Chalet School 1. Mary Helena

The Chalet School series was originally written by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer and is currently owned by Girls Gone By Publications. I make no money from this dabbling; it's just for fun and because this was too good to resist...

~*~

Mary Helena

Sister Mary Margaret paused at the gate of Plas Gwyn and smiled. The house was little changed from the place she remembered growing up. The plants might be a little more over grown, but it was still the wonderful old house with so many memories. A laugh bubbled up as she recalled her younger brother pushing her into the duck pond. Happy days. The laughter died away as she remembered the other two people who'd been in the meadow that afternoon. Con was off on yet another book tour, but Len...

Mary Margaret sighed in a most un-nun-like fashion. Len's death was nearly twelve years ago and yet the pain of her passing was still as fresh as ever. Well, standing here at the gate would not get her visit underway -- and the person she'd come to see wouldn't have asked her to come if he didn't need to see her. So with a swallow, she set foot on the path that led up towards the front door. 

Barely two steps along it and she found herself being all but sent flying by a small, whirling, sobbing dervish.

"Aunty Nun!" it sobbed. "It's not fair!"

The title made Mary Margaret smile. "And good afternoon, Maddy."

"It's not fair," Maddy repeated. "He doesn't love me any more!"

"And what is it that's not fair?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Was climbing the apple-trees," Maddy admitted.

"I see," said Mary Margaret, stifling a smile. Maddy sniffed, heaved a gusty sigh and hung her head. "Your father only tells you off when you do something naughty," she continued gently. "And he cares about that because he loves you very much. And the apple-trees aren't safe. Imagine what would happen if you fell and hurt yourself?" Maddy sniffed again. "So is it really unfair of him to be cross?"

Maddy gulped. "I s'pose not."

"So, how about we go inside? I expect you'd like to give your face a rub," at that Maddy nodded, sniffing still, "and then we ought to see your father and see if the two of you can't make amends."

Maddy heaved another gusty sigh. "All right."

Mary Margaret held out a hand and Maddy grasped it in a sticky paw. "I expect," she said, as they walked along the path towards the house, "that your father's probably just as upset for having to tell you off as you are for being told off."

"Really?" Maddy queried, the incredulity of her tone coming through even despite the sniffs.

"Truly." Sister Mary Margaret offered a conspiratorial smile. "I know my parents were unhappy whenever they had to tell me off."

"You were naughty?" Even more incredulous this time.

"I certainly was. In fact," she added as they reached the door, "if you remind me over tea, I'll tell you about the time I pulled your uncle into the duck pond." Mary Margaret pushed the door open. "Now off you pop and wash up -- then come and join your father and me in the den."

"OK."

She watched for a minute as her niece stumped off up the wide, shallow stairs, before turning and heading for the den. She didn't get that far, however, as her quarry appeared from the kitchen, carrying a tea tray.

"I saw you talking to Little Miss," said Reg, offering a faint smile. "So I went and put the kettle on. Thought you'd be able to use a cup."

"Or two," she agreed, following Reg into the den. "How are you?"

"Getting by," Reg answered. "The work's rewarding enough -- and it's good for Maddy to have some of her family nearby."

"You know you could have stayed at the Platz," Mary Margaret reminded him gently.

"Too many memories, Margot -- you know that. Here...I feel close to her without..." He stopped, perhaps unsure of what else to say. More likely, Mary Margaret realised, he didn't wish her to see the tears. 

She'd always been surprised by Len's relationship with Reg. She'd thought that Len was far too young and inexperienced when they'd become engaged, and yet as the time had passed, it had become increasingly apparent that -- as young and inexperienced as she was -- Len truly did love Reg. And there was no denying he had loved her.

"I understand," was all she said. And she did.

"So -- did Little Miss tell you what was wrong?"

Mary Margaret smiled, partly at the question, partly at the subject change. "She did -- between sobs. What on earth did you say to her to provoke such a response?"

Reg looked sheepish as he set the tea tray down. "She scared the dickens out of me -- right in the top of the apple-tree, she was. I probably said more than I should have done. I just kept thinking 'if she'd fallen, I'd have lost her'."

Mary Margaret offered him a smile. "I understand. I think she understands too. Some of it, at least."

"Tea?" he offered.

She put a hand out to stop him. "She's a perceptive child, Reg. I know you promised you'd tell her about her mother..."

"That's why I needed you here," Reg cut in. "I...I've been thinking. She's been offered a place at the high school in Hereford for next term, but it's only a day school and it's a long journey." Mary Margaret nodded slowly. "And then there's this."

So saying, he produced a letter on headed paper that Mary Margaret instantly recognised. It was from the Sanatorium in Switzerland. As she unfolded it to read, he poured the tea.

"Dear Reg,

Just so as you know ahead of time, there are things afoot here. This is far from official, but I know that they're considering you for a position that's just come up here -- Graves retires in August and as our next best specialist in rheumatics, you're an obvious candidate for the post. Of course, they'll have to go through the official rigmarole -- adverts, interviews and the like -- but you know our ways, and you're already part of the family. I think the Old Man wants you back, too. He knows that you left on not exactly speaking terms with his wife, but I think you'll find that things are better now. You were both grieving. And it isn't fair to Maddy for her not to know her mother's family. Which I think you already know -- at least based on your last letter."

At this point, Mary Margaret paused to look up. "I didn't know you and mum argued."

Reg shrugged awkwardly. "She didn't think I could bring up Maddy on my own."

"Aah." Mary Margaret nodded knowingly. She could well imagine her mother on the subject. "So how did you end up with Plas Gwyn?"

"That was your dad's doing. He suggested that since I didn't have anywhere else to go, or anyone else I could go to, Plas Gwyn would be as good a place as any to go and better than some."

"Somewhere you could go but still be a part of the family," Mary Margaret finished. Reg nodded. "That sounds like something dad would do." She returned her attention to the letter, but there was little else to read, just a couple of polite enquiries from the writer, Neil Sheppard, so she handed the page back. "And have they offered you the post?"

"The letter came this morning -- inviting me to go for interview. With a note from your dad saying there's always a set of rooms waiting for Maddy and me at Freudesheim."

Mary Margaret took up her cup of tea. "What are you going to do?"

Reg sighed. "I don't know. Oh, I shall attend the interview all right, but beyond that..."

"And what of Maddy while you do?"

Reg looked down at the tea tray. "It's the summer holidays now -- she finished on Thursday. So...I did think I might make it our holiday this year."

"And if you take the post in Switzerland?"

"I was thinking -- if the Chalet School would take her -- she might go there."

Mary Margaret nodded. "If she passed the eleven plus for the local high school, I'm sure they will. But, she'll have to know about her mother if she goes there. Though I doubt there are any girls still there who knew Len, the staff certainly do -- and she does look like her."

"Would you help me?" Reg asked. "I know it's time..."

"Are you going to tell me about mummy?" asked a little voice from the doorway. "Is that why Auntie Nun is here?"


	2. Len

Len

There was a long moment. Mary Margaret could see various emotions warring on Reg's face. Some of it was annoyance for his daughter calmly eavesdropping a private conversation, but the rest of it was a mix of sadness and still-strong grief.

He finally answered, "Yes. That's why Auntie's here."

"Come in," said Mary Margaret. "Sit beside me."

Timidly, Maddy did as she was told. Her whole expression and bearing told Mary Margaret that the girl hadn't deliberately eavesdropped. That theory was proved by Maddy's next comment, "Sorry daddy -- I didn't mean to listen. Only, I got to the door, and it was open and I heard Auntie Nun mention mummy's name...and I know that you still miss her...and I didn't want to get in the way...and..."

"It's all right, darling," Reg cut in gently, clearly reading the signs that suggested tears were not far off.

"An' I'm sorry about the tree," she added as she sat down, but before anyone else could say anything. "I just wanted to see the view."

"I'm sorry for yelling," Reg replied. "But you scared me. Promise me you won't do it again."

Maddy nodded, setting her chestnut coloured bunches swinging vigorously. "I promise." 

Silence descended. Mary Margaret wished she knew an easy way to broach the subject, but Len had always been the one who was good at that sort of thing, and then Reg found the words for himself:

"I first met your mother when we were kids," he said. "I was a sulky school boy not much older than you, Maddy. Your mother was even younger. Three or four, I think."

"Three and a half," put in Mary Margaret softly.

Reg nodded and smiled. "The three of you went everywhere together, but all I really remember is the little girl who so desperately wanted to help her mother and who'd..." Unexpectedly, Reg chuckled. "You'd never believe this, Maddy, but your Auntie Nun had a very sweet lisp."

"Oh Reg you horror!" Mary Margaret exclaimed, blushing. "Heavens, of all the things for you to remember!"

Maddy, meanwhile, giggled. "Did you really lisp, Auntie Nun?"

"Yeth," Mary Margaret retorted, reducing her niece to a further fit of helpless giggles.

The laughter served to loosen Reg's tongue and he now continued softly, a far away look on his face, "They say that everyone has someone who makes them complete -- who makes them a better person. Someone who's their soul mate. I think something in me recognised that in Len from the very first moment I met her. The rest of me -- the fourteen-year-old schoolboy me -- dismissed her and her sisters as yet another irritation and interruption to my summer." He stopped and smiled. "That's a story for another day. You want to know about your mother, Len, not about the sulks of a schoolboy."

"I can't imagine you sulking, daddy," Maddy observed thoughtfully.

"Oh, he could, when he chose," said Mary Margaret, a smile on her face.

"I thought nuns were supposed to be above petty retribution," Reg retorted, his turn to blush.

"They are, under most circumstances," Mary Margaret replied, giving him a most un-nun-like grin.

Reg rolled his eyes, and for a few moments, the only sound to be heard in the den of Plas Gwyn was the ticking of the clock on the mantle-shelf. "I suppose, your mother and I properly met twelve years later. It wasn't that I lost touch with the Maynard family, just that our lives didn't really coincide that much -- not as a whole. I saw Jack quite a bit -- your grandfather," he added for Maddy's benefit, "but beyond the odd trip to Yorkshire, I didn't see Len again until I took up my first post as a qualified doctor, at the Sanatorium on the Görnetz Platz in Switzerland." Here, Reg once again chuckled. "The first time Len and I properly met was hardly under ideal circumstances. You see, your mother's family is very big..."

"I have eight other sisters and brothers," Mary Margaret contributed. "By blood. There's another five or six who are wards or adoptees."

Maddy's eyes were wide. "Wow!"

"Len, Con and I were the eldest -- we were triplets," Mary Margaret explained. "Then followed Stephen, Charles and Mike, Felix and Felicity are twins, then there was Cecil and lastly Phillippa and Geoff, the second twins."

"Then there was the three Richardsons," Reg threw in, "plus Erica Standish and Marie-Claire."

Maddy's eyes looked as if they were liable to drop out of her face. "Wow!"

"My mother," said Mary Margaret, "is a wholesale creature."

Reg managed a chuckle at that. "Certainly one term for it."

"You must be heaps older than Auntie Phillippa and Uncle Geoff," said Maddy.

"Thirteen years, to be accurate," said Mary Margaret.

"Which is how," Reg put in, "You, Con and Len ended up having to rescue baby Cecil from a madwoman."

Maddy gave a squeak. "A madwoman?"

Mary Margaret nodded. "Cecil -- Cecilia Marya to be proper -- was a really pretty child and the poor woman, whose own daughter had been called Cecilie and who had died about eighteen months before we met her, mistook Cecil for her Cecilie."

Maddy gasped. "What did you do?"

"They rescued her," said Reg. "Quite some job, too. The woman's old maid, Bette, had already travelled down to the san to get help -- after Cecil had been kidnapped -- so there was a party of us coming up from the san, but by the time we got there, all the excitement had been done and dusted."

"What did mummy do?" Maddy wanted to know.

"She was very brave," said Mary Margaret. "She was the one who distracted Frau Schumacher for a good fifteen minutes or so, which let Con rescue Cecil. In the struggle, Len ended up twisting her ankle, but it worked out well."

Reg nodded. "We -- the party from the san -- met Con and Cecil on the path coming down, so I saw Con and Cecil home, then waited at Freudesheim for Jack, Len and Margot -- Auntie Nun," he added, seeing Maddy frown, "to get back. Which they did very soon afterwards, and while Jack saw to Margot's wrist -- what had you done?" he added.

"Oh -- I tripped over a rock on the journey up to Frau Schumacher's house," Mary Margaret answered.

"Ow!" winced Maddy.

"Ow," agreed Mary Margaret. "But while I was being patched up..."

"I got to meet your mother," Reg finished. "I bandaged up her ankle, and we talked a little bit. And as daft and as soppy as it sounds, I thought she might have been the nicest person I'd ever met." He sighed. "Over the next couple of years -- with Jack's permission, I hasten to add -- Len and I got to know one another."

"Painting," said Mary Margaret in an ominous tone of voice.

Reg chuckled. "Now who's dealing in old memories?"

"Painting?" asked Maddy, puzzled.

"It was in your mother's last term at school," Reg explained. "Which was the summer term. Len had been out somewhere, painting. On returning, she tripped over." At this, Maddy started to giggle, obviously having worked out where it was likely to go. "She ended up covered in paint -- which mightn't have been too bad, except that I happened to wander by at exactly the wrong moment. She was head-to-foot covered in oil paint. She had a smear of a turquoise colour right across her nose; burnt umber, black, and a royal purple colour across the bodice of her frock while her skirt was positively rainbow hued."

Maddy's giggles erupted into full-blown laughter.

"She was," said Mary Margaret, "a truly revolting sight. But it got worse."

"It certainly did," Reg agreed. "I hurriedly escorted her back to school, but unfortunately, she got seen by a couple of the middle school, and by the time I rang up at tea time to make sure she was all right, the story had gone around the school that the prefects -- your mother was Head Girl -- had been taking part in a paint fight. I have to admit, I got a complete earful from Len that night. She apologised the next day -- and explained -- but I hardly made matters any better; when she got to the bit about the prefects' paint fight, I started to laugh." Reg chuckled. "She wasn't impressed."

"Small wonder," said Mary Margaret severely. "I knew you and she had a bit of a tiff over that -- I never knew you'd actually laughed."

"Margot, be fair!" Reg pleaded. "Even Len admitted, later, that it had been funny."

Mary Margaret relented. "All right -- but I do think we'd better stop there. Before someone," at which she gave her niece a meaningful look, "might end up with hysterics."

Maddy made a valiant effort to stop laughing. "I won't, Auntie Nun -- I promise!"

"All right then." Mary Margaret glanced at the clock. "Although I shall have to be going soon -- I must to get back to Hereford tonight." 

Reg nodded. "Of course."

For a few moments, silence ruled once more.

Into the silence, Maddy said softly, "Daddy -- can we meet Granny an' Granddad Maynard?"


	3. Choices

Choices

Mary Margaret waited, breath held. She knew, thanks to her earlier conversation, that going to Switzerland was something very much in the cards, what she wasn't sure about was how Reg would react to Maddy's suggestion. She needn't have worried.

"You'd like to do that?" Reg asked, a small smile on his face.

Maddy nodded. "Speaking to them on the phone isn't as good as seeing them in person...an' I'd like to go to Switzerland."

"What would you say," Reg continued carefully, "if I were to tell you Granddad Jack has offered me a job interview and that, if I go, you'll come with me?"

"To the Görnetz Platz?" Maddy asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar words. Reg nodded. "Really?" Reg nodded. "Smashing!"

Mary Margaret felt a twinge at the reaction. So much like Len -- but so different too.

"Are we really going to Switzerland?" Maddy asked.

Reg nodded again. "I have to go for a job interview..."

"With Granddad Jack?"

"With Granddad Jack," Reg agreed, smiling. "So I thought -- if you wanted to go -- that would be our summer holiday."

Maddy actually started to bounce in her seat, a wide grin splitting her face. "Yay!" Then suddenly her face fell and she looked. "Daddy will...will we be moving to Switzerland permanently?"

Reg sighed a little. "That sort of depends."

"On?" Maddy prompted.

"Well..." Reg looked a little helplessly in Mary Margaret's direction.

"There's a lot to think about, Maddy," Mary Margaret began. "A job interview doesn't automatically mean daddy has the job." Although if Mary Margaret knew her father, Reg had only so much as to turn up and the job was his -- something that Reg probably knew. Maddy was oblivious to that, though, as she nodded. "Then, assuming he does get the job, he has to decide whether or not he wants to take the job, and if he does, what will happen to you."

"To me?" Maddy looked puzzled. "Wouldn't I go with him?" Then a knowing look crossed her face. "Ooh. School." 

Mary Margaret nodded. "You have to go to school." She glanced at Reg, who nodded. "There is a girls' school on the Platz that you could go to."

"There is?" Interest lit Maddy's face.

"You remember I told you that Auntie Madge began a school in Austria?" Reg put in. Maddy nodded. "It's that school. The Chalet School." Excitement began to return to Maddy's expression. "It's the school that your mother went to."

"And you, Auntie Nun?"

"And me," Mary Margaret agreed.

Maddy now looked cautiously excited. "It would be really fun...but I wouldn't know anyone there...and wouldn't they all speak Swiss?"

Reg coughed and hid his face before his daughter realised he was actually laughing at that reaction. Mary Margaret gave him her most haughty nun-like glare and answered Maddy, "You mightn't know anyone for a start -- but, don't forget, you would have been starting a new school in September anyway." Maddy looked abashed -- she had forgotten that detail. "As for the language, that part of Switzerland speaks German, but the school is international. A lot of the pupils there are English or English speakers -- one of my best friends while I was there was Australian!" Maddy's eyes widened at that revelation. "So English is one of the three languages the school uses. The others are German and French."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Maddy agreed cautiously.

"We'll hold off that decision," Reg said, having regained his self-control, "until we know what I'm doing, and until you know if you'll like it there."

"OK." Maddy nodded. "When can we go?"

It was Mary Margaret's turn to laugh surreptitiously while Reg glared. When he realised his glare was having no effect on his sister-in-law, he said, "Well, if you're agreed that you want to go, we'll be going at the end of next week."

"Why so long?" Maddy asked.

"The interview isn't until the first of next month -- which is two weeks away," Reg explained. "Plus, there are things to arrange here, and," he added, "you need some new clothes."

The 'I'm not having your grandmother think I've neglected you' was palpable to Mary Margaret and she winced a little. Reg must have caught her reaction, to judge by the slightest of shrugs he offered. Maddy, on the other hand, was ecstatic at that.

"Shopping!" she exclaimed, bouncing once more. "Daddy, will you be coming with us, or will it just be Auntie Madge?"

"You'll have to see," Reg answered, a smile and a wink. "And speaking of 'have to see', Margot, what time was your train?"

Mary Margaret glanced up at the clock and gasped. "Oh no! It's at six o'clock -- and I've missed the last bus." 

Reg nodded. "Half past four -- plenty of time if we go now. I'll drive you -- that way you can tell Maddy more about the school. You know more about it than I do."

Mary Margaret gave Reg a shrewd look. "If I didn't know better, Reg Entwistle, I'd swear you somehow contrived to make me miss that bus on purpose." Reg gave a 'who me?' look. Mary Margaret shook her head and smiled. "Well, if you're happy to do that -- Maddy you'd best go and get ready."

Once Maddy was safely out of the room and could he heard stumping up the stairs to go and sort herself out, Reg said, "Thank you, Margot. For coming today -- and for being here."

Mary Margaret gave Reg a warm smile. "You're family, Reg. Whenever you need me, I will be there for you." 

More than that she couldn't say, for at that moment, Maddy returned and for the whole of the whole of the journey to Hereford, Mary Margaret kept both Reg and Maddy amused by tales from her school days. From the Dawbarns' feast-gone-wrong in the last days on the Island, to Con's star turn in the St Mildred's pantomime; Jack Lambert's steady stream of questions which had pursued Len's latter school days to Len's vicarious revenge by way of Felicity; from the infamous stand up quiz where Con had answered "Daniel bit the lions" to the demise of the tug-o-war rope one sports day. Many of the stories were new to Reg; all were new to Maddy. By the time they arrived at Hereford station, Mary Margaret was quite hoarse from story-telling, and she had a feeling that both her niece and brother-in-law were far, far happier than when she'd arrived at three that afternoon.

More, she realised, as they waved her out of Hereford station at the start of her journey back to the convent, perhaps both were now ready to start again. Even if Reg chose not to accept the job, Mary Margaret had a feeling that the trip to Switzerland could only be good for them both.


	4. Joey

Joey

Jack watched with some degree of amusement as his wife flitted to and fro across the pretty little room that they had, jointly, decided was to be the Entwistle family's sitting room, frantically rearranging pictures, flowers, ornaments -- anything rather than being still. "Joey, for Heaven's sake, stop," he finally said. "You're exhausting to watch."

She paused, mid pose. "Jack -- are we doing the right thing?"

"By having Reg and Maddy to stay with us? Of course." Jack paused. "You're not still fretting about the words you and Reg exchanged, are you?"

Joey's head dipped. "I suppose I am. A little. It's one thing to apologise by phone and to exchange Christmas cards...it's quite another to be under the same roof."

Jack moved further into the room to envelop his wife in a hug. "It will be fine. Time heals all wounds, old girl." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Besides, Reg is a sensible chap -- he wouldn't have agreed to stay with us if he thought there would be a real problem."

"I suppose." Joey sighed. "And...I suppose he wouldn't have been coming at all if he thought that."

"No -- he wouldn't."

It had all, Jack reflected, been a complete mess. The loss of a daughter, particularly in the way Len had died, was hard, and Joey had taken it very hard indeed. With Con away in London and Margot away on a mission to some far-flung corner of the world, Joey and Len had grown closer. They'd been more like sisters than mother and daughter in the end. The pregnancy had drawn them even closer, particularly after Len first started having problems. It was only natural.

Then the accident had happened. For a few days, Joey had actually blamed Reg for it -- not that Reg was ever aware of that fact, Jack had made sure of that. She had only released that when Eugene Courvoisier had point-blank described what he'd seen from the window of the San.

"Reg was trying to avoid the tree," Eugene had stated. "He skidded on the ice and the car span. There was but little else he could have done. Had he not done what he did, Len would have still died, but so would her daughter, and so, in all likeliness, would Reg himself, for they would have been crushed beneath the tree."

After that had come the torrent of grief, and Joey had determined that she would cling to the one piece of Len remaining in this world: Baby Mary Helena.

When Mary Helena had been judged strong enough to leave the San, there had been an unspoken agreement that Reg and the baby would stay at Freudesheim, at least until after Len's funeral. Jack had suspected even then that Reg was going to request the transfer to the English branch of the San, but as he'd driven the little family across the Platz to Freudesheim, he'd hoped he'd be able to talk the younger man out of it. But he'd reckoned without Joey.

When Reg entered Freudesheim, Joey had simply seized on Mary Helena and had immediately called her Len.

Reg had said nothing, perhaps too shell-shocked to start off with, but the expression on his face told more than a thousand words. And Jack knew he wouldn't be able to talk Reg out of leaving -- and would even have difficulty in persuading him to stay for Len's funeral.

As it had proved, Reg had put up with Joey's interference and comments for nearly six months. Jack had done his best to curb Joey, but she could be as immovable as a mountain when she set her mind on something and the atmosphere in Freudesheim became gradually more and more strained. He had never been entirely sure what the straw that broke the camel's back had been, all he knew was that on the first day of the summer holidays, Phil had phoned the San in a considerable state, begging him to come home. When he'd arrived, he'd found Erica and Cecil doing their best to talk Joey into putting Mary Helena down while Felicity and a still tearful Phil had Reg in another room, trying to calm him down.

The one thing that had become immediately apparent was that Joey had finally had some form of breakdown -- something Jack had seen coming but had been unable to prevent. Beyond that, she hadn't been in a fit state to interrogate, and nor had Reg. None of the girls had known what had happened either. 

It had taken all of his persuasive powers to settle things that afternoon. By nightfall, Reg and Mary Helena were on their way to England, to Plas Gwyn and to the care of the Russells, while Joey had been installed in the San to begin the treatment she needed.

"Jack?"

Joey's voice brought Jack back to the present. "Sorry, old girl. Just thinking."

"You're nervous," she observed, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I'm a lot of things," he replied. "But mostly, I'm anxious to meet my first granddaughter. And so are you, I should think." He dropped a tender kiss on the top of her head. "Let's leave the past where it should be. It's time to start afresh."

~*~

Heathrow was a seething mass of people. Reg had been there before on a couple of occasions, but this was Maddy's first visit. The hustle and bustle of people hurrying for flights was overawing. For someone who'd never been to a big city, it was all a little much and Maddy found herself clinging tightly to her father lest they become separated.

For his part, Reg found it trying. So many business people and holidaymakers, and the terminal building was hot and sticky as they queued for check in. He wished he'd opted to take the trans-continental train, but while Maddy was alarmed by the noise of this, at least this would be over soon, whereas the rail journey would be a good two days of travelling and Maddy was not an experienced traveller.

Finally it was their turn. Reg hefted their case onto the scales and answered the check in clerk's questions. Maddy watched, wide-eyed as the clerk deftly applied a label to the case and then transferred the case to the waiting baggage cart. She wondered where the case would be taken.

"Come on, Maddy -- this way," Reg instructed, breaking her reverie.

She trotted after him. "Daddy, what're they going to do with our case?"

"They'll load it onto the plane," Reg answered. "Air travel isn't like rail travel -- there's only a limited amount of space in the cabin, so all the cases have to go in the baggage hold."

Maddy blinked. Not like rail travel? Up until that point, she'd half been imagining flying to be like a train with wings. She was now left to wonder exactly what it would be like.

The next event was going through passport control -- which, as far as Maddy was concerned, was thoroughly boring. Queuing and more queuing. But once they were through that, she found herself standing in a wonderland of expensive looking shops.

"This is duty free," Reg explained before she could say a word. "They sell everything here."

Maddy's gaze shifted from a shop selling leather handbags to a shop with giant bottles of amber whiskey in the window. "Wow."

Reg chuckled a little. "This way." He led her to a book shop.

"Oooh!" Maddy's eyes widened even further. "Daddy can I have a book?"

"You can -- pick two if you like."

Maddy made a beeline for the children's section of the store, then gave a soft whoop as she realised her two favourite authors had published new books. Then her face fell.

"What's the matter?" Reg asked.

"The two I want are only in hardback," she replied. She normally had to wait until they were published in paperback before she was permitted to buy them.

"As this is a special occasion," Reg decided, "you can have them both in hardback."

"Can I?" Maddy's eyes were like saucers.

Reg smiled. "Yes -- go on."

Almost in case her father changed his mind, Maddy jumped forward and selected a copy of _Cart and Cwidder_ by Dianna Wynn Jones and _Morag of the Hunt_ which, according to the fly-leaf, was a collection of Celtic myths and legends gathered together by Josephine M. Bettany.

Both books were bought. Then, after Reg had bought a couple of oddments from a nearby sweet shop, he led Maddy across to a small café for elevenses.

"Is she really my grandmother?" Maddy asked as she admired the cover of _Morag of the Hunt_.

Reg chuckled. "You can ask her when you see her this evening, if you like."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Maddy asked.

Reg looked down into his coffee cup as if the answers were to be found therein. "I..." But what could he tell her?

"Don't you and she get on?"

Reg winced. "It's not exactly that, Maddy." He sighed. "Your grandmother and I had a...a difference of opinion when you were born. We -- I -- found out later that really, your grandmother was grieving for your mother and wasn't well. She's better now," he continued, "but for a time she was...very unwell. Then, when you first started reading her books, you were so very young. Only six or seven." He looked up to see Maddy regarding him sympathetically. "It's a complicated situation."

Maddy nodded gravely. "I understand."

In that one second, Maddy truly became her mother's daughter. She wore an expression that looked so reminiscent of Len. So serious, so understanding... 

"Now boarding, flight BA19 for Zurich."

The announcement broke Reg's train of thought. "That's us," he said. "Drink up -- we have to be going." 


	5. A Homecoming of Sorts

A Homecoming of Sorts

Geoff Maynard stood, shuffling foot to foot and feeling decidedly out of place in the arrivals hall of Zurich airport. He wished, not for the first time, that his father hadn't received an urgent call from the San. He wished, not for the first time, that his mother wasn't running around like a headless chicken -- again. He wished -- and oh how he wished -- that Phil, at least, had opted to come with him.

But no.

Old Frau Eissen had taken a turn for the worse. Mother was panicking -- again. As for Phil, she and Cecil had made a last minute foray into Interlaken after something or other -- and what exactly it was, he had no idea, but it had been the subject of much giggling.

Would Reg recognise him? Would he recognise Reg? What was Maddy like? Questions and worries buzzed around Geoff's mind like angry bees and set him to frowning so hard that people around him were giving him a very wide birth -- not that he noticed. 

Over and above the main anxieties was a sense of nervousness. He hadn't really known Len's husband all that well -- if you came to that, he hadn't really known Len. It was one of the hazards of being the youngest in a lengthy family. Len, Con and Margot had been more like young aunts than older sisters, given the near-fifteen year age gap. He'd only been nine when the accident had happened and barely ten when Reg and Maddy had left for England. The Reg he remembered, hazily, was a tall, sombre and silent man who had somewhat scared Geoff the child. Was that what he would be like now?

"Der Flug BA 19 aus London ist gerade gelandet." The announcement jerked Geoff from his thoughts. It came again, this time in English, "Now arrived, flight BA19 from London."

This was it. The nerves and butterflies all collected in Geoff's stomach and started vigorously looping the loop. With a grimace of irritation at his own reaction, as the first of the passengers started streaming into the arrivals hall, he made sure he was positioned so that he could see and be seen.

He needn't have worried about recognising Reg and Maddy, as it turned out. A man travelling alone with a young girl, even now, still stood out like a sore thumb, even allowing for the very obvious paternal relationship. Geoff was willing to bet that Reg had probably endured numerous sideways glances during the flight, particularly from some of the elder passengers.

Dismissing that musing as irrelevant, Geoff stepped forward to meet his brother-in-law, who stopped and frankly goggled at him. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Great Scott!" Reg finally murmured.

"Daddy, who is it?" Maddy murmured, now turning her curious but tired gaze on Geoff.

"You must be Geoff," Reg continued, looking stunned.

"Yes -- sir," Geoff answered, feeling very uncomfortable.

Reg did a double take at that and then looked apologetic. "I'm sorry -- it's just...a shock. I was expecting to see your father..."

"He was called to the San, urgently," Geoff put in by way of explanation.

Reg managed a faint chuckle. "Plus a change, mais plus reste le même chose." Geoff smiled a little. "And the last time I saw you..."

"I was younger than Maddy," Geoff finished.

"I was going to say you were knee high to a grasshopper," said Reg.

At that, Geoff laughed. "Certainly not that now."

"Daddy?" put in Maddy a little more plaintively.

"This is your Uncle Geoff," Reg answered. "He's come to take us up to the Platz."

"You mean we're not there yet?"

"It's another hour or so from here," Geoff explained and Maddy's face fell. "So we'd better be going." He eyed the cases Reg was carrying. "Do you want me to take those?"

Reg smiled and shook his head. "No -- I'm fine."

"OK -- this way." Geoff offered his hand to Maddy, who nervously took it. Offering her a reassuring smile, he led the small family out into the late afternoon sunlight and across the car park to the Maynard family run-about. Unlocking it, he said, "Climb in -- soon be home."

~*~

The nearer they got to the Platz, the more nervous Reg felt. A glance at the back seat told him that Maddy had long since fallen asleep.

"It'll be all right, you know," said Geoff as they finally pulled onto the road up to the Platz from Interlaken. "Mother really is better."

Reg smiled wanly. "I know. But they say you should never go back."

"But you're not going back," Geoff pointed out.

"Everything's changed."

"My point exactly," said Geoff. There was a brief pause while he negotiated a hairpin bend. "Everything has changed. The Platz that you left isn't the one you're coming to -- so you're not going back. Besides," another pause for another hairpin bend, "you can look at it another way: Staying in Plas Gwyn wasn't getting on with your life, it was keeping your life on hold."

Reg cast Geoff a sidelong glance and realised his brother-in-law was blushing a little bit, possibly at the concept of 'cheeking an elder', but Reg knew it wasn't intended for cheek. More, there was an echo of something Jem Russell had said when he had told his employer of the job offer and had formally requested the time off to go to Switzerland for the interview.

Jem had, naturally, already known about the job offer.

"I shall be sorry to see you go, Reg," Jem had said. "But I think this will be good for you." Reg had opened his mouth to protest that he hadn't accepted the job but Jem had shaken his head and peered at his junior over the top of his glasses. "I know you haven't accepted it. Yet. But I think you will. I think you need to. I think, these years in Wales, you've been hiding. It's time to stop hiding, Reg. The world doesn't stop when you lose a loved one." More gently, the older man continued, "You needed time to heal; to recover. That's natural. And I know that it still hurts. It always will hurt, truth to tell. But it's time to start again. Time to live again." Jem had smiled. "If nothing else, you'll have a holiday that Maddy will talk about for years to come."

Now, here, in the car, completing the last lap of the journey back to the Görnetz Platz, hearing the same message from Jem's youngest nephew, Reg nodded to himself. They were both right. And there was one thing that neither of them had said -- for which Reg was eternally grateful -- but that was no less true for not having been said: This, or at least this attempt, would be what Len would have wanted.

As they reached the level of the Platz shelf itself, Reg said, "You're right, Geoff. Things have been on hold. It is time to start again."

More than that, neither of them could say as at that moment, Geoff pulled into Freudesheim's wide drive. A moment later and he came to a stop immediately in front of the welcoming family home. At the sound of the car's engine stopping, Maddy awoke.

"Where are we?" she asked, blinking owlishly.

"We're here," said Reg, smiling.

"Welcome to Freudesheim," added Geoff. At Maddy's confused frown, he added, "It means happy home."

"Is that German?" Maddy asked. Geoff nodded. "First word, then, daddy!"

It was Geoff's turn to look puzzled. Reg took pity on him. "She's never learned any German before, so I've told her to make a note of each and every German word she learns and what they mean."

Geoff grinned. "Well she'll certainly learn several more this evening." He started to climb out of the car.

As he did so, the front door of the house opened and out came a welcoming committee. First was Cecil -- at least, Reg assumed that was who it was, although she looked so grown up and sophisticated. His memory supplied the detail that she was well into her twenties and, like her eldest sister, she had gone into teaching -- so she was bound to look older than the leggy teenager he remembered. Next was Phil, who was perhaps the least-changed of all. She hadn't grown all that much from the ten-year-old who'd sobbingly tried to console him the ghastly day he and Maddy had departed from the Platz; in fact the only change was that her hair was now swept up into a very stylish twist. With her was someone that, Reg thought, might be Claire Mabion, but he wasn't entirely sure. Bringing up the rear of the party was the lady of the house. 

Like her daughters, Jo had changed in the intervening time. Her hair was stylishly bobbed -- he remembered she'd lost the great shells of plats not long before he and Len had been married, and she hadn't opted to grow them back -- but streaked with grey threads, and while she still had a youthful cast to her face, the sadness around her eyes marked that the passage of time had left its tracks behind.

"Geoff Maynard where have you been!" exclaimed Phil as she neared the car.

"Flight was delayed," Geoff answered succinctly.

"You might have phoned," said Cecil severely.

"Sorry." Geoff didn't sound it in the slightest.

As the squabbling siblings moved to one side, Joey stepped forward and Reg realised, she was as nervous about this meeting as he was. 

He offered a smile. "I..."

He found himself being wrapped in an effusive hug. "Reg, I'm so, so sorry," Joey murmured. "And so pleased you've decided to visit."

"It's all right," he answered, returning the hug. "It's past and done. New start."

As Joey stepped back, Reg realised that not only were there tears in her eyes, there were a few in his own. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed being here and being with the family who'd so thoroughly adopted him.

"Now then," said Joey. "Where's my grand-daughter?"

Shyly, Maddy stepped forwards. Her expression told Reg she wasn't entirely sure what to make of everything so far.

With a glance at Reg, Joey wrapped Maddy in a tender embrace. "Hello, Maddy. Welcome home." She released Maddy and stepped back. "Welcome home, both of you. For as long as you want."


	6. A Chance to Explore

A Chance to Explore

The first week past by rapidly, filled with an almost dizzying array of trips as far as Maddy was concerned. Her father, along with one or more of her aunts and sometimes also her uncle, took her all around the local area. Showing her things like the glacier at Wahlstein and the falls at Lauterbrunnen and taking her around Interlaken. There had been a lengthy day trip to Bern and another to Lucerne -- on that one, they had been joined by Marie Couvoisier, who had regaled the whole party with a tale her mother had told her, about Margot falling in the lake.

"I can't imagine Auntie Nun doing that," Maddy had said to Reg that night as he tucked her into bed.

"Oh, she did it all right," Reg had replied. "It and a lot of other wild stunts."

"But she's a nun!" Maddy had exclaimed.

"And before she was a nun," Reg answered with a smile, "she was a mischievous school girl, like a certain Little Miss I know."

At that, Maddy had giggled and snuggled down to sleep. Secretly, though, she was delighted to be compared to her Auntie Nun, who had always been something of a heroine to her and who seemed to have done so much and been to so many exotic sounding places.

Needless to state, throughout each and every trip, Maddy learned more about her mother. Things she'd done as a child and as a teenager. Some of them she learned from the aunts, but most she learned from Reg and for the first time in her life, Maddy started to feel an affinity for the mother that she'd never known.

As she now dressed, ready for the first day of her second week in Switzerland, Maddy took stock of everyone that she'd met. She liked the aunts she'd met -- particularly Auntie Cecil, who, as befitted the newest member of the languages department of the Chalet School, was steadily teaching her German when she had the chance. Auntie Claire and Auntie Phil were nice in their own way, but as both were busily engaged in preparing for university, they didn't have a huge amount of time to spend with her. Uncle Geoff had also been busy in her first week, but he had promised to take her to somewhere called the Auberge the day after tomorrow.

Once she'd got over her initial shyness, she'd also liked her grandparents. Granddad Jack was a big, jolly sort of man. He'd intimidated her a little on first meeting, over the breakfast table on her first day, when he'd been scowling over some letters, but the instant he saw her, he'd set them aside and given her a smile and Maddy knew he'd be great fun, and so he proved. His contribution to the first week had been the trip to Bern -- seeing the bear pits and the fountains and the old cathedral and the natural history museum and much more besides. It had been a very long day and Maddy had been exhausted by the time they'd all returned to the Platz, but it had been tremendous fun.

She was a little more unsure of what to make of Grandma Jo. Maddy liked her, certainly, and it was sort of fun knowing that she was sharing a house with one of her two favourite authors, but there was something... Maddy frowned. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something in the way that so far, Grandma Jo had avoided being completely alone with her. 

Not that Maddy realised it, but the answer was straight forward: Joey was terrified of being alone with Maddy. Part of it was that she didn't wish to overwhelm her first granddaughter. Part of it was that she didn't wish to tread on Reg's toes -- that was a relationship that was only just finally mended and she certainly had no desire to jeopardise that; truth be told, she had missed her son-in-law and she had very much missed being able to watch Maddy grow up. A large part of her reticence, however, was something that Jo was hard put to even admit to herself: She was shy. Maddy looked so much like Len and yet was definitely her own person and Joey was unsure of how to act around her.

It hadn't come to be a problem so far, thanks to the assorted day trips, but as Joey brushed her hair she fully realised today was going to be different. Today, it would just be her and Maddy. Cecil was over at the school busy attending to curriculum plans. Phil and Claire, with the long suffering Geoff in tow, were off to Bern for a final round of university shopping before the girls departed to spend some time in Armishire with Madge and Jem prior to the start of their respective university courses. As for Jack and Reg, both would be at the San today for today was the start of the interview period for the job.

"Chin up, Old Girl," said Jack as he put the finishing touches to his own outfit. "You and Maddy will be fine."

"Will we?" Joey echoed softly, meeting Jack's gaze in the mirror. "It's been so long."

Jack offered her a reassuring smile. "You will both be fine. Maddy is such a bright young thing -- and she's quite the fan of Josephine M. Bettany."

At that, Joey raised a chuckle. "I suppose, if all else fails, then, I can trot her out and we can talk books all day."

Jack grinned. "If all else fails, I dare say you can and will." He moved and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "But all else won't fail. I know you, Josephine Mary Maynard."

~*~

As breakfast finished, it slowly dawned on Maddy that only she and Grandma Jo remained at the table. She knew that today was the day for her father's interview, which explained where they'd both gone, but she wasn't sure where the Aunts and Uncle Geoff had departed to.

"So, Maddy," Grandma Jo began. "What would you like to do today?"

Maddy frowned for a moment. Grandma Jo sounded funny, almost as if she was nervous. "I don't know," she answered.

"How does a ramble and a picnic sound?"

Maddy shrugged a little. "OK." She hesitated a moment. Then: "Grandma Jo, why don't you like me?"

You could have heard a pin drop. Joey stared at her granddaughter, horrified. Finally she managed, "Why on earth would you think that, Maddy darling?"

"Well, cos I know you're not happy an' you look sort of scared," Maddy answered.

"Oh." 

Joey chewed her lip for a moment, recalling that Jack had said Maddy was a bright child. Bright enough to sense her reticence. Bright enough that the only option was for her to give an honest answer. 

"No, it's not that I don't like you, Maddy," she eventually replied. "I do like you. But I haven't really had a chance to get to know you yet." Maddy nodded slowly. "And...I'm a little nervous."

"But why are you nervous?"

Joey smiled. "You remind me of your mother -- but I don't want to treat you as if you were Len, because I know you're not her."

Maddy chewed that over for a few moments. "Fair enough."

"So, how does that ramble and picnic sound?" Joey continued. "You can tell me all about yourself, and we can get to know each other properly. Sounds fair?"

"Sounds fair," Maddy agreed with a smile.

"Then, if you go and get ready, I'll go and see if we can get a picnic from Anna, and I'll show you some of the Platz today."

"OK." Maddy trotted off, a broad smile on her face.

Joey watched her go and found the little knot of tension between her shoulders ease a little. Jack was right. Maybe she could do this...


	7. A Ramble

A Ramble

Knowing that Geoff had promised to show Maddy the Auberge on the morrow, Joey deliberately set out in the opposite direction, towards Bertental. She didn't think that the whole trek up to Wetterdorf was a good idea, but part of the way shouldn't be a problem -- she was fit and while Maddy wasn't experienced in the sort of mountain scrambling required, she was young and energetic.

As they headed out of the Freudesheim gates, Maddy said primly, "What would you like to know about me?"

Joey chuckled a little as a little more of her confidence came back. It had been so long since she'd had any dealings with children as young as Maddy, something that had been one of the root causes of her nervousness, but as they gently ambled along the path, heading for Bertental, a few of the tricks she'd once used so frequently to get to know children and adults alike finally returned to her.

"How about," she said, "we trade questions?"

Maddy peered up at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Well, as we walk, we each take a turn at asking the other a question," Joey explained. "Silly or sensible."

"Ooh." A spark of mischief gleamed in Maddy's eyes at that. "Who goes first?"

Joey saw that spark and wondered what it meant. "Shall I?" was all she said. Maddy nodded. "All right then. What's your favourite colour?"

Maddy frowned for a moment, then answered, "Green. Because it reminds me of home." 

Joey smiled a bit at that. The rolling hills of Armifordshire were certainly very green and welcoming.

"What's your favourite book?" Maddy asked in return.

"That I've written?" Maddy nodded. "_Morag of the Hunt_ -- because it's the most recent -- and _Cecily Holds the Fort_, because it was my first published book." Maddy nodded sagely. Joey decided to return the question, and asked, "What's your favourite book?"

"I have two," Maddy answered without hesitation. "_Dogstar_ and _Morag of the Hunt_."

Joey frowned, not recognising the first title. "Who's _Dogstar_ written by?"

"Diana Wynne Jones," Maddy replied.

Joey had heard of the author -- her name had cropped up a few times in recent months in book catalogues and the like -- although she had yet to actually see any of her books. "What's it about?" she asked consequently curious.

As they crossed the plank bridge that crossed the stream, Maddy launched into a somewhat convoluted description of the book. "It's about a star, called Sirius, who's accused of killing another star and who gets sent to earth in the form of a Labrador puppy so that he can find the Zoi."

"The Zoi?" Joey echoed, now starting to feel a little out of her depth.

Maddy nodded. "He doesn't know what it is, but he has to join the midnight hunt to find it and in the end, he succeeds only to realise if he returns to being a star he'll hurt his owner so he begs to be put back into the puppy's body. It's really sad, but really, really good," Maddy finished.

"It sounds..." Joey smiled a little. "You like fantasy stories, then?"

Maddy nodded vigorously. "It's fun to read about somewhere else that doesn't exist and magic an'...an' stuff like that."

Joey smiled a little wider at that. Although she'd never been one to daydream of myth and magic, she could understand their appeal. "Up here," she directed, bringing Maddy onto the correct path. "Have you ever thought about writing yourself?"

Maddy giggled. Joey briefly wondered what was so funny about that suggestion, then her granddaughter explained, "I'm not very good at English. I'm like daddy, he says; good at maths and science."

"Well, I can vouch that your mother wasn't a mathematical genius," Joey agreed. "Although she wasn't as bad as I was."

"Mummy was bad at maths?" Maddy queried.

"Oh, not bad at maths exactly," said Joey with a smile. "That was Con. Len was...diligent when it came to maths, but she preferred language subjects. Margot was the scientific one."

"You mean I'm like Auntie Nun?"

Joey goggled. "Auntie Nun?" she repeated.

Maddy blushed a little. "When I was little, she came to stay with us an' I couldn't manage Auntie Mary Margaret, so I called her Auntie Nun."

Joey grinned at the explanation. "I see." Privately though, she wondered why Mary Margaret and Reg hadn't suggested Auntie Margot. "And if you're good at science subjects then yes, you're like Margot."

"Yay!" The excited exclamation surprised Joey, but before she could ask, Maddy explained, "I like knowing that Auntie Nun and I are the same."

They reached a small clearing in the pinewood. "Think we'll break here and have elevenses," Joey suggested.

"OK." Maddy flopped down at the base of a convenient pine tree.

Joey unslung the rucksack she'd been carrying on her back and joined her granddaughter at the base of the pine tree. "Drink?" she offered, producing a flask of Anna's fruit cordial.

"Yes please."

Joey poured out a beakerful and handed it to Maddy, along with a couple of biscuits and for a few moments, they munched in companionable silence.

"Is it my turn to ask a question?" Maddy asked presently.

Joey nodded. "I think it is."

"What was mummy like?" Joey bit her lip. "I mean," Maddy continued gravely, "I know that I'm not like her very much, although I look like her."

"Very much so," said Joey quietly.

"And I know some of the things she did." At that, Maddy giggled. "Like the prefects' paint fight."

Despite herself, Joey found herself giggling. "And who told you about that?"

"Daddy and Auntie Nun," Maddy replied, grinning. "Auntie Nun brought it up."

"Margot would," said Joey.

"But," and Maddy's tone turned grave once more, "I don't really know what mummy was like."

Joey sat in silence for a few moments, debating what to say. "Len was...a very special person. But it's not right to say you're not much like her. She was warm and caring; kind...qualities I can definitely see in you. She was patient, a born teacher. That's not to say she didn't have a temper; she did. She was never as volatile as Margot, but she could certainly let fly when she chose. She was untidy -- not even the strictures of Matey, the head Matron at the Chalet School who managed to instil tidiness in most people, succeeded with Len. She had a well developed sense of responsibility, but particularly when she was a girl your age and a little bit older, she could be bossy. Her intentions were good, but sometimes she didn't see that to really be responsible, you have to let those around you take responsibility for their own actions."

Maddy sighed. "I wish I'd known her." 

Joey offered a sad smile to her granddaughter. "I wish you had, too."

"Do...you think she'd like me?" Maddy asked softly.

Joey nodded. "I don't just think it; I know it. Len would be very proud of you, Maddy -- just like your daddy is."


	8. A Minor Fright

A Minor Fright

Jack moved along the corridor of the San, heading towards the office where the interviews were to be taking place. It was, at least in his mind, a largely academic exercise; Reg was almost certainly the best man for the job, but it had to be done properly all the same. After all, there was no guarantee that Reg would take the job on if it was offered to him.

Reg and the two other candidates -- one, a still wet-behind-the-ears, French, graduate doctor looking for his first post, the other a career hungry Swiss doctor whose curriculum vitae revealed no fewer than ten different hospitals worked at in a twelve year career -- were seated outside the office. As Jack approached, he could see all three engaging in nervous chatter -- from the cadence, the chatter was in French. Briefly, he wondered if that meant that the Frenchman's English had deserted him through nerves -- if so, that was definitely a bad sign.

A growl of thunder caught Jack's attention as he neared the office and he glanced out of the window in time to see a fork of lightning split the valley. The sky was black and the clouds hung heavy with the promise of rain. He gave a slight shiver. For a moment he wondered where Joey and Maddy were -- he knew Joey had been contemplating a ramble to Bertental and beyond, and he was moved to wonder if they had actually gone, or if Joey had changed her mind. He hoped she had, because it looked as if they were in for a real rip-snorter of a storm. Still, Joey had lived in the Alpine regions most of her life -- she would recognise the onset of a storm such as this.

He turned his attention to the three interviewees. "Good morning, gentlemen," he began. "I am Dr Jack Maynard, head of this hospital. Doktor Joseph -- I believe you're first. This way."

~*~

Under the pines near Bertental, it wasn't nearly so easy to see the lowering skies, particularly once they left the clearing where they'd had elevenses and had continued, so the first clue that Joey got that something was wrong was the sudden, unnatural hush surrounding them. Signalling to Maddy that she should stay where she was, Joey moved until she could find a piece of unobscured sky.

"Great Caesar's bathmat!"

"What's wrong?" Maddy asked.

"We shall have to run for it, Maddy, my girl," Joey replied. "There's..." But the rest of her words were drowned out by a loud growl of thunder.

Maddy squeaked. She had a terror of storms and the prospect of being out in one made her nervous.

"It will be all right," said Joey soothingly, guessing -- accurately -- of Maddy's fear. Catching Maddy's hand in her own, she continued, "We're not so far from Bertental -- if we run, we can make it to the Gasthaus there."

"OK." Maddy's response was small and frightened.

"Now, run with me, Maddy." So saying, Joey took to her heels and the pair of them ran pell-mell through the woods.

Later, Maddy would describe the headlong flight as the most frightening experience of her life. Beneath the pines, it was almost pitch dark, while the thunder was a constant source of noise. Then came the most alarming piece of the whole adventure. As they rounded a bend in the path, lightning forked down and struck a pine tree just yards ahead.

Maddy screamed. Even Joey, experienced in storms and adventures, was momentarily robbed of the powers of thought and speech. It was the smell of burning pine resin that brought her back to the situation at hand.

"Quickly, Maddy -- we simply must get to Bertental and warn them!"

"I can't!" Maddy sobbed.

"Oh yes you can," Joey responded, tugging her onwards. "It's not far."

But as it proved, help was even closer at hand. The villagers of Bertental had heard the lightning strike and even as Joey was urging Maddy onwards, a gang of village men were already on their way to see to it that any resultant fires shouldn't have the chance to reach the village before the rain that was sure to come could put them out once and for all.

As they rounded the next bend in the path, Joey found herself being caught by one of the rescue party.

"Frau Maynard!" he exclaimed. "Und das Kind! But this is not a time for promenades!"

"Tree -- lightning -- back..." Joey gasped out.

The man nodded sagely. "This we will see to. If you will permit, one of us will see you to the Gasthaus for Kaffee und Brotchen."

Joey could only nod, and found herself being somewhat unceremoniously picked up by one of the villagers while another one treated Maddy in similar fashion. A few moments later, and both were seated in the Saal of the Gasthaus being treated to welcome hot coffee and rolls as the rain started to hammer down.


	9. A Meeting

A Meeting

By the time Reg returned to Freudesheim after the interview, Maddy was safely tucked up in bed, sound asleep. He was quietly relieved by that for he wanted to sort through his own feelings about the interview before he had to answer Maddy's rapid-fire questions. In chatting with the other two candidates, Reg had realised he was the only serious contender. Jacques Mercier was a personable individual but one that knew only limited amounts of English and no German at all, while Franz Joseph had struck Reg as an easily dislikeable and power-hungry egotist. Both were unquestionably qualified for the post -- of that, Reg had no doubt -- but neither would fit in with the San's ethos.

'If I don't take the post,' Reg found himself musing as he prepared for a late supper, 'it will leave Jack somewhat stuck.' He smiled faintly. 'There are worse reasons for taking on the job, I suppose.'

But, as he thought further, he realised that there were other reasons he wanted to take the job. Visceral, almost subconscious reasons. He knew and liked most of the people he would be working with. The variety of work was greater than that of the San back in Britain. The challenges were more and varied. Much as Jem and Madge had tried, they weren't family in the way that Jack and Joey were.

For a second, as he looked in the mirror, he fancied he saw Len, smiling at him and nodding. "Promise me you won't do anything silly," she had whispered, as he'd held her that final time. "Promise me you won't give up."

And in the ice and the snow, he'd given the only answer he could. "I promise."

He blinked, pulling back from the memory he'd only occasionally looked at in the intervening years, but the echo of the words remained. The conclusion he'd come to on the final stretch of road leading up to the Platz returned to him and he nodded to himself. "Time to keep that promise," he murmured.

He turned to head for supper and a new thought struck him. If he took this job, what would happen to Maddy? She'd expressed some anxiety at the thought of moving to Switzerland and though she'd obviously had a good time so far, would she really enjoy living here? Then there was the issue of school.

'Although,' Reg mused as he reached the Freudesheim Speisesaal, 'school could be easily settled.' 

Duly over supper, in between hearing about the lightning strike -- which both alarmed him and made him feel reassured that it had happened while Maddy was out with Joey and not someone less experienced -- and about the girls' trip into Interlaken, Reg carefully enquired as to who he needed to speak to about Maddy potentially attending the Chalet School.

"Well, Nancy Wilmot is the current head mistress," said Joey. "So..."

"But she's not here at the moment," Cecil put in. "She's had to fly to England to see to something or other with Carnbach."

"Then who would I need to speak to?" Reg asked.

"Miss Andrews," Cecil answered with a smile. "She's head of the junior school so she knows what spaces we have -- and Maddy just squeaks in as a junior, if she's not yet twelve."

"She's not twelve until December," Reg answered.

"Then Miss Andrews, definitely," said Cecil with decision. She smiled. "I've got to go over for another curriculum meeting tomorrow -- I can take you over, if you like?"

"Thank you." Reg smiled in return.

So it was that the following day, Reg found himself following the very businesslike Cecil through the gate in the hedge that separated the Freudesheim garden from the school grounds. After the shock of the previous day, Maddy was spending a quiet day in Freudesheim, something that Reg whole-heartedly agreed about, and it did mean that when this meeting was over, he could go back and talk things through with her.

He couldn't, however, quite suppress the shudder as the familiar shape of the main school building loomed up ahead. Somehow, he thought it would have changed, yet it was no different to the last time he'd seen it, when he and Len had attended the Sale of Work six months before Maddy was due. That summer, the school and grounds had been decked out for various ancient civilisations which had led to the rather strange effect of Greek Gods trying to sell you bric-a-brac while Viking warriors tried to interest you in refreshments -- it had been a good sale and an enterprising effort on the part of the school.

"Through here," Cecil directed, drawing Reg back from his wool gathering. He blinked as she led him into the wide entrance hall. "Miss Andrews is..."

"Here," finished no lesser person than Sharlie Andrews, entering the hall. She smiled. "Good morning, Cecil." Reg had to stifle a laugh as Cecil started. "You wanted me?"

"Not me," Cecil managed to answer, after returning the greeting. "This is Reg Entwistle, my brother-in-law." 

There was an awkward moment.

"Len's..." Miss Andrews began, then stopped. "Of course." She looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry -- it's a pleasure to meet you, again."

Reg smiled, trying to ignore the brief swell of pain. "And you, Miss Andrews."

"What can I..." This time she trailed off as Cecil suddenly squawked and took off like a scalded cat.

"Late for her curriculum meeting?" Reg suggested, amused by Cecil's departure.

Miss Andrews chuckled. "Possibly." She shook her head. "Cecil doesn't change." She smiled. "So, Mr Entwistle -- what can I do for you?"

"It's about my daughter," Reg answered.


	10. Decisions

Decisions

Reg made his way back to Freudesheim feeling a little more positive about matters. After a hesitant start -- it had been a considerable while since his last conversation with someone who wasn't either family or a patient and he'd found it difficult initially but in the face of Miss Andrews' sunny personality, the difficulties had evaporated rapidly -- his conversation with Miss Andrews had been productive.

She had offered Maddy a provisional place in the third form, though whether it would be the a, b or c group would depend on how well she did in the language assessment that each new pupil did at the start of their tenure at the school. Those in the a stream were the ones who spoke a fair degree of French, German and English already; the b group was for those who knew two of the languages but needed support in the third; the c stream was for the remaining pupils who knew only one of the languages and who needed intensive coaching. It meant that those who knew all three languages weren't held up academically and those who knew little beyond their own language didn't fall too far behind academically -- the intensive coaching lasting for a term, then the following term, the b and c stream was intensively coached in the subjects they had missed so that by the summer terms all three streams were academically parallel.

It was a scheme that worked well, particularly combined with the school's abiding principle of English, French and German days. The thing that had surprised Reg was when he learned that the instigator of the scheme was Len.

"Miss Annersley asked Len to think about a way new girls could be eased into the languages," Miss Andrews had explained. "Len canvassed the rest of the staff as to what they would find useful and the end result is the scheme we use now."

Reg felt a flush of pride on behalf of his late wife at this, that she had left such an indelible mark on the school spoke volumes about her personality and her abilities as a teacher.

So that was Maddy arranged for -- provided Maddy agreed to the idea. Miss Andrews had suggested that, if Maddy liked -- and given it was customary -- she and Reg would be more than welcome to come over to the school later in the week and take a tour of the school, which would give Maddy a far better idea of what the school was like, and there would also be sundry staff around who would be able to answer any questions Maddy had. Reg suspected that the answer to that would be yes. Even if she decided she hated the place -- which Reg doubted would be the case -- he felt sure that she would want to see the school that her mother and her Auntie Nun had both attended.

"Daddy!" 

Almost as if conjured by thought, Maddy appeared from the rose garden as Reg closed the connecting gate behind him. Reg smiled at her. "How has your morning been?"

"Fun," Maddy answered, a broad grin on her face, even as Joey appeared. "Grandma Jo has lots of photographs and funny stories."

Joey offered Reg a smile and a nod in greeting. "I was going through a box of old photos," she explained. "Maddy spotted the one of Cornelia with her saxophone," at that, Reg chuckled, "and wanted to know what it was about."

"Having seen that photograph," said Reg grinning, "small wonder."

"Then she told me about Auntie Nun and Uncle Stephen and the duck pond," Maddy continued. "And about dyeing herself green, and catching a 'convict'."

At that, Reg looked puzzled. "A convict?"

Joey chuckled. "My brother-in-law, Ralph Mackenzie. It's a long story," she added.

Reg still looked bemused. "I'll say," he murmured.

"I will say," Joey continued, "in my defence, I wasn't that much older than Maddy at the time, and no-one had seen fit to tell me anything." Changing the subject, she continued, "How was your meeting?"

Dismissing his confusion, Reg smiled. "It was...useful. Though I now need to speak to my daughter."

Joey nodded at that. "Of course -- I must take these," and she gestured to the box of photographs, "inside, and I think Anna wanted some help with lunch."

So saying, Joey departed into the house, leaving Reg and Maddy standing at entry to the rose garden.

"Daddy?" Maddy asked.

Reg looked down at his daughter. "Shall we go and sit down -- we have a lot to talk about."

"We do?" said Maddy, slightly bemused, as she led the way into the pretty rose garden and over to the seats.

"We do," Reg agreed, sitting down. "We've got some choices to make."

Maddy sat down beside her father and looked quizzically at him. "Is this about your job interview?"

"In part," Reg agreed. "Grandpa Jack has offered me the job. But I'm not sure, yet, whether I'm going to take it."

"Why?"

"I need to know that you're going to be happy with what I choose."

"Oh." Maddy was unsure of what else to say to that.

"I've just been over to the school," Reg continued, "and I've spoken to the head of the junior school there, Miss Andrews."

"Am I going there?" Maddy asked, trying not to sound nervous at the prospect.

"Not for definite," Reg answered. "There is a place, if you want it. Or, we can go back to England and you can go to the High School in Hereford -- but that will mean us moving house, probably to live in Hereford."

Maddy wrinkled her nose at that thought. "Not sure I like that idea much," she admitted. "No apple trees..."

"That you're not supposed to climb," Reg finished, a stern but somewhat amused look on his face. Maddy had the grace to blush. "No, there wouldn't be any apple trees -- there might not be any garden at all. But, on the other hand, I know that some of your friends are going to the High School, and there would be nothing to stop us from going for weekends and holidays to Plas Gwyn."

Maddy nodded. "Or I could go to school here."

"That's the choice," Reg agreed. "Miss Andrews has suggested we have a look around the school this week, so you don't need to decide just yet."

"OK." Maddy nodded. "Can we do that this afternoon?"

Reg blinked, not expecting that response. "I think so, yes -- Miss Andrews said to just come over."

"I want to see where mummy and Auntie Nun went to school," Maddy admitted frankly. "And...after hearing all the stories about the school, from Auntie Nun and from Auntie Cecil and from Grandma Jo, I don't think I'd mind going there...but I'd like to think about it."

Reg smiled and wrapped Maddy in a hug. "Of course. It's not an easy decision. Just let me know when you've made it."

Maddy smiled in return. "Of course."


	11. A New Start

A New Start

Maddy chewed over the two options for much of the next couple of days.

She had enjoyed the tour of the school conducted by Miss Andrews. With a swimming pool, a large, light and airy library, pretty class rooms and -- best of all, as far as Maddy was concerned -- three new and well equipped science labs, it looked a very nice place to go to school. It certainly looked more attractive than the High School in Hereford, which was situated in a depressing, grey concrete building with none of the facilities.

But there were downsides to going to the Chalet School, too. At the High School she would at least know a couple of people there, while everyone would be new to her here. Then there was the languages issue, which was enough to make her nervous all on its own. Auntie Cecil had been teaching her German on their assorted daytrips and she said that Maddy was picking it up easily but Maddy herself was unconvinced. 

There was also the fact that she would have to board at least part of the year because of the weather, but that was both unattractive and appealing at the same time. From Miss Andrews' descriptions of what the girls did, from hobbies to Guides, to dancing, to special entertainment evenings, it did sound like a lot of fun, and the dormitories looked very pleasant. They'd been shown around Lilac Dormitory, and Maddy had been fascinated by it, with its eight individual cubicles separated off by pretty lilac-print curtains. Each cubicle had a bed and something that was part chest of draws, part dressing table. Miss Andrews had described it as a bureau and had demonstrated the little piece which flipped up to reveal a mirror and a little space to keep brush, comb, hair bands and clips.

All in all, it was a dilemma, but as Maddy thought about it, she realised that she knew what the right thing to do was. None of the people she knew who would be going to the High School were particular friends of hers. And the prospect of having to live in a town was just awful to someone who'd grown up in the rolling hills and open spaces of Armifordshire. And she was enjoying living with Grandma Jo and Grandpa Jack. And it wasn't as if Auntie Nun lived on Howells village. She travelled lots -- so what was the difference between going to Howells and going to the Görnetz Platz?

~*~

Two Months Later

Reg watched as Maddy entered the Speisesaal of Freudesheim, uncomfortable at all the attention. She looked very well in the Gentian blue skirt, white blouse, and smart Gentian blue v-necked sweater. Her new blazer was hanging on a peg in the Freudesheim cloakroom, ready. The only other item of uniform missing from the picture was her tie, an article which she was holding, somewhat helplessly and creased in one hand.

"I can't tie it," she said plaintively.

After a brief glance at Joey, Reg stood up and walked over to Maddy. "Here," he said, "I'll show you." And gently, he guided her hands in the art of tying a tie. Once it was knotted securely, he pinned in place the small green shield that indicated she was a member of St Hilda's house and helped her to settle the tie neatly beneath the collar of her blouse. "Now tuck it into your sweater," he advised, "or else it'll be in your work all morning."

Maddy grinned at that and did as she was bidden.

"Are you looking forward to this?" Jack asked as Maddy slid into her seat at the breakfast table.

Maddy nodded. "It'll be an adventure."

"That," said Joey, "it certainly will be."

There wasn't too much time to tarry over breakfast after that, for Maddy needed to be safely over to the school by half past eight in time for registration and assembly. For now, she was to be a day girl, though Reg knew that by half term she would have to at the very least be a weekly boarder. As Miss Wilmot said, "We may have a nice September and a decent October, but you can guarantee that November will be wet!"

A few, short moments later and Maddy was stood, clad in her blazer with a smart new satchel grasped in her hands, ready to go. For a moment, Reg was hesitant. Seeing her in the familiar colours with her hair pulled back in one pony tail he was struck all over again at how much she looked like her mother.

"Daddy?" she said softly.

Reg mustered a smile. "I was just thinking that your mother would be very, very proud to see you today." He bent down and wrapped his daughter in a hug. "It's a new start, Maddy," he murmured. "It's a new start for both of us."

"It's going to be OK," Maddy answered. She kissed him on the cheek. "And I think it's going to be fun!"


End file.

Chalet School, Drama