allowed to go to the scouts tonight. Poor Barbara had had to clean out her wardrobe. A terrible torture, given Barbara’s wardrobe. Jack put his
arm around Nora, who had finally fallen asleep. One word out of you tomorrow, Elsie, and you’re for it, he promised himself, his humour brightening up immensely at the thought of giving the
dreaded Elsie what for!
Don’t fall asleep! John warned himself, as he cast a faintly envious eye on his snoring younger brother, Martin. Cassie was depending on him tonight and he just
couldn’t let her down. It wasn’t often she asked for his help. He sat himself up against his pillows and stared determinedly into the semi-darkness. Just as well there was a good moon,
they’d need all the help they could get. Not that he couldn’t handle the assignment, he assured himself. James Bond 007, licensed to kill. That was him! Special agent on Her
Majesty’s secret service. Ready to defend the world against the evil SPECTRE. He had got the message from HQ that one of their agents, code-name Elsie, was heading into town tomorrow.
He’d be waiting! In the meantime he hoped that Assignment Cassie would hurry up and begin, as he was finding it terribly hard to keep his eyes open. He blinked and yawned, allowing himself to
slide a little under the blankets. His eyelids drooped but then he thought of Cassie asking for his help. Stay awake, he ordered himself sternly, sitting up once more. With a sigh of resignation,
007 began to try and recite the alphabet backwards. He had found this an excellent method of staying awake when on assignment in the past.
Barbara lay feeling thoroughly sorry for herself as she cast her mind back on the events of the evening. To think that Cassie had actually pulled her hair and slapped her
across the face and had got away with it. Life was so unfair. Her sister had incurred no extra punishment for her outrageous behaviour and that really annoyed Barbara.
Mind, she had got a terrible fright when Cassie lost her temper. It was most unusual for Cassie to lose the cool like that. It was obvious she was very upset about not going to this party. But
still! To attack her own sister so viciously. It just wasn’t on. And then not even to apologize. Only Irene, her younger sister, had shown any concern for Barbara. As she was cleaning out her
wardrobe, while Cassie sat in stony silence on her bed opposite, doing her homework, Irene came in, put her arms around Barbara’s neck, gave her a hug and offered her some of her barley-sugar
stick. Barbara had been quite touched. Irene was such a little softie, bless her. Well, Cassie could go and jump from now on. She was going to be
so
cool to her. Cassie could never keep up
a fight, no matter how hard she tried. But this time Barbara had no intention of accepting any apology. She wasn’t going to pretend that they
were
talking, even for Aunt
Elsie’s benefit. If Aunt Elsie wanted to know the reason for the coolness, Barbara would be the first to tell her. Just to prove that Miss Cassie wasn’t the saint everyone thought her
to be! Huh! Some saint, with a temper like that. She could have had Cassie up for assault and battery if she had a mind to. Highly indignant, Barbara drifted off to sleep, too upset by the
emotional trauma she had experienced to be able to read even a page of that great literary masterpiece
Jane Eyre
, the story of another put-upon soul!
Listening to her younger sister’s rhythmic breathing, Cassie gave a relieved sigh. She thought Barbara was never going to go to sleep tonight. Of course she was acting
the martyr now and, knowing
her
, Cassie suspected it could last for weeks. A myriad emotions surged through Cassie as she lay in the dark waiting to be sure that her sister was well and
truly asleep. Although her anger had sustained her through the evening, now, typically, she was beginning to feel guilty about hitting Barbara. She really had made a show of herself, losing her
temper
arm around Nora, who had finally fallen asleep. One word out of you tomorrow, Elsie, and you’re for it, he promised himself, his humour brightening up immensely at the thought of giving the
dreaded Elsie what for!
Don’t fall asleep! John warned himself, as he cast a faintly envious eye on his snoring younger brother, Martin. Cassie was depending on him tonight and he just
couldn’t let her down. It wasn’t often she asked for his help. He sat himself up against his pillows and stared determinedly into the semi-darkness. Just as well there was a good moon,
they’d need all the help they could get. Not that he couldn’t handle the assignment, he assured himself. James Bond 007, licensed to kill. That was him! Special agent on Her
Majesty’s secret service. Ready to defend the world against the evil SPECTRE. He had got the message from HQ that one of their agents, code-name Elsie, was heading into town tomorrow.
He’d be waiting! In the meantime he hoped that Assignment Cassie would hurry up and begin, as he was finding it terribly hard to keep his eyes open. He blinked and yawned, allowing himself to
slide a little under the blankets. His eyelids drooped but then he thought of Cassie asking for his help. Stay awake, he ordered himself sternly, sitting up once more. With a sigh of resignation,
007 began to try and recite the alphabet backwards. He had found this an excellent method of staying awake when on assignment in the past.
Barbara lay feeling thoroughly sorry for herself as she cast her mind back on the events of the evening. To think that Cassie had actually pulled her hair and slapped her
across the face and had got away with it. Life was so unfair. Her sister had incurred no extra punishment for her outrageous behaviour and that really annoyed Barbara.
Mind, she had got a terrible fright when Cassie lost her temper. It was most unusual for Cassie to lose the cool like that. It was obvious she was very upset about not going to this party. But
still! To attack her own sister so viciously. It just wasn’t on. And then not even to apologize. Only Irene, her younger sister, had shown any concern for Barbara. As she was cleaning out her
wardrobe, while Cassie sat in stony silence on her bed opposite, doing her homework, Irene came in, put her arms around Barbara’s neck, gave her a hug and offered her some of her barley-sugar
stick. Barbara had been quite touched. Irene was such a little softie, bless her. Well, Cassie could go and jump from now on. She was going to be
so
cool to her. Cassie could never keep up
a fight, no matter how hard she tried. But this time Barbara had no intention of accepting any apology. She wasn’t going to pretend that they
were
talking, even for Aunt
Elsie’s benefit. If Aunt Elsie wanted to know the reason for the coolness, Barbara would be the first to tell her. Just to prove that Miss Cassie wasn’t the saint everyone thought her
to be! Huh! Some saint, with a temper like that. She could have had Cassie up for assault and battery if she had a mind to. Highly indignant, Barbara drifted off to sleep, too upset by the
emotional trauma she had experienced to be able to read even a page of that great literary masterpiece
Jane Eyre
, the story of another put-upon soul!
Listening to her younger sister’s rhythmic breathing, Cassie gave a relieved sigh. She thought Barbara was never going to go to sleep tonight. Of course she was acting
the martyr now and, knowing
her
, Cassie suspected it could last for weeks. A myriad emotions surged through Cassie as she lay in the dark waiting to be sure that her sister was well and
truly asleep. Although her anger had sustained her through the evening, now, typically, she was beginning to feel guilty about hitting Barbara. She really had made a show of herself, losing her
temper
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