Winter Term at Malory Towers Read Online Free

and has been ordered to stay at home and rest.’
    The fourth formers were sorry to hear this, for Miss Hibbert, who taught English and Drama, was an excellent teacher, with a knack of making her lessons very interesting indeed.
    â€˜That’s bad news!’ said Felicity, looking very grave. ‘I do hope that there is nothing seriously wrong with Miss Hibbert, Mam’zelle?’
    â€˜ Non , but she must not return to Malory Towers until she has fully recovered,’ said the French mistress. ‘That is why Miss Grayling has engaged someone else to take her place this term. Her name, I think, is Miss Tallant.’
    â€˜She’s very pretty,’ said Bonnie, surveying the mistress critically.
    â€˜In a rather common sort of way,’ said Amy with a sniff. ‘I bet her hair is dyed.’
    â€˜She looks as if she might be good fun,’ said Lucy. ‘The younger mistresses often are.’
    â€˜I think she looks rather hard,’ said June to Freddie, in a low voice that could not be overheard by Mam’zelle. ‘Mark my words, our Miss Tallant is going to be trouble, and not fun at all!’
    Olive, meanwhile, sat silently and ate very little, merely pushing the food around her plate. She wasn’t interested in the new mistress. She didn’t like Malory Towers. And she didn’t like the girls! Not that nosy Susan, nor snobbish Amy, and certainly not the bossy Sylvia. As for Nora and Bonnie, they were both the kind of girls that Olive disliked most, with their big eyes, pretty faces and sweet, innocent expressions. Olive knew all about girls like them. She knew how they used their sweetness and prettiness to get their own way, and to make themselves the centre of attention. While plainer girls, like Olive herself, had to find other ways to make themselves noticed, or be ignored altogether.
    Certainly the new girl had not made any impression on Mam’zelle, who had barely noticed that she was there. Felicity suddenly realised, with a pang of guilt, that no one had bothered to introduce Olive to the French mistress. Really, she thought, it was quite Olive’s own fault if she was left out of things, for she had made no effort at all to respond to the others’ attempts at making friends. All the same, someone ought to make the introduction, and as Felicity had been head of the form last year, she decided that it was up to her.
    â€˜Mam’zelle,’ she said. ‘I don’t think that you’ve met our other new girl, Olive Witherspoon.’
    â€˜Ah, you are so quiet, ma petite , that I did not notice you!’ said Mam’zelle, smiling at the girl. ‘Well, these fourth formers will make you welcome, for they are good girls, and soon you will be just like them.’
    Just then, Bonnie let out a squeal that made everyone jump, and leapt up from her chair, wailing, ‘Oh no, I’ve spilled my tea all over my skirt!’
    â€˜You are scalded, ma chère !’ cried Mam’zelle dramatically, getting to her feet. ‘I shall take you to Matron at once!’
    â€˜I’m not scalded, Mam’zelle, for the tea was almost cold,’ said Bonnie, dabbing rather ineffectually at the damp patch on her skirt with a handkerchief. ‘It was just such a shock, that’s all. Thank heavens I have another skirt in my trunk. Amy, be a dear and pour me another cup of tea, would you?’
    How typical, thought Olive, watching the little by-play with a sour expression. Bonnie was quite obviously one of Mam’zelle’s favourites, and the girl simply couldn’t bear to see the French mistress paying attention to someone else. So she had purposely spilled her tea in her lap and then made a big—and quite unnecessary—fuss about it. Olive’s lip curled scornfully and, seeing this, Felicity nudged Susan, murmuring, ‘Just look at Olive’s face! It’s enough to turn the milk sour!’
    In fact, Olive