Clover Moon Read online

  I changed into the dry gown and balled it up with the sodden sheets. I didn’t know what to do with them. I wandered around the washroom, seeing if there was anywhere I could hide them. I tried the window to see if I could throw them out, but it was nailed shut. After searching further I found a wicker basket and shoved them inside in a sodden heap.

  I decided to use the water closet again – after Mary-Ann’s taunting I was terrified that I really might wet the bed, though I hadn’t had an accident since I was a tiny girl, when Mildred first came to live with us. She’d thought I was simply too lazy to use the pot and had smacked me hard every morning. She said it was for my own good – I had to stop being such a dirty girl.

  I was sad to have left all my brothers and sisters. I was sad to have left Pa. But I was glad, glad, glad that I was rid of Mildred at long last.

  I scurried back to the dormitory. Everyone still seemed fast asleep. I took my clean sheets and silently spread them out, tucking them in neatly and putting the blanket on top. Then I climbed into bed and pulled the sheets over my head. For a few moments they seemed wet too, but it was only their cold crispness. It wasn’t long before the bed warmed up. I felt warm too, but I still shivered. I slept eventually, though every time I turned over I woke up again because the bed felt so empty.

  At last it was daylight and Miss Ainsley came knocking at our door. ‘Wake up, girls! Rise and shine!’

  There was a chorus of sleepy groans and murmurs.

  ‘Did you sleep well, Clover?’ Miss Ainsley asked.

  ‘Not very well,’ I said.

  ‘Well, I dare say it will feel a little strange here at first, but you’ll soon settle in. Now jump up, dear, and turn your covers down to air while you go along to the washroom. Come along, girls, all of you. Out of bed!’ she said.

  They all stumbled out of their beds and threw their covers back. I got out too, and slowly and deliberately pulled my top sheet right back. Miss Ainsley glanced at it. Every girl in the room stood very still.

  Miss Ainsley brushed the bottom sheet with the back of her hand and then gave me a little nod. ‘Off you go then, Clover,’ she said. ‘And the rest of you! What are you staring at?’

  Mary-Ann didn’t just stare. She blatantly felt my bed, looking bewildered. I smiled at her and then marched off to the washroom in my clean dry nightgown.

  She caught hold of me when I was in there. ‘So how did you pull that trick?’ she asked, frowning. ‘Those sheets were sopping! How could they be bone-dry now?’

  ‘I wonder,’ I said.

  ‘No, don’t mess with me,’ said Mary-Ann, taking hold of my arm. ‘Tell me how you did it!’

  ‘Magic!’ I said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Look at my eyes. What colour are they?’

  ‘Green.’

  ‘Exactly. Witch’s eyes. Everyone knows that. And I’m a witch. I can work all kinds of spells. So watch yourself, Mary-Ann. Don’t you mess with me,’ I said.

  I pulled myself free, went into the water closet and slammed the door. I wondered if she’d try to trap me inside again, but the door opened easily enough when I came out.

  They were all standing still, staring at me.

  ‘Are you really a witch?’ Millie quavered.

  I nodded.

  ‘Of course she’s not,’ said Mary-Ann, but she didn’t sound certain.

  ‘Do another spell then,’ said Julia, the girl with the dark bob.

  ‘Yes – make toads come jumping out of Millie’s mouth,’ said Mary-Ann.

  Poor Millie squealed and covered her face, retching.

  ‘I don’t do silly party tricks like that,’ I said scornfully.

  Just then Sissy came into the bathroom. Jane was in her arms, screaming and kicking, Elspeth and Moira on either side, and little Pammy trailing behind, sucking her thumb.

  ‘Oh Lordy, Jane’s having a real roarer this morning,’ said Sissy, struggling with her. ‘Can you try to calm her down, Clover?’

  I went over and took hold of her clenched hand. ‘Hey, Jane. It’s me, Clover,’ I said, having to shout above her screams. ‘What’s all this noise?’

  But there was no noise. As soon as she recognized me Jane stopped yelling. Her eyes still streamed with tears but she clamped her lips together and reached out for me. I took her from Sissy, holding her tight, and Jane crowed triumphantly, though she was still jerky with sobs.

  ‘There now,’ I said. ‘Are you going to use your pot like a good girl?’

  Jane shook her wild hair.

  ‘Well then, I’d better take you into the water closet,’ I said.

  ‘Tinkle tinkle!’ said Jane, laughing shakily.

  I pushed in front of a whole queue of girls from my dormitory and took Jane inside. She refused to climb on to the seat herself, insisting I lift her up, but then performed perfectly. We emerged from the water closet hand in hand, Jane walking demurely, utterly composed, with a proud smile on her face.

  ‘That’s the sort of trick I do,’ I murmured to Mary-Ann and Julia. ‘But beware. I have learned the Black Arts too.’

  ‘Do you think we’re stupid?’ said Mary-Ann, but she took a step backwards as I passed her, her hands going to her hair, as if I might really conjure a pair of scissors from mid-air and start snipping at her golden locks.

  I breathed out as I turned my back on her. For the first and only time in my life I felt grateful to Mildred for calling me a little witch so often. She’d given me such an effective idea. My black mourning clothes were also useful. Mary-Ann and Julia whispered away while we had breakfast – creamy porridge with a little sugar sprinkled on top, so much nicer than the burned slop Mildred made. By the time our bowls were clean every girl in the home thought I wore black because I was a witch, and even the big girls were peering at me warily.

  ‘What tales have you been telling?’ Sissy asked me in the kitchen.

  ‘Tales?’ I said, trying to sound innocent.

  ‘They’re all saying you’re a witch and can do magic spells. You’re a bad girl to spin them such silly nonsense!’ she said, but she was smiling.

  ‘I can’t help it if they’re stupid,’ I said. ‘And you said I worked magic on Jane.’

  ‘And so you did. Please keep it going – you make my life much easier. Just stop scaring the rest of the girls!’

  ‘I won’t. Well, not much. Sissy, don’t tell them it’s all play, will you?’ I asked anxiously.

  ‘Not for the moment,’ she said. ‘I can see it’s a very useful ploy. I remember what it was like to be a new girl here. There was a lot of unwelcome joshing. But don’t worry about it too much, Clover. You’ll soon settle in and be one of the girls.’

  I didn’t want to be one of the girls. I was still seriously thinking of making a bolt for it, but I was no longer sure that Thelma was my best bet. I didn’t want to go home either, though I longed to give little Bert a cuddle again. I missed Mr Dolly most of all, though I knew I couldn’t be his little apprentice. He thought I should continue my education, so perhaps I should try hard to learn here.

  I didn’t get off to a good start. First of all we had Bible Study and I proved a total dunce, ignorant of everything. Miss Ainsley taught me the Lord’s Prayer and I learned that quickly enough, though I was baffled by everything else. She spoke reverently about Jesus, and told a story about huge crowds gathering to hear Him speak. She said there were only five loaves and two fishes to feed this multitude, yet Jesus shared the food out so that everyone had enough to eat.

  This was clearly impossible. Of course, it depended on the size of the loaves and fishes. I wondered if they might be gigantic loaves baked as big as a house, and fish as vast as whales, but when I asked Miss Ainsley she shook her head.

  ‘Please don’t ask out loud like that, Clover. If you have a question, put up your hand,’ she said. ‘And don’t be silly, child – how could you possibly have giant loaves? Where would you get an oven that huge? And there were no whales in the Sea of Galilee! They were pe