Read Online In the Fifth at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton - Free Book Online Page B

and now June, my cousin, is going the same way. It’s a pity we’re in the fifth. I feel it wouldn’t be very dignified to play any of our tricks now.”
    Darrell sighed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Growing-up has its drawbacks, and that’s one of them. We have to be dignified and give up some of our silly ideas — but oh, Alicia, I wish you could have seen June all blown up — honestly it was as good as any of your tricks!”
    “It’s a pity that cousin of mine is such a hard and brazen little wretch,” said Alicia. “I don’t actually feel she’s afraid of anything — except perhaps my brother Sam. The odd thing is she simply adores him, though he’s given her some first-class spankings, and won’t stand a scrap of nonsense from her when she comes to stay.”
    “You can’t seem to get at her, somehow,” said Darrell. “I mean — she doesn’t seem to care. Well — she’s a bit like you, you know, Alicia — though you’re a lot better now!”
    Alicia went rather pink. “All right. Don’t rub it in. I know I’m hard, but you won’t make me any better by telling me! You’ve probably not noticed it but I have tried to be more sympathetic with fools and donkeys! Of course, not being either yourself you’ve had no chance of seeing it.”
    Darrell laughed. She slipped her arm through Alicia’s. “You’re a bit of a donkey yourself,” she said. “But there’s one thing about you that sticks out a mile — and that is your absolute straightness — and I don’t feel that about June. Do you? I feel it about my sister Felicity — you could trust her anywhere at any time — but not June. There’s something sly about her as well as hard.”
    “Well, we’ll have to lick her into shape whilst we’re still at Malory Towers,” said Alicia. “We’ve got two more years to do it in — and then off we go to college — leaving kids like June and Felicity behind to carry on!”
    June arrived in the fifth-form common room on Tuesday evening to say her lines to Alicia and Darrell. She looked very sulky. The girls, who were most of them busy with odd jobs such as darning, making out lists, rewriting work, writing letters home and so on, looked up as June strode into the room.
    “Don’t you know that a lower school kid knocks before she comes in?” said Moira.
    June said nothing, but glowered.
    “Go out, knock and wait till you’re told to come in,” ordered Moira, in her dictatorial voice. June hesitated. She detested being ordered about.
    Moira felt in her pocket for her little Punishment Book, and June fled. She didn’t want any more lines!
    “I never knew anyone who so badly needed licking into shape,” said Moira, grimly. “Little toad! I know she’s your cousin, Alicia, but she’s no credit to you!”
    “I can’t say your sister Bridget is much credit to you either,” retorted Alicia. She didn’t particularly want to defend June, but she resented Moira’s high and mighty manner. Let her look after her own bad-mannered sister!
    “June’s knocked twice already,” said Catherine. “Oughtn't we to say “come in”?”
    “When I say so,” said Moira. “Do her good to wait.”
    June knocked again. “Come in,” said Moira, and June came in, red and furious. She went to Darrell and silently gave her the book out of which she had learnt her lines.
    “Repeat them to me,” said Darrell. June gabbled them off without a single mistake. Darrell looked at her. She really was very like Alicia — and she had Alicia’s marvellous memory, too. No doubt it had taken June only about five minutes to memorize that long poem.
    She went to Alicia, and gabbled off what she had learnt for her, again with no mistake. “Right,” said Alicia. “You can go — and if you don’t want to spend the whole of this term learning lines, try to be more civil to your elders.”
    June scowled. Belinda whipped out her pencil.
    “Hold it!” she said to the surprised June. “Yes — just like that