Singing like a Sheep (eBook)

Anna Treloar (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2020 | 1. Auflage
148 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-3232-7 (ISBN)

Infos

'We must let them keep their dreams' said the Master. 'Even if we sometimes have to fudge things a little.' Jamie and Grazia bring their dreams to their new school. Will they and their friends be able to achieve them? For one of them at least the pathway could be disastrous. Anna Treloar is a mental health nurse.

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"e;We must let them keep their dreams"e; said the Master. "e;Even if we sometimes have to fudge things a little."e;Jamie and Grazia bring their dreams to their new school. Will they and their friends be able to achieve them? For one of them at least the pathway could be disastrous. Anna Treloar is a mental health nurse.

Textauszug

Term 2

The Midnight Feast at the start of Term 2 was held in Boys’ House for the little group. The invitation had been issued by Jamie and Qiang. Grazia and Mag affected sophistication but Flute, Violin and Timpani were thrilled to be included with the seniors. They decided they would wear the same items of weekend uniform which meant they all dressed in white polo shirts and navy blue trackpants. But in honour of the occasion Flute braided her hair, Violin secured her ponytail with a new scrunchie and Timpani, after several attempts, managed to create a small bun on the top of her head. They all felt very pleased with their new grown-up looks and admired each other in the courtyard on the way over to Boys’ House, as they clutched their various bags of food to share.

They were surprised to find a large and very handsome tabby cat sitting on the front step of Boys’ House. The cat appeared perfectly at home, relaxed and happy. When the three girls pushed open the front door and headed for the stairs to the common room, the cat came too.

Jamie peered at it as if they were old friends. “You again” he said. “We shall have to give you a name.”

The three little girls came up with various not very creative suggestions. “Fluffy” “Tiddles” and “Kitty” did not seem to accord with the cat’s dignity and air of gravity.

“Zimbelstern” suggested Jamie suddenly. The cat moved towards him and purred.

“Zimmy what?” asked Mag.

“Look it up” replied Jamie, giving Grazia a wink. “We’ll have to get him a bell. Or maybe several.” Grazia was gratified to think that he believed she knew the reason for the choice of name and resolved to find its meaning as soon as she returned to her living space in Girls’ House.

Meanwhile the three little girls had dissolved into an unusually prolonged episode of giggling as they tried out their own versions of the cat’s new name.

“Thimbletum?”

“No, stupid. Didn’t you listen? He said Tumblegum.”

“It so was not. He said Dimplebum.”

Grazia, sensing a move towards the risqué, quelled the giggling and promised to write the name down and bring it to breakfast tomorrow morning. The whole group had been distracted by the naming process and the cat had used this period of inattention to leap on to the kitchen bench and lick up a small bowl of whipped cream which Grazia had prepared to accompany her Nonna’s Famous Chocolate Cake.

The cat quietly disappeared as Grazia looked in the fridge for more cream to whip.

Qiang looked rather taken aback at this example of poor feline behaviour and asked if the cat should be required to apologise in Latin.

Another outbreak of giggling from the three little girls greeted this remark. It seemed to be the first joke Qiang had ever made in his new school. Grazia felt that he must be settling in and feeling more at home in his new life in Australia.

Qiang had been in Boys’ House all weekend after spending the vacation with some cousins in Sydney. He had been able to replenish his stock of Asian grocery items there and had spent the day making dumplings for the Feast. These met with the approval of the whole group. Others looked on wistfully, realising that an endless diet of potato crisps, snack biscuits, sweets, chocolate and soft drink had its limitations.

After the Feast ended and when the little girls were back in their dormitory, Timpani began to feel rather sad. She missed having her mother there, and the weeks until she could next see her seemed to stretch ahead in a daunting fashion. Flute and Violin were chattering about what their families had done together in the holidays but she could not join in because much of her vacation had been spent in day care at her mother’s workplace as her mother could not get enough leave to cover all the school holidays, and on those precious days when she could be at home there was no extra money for treats and outings. So Timpani quietly prepared for bed and tried not to show how she felt. She noticed a strange bulge under her quilt. She was sure she had put her pyjamas neatly folded under her pillow when she unpacked earlier. Sure enough, they were still there. Cautiously she pulled down the top of the quilt. Zimbelstern looked back at her and winked. He had made a nest for himself in the bed and showed no sign of wishing to leave. Timpani winked back, quickly pulled on her pyjamas and slid between the sheets. Teeth cleaning could wait until morning in spite of Grazia’s Nonna’s chocolate cake. She did not want Zimbelstern to move. Obligingly he settled himself in the crook behind her knees. Soon both were fast asleep. She would get up early the next day and let him outside so the House Supervisor did not find him.

During the school week Zimbelstern cunningly concealed himself when school staff were present but quickly reappeared when there was a chance of some food. He received generous amounts of nourishment from both Boys’ and Girls’ House though saucers and bowls were whipped away as soon as he had finished eating.

But on Friday nobody could find him anywhere. Some strange sounds were heard from the Teacher’s music room but that was not unusual with so many beginning instrumentalists there each morning. Shrieks and squeals and moans were the order of the day until students gained some competence at their chosen instrument.

As the Teacher dropped into the staff room to collect some books to mark over the weekend, the Master was a little surprised to see a tail protruding from one of her bags. However she had several bags slung over her shoulders, flute, violin, backpack, carry bag as well as briefcase and he concluded he must have imagined it. A strange sound seemed to come from one of those bags as the Teacher left the room.

Students searched for Zimbelstern all weekend without success. Flute felt very sad and Jamie missed his company too. Violin had found him a special bowl for his food and worried that he would now never be able to use it. Grazia told Timpani the cat had probably gone back home to where he really lived and was sure to be safe.

At 8 am on Monday Zimbelstern reappeared on the front step of Boys’ House. He seemed to have been shaved in one area (“his rude place” as Timpani put it) and was painted with bright yellow iodine. Otherwise he was his usual self. Students who had early lessons with the Teacher in her music room did notice a small bag of cat biscuits tucked at the back of the shelf where percussion instruments were kept; but by morning tea time it had gone.

Latin lessons proceeded with varying degrees of success among the mixed groups of students in the composite class of new enrolments at the school.

Surprisingly, Violin found she was good at Latin. She found it intriguing to be learning the language of Ancient Rome and she converted the lists of conjugations and declensions into interesting rhythms and melodies to help her remember them. During the last holidays while she was giving her grandfather an account of her first term at her new school, he had surprised her by looking at her solemnly over his glasses and intoning “amo, amas, amat”. She was delighted to be able to provide an antiphonal response “amamus, amatis, amant”. Flute and Timpani enjoyed the pictures in their textbook but remained somewhat mystified by the complexities of Latin grammar. Qiang applied himself with his usual diligence and progressed rapidly. Mag remained sceptical about the benefits of Latin to her general education and did the minimum required, tending to rely on Jamie to bail her out of tasks which proved too difficult to be completed in less than ten minutes.

All students enjoyed Friday afternoon sport, even if they were not particularly athletic. Being outdoors and in comfortable sports clothes was pleasant, and so was the chance to catch up with friends not seen during classes. The elite group trained separately and the majority of students selected a favourite activity for summer and another for winter and enjoyed the social aspects.

Jamie and Grazia were playing tennis in summer, but as this was popular there were not quite enough courts for all so there were times when they sat on the grass by the courts and waited their turn for mixed doubles. This was when they talked about many things.

Grazia had misgivings about some of Mag’s enthusiasms and often wondered about her intense involvement with the Director and the Musical Theatre lessons. Jamie hoped Qiang was happy and that he did not feel too homesick or isolated as the only Chinese student in the school. They both kept a kindly eye on the three little girls and recognised that of the three Timpani was the one who found boarding school the most difficult.

Their understanding and appreciation of the music opportunities offered by the school was deepening. Neither was sure of making a career in music as they had realised already that this was difficult to do. And both had dreams which they did not know how to fulfil.

“I don’t want to be ungrateful for my Singing Scholarship” said Grazia. “But I wish I could learn the organ. The Master is so busy though. And there would be extra fees and I don’t know if my parents could manage those.”

“I know what it’s...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 22.11.2020
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Musik
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-3232-6 / 1098332326
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-3232-7 / 9781098332327