Mrs McLean’s desk. Mrs McLean entered a few minutes later, apologising profusely for not being on hand to greet them at the door.
Dressed conservatively in a long black skirt and crisp white blouse, her greying hair pulled back tightly in a bun, Judith McLean glowed with health and vitality. Smiling broadly, she welcomed back the two former students, in the form of June Taylor, and her daughter Ann Green, and then turned to the next generation ... Jade.
‘And you must be Janice,’ she beamed. ‘It’s so good to meet you. I’m sure you’ll fit right in.’ She turned back to Jade’s mother. ‘We’re fortunate that we have been able to accommodate Janice at this time of the year. We don’t often have enrolments mid-term.’
‘It was necessary to remove Janice from China at short notice, I’m afraid,’ apologised Ann Green. ‘We intended to do so at the start of the school year, but, due to unforeseen circumstances, were unable to.’
‘And what arrangements have you made for Janice’s holidays?’ asked Judith McLean.
The Captain responded, ‘For the shorter holidays, Janice will stay with us, and we shall see that she is escorted home, to China, for the long break.’
Jade was shocked. She had not even considered what would happen outside of school. She would now only get to see her father for six weeks a year. Less really, as she had long sea trips either way to make. A cold pain of desolation gripped her stomach. She wished she had the nerve to say something, but her mother seemed determined to abandon her only child.
Mrs McLean answered a knock at the door, and admitted an elderly woman, also dressed in black, and so thin that she reminded Jade of a Praying Mantis.
‘This is Miss Wright, who will be looking after the house that Janice will be representing while she is boarding with us. She will take Janice with her now and settle her into her room. Meanwhile, we’ll make the necessary arrangements for her enrolment. When we’re finished here, you may visit Janice in her room, and say your goodbyes.’
Jade followed the tall figure of Miss Wright, as she strode along silent, carpeted corridors.
They passed several classrooms where Jade could hear the slight murmur of voices coming from within. Jade’s previous school had been a raucous, animated place, full of young voices and activity, where the sounds echoed through tall rooms. This building was more like a museum, or an art gallery, than a school, with large portraits of forbidding looking men and women lining the walls.
Jade nearly had to run to keep up with the long striding Miss Wright, and was almost out of breath when they finally entered a distant wing of the house, and stopped outside a door.
Miss Wright turned to Jade. ‘You are now in Scanlon House, and this will be your room. You will find it already occupied by Miss Rani Smith from India. If you do not like your companion, you must realise that you have arrived almost unannounced, and mid-term. You will have to make do until next term, when some other girl may wish to swap places with you. However, I doubt that anyone will step forward.’
Jade found the room unoccupied, with her cases stacked neatly in the centre of the floor.
Miss Wright waved to one side of the room. ‘That will be your area, and you will be responsible for keeping it clean at all times. There will be points deducted from your House’s total for untidiness, and there will be special duties for those who are continually not up to standard. Your roommate, Miss Smith, will teach you the rules of the house. I suggest you learn them quickly. We have no time here for young ladies who cannot learn to abide by the rules. You may start now, by unpacking your clothes. See that they are all hung up correctly. I will leave you now. Make sure you are fully settled in by the time the supper bell rings. Miss Smith will be finished with her classes shortly.’
Without a word of welcome, Miss Wright turned, and left, closing the door quietly, leaving Jade standing beside her cases, and trying very hard not to cry.
Jade stared into space.
What would become of her?
She had no idea what her future held, but decided that she would do her best to make her father proud. If he was proud of her, she might be able to convince him to let her stay at home when she was, at last, able to talk to him.
Taking a deep breath, she accepted her fate, and began to unpack.
Her mother and her grandparents arrived soon after, giving the room a cursory nod of acceptance. ‘Quite adequate,’ said her mother.
They said their goodbyes, with a frosty hug from her mother, and a warm one from each of her grandparents, and then Jade was left alone again.
As she looked at the closing door, taking her family out of her life, Jade realised that she would not miss her mother. She did not know her grandparents at all, so would not miss them either, despite their initial friendliness. It would only be her father that she missed, and Yee-Ling of course.
When she had finished unpacking, Jade studied the belongings of her roommate. She obviously loved to read. Books, thick, and thin, were everywhere. On shelves above the bed, on the windowsill, all over her desk, and even stacked on the floor. Jade wandered over, and studied the titles. There were books on everything from fairy stories to ancient history, and Jade could not imagine what sort of person her roommate would turn out to be. She did not have to wonder for long.
A hand bell could be heard, rung with much vigour, its raucous clanging a surprising counterpoint to the quiet that proceeded it.
Voices in the hall announced the return of the students, and a short time later, the door was opened, and her new roommate entered.
Tall, and slender for her age, Rani Smith was the daughter of Reginald Smith, a third generation resident of India, from a tea-trading family. Reginald had upset his family by ‘going native’, and marrying a beautiful Indian woman from an influential business family.
Normally, a girl of mixed ancestry would not have been accepted at the Staunton College for Young Ladies, however, the Smith family were directly related to the founders of the college, and generations of the family had attended its classes. Even so, it had taken a large donation to the school, for much-needed repairs, to secure Rani’s enrolment.
The young lady that entered Jade’s room was the same age as Jade, with skin the colour of mahogany. Her long black hair hung down her back, and reminded Jade of Yee-Ling’s. Her arms were full of books, and she dropped them onto her bed, before turning, and regarding the interloper.
‘So you’re Janice.’
‘I’m called Jade. I’d rather be called Jade.’
‘Not around here you won’t be. Everyone is called by his or her correct name, even if they hate it.’
‘Oh,’ whispered Jade. ‘I’m sorry.’
Rani laughed. ‘I’ll call you Jade if you like. I’m always doing things that I’m not supposed to do. Not bad things, just things that I think should be done differently. It really annoys them.’
‘But won’t you get into trouble?’
Rani shrugged. ‘They don’t like me much here anyway. I’m not the sort of person that the Staunton College for Young Ladies usually takes on as a student. Daddy’s money ensured my acceptance. You see, I’m just not English enough for them,’
