there was no need for a frantic rush. She tucked her hand through Grainne’s arm, and chatted to her quietly as they made their way through the corridors and down the ‘back’ stairs frequented by the girls.

“What’s going to happen now?” Grainne asked, rather fearfully.

Cecil gave her arm a quick squeeze. “Usually it’ud be Deney or Kenny you’d be seeing now, to check your details and give you your timetable and so on. But like the Head said earlier, they’re not here at the mo, so she’s doing it instead. And it’s the summer term, which makes it easier, ‘cos there should only be a few new girls. She’d have a hard time coping with them all in the Christmas term! It’s a regular influx then. We get absolutely swamped with newbies.”

“I see.” Grainne said no more, and Cecil sneaked a glance at her. Already she had realised that this particular new girl was even more nervous than new girls usually were, and she was curious.

“Have you been to boarding school before?” she wondered aloud.

“Oh yes. I was a boarder at the Holy Family Convent outside Dublin at home. I’ve been there as long as I can remember!”

Cecil giggled. “Gosh! You must’ve been a baby when you started! Bit like me then. I’ve known the School all my life- my mother was its very first pupil and she’s fearfully proud of it! But here we are at the study. Don’t worry- honest! She won’t eat you!” With these reassuring words and another quick squeeze meant to buck this new girl up a bit, Cecil knocked on the study door. Thanks to Marie, they were the first to arrive.

The voice that Grainne had admired earlier bade them enter, and the Irish girl watched in amazement as Cecil bobbed a quick curtsy. She then said, “Here’s the new girl to see you, Miss Annersley.”

The Head bit her lip at this very prim address from the girl who had raced so excitedly into her private drawing room late the previous afternoon to tell ‘Auntie Hilda’ about the latest arrival. But she made no comment on it. By nature heedless and often scatterbrained, it had taken Cecil many years and frequent reprimands to remember to use the formal title in school, and indeed it was something she continued to struggle with, as witnessed by her altercation with Matron previously.

Miss Annersley nodded at her brevet neice, and drew a chair beside hers. She preferred to talk to new girls as informally as possible, the first time, in order to alleviate their nervousness. “Thank you, Cecil. You may go on to your form room now. If you are late, tell Mrs Entwistle you have been doing ‘sheepdog.’” Cecil flashed her a wide smile, bobbed the most abbreviated of curtsies, and disappeared, leaving Grainne standing awkwardly by the door.

The Head gave the new girl her most delightful smile, and held her hand out to her. “Come over here, and sit beside me, and stop looking like you’ve been sent for and couldn’t go!”

Grainne only just managed to prevent her jaw from dropping at this very relaxed greeting as she obeyed. Reverend Mother would never have spoken to any of her charges in this casual fashion.

“Did you sleep well, my dear?”

“Yes, thank you, Miss Annersley.” The new girl’s voice was very quiet.

“I’m glad to hear it. And I hope Cecil is taking care of you?”

The Head noted the way in which Grainne’s face lit up in response to this, and felt satisfied. “Oh yes! She’s really been awfully kind!”

“Good! Well, before we get down to business, I have a confession to make. Am I correct in thinking that your name is spelt G-R-A-I-N-N-E?” Grainne nodded assent and the Head continued. “I am sorry to have to ask you, my dear, but how do you pronounce it?” Grainne stared speechlessly for a moment at her new Head Mistress, and then, startlingly, laughter rippled out of her, and the Head, after a quick look at her, joined in. Once they had recovered themselves, Grainne felt a little less tense, and she smiled at Miss Annersley.

“I’m sorry, Miss Annersley. It’s pronounced as ‘gron-ya’. It’s an old Irish name,” she supplemented, as she had done to Cecil earlier.

“Thank you. It’s a beautiful name. You must tell me more about it, sometime, and I’m sure Mrs Maynard next door will be thrilled. She’s always on the lookout for new or interesting names for her books.” Grainne felt more at ease now than she had done for a long time. “Is Mrs Maynard Cecil’s mother?” she asked.

“Oh yes. She’s also the mother of Mrs Entwistle, who’ll be your form mistress, I believe. However, you may know her better as Josephine M. Bettany.”

“The one that wrote Cecil Holds the Fort, and Patrol Leader Nancy? My great aunt gave them to me last Christmas, but Mother Scholastic at the Convent didn’t like us bringing our own stories in. She said we should be satisfied with the library.”

All the Head said to this was, “Well, you won’t have that problem here. We have all of her books in the library, but they are extremely popular, so you may have to wait a while before you can read them all! And now, let’s get you sorted out so that you can return to your rightful place!” With another smile at her new pupil, the Head put her reading glasses on, and glanced at the papers she had pertaining to Grainne on her lap.

“After looking at your entrance papers, we think you should be able to manage in Upper Iva- with Cecil and her crew. However, I think you will need extra help with languages- nothing new there; most new girls do! Do you understand how the language system works here?”

“Yes, Miss Annersley. Felicity Maynard explained it to me at-at Fruhstuck.” Grainne glanced up at the Head from under her lashes as she got the unfamiliar word out. That lady smiled at her reassuringly.

“Well done, Grainne! You haven’t done any German, have you?”

“No. I have done some French, though.”

“That’ll be a help, but all the same, I think it won’t hurt you to go to extra coaching in French and German for this term at least.” The Head smiled again. “By the way, did the girls also explain the slang rules?” Grainne shook her head, and Miss Annersley’s grey eyes danced behind her glasses. “Well, I won’t spoil it for them,” she said with a chuckle. “But ask Cecil about it. I’m sure she’ll be more than glad to oblige!” Grainne smiled politely, feeling a little awkward again, since she had no idea what the joke was. The Head turned serious once more. “Are there any questions you would like to ask?”

“No thanks, Miss Annersley.”

“Very well, then. I’ll see if there is someone outside who can take you over to Upper Iva and introduce you to Mrs Entwistle. You’ll like her,” the Head added confidently. “She was one of our best Head Girls, and now she’s a very popular mistress. She’ll give you a hand if you need it.” The Head rose, and put a hand on Grainne’s shoulder. She had had a sudden feeling that this child might need more than the usual level of care, and she looked at the girl with keen eyes. “And listen, Grainne,” she added, her lovely voice deepening a little, “if you run into difficulties that you feel unable to talk to Cecil or your form mistress about, come to me, and I’ll do my best to help. That’s my job!”

She then went to the door, and quickly arranged for Daphne Bettany of Inter V to take the new girl to Upper Iva. Grainne found herself dismissed with another smile, and she was once again trailing after an ‘old hand’ through the rabbit warren corridors.