02 Jo of the Chalet School (19 page)

Grossmutter
told them, too, of one terrible winter spent in Vienna when the cold was so severe that the wolves came howling round the city walls, and the poor died like flies. ‘We get no winters like that now,’

she said. ‘It was cold- so cold! I was not allowed to go outside for fear I should be frost-bitten, and the great stoves had roaring fires in them day and night. I can remember old Klaus creeping into my room during the night to put more billets of wood into the stove, and coming to pull my
plumeau
closer over me.

‘How thrilling!’ said Joey. ‘Are there wolves in Austria still, please?’

‘But yes, my child. But it needs very bitter weather to bring them to the towns from the forests. You need not fear.’

‘I am not afraid,’ said Jo truthfully. ‘Only it’s interesting to know someone to whom these things have happened.’

‘And it would be bears at the Tiern See, not wolves,’ added her Mensch, who was seated on the other side of the stove, smoking his long china-bowled pipe, and listening contentedly to his mother’s stories. ‘Do not weary yourself,
Mamachen
, telling these naughty ones your interesting stories. – Shall we not sing a carol, my children?’

Bernhilda rose at once and went to the piano, and they sang
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
, and
Adeste
Fideles,
and several other carols. Then Frau Mensch said smiling, ‘And now Joey will song for us,
nicht
wahr?
‘

‘Rather! if you want me to, that is,’ replied Joey. ‘What shall I sing?’

‘Sing “The Little Lord Jesus,”‘ pleaded Frieda. ‘I love it so much!’

Madge went to the piano, and Joey stood facing them all, and sang with round golden notes, as sweet as any chorister’s, Martin Luther’s cradle hymn:

‘Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,

The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head:

The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay -

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,

But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes;

I love Thee, Lord Jesus! Look down from the sky,

And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.’

When she finished, Frau Mensch wiped her eyes. ‘It is very beautiful,’ she said seriously. ‘Now I must go and see to my goose that it may be cooked properly!’ And, with this funny mingling of the artistic and the matter-of-fact, she went off to overlook Gertlieb’s attentions to the goose.

‘Sing to us again, my child,’ said Herr Mensch. ‘There is time for one more song before we are called to
Mittagessen
.’

So Joey sang again, ‘The Seven Joys of Mary,’ and then, since there was still time, the old Coventry carol,

‘Lullay, thou little tiny Child,’ with its quaint little refrain of ‘By, by, lully, lullay.’

A frantic fantasia on the bell by Gertlieb summoned them to the
Speisesaal
after this, and they had a magnificent dinner, even though the English Christmas pudding was wanting. The home-made sausages were far nicer than anything the Bettanys had ever tasted in England, and the goose was a miracle of good cooking. The meal was finished off with raisins, nuts, and grapes; and a big box of crackers, which Madge had shyly offered Frau Mensch the day before.

‘Now to get ready for our drive,’ said Herr Mensch. ‘The snow has ceased, and it freezes hard; so wrap up warmly, every
Mädchen
.’

There was a rush and a scramble to get into woollies and furs, and old Frau Mensch was to be heard reminder son that he must take many rugs and hot bricks, and be sure that all were warm.

‘Isn’t this gorgeous fun?’ giggled Joey as she snuggled down between Frieda and Bernhilda, with the Robin wedged in, in front of them, while Herr Mensch and Gottfried tucked in the bearskins round them.

‘O-o-o-oh! Listen to the bells! Isn’t it
topping
!’

‘Glorious!’ agreed her sister as a loaded sleigh drawn by two horses dashed past, the bells on the harness making silvery music in the snowy world. ‘Joey, are you
sure
you are warm enough?’

‘I’m cooked!’ declared Joey. ‘I couldn’t get on another thing if you paid me for it.’

‘Josephine,’ said Aunt Luise’s voice, ‘here is my fur-lined cloak for you. We cannot have you ill at Christmas-time.’

Joey groaned aloud. ‘I can’t get out,’ she said.

But Aunt Luise was in the sleigh, fastening the great cloak round her, and tucking its folds well over her.

‘No,’ she said, ‘we cannot run any risk of bad colds. Now you will be safe, I think.’

She climbed down, and went back to the house, while Gottfried got into the diver’s seat with his father beside him. Frau Mensch and Madge sat facing the girls, and an extra run or two was tucked into the bottom of the sleigh under the hot bricks which were to keep their feet warm. Aunt Luise was not going, for someone had to stay with old Frau Mensch, and Gertlieb was to have two hours off to go and see her mother, and take her Christmas gifts to her brothers and sisters.

‘She is a god girl,’ said Frau Mensch as they drove off towards the bridge; ‘so I give her more freedom than most get, and she is always grateful and repays me for it by working harder for a little holiday. Next week I shall give her a whole half-day and a gift of money so that she may enjoy herself.’

Madge though of their own maid in England, who had demanded Christmas and Boxing Day in addition to her Sunday and weekly half-day, but she held her tongue. She knew that Gertlieb considered herself very fortunate, and that Frau Mensch, while she demanded much work from the girl, was a kind mistress, and never overdrove her servants.

They were going at a fine rate now. The horses were young and in excellent condition, and Gottfried was a good driver. They had left eh main streets of the city, and were driving through the suburbs in the direction of the Brenner Road. Other sleighs were going in the same direction, and the usually quiet streets were gay with the jingle of sleigh-bells, the shouting of merry voices, and, here and there, bursts of song, as sleigh-loads of young men went flying along. All round lay the mountains, beautiful and remote in their snow-clad splendour, and over all the grey sky, heavy with snow yet to fall.

Herr Mensch, pointing to it, turned round. ‘We dare not go far,’ he shouted. ‘I had hoped to make the expedition to Bern Isel, but it will not be safe with that sky. We must return when we have reached Wilten.

See, Fraulein, that is our University Klinik – where we take the sick. Now we shall turn out of the streets, and it is the country. Over there lies our cemetery, which we shall soon, pass; and we return from Wilten by the road that winds out into the country, past he Exercier Platz and along the banks of the river.’

Madge nodded. She was enjoying the drive as she had never enjoyed anything. Innsbruck under snow has a loveliness all its own, and out here in the country she felt as though she were living in a story.

‘Christmas-card land!’ laughed Joey. ‘This is topping – the jolliest ride I ever had! Just look at those trees!’

All too soon they reached Wilten, and there Gottfried turned the horses; heads to the west, driving towards the river. Just as they reached the Exercier Platz, which lay bare and white under its covering of snow, the first great flakes began to drift slowly down from the skies, and by the time they reached the bridge they were enveloped in a whirling white mist, which made driving difficult. Luckily they had not very far to go, and ten minutes later they drew up before the tall house in the Mariahilfe suburb, where Aunt Luise was standing at the door, looking anxiously out for them.

Herr Mensch and Gottfried carried the younger girls across the snow into the house, and they reached upstairs, thrilling wildly; for now there was coffee, and then –
then
there was the Christmas-tree and their presents. Frieda, Joey, and the Robin were so excited they could hardly eat anything, and Frau Mensch, laughingly remarking that they must make up for it at
Abendessen
, led the way into the
salon
, where the curtains had all been taken down and the Christmas-tree in all its blazing glory in tinsel, glass toys, candles and frosting stood before them.

‘Oh!’ gasped Joey. ‘How
beautiful
!’

Bernhilda laughed. ‘It is a lovely tree, mamma – the best we have ever had. It is like the tree in the book of Marchen!’

Then Joey noticed that all the little tables in the house were set in a row, and that each was covered with parcels. A card gave the name of each owner, and Frieda was pulling her towards the one marked ‘Joey,’

while Herr Mensch had carried the Robin to another, where the doll she and Madge had got the day before sat smiling at her new mamma.

It was thrilling work opening the parcels. Frieda was in raptures over her fountain-pen, and Frau Mensch exclaimed with delight at Madge’s collar and Joey’s bracket, while her husband regarded the fretwork pipe-rack with rather a puzzled air.

Jo herself found books, perfume, sweets, a Kodak, a paint-box, and a fountain-pen like Frieda’s. Madge was rejoicing over a copy of
Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard,
and a string of fine amber beads; and the Robin sat on the floor cuddling her dolly, and alternately admiring a set of doll’s furniture and a toy town.

It was nine o’clock before everyone had thoroughly examined everything, and finished exclaiming over it and thanking the giver. By that time, supper was ready. When it was over, the Robin was carried off to bed by Madge, nodding like a sleepy fairy, while Jo and Frieda followed, clutching all their new possessions.

When midnight came the elders went too. Joey woke up as her sister switched on the light. ‘Hullo!’ she said sleepily. ‘Hasn’t it been a glorious day?’

‘Hssh!’ said Madge warningly, coming over and sitting down on the bed beside her. ‘Don’t wake the Robin.’

But Jo was asleep once more, and Madge hurried up to join her as she lay dreaming of her first Christmas in the Tyrol.

‘Well, we had a most glorious time, and the splendidest Christmas I’ve ever known!’ Joey heaved a little sigh, partly for remembrance, partly for pleasure.

‘
We
had a splendid time too,’ declared Margia, who was by no means prepared to allow Joey Bettany to carry off all the honours. ‘We had the
magnificentest
in Salzburg!’

‘Joey, when does Grizel return?’ demanded Simone Lecoutier at this moment, interrupting what looked like being a stormy argument.

‘Hello, old thing!’ Joey spun round to greet her French friend. ‘When did you come back?’

‘I returned with Cousine Elise, of course,’ replied Simone with dignity. ‘I have been unpacking for Renee and myself, and then I came across to see
you
! – and y-you have not yet embraced me.’

‘Oh – bother! Get on with it, then!’ And Joey presented her cheek for Simone’s kiss, since that young lady sounded tearful.

‘But when
does
Grizel return?’ persisted the French child when the ceremony was over, and undemonstrative Jo was furtively rubbing her face. ‘Will she come soon? Or has she left for always?’

Joey looked at Simone with a funny little smile. ‘Would that break your heart? No; she hasn’t left – only gone to be with her grannie, who’s very ill. My sister had a letter the other day, and they’re afraid old Mrs Cochrane won’t live much longer. She adores Grizel, and it makes her happier to have her, so she’ll just stay as long as she’s wanted.’

‘I am sorry for Grizel,’ said Simone, her black eyes growing very big and soft with sympathy. ‘She loves her grandmother, and it must be hard to lose those one loves.’

‘Are there any new girls, Joey?’ asked Margia by way of changing the subject.

‘Two,’ said Jo briefly; ‘One junior and one senior, so they won’t trouble
us
very much. The senior will only be a day-boarder, too. She lives up the valley in that huge chalet, just beyond the fencing. She was at school in Vienna, but her mother has been ill, so they brought Stephanie home; but she’s only sixteen, so she’s coming here for a year.’

‘Hello, Joey!’ cried a fresh voice, and Jo swung round to greet Evadne Lannis, leaving Margia to saunter off towards Frieda Mensch, who was talking at a great rate to Marie von Eschenau, Paula von Rothenfels, and Bianca di Ferrara.

It was the first day of term, and already most of the boarders were back.

Two days after Christmas Day, the whole of the North Tyrol had been swept by a tremendous blizzard, which had raged for nearly three days without ceasing. The snow was followed by such severe cold as no one could remember having known for the past sixty years at least. Reports came from the plains that the wolves were already becoming more daring than had ever been known before, and the mountain regions could say the same thing about the chamois.

New Year’s Eve had found the Bettany girls and the Robin staying with the Maranis, where they had a very good time indeed. When the day arrived for them to return to the Chalet, Herr Marani came with them, and saw them comfortably settled in. The short rest had done them all good, and Jo proclaimed herself to be growing
fat
!

‘It’s all the topping things we’ve had to eat while we’ve been away,’ she declared. ‘I’m
pounds
heavier than I was last term.’

‘Where d’you keep it, then?’ asked Juliet, to whom she had made this remark.

‘Oh, all over me,’ was the vague reply. ‘I’m getting a real porker!’

‘
Joey!
‘ exclaimed Juliet with a half-horrified giggle. ‘What an appalling expression! Madame would have a fit if she could hear you!’

‘
If!
‘ retorted Joey. ‘I say – Simone! You’ve had your hair cut again. How’s that? I thought you were going to let it grow?’

‘Maman says that she prefers I shall have it short while I am at school,’ replied Simone sedately. ‘I am very glad, because it is so easy to keep tidy.’

‘D’you think so?’ Joey turned and regarded her reflection in the mirror for a minute or two. ‘It may be for you; but look at
me!
‘