Free 04 The Head Girl of the Chalet School by Elinor Brent-Dyer

into the way of expecting these little accidents that it seems weird when they don’t occur!
    All right, Rosalie, I can’t think of a single thing you’ve left out. Shall we sign it, you people?”
    They all agreed, so the book was passed round, and the eight people signed the report.
    The next thing was to decide what they were going to do about games for that term. Easter was always rather a difficulty for them. The first few weeks gave them ice sport, but March generally brought the spring thaw with it, and everything was muddy, and skating, ski-ing, and snowball fights had to be taken off the programme. On the other hand, neither netball nor hockey was possible, as the field was more or less a swamp. This meant that something else had to be provided, and it was the prefects’ duty to make suggestions. They bent their minds to this task with great goodwill, for it appealed to them all.
    “What about tracking games?” suggested Gertrud.
    “All right if the thaw is quick. If it isn’t, well, it’s all wrong,” replied Grizel. “You know what it’s like then
    – knee-deep in mud! Matey would have a fit if we brought the babes into anything of the kind. As far as that goes, she’d have a fit over any of us. The cleanest person can’t help looking like a tramp after tracking through mud and puddles.”
    “What about rounders?” suggested Mary.
    “Where’s the use? If we could have rounders, we could have hockey and netball – netball, anyhow.”
    “I suppose it’ll resolve itself into our usual walks,” said Rosalie. “The middles hate them, but it can’t he helped, I suppose. That’s the only drawback to living here.”
    “Well, it’s a jolly small drawback!” declared Deira. “I’d a million times rather be at school here and put up with the thaw than be in a town – even Innsbruck!”
    “All the same, I think we ought to try to think of something fresh,” insisted Grizel. “As Rosalie says, the middles hate walks, even when they can break rank and wander. Can’t anyone think of something?”
    “I have thought of something,” said Lisa shyly, “but I do not know if we may do it.”
    “Well, let’s have it, anyway,” said Grizel.
    “It is that perhaps we might make expeditions for geography and history at the week-end. Do you think it would he possible? We could not go every week-end, of course, but if the middles knew that they would have a trip to Hall one Saturday to see it, and to learn all they could from it of history, do you not think they would make fewer objections to a walk the other Saturdays?”

    “It’s an idea,” said Grizel slowly. “There’s a good deal we could see. We ought to do Innsbruck thoroughly, you know. And then there’s Salzburg. And the Stubai glacier. It would be gorgeous if we could.
    The only thing is, it would cost rather a lot, wouldn’t it?”
    “Not if we made a large party,” said Vanna, joining in for the first time. “Surely we could manage it then.
    The big difficulty to me is how we should get to Spartz. The railway does not open till May. We should have to walk down the mountain-side, and in thaw time that would not be pleasant. Also, we could not take the juniors.”
    “No, there’s that to think of too. If expeditions can be arranged for the rest of the school, we must manage something for the babes,” said Grizel slowly. “They could manage Innsbruck, perhaps – even Hall, they might do. But Salzburg is a longish train journey, and would tire them; and the Stubai is out of the question, of course. But it is an idea, and a jolly fine one. We’ll see what the staff say, anyway.”
    “Then what can we arrange for the little ones?” asked Rosalie. “We must have something ready for them, you know, or the other idea will he squashed at once.”
    There was truth in what she said, and the eight girlish faces wore heavy frowns in their endeavours to settle this difficulty. One or two suggestions were made, but all had to be