Winter Wood by Steve Augarde

That Billy makes me so
mad
. He needs to get his act together, or they’ll be splitting up again – you just wait and see.’
    â€˜What?’ said Midge. But then she realized that Katie was lost in what was happening on the screen. The goings on in Albert Square were apparently far more real to her than her encounter with the Various.
    Midge slipped the rubber band off her envelope and drew out the contents. There was a long slim book of some sort, with a grey marbled cover, and a few folded pieces of paper. The pieces of paper were mostly bills, by the look of them, or receipts: Lopen Feed Mills, Allen Bros., Blacksmith and Farriers . . .
    J. L. Bright and Partners, Solicitors . . . veterinary bills . . .
    It was strange to see everything written out in such neat sloping handwriting, the sums and figures all in the old money that they’d used before decimal camein.
To treating a sick horse (Beamer) . . . £1 . . . 4s . . . 4d. To repairing an iron gate and making good . . . £0 . . . 3s . . . 9d
.
    Quite interesting, but not likely to get her anywhere. Midge opened the book and saw that it was a farm ledger. More dry facts and figures: so many calves born, so many loads of hay sold. But again everything was beautifully written out in a rich black ink, some of the words painstakingly underlined in red. Copperplate handwriting – was that what they called it?
. . . Income for the month of August . . . Expenditure for the month of September . . . Mount Pleasant School for Girls . . . Fees: 2 guineas
.
    What was a guinea? Midge paused, holding the corner of the page between finger and thumb. And what was this ‘Mount Pleasant School for Girls’?
    She sat there looking at the words for a while, then glanced up at the top of the page, to where the date was written out: September 1914.
    September 1914. Would Celandine have been a schoolgirl then? It seemed about right. So maybe this could be where she went to school: Mount Pleasant School for Girls . . .
    â€˜
Do what, Peggy? You’re ’avin’ a larf, incha . . .?
’ The telly blared on. Katie tucked her legs up onto the sofa, and Midge shifted along a bit.
    Perhaps this school still existed. And if it did, then perhaps they’d have kept a record of what had happened to their former pupils. Schools sometimes did, and particularly where pupils had gone on to do things that would make the school proud of them, asCelandine surely had. Also . . . yes,
also
 . . . there was the possibility of reunions, pupils keeping in touch with one another – an Old Girls Association, maybe. She could try one of those ‘friends united’ sites! Now that would definitely be worth a stab.
    Midge closed the little ledger, feeling better now that she had a new plan to work on. There was another folded piece of paper protruding from the book, inserted between the last page and the back cover. Midge began to tuck it in, but then changed her mind and pulled it out to take a look.
    It turned out to be two pieces of paper – one inside the other – both headed ‘Mount Pleasant School for Girls’. But how amazing . . .
    The first was a bill, addressed to Mr E. V. Howard:
    To repairing wilful damage to school property, and
redecorating:
    Â£14 . . . 8s . . . 0d.
    To full recompense for wilful damage to pupils’ property:
    Â£31 . . . 11s . . . 10d
    Total: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
    Â£45 . . . 19s . . . 10d
    Please pay this account promptly.
    R. D. Ainsworth (Bursar)
    Wilful damage? This didn’t look good. Midge moved on to the second sheet of paper – a handwritten letter.
    Dear Mr Howard,
    Please find the enclosed bill for damage and expenses. As