Prudence Read Free Page B

must find a better solution. Halting, she set the portmanteau down again. As she did so, the kitten succeeded in extracting itself from her grasp and leaped to the ground.
    Prue made a grab for it, but it eluded her and ran off a little way. She sighed frustratedly.
    ‘Wretch!’
    Then she perceived that the kitten had a need more pressing than hunger. How foolish she had been not to think of it! Indeed, it was stupid of her not to have realised that she needed some kind of receptacle to transport the kitten. Only it had all happened so fast that—
    Her thoughts died as she was abruptly taken with the cleverest notion. And she had been so ungrateful as to despise the woollen cloak that had formed part of her Seminary uniform! It was excessively old, and beginning to be threadbare. But it had one distinct advantage—capacious pockets.
    A few moments later, Prue set out again with a lighter heart, her portmanteau in one hand, while the other cradled a lumpy portion of her cloak that shifted about in vain.
    ‘You will not get out of there very easily, my dear,’Prue informed it triumphantly. ‘I only hope you may not be smothered to death!’
    When the kitten presently settled, she was half afraid that it might indeed have run out of air. But when she paused to investigate, pulling a fold of the heavy cloth aside, two green eyes peeped up at her from the secure haven of her cloak pocket. Prue was able to resume her journey with a quiet mind.
    It did not take long to reach Little Bookham village, which looked to be, indeed, little , with a spired church and a clutch of dwellings around a green. Here she was directed by a sleepy yokel to continue along the lane for a quarter of a mile to a turn-off which would lead her to the ‘great house’. Prue trusted that this appellation would prove to be the Rookham Hall for which she had asked.
    She was tiring by the time she arrived at a pair of wrought-iron gates that let on to a wide avenue of trees, and her arm was aching from having to remain in the same position to support the now-sleeping kitten.
    Prue could not see the house. There was no lodge and the gates were open. Her stomach went a trifle hollow and she was conscious of an uncomfortable activity in her pulses as she ventured through the gateway into her new life.
    ‘It may be a little alarming at first,’ the Duck had warned, ‘but remember that you are a graduate of the Paddington Seminary. Such is our record and reputation that many applications come to us through recommendation. You have been well taught, and you must have pride in your achievements.’
    If only her own achievements had been worthy of the reputation of the Seminary! Well, the Duck would not have sent her out if she had not thought she couldfill the post. Prue took heart, taking a firmer hold of her portmanteau and stepping out more boldly.
    The house came into sight around the first bend in the drive. Prue’s spirits immediately rose. It was a good-sized establishment, but by no means a mansion. The building, of a creamy yellow appearance, was low—two storeys only—and long. There must have been a dozen windows at least, neatly spaced on either side of a central pillared entrance, which was accessed by a short stairway.
    The avenue gave on to open lawns that led away, as far as she could see, into banks of trees, bare of leaves for the most part this early in the year. As Prue gained upon the entrance, it became evident that the building was larger than she had at first supposed, stretching away behind. The surroundings were woody rather than cultivated, and a gleam of silver between the trees gave promise of water—perhaps a pond or a small river.
    It was a picturesque scene, and there was a pleasant air about it. A far cry from the red-brick world of regimentation that Prue had left behind. She was going to like living here! A tide of gratitude for her good fortune rose within her. If only the girls came to like her, she would have nothing