The Mam'zelles of Malory Towers

CHAPTER ONE: DUPONT AND ROUGIER

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Gliding serenely, the magnificent Dupuy de Lôme  sailed smoothly on the picturesque English channel, headed straight for the Cornish Sea. On the deck of the ship sat a middle aged woman, dressed primly in a starched white shirt and neat black skirt, regaling an unfortunate English passenger with tales of her beloved convent school in France.

 Amélie Dupont paused her tirade to take a breath, but before she could resume speaking the Englishman she had been talking to seemed to disappear. Tiens! She thought to herself, adjusting the pince-nez perched on her unusually big nose. That was the fourth passenger who had suddenly vanished in the middle of conversation. Ah well, soon she would have an entire classroom full of little English schoolgirls to tell stories to of her so-beloved France, thought Amélie. She sighed contentedly and stretched out her feet, unwittingly tripping a dour old woman walking by. Mam'zelle Dupont simply couldn't wait to arrive at Malory Towers!

Three decks below the excited and rather plump Mam'zelle Dupont crouched a figure who was rather less content. Agathe Rougier had been in a fair share of tight spots in her life, but the crate she was squeezed into now was sure to take the cake. Well, that was what you received when you were stupid enough to get caught stealing from a bakery, Agathe scolded herself. Now she had to hide in a crate to smuggle herself out of the country! The crate lurched as the ship hit a wave and Agathe tried her best to restrain a snarl. Zut! She thought to herself. Her fingers curled and she was overcome by the familiar urge to hit someone or steal the nearest shiny object, preferably a combination of both. Soon, she promised herself. Soon.

Three hours later, sixty passengers strolled merrily onto English soil as the ship docked, filling the air with oohs and aahs as the French took in the wonders of the English countryside. Mam'zelle Rougier, however, was not in the least interested in this sub-par country, her eyes instead scanning the crowd for a victim while her hands subconsciously extracted wallets from passerbys. And voila, she found her mark. Agathe's beady eyes widened as she took in the plump and doddering sight of Amelie Dupont, her classmate from the days when she had still bothered to attend Catholic school. Agathe had a vague recollection of snatching the girl's baguette from her once upon a time, leaving Amélie in tears, but Agathe prayed the rounder woman would not remember. She approached her classmate, silent as a shadow.

Unfortunately for Agathe, Mam'zelle Dupont turned the second she creeped up to her and instantly recognized her.

"Tiens!" exclaimed Mam'zelle Dupont. "It ees my old friend Agathe! Why is it that I did not meet you on the ship?" Her eyes brimmed with tears, and Agathe rolled her eyes at this pathetic display of sentimentality. If only she had gotten to the irritating lady's wallet sooner.

"Bonjour uh..." Agathe stuttered as she tried to remember this irrelevant lady's name, eventually just giving up.

"Have you also come to this magnifique country to teach the little Eenglish girls?" beamed Mam'zelle Dupont, not noticing Agathe's faux pas.

"Err... why, of course!" said Agathe. Maybe if she followed this moronic woman to her school, she could poach her wallet and steal from other travellers along the way. "Which school are you teaching at?"

"The Malory Towers!" replied Mam'zelle Dupont.

Feigning amazement, Agathe widened her eyes and opened her thin lips. "This is too much! I am also going there!"

At this, Mam'zelle Dupont started flapping her hands and jumping up and down. She danced a little jig as Agathe watched in horror and disgust. This woman really is an animal, she thought in revulsion. But she stretched out her lips in a demonic smile.

"How nice. Let's travel together."

FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO DUPONT AND ROUGIER WHEN THEY REACH MALORY TOWERS IN OUR NEXT CHAPTER, COMING SOON!