Blethingwood Hall Written and performed by Stephanie Poppins Episode 7 Dr Robert Ling scanned his laboratory,
Looking for his latest victims.
Emily Starling,
Tamrine Swift,
Henrietta Stern,
Jacob Tackler-Hughes and Antonio Skye.
I'm not doing it,
Blurted out Antonio.
I refuse.
Dr Ling stared at the awkward boy with disdain.
Just to confirm,
Antonio,
You are refusing an opportunity to advance your intellect.
There was a loud smirk from Jason,
Which was duly noted by the West Wing.
Here I am,
You're barking mad.
Why would I do that?
Hmm,
Why indeed,
Dr Ling muttered.
But sir,
Will we get clever if we do it?
Questioned Henrietta.
It appears your parents think so,
The doctor placated with a comical tone.
And as they say,
Mother knows best.
Penny was speechless.
William was speechless.
The class was speechless.
Until Emily Starling took the lead and stepped up to the front.
Then,
Annoyed at having been snubbed,
Tamrine followed reluctantly with the others.
In her peripheral vision,
Penny saw that Lisa and Jane were muttering to one another.
Probably going on about how brave Emily is,
She said to herself.
Pathetic.
Now,
Dr Ling continued,
In order for the electric current to pass through successfully,
You must all hold hands.
Then,
As an afterthought,
He added,
All non-participants are to take notes.
Much shuffling of feet ensued,
Whilst Tamrine Swift established the weakest link and shoved an unsuspecting Henrietta next to the nearest boy.
That's it.
Now,
In order to create a circuit,
Tamrine and Jacob will need to place their palms on these metal rods.
The doctor picked up a pair of dusty rubber gloves and pushed his large hands into them.
Then he reached for the gadget Alfred had just bought in.
But why are you wearing gloves and we're not?
Asked Henrietta,
Eager to raise suspicion,
But not really sure what she was suspicious of.
So he doesn't get the electric current,
Stupid?
Reassured Tamrine,
Honestly Hen,
Keep up.
But it's supposed to be a good thing,
Henrietta persisted.
The,
He's clever enough already,
Scoffed Antonio,
A triumphant look on his face.
Silence,
Shouted the doctor unexpectedly,
Making everyone jump.
And as the Lower East looked on,
The West Wing prepared themselves for what was about to happen.
Now all participants are to close their eyes.
The doctor stepped back and Jason covered a broad grin with both hands.
Three,
Two,
One.
Stand still now.
An almost inaudible whine emitted from the circle,
But to whom it belonged,
Nobody knew.
Then all at once there was a huge bang and thick white smoke spread throughout the room.
Emily screamed and Antonio turned as white as a sheet.
I didn't feel anything at all,
Tamrine exclaimed,
Opening her eyes.
You're having us on,
Sir.
It didn't do anything.
Well,
If that were the case,
The doctor replied,
What on earth do you suppose that ghastly smell is?
The class fell silent.
Well,
Any ideas?
Dr Ling looked directly at Jason.
You boy,
You look as if you've got more than two brain cells to rub together.
What do you think?
And taking a calculated risk as to how similar their sense of humour was,
Jason concluded.
It's the death of the bad brain cells,
Sir.
That's what makes the smell.
It was as if someone had switched on a light and as an unexpectedly broad grin spread across the doctor's round face,
He pointed to the source of his joy.
And this,
My friends,
Is what a clever child looks like,
He said.
I need a tissue,
Whined Tamrine,
Eager to defer attention away from what she saw as a mere Easter winger.
My hands are all sticky.
Well,
What do you think your skirt's for?
The doctor replied,
Flabbergasted,
Such stupidity.
Now sit down and copy the lesson.
It was 30 long minutes later when the clock tower did its thing and all eyes shot to the wooden box on Dr Ling's desk to check the acetate was lit green and not red.
Which meant acceptable behaviour and permission to leave.
The doctor clearly despised any form of unnecessary small talk,
And this form of communication suited him very well.
The Lower East filed out first,
Certain both Halloween and Christmas had arrived at once,
While the Lower West endured Mozart's Horn Concerto No.
4 for that much longer.
There was nothing on that clipboard,
You know,
William beamed,
As he and Penny bounced down the science corridor.
Penny could quite well believe it.
The man's a legend,
No doubt about it,
She smiled,
Before her expression dropped just as quickly,
With a sharp dig in her back.
Oi,
Watch what you're doing,
William snapped,
But Lisa and Jane were unrepentant.
Didn't see you there,
They chimed.
William looked at his sister.
Don't mind them,
Penn,
They're idiots,
Everyone knows it.
He was uncertain as to whether his words held any significance at all,
But unwilling to just leave it alone.
She probably thinks I don't know what I'm talking about,
Being a boy and all,
He said to himself.
Then they continued across the Grand Hall and out onto the terrace,
Where they were greeted with a myriad of resplendent colours.
The late autumn sun had doused the rear gardens in dazzling gold,
Whilst rich evergreens danced hand in hand with russet browns,
As only the closest of companions do.
At that moment,
Penny thought all was right with the world again.
Oh,
It would have been,
If they weren't at Blethingwood Hall.
At Blethingwood Hall,
No sweet black bird could be heard,
And no red breast seen.
Only the blue-black uniforms of the Feridor,
Yawping backwards and forwards along the colonnade.
The horse Chestnut was surprisingly Feridor-free,
Though,
And as they made their way underneath it,
They caught sight of Adam,
Alone in the east wing courtyard.
His thin frame bent over as he kicked the gravel beneath him.
You'll never guess what's just happened in science,
William gushed,
Choosing to ignore the obvious.
But Penny couldn't.
Are you OK,
Adam?
Was it Bugbee?
Did you get hurt?
I'm fine.
Adam's reply came a little too quickly for him to really mean it.
Just leave me alone.
Penny stared.
His chest was heaving and his breath was short.
I'm telling someone about this,
She said protectively.
I can see you're hurt.
No,
I'm not.
Adam refused to look up,
But through his fine blonde hair,
She could see his skin was flushed bright red.
She looked at his T-shirt.
It was torn and stretched out of shape.
What's the matter with you,
Questioning everything I do,
He spat suddenly,
The weight of her stare all too much.
Penny backed away to the safety of the opposite bench.
We'd better tell someone,
Ad,
Said William.
But it was no use.
This was only making things worse.
For God's sake,
Don't you two get it?
Adam bit.
You can't follow me round anymore,
So just leave me the hell alone.
Then before Penny and William had time to come to terms with what this meant,
A sly voice said.
All right,
Losers.
It was Thomas Fink,
The upper school's sneak.
And wiping a muddy hand across the back of his shorts,
Adam took a huge draught of his inhaler before answering.
All right.
What does that snake want,
Said Penny to herself,
Obviously come to pour salt into the wounds.
I got something it might be interested in,
Darlington,
You come in,
Fink offered.
And as the two Upper East boys walked back to the main building,
Penny and William sat down,
The stone bench warm from where their brother had just been.
Looks like the Upper West gave him a hard time,
Said William.
Joe,
I think his name is,
The one everyone kowtows to.
Big old lump.
He looks like a right thug.
I can't stand it.
Penny was mortified.
What's Adam done to deserve that?
Looks like it's going to be different from now on,
Replied William.
You might as well face it.
Adam has.
Penny's mind wandered back to the night before when they'd all promised to stick together as much as they could.
In spite of the constant tap-tapping of the Feridaw's beaks on the window,
Her brothers had laughed at her stories and joked about what they would do when they got back home,
Just like they always did.
It was nice.
She was going to miss being with them at night.
The only good thing about being stuck at Blethingwood Hall had been sharing a room.
But now,
They wouldn't even have that.
