by Anne Digby
STRAW HAT
First published by Granada Publishing 1981
This ebook edition first published by Straw Hat 2011
Copyright © Anne Digby 1981, 1988, 2011
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the above publisher, Straw Hat
A Catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
eISBN-13: 978-1-899587-13-1
Shivering a little, and hardly daring to look at the darkness all around her, Rebecca moved her torch beam along the wall . . .
Mara the Greek tycoon's daughter arrives at the beginning of term with a huge bodyguard. She bitterly resents the constant presence at the school of Papa and his bullet-proof limousine – but is she really in danger of being kidnapped? When Mara disappears, Rebecca and her friends' desperate search reveals more than one surprise.
The fifth exciting book in the classic Trebizon series.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright & Permissions
About this Book
Chapter One The Very Important Person
Chapter Two Meeting the Boys
Chapter Three A Greek Drama
Chapter Four Mara Cheers Up
Chapter Five After the Disco
Chapter Six Seeing Miss Welbeck
Chapter Seven At Tennis Training
Chapter Eight Lucy Again
Chapter Nine Mara Goes Missing
Chapter Ten Trying to Solve the Mystery
Chapter Eleven Tish is Proved Right – Or is She?
Chapter Twelve A Matter of Life and Death
Chapter Thirteen Dismissing the Problems
The Trebizon Series in Reading Order
More Anne Digby Titles
And Some Other Favourites...
Free Downloads, Facebook & Twitter
ONE
THE VERY IMPORTANT PERSON
Rebecca Mason's taxi turned in through the wrought iron gates. Back to school! This was going to be her fifth term at Trebizon.
A big black car was right on their tail, but Rebecca didn't even notice it. As the taxicab crawled along the narrow, wooded drive, observing the 10 m.p.h. speed limit, she fidgeted in the back seat and looked ahead, not behind. She was impatient to see her five friends again.
'I'll be last back!' she thought. 'I always am when I stay at Gran's. What's new? What's everyone been up to in the Christmas holidays?'
She already knew some of the news.
Elf had been skiing. Rebecca had received a postcard from Switzerland.
Tish and Sue and Margot, who all lived in or around London, had been to some pop concert with three of the Garth College boys – Mike Brown, Chris Earl-Smith and Curly Watson. They had been friendly with Mike since surfing last summer, and apparently had met the other two at that end-of-term Christmas party at the boys' boarding house. Garth College was only three miles from Trebizon and both Tish and Sue had elder brothers there. Chris and Curly are the same age as us, like Mike, Tish had written to Rebecca. It turns out they all live in London. When the three of them are together they really make you laugh.
It might have made Rebecca feel rather dull, spending the Christmas holidays at her grandmother's bungalow in Gloucestershire. But the weather had been mild and she had been able to play tennis nearly every day with some good local players there. She had found it all quite exciting.
Of the six friends, only Mara had been up to nothing whatsoever.
Father is being so strict. I feel like a prisoner, Mara had written from Athens. The Grigoris affair has upset him and I have never known him so bad. He lets me have no freedom at all. He was even angry that Curly Watson wrote me a letter! I cannot wait to get back to school. I simply cannot wait.
Mara's father, a Greek shipowner, was one of the world's richest men. Rebecca had no idea what the Grigoris affair was, but she knew that Mr Leonodis tended to keep his daughter wrapped in a protective cocoon. It was funny to think that an English boarding school, for Mara, represented freedom! Rebecca's own first impressions of Trebizon had been just the reverse.
'But it's great being in Court House,' Rebecca admitted. 'All those rules and regulations we had in Juniper . . . No cycling . . . No going downtown . . . Wouldn't want to go back to all that. Wouldn't ever want to be a junior again!'
Or so Rebecca thought from the dizzy heights of being a member of the middle school. In actual fact they'd all enjoyed their spell in Juniper, the big boarding house for juniors. But Court House was different again and the six friends revelled in the free-and-easy atmosphere of a small boarding house of only thirty-six girls, set well away from the main school buildings.
The woods petered out into open parkland and in the distance the fine old manor house that formed the heart of the school came in sight. Rebecca wound down the window of the taxi and stuck her head out, pleased by the view. Ancient oak trees, gnarled and mossy-boled, stood firm and solid in the undulating parkland. They were serene and unbowed in the landscape, their bare branches black against the sky. Rebecca could just make out some wild deer grazing, their brown coats flickering among tussocks of faded winter grass. The January sky was leaden grey, as if snow were about to fall.
The drive curved round and the school came into full view, face on. A momentary parting of the clouds let through a rod of sunlight that illuminated the front of the old building. The facade of the former manor house, as though picked out by a spotlight, became almost luminous against the deep, dark backdrop of heavy skies. Rebecca stared, thinking of it long ago, with carriages and horses at the door.
The car behind hooted.
'We'll let him go by, shall we?' said the taxi-driver, pulling over. It was a big black saloon car, bulbous and heavy, old-fashioned looking. It had a foreign number plate and a left-hand drive.
The driver was a massive-shouldered man in a purple jumper. He was completely bald. As the car overtook them, Rebecca quickly drew her head in. The driver gave a thick-lipped smile and a genial wave.
'There are blinds at the back windows!' said Rebecca in surprise. 'Who on earth can be inside?'
'Some VIP. That's a bullet-proof car if you ask me!' commented the taxi-driver.
Rebecca watched the car as it swept on towards old building. It seemed to be making for the main entrance. She would like to have seen the car stop, to find out who the passenger was behind those mysterious blinds. But there was no chance. The turn-off to Court House was just ahead.
'We fork right here!' said Rebecca quickly. 'Down this track. It's a short cut to my boarding house.'
They turned into the narrow track, past the rhododendron bushes.
'Playing tennis this term then?' the driver asked. He had noticed two rackets strapped to Rebecca's trunk. 'I thought you young ladies played hockey in the winter.'
'I'll be doing winter tennis training,' said Rebecca. She hesitated. 'At Exonford. I'm a county junior.' As he gave a grunt she added quickly: 'Only in the D squad. So far.'
'You born in this shire, then?' He was surprised. 'You sound London to me.'
'I am London, really. But I was born in the west country. Dad was working down here the year I was born. That's why I can play for the county here – if ever I get good enough, that is.'
'Hard work, eh?'
'Very.'
They had passed the Hilary Camberwell Music School and the lake. Now Court House came in view. It was s
uch a pleasant, mellow old house, with all its little rooms, thought Rebecca. The creeper was bare at this time of year, but the building still looked pretty. The sight of it made her feel happy.
'Rebeck's here!' cried Tish Anderson joyfully as the taxi crunched to a halt. She'd been watching out for her.
She was first out of the front door, followed closely by Sue Murdoch and Margot Lawrence. They thronged round Rebecca as she got out of the taxi and Sue threw an arm around her neck.
'We've been waiting for you!'
'Elf's watching the fudge! A second batch!' said Margot. 'The first batch is cool and she's putting it out.'
'Putting it away, more like it!' said Rebecca. They all loved Sally Elphinstone but she had a bigger-than-average appetite and a figure to match.
'Even Elf couldn't put all this away,' said Tish. 'We can't wait to get started!'
'And I'm last as usual,' Rebecca said, wryly. 'Sorry, it's the coach journey.'
'No, you're not last,' said Margot. 'Mara's not here yet.'
'Isn't she?' Rebecca got her purse out to pay the taxi driver. He'd wheeled her luggage into Court House and put it in the hall for her. Now he was coming back. 'What's happened to Mara?'
'I expect the mini's got stuck in some traffic jam,' said Tish.
Mara's elder brother, Anestis, usually brought her to school in his little red car, as she wasn't allowed to travel any distance on her own. The Greek boy was at university in England.
Rebecca paid the taxi-driver and gave him a tip.
'Good luck with the tennis, miss,' he said, just before he drove off.
'Thanks!'
The others pushed Rebecca in through the front door of Court House. Her trunk was waiting for her in the hall, just by the common room door. They chattered excitedly.
'You should have seen my report,' said Tish. 'Mrs Leonard was horrible to me!'
'Well, you were horrible to her –' said Rebecca.
'Never mind Mrs Leonard,' said Sue. 'Tell her about Fenners tonight –'
'Fenners?' asked Rebecca. Fenners was a big coffee place at the top end of Trebizon High Street. 'What about it?'
'We're meeting the boys there at six o'clock!' said Margot. The black girl grinned. 'We fixed it up on the train down.'
'They're dying to meet you, Rebeck,' said Tish.
'And Curly wants to see Mara again,' said Sue breathlessly.
'They've got some plans for this term,' Tish butted in, 'and they want to include us in.'
'Sounds fun,' agreed Rebecca. They were standing outside the common room now, just near her trunk. 'Help me round to the room with my luggage, will you –'
She suddenly stopped. The common room door was wide open and she could see inside. She nudged Tish and pointed.
'Who's she?' she whispered.
Some Fourth Years were lolling in the chintzy armchairs in the common room, watching television, but Rebecca was looking past them, to the far corner of the room. A tiny girl with long brown plaits was sitting bolt upright in a chair, reading a book. Her Trebizon uniform, which was too big for her, looked brand new.
'New girl,' replied Tish.
'But what's she doing making herself at home in our common room?' whispered Rebecca indignantly. 'She should be over in Juniper House with the other juniors.'
'No she shouldn't –' began Tish.
'Come on Rebecca!' said Sue. The other two were already starting to drag her trunk along the hall, towards her room, which lay along a side corridor. 'It's rude to stare.'
'She's going in the room opposite ours,' Tish continued. She was laughing. 'It looks like a mistake, but it isn't. She's going in with the two Annes – Aba's not coming back till next term. They've got Lucy in Aba's place. She's going to be in III Alpha with us, as well.'
'In our form?' asked Rebecca. 'But she looks so young –'
'She is! But, you see, she's a genius. Her mother's just been telling us. Come on, Rebeck, Elf's waiting –'
'Her mother?' mouthed Rebecca in fascination, still hanging back. 'What's her mother doing at Trebizon?'
'Living in staff quarters. A new teacher. Going to teach us geography. Mrs Hubbard.'
'Old Mother Hubbard!' squeaked Rebecca.
'Sssh!' giggled Tish, clamping a hand over Rebecca's mouth.
Lucy Hubbard suddenly stood up, book in hand.
'She's heard!' thought Rebecca.
But no such thing. The new girl was glaring, not at Rebecca, but at the television set. It was on fairly loud.
'D'you mind?' she said, in a prim rather grown-up voice. 'Some of us are trying to read.'
The Fourth Years laughed
'Of course we don't mind.'
'Hope you get the hang of it soon.'
'But –' Lucy's voice faltered. Were they deliberately not getting the point? Margaret Exton gave the answer.
'Shut up and sit down, pipsqueak.'
Tish dragged Rebecca away.
'Do you think she's going to fit in?' said Rebecca.
'Who knows,' shrugged Tish. 'Her mother's much worse than she is.'
The two of them shared a room with Sue and they got there just in time to help hump Rebecca's trunk to the foot of her bed.
While Rebecca was unpacking, Elf appeared from the kitchen.
'Rebecca!' she cheered. Then she looked at her watch solemnly. 'Do you realize Mara still isn't here? If we don't start the fudge soon it'll spoil our tea!'
Everyone agreed that that would be a serious matter.
'Let's start!'
'We don't have to eat it all.'
'The second lot's still hot, so we can't!'
'There'll be plenty left for Mara!'
Rebecca left her trunk half unpacked and trooped into the kitchen with the others. As she stared at Elf's delicious creamy brown fudge her mouth watered. She made a pot of tea and they all ate and talked and laughed a lot.
'Really, that's your third piece of fudge, Rebecca. What ever next?'
'My fourth, I guess!'
It was fun to be back! But why was Mara so late?
'I won't cut the second batch yet,' said Elf. 'Not without Mara.'
'Let's save it for tonight,' suggested Margot. They were all starting to feel rather full. 'After we get back from Fenners.'
'I shall start my diet again tomorrow,' vowed Elf.
'Did you know,' said Rebecca, who loved storing up useless facts, 'that you use up more calories in the act of eating a stick of celery than the celery itself contains?'
'Don't believe it!' scoffed Tish.
'Then if I lived on celery, I'd get thinner and thinner –' said Elf.
'Better than that!' laughed Rebecca. 'You'd completely disappear.– Help!' She ducked as Elf hurled a packet of tea at her. It sailed straight past her head and out through the open window. 'Now look what you've done!'
Margot nipped out of the kitchen door and into the courtyard at the back to retrieve the packet of tea. It didn't even belong to them! As she picked it up, she caught sight of a familiar figure at the Barringtons' back door. He was talking to Mrs Barrington, their house mistress.
'Guess what!' she said, bursting back into the kitchen. 'Anestis – I've just seen Anestis! He's out there talking to Mrs Barry. So where's Mara?'
'Yippee!' said Tish, leading the rush into the front hall. 'She must have arrived. Let's see if the car's outside –'
'There's a car –' Sue whispered, opening the front door. 'But it's not the sort Anestis usually drives –'
'It's like a gangster's car!' cried Tish. 'The sort you see in old films on TV!'
'It's the VIP car!' exclaimed Rebecca in amazement. 'It was just behind my taxi.'
The big black saloon was parked in front of the boarding house. Its driver, the bald man in the purple sweater, was standing beside it, arms folded. He was very big, built like a wrestler, Rebecca thought. She could just imagine him grunting. But he had quite a friendly face. The girls hung back by the front door, taking stock of the situation.
'She must be sitting in the back of the car,' said Sue, in awe. 'Behind those blinds. What's going on?'
'Maybe she's got chicken pox,' giggled Elf, nervously.
'Who's the man?' whispered Margot. 'He's huge.'
'Well, let's go and ask him!' suggested Rebecca. She was intrigued. To think Mara had been in that car all along! Why had they gone over to main school, first?
Even as she stepped out on to the gravelled forecourt, Anestis appeared from around the corner of the Barringtons' quarters, with Mrs Barrington. The house mistress strode over to the parked car and opened the back passenger door.
'Come on, Mara,' she said sharply. 'You can't sit there sulking all afternoon. Come and see your friends, and get unpacked –'
The big man lifted some cases out of the boot while Anestis held it open for him. Mrs Barrington pulled Mara out of the car.
Rebecca and the others could see at once that Mara was in a bad mood, tearful and rebellious.
'I don't want him hanging round, I don't!' she exclaimed, pointing at the hulking figure. He stood there, a suitcase in each hand, smiling and immovable. 'Tell him he must go back to Athens now!'
'Impossible.' Mrs Barrington took Mara by the arm and steered her across the gravel towards Rebecca & Co. 'Your father has given strict instructions. Now, go and have a wash and tidy up after your journey and you'll feel better.'
She deposited Mara with them and hurried off. They all surrounded their friend, hugged her, and bore her into Court House.
'Cheer up!'
'What's going on?'
Somehow Mara managed to summon up a weak version of her usual lovely warm smile. 'Oh! It's good to see you!'
'What about that man?' asked Rebecca. 'Who is he?'
'His name is Papa.' Mara was obviously very embarrassed. Angry tears brimmed up again in her brown eyes. 'It is stupid. It is humiliating!'
'He's your father –?' began Elf, in surprise.
Mara shook her head vehemently, just as the big man came into the hall.
'Mara, show Papa where to put your luggage –' said Anestis.
Mara deliberately turned her back on them. 'You know where our room is. Show him yourself!' Then she ran the full length of the hall and disappeared into the kitchen, slamming the door loudly behind her. Girls were hanging over the banisters, to see what was going on. Lucy Hubbard had put her book down and ventured to the door of the common room, full of curiosity.