"Blyton, Enid - St Clare's 01 - The Twins At St Clare's" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

Two girls, Joan and Doris, began to have a pillow-fight when they heard that Miss Roberts was not coming. Bang-thud went the two pillows, and the girls shrieked with laughter. But it wasn't quite so funny when one of the pillows split and feathers poured out into the air!
"Golly!" said Joan. "Look at my pillow. Hilary, for goodness' sake don't turn the lights off yet I must pick up some of these feathers!"
"Sorry," said Hilary. "You'll have to do it in the morning. Lights are going out now! Miss Roberts will be along to see we're all right in an hour's time, so let's hope she won't spot the feathers all over the place. She'll think the cat's been chasing hens in our dormitory!"
The lights snapped out. All the girls were in bed except Joan and Dons, who were still groping for feathers. They bad to finish undressing and cleaning their teeth in the dark. Joan upset her tooth-mug and Doris banged her ankle on her chest-of-drawers and groaned deeply.
Janet giggled, and Kathleen Gregory went off into a spasm of laughter that gave her hiccups.
"Shut up, Kathleen," ordered Hilary. "You're hiccupping on purpose. I know you!"
"I'm not!" said Kathleen, indignantly, and gave such an enormous hiccup that her bed shook. Janet couldn't stop giggling. Every lime she tried to stop, poor Kathleen hiccupped again and Janet went off into more gurgles.
Even the twins, anxious though they were to have every one going to sleep quickly, could not help laughing. Hilary lost her temper and sat up in bed.
"You're all meanies!" she cried. "If any one comes along and hears you making this row I'll be blamed because I'm head of the dormitory. Shut up, Janet -- and Kathleen, for goodness' sake get a drink of water. How do you suppose we're going to sleep with you hiccupping like that?"
"Sorry, Hilary," said Kathleen, with another hiccup.
"I'll get up and get some water."
"Get into bed, Joan and Doris," said Hilary, snuggling down again. "I don't care if you've cleaned your teeth and brushed your hair or not. GET INTO BED!"
In five minutes' time there was peace in the dormitory except for an occasional small and subdued hiccup from Kathleen and a smothered giggle from Janet.
The twins lay awake, listening for the others to go to sleep. They were worried because Miss Roberts was coming in about an hour's time. They could not wait a whole hour before going down to the common room. For one thing, Mam'zdlle would have gone to bed by the time they had finished their essays!
"Isabel!" whispered Pat at last. "Isabel! I think they're all asleep. Get up and put on your dressing-gown."
"But Miss Roberts hasn't been in yet," whispered back Isabel.
"Well put our bolsters down our beds, so that they'll look like our bodies," said Pat. "Come on!"
They got up quietly and slipped on their dressing-gowns. They pushed their bolsters down their beds and hoped that Miss Roberts wouldn't notice anything different when she came. Then out of the door they went, and down the dimly-lit stairs to the common room, which was just below their own dormitory.
Pat shut the door and turned on the light. The two girls sat down and took out their French books. Mam'zelle had marked all the mistakes, and carefully and laboriously the two girls wrote out the essays again.
'Well, mine had fifteen mistakes before, and I hope it hasn't got more than five now!" said Isabel. "Blow Mam'zelle Abominable! I'm so sleepy. And oh, Pat -dare we go and find Mam'zelle now, do you think? My knees are shaking at the very thought!"
"Oh, don't be stupid," said Pat. "What can she say to us, anyway? We've done the essays again -- and she said give them to her after supper - and we are going to do that, aren't we?"
The essays were finished. Now they had to find Mam'zelle Where would she be? In one of the mistresses' common rooms - or in her own bedroom -- or where?
'Well, come on," said Pat, at last. "We must go and find her. Cheer up, Isabel."
The twins slipped out of the common room and went to the first of the mistresses' moms. The light was out and the room was quite dark. No one was there at all. As they went on their way to the second common room, they heard Mam'zelle's voice in one of the classrooms! What luck!
"She's in the upper third classroom," whispered Pat.
"I don't know who's there with her, but it doesn't matter.
The art mistress, I expect - Mam'zelle's awfully friendly with Miss Walker." They knocked at the upper third door. A surprised voice called "Come in! Who's there?"
Pat opened the door and the twins went in. And oh my goodness, who should be with Mam'zelle, studying a big French chart, but the Head, Miss Theobald herself!
The twins were so shocked that they stood and stared with wide eyes. Mam'zelle cried "Tiens!" in a loud and amazed voice, and Miss Theobald said nothing at all.
Mam'zelle recovered first. "What is wrong?" she cried. "Are you ill, mes petites?"
"No." said Pat, in rather a trembling voice. "We're not ill. We've brought you our re-written essays. You said we were to bring them after supper, so here they are."
"But why bring them so late?" asked Miss Theobald,
in her deep, serious voice. "You must have known that Mam'zelle meant you to bring them before you went to bed."
'We hadn't time to rewrite the essays till just now," answered Pat, suddenly feeling very foolish indeed. "We got out of bed and went down to the common room to do them."
"Ah the bad children! They went to the cinema after all, instead of doing my essays!" cried Mam'zelle, guessing everything at once. "Ah, Miss Theobald, these twins send my hair grey! The work they do! It is impossible that they have gone to a school before they came here! Their work is abominable."
'We did go to a school, and it was a jolly fine one!" cried Pat, indignantly. "Much better than St. Clares!"
There was a silence after this. Miss Theobald looked thoughtful. Mam'zelle was speechless.
"I think we won't decide anything tonight or talk about this," said Miss Theobald at last. "It is too late. Go to bed, twins, and come and see me at ten o'clock to morrow morning. Ask Miss Roberts to excuse you for fifteen minutes then."
So back to bed with their French books went the twins, subdued and dismayed. What bad luck to have run into the Head herself like that! Now what was going to happen to them? They didn't like to think of ten o'clock in the morning!


Poor Miss Kennedy!

Hilary was awake when they got back into bed and she sat up and demanded to know where they had been.
"Miss Roberts came in and turned on the light and I woke up," said Hilary. "I spotted that you'd put bolsters down your beds, but Miss Roberts didn't. Whatever have you been doing?"
Pat told her. Hilary listened in amazement. "Whatever will you two do next?" she said. "Honestly, I think you're mad. Nobody would ever think you'd been head-girls in your old school. You behave like a couple of babies!"
The twins were annoyed with Hilary, particularly as they each had a kind of feeling that she was right. They got into bed and lay thinking. It was all very well to be defiant and daring -- but it wasn't so funny afterwards!
They asked Miss Roberts to excuse them at ten o'clock. Miss Roberts had evidently been told to expect this, for she nodded her bead at once, and did not ask any questions. The twins went off together to Miss Theobald's room.
The head was making out time-tables and she told them to sit down for a minute. It was rather dreadful waiting for her to finish what she was doing. Both the twins felt much more nervous than they pretended. Pat began to wonder if the Head would write home about them to their parents. Much as she had grumbled about going to St. Clare's, she didn't want the Head to report her for misbehaviour at the school.
At last Miss Theobald was ready. She swung her chair round and faced the twins. She looked very serious, but not angry.