The second week school went as usual with the exception of joining the local school for dancing classes,being in Scotland it was traditional Scottish dancing,reels and such and enjoyable as well as fun, of course we were all very much knackered after these sessions.

As the week went on news from home was that the waters had now retreated back to the rivers and streams but that we should another week before returning as the streets were full of mud and debris washed down by the heavy rains, Dad was very critical of the government as they had for the past few cut back on spending money to clean and dredge the rivers as well as providing very little Aid to the people in our country why spending Billions in foreign aid.

The following week we spent on practical instruction, mainly household skills like sewing, cooking,washing and ironing which didn`t please a couple of girls at all, I didn`t mind though as I found them to be a bit relaxing especially embroidery.

Eventually Dad did sent us word that it was safe to return home so we packed up and returned home, not expecting to see the damage inflicted on our community, sorry to say that three people had drowned after being washed away in the torrent. Their bodies were recovered and being held at the morgue until a fitting funeral could be arranged for them.

You could see how high the water reached by the mud marking some of the walls on some of the houses lower down nearer the river, these houses had suffered the worse and their occupants were temporarily living with others around the town, it`s at times like these when you see whole communities rally and help and comfort each other, it`s a pity that takes a crisis to rally people and bring everyone together as one.

As we lived higher up the hillside the water only reached the lower slope of the garden and it being a bigger house than most we were taking in another family until their own home was put right although it might take some months.Luckily I knew the family as Jeanie was in my class at school and would be sharing my room. Mavis and her Aunt were taking in a family that had only arrived in the area days before the flood started.

It would be several months or perhaps longer before life really returned to normal, we weren`t the town affected and anger at the government was rising as was the overall bill for repairing the damage. I think that people were more angered by the needless deaths caused by the governments cutbacks on proper flood defences.

School was set up temporarily in Portacabins and although it felt strange at first we got used to it, it was about a month before all the kids arrived back home but live for us was forever changed. Most after school activities were suspended as everyone rallied around in the clean up, people who had hated each other suddenly became friends and old grudges were quickly forgotten.

One activity that did pick up were the cooking and sewing lessons, even the boys were made to attend one lesson a week, they moaned and grumbled at first but weren`t given the option of refusing by their parents or guardians. They soon picked up on the cooking and some of the basic sewing skills and eventually helped in the communial kitchens that had been set up in various areas of the town until power was fully restored to the whole area.

Girlhood was now becoming natural to me and there were one or two that made live a pain for me, on one occasion i was working alone in one of classrooms when two of the local bullies came in and started punching me around. Fortunatley it had only just started when help arrived and they were handed over to their parents who weren`t amused by their sons actions and promised that they would be dealt with.For the next two weeks their absence at school was noted by the rest of pupils and we all wondered if they had been sent to another school.

The two bullies returned after their absence and had to attend all the lessons that were specific to the girls including physical education which they definately hated as they had to wear gym knickers and skirts . In the sewing classes the girls were now learning the basics of dress making and of course the two bullies Paul and Daniel were included but they still didn`t seem to be learning their lesson about bullying, OK they were leaving me alone now but they started picking on some of the shyer girls who wouldn`t say boo to a goose.

Thing to came to head with their attitude and they were finally made to attend school wearing the uniform that we girls wore, it was their parents that had suggested this and they were to be called Pauline and Danica and treated as girls at school. I think they finally got the message and they stopped their bullying.

Dress making became quite easy and we were to make dresses for the school Christmas dance of course we still had to get a lot help with making the dresses including the Two New Girls Pauline and Danica who much to their horror were told that they would be wearing them to the dance by their mothers.

The town had returned to some sort of normality and Christmas finally arrived, the school dance was a success and Pauline and Danica were looking good in their new party dresses, although they were unhappy about having to wear them in front of everyone. They didn`t know it but their punishment would end after school closed for the holidays but only because I had asked their parents to ease up on them.