Read Online Dreams at Silver Spires by Ann Bryant - Free Book Online Page A

the start of afternoon school. This time it was history, but at least it was only Mrs. Egerton, and she’s not half so strict as Mr. Pattle.
    â€œI’ll clear up here, you get going,” said Stan.
    So I rushed off at top speed, calling over my shoulder that I’d see him next Monday, and thanking him for showing me the photos and tidying up my tools.
    The last sound I heard as I ran along the other side of the tall hedge was Stan’s lovely chuckle.

Chapter Six

    Waking up the following morning I felt instantly excited but very nervous. I took a quick look round at my friends’ beds and saw that, as usual, I was the first one to be awake. I knew I would be, but I really wished that at least Bryony might wake up so I could talk everything through with her.
    I was being silly, of course, because I’d already talked and talked to all my friends the day before, and told them about meeting Stan and seeing the photos and how I was determined to try to get Miss Gerard to let me have more land. And that wasn’t all. I was going to talk to her about recycling the vegetable and fruit peelings too, so we could use the compost for growing more veggies. I really wanted her to realize that the gardening club was important, and that it was going to be more than just a club. It was going to make Silver Spires a greener place altogether.
    Bryony had worn her heaviest frown when I’d told her that last bit, and I always worry when Bryony frowns, because she’s so often right about things. I’d told her who Miss Gerard was and what the dinner lady had said about her, and I guess Bryony didn’t think I had much chance of getting anywhere with such a scary lady.
    â€œWhat time is it?” came her sleepy voice out of the gloom. (It wasn’t even light outside yet.)
    â€œYou’ve got at least another ten minutes,” I whispered. “Go back to sleep, Bry.”
    â€œâ€™S okay.” She sat up and did a big yawn, then flopped back down again, blinking a bit before she looked directly at me. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
    â€œNo, I’ll be fine, honestly.”
    I wasn’t half so confident as I was trying to sound, but I knew this was something I had to do on my own and I’d gone over and over what I was going to say. The six of us had decided that the best time for me to approach Miss Gerard was right at the beginning of the day, before she got too deep into her work. And we’d also found out from Miss Stevenson that Miss Gerard gets into school really early every morning, at about quarter to eight. The plan was that I’d wait in the main building in the big reception hall, and when I heard Miss Gerard’s footsteps come clicking across the hall and up the stairs, I’d give it two minutes, then go upstairs after her and knock on her door.
    It all seemed so simple when we’d been working it out, but now that it was almost time to put the plan into action, I was really nervous. And there was something making me even tenser. While we’d all been sitting on my bed talking about it the night before, I’d suddenly thought about the way Miss Gerard’s shoes clicked, and I’d found myself calling her Miss Click instead of Miss Gerard, which had given us all a massive fit of the giggles. After that, the others had started saying Miss Click too, until it had kind of stuck. So now I was worried I might call her that by mistake while I was actually having my meeting with her, which would be totally disastrous.
    In the shower I went over what I was going to say to Miss Gerard one more time. It felt like I was learning lines for a play or something, but I knew it was best to have something actually prepared, as I was so nervous. As usual, though, my mind wandered off after no time at all, and I found myself thinking back to Emily Peters and Stan. I wondered whether Stan had sent one of his photos to Emily yet and