 |
| Fairies in the Shower |
Again
I must apologize unreservedly to my gentle readers for the misleading and/or
confusing title of this article but to my credit as an author
(unpublished that is), there is a loose reference to ……Fairies and
Showers .
While walking through Boadicea dormitory Nurse
Mayo noted blood on Tamsin’s pillow and asked her if she suffered from nose
bleeds. She could have asked me that question and I would have told her it’s
Tamsin picking her spots again.
Nurse Mayo who was not unknown for having a
droll sense of humour pointed out Quote, “Miss Lacey it looks like the end
result of a chainsaw massacre now go and get another pillowcase from the linen
cupboard” Unquote. I am not sure why I put that in a quote to be honest.
As an aside and off-topic Charlotte noted
Tamsin was her own worst enemy……which could be a plus as she did not have a lot
of enemies. Mmmmmm, I’ll have to pause and think about that one.
Like the catty comment Tamsin made after
Naomi’s winning performance at the college talent show.
While Naomi was on stage receiving rapturous
applause and her award from the Rickmansworth Lady Mayoress for her performance
of O Mio Babbino Caro, Tamsin was heard to say ‘yeah but I bet
she can’t do bird imitations’. Closing her eyes for emphasis she shrugged her
shoulders and added in a matter-of-fact way ‘my friend can’.
Luckily Miss Pringle was only marginally out of
earshot so did not overhear or even appreciate Tamsin’s remark or she would
have been on her way for another visit to Miss Sefton’s office.
I was reminded of Nurse Mayo chiding her about
wasting water in the shower. One afternoon when she was ‘wasting water’ a
maintenance man, not realizing a student might be showering in the middle of
the day, unexpectedly walked in on her in the bathroom.
It was his sudden entrance that surprised
Tamsin who happened to be stepping out of the shower naked as the day she was
born. His sudden appearance causing her to freeze ……not unlike a fairy caught
in the glare of a car’s headlights. I believe there was a vain, yes even a
futile attempt, to cover ALL of her places of interest at once……or in
other words simultaneously, as she screamed ‘ER YUK’.
Now to bring you up to speed on other exploits.
I have explained on a number of previous
occasions Denham Hall is a very exclusive college for genteel young ladies
from well to do privileged families. receiving its charter from King George II
in the 17th century.
Denham Hall was a comparatively small boarding
college. The four dormitories were Pankhurst, Boadicea, Nightingale, and
Victoria each housing 10 beds, 5 each side.
They separated us seniors from the junior girls
as they were a pretty excitable and noisy lot. Most of the juniors, unlike the
boarders, were local girls, well fairly local if fairly local includes Little
Missenden and/or Chalfont St Peter.
On the weekends we didn’t go home, us seniors
were allowed to go into town, which is where Tamsin met Nathan at the Rickmansworth
Folk Club, above the fish and chip shop in the high street. He was the lead
guitarist in a group called the Melody Five. Actually, there were only four in
the group; it is thought a player might have left without telling the rest of
the band.
The line-up was strange for a folk group. It
originally consisted of an accordion, a guitar, banjo, mandolin and trumpet.
Jessica told me it was the banjo player that left as he could not keep up the
payments on his banjo. While the band was rehearsing I told Nathan straight
out, pulling no punches, ‘Nathan, personally I don’t think a number like a
White Sports Coat and a Pink Carnation can be considered a folk tune’. He was
not listening.
Phaedra said Nathan had the hots for Tamsin but
that wasn’t news; I already knew that. She added the ‘hots’ will get him
nowhere while he persists in wearing his ‘Keep the Falklands British’
tee-shirt. She said Tamsin will not be ‘seen dead’ in public with him. Fair
comment I feel.
Believe me, there was certainly no encouragement
for the ‘hots’ telegraphed to Nathan. Trouble is Nathan is so full of his own
self-importance he is yet to understand Tamsin is no man's fool.
Anyways he was the only guitarist in the group
who play cover songs of The Kingston Trio and others. Nathan’s specialty was
singing Pete Seeger songs. Giving credit where credit is due if pushed he could
do a passable impersonation of Tiny Tim.
Believe me, there was certainly no
encouragement for the “hots” telegraphed to Nathan. Trouble is Nathan is so
full of his own self-importance he is yet to understand Tamsin is no man's
fool.
Next weekend could not come fast enough. I will
be on my way back home to Inveraray for the weekend.
Beecham was to meet me, Tamsin and Phaedra at
Oban Airport, drop Tamsin off at her Loch Awe
home and proceed on Inveraray Castle. Tamsin was to join us the next day.
Mother asked why I did not bring Rebecca Macleod. I had to explain to mother
there was a limit to the number of passengers the plane could carry as it was
only a little airplane. Father was also home this weekend, so I wondered what
the weekend was going to bring.
Saturday afternoon Phaedra and I walked down to
the river and lazed in the afternoon sunshine. The following day, Sunday,
Tamsin arrived.
Mrs Dalrymple was a guest Sunday evening, and
as far as I know had not planned to attempt to communicate with the dead or
contact our ‘dear departed’. I was not sure, but I suspected it was going to be
an evening of charades. There is not a lot one can write about charades so we
can turn to the subject of cats.
Mrs Pasta, the kitchen hand, said she had seen
a rat or a mouse in the kitchen. This was right up Tamsin’s alley as she was
into that sort of thing; cats not rats. It was Phaedra who started a
conversation with Tamsin inquiring whether one should get a large or small cat
to deal with the rat…or mouse.
I don’t think this was a serious question by
Phaedra. I think she was just being mischievous and I suggested she should not
encourage Tamsin and at the same time, I posed the question, ‘did it matter?’
Tamsin replied, “Well if it was a mouse you
need only buy a small cat but if it was a rat, well that’s an entirely
different matter”. I never thought of that. It is called ‘Tamsin’s logic’.
By the way Tamsin’s mother told my mother that
she moans and cries out for Gandalf in her sleep, that’s Tamsin, not her
mother. God only knows what she gets up to in her dreams. I don’t like
to pry as dreams are very personal and private things, aren’t they?
Trouble with Tamsin is she is too trusting.
Her mother had to tell her not to do cartwheels
in front of the boys; she said all they want to do is look at your knickers.
Tamsin said “I know that mother; I know thaaaaaat don’t
I?” with emphasis on that. “That’s why I keep them in my bag”. I suspect
she was winding her mother up.
Meanwhile, father was showing Col. Carter-Brown
a new set of brandy glasses he had purchased on his last trip to Brazil. They
were both in agreement that perhaps tonight might be an opportune night to
baptize them, a Chivas Regal 25 being the baptismal liquid.
I saw myself in the saloon for the rest of the
evening playing a duet of chopsticks accompanied by Tamsin on the Bechstein
with Phaedra as the audience; scintillating to say the least, when through the
open door of the music room I heard mother say ‘who am I?’
No, it was not the first signs
of dementia from mother, charades had commenced.
I must ask mother to get the
piano tuned.
