The four members of staff were bombarded with questions as they walked through the door.

"Calm down," bristled Mr Hobson, positioning some seats at the front of the room. "We can't answer questions if we get them all at once. Let's deal with some fundamentals first and then we'll take it from there. Emma, you look like you're about to explode if you don't ask first, so ask away."

"Are we never able to see our families again? I mean, I know we are at the school fulltime till we finish year five, but I mean afterwards?"

"Correct," he sadly replied. "I'll explain more in a bit."

Instead of the expected uproar there was silence. I squeezed Helen's hand, knowing how hard this was for her. She squeezed back. She wouldn't cry now, but I knew she would as soon as we got to our bedrooms.

"Does this rule also apply to The Manor?" Melissa asked plaintively, breaking the silence.

All of the students looked up at the staff with sad or stunned eyes, waiting for the response, dreading the answer they now suspected.

"Yes," Mr Moore replied bluntly. "I will never see my daughter again, either."

Erika jumped to her feet, and I suspect she wanted to throw herself into her dad's arms, but was quickly dragged back to her chair by her friends.

I was surprised there wasn't a revolt, but we just sat there, pondering how this news was changing our lives. Had we become so conditioned to the ways of the school that we knew emotional outbreaks wouldn't help, but a calm response worked better? Perhaps, or maybe a lot were in shock and things would be worse later. I hoped they weren't, as I love this school.

"I know this has been a shock to a lot of you," started Mr Hobson, interrupting my thoughts. "There are many reasons for this rule, but let's take a simple example. Jessica, how would you feel if you had to go back to being Richard?"

"I couldn't," she said in horror.

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to. Okay, so if you went home as Jessica, how would your parents feel about it?"

"Dad would kill me. Well, not literally, I hope. He would certainly disown me."

"Would he keep the knowledge to himself?"

"I doubt it. He would probably moan to his friends about it."

"What would happen if the press got hold of it?"

"There would be a political stink," I said, when Jessica didn't respond. "The school would probably be closed due to rightwing pressure."

"Like what nearly happened in America," Melisa muttered.

"The move of the school?" I asked.

"You know about that?" asked Ellen, sounding surprised.

"How much do you think some of your students know about things you don't expect?" Mr Hobson queried, trying to sound innocent.

"Too many," laughed Mr Moore. "That's the problem with having schools filled with exceptionally talented students."

"Melisa, how much do you know about the school move?" queried Ellen.

"Not much. We were the first year to join after the move. The older students won't talk about it, but from what I can gather, it wasn't a fun time."

"No, it wasn't. All I will say is that a lot of the students were filled with fear. Due to a breakdown in security, we had to leave our old school very quickly and we were homeless for three months. There was no longer the safety that the school gives to learn about ourselves. The students and staff vowed that they would never let that happen again."

"What happened?"

"I wasn't there then, nor was Mr Moore, so we don't know the full story."

"I do," said Mr Hobson. "I was drafted in to help. I think it is something you should all hear, so get comfortable."

"You do know the time, don't you?" interrupted Rachel, knowing Mr Hobson could ramble on.

"Yes, I know it is way past curfew already, but this is important. Okay, to tell the story I really need to go back to the beginning of 2002, when the school was in a small sleepy town called Marshallville, in Ohio. In England we'd probably call it a village, as it only had a population of just over 800 people."

Over the next hour, Mr Hobson related a story of betrayal and the fight for survival. At the end, most of us were numb with shock. There had been a lot of tears and anger over that hour, but one thing everybody understood was the need for secrecy.

"Poor Lizy," were the first words spoken. This was met by near universal nods.

"I'm glad I'm at a school which looks after its pupils," uttered Emma. "It will be hard not to see my family again, but that is something I'm willing to agree to. It will be harder for people like Paula, who don't plan on changing their gender."

"Gregory hadn't changed his gender and look at what havoc he caused," replied Paula, giving Emma a friendly nudge for trying to help her partner. "It has to be one rule for everybody. It is fairer like that."

"What happened to Gregory?" asked Melissa.

"He's attending High School in his home town of Idaho Falls," answered Ellen. "He fell in with a bad crowd and his dad had to bail him out a few times. He never achieved the full potential, which he was showing here. He knows he's hurt a lot of people and is now trying to do better."

"How-"

"How do I know all this? It's because a friend of mine is his psychiatrist. We've arranged for him to attend a local university where I'll take over his care. He doesn't know I'm attached to the school, or it would be too much of a risk. He was a pupil at the school and the school doesn't stop caring just because you aren't at the school. He has lots of issues, which I can't talk about. I just hope we can get him back."

"Now off to bed," ordered Mr Hobson. "It is very late, so do it silently. You don't want to wake the rest of the school."

Helen and I were the last ones to leave the year-one common-room, making sure that all of our year, especially Jill, would be okay. It had been a strange day and I wondered if tomorrow, well really later today, would be any better.

As soon as the door to Helen's bedroom closed, she fell into my arms and burst into tears. I didn't need to ask what was wrong. I knew she was missing her parents and the conversation we'd just had, reminded her how much she had lost. She had gained other things, but was it enough? I couldn't really answer that, only Helen could and there was no way I was going to ask.

Eventually she started to squirm. "Go to the toilet," I ordered. As she reluctantly trotted off, I called after her, "And get ready for bed. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As she complied, I went to my room to get myself ready. I knew what would help distract her mind and chose the appropriate clothes from the right-hand side of my wardrobe. I just hoped that she was feeling distracted enough by the morning. Tomorrow would be hard enough without special requests.

Morning arrived far too early, primarily because we forgot to reset the alarm and it woke us up for our morning cycle. I'd persuaded Helen to try morning runs, after Christmas, just to make a change. The bit of morning exercise had become somewhat of a habit, so even with as little sleep as we'd had, it still felt good to get out into the bracing winter air.

At breakfast we all looked tired, but the poor Americans looked like death. They'd looked fine when we all went to bed. Since it was Mix-up Monday, I didn't recognise a lot of them. Since they were very good at it, I guess they started in year A.

"I think we need nametags," Christopher (Helen) said heartily.

"Are you okay?" I asked Bill (Jill) as he appeared with Alan (Anna). It looked like they were both holding each other together.

"We'll survive. Last night was a very heavy session and got more out of me than all the months of therapy. Do you think everyone will be okay with what was said last night?"

"Last night was a shock for everyone. Only time will tell if anybody has issues. I'll talk to the others later."

We could tell who people were by where they sat at the tables and I pulled up a list of aliases for year D. This was going to be confusing. There were two empty places where Emma and Paula normally sat. I was beginning to fear the worst and was about to make a call to make sure they were okay, when they appeared. Both as boys. This was a big improvement over the last Mix-up Monday, where Emma hadn't felt able to join in.

I jumped up and rushed across to Emma, sorry, Ian and gave him a hug. "Are you okay?"

"This will be hard, but I think I'll be okay. I've had quite some time to think about things and I think I'll live for one day."

As we all tucked into our breakfast, Clara (Paul) commented, "Wow, Jayne. You seem to do so well as a girl. Since you all have only been doing this for a few months, you do it very well."

Rykan (Melissa) stepped in immediately. "Clara, say you're sorry immediately. For all you know, that could be very upsetting."

"I'm fine," I sighed. "There is no need to apologise. I'm still trying to work things out. I've been told I am more passable as a girl than a boy, but I don't think being a girl is for me. I was born David and I don't really want to change, even though I would probably fit in better. I can do a very masculine David, but that doesn't feel right, either. Heck, I had to do boy lessons to achieve it."

"I'm sorry. I'm always talking before I think. I was just trying to compliment you."

"I know," I replied, putting on a disarming smile. "I tell you what. I will be fully David tomorrow, so you can see what I'm like."

"You don't have to."

"I know I don't, but it would be good for me to not forget all the lessons I've learned."

"We're off to London tomorrow, to have a practice in the hall we will sing at," mentioned Rykan.

"I've never been out fully as David," I mused. "I wonder if it would be possible to tag along?"

"If you do get permission, then I'll try to come as Christopher," said Christopher. "It is time he had a trip outside. I'll have the check with Rachel, to make sure I'm passable enough."

This discussion carried on till after breakfast. It seemed that none of us 'Brits' had ever been into London, apart from the concert. As we were leaving for our first lesson, we walked passed Mr Hobson.

"Sir," said Christopher, attracting his attention. "It seems the American students are having a practice in London tomorrow and then doing a bit of sightseeing. Since none of us have seen London, can we tag along?"

"Let me have a think about it," was his eventual reply. "I'll let you know at lunch."

Lessons were obviously more packed and the American students thought some of the teaching practices were a bit strange, but they soon got into the swing of things. It was during my solo computer lesson with Julia when things got interesting, well for me anyway. While waiting for Julia I realised wasn't alone. Instead a small boy joined me, also apparently waiting for Julia.

"Hello," I said, surprised for once that I wasn't one of the smallest in the school.

"I'm er, I'm Jeff."

"I'm Jayne, though I normally go by the name David. Are you supposed to be here, little one?"

"Ouch!" I said, as I was kicked in the shins. "What was that for?"

"Sorry, I hate that nickname. Look, my name is normally Matilda, and if you want to call me something else, then Munchkin is my normal nickname."

"Ah, sorry. I didn't know your male name. Matilda is a name that I've heard of. You're supposed to be a bit of a wiz on computers and bypassing other security systems," I said with a slight yawn.

"It often gets me into trouble," he agreed. "Are you okay, you look a bit tired?"

"Last night was a hard night."

"Is it true that someone told all of Year D the secret that they would never be able to see their families again?"

"Sorry?"

"Look, I know the truth. I'm just too nosy for my own good. I like a challenge and when there is a mystery, I like to get to the bottom of things."

"Now isn't a good time. The person involved is Julia's child, and Julia will be here in a moment."

"Ah."

When Julia arrived, she got straight down to business, so we couldn't continue our chat. "Jeff, poking around on the main security of the network is not allowed. I've noticed over a dozen attempts to bypass the primary security setup since you have arrived. You have a port in your room that is clearly linked to the separate hacking network, but you haven't even touched that. Therefore, I can only assume that you are trying to gain access to restricted resources."

"I was just-"

"No excuses. You were told what the rules here are, weren't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then I want a report by tomorrow morning detailing what you attempted and why, sectioned by each attempt. Since this is only your second day, you shouldn't have forgotten what you have done. From what I've been told, you have a lot of knowledge, but are still catching up with the descriptions of what different things are. During the weeks you are here, I'm going to let you loose on some European systems, which should give you exposure to different issues you don't have in America. Jayne hasn't had access to these systems yet either, so it should be a challenge."

"What's the format of these sessions?"

"You should both work together on it. You have full access to the library of technical information. All you will be given is an IP address. From that, you need to work out what system it is, bypass the security and tell me the secret phrase I have hidden somewhere in the system. As always in these workshops, I'm here to answer any question you might have. There are full system specs in the online library."

"So, I'm allowed to hack here?"

"As long as you do it on the hacking network. Now here are the details. Let me see what you can do."

We started and after a few minutes we realised the first catch, "This box isn't in English, is it?"

"You are doing great so far, but you aren't thinking laterally enough. Let me go over what you've done and you tell me why you did them."

I always found trying to justify my gut instincts hard, and I was pleased that the young man next to me was having just as much trouble.

As the lesson finished, Julia said, "Jeff, I look forward to reading your report tomorrow, over breakfast."

"You were serious about that?"

"Very. I'm sure Jayne will fill you in. I believe in learning from our actions, both when they are compliant to school rules and when they flagrantly breach them. The time we learn best is from our mistakes. Since I know about your activities you have made a few blunders, but I'm sure there have been times where you haven't blundered. By detailing them, not only do I learn how to make the system more secure, you learn what you did right."

"Am I in trouble?" came the little question that sounded so much like a worried little girl.

"That has yet to be decided. It helps that you didn't try to say 'That wasn't me'."

"Yes, Miss."

"When it is just students, I am Julia. When teachers are around then it is Ms Toms."

"Yes Julia."

"One thing before you go, how are you coping since you have arrived?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Since Erika in year D joined your school nine months ago, have you spoken much with her?"

"Not really. She's two years ahead of me."

"You, Erika and another girl who goes to Hayfield called Jill, all have something in common."

"What's that?"

"You all have parents who you see everyday, but are no longer able to have a relationship with them."

"Is Jill your daughter?"

"Yes, she is. I have been speaking with Ellen about it and we thought it might help all of you to have a sort of club, as it were."

"Can I think about it? They are much older than me."

"Sure. It was just a suggestion for a group where you can talk about an issue most other students don't even understand."

When Julia had gone, Jeff turned to me and asked, "Julia is Jill's mother?"

"Not quite. Julia is actually Jill's father."

"What? Julia is a man?"

"No, Julia suffered from Gender Dysphoria and had her Gender Reassignment Surgery last year."

"Wow, that's amazing. I would never have guessed."

"There is a lot more to Jill's story than that, but now isn't the time to talk about it. Why don't we meet up tomorrow at eleven, and continue trying to crack this box. I think Julia has given us a nasty one to start us off with."

"I can't do it tomorrow. The Manor has a practice in London for the concert."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. How about Wednesday evening then? I have my personal music lesson at eleven this Wednesday."

"Sounds great. Are you, Helen, Fran, Ingrid, Andy and Stacy hanging with us tomorrow?"

I stared at him, but he just gave an impish smile and disappeared towards the dining room. I hurried after him, not wanting to be late.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" asked Mr Hobson, before the meal started. The people who hadn't seen him stand, quickly stopped nattering.

"Tomorrow the American students are practicing at the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. For those who don't know, the church is in the heart of London, on the edge of Trafalgar Square. Some of the Year D students approached me after breakfast, asking if they could tag along, as they haven't had the opportunity to see anything of London. I think it would be a great opportunity for all the students at Hayfield Hall, so we shall all go. The coaches will leave after breakfast."

The conversation over lunch mainly consisted of what was in London and what we could persuade the teachers to let us see. The science museum sounded fun, but I really wanted to go up on the London Eye.

After afternoon lessons, we had our first joint music rehearsal. The orchestra was moved from the stage, to just below it, to give room for the choir. The stage wasn't big enough for both. At the front, there was a discussion going on between the two music teachers and the two student conductors.

"Okay everyone. As everyone from The Manor knows, my name is William, or when I'm not dressed in male clothes, I'm Roberta. We will start with a simple play through of each segment of The Armed Man and see how we sound. Since we've practiced separately, I'm sure the two schools will have interpreted it differently, so a little correction might be needed by the players as it will be played to my standard."

'Wow,' I thought to myself. 'She certainly has confidence in what she is saying.'

"Have all the singers got their headsets? If not, I would quickly get them while the orchestra finish setting up."

There were a few worried faces as singers scampered off to their rooms. William didn't sound like someone to mess with. I looked around at the expanded orchestra, taking in the vastly expanded numbers. It would certainly be a different sound. I wondered what the headsets were for. Since there were no speakers, I came to the theory that William used it to communicate individually with the singers.

"Are we all ready?" asked William as the singers retook their places.

William raised his hands and the sound of a marching army filled the room. As the lyrics started, sung in French, of the fifteenth century L'Homme Armé, I got a strange feeling that the voices were closer than expected.

There were other puzzled looks, but the music continued. I racked my brains and I could only come to one conclusion. I whipped out my PDA and sure enough the singing was emanating from it. The words 'MATILDA!' screamed through my head.

Before I got chance to try and block it, teachers came running into the hall. They had the good grace to wait till we'd finished the first movement before Mr Hobson interrupted the proceedings.

"What's going on?" he bellowed. "All the PDA's were outputting your rehearsal."

I looked at the choir and saw Jeff trying to look invisible. It obviously didn't work, as Ellen asked, "I would like the person who patched the headsets into the PDA system to see me in my office after the rehearsal. William, I know the practice has just started, would it be possible to give everyone a ten minute break so that the computer system can be put right?"

"Of course, Miss. Did we sound alright?"

"You sounded great, but I think it was a shock to the kitchen staff. I heard one of them dropped their spoon into the soup."

When all the teachers had gone, we all burst out laughing. Over the laughter, William said, "Okay, who was supposed to watch over Jeff?" There was more laughter, as someone in year B sheepishly raised her hand.

The rest of the rehearsal went without a hitch, as a pleasant silence emanated from the PDA's. Just as we finished, our PDA's signalled a delay in our evening meal, so we all trouped to our respective common rooms.

"So Jayne, how did Jeff do it?" asked Austin (Erika), after I'd poured over system configurations.

"Jeff is one smart cookie. It took quite a lot of ingenuity to do what he did. I take it this isn't the first time?"

"I thought you would have been warned."

"Oh, I'd heard rumours, though I can't understand why she did it," I replied, for some reason not wanting to reveal everything. I decided it would be a good idea to change the subject. "So what are you going to be singing at your London concert?"

"The Messiah."

"Oh, a nice piece for this time of year," said Bill(Jill). "It should be nice to hear some of it at the practice tomorrow. I doubt we'll be able to see the final production."

"I think we'll be doing a special show the night before," Rykan (Melissa) informed us.

"I never thought I'd see you back as Bill," said Austin(Erika), with a hint of admiration in her voice. "Most people who transition pick a different name, but you didn't, why?"

"Why should I?" shrugged Bill. "I never plan to have GRS. Don't forget, I just have a medical condition that makes my body look feminine. I have working male parts and I plan to keep them."

That resulted in a big hug from Alan(Anna) and a few cushions were thrown at the soppy couple. There was no doubt that they weren't just study partners.

"Let's go and get our tea," I said as I stood up. "If we start a cushion fight, we will definitely be late."

"Spoil sport," said Christopher(Helen), sticking out his tongue.

During the meal I glanced over to where year-B were sitting. Jeff looked slightly down, but not as if she'd been given a big bollocking. I still couldn't understand why she'd done it. She knew not to tamper with the network.

As we traipsed out of the dining room, I saw Jeff just ahead, so quickly went across, signalling to Christopher that I would join them in a few moments.

"Jeff," I said as I approached.

"Please don't have a go at me," he begged, his face falling.

"Don't worry, I'm not. What you did was quite ingenious, but besides making sure you were okay, I just wanted to ask one question. Why?"

"At my school we have the music coming out of speakers in the hall. Since you didn't have any, I set them to come out of the PDA's — it was the only output I could think of."

"Why didn't you just ask?"

"I suppose I should have," he replied, getting upset. The boy who was standing next to him didn't say anything, but just wrapped his arms around him.

"Look Munchkin," I said, hoping that using the nickname would calm things down. "We are supposed to work as a team, not individuals. Now why don't you see Mrs Russell, who is our music teacher, and see if she has something."

"Will you come with me?"

"If you want," I said with a little smile. I'd only known Jeff since earlier today and yet I was already beginning to see that under the knowledge, there was still a frightened child. I checked my PDA and saw that Mrs Russell was still at the school, so asked, "Do you want to do it now?"

"Thanks, Jayne. You're cool. Can Hunter come too?"

"The more the merrier, though don't expect it to be exciting. We are only asking if she has a speaker system that can be installed."

When we got to the room, she was just preparing to leave. "Is now a bad time?"

"I'm not in a rush," she smiled. "How can I help?"

"Jeff here, was telling me that normally they have speakers in their hall, which they output the singing through and I was wondering if you could help."

"Mmm, let me see what I can get hold of," she said thoughtfully. "We want to make sure that the Americans have everything they need. I'd have arranged something, if someone had told me."

"That’s very kind," I said.

"Do you know if any of the children at Immigration Manor know anything about sound equipment?" Mrs Russell asked the two Americans.

"Marshal is the best bet," said Hunter, after some thought. "I think he normally gets involved with things like that at the concerts, though we won't need anything at this concert, as we'll be in a church."

"Then I will speak with him tomorrow morning."

"Thanks," I said, ushering the other two out of the room. Another issue solved, which gave me a nice warm feeling.

* * *

The next day, breakfast was early, so we could all leave in good time. We wanted to be there about ten, and it seems there are always traffic issues getting into London. There was a morning prayer at eight, or I think they would have tried to get us there earlier.

There was one issue with transporting so many children; you needed a lot of transport. As we walked out of the entrance, we found a convoy of coaches waiting for us. As they snaked down the roads towards the capital, the general chatting and laughter gave way to singing. It didn't seem long before we were arriving in Trafalgar Square.

"So where's this church?" asked Sam.

"Look to the left," laughed Christopher, who was pointing out of the windows.

Poor Sam turned bright red at missing the big building that looked remarkably like a church. I suppose he hadn't expected a church to be situated in the corner of one of England's most famous areas.

"Okay, listen up," said Dan from the front. "Since there are so many of you, there will be two people looking after you today. Besides having my wit and charm-"

All the Hayfield children burst out in friendly laughter.

"Keep it down," he smiled. "We are lucky to have Mr Black with us who will, I'm sure, keep you all in line."

I leaned across to Melissa and asked, "Is he one of your regular teachers?"

"No. He's just someone who comes along and helps with the field trips, why?"

"I just wondered," I said, my thoughts beginning to solidify.

"What are you up to?" hissed Christopher. He knew me too well.

"Nothing, Darling."

"Yeah right. Remember, no secrets."

I thought about sticking out my tongue at him, but since Dan was nearby, I refrained. "Do you remember Mr Taylor?"

"You reckon?" Christopher asked, giving me a look of disbelief

"I reckon, but I'm sure we'll find out later."

"How?"

"Because when is a better time to sneak round the area, than when you have a bunch of kids with you for a rehearsal."

"But is it right for them to be sneaking around the UK? Aren't we all supposed to be allies?"

"I'm sure we would be checking things in America, if they thought we needed to. Anyway, I might be wrong."

The orchestra needed, was only small, like when we played the Sinfonia Concertante. There were strings, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, harpsichord and organ. The singers took their places behind the orchestra. After a little shuffling, they were soon singing and we all sat back to soak in their fabulous sound. This was a complete non-stop run through, which included the two breaks.

The only time things stumbled was at the end of the second part. They started to sing what is probably the most famous chorus in the whole piece, The Hallelujah. When it started, Jill stood up which amazed those that were sitting near her.

"What are you doing?" hissed Christopher.

"Its tradition," replied Jill. "You stand for The Hallelujah."

Who were we to mess with tradition? This information spread to the rest of the students and soon all the audience were standing. If the singers were expecting it or not, it didn't show. They didn't miss a beat and sung their hearts out.

After the rehearsal, we got into our year groups and headed off to see the sights. Since none of us knew London we were totally at the mercy of Dan. I was glad I wasn't one of year C, as they were unlucky enough to have Mr Hobson as a guide and when he gets going, he can go on a bit.

"So where are we going?" asked Jessica.

"We'll start off heading towards St James Palace," explained Dan, "work our way past The Ritz and then across, towards Buckingham Palace. We'll stop first in Haymarket so we can get something to eat."

"Can we eat at The Ritz instead?" asked Elaine.

I'm sure I saw a shudder of fear from Dan and Mr Black. "No," choked Dan. "I think I'd be fired if I came back with the expenses that high."

"Shame," added Daphne. "It would have been a nice story to tell the others."

"Perhaps we could get Matilda to manipulate the reservations?" I added innocently.

"NO!" shouted everyone from The Manor at once.

After we'd filled ourselves up with Italian food, we made our way towards St James Palace. As we walked along Pall Mall, I said to Dan, "This is a great idea to see these things."

"Don't thank me," said Dan. "Mr Black suggested it might be nice to see where some of the lesser royals live."

I pulled back and watched Mr Black in action. Before we made it to the palace, he seemed very interested in one of the buildings on the right.

"Very nice architecture, isn't it?" I said, falling beside Mr Black. I saw Christopher blanch at my near repeat of the tactic I'd used in Paris.

"Indeed," he replied.

"Shame the door is shut, I'm sure it would be even more interesting to see what the inside is like."

"I'm sure it would be."

"It's good to have a dry run before the concert," I added, after a few moments silence. I'd hoped I wouldn't need the extra prodding, but he seemed as immune to my subtle techniques as Mr Taylor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christopher making strangling signs.

"Hasn't Mr Hobson taught you when to keep quiet?" Mr Black asked, staring very coldly at me.

We approached a corner and we could see the guard outside St James Palace just ahead. As I was about to respond to Mr Black, by telling him I was just referring to the practice the students had, Mavis Brown, the lady from MI6 came into sight.

"Remember your role as a teacher," I hissed quickly to Mr Black and shouted to Christopher, "I bet I can make the guard laugh before you can."

Christopher quickly cottoned on and shouted to the others, "Hey you guys, quick come and help judge!"

"Oy, you two, behave!" shouted Mr Black, fitting in with his role.

The students had rushed across the road, all behaving like normal school children would, rather than ones that had been drilled into being model students.

Mavis gave a snort, turned and entered the building that Mr Black had been interested in. I saw he tried to get a good look inside, but he didn't have a very good angle. Since I did, I turned to take a picture of Christopher using my PDA, and also got a few good shots of the inside and forwarded them to Mr Hobson. I'm sure he would have some technique to enhance them, if he thought the Americans should have them.

"First, the sightseeing trip in Paris and now the one in London," snapped Dan, as he approached us. "I'm not sure if you're fit to have as year leaders."

I didn't say anything, as I couldn't tell Dan the reason we'd misbehaved. Jill spoke up, "I don't think I'd want anybody other than our existing year leaders."

"Me neither," came responses from the others in the year.

"We chose them," said Jessica. "I still think they help us more than anyone else could."

"I don't think now's a good time to discuss this, so let's continue the tour," sighed Dan.

As we walked passed The Ritz, I managed to get next to Mr Black. "That was Mavis Brown," I said. "She's MI6."

"Thanks," he said. "I did recognise her, and thank you for your distraction. You do know that I'm going to have to report this discussion. Sorry."

"I know," I sighed. "And since neither of us can explain the situation to the other students, I will need to be punished."

When we got back to the school, Mr Hobson came onto our bus. "David and Christopher, I would like to see you in my office immediately."