The Mam'zelles of Malory Towers

CHAPTER NINE: ROBBING ALICIA

As soon as the three girls were dismissed from Rougier's office, Gwendoline Mary collapsed in fear, while Elsie and Daphne laughed in delight and immediately began plotting their newest theft.

"Just imagine!" cackled Daphne. "That pompous, inflated pest of a girl goes to sleep one evening and wakes up the next morning to find everything gone!"

"It's a pity I can't see her reaction - it would be too funny for words!" replied Elsie, who was a form above Alicia.

The two girls rapidly sketched out the details of their scheme, which relied on simpleness and efficiency. After prep in the common room, Gwendoline was to go and distract Alicia best as she could by irritating the girl with her presence, which, for Gwen, was not a difficult feat. While Alicia was distracted, the girls would sneak into Alicia's dorm and steal her possessions!

"I can't wait to get my hands on all of Alicia's tuck," said Elsie greedily. "Just imagine the sheer number of jammy buns alone she's got stowed in there, not to mention the tinned pineapples!" Despite herself, Gwendoline couldn't help but drool. The plump girl had finished her own tuck three days into school, and couldn't resist the thought of eating Alicia's!

At last, the day of the theft rolled about, and each girl felt butterflies in her stomach as they waited for the scheme to commence. Would they get caught stealing? Would Mam'zelle Rougier unleash Esme on them if something went wrong? And worst of all, what if Alicia's tuck box was empty?

When the solemn, hearty bells of Malory Towers' clock chimed nine, Gwendoline slipped into the common room, tossing her hair before launching into a whiny tirade about Miss Potts, conveniently seating herself right in front of Alicia. The rant came easily to Gwendoline, who loathed Miss Potts, and infuriated Alicia to no end, as she was a girl who could not stand whining or brattiness of any sort!

A short distance away, Daphne and Elsie crept towards Alicia's bed, each holding a large black sack thoughtfully provided by Mam'zelle Rougier and dressed head to toe in black clothes, complete with matching balaclavas. The girls were taking every step to protect their identities from prying eyes!

Unfortunately for the girls, the moment they were about to slip into the dorms, they were accosted by no other than the loud, brash lacrosse captain of Malory Towers - none other than the infamous Belinda Towers!

"Say, girls," bellowed Belinda. She hazily took in the fact that both girls were dressed like bank robbers, but dismissed it as a fad amongst the younger form. Why, when she was in the first form, Belinda herself had been prone to dressing like a fisherman's son! 

"I was wondering if you two had seen Darrell Rivers- I needed to talk to her about the upcoming lacrosse game." continued Belinda.

"I believe she's in the common room", squeaked Elsie. Luckily, the squeak almost completely distorted her regular voice, for she certainly wouldn't want to be recognised in her incriminating getup!

Once Belinda had thanked them and headed to the common room, Daphne and Elsie exhaled sharply and slipped into the common room. Both girls were wondering why Belinda did not comment on their outfits, but they decided to go with it. Anyways, they had an important task at hand. 

The girls swiftly began stuffing Alicia's possessions into their sacks, taking everything from the photo of her parents on her nightstand to her rather grungy toothbrush. Anything that was exceptionally valuable, such as a pair of golden stud earrings and some spare change, was pocketed to take to Rougier. Daphne even ripped the sheets off Alicia's bed! Finally, the girls were left with the last of Alicia's possessions- her tuck box.

Both girls eagerly ripped open the box, hoping to find all sorts of goodies- only to discover that a single half-eaten toffee cake!

"Blow!" Snarled Daphne. "That pig couldn't have left anything for us?" Still, she stuffed the cake into one of the bags.

Just then, the girls heard a scuffle outside. After a quick glance at each other, the girls rushed to the other end of the dormitory, where the Pi sisters slept, and quickly stuffed both their sacks under the two girl's beds. Quickly fleeing to their dorm to change and smoothen their hair, Elsie and Daphne returned to the common room to find Alicia screaming at Gwendoline, both thieves wearing supremely smug expressions. Their theft was a success and Gwen was getting ticked off - could life get any better?