July 2004
Rated G
Enid Blyton wrote the Malory Towers books.
This is a sequel to “After the Night Before”.
AT
DAY’S END
By Sängerin
Even the first formers knew that Sally Hope wasn’t happy. They whispered among each other that Sunday
afternoon, when Sally sat by the side of the field and looked daggers in Alicia
Johns’ direction.
The first formers didn’t understand what was going on, of
course. They didn’t know that Darrell
and the new girl, Wilhelmina, had been up all night caring for the new girl’s
horse. And although gossip had a
tendency to travel swiftly between the towers and along the corridors of the
school, the lower forms didn’t entirely understand the history between Sally,
Darrell, and Alicia, or why Wilhelmina’s arrival had made it all that much worse.
Darrell was a leader among her form, and had been almost since she
arrived at the school. She was the sort
of girl who held an attraction for others: Sally, Wilhelmina, and little
Mary-Lou all admired Darrell deeply.
Alicia, if one had asked her, would say that she was above such things,
but Darrell’s generally steady nature and her jolly approach to life called to
elements of Alicia’s personality. When
their third year had opened with both Sally and Alicia’s special friend, Betty
Hill, quarantined at home, Alicia and Darrell had drifted towards each other.
When Sally arrived back at school, she found Alicia and Darrell
established as a pair. And then she
found out that the new girl, whom everyone addressed as ‘Bill’, and was a horsey, awkward, boyish girl to suit her name, was carrying
a torch for Darrell as well.
Crushes weren’t something that were
talked about at school. They happened,
and everyone knew it, but formally, at least, they came and went without
acknowledgement by anyone. Although she
knew she shouldn’t, deep within herself Sally felt the rise of jealousy when
she saw Alicia and Darrell with their heads close together, discussing the
latest lacrosse match, or Bill gazing across the common room at Darrell with a
wistful expression.
After their late night with Bill’s horse, Thunder, Bill and
Darrell had been sent for an afternoon nap.
When they rejoined the form in their common room, with about an hour
spare before Supper, Sally caught Darrell’s arm and drew her away from the
others.
‘I need to talk to you,’ she told her friend.
Darrell looked at Sally and seemed to understand. She waved Alicia away and smiled at Bill,
before following Sally out of the common room and into a nearby practice room.
‘What is it, dear?’ Darrell asked.
Sally hesitated. ‘I need to
know,’ she said, and took a deep breath.
‘You and Bill…’
Darrell smiled and shook her head.
‘There is no “me and Bill”. She’s
grateful to me for helping her with Thunder.
And for being a friend in her first few weeks of term. But she knows that you’ll always come first
with me: she told me so herself this afternoon.
I’ve missed you terribly while you were away – haven’t I told you that a
hundred times already?’
Sally’s smile was still a little wan. ‘You have.
It just seemed – you and she were so close, so soon. And then there’s Alicia…’
Darrell laughed, but then stopped and studied Sally closely. ‘You’re not jealous of Alicia, are you?’
Sally shook her head.
‘No! I mean – I try not to
be. But she spent so much time with you
while I was away.’
‘That’s only because she didn’t have Betty. Alicia and Betty will always come first with
each other. Just like you and I, you
silly duffer.’
Darrell gathered Sally into her arms for a hug.
With her cheek pressed against Darrell’s short dark curls, Sally
said softly, ‘I just… I want to know that you truly are mine. My most special friend,’ she added
hurriedly. ‘Because I am, you know.’
‘What?’ asked prosaic Darrell, pulling back to look Sally in the
face.
Sally had to summon all her courage to speak the next word. ‘Yours.’