The headmistress was an
even bigger fan, but she was reasonable and had some dignity. She and Dr. B teamed
up to get some concessions out of the snobs who had thrown up the original barrier.
For the sake of the students, of course. Everything came together, including paying
for our transportation to Cornwall and the sprawling manor that had been turned
into a private school, and get us back to Heathrow on schedule.
An unoccupied faculty
apartment was set aside for my folks to do their research in comfort, instead of
working in the room Dr. B had set up before he went to New Guinea. In exchange,
they were asked to spend a few hours talking with the students about all the aspects
of research and writing, journalism, the pros and cons of authorship and the globe-trotting
lifestyle. We had to laugh a little about the last part. Mum and Pop had left the
globe-trotting part of their job description behind when they settled in Neighborlee.
Sure, they still traveled, but no longer ten months out of the year.
As soon as the first green
plaid skirt and black sweater trimmed in gold strolled into the meeting room-slash-former
chapel for the first question-and-answer session, I got that sick feeling of impending
doom. Harry was sitting with me in a small balcony where we could see and hear everything,
but we weren't on display like Mum and Pop. He was busy with a pretty cool hand-held
video game Dr. B gave him, and he didn't pay any attention to the students filing
into the room and jockeying for one of the sixty seats, until I groaned.
"What?" He scooted
over on the bench seat and rested his elbows on the balcony ledge, to look down
on the growing audience. He frowned at the girls filing in, then at me. "What?"
"Don't you recognize
the uniforms?"
He shook his head and
shrugged.
"Remember the Tower
of London?"
"I remember that
Grandstone… Oh." Harry patted me on the shoulder. "Maybe she's sick today."
"Grandstones are
always sick, but it's not the kind that gives us any relief." I slid
back on the bench, away from the ledge, even though chances of anyone looking up
and seeing us were slim.
"Well, you think
she's going to come here to listen to Mum and Pop if it's voluntary? I bet the only
thing she reads is a supermarket gossip rag or else something about Hollywood. That's
why she got sent over here, because she wanted to go into acting. Right?" He
waited for me to nod, then bent his head over his video game again.
Honestly, my little brother
was a really smart kid.
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