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Chapter 1: Lucy Arrives at Reede Cove
Lucy O’Connor sighed happily and somewhat dreamily at her reflection in the mirror. The first time she had put it on it was at the tailor’s, and that moment was exciting too. But this time . . . she sighed again, this time was phenomenal. She checked her appearance again: maroon vest, long-sleeved white blouse, black skirt, red-and-yellow tie tucked neatly into the vest, white stockings, black buckled shoes and the school emblem stitched neatly onto the vest. She patted it proudly. She had sewed it on herself.
“Lucy! We’re going to be late if you don’t make a move right now!” came her brother’s voice from below.
“Oh, all right!” she said crossly and jammed her black beret onto her head. On her way out of the room, she snatched up her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. “I’m coooooooming!” she yelled as she raced down the stairs.
“Phooey, must you make such a din?” exclaimed David when she skipped into the kitchen. “And while wearing those annoying, expensive shoes too!”
“Oh, bother, David!” she reached for the stack of toast that he had already buttered. “It’s too early to be tiresome.” She looked around the table and gasped in dismay, “What, no eggs again?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t got the money to buy any, Lu. And besides, we should save as much as we can while we may. Food and money are scarce these days.”
Lucy pouted. “But I’ve got to have my eggs! I need that pr – pro – pro – ”
“Protein,” he finished for her.
“Yes, that! It’s important for growing up girls like me!”
“Lucy . . .”
“Dad always, always makes sure that we’ve got eggs every morning – ”
“That was before he went off to war,” he said. Suddenly, he put the butter knife down and sighed. “Listen, Lu . . . I’ve got the letter.”
“The letter?” she frowned. “What letter?”
“I’ve – I’ve been called,” he sounded choked, “Do you remember last summer when I was sent with a few boys to summer training camp with the British Army?”
She nodded. “Of course I do. I remember you coming home so smartly in the uniform.” She broke into a grin. “You looked really handsome in it, did you know that? Angela was telling me how lucky she would be if you looked at her – ”
“I’m going to go to war,” he blurted out abruptly.
Lucy stopped at once. It took her a few seconds to absorb the full impact of the whole meaning of it. Finally, her voice returned, but somewhat shakily. “Wh – why?”
He sighed again. “It’s time for me to serve my country.”
“But you can’t do this! Dad – Dad isn’t even back yet! Who’s going to take care of me?”
“That’s why Dad wanted you to go to Reede Cove. It’s one of the very best boarding schools in England, trust me. You’ll be perfectly happy there.”
“I know I will be, but – ”
“This isn’t going to change anything, Lucy.”
“Oh bother, David, it’s you I’m upset about; you going to fight in the war.”
“I’ll be all right, Lu, don’t you worry yourself silly about me,” he smiled.
“I don’t want you to go!” she flung her beret onto the table. “I’ll – I’ll stay here until you’ve decided that you won’t go!”
“Lucy!”
“Oh, David!”
“You’re a big girl now, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but – ”
“Big girls don’t fight with their elder brothers,” he winked at her.
She laughed a little. “I suppose so.”
“Hurry up and finish your breakfast, Lu. You wouldn’t want to miss the train.”
“Will you accompany me all the way to the school?”
David paused midway through a piece of toast. “I don’t suppose I will.”
“Why not?”
He reached over and put the beret back onto her head and gave her an encouraging smile. “Because you’re a big girl.”
She looked down and took the card into her hands. “Lucy O’Connor,” she read aloud, “Reede Cove Institution, Buckley.” She frowned up at David. “What’s this for?”
“It’s your identification, young lady. In case you get lost.”
“But I won’t – honestly, David, I’m not that daft.”
He grinned. “I know, but . . . you know. Things can happen.”
“Will the Jerrys bomb even trains?” her eyes widened.
David handed her the train ticket. “Better to be safe than sorry. Hold on to this and give it to the conductor when he comes to your compartment for it.”
“All right,” she took the ticket and tucked it into her satchel.
“Buckley! Buckley! Train for Buckley departing now!”
“Well, good luck, Lu. Study hard and – and pay attention in class!”
“I will, David. I hope you’ll come back safe and sound.”
His smile faltered and Lucy could see that his eyes were shining with tears. He knelt and wrapped his strong arms around her. She hugged him back and felt the tears forming just beneath her eyelids. Will she ever see him again?
“We’ll meet again, Lu,” he said shakily, “God knows, we will. Don’t worry too much about me, all right?”
“All right,” she sniffled as they released each other. “Will you write?”
“Of course.”
“Every day?”
He laughed. “Every fortnight.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
“David, I – I love you.”
He kissed her on her forehead. “I love you too. Now go on, the train’s leaving. You be a good girl, okay?”
“And don’t you fret about me! Goodbye, David, goodbye! You promised you would write!”
“Indeed I will. Bye, Lucy! Keep me close in your heart!”
She stepped up the train step just as the whistle was blown and the horn was sounded. As the doors closed behind her and the train started to move, she put her head out through the windowless doors and waved, yelling, “Bye, David! Oh, goodbye!”
He followed the train, laughing and shouting an incomprehensible string of words.
“What? What did you say?”
He shouted again but she didn’t catch it.
“Oh, oh, goodbye! Goodbye, David!” she hollered before she drew her head inside.
Mrs. Parvensey arrived at the train station in a rattling, jiggling motorcar. Lucy had always fancied riding one, so you could guess that she was properly delighted when Mrs. Parvensey arrived in one. “Are you Lucy O’Connor?” she asked her in a clipped voice.
Lucy nodded. “Yes, I am.” Then, remembering her manners: “How do you do, Mrs. Parvensey?”
The deputy headmistress smiled and nodded. “I am perfectly well. You shall sit here on the seat beside me.”
The train porter said a quick hello to Mrs. Parvensey before unloading Lucy’s trunk onto the passenger seat behind. Lucy thanked him and off they went.
Mrs. Parvensey was a middle-aged woman with plain brown hair neatly done up in a bun. She came across as someone who could easily smile and frown in the shortest notice possible. Lucy, like any typical eleven-year-old, was naturally a little intimidated by this stern-looking woman. But during the whole drive to the school, Mrs. Parvensey was anything but. She asked about herself: what was her hobby, what animal did she like, what kind of books did she read, and how were her studies at her previous school in London, until eventually Lucy’s fear seemed irrational.
The route to Reede Cove Institution led them out of Buckley. It ran all the way by the sea side, which provided Lucy an excellent view of the sea. She was most amazed by the movement of the waves as they splashed and slammed into the harsh, rocky cliffs. Having grown up and stuck in London for her entire life, Lucy found this new environment very refreshing indeed. She inhaled the sharp, salty air and turned around to ask Mrs. Parvensey.
“Why is the air here different?”
“Different from where?”
“Different from London.”
“Because it’s near the sea. The salt from the sea influences the smell of the air.”
“Oh,” said Lucy, and after a pause she said, “Mrs. Parvensey, are you a science teacher?”
To her utmost surprise, Mrs. Parvensey laughed, a very merry and tinkling laugh that belied her age. “Oh no, I teach arts.”
“Then how do you know about the smell of the air?”
“My science teacher told me,” she smiled at Lucy.
A little while later, fir trees appeared all along the sides of the road until the view of the sea completely disappeared. Mrs. Parvensey turned the car off the main road onto a smaller route, which divided into two. She took the left road, leaving Lucy to wonder at what was to be found on the other road. Mrs. Parvensey said that nobody knew what and where that road led to, and nobody bothered to anymore. Curious people had tried that road. They never returned.
The story should have sent shivers down Lucy’s spine. But strangely, it only aroused in her a burning curiosity. Mrs. Parvensey told her to forget about it, as it was absolutely unimportant.
Soon, the school itself came into view. It was situated right at the beginning of a cove, hence its name. To the left of the school was the wide, sweeping beach of Reede Cove, and to its right the earth rose in jagged rocks and precipices and peaked at a treacherous-looking cliff. Right at the very peak of that cliff was a lighthouse. Lucy wondered if the lighthouse was where that ‘Other’ road led to, but she concluded that it was very unlikely. Mrs. Parvensey would have told her if it did.
Reede Cove Institution appeared to be something like a mansion that may have been built during the Victorian age. It looked gloriously old, the sort of house that seemed to be made up of endless corridors and secret passageways, only, it looked rather big for a house. The mansion, explained Mrs. Parvensey, housed around 600 students from Form One up to Form Six. And, she said just as they pulled up at the school compound after passing through a pair of gigantic, impressive iron-wrought gates, it was natural to get lost during the first term here.
“Now,” said Mrs. Parvensey when they were out of the car and Lucy’s trunk was at her feet, “I’m afraid that you’ll have to check yourself in with Matron. Usually the parents will accompany their children for the registration on the first day, but some may not be able to come so the students will register themselves.”
“Where are all the parents then?” asked Lucy.
“Registration was this morning. So technically, you’re quite late. But no matter, no matter, Matron’s a good brick. Her office is on the ground floor, the second door on the left-hand corridor. I would bring you to her myself, but I’ve got other duties to do. Will you be all right, Lucy?”
“Of course,” she said. Hadn’t David called her a big girl already?
“Very well. I shall see you at dinner.”
“Yes, Mrs. Parvensey.”
The school compound was not very big. It was merely a lawn of trimmed grass with a large oak tree planted at the very middle of it. Mrs. Parvensey walked Lucy to the front door, around the oak tree, and they parted ways at that door.
Lucy had to stop to marvel at the size of the foyer. It was almost as big as a hall! The ceiling seemed to go on and on forever, and, curiously, a great, brass bell hung right in the middle of it. The walls were wood-panelled and two suits of armour were placed at regular intervals right against the wall. Directly in front of her was a grand wood staircase that had carpet runners on it which divided to a left staircase and a right staircase at the top. Lucy was just wondering if the bell had ever been used when she heard a friendly voice beside her.
“Hallo there! New girl?”
Lucy turned around in surprise. “Oh, yes, please. Form One, actually.”
The girl who had greeted her held out a hand. “I’m Evangeline Clarke.”
Lucy smiled as she shook her hand. “My name’s Lucy O’Connor.”
Evangeline’s eyes widened. “By gum! Are you Irish?”
“No, I’m not. I’m a Londoner.”
“Oh, crikey, right from London?”
“Um, yes.”
“How is it like, you know,” Evangeline inched close and lowered her voice, “the raids?”
Lucy was taken aback for a moment before she found her voice. “Oh, that, well, um, when the Jerrys attack there’ll be sirens to tell us and we’ll all run for the nearest bomb shelter and wait the bombing out. In school, they give out gas masks. You should see us wearing them! We look like aliens.”
Evangeline gasped. “Oh, oh, crikey! Imagine all that! You must have been terrified.”
“Er . . . not really. Listen, I hope it isn’t rude, but, that bell up there,” Lucy pointed upwards, “Has it ever been used before?”
She laughed. “Yes. Every morning, in fact. It rings when classes start and finish and it rings to wake us up and just before and after mealtimes. We call it the Bong.” She smiled proudly.
Lucy giggled. Evangeline smiled. “Did that really tickle you now?”
“I can’t help it. It sounds ridiculous.”
“Admirably. Have you registered with Matron?”
“By Jove, I haven’t!”
“Come on, I’ll bring you to her. If everyone in Form One isn’t registered, Matron’ll have my head.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m the H.F.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Head of Form.”
