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

at the kind nurse and she gave me a big thumbs-up sign.
    Which made me smile inside.

Chapter Six

    â€œRight, girls, you’re free to go,” said Miss Stevenson at the end of Tuesday evening’s prep.
    â€œYay!” said Emily. “Can I go outside, Miss Stevenson?”
    â€œJust for a few minutes then.”
    â€œLet’s practise the Chin dance!” said Izzy. “Come and sing for us, Toni.”
    But I wasn’t really ready to go yet. Ever since I’d arrived back at Silver Spires just two hours earlier, I’d found myself short of time. First I’d gone straight to my dorm, and seen that there was a mattress on the floor near my desk with all my bedclothes on it. Mrs. Pridham told me this would be easier for me than trying to climb up my ladder to bed, and I felt quite excited about sleeping on the floor. It looked very cosy. Then, while my friends had gone to supper, I’d unpacked my things and Mrs. Pridham had brought me some sandwiches and a mug of hot chocolate. I’d missed the whole day’s lessons, of course, and even though Mrs. Pridham said I didn’t have to worry, I’d decided to come to prep to try and catch up with as much as I could. But the session seemed to be over so quickly, and I’d still got quite a bit of copying to do.
    â€œI just want to finish this history,” I said, as everyone started to leave the prep room. “Is it okay if I stay for a while, Miss Stevenson?”
    She gave me a really sympathetic look, as though she was sorry for me having to spend extra time catching up with the work I’d been missing while I was in hospital.
    â€œI don’t mind, honestly,” I said, smiling at her brightly. And I really didn’t. The only thing that was a bit annoying was trying to write with my hand bandaged up. If only it had been my left hand, everything would have been so much easier.
    I looked at the clean white dressing which the kind nurse at the hospital had put on earlier. She’d told Mrs. Pridham that it should be changed again the next day and Matron had already told me she’d do it tomorrow and that in the meantime I should keep it completely dry. She said the drier it was, the faster it would heal, and she thought I must have cut it on a sharp stone or something because it was quite a deep wound. I couldn’t wait till I could get the bandage off completely, but I guessed that would be a few days away still.
    As I settled down to carry on copying up Nicole’s history, I noticed that she’d got a book out of her bag and I realized she was planning on staying with me.
    â€œI’ll be fine. Really,” I told her. “I’ll see you up in the dorm.”
    And that was when I saw that she was giving me that same sympathetic look that Miss Stevenson had given me earlier.
    â€œWhat?” I asked, turning from her to Miss Stevenson.
    â€œNothing,” said Nicole. “I don’t mind waiting for you, honestly. It’s too hard to carry stuff with your crutches and everything.”
    She was right. It’s actually impossible to carry anything when you’ve got crutches, because you need both hands for them, and even a shoulder strap can easily slip off. “Oh thanks, Nicole.”
    Miss Stevenson was still sitting at her desk at the front, which was ridiculous because I didn’t need her to stay to supervise me.
    â€œWe’re okay on our own, Miss Stevenson.”
    She just nodded and went out, but I couldn’t get the sad look on her face out of my mind as I carried on copying up Nicole’s notes. And it wasn’t until I was coming to the end that I realized something amazingly obvious. Something that Nicole and Miss Stevenson must have already thought of.
    I looked at Nicole, who was silently reading beside me, frowning at the page in a world of her own. “Why am I bothering with this?” I asked in a flat voice. “It’s pointless,