Winter Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton

as you are told.’
    So June pulled open the drawer, noticing as she did so that Miss Tallant shrank back a little. Then the mistress peered over June’s shoulder and said, ‘Now kindly remove the spider that is lurking in there.’
    â€˜Spider? What spider?’ said June, looking so puzzled, and so innocent, that Felicity had to clamp her lips tightly together to stop her laughter escaping.
    â€˜The spider that I know very well you have hiddenthere,’ said Miss Tallant, a triumphant note in her voice.
    â€˜Miss Tallant, I would never do such a thing!’ said June, sounding so outraged that Freddie grinned. ‘Why, the very thought of playing a trick on a mistress is—’
    â€˜June, your reputation for playing tricks and jokes on mistresses is well known to me,’ interrupted Miss Tallant. ‘So please don’t waste your breath. I know that you have put a spider in that drawer, and I insist that you remove it immediately. After you have done so, I shall inform you what your punishment is to be.’
    â€˜But Miss Tallant, there is no spider there,’ said June, looking down into the drawer. ‘See for yourself.’
    Rather gingerly, Miss Tallant looked. ‘It must be hiding in one of the corners. Remove everything from the drawer, June, and put it on top of the desk.’
    Obediently, June did so, then at last she stood back and said, ‘There is no spider there, Miss Tallant.’
    Miss Tallant was reluctantly forced to agree that there wasn’t, and she said crossly, ‘I believe that you have hidden it, just as you did the mouse. Turn out your pockets, at once.’
    June turned out her pockets but, of course, there was no spider, and she said cheekily, ‘You’re quite welcome to feel in them yourself, Miss Tallant, if you think that I am hiding anything else.’
    But Miss Tallant had no intention at all of doing this. If she did find a spider in June’s pocket, she would simply die! Yet she couldn’t let this wretched girl get the better of her.
    Miss Tallant had been reliably informed that June intended to put a spider in her drawer today, and she was going to punish her for it.
    â€˜June, you will go to bed one hour early tonight,’ said the mistress spitefully, and the fourth formers gasped in outrage.
    â€˜You can’t punish June without any evidence!’ cried Susan, stung by the injustice of this, and Miss Tallant glared at her.
    â€˜I can do anything I please,’ she said in an icy tone, before turning back to June. ‘Put your belongings back in your pocket,’ she said. ‘Then go back to your seat and we will get on with the lesson.’
    Susan opened her mouth to protest again, but Felicity whispered, ‘Don’t, Susan. You will only earn a punishment for yourself. We are going to have to think of some other way to defeat Miss Tallant.’
    So, reluctantly, Susan remained silent.
    June, meanwhile, stole a glance at Bonnie’s face as she made her way back to her seat. The girl really was a good actress, for she looked just as shocked as everyone else. June made up her mind that she was going to tackle her later over her deceit—and, my goodness, wouldn’t she give her something to look shocked about! The girl wasn’t terribly upset about her punishment, though having to go to bed early was a frightful bore. But she was upset by the fact that the punishment was an unjust one. She intended to use her hour of peace and quiet to good purpose, however—in thinking up a way to get back at Miss Tallant!
    â€˜Phew!’ said Pam, when the girls emerged from the classroom. ‘What a lesson! How I dislike that woman.’
    â€˜It’s so terribly unfair!’ cried Susan. ‘June is being punished for something that she hasn’t even done.’
    â€˜Don’t worry about me, Susan,’ said June. ‘The main thing is that it proved our suspicions