It is time for the field trip. A great time for any student to learn in a nice relaxing atmosphere...lol

A New Style of Education

by Karen Page

Part 14

"Years one and two in the front coach," instructed Mr Hobson. "The rest of you are in the second coach."

All our concert clothes were taken on special racks and would travel with our instruments in a large truck. I'm sure that Paula wouldn't have had trouble carrying her flute, but my French horn got very heavy after being carried for a while. The rest of the luggage had been placed in the entrance hall on big trolleys and the coach drivers had been very busy loading them since they had arrived.

"We're all going on a summer holiday. No more worries for a week or two."

We were split onto two coaches for the trip, so not quite the London bus used by Cliff Richard. Normally school trips abroad would involve an aeroplane journey. However, this time we were only going to Paris, so there would be no need for such luxury. Perhaps the next trip would mean that I get to go on my first journey into the sky.

Since we had an early crossing via the tunnel, under the English Channel, we would miss the worst of the traffic on the M1 and round the M25. I don't think I'd ever got up so early in my life and how Andy could appear jovial at three in the morning I don't know. He came very close to getting another slapping.

Our PDA's had all been left in our rooms and we were issued special versions that would link into the school computer system via publicly available wireless and wired networks. I knew the system well, as I'd helped Julia configure them over a very boring three-hour period. Doing one was interesting, doing two was amusing, but by my tenth it was getting repetitive. There were forty-two students, ten standard members of staff and six helpers. That was twenty-nine machines each. Boring! There was a legal requirement for one member of staff for every ten pupils, so it looked like the school was well inside their duty of care.

"For year one pupils, welcome to your first school trip," said Mr Hobson as we drove off. "For year two pupils this is your third trip, so this should be nothing new for you. During the trip, we will be staying at a Disney hotel. Here you will have the full use of the park. When we get through the tunnel, I will be issuing you some Euros, which should last you during your stay. I'm afraid that I'll need you to keep a tally of what you spend your money on, which you should be able to do on your PDA. During the stay, there will be a few competitions for you, including a treasure hunt to see how good you are at finding things in a strange area. None of them are dangerous, but they might stretch you and give you a better insight into where you are staying. One running competition is to find the person who gets recognised the least as English. There is no prize and no official tally is taken. Most of the hotel staff are multilingual and will attempt to speak the language of the person. So if you speak French to them and they respond in English, then you have been twigged."

"When are the concerts?" asked Jill.

"You're always the eager one to play. The first concert is going to be in the main Disneyland Park, in four days time. This is free and we've no idea who'll come. Most people will just be passing and hear us; they might leave after a few minutes to continue their fun. This concert is just for fun and you won't wear your fancy clothes for that. The main concert is going to be the evening after, in Paris."

"For the concert the other night, we had access to hairdressers to help. Will we have any such help here?"

"Don't worry; if people need help then it will be available. Now stop fretting and try and get some sleep. It's quite a long journey."

We got to the Chunnel with time to spare, so we all piled into the small eatery that they had there. We all started to get off the coach when I noticed that Jessica and Sam weren't with us. I climbed back into the coach and found Jessica refusing to get out.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"I can't do it," Jessica replied. "People will notice."

"Jessica, the school wouldn't let you out if they didn't feel you were passable."

"Really?" she asked, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

"Yes, really. Do you remember when Jill was outed and I went up to get her? Well, they wouldn't let Christopher go because he wasn't passable. You and the school have both worked hard over the last few weeks to make sure you are ready. You've worked hard on your voice and mannerisms and you do pass. What are you frightened of?"

"That someone will try to beat me up."

"You played in that concert the other day, nobody said you weren't a girl," offered Sam.

"I bet they were all in on it," refuted Jessica.

"Cobblers," I replied, starting to get frustrated with Jessica. "I was asked to meet some of the people afterwards and none of them had any ideas what happens in the school. To them you were born a girl."

"So let's get something to eat before Lewis eats his hand," giggled Sam, pushing Jessica out of her seat.

"Head up," I prompted as we exited the bus. "Smile and be confidant."

Jessica turned round, smiled and stuck her tongue out at me. I smiled; Jessica was back. We were soon flooding into the food area and loading our trays. Mr Hobson was standing by the tills as they totted up the bill for all our food. I was the last one through and saw the total price...yikes. Gah, the food was awful. Well it was better than my parents used to provide, but it wasn't a patch compared to the school. Oh how quickly my taste buds had got used to the taste of good food.

The French passport checks, which occurred in the UK, were abysmal. We approached and they just waved us through. We could have been anyone. I felt slightly upset, as I'd wanted to use my passport for the first time. The coach got onto the train and eventually we were off on the short tip under the sea. During journey under the English Channel we were given pouches with money in it. I had a look and inside mine was an extra envelope marked Beta 5. I looked inside and there was extra money and a credit card. Since I was sitting next to Helen, I silently showed her. She looked and she had the same, apart from it being marked Beta 6. We put them in our bags, safely out of sight. I presumed that the beta money was for emergency use. I hope it was something that we never got involved in. If we did, it would mean that the alpha team was in trouble and nobody wanted that.

All too soon the coach disembarked and we were travelling out of Calais. I was too excited to sleep and watched the French countryside zip past. A TGV going in the same direction as we were, passed us with ease and disappeared into the distance. A farmer on a tractor attended his crops. I suppose I'd have seen none of this if we'd flown.

A few hours later the countryside was left behind, replaced by the concrete of the outskirts of Paris. My face was glued to the window as I watched aeroplanes queuing to land at Charles de Gaulle airport. We must nearly be there. I suppose we were, but it still took forty minutes till we were entering the outskirts of the Disney complex.

"Since we have had to change the dates, there wasn't much room in the hotels, therefore we will be split over three different ones. Years one and two, so basically you lot, are in the Newport Bay hotel. Year three is in the Sequoia Lodge. Year four will be in the New York and lastly year five is in the Disneyland Paris hotel. The staff will be divided between the hotels. Rachel, Dan, Mrs Russell and myself will be staying in this hotel. Due to you all being under the age of consent, the hotels have put in two single beds and a bunk bed into each room. Year one has eight girls and two boys, so Lewis and Brian will be lucky enough to have their own room."

Yes! At least I'll be in with Helen. It's a shame we won't be in the same bed, but I'll survive.

Mr Hobson handled all our check in details at the hotel reception. Things took slightly longer as the staff had only prepared two sets of card keys per room and five were needed; one for each pupil and a spare for himself. When he eventually had the keys, he came across and we all crowded round, eager to get our keys.

"Here are your keys," he said giving little packs to each person. "With them you have a map of the two parks and tickets to get into the parks. What I suggest you do is take your luggage to your rooms and go to one of the theme parks for lunch. As long as you stick to the hotel, the two parks and the Disney Village, then you can go without a teacher being present. However, you must inform a teacher where you are. So say you are going to the studios, you must inform the teacher that you are going there, that you have got there and when you are leaving, where you are going. You can do that using your PDA. The PDA's should show the positions of yourself, the others students and the teachers. Any questions?"

"Evening meals?" asked Helen. "Are we making our own arrangements, or do we eat all together?"

"Fifty-eight might be a bit much for a single place to book, but any walk in place might be fun, just to see their faces. Let me think about it, but why don't you try to all eat together with your year tonight."

Helen and I were sharing a room with Jill and Anna, so we all grabbed our luggage and headed to the room. When we got in, Anna went rushing to the bunk bed and asked, "Can I sleep on the top bunk? I've never slept in a bunk bed before."

We all laughed, it was hers. Jill took the bottom bunk, which left Helen and I in the two single beds.

"Why don't we leave the unpacking," Helen suggested. "Let's explore."

"How do we get to the park?" asked Jill. "Do we get a bus or something?"

"It looks close enough to walk," I replied looking at the map. "It should also help us get our bearings. Let's get the others and go as all ten of us."

We were soon traipsing through the Disney Village towards the theme park. I'd never been abroad before; in fact I don't remember ever going on holiday before, so this was all new.

"Studios or the main park?" asked Brian.

"Oh the main park," Anna and Sam shouted at the same time, their excitement bubbling to the forefront.

We passed the Disneyland Paris hotel and were soon entering the park. I remembered little else of that day, it was all too exciting and it all seemed like a dream. The rides were fun, the food expensive and the company great.

"Are you okay?" asked Helen as we lay quietly chatting. "You've seemed very quiet."

"Is it your first time abroad?" queried Anna from the top bunk.

"Yeah, it doesn't seem real."

"It isn't real," giggled Jill. "It's Disney."

"You know what I mean," I sighed. "I just expect to wake up and find my Dad cooking."

"Do you miss your parents cooking?" asked Jill.

Helen spluttered and I gave a small laugh. "Actually I do a bit. It was awful and the food is much better at the school, but still I miss it."

"Because it was something your parents were doing for you?"

"I suppose," I said thinking about it. My thinking didn't last long as my eyes got heavy and I drifted into dreams of fanciful places.

* * *

As my eyes fluttered open I saw Helen smiling at me from the bed opposite. I smiled and closed my eyes, enjoying the laziness of a holiday. I had no schoolwork. Yippee! I was in two concerts but they were nothing, they were fun.

"Come on sleepy bones," said Jill as she pulled back my duvet.

"Get off," I said pulling them back over me. "I've not had my morning cuddle yet."

"Not with Jill and Anna in the room," protested Helen. "Anyway, the bed is too small."

Breakfast was buffet style in the hotel restaurant. I was glad I'd had continental style breakfasts at the school or I'd have been lost. The Pain au Chocolat just hit the spot. I think the French had something correct; you should defiantly have chocolate at breakfast.

As breakfast continued, we were joined by others from year one and two. Since we were down for the start of breakfast, we'd managed to grab several tables. I think we were all still operating on school time, where we got up early for jogging or cycling. France, being an hour ahead of England, made us seem less like mad English people.

"Today is another free day," said Mr Hobson as he joined us. "Tomorrow we will have a small competition, which I hope you find fun. Tuesday will be mostly free, but in the evening I have reserved a room for us to practice for Wednesday's and Thursday's concerts."

The day was fun and I was able to relax until we went on Space Mountain II. Oh my goodness, how could anyone find that relaxing. However, I wasn't the worst. Sam looked slightly ill.

"Are you okay?" asked Jessica as we entered the warm sunshine.

"I think so," Sam replied. "Can we sit down for a moment? My legs feel like jelly."

"That’s not a problem," we agreed. We all sat down, while Lewis went to raid one of the mobile ice-cream stands.

"Hey, where's mine?" asked Helen, trying to keep a straight face.

"And mine?" quickly added Brian.

"Okay," he laughed. "What does everyone want?"

We never got the ice-creams as Jessica suddenly turned white and uttered, "What are they doing here?"

"Who?" I asked, grabbing Helen and positioning ourselves in front of Jessica.

"I just saw my parents,"

"Which ones are yours?" asked Helen.

"That’s them," replied Jessica pointing towards the ice-cream stall. "It looks like they have brought their nephew and niece."

"Okay, I want Jessica, Sam, Brian, Lewis, Emma and Paula to go to Disneyland Studios. That will keep Jessica safe. Helen, Jill, Anna and I will keep a discrete eye on them so we can warn you if they are heading towards the studios."

"We'll need to warn Wendy," pointed out Helen as we followed them towards the spinning teacups.

"The way Wendy feels about her parents, that isn't a good idea," I replied. "I think it would be best to tell Tracy first and then possibly Yvonne."

"Doesn't the PDA show where they are?" suggested Anna.

"Duh! Of course it does," I replied, going into a different screen. "This is going to take about twenty seconds as it uses a slow system."

"Slower than?" asked Jill.

"Never mind," I replied, wishing I'd kept my mouth shut. Helen gave me an inquisitive look and I just gave her a weak smile. I knew I would get asked when we were alone.

"So?" asked Helen impatiently.

"It looks like Wendy is with Yvonne and a few others in year three. They are currently on the train that goes round the park," I replied.

"Where's Tracy?"

"She's not far away from the next stop. If they get off she will be able to intercept and they will be quite far from her parents."

"I'll ring Yvonne first," decided Helen. "That way they can get off the train."

"Yvonne, it is Helen, Jessica has just seen her parents in the park. I've got Jessica and some others in year one to go to the studios, so things stay calm...If you get off the next stop, you will be at the opposite side to where they are heading and Tracy is nearby if you need her."

I was frustrated as I could only hear one side of the conversation, but it seemed that Yvonne understood all too well what Wendy was likely to do and would try to stop that happening. As Helen phoned Tracy, I decided it would be best to inform Stacy.

"Hi Stacy," I started.

"What's up, Jayne?" she said, sounding all business like.

"How did you know something was up?"

"Because you wouldn't have rung me otherwise," she laughed.

"Wendy and Jessica's parents are in Disneyland Park. I've sent Jessica with the rest of year one to the studios. I'm following them with Helen, Jill and Anna to make sure they don't go near them. Helen has rung Yvonne to make sure Wendy stays away. She has also warned Tracy."

"Good work," she replied. "Keep following them and ring me back in fifteen minutes. I want to find out where they are staying and for how long."

Stacy had rung off and I didn't have a chance to ask her how she was going to find out the details. I presumed she was going to ring the hotels in the area to see if they were registered.

"Tracy said she was going to speak with Yvonne, but wasn't going to intrude unless required. Andrea, as the team leader, has decided that they will go to the studios."

Fifteen minutes later I rang Stacy back, "Hi," she answered. "Exactly on schedule. I'm glad I'm only in the Disneyland hotel. It didn't take me so long to get back and get changed."

"Get changed?" I thought to myself. "What is she talking about?"

"I presume it's just Helen, Jill and Anna with you?"

"Yes."

"I wish Anna and Jill weren't there," sighed Stacy, "but I think they are learning quickly to keep silent about certain things. Where are you and where do you think you're heading?""

"We are near the castle," I replied. "I think they plan to go through it and out towards Main Street."

"Let me know if there is a change of plan," she said. "I won't be on my PDA, but am actually on channel Beta 1. I think you can set your PDA to interface?"

"I was told that six student PDA's had been tweaked, including mine."

"Great, see you in a few minutes. Please don't laugh."

"So?" asked Helen as I hung up.

"Stacy says not to laugh," I replied. I turned to Jill and Anna, "You know we don't talk about the day when you joined the school?"

"We understand it isn't something to discuss," Jill replied. "Why?"

"There might be other things that you see, that you might want to 'not see'," I suggested.

"Huh?" came out of Anna's mouth.

"Never mind," said Helen, trying not to laugh.

I looked where she was looking and saw Stacy, decked out like a Disney employee, standing at the end of the bridge. It looked like she had a clipboard.

"My lips are sealed," said Anna, finally understanding what I was saying. "Where did she get that uniform from?"

"That is something you shouldn't be asking, as you haven't seen her," replied Helen, finally getting back control of her humour. "Anna, why don't you come with me? While Jayne stays round here, just in case they decide to go back."

I watched as Helen and Anna walked past Jessica's parents and sat on the curb at the little roundabout. They blended in, as if they were waiting to watch the afternoon parade.

Stacy had engaged them and it looked like she was conducting a survey. I looked around and saw Wendy heading on her own towards her parents. "Jill, it looks like we have trouble," I said moving to intercept Wendy.

"Oh, shit," came out of Jill's mouth.

"Hi Yvonne," I said, answering my ringing phone. "Yes, I know Wendy has run off, she is just heading towards her parents at the castle. I'm intercepting. Okay, see you in a few."

I quickly hung off, moving towards Wendy who had stopped and was looking at her parents. Mrs Barnes reached down and lovingly hugged her niece and nephew. That was too much for Wendy and tears silently started to trickle down her face.

"Come on Wendy," I said putting my arms round her. "Let's go."

"I should be with them," sobbed Wendy. "Richard and I should be enjoying ourselves with them. We should be getting those hugs?"

"Would you really like to be William again?" gently asked Jill.

"No," uttered Wendy, looking horrified at the idea.

I noticed that Stacy had finished interviewing Wendy's parents, who had moved on towards Helen and Anna. Stacy didn't move and started conducting another survey, keeping an eye on Wendy. There was no way Wendy would ever get past her to her parents. I think Wendy realised that.

"Come on Wendy," I said, turning her round and headed off in the opposite direction. "Yvonne and the others are worried about you."

"She's going to kill me," she said.

"I doubt it," I replied. "However, she will be upset that you broke the rules. What do you think your parents would have done if they had spotted you and worked out who you were?"

"I don't know."

"If they were upset, what do you think it would do if they outed the whole school?"

"Oh my goodness," Wendy uttered in horror. "I didn't think of that."

"Look, you miss your parents. I miss mine," I said, sitting down on a bench.

"At least Jill still gets to see hers," lashed out Wendy.

"That was uncalled for," I replied.

"I might see Julia around school, but I don't get to be with her. She teaches me computer studies, but I don't see her other than that. What do you think it's like, seeing one of your parent's everyday, but being treated like a stranger? Sometimes I want to reach out and ask for a hug from her, but I know I never can. It is like being alone in a crowded room. You are apart from your parents and that must hurt. I am reminded of my Dad everyday."

"Oh," said Wendy, but Jill didn't stop.

"You know your parents, you can send them emails or letters and they reply. I can't send one to my Dad. I have no mother. She was killed after a drunk driver lost control and rammed into hers. I sat in the hospital, my sister in a coma, holding my mothers hand as her life slowly dissolved. I hope it is many years before you have to attend one of your parent's funerals."

"I'm sorry," said Wendy, sounding rather small.

I looked up and saw the year three students hovering in the distance, waiting for us to finish what was being discussed. Tim and Andrea were blocking Yvonne from approaching. Jill wasn't finished.

"You have a sibling at the school who you can talk to. You can share your past, your good and bad times. I sat in the evenings holding my sisters hand while she lay motionless in a coma, unaware that her mother was dead and her Dad was back. Unaware that we would never be able to be a family again, that she would never be able to tell her mother that she loved her. She would never be able to say goodbye. I told her, while she slept, all sorts about how Dad was back, unaware that my Dad was Julia. I don't know how I could be so blind. It took over a week of constant living with Dad for me to find out, and that was by accident."

"I'm so sorry," sobbed Wendy. "I didn't think of anybody but me."

"Look Wendy, we all miss our parents. I don't think we would be human if we didn't. I know it seems cruel that we can't see them."

"I know why, it just didn't stop me taking the opportunity when I saw it."

"So you saw your parents. Does it make you feel better?"

"No," she admitted. "It just made me feel worse. As I stood there, watching them, I know I could never go back. I'm lost to them."

"You aren't lost to them. It is important to you and to them, to stay in touch. Jessica said how much your parents valued your emails; you still mean a lot to them. She also said that you had cut down the frequency of messages, why?"

"It is difficult to talk about things, without telling them or revealing that you live as a girl."

"How would they react?" asked Jill.

"Till I talked to Jessica, I thought they might be okay. However, it seems my Dad thought Richard was a wimp and I'm not impressed with the way he reacted. At least he didn't beat him up."

"Perhaps one day the rules will change."

"I hope so," responded Wendy, wiping her face. "The school has given me so much; I play music and learn at an advanced level free of fear. I've had the ability to find the real me in a safe environment and a place where I can transition without others caring. Yet there is the price we all pay. We leave our families bereft of any items to remember them by, such as a photograph. We then are told that we can no longer see them, not just till we are eighteen, but forever. That total separation from who we were is harsh on people who transition, but what about those who don't? Yvonne was born a girl and she is stuck in the same situation as me."

"Have you talked to Tracy about this?" I asked.

"Many times, she says it is for the best. It is easier for everyone that there is a single rule. One rule is less likely to be broken. Everyone knows why the rule is there and nobody would break it."

"You nearly did."

"Oh god," she moaned, bursting into tears again.

I left her with Jill so I could talk to Yvonne. None of the year three students were looking very happy. Yvonne just looked miserable.

"Okay," I said as they gathered round. "Wendy is feeling very low at the moment and she will need all your support. Yes, she went to look for her parents and yes, she saw them but they didn't see her. She didn't approach them and no harm to the school occurred. Wendy, on the other hand, is feeling very guilty and I don't want a repeat of what Jessica tried. She needs love and understanding, not chastisement."

I took Yvonne to one side and said, "She thought seeing her parents would make her feel better about things, it did the exact opposite, she has realised how much she has lost, but Jill did a good job of reminding her how much she still has. I recommend that you both see Tracy for a chat over a hotdog. She will be at the Restaurant en Coulisse at the studios in a few minutes."

"Thank you," said a relived Yvonne.

"Glad to help," I replied. "But I need to get back to Helen, who is following the Barnes family. I recommend that you all go to the studios straight away." I looked at my PDA and saw that Helen was still sitting where I'd seen her sit earlier. I laughed to myself as I could just see their faces if the Barnes had sat next to them. That would have been ironic. "I recommend you catch the railroad express back to the entrance, as they are all sat at the other end of the castle. They probably wouldn't see you if you snuck down the side passage by Main Street, but it is best not to chance anything."

Jill and I quickly made our way through the castle and I almost burst out laughing. Sat next to Helen was the Barnes family. If there was a God I think he has a strange sense of humour.

"I don't believe it," laughed Jill.

"Nor me," I replied. "This should be fun. We are going to have to watch the parade so that the Barnes's don't get suspicious."

It was starting to get busy and I was glad that Helen and Anna had put bags down so we could sit next to them. I ended up sitting next to Mrs Barnes.

"Isn't this great," I said to Mrs Barnes in French.

"Do you speak English?" she asked slowly and loudly.

I cringed when she did that. Were English people really that bad?

"A little," I said trying to speak English with a French accent. I sounded awful and I hope that they didn't twig. I heard a slight snigger from Helen, who I nudged.

"Do you know what time the parade starts?"

"In fifteen minutes," I replied. As I answered, a Disney worker asked us to put our feet back. I had to stop myself from laughing, it was Stacy. What was she doing still dressed like that?

"Thanks," replied Mrs Barnes.

"You have two lovely children, very well behaved."

"Thank you, but you don't look much more than a child yourself."

"Oh, how do you say it, I'm flattered."

"They are my niece and nephew. We have three sons of our own. Two of them go away to school and we had heard they would be in Disney today, so we came across to see if we could see them. They are both in an orchestra."

"You must be so proud," I replied. Surely Wendy wasn't so stupid as to tell her parents where to find us.

"Oh, we are. I'm so gutted that we haven't seen them. It was going to be a surprise."

"Surely the son that told you would know you were coming?" I asked, trying to find out if it was Jessica or Wendy.

"Oh they didn't tell me," she replied. "It was one of the teachers that sent me a message."

One of the teachers? That didn't make any sense. Why would one of the teachers do that?

"Perhaps the teacher was wrong?"

"They must have been, but we've had such a great day."

"So what are your sons like?"

Mr Barnes who had been listening said, "William and Richard both go to this special music school. William, the older boy, is doing so well that he has taken some of his exams two or three years early. I was a bit worried that Richard wouldn't fit in, but this teacher said that he'd found his feet and was excelling at school. Richard wasn't turning out as I expected, but now he is gone, I am missing him as much as I am William. I can't wait till they're both finished at school, so I can see them again."

"They sound wonderful," I replied. "Does Richard know you miss him?"

"No," he replied thoughtfully. "I never did tell him. It might be too late though, as I said a lot of things that probably hurt him. I never supported him when he needed it the most and I can never forgive myself for that."

"Don't fret, dear," said Mrs Barnes, laying her hand on her husbands leg. "If we don't see him today, then you can write him a note tomorrow."

As the parade finished, we saw Brenda, Fran and Ingrid start to follow the Barnes. I thought Andy came on the trip, not Brenda?

"I thought your cover might have been blown," said Stacy as she came up to us.

"Brenda?"

"She thought three girls might fit in better than two girls and a boy. I saw you chatting with Wendy's parents. Did you find out anything?"

"They said that a teacher at the school had told them that they would be here and that they were here just for the day"

"I'd got that they were here just for the day. Are you sure about a teacher telling them?"

"Very, I double checked. The same teacher is telling them how they're getting on."

"Thank you," said Stacy. "I must go and get changed, before I'm roped into doing something else! I will sort things out from here. Why don't you go and join Jessica and the rest of year one and three. I'm sure she will be relieved to know that all is okay."

As we made our way out, Helen said, "We don't mention what Mr and Mrs Barnes said to anyone. If there is a teacher telling the parents, we daren't tip them off."

"I think we've got the hang of not saying anything about what we see when we are with you," laughed Anna.

"You don't think it's Julia?" asked Jill.

"I doubt it," I replied, knowing what happened after the dress rehearsal, "but it is probably best that you don't mention it."

"I wouldn't have a chance, even if I wanted to," sighed Jill.

As we walked towards the studios, our PDA's pinged. We all pulled them out, Jill got there first. This was rather like a Wild West shootout; who could draw the fastest.

"We're all going to eat at Annette's diner at seven," she said.

"Where's that?" asked Anna.

"That’s in the Disney Village," I said. "We passed it this morning; it looks like a 1950's diner. Something you might see in 'Back to the Future'."

"What?"

"Sorry, my parents like to watch old movies. Er, 'Happy Days'?"

"Nope."

"You'll see," I laughed.

We found the others just before they went into Cinimagique. Having been tortured with old films, as well as soap opera's, I felt quite at home with the special montage."

"That made a nice relaxing change," said Helen as we came out. "We've been running around all day, so it was good to sit for a little while."

"I know what you mean," I said. "Even when we were sitting for the parade, we were constantly in action."

Jill turned to Paula and asked, "Did you do the back lot tour?"

"Not yet," she replied. "We did the Aerosmith ride three times. Lewis and Brian thought it was wonderful."

"And you didn't?" laughed Brian.

"Okay, I liked it too," she replied. "Just don't tell Emma."

Emma, who was standing next to Paula, just stuck out her tongue. "Jayne, next time you setup PDA's for trips here or any theme parks, can you integrate with the parks queuing system. It would be really cool if we knew how long each queue was."

Unfortunately there was a ninety minute queue, which we joined. Since it was a popular attraction, it would have been best if we had done it first thing in the morning. It was well worth the wait though and I was glad I was sitting on the right. Poor Jill, who was sat on the left, got soaked.

"Thank you for earlier," said Wendy as we went towards the exit. She'd been sitting a few rows back, so we hadn't had the opportunity to talk till now.

"Hey, it added a little bit of excitement to the day," I laughed, trying to quell her nerves.

"Did you see Stacy?" she giggled.

"I think it's best you forget how she was dressed," I suggested.

"Don't worry; I've been at the school too long to talk about things like that.

The rest of the afternoon passed without incident and the excitement of earlier soon faded from our conscious thoughts. We were the first to get to Annette's diner and noticed that it was virtually empty.

"Can we have a table for eighteen?" Tim asked. Just as he spoke years two, four and five turned up and the teachers also came. "Actually can you make that fifty-eight?"

"Fifty-eight?" the waitress squeaked, almost falling off her roller-skates. "Aren't you a bit young to be booking that many?"

"Can't you fit us in?" he asked innocently, his voice full of confidence from completing two years at Hayfield Hall.

"Of course," she replied, regaining a little composure. "Why don't we spread you down the left hand side, filtering towards the back?"

As we started to sit, Stacy appeared and said, "Jessica and Sam, why don't you go and sit with Yvonne and Wendy?"

"Thanks," said Jessica, her eye's lighting up.

"Thank you," said Wendy. "I don't think you know how much this means to me."

"I think I do," she replied with a laugh. She then turned to Helen and me, "Since each table seats six, why don't you sit with me and Brenda? It will then let Paula, Emma, Brian, Lewis, Anna and Jill sit together."

"Okay," I replied. "Who else is sitting with us?"

"Are you okay with Fran and Ingrid joining us?"

"Not at all," I laughed. "After today, it might be fun."

Each table had a link to the juke box. We could put in money and they would play the track we asked. I was tempted, but saw others busy selecting tracks and worked out there would probably be enough music to last till we were long gone.

"So, did they behave this afternoon?" I asked Brenda.

"Yep, we had lots of fun following them. I thought that they might head towards the studios, but that didn't happen. They seemed more interested in making sure their niece and nephew were happy and entertained."

"Let's hope they have given up and gone home," Helen replied. "Sorry that you all got involved and it spoiled your fun."

"It was a lot more fun doing what we did," said Ingrid. "The rides are great, but doing what we did, probably made me produce more adrenaline than any ride could ever do."

I was half way through eating a burger when I heard a voice ask, "Can we have a table for four?"

"That sounded like Mr Barnes," I said to the rest of the people on the table.

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