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

whether she was imagining me working away in my garden, trying to get it back to how it was. Whenever I got to thinking about that, I always wanted to hurry everything up so I could write and tell Emily it was all happening and it was great. But I knew that wasn’t possible. You can’t hurry nature. It has its own plan that no one should interfere with. That’s what my dad says anyway.
    I can remember one time when we were driving the tractor home together late one night in the half-term holiday last May.
    â€œYou get the ground ready and you sow the seeds, Ems,” he said. “And from little seeds come big results, you know. The secret is keeping in tune with nature’s plan. That’s the secret.”
    I love it when Dad says things like that to me. Somehow, they always stick in my mind. If our teachers said such interesting things, I’d be in top sets for everything. Not that we’re actually in sets for all the subjects – just science, maths and English – but still, it would be nice to be in top sets for just one of those three things. My science teacher did say she was very pleased with my work on soil recently, though, so maybe I’ll get put up a set for that subject next term. I really enjoyed the work on soil, because I love anything to do with the environment. But geography is probably my best subject, even though I don’t like what we’re doing at the moment on maps. I prefer work on different types of land, like deserts and jungle and marshes and things. I quite like history too, especially as Mrs. Egerton is so laid-back. I think she’s a bit of a scatterbrain, actually. Or maybe she’s a dreamer, like me. She must be one or the other, anyway, because Bryony said she didn’t even notice I wasn’t in the lesson yesterday. So at least that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about.
    By the time I was showered and dressed, all the others were awake, and I felt really honoured, because every single one of them offered to come with me to see Miss Gerard.
    â€œSorry, guys!” I told them a bit shakily. “This is something just for me.”
    â€œSee you at breakfast then, Ems,” they called, as I went off with my heart thudding like a bass drum. “Good luck!”
    The words of my speech were still whizzing around in my mind as I walked along, breathing in the cold morning air and trying to keep calm. I looked up at the pale streaky sky and noticed that there was a bit of dim yellow sun pushing through. Straight away my eyes went to the spires, but they weren’t silver yet. Maybe they would be later. And that made me think of Emily again. I never did get round to asking her whether she and her friends used to watch the sun make the spires gleam, like we do.
    The other reason I love the main building is because it’s so huge and grand and old. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it’s a bit dark for me. The furniture is dark, the beams are dark, and the little diamond windowpanes don’t let in as much light as big windowpanes do – although there are lots of them, so that helps lighten it a bit.
    At twenty to eight in the morning the building also seems deserted, and I felt as though I was trespassing as I stood staring at the noticeboard in the main reception hall. If anyone had been watching me they’d think I was trying to memorize every single word or something, but I didn’t know what else to do as I waited for Miss Gerard to arrive.
    The clock in the hall said exactly seven forty-five when I heard the front door open. I didn’t turn round, just stood there, stiff with tension. I knew straight away that it was Miss Gerard from the click of her shoes on the flagstones, and immediately a nervous giggle rose in my throat. Actually it was awful that she was so punctual. It just seemed to make her all the scarier, somehow.
    The clicks went all the way up the dark oak stairs and