The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2284 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

The weekend passed and we were finally free of Cindy who was collected on the Saturday afternoon. We explained to Brenda why she was limping and she rolled her eyes and said, “She is a tad headstrong.” As understatements go, that went.

Danni was like a lost soul all day Sunday until I got Trish to go out and play some football with her. They did for about twenty minutes before the rain started again and I was convinced the god I didn’t believe in, had it in for me and sixty million others. Any more of the wet stuff and we’d all be going down with foot rot or some exotic disease of amphibians.

I sat with her at bed time and talked her to sleep, throwing a blue light around her to keep her safe. When I got to my bed, I was exhausted and asleep before Simon came out of the bathroom. I awoke refreshed, it was sunny and the birds were singing—ha, had you fooled. I awoke feeling like I’d been awake half the night, and I don’t mean Sir Lancelot. It was dark and dreary and moments after I got out of bed, it chucked it down. I wondered if Jaguar did amphibious cars while I was in the shower. Crazy isn’t it, I curse the rain while taking a shower—hypocritical or what? That’s humans for you. I’m not aware dormice have the same failing.

Dressed and hair dried, I roused the girls including Danni and got them showering. I started early because I knew doing their hair would take me some time and suddenly assistance arrived in the shape of Julie and Phoebe who took care of Danni and Livvie while I did Trish and Meems.

Danni looked really nice in her uniform, preferring the cardigan to the blazer, with her plaid skirt and green opaque tights she looked every bit the schoolgirl. Julie had done her makeup—very subtle but eye catching. I almost forced her to eat breakfast and she was promptly sick. I finally compromised with a milk shake which did stay down. They gathered all their bits together and I drove them to school. Part of me wanted to stay with Danni, she looked so nervous but I knew if I did, she’d never deal with her nerves.

I left her with the school secretary who assured her no one would cause her any troubles and that her makeup looked really clever. I came away feeling like I’d abandoned her to the wolves—except there were more of those in her previous school than I expected to see here. As I left I saw Cindy arrive and she went off in search of her friend, so I knew there was at least one friendly face there besides her younger sisters.

I kept my mobile close at hand all day. Needless to say it didn’t ring and my next contact with the girls was when I went to collect them. Danni looked tired but relieved. Cindy and one or two others were standing with her and they seemed to be on good terms. When I got a report of it, the day had been quite good but very nerve racking. I reminded her that new places are but that there are opportunities as well as hazards.

Danni related how her sisters had kept an eye on her from a distance during the morning and afternoon breaks, and also at lunch time but Cindy had introduced her to a couple of girls and she seemed to fit in reasonably well. She was amused by how they grumbled about boys: boyfriends, brothers—older and younger, fathers and other male relatives and then got on to criticising girls.

“What did you expect, it’s not as if you haven’t spent time with other girls before.”

“Yeah, but it was all so negative.”

“So what do boys talk about—apart from sex and football?”

“Okay, they talk about girls, especially the pretty ones or those with big boobs, and they talk about sport.”

“The girls weren’t talking about the recent Olympics, then?”

“Very funny. They talked about the soap operas, I said I didn’t watch them. They thought I was very strange. None of them wanted to do any sport and they avoided it until Cindy told them I was a good football player. For a moment I thought they’d guessed about me, but they said some girl in year four was the best player last year. Cindy told them it was my sister they were talking about.

“One of them laughed and said, ‘not the brain?’ so it seems Trish has a bit of a reputation in the older years.”

“Don’t tell her, it’ll make her worse,” I instructed.

“Did you get your timetable?”

“Yeah, I can play soccer until Easter, then it’s tennis or swimming.”

“Okay, are you going to try for the team?”

“What the soccer team?”

“Yes.”

“I dunno, I’d be displacing someone, wouldn’t I? That wouldn’t make me any friends.”

“I don’t know. They know you have some experience of it—I told the headmistress.”

“Gee thanks, Mummy.”

“She wanted to know about you.”

“We have a games lesson tomorrow, maybe I should do hockey?”

“That’s up to you, but I suspect you’ll be expected to play soccer—just don’t turn up and do a David Beckham.”

“What, like look stupid and flash me tats?”

One day I’ll murder these smart alecs. “No, showing off, playing keepie up or whatever they call it, like I’ve seen you do in the garden.”

“I haven’t done that for ages, Mummy, probably couldn’t do more than forty or fifty now.”

“Just don’t do it at all, remember you’re supposed to be a girl now, so don’t go charging in like a deranged elephant.”

“Won’t they want me to do my best?”

“Yes, but if the side you’re on wins by twenty nine goals, they’re going to suspect something, aren’t they?”

“I wasn’t going to score more than fifteen goals...”

“Oh well that’s all right then.”

“In each half,” she chuckled so must be feeling happier with things, though dealing with a girls’ changing room might prove a bit daunting, it was for me.

“How was the more academic side of it?”

“What the soccer?”

“No, you silly goose, the classroom aspect.”

“Yeah, it was okay. It wasn’t as hard as the stuff I did with that tutor lady.”

“That was because you’d got a bit behind with your previous school, so she had to bring you up to speed.”

“It was okay, even the sewing class wasn’t too bad. I’ve got to do some embroidery for them to mark. I told them about my skirt and they want me to take it in with a letter from you saying it was all my own work. I can get some credits for that.”

“Just as well Cindy wanted to sew much of last week.”

“Yeah, but she’s not in my sewing class.”

“Oh, why not?”

“They think I’m better than her,” she blushed as she said this.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t sure I agreed with her, they were about the same only with different strengths and weaknesses.

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, I heard two teachers talking about me.”

“Oh?” I wondered what this would mean.

“Yeah, they said to watch out for the new girl, she’s the brain’s sister.”

“Oops, your reputation precedes you.”

“Yeah,” she laughed, “they said it was because they’ve got that clever mother, the one who’s a professor at the university.”

“Oh dear, they can’t even get that right, can they?”

“Nope—perhaps they should get out more?” Danni said as she slipped away still chuckling at her remark.