The Mam'zelles of Malory Towers

CHAPTER TWELVE: HALF-TERM AT LAST!

The day of half-term was sunny and warm. The girls flitted about the driveway, restlessly waiting for their parents to come. They wanted to show off all their achievements of the term! Other girls' people couldn't come - this included Daphne, Mary Lou, Pam and Elsie.

Rougier leveraged this to her advantage. "Right Mary Lou, you shall go with Gwen's mother since she invited you. And you will steal all the Lacey heirlooms while Gwen distracts her mother!" cackled Rougier while Gwen looked doubtful and nervous. 

"And you," she said, pointing at Daphne. "You shall wrangle an invite to go with Jean's parents. I have heard they are Scottish barons." Daphne nodded dutifully. Jean was a simple Scottish girl who annoyingly jangled donation tins in front of the girls' faces, reminding them to give money to various charities. It had frequently crossed Daphne's mind to steal from the donation tin, but stealing from the girl's parents would be even better!

As for Pam and Elsie, they were to take on duties as servers and try to nick as many valuables from passing parents as possible!

So according to the plan, Gwen and Mary Lou were standing together, waiting for Mrs. Lacey and Gwen's governess Miss Winters to arrive. Gwen was excited for all the treats her mother was going to bring for her, and couldn't wait to be petted and spoiled again. But she couldn't stop thinking about how Mary Lou was going to steal all of her mother's jewellery! After all, it was going to be passed down to her eventually.

Finally, the Lacey's car pulled into the driveway and out popped Mrs. Lacey and Miss Winters. Mrs. Lacey was a wispy-looking woman with the same bleached hair as Gwen and a very questionable fashion sense. Miss Winters, on the other hand, had close-cropped white hair and was wearing a dowdy pinstripe suit, no doubt donated to her by Mr. Lacey. They both fell upon Gwen and started smothering her, completely ignoring poor Mary Lou, who felt out of place and miserable. 

"Err... I'm just going to have a quick word with Mam'zelle!" said Mary Lou, excusing herself from this reunion.

She tracked down Rougier, who was looking very miserable herself. Mam'zelle Dupont had seized her arm and linked it with her own, making her walk everywhere with the moronic woman. The timing had been terrible - Rougier had just been about to join Miss Potts for some sherry shots before the parents came and started complaining about their bratty children's exam results. 

So Rougier was most displeased to see Mary Lou.

"Why are you here!" she hissed. "You should be ripping earrings off Gwen's mother's ears!"

The timid girl widened her eyes in fear and scampered back, only to find that Gwen was still locked into an embrace with the two foolish woman. They did not even see that she was back. Mary Lou calmly reached over to Mrs. Lacey's head and plucked out a barrette trimmed with sparkling crystals. The weeping woman did not even notice!

After an hour or so, Gwen was finally freed. She looked supremely annoyed - she had not eaten in over an hour, after all. 

"MOTHER!" she bellowed. "I want my picnic lunch!"

"Yes yes my dear," crooned Mrs. Lacey. "We will go at once!"

Gwen ushered for Mary Lou to come along, but did not introduce the girl to her family. It was as if Mary Lou was invisible to them! Well, thought the girl glumly. At least it would make it easier to rob them.

When Miss Winters had spread out the lunch on the lawn, Mary Lou looked at Gwen expectantly. It was time for Gwen's diversion!

On cue, Gwen started producing a stream of fake tears - her specialty - which once again made Mrs. Lacey and Miss Winters flock to her. In the meanwhile, Mary Lou went to Mrs. Lacey's exposed purse and pocketed it. She also nicked all the spare change in Miss Winter's pocket. "Gosh, they pay this woman poorly!" Mary Lou thought to herself. 

When she was done, she signalled to Gwen to stop, and Gwen pushed the two woman away. She started bull-dozing through the picnic lunch, shoving the plates of cold chicken and pickles into her mouth. Mary Lou watched in horror and fascination. Only after she was done did Gwen realize that Mary Lou had actually stolen from her family. It had all seemed like such a distant prospect when Rougier had mentioned it!

"Say Mary Lou," she whispered. "Could you be a sport and return all the things you stole? I just feel a little strange about stealing from my mother!"

Tender-hearted Mary Lou immediately felt for Gwen.

"Mrs. Lacey!" she piped up. "Here is your purse! And here is some loose change that I found in your pocket, Miss Winters!"

The ladies noticed Mary Lou for the first time, eyeing her with astonishment and horror. Gwen's chosen friend seemed quite a magpie! Gwen buried her face in her hands and stifled a groan. Blow that honest Mary Lou! She didn't have a cunning bone in her body!