Free Beswitched by Kate Saunders Page B

again—and if I don’t see a mighty improvement, you will report to me for detention on Friday afternoon, directly after lunch. Consider yourself on probation.”
    “But—” Pete blurted out. She bit her lip, and her face reddened.
    “Oh yes, Daphne, I am very well aware that the games captain is conducting trials for the hockey team on Friday. You’d better try not to miss it, hadn’t you? Sit DOWN!”
    Flora sneaked a glance at Pete. She was crazy about hockey, and already boasting that she would be chosen for the lower-school team. No wonder she looked gutted.
    Books zoomed through the air as Miss Harbottle chucked them back at their owners. “Barbara Hardwick—ATROCIOUS! Cecilia Lawrence—not bad. Dorothy Sykes—not bad. Dulcie Latimer—dreadful as ever, but at least you TRIED!”
    At last, only one book was left. “Flora Fox!” This time, she did not throw it. “Come here—right up to the front of the class!”
    Flora hadn’t expected this. She was a new girl, and teachers were supposed to make allowances if you were new. She stood up, on legs that were shaking, and went to the front ofthe class. Harbottle’s wizened little face reminded her of a horrible shrunken head she had once seen in the British Museum.
    “Flora Fox, if you were not a new gel, you would be most severely punished for this DISGRACEFUL piece of work!” She flipped open the exercise book, and showed the whole class the homework Pete was supposed to have done for her—half a page of penciled scribbles.
    Flora was furious. She glared at Pete, and the lazy cow didn’t even look sorry.
    “I shall be keeping my eye upon you, Flora Fox. It is my mission in life to root out insolent gels of your type. You will of course write out these verbs again. And then you will recite them to me from memory, tomorrow morning. Sit DOWN!”
    Flora spent the rest of the lesson burning with embarrassment and anger. Thanks to Pete, the other girls in the class now thought she was completely stupid. She grabbed Pete at morning break, when they all surged into the lower-school common room for milk and biscuits.
    “You messed up my homework! Now I’ve got to learn a load of Latin verbs!”
    “Sorry, and all that,” Pete said. “I clean forgot about it until this morning, so I had to do it in the cloakroom.”
    “Thanks a lot! Try and put a bit more effort into it next time!”
    “Next time? Do you think I’m doing any more of your prep for you? I’ve got enough of my own—I’ll die if I miss the tryouts for the team!”
    Flora was outraged. She had to keep her voice low, but it quivered with anger. “You promised to help me!”
    “Nobody can learn things by heart for you,” Pogo pointed out. “That’s one thing you’ll have to do for yourself.”
    “Yes, and that’s going to take me the whole evening! Someone’s just going to have to deal with the rest.”
    The other three looked at each other.
    Pogo said, “The thing is, one of the teachers is bound to notice if we’re doing your prep. They know our handwriting. It might be easier all round if you did your own. We’ll help, of course.”
    “And I’ll still do your darning,” Dulcie added.
    “But you have to deal with my work!” Flora hissed. “You promised!”
    Pete groaned rudely. “I know—I know—because we brought you here. But even if we hadn’t summoned you, you’d still have to go to school, wouldn’t you? And even schools in the next century must make you do some sort of work.”
    “There isn’t any homework at Penrice Hall.”
    “I’m sick of Penrice Hall. I don’t believe it even exists! Pogo and Dulcie can do your prep if they want—but I simply don’t have time.”
    This was awful. All Flora could say was “But you promised!”
    “That was before I knew how stupid and ignorant you future-girls are.”
    “Flora’s not stupid!” Dulcie cried. “It’s not her fault she doesn’t know anything!”
    She meant to be kind, but Flora was hurt. They all