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Jo stared out of the window in the prefect's room, not noticing the view as she was lost in thought. She hadn't expected to be head girl this year and could think of any number of girls who would do the job better than she could. Consequently her nerves had threatened to overtake her until she'd gone to tea at Freudesheim and spoken to her great grandmother.
Great Grandmamma Joey always had the best advice, even though she was slowing down a little and needed Jo to pour the tea. After a cup of tea and a slice of cake Jo left feeling much more confident than she had been when she arrived.
Now all she had to do was to preside over her first prefect's meeting and maybe her nerves would settle back down. She checked the time on her phone. There were still a few minutes to go but no one else was here yet.
No sooner had she thought it did the door open. In came twins Lottie and Chrissy.
"I'm sorry we're late," Lottie said, as they came up to the table to set down their bags. "Aunt Billie wanted to congratulate us on being sub-prefects."
"And then it was hard to get a word in edgeways," Chrissy put in, "while she was telling us about her experience being a prefect."
"We could hardly be rude to the Literature mistress," Lottie added.
Which was true. And they weren't late yet, merely not as early as Jo had been expecting everyone to be.
Next to arrive was Jackie and Steph. They were sisters, with only a year between them.
"Dad called," Jackie said, when they were barely through the door.
"Mum's come through her operation," Steph continued, "and the doctors say she's going to be fine."
"I'm so glad to hear that," Jo said with relief, her words echoed by Lottie and Chrissy. The whole family had been worried about Aunt May.
"I'm so sorry." Molly burst through the door, heard before she was seen. "I lost my phone."
"You're such a scatterbrain," said her cousin and good friend Maria as she entered behind her. "You'd lose your head if it wasn't screwed on."
"I know." Molly sighed.
"Did you find it?" Jo asked.
Molly nodded.
"I rang it," Maria explained. "She'd somehow managed to tuck it into bed. It was just as well we were allowed up to the dorms to change."
Mary and Louise, another set of twins, were next to arrive. "Those Middles," they sighed, almost simultaneously.
Jo frowned. "It's the beginning of term. They can't have been doing anything yet, surely."
Louise shook her head. "They've been spending too much time with Great Grandmamma Joey."
Oh dear. That always meant resurrecting a prank from the Dark Ages, not thinking that everyone had heard the same stories. "What did they do?" Jo asked.
"Nothing yet, but they were collecting snails," Mary replied.
Jo remembered that tale. The way Great Grandmamma Joey had described Matron's reaction to the sound of the snails on the windows at night had made Jo howl with laughter. She had thought to try it herself one day, wondering what it really sounded like, but had never actually done it.
Although she had tried other things as a Middle herself. She reddened at the memory and hoped everyone else had forgotten.
Fortunately, there was no more time for recounting memories as Bridget entered. Everyone looked at her expectantly, knowing she'd been to visit her father in the San.
"He's doing so much better," Bridget said, not needing anyone to ask the question that was written on everyone's faces. "They think they'll be able to discharge him in a couple of days."
Everyone chorused their happiness at the good news. Uncle Jamie had been a source of worry for them all over the summer holidays.
By the time Meg arrived she was right on time, although Jo was getting worried. With her cousin being Second Prefect she was hoping to lean on her.
"Sorry," Meg said, at Jo's expression, and she did look contrite. "I promised Mum I'd check on Josie. She's just started this year. It was a struggle to leave the kids when they all wanted to talk to me."
"Children, not kids," Mary piped up. "You know the rules about slang."
Meg reddened as she took her seat at Jo's right. "Sorry, I forgot."
"Don't worry." Jo smiled at her. "I'm sure we can let you off for today." She'd accidentally indulged in some slang herself earlier, so was feeling generous.
Cecilia was still studying her phone as she entered the room.
"How is your doctor?" Maria asked, significantly.
Cecilia tucked her phone away, blushing, although she she lifted her chin. "She's fine. And one day you'll be in love and find it hard to be apart when all you have is FaceTime."
Maria rolled her eyes.
"You can do what you like in your own time," Jo said, "as long as you remember to be on time." Now Cecilia and everyone after her really was late.
"Sorry," Cecilia said quietly, taking a seat at the other end of the table from Maria.
The last two prefects to arrive were Pippa and Alice.
"Sheepdogging is hard when it's a brand new girl," Alice said in explanation.
Pippa nodded as she sat beside Steph. "They don't know anything about anything. Mine even asked me who Madame is!"
There were gasps of astonishment from the other girls. They'd all grown up with stories about the Chalet School. It was hard to imagine going to a school where you knew nothing more than was what written in the prospectus. Although there were generally a few completely new girls each year, not all of the prefects had done sheepdogging duty so had been spared the worst of it.
"We should have a reference guide for new girls," Molly suggested.
"Good idea," Jackie and Lottie said at the same time.
"If you have time to write it then go ahead," Jo said, taking her own seat now everyone was here "But we have a prefect's meeting with a lot to discuss and not long before Abendessen."
And with that they all got down to business.