1. SUSIE JOINS THE SECRET SEVEN

Chapter 12 - DRESS SUSIE UP

When Colin was well enough to come out of the hospital with crutches, Peter invited him to a meeting in the shed to make an announcement

''Welcome back Colin!'' he told him ''its good to have you here''

''It's good to be here'' Colin said happily

''Do you still want to be in the secret seven?'' Peter asked him

''Yeah of course I do'' he replied

''Then welcome back! We missed you!''

And Susie bowed her head and looked sad ''Does that mean I am out again now?'' she asked

Peter could see she was about to cry and he rushed over to hug her and comfort her ''Don't be so silly of course not'' he said ''you've been a great asset to the secret seven. If you hadn't gone into the woods and found Colin's bike we would never have known to look there for him. You stopped Binkie and Louise causing havoc too, you are way too valuable a member to lose now''

''But how can we be the secret seven with Colin back again?'' Janet wondered

Peter stroked Scamper and gave him a dog biscuit ''Scamper is great but he doesn't really mind whether he is an official member or not. Scamper is happy to go back to being an unofficial member so that both Colin and Susie can be members and we stay the secret seven. But I am prepared to change the name to the excellent eight if Pam comes back from boarding school and wants to come back, or even if she visits as a guest member we will be the excellent eight and scamper the honorary member. And if anyone ever wants to help us in any way they can also be a guest member for a while but not a permanent one. And I feel it's time I relaxed a bit and was a little less strict on the password and stuff, I will still take it seriously and be strict when I need to be but less so. And now let's have a party to welcome Colin back!'' 

And the secret seven and Scamper ate tasty food and drank lemonade and cola and listened to music and everyone had a good time in the shed

A few days later Peter and Susie were together in the woods in the sunshine. It looked so pretty in the daylight, in the sun, different from how it had looked in the darkness before 

Susie was singing and Peter loved her voice

''Susie you should be a pop star!'' he said ''you are a great singer and you can do anything you put your mind to. You are super Susie! That's the reason I took so long to let you join the secret seven because you are so smart and determined, I felt threatened by you I guess''

''I think you felt attracted to me too right?'' she said unexpectedly and kissed him ''I know I did to you, we've always had a lot of chemistry between us, Peter,  and you know it''   

Peter did not argue, he kissed Susie and agreed

''Yes and over the last few weeks I've fallen for you even more'' he said

''I've fallen for you more and more too''

And they held hands and wondered how the others would feel when they announced their relationship. Would they be surprised about it?

But when they told them they were stunned that none of them were surprised ''We knew you two would get together, it was never a matter of if but rather when you would get together!'' Jack said ''I knew a long time ago that Susie liked you, you are my sister Susie and I did notice that you liked Peter and Pete I figured you liked Susie too and you both have such chemistry and spark together. I only wish I knew why you waited so long to get together, it was obviously going to happen one day''

''I always tried to fight it and deny how much I liked Susie'' Peter said gazing into her eyes ''I was scared to let her join the secret seven because I knew I would not be able to fight it anymore, I don't know why I resisted love for so long, it's like I was scared to give in and open my heart'' 

''And I was too scared to tell Pete I loved him in case he rejected me'' Susie said ''and every time he refused to let me join I wondered if he hated me anyway. But deep down I knew he loved me and that I had to keep working hard to get him to realize the truth''   

You've got style, that's what all the girls say

That's right, all the girls admire her, all the girls are jealous of her, and all the girls wish they could be her. Louise, Binkie, Janet, Barbara, all of them. She is smarter than them, prettier than them, more charismatic than them

Satin sheets and luxuries so fine...All your suits are custom-made in London

That's right. Peter spoils his girl Susie, his special girl. All the boys are jealous of Peter, they want to be with her. She wants the boys to worship and spoil her. Jack is lucky to have such an awesome sister and Peter picked the best girl to be his.

Now she is on the stage singing and dancing because she loves to perform and she loves people to admire her. The crowd loves her. She will be just like Madonna. She is a diva our Susie. Like the biggest most dazzling star in the night sky, she will burn brightly but only for a short time, and then she will be gone. She wants the world to make the most of her while they can! After all, she is here for a good time not a long time

She knows of course she was the best character in the secret seven books, the most interesting character. Always causing some conflict or making things interesting. The secret seven were nice kids but they were boring without Susie!

FINAL NOTE

Nostalgia is the most poignant feeling, once childhood is gone it's gone forever. It's sad that childhood is often hard and unhappy for many children, as I believe everyone deserves to have a happy childhood and grow up with happy memories. One thing I do know is that authors like Enid Blyton wrote many many books which brought joy and escapism to millions of children and I think that is something special. And Enid Blyton inspired me to write this and the George stories as a sort of mini tribute to her, but also because I liked the characters, Susie, in the secret seven and George Kirrin in the famous five. George's desire to be recognized as a boy and Susie's wanting to join the secret seven but never be allowed to but always trying again anyway were the most interesting aspects of these books, both recurring in every book.