"Blyton, Enid - St Clare's 03 - Summer Term at St Clare's" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

Pam was younger than Prudence, and although she was a clever girl at her work, she was very easily influenced by Prudence. Soon she was agreeing to all that the older girl said, and even when Prudence said things that were plainly untrue and unkind about others, Pam listened to her respectfully and nodded her head.
It was Pam and Prudence who discovered Carlotta doing something extraordinary, not long after the episode at the swimming-pool. The two of them were going for a nature walk together, taking with them their note-books and their nature specimen cases. They set off over the hill and went across the fields that lay behind the school. The country swept upwards again after a little, and big fields lay behind high hedges. It was a beautiful day for a walk, and Pam, who seldom went out, was quite enjoying herself.
Prudence would not have gone out at all for a walk if she hadn't seen Carlotta making off by herself. The girls were not allowed to go out alone, unless they were top formers, and two or three times Prudence bad suspected that Carlotta was disobeying the rules.
Today she had seen Carlotta slipping off through the school grounds to the little gate that was set in the garden wall a good way behind the school. Prudence had been in the dormitory, and her sharp eyes picked out the girl at once. 'I wonder what she does when she goes off alone,' thought Prudence, spitefully. 'Where does she go? I bet she's got some common town friends that nobody knows anything about. I'd like to follow her and find out."
Prudence was cunning. She knew it would be no good to go to Pam Boardman and suggest spying on Carlotta because Pain, though having a great respect for Prudence, shied away from anything underhand. So Prudence ran downstairs and found Pam curled up as usual reading.
'Hallo, Pam!' she cried. 'Let's go out for a nature-walk! The fields look lovely behind the school this afternoon. Do come with me. It will do you good.'
Pam was good-natured. She shut up her book and went to get her hat and notebook. The two girls set off. Down through the grounds they went, out of the gate and then across the field-paths. Prudence kept a sharp look-out for Carlotta, and soon caught sight of the figure in the school blazer, a good way off, going up the hill opposite.
'I wonder who that is,' she said carelessly to Pam. 'We'll keep her in sight and perhaps join up with her on our way home.'
'We can't do that,' said Pam. 'She's alone so it must be one of the top-formers. She wouldn't want to walk home with us!'
Oh, I forgot that,' said Prudence. 'Well, we may as well go the same way as she does. She probably knows the right paths.'
So the two girls kept Carlotta in sight. The girl made her way over the top of the hill and then down into the next valley. Here there was a big camp, for a circus had come to the next town. In a vast field many caravans and cages were arranged, and in the centre an enormous tent towered up.
'There must be a circus at Trenton,' said Prudence. 'But Carlotta can't be going to it, because the show won't be on now.'
'How do you know it's Carlotta?' said Pam, in surprise. 'It can't be! She's not allowed out by herself. However can you tell who it is so far away?'
Prudence was annoyed with herself. She hadn't meant to let Pam know she knew it was Carlotta. 'Oh, I've got wonderful eyesight,' she said. 'You have to wear glasses, so probably your eyes don't see as far as mine. But I'm pretty sure it's Carlotta. Isn't that just like her-slipping out and breaking the rules?'
'Yes, it is rather like her,' said Pam, who, however, could not help rather admiring the fiery little girl for her complete disregard of rules and regulations when she wanted to do something very badly. Carlotta always went straight for a thing, riding over objections and obstacles as if they were not there.
They followed Carlotta to the big field. They saw her speak to an untidy-haired, rough-looking groom. He smiled at Carlotta and nodded. The girl left him and went into the next field where there were some beautiful circus horses. In half a minute the girl had caught one, leapt on to its back and was galloping round the field, riding beautifully, although it was bareback.
Pam and Prudence stared in the utmost surprise. Whatever Prudence had imagined Carlotta might be going to do she certainly hadn't thought of this I She could hardly believe her eyes. The two girls watched Carlotta on the beautiful horse, which first galloped swiftly round the field, and then fell to a canter. The man she had spoken to came to watch her He called out something to her and pointed to another horse. This was more the cart-horse type, broad-backed and staid.
Carlotta called something back to the man. She leapt off her horse and ran to the one he had pointed out to her. In a trice she was up on its back, calling to it. It began to run round the field.
And then Carlotta did something that made the two hidden girls gape even more! She stood up on the horse's back, and keeping her balance perfectly, made the horse trot round and round as if it were in a circus ring! Prudence's mouth shut in a straight line.
'I always thought there was something queer about Carlotta,' she said to Pam. 'Now we know what it is. I'm sure she's nothing but a jumped-up circus-girl. How could Miss Theobald have her here? It's wicked I Whatever will the others say?'
'Don't let's sneak, Prudence,' begged Pam, timidly. 'Please don't. This is Carlotta's secret, not ours. We'd better say nothing.'
'Well, we'll bide our time,' said Prudence, in a spiteful voice. 'We'll just bide our time. Come on-we'd better get back before she sees us watching.'
So the two girls made their way back to the school, mostly in silence. Prudence was gloating because she had discovered something so peculiar about Carlotta-and Pam was puzzled and worried, fearful that Prudence would give away Carlotta's secret, and drag her, Pain, into the unpleasantness too. They arrived back at school just in time for tea.
Pat and Isabel saw them going indoors and called to them in surprise. 'I say! You don't mean to say you two have actually been for a nature-walk ! I thought neither of you could be dragged out of doors!'
'We had a lovely walk,' said Prudence, 'and we saw some very interesting 'things."
'What have you brought back, Pain?' asked Hilary, seeing that Pam had her nature-specimen case slung over her shoulder.
Pam flushed. She had nothing, and neither had Prudence. It seemed as if the whole walk had been nothing but following Carlotta, spying on her, and then thinking about her all the way back. Prudence certainly hadn't spoken a word about nature, and Pam hadn't liked to ask her to stop when she saw anything that she herself was interested in.
Prudence saw that Pam was uncomfortable because they had brought nothing back for the nature-class. So she lied glibly.
'We've heaps of things,' she said. 'We'll keep them till after tea. We're hungry now-and there's the tea-bell.'
Prudence knew that no one would be interested enough to ask to see any nature-specimens after tea. She pushed Pam in the direction of the cloakroom, so that they might wash their hands.
Pam was silent as she washed. She was a truthful person herself, and it puzzled her. When Prudence told fibs, for the girl was always condemning others who did wrong-and yet here she was lying quite cheerfully!
'Perhaps it was because she didn't want to say we'd seen Carlotta,' 'said Pam to herself. 'She was just shielding her.'
Carlotta arrived late for tea. She muttered an apology to Miss Roberts and sat down. She was red with running, and although she had brushed her unruly dark curls, she looked untidy and hot.
'Wherever have you been, Carlotta?' said Pat. 'I looked all over the place for you this afternoon. It was your turn to play tennis. Didn't you know?'
'I forgot,' said Carlotta, taking a piece of bread and butter. 'I went out for a walk.'
'Who with?' said Janet.
'By myself,' said Carlotta, honestly, lowering her voice so that Miss Roberts could not hear. 'I know it's breaking the rules-but I couldn't help it. I wanted to be by myself.'
'You'll get caught one of these days, you monkey,' said Bobby. 'I break a good few of the rules myself at times-but you seem to act as if there weren't any at all. You be careful, Carlotta!'
But Carlotta only grinned. She had a secret which she meant to keep to herself. She didn't know that somebody else found it out!

10 AN UPROAR IN MAM'ZELLE'S CLASS!

THE next thing that happened was an uproar in Mam'zelle's French class. The term was getting on, and many of the first-formers seemed to have made no progress in French at all. The weather was very hot just then, and most of the girls felt it and were disinclined to work hard. Girls like Pam Boardman and Hilary Wentworth, both of whom had brains, a steady outlook on their work, and a determination to get on, worked just as well as ever- but the twins slacked, and as for Sadie and Bobby, they were the despair of all the teachers.
But it was Carlotta who roused Mam'zelle's anger the most. When Carlotta disliked any one she did not hide it. Neither did she hide her liking for any girl or teacher-she would do anything for a person she liked.. The twins, and Janet and Bobby, found her generous and kind, willing to do anything to help them. But she thoroughly disliked Alison, Sadie, Prudence, and one or two others.
Carlotta's idea of showing her dislike for any one was childish. She would make faces, turn her back, even slap. She would stamp her foot, call rude names, and often lapse into some foreign language, letting it flow out in an angry stream from her crimson lips. The girls rather enjoyed all this, though Hilary, as head of the form, often took the girl to task.
'Carlotta, you let yourself down when you act like this,' she said, after a scene in which Carlotta had called Alison and Sadie a string of extraordinary names. 'You let your parents down too. We are all more or less what our parents have made us, you know, and we want them to be proud of us. Don't let your people down.'
Carlotta turned away with a toss of her head. 'I don't let my parents down!' she said. 'They've let me down. I wouldn't stay here if I hadn't made a promise to some one. Do you. suppose I would ever choose to be in a place where I had to see people like Alison and Sadie and Prudence every day? Pah!'
The girl almost spat in her rage. She was trembling, and Hilary hardly knew what else to say.
'We can't like every one,' she said at last. 'You do like some of us, Carlotta, and we like you. But can't you see that you only make things worse for yourself when you act like this? When you live in a community together, you have to behave as the others do. I'm head of the form, and I just can't let you go around behaving like a four-year-old. After all, you are fifteen.'
Carlotta's rage vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. She genuinely liked the steady responsible Hilary. She put out her hand to her.