They wanted to be featured
Rickmansworth Rhapsody
Summer was a magical time at Rickmansworth Young Ladies College, formally known as Denham Hall; a very exclusive college of learning for genteel young ladies, a college for the daughters of Olde Albion from established families of substance whose parents were the Captains of Industry, Ambassadors, Political figures and leaders of men. Many life-long friendships were forged among the boarders at Denham Hall.
By 10pm in the middle of summer, the sun was still shining brightly, filtering under the curtains and reflecting off the dormitory ceiling making it difficult to get to sleep. I am not sure what triggered the conversation but the thrust of the discussion, as I remember, was ‘When I leave college I want to be…’
I was not surprised Tamsin took the lead. I would have been surprised if she hadn’t.
She opened with “When I leave college I want to be a Container Ship’s Captain”.
This was followed by suppressed audible groans from the other boarders.
I put the question to Candice.
She answered “I want to be a film star”.
Tamsin broke in “You cannot just WANT to be a film star Candice; just like Rhonda cannot just WANT to be clever”.
Rhonda raised her voice and replied irately “There is no need to be personal Tamsin”.
There was a pause. “What about you Bridgette?” asked Patience.
I said “I would like to be a neuro surgeon”.
Tamsin broke in again. “That’s going to take a bit of practice Bridgette” followed by a giggle.
This was going to be interesting. It was Rhonda’s turn.
“Rhonda?”
“When I leave school I want to be a teacher”. It was not met with a groan but rather more like someone sicking up from the direction of Tamsin’s bed.
It was Patience’s turn. She was the oldest of us. She responded “I would like to be the duty dormitory monitor like Nurse Mayo and throttle the life out of Tamsin”.
Tamsin retorted authoritatively. “That is not a profession Patience”.
Phaedra, Elspeth, and Jasmine refused to be drawn into the conversation.
That was where the discussion ended.
Another beautiful morning greeted the Denham Hall girls; the days were an endless summer. The smell of freshly mown lawns was carried high on the zephyrs of a gentle breeze, as did the heavy scent of rhododendrons which filtered through the open windows. It was the beginning of the weekend. In the huge dining room, Miss Pringle watched over the girls at breakfast time like a circling sparrowhawk. What will this new day bring?
Well, it brought Mr Crisis out of the science room for a start. It would take too long to explain, but Mr Crisis appeared one day
and was offered the position of science teacher by Miss Sefton due to the retirement of Miss Cribb.
The story goes - it was eventually discovered that Mr Crisis came from the Constellation of Epsilon Boőtis which is about 36 light-years from earth, so you see it is quite close. He was from the planet Tau Boötis which is one of the planets orbiting Epsilon and he said he was on a sabbatical. Tau Boötis yes, maybe, but I do not believe the bit about him being on a sabbatical. That stretches the imagination in anyone’s book.
Tamsin wanted to go to the shopping center to buy mother a small gift in return for the hospitality of staying for the coming
weekend. I pointed out to Tamsin she was not obliged to buy my mother anything as she is my second best friend; ………..that’s Tamsin not mother.
Stung, she inquired “What do you mean second best friend? Who is your best friend then?”
Exasperated I said “Patience is. Look Tamsin, it doesn’t matter, very best friend or second-best friend. It really doesn’t matter”.
She looked quite hurt.
We had a couple of hours spare before we were to leave for Scotland so we took a bus to the shopping center. I wanted to go with her in case she bought mother a packet of three triple-A batteries, a packet of cigarettes or even a meter for testing printed circuit boards or something just as silly.
While Tamsin went into the jewellers I sat on a seat in the main concourse next to the food emporium. The shopping center seemed to float on a sea of marble, with the dimensions of a cathedral, surrounded by huge windows like a mammoth conservatory or was it a goldfish bowl.
As I sat there a lady leading a large furry dog on a long leash passed my field of view. I held my breath for a heart-stopping moment as it paused momentarily to sniff the leg of an elderly lady shopper with a walking frame before it and its owner disappeared into the food hall. I had never seen a dog being taken for walkies in shopping centers before, not even a guide dog and certainly not sniffing around a food hall. I was still pondering this when Tamsin arrived.
I asked, “What did you buy my mother?”
She replied, “A brooch. What do you think Bridgette?”
“That’s lovely Tamsin. She will like that. Guess what I just saw?”
“An airplane landing?”
“Be serious Tamsin just for a moment. No, I just saw a lady walking a dog on a long leash in the food hall”.
Tamsin said “well it would have to be a blind dog”.
“You mean a dog for the blind”.
“Yes. That’s what I meant”.
I explained “But SHE was leading the dog. Dogs are not allowed in shopping centers”.
There was a long pause while Tamsin reflected on this anomaly or, better still, while her thought patterns booted up. She countered with “Well that’s what I said. It proves my point. It means the dog WAS blind. That was why SHE was leading the dog”.
I said, “But if the dog was blind why would she bother to bring it to the shopping center? It cannot see anything. Why not leave it at home?”
Again Tamsin thought about this briefly then said: “Well if she left it at home while she was doing the shopping the dog would keep bumping into stuff in the house all afternoon. That’s cruel”. It was a conversation best left alone.
This weekend father had hired an executive jet to fly Mr Crisis, Tamsin, Elspeth MacDonald and myself to Oban Airport where we were met by Beecham, the family retainer and chauffeur who drove us to Inveraray Castle. Both father and mother greeted us at the main gate.
Even at our earlier meeting, father was very impressed with Mr Crisis. He had previously told father he can move effortlessly between star systems as pure cosmic consciousness, not hindered by the constraints of space, time and distance and can take on the form of the species he comes into contact with.
Delilah, my mother, turned to Tamsin and said: “Tamsin my dear, Bridgette tells me you want to be a container ship’s captain when you leave school. Is that right?”
“Well, yes and no” replied Tamsin. “You see that was yesterday. I have now decided I want to be a vet”.
I covered my mouth to stifle my giggling.
Tamsin haughtily replied “there’s no need to be sarcastic Bridgette”.
Father looked at me, closed his eyes and shook his head.
It was to be an evening of Scottish dancing that had been arranged with a band in the saloon. When I told Tamsin about the live band that had been hired, she pointed it would certainly be a great improvement over a dead one.
Many of our friends were expected, including the Mackenzie’s and the Atholls. Tamsin and Elspeth had both brought their dress tartans for the event. I assumed father would find something for Mr Crisis to wear. There would be no need for him to go shopping at TartansЯus in the high street.
I warned Tamsin that tonight there was no way she was going to pull that same trick twice of stealing other girls’ partners who she preferred to hers by skilfully exchanging her own partner during a tricky maneuver during an eightsome reel. It was like a three-card trick with her, but I was wise up to her and I warned Elspeth about her too. I advised her to watch Tamsin like a hawk during these formation dances. Elspeth said “I am not that thilly. I know what Tamthin geth up to”.
The guests began to arrive and were shown into the state dining room. As the drinks were being served the noise level increased, aided by the children separated from their parents. The venue for the dance was in the saloon. Much of the furniture had been removed to allow the dancers more room. Here friends met and long-separated friends were reunited.
I must say, Mr Crisis looked splendid in the Campbell Tartan. The stories he will be able to tell his friends on his return to Tau Boőtis do not bear thinking about.
The band commenced with the eightsome reel the ‘Marquis of Tullamarine’. Tamsin should have been happy with her partner. Elspeth said he looked, as she put it, ‘quite hot’. I thought for a moment my partner for the night might be Elspeth before Beecham’s son Raymond asked me to dance. We danced reels, waltzes and quicksteps. I don’t mean with Raymond ALL night but with different partners. Just thought I would get that straightened out.
There was a break of about a half-hour when the second part of the evening started. That’s when Reginald……., er someone or other, asked me to dance. I wanted the evening to go on forever but a tormented vision of blind dogs in shopping centers kept interfering with my train of thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment