17 Blethingwood Hall - Original Story By Stephanie Poppins
When Penny, Adam, and William Darlington are thrown into Blethingwood Hall against their will, they quickly realize there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. For one thing, it's for rich kids, and they're far from that. For another, it's run by the Order, who represent everything they stand against. This is Volume One - A 36-part story. In this episode, Adam, William, and Jason discuss the Winter Solstice
Transcript
At last the month the Darlingtons had been waiting for arrived,
And as if well aware of this,
Mother Nature's brush,
Loaded with her own fresh optimism,
Coated the vast lawns of Blethingwood Hall in a thick brilliant white.
Each frozen column sported a shimmering gown matched with glassy beads,
Glinting like beacons of hope,
And in the courtyard the birdbaths became frozen stages upon which the Feredor were reluctant to dance.
Much to the relief of everyone,
They remained high in the portico's pediment,
Hidden by the long crystallised tubes running from roof to bow.
It was a glorious day,
And now made even better with the absence of the dragon.
"'She's out on school business,
' said Mrs Williams to Madam Tobe,
The French teacher,
As they stood side by side in the library's gallery.
"'If you require assistance,
Please let me know.
' Madam Tobe looked at the English teacher in shock.
She was usually ridiculed for her cold-blooded murder of the English tongue.
Didn't Miss Williams always avoid her like the plague?
But today it seemed there were no burnitual quotes to be had.
"'Merci beaucoup,
Constance,
' she replied as she leafed through the many pages with smudged fingerprints that had been left before her.
"'It's quite lovely out there,
Is it not?
' Miss Williams replied,
Looking over the rear lawns.
"'The snow makes even the most mundane appear beautiful.
' "'I quite agree with you,
' said Madam Zell.
"'It makes me feel,
Uh,
Blessed,
Uh,
To teach here at this school.
What are you looking for,
Anyway?
Anything I can help you with?
' "'Ah,
Yes,
' said Madam Zell.
"'I am needing,
Uh,
L'information about,
Uh,
About the animal,
Uh,
The life of the,
Uh,
Domestic animal here at Belething Village.
' As soon as the words were spoken,
Out popped Mr Dunnan,
The deputy head,
From behind a nearby bookshelf.
"'There is no such book here.
Adapt the planning for your lessons accordingly,
Madam Tobe,
' he spat,
Raising his hand as if blocking a bad smell.
Then turning on his heel,
He made a beeline for the music section,
Almost knocking over an unsuspecting Alfred in the process.
"'What did I expect?
' Madam Zell said to herself.
"'There is no making sense of such people.
' Then accepting the lost handkerchief that Alfred handed to her,
She stormed off in a half.
Miss Williams,
Meanwhile,
Shook her head and carried on gazing out of the window.
Meanwhile,
Outside in the East Wing courtyard,
Adam was preparing a stack of snowballs and planning his attack.
He was relieved to be able to get away from Thomas Fink for a change,
And could think of nothing better than messing around in the snow with William and Jason,
As it was now a week since he'd spent any more than a few minutes alone with them.
"'Duck!
' he shouted in amusement as they approached him.
But his warning was given long after he delivered his missile.
His smug look soon disappeared,
Though,
When the attempt failed and William and Jason shuffled huge mounds into piles to retaliate.
"'You see,
Will,
' Jason called mid-throw,
"'it largely depends on whether the arrow stays lodged in the Ferodor's heart,
Or it passes straight through his body and out the other side.
' They were now discussing their favourite subject,
The speed at which one of the black birds would hit the ground if it was shot with a bow and arrow.
"'Cheery topic of conversation,
You two!
' laughed Adam,
As he dodged Jason's missile.
"'Where's Penn?
I thought she was coming with you.
I've been waiting to hear her news for weeks now.
' "'She's in the music room as per,
' said William.
"'She's taking this winter solstice concert far too seriously,
If you ask me,
' said William.
"'I know she wants to get it right,
But she's missed breakfast and lunch.
' Jason nearly choked at the prospect of missing one meal,
Let alone two.
But little did they realise Penny needed to grasp any opportunity she could to escape from Lisa and Jane,
And rehearsals in the music room was just one of them.
Lack of food as she saw it was neither here nor there.
Besides,
She'd had a lot on her mind since seeing the apparition in the forgotten room.
"'I don't even think she knows it's snowing,
' said William.
"'Probably not,
' Adam replied.
"'What have you two been up to anyway?
' "'Oh,
This and that,
' said William,
Fed up of keeping all his news in and well aware Jason had seen him anyway.
"'The night watchers are going well.
Those feridaw keep busy while we're asleep,
I can tell you.
' Adam shot his brother one of his looks,
But William carried on regardless.
"'They've got everything down to a fine art.
When one of the birds leaves,
Another one takes its place.
I reckon they must be going out to hunt,
You know,
Because they never get fed,
Do they?
' "'That one with the colours on his chest.
He guards the dragon's office all night long.
' "'Okay.
' Adam was trying very hard to restrain himself,
But why was William saying all this in front of Jason?
And as if he hadn't said enough,
William continued,
"'At two in the morning,
Every morning,
A water delivery comes and it's got House of Blessing written on the side,
Whatever that means.
Must be local water,
Of course,
But why would you bring it in the middle of the night if it's only from the village?
Why don't we just drink from the taps like everybody else?
' This was one step too far.
"'Loads of companies work night shifts,
' said Adam,
Frustratedly.
"'It's filtered water,
Isn't it?
That's why we have the water machines?
' After seeing what he saw in the lab,
Adam didn't really believe half of what he was saying,
But this was the last thing they should be talking about in front of Jason.
"'Of course,
' William replied,
Now receiving the message loud and clear.
He'd said too much.
But Jason was not one to be left out.
"'I've heard the West Wing talking about the house,
' he said.
"'I reckon that must be some kind of secret society or something.
' William shuffled from foot to foot and Adam laughed a little too loudly.
There was a high probability Jason was right,
But they didn't want him to know that,
No matter how nice he was.
So they continued making snowballs in awkward silence,
Until,
With perfect timing,
Fink the Stink walked over with a face like thunder.
"'We've got to sort this out,
Darlington.
Come on,
Stop being such a girl!
' William and Jason made their hasty retreat.
They'd heard all about Fink getting caught for staying up after lights out,
And they weren't surprised that he was looking for revenge.
But what was going on now?
That boy was always in trouble.
They broke into a run,
Eager to escape through the trees as quickly as possible.
But the Ferridor had seen them,
And as the black assassins swooped,
The two boys fled to the safety of the terrace.
"'Why don't they ever get the West Wing lot?
That's what I want to know,
' panted Jason as he brushed hard,
Icy blocks on his shoulders.
The blocks the Ferridor had dropped on him.
"'They're not stupid.
Far from it,
' William replied.
He knew these birds were enemies of the New World,
And he didn't underestimate them.
They weren't stupid,
And just as capable of knowing the difference between teachers and pupils,
Or East Wing and West Wing,
As they were.
Meanwhile,
Adam watched them in frustration.
At that moment he would have given anything to be twelve again and in their year.
But life wasn't to be as simple as that.
Not for him,
Anyway.
And as if well aware he needed cheering up,
Alfred emerged from behind the trees and gave him a clumsy wave.
"'What's he got to be so happy about?
' Fink sniped,
Kicking impatiently at the soft powder beneath his feet.
That idiot must have fallen out the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.
Sweeping past is the best he'll ever amount to.
' At that moment Adam wanted to punch Thomas in the face.
But he held his nerve,
For he knew nothing would please this boy more than having a fight.
Full of nervous energy and never able to settle,
Thomas Fink was a bad bedfellow,
And Adam's patience was wearing very thin.
However,
It sounded as though he was finally about to do something stupid enough to get himself kicked out.
So Adam took a deep breath and waited patiently for Fink to divulge the sordid details.
"'Darling's been giving me grief all morning thanks to Joseph Grebe,
' the belligerent boy spat.
It's time that git got what he deserves.
' But Adam didn't like the idea of tackling the biggest bully in the school.
"'That's not what you said last week when you were sucking up to him,
' he thought bitterly.
If the truth be told,
He hated Joe just as much as Thomas did,
But he'd learn very quickly only to fight the battles he knew he stood any chance of winning.
"'Look,
' Fink continued,
"'I've got an idea.
We know how important this solstice thing is to the West,
Right?
You've seen Grebe and his mates rehearsing just as much as I have.
They've got these placard things to hold up,
Haven't they?
' "'Yeah.
Well,
What if the placards went missing right before the solstice show?
Nobody'll ever know it's us,
Will they?
There's millions of places we can hide them.
' Then they'd be for it.
"'It's a bit obvious,
' mumbled Adam nervously.
"'Everyone's gonna be on high alert.
' The last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to himself.
He'd been party to Fink's schemes before and as a result he was now labelled a troublemaker.
To add to the many stupid ideas Fink had dragged him into,
He'd only gone and cheated in the cross-country challenge the week before.
This wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't meant he beat Joseph Grebe as a result.
But he had,
And now his hands were tied.
Thomas Fink had something on him,
Something that nobody else knew about,
And that boy was loyal to nobody but himself.
He'd happily tell anyone all about it if he needed to.
"'Look,
Stop worrying,
' Fink persisted.
Grebe and his mate have been at each other's throats all week.
They'll just take it out on each other,
It'll be fine.
' But Adam knew it'd be far from that.
He didn't really have a choice though,
Not if he wanted his nose to remain where it was.
But then,
Fortunately for him,
A pleasant announcement came over the tannoy,
And he quickly forgot all about it.
"'All East Wing boys make their way to the gym immediately,
' it said.
It was Dr Ling,
And it sounded like he was in the mood for a bit of fun.
