The Butterfly Club Read online

  I saw that crying wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so I ran upstairs with Baby. But I didn’t put her back with big Rosebud. I tucked her away in my school skirt pocket.

  Then we set off with Mum. It felt very grown-up to be walking right past the Infants’ entrance, all the way to the Juniors.

  ‘I’m going to come in with you, girls,’ said Mum.

  ‘Oh, Mum. People will think we’re babies,’ said Maddie.

  ‘Mum’s not fussed about us, silly. It’s Tina,’ said Phil.

  ‘She needn’t be fussed about me. I’m not a baby. I’m exactly the same age as you,’ I said.

  But secretly I was quite glad that Mum was coming through the Juniors’ gate with us. It felt a bit strange being in the Juniors’ playground. The Juniors were very big. Some of them were practically grown-up. They stared at us – they stared at me in particular. I edged in between Phil and Maddie. I wanted to hold their hands but I didn’t want to look even more of a baby.

  ‘Let’s find this Miss Lovejoy,’ said Mum, marching into the school building.

  ‘Mum! I don’t think we’re allowed inside yet!’ said Phil.

  ‘We’re supposed to stay in the playground until they ring the bell!’ said Maddie.

  ‘I know, but I’m sure Miss Lovejoy won’t mind,’ said Mum.

  Miss Lovejoy looked as if she minded a lot when we found our new classroom.

  ‘Ah . . . school hasn’t quite started yet,’ she told us.

  ‘Yes, I know, but I wanted to have a little word with you about my girls.’ Mum spoke in the firm voice she always uses when she’s giving us a telling-off. But Miss Lovejoy’s voice was much, much firmer.

  ‘Your triplets, Philippa and Madeleine and Tina?’ she said. She obviously knew the register by heart already.

  ‘That’s right. Phil and Maddie are identical, as you can see – though if you look carefully, Phil has a mole on her cheek and Maddie has a little scar on her chin.’

  ‘I dare say I shall learn to tell them apart,’ said Miss Lovejoy.

  ‘And then there’s Tina.’ Mum took hold of me and gave my shoulders a little squeeze. ‘I don’t know whether you’ve been told about Tina . . . As you can see, she’s got a bit of catching up to do. She was very ill when she was born. She had to have major heart surgery and she’s had various problems since. She’s not allowed to play any contact sports, and I’d appreciate it if you kept an eye on her in the playground.’

  Miss Lovejoy looked at me. I didn’t want her to keep an eye on me. It was too fierce and beady.

  ‘Don’t worry, Mrs Maynard,’ she said. ‘I’m sure Tina will flourish in my class.’

  I didn’t think I was going to flourish. I thought I might very well wilt.

  ‘Off you pop now, girls,’ Miss Lovejoy went on, extra firmly.

  It was clear that she expected Mum to pop off too. So we all did as we were told.

  ‘Well,’ said Mum, when we were out in the playground again. ‘She’s a bit of an old dragon, isn’t she?’

  ‘Yes!’ said Phil.

  ‘Yes!’ said Maddie.

  ‘Yes yes yes,’ I said.

  ‘But I dare say she’s perfectly lovely when you get to know her,’ Mum added quickly.

  We weren’t sure we really wanted to get to know her.

  Chapter Three

  WHEN THE BELL rang for the start of school, Phil and Maddie and I ran fast so we could be first in line. Then we marched very, very quickly in through the door and down the corridor to our classroom.

  It wasn’t because we were eager to start lessons with Miss Lovejoy. We just needed to get to the classroom first so we could get a good seat. Maddie forged ahead when we were inside and bagged three places at the table right at the back. Selma Johnson tried to push her out of the way, but Maddie was very fierce and brave. She got her bottom on one seat. Phil shoved her way onto the other. I squeezed in between them. There! We had the perfect seats, and there was nothing Selma could do about it. She couldn’t just tip us off, not with Miss Lovejoy’s beady eyes on us.

  Some of the boys wanted to be on our table too.

  ‘No, go away, this is a girls’ table,’ said Phil.

  ‘Yes, push off. Go and find your own table,’ said Maddie.

  So they went away to sit at another table at the side. I was a bit disappointed. One of the boys was Harry. I’d have liked to have him on our table.

  But some quite nice girls, Sophie and Neera and Carys, came and sat with us. We all smiled at each other.

  ‘There!’ said Maddie proudly. ‘I got us the perfect table.’

  Everyone else barged about the room until they found places too. All this time Miss Lovejoy was standing by the whiteboard watching us, arms folded. Her eyes were extra beady.

  ‘Have we finished playing Musical Chairs?’ she said eventually. She didn’t shout, but she used the sort of voice that makes you sit up straight and quiver.

  ‘Welcome to Year Three. I am your teacher, Miss Lovejoy. I hope you will learn many things while you are in my class. We’re going to start learning straight away. You might have pushed and shoved and run wild in the Infants, but now that you are in the Juniors it’s time you learned some manners! Now stand up!’

  We stood up.

  ‘Pick up your school bags and line up by the door!’

  We did as we were told. We thought she was mad as we’d only just sat down, but no one dared argue, not even Selma Johnson.

  ‘That’s better,’ said Miss Lovejoy. ‘Now, you will sit where I tell you. Is that understood?’

  We all nodded.

  Miss Lovejoy’s beady eyes looked up and down our line. She started picking children at random and pointing to tables. She mixed girls with boys. She put Selma Johnson right at the front!

  Then she pointed to Phil and told her to go to a table at the side. Phil went to sit down. Maddie followed her, pulling me along too.

  ‘Excuse me,’ said Miss Lovejoy. ‘Where are you going, Madeleine?’

  She was the first teacher we’d had who could tell the difference between Phil and Maddie.

  ‘I’m going to sit with my sister, Miss Lovejoy,’ said Maddie. ‘And so is Tina.’

  ‘Did I tell you to sit with Philippa?’

  ‘No, but we always sit together. We have ever since we were in Reception.’ Maddie was very red in the face.

  ‘We don’t want to be a nuisance, Miss Lovejoy, but Maddie and I have to look after Tina,’ Phil said quickly.

  ‘I believe I am the teacher,’ said Miss Lovejoy. ‘It’s my job to look after all of you. Now, go and sit at the table on the other side of the room, Madeleine. Quickly! And you, Tina, come and sit here.’

  Oh no! She pointed at the table at the front. She actually pulled out the chair next to terrible Selma Johnson.

  ‘Sit here!’ she said.

  I clutched Baby tight in my hand for courage. ‘Mum says I have to sit with my sisters,’ I said in a tiny voice.

  Miss Lovejoy cupped her hand behind her ear. ‘I beg your pardon?’ she said.

  I didn’t dare repeat it. I sat down next to Selma. She moved her chair away as far as she could, pulling a face. I tried very hard not to cry. One tear escaped – and Selma saw.

  ‘Cry-baby!’ she hissed.

  Then Miss Lovejoy said that Kayleigh had to sit at our table. Selma smirked. Kayleigh wasn’t mean when Selma wasn’t around, but when she was with Selma she could be really horrid. She gave really painful Chinese burns.

  So I had Selma on one side and Kayleigh on the other!

  I hoped that some of the quite nice girls would be sent to join us. But the other three were boys – two big rough boys, Peter and Mick, and Alistair Davey. Alistair was quite small (though nowhere near as small as me), but even so, he had a very loud voice. He always knew the answers to all the questions. He spoke in an extremely know-it-all way, even to the teachers.

  If we had to have a boy at our table, I wished it could have been Harry.

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