As Billie pushed open the door she gestured to Vi and Laura and Edina to follow her.
“I can see Amanda in there,” she whispered. “I don’t intend to take my medicine alone!”
Miss Walters looked up as the girls entered. The troubled frown on her face deepened.
“Amanda has just been telling me about you,” she said, tapping her desk with a pencil. “Did you four students leave these grounds without permission?”
“Yes, Miss Walters,” said Billie meekly, and added unnecessarily: “We have just got back.”
“So it seems!” Miss Walters’ frown deepened. She continued the ra-ta-ta-tat with the pencil on the edge of her desk. Amanda’s triumphant smirk grew until it seemed to spread over all of her face.
“You have some explanation?” said Miss Walters, at last.
This was the opportunity for which Billie had waited. Making sure that the door of the office was open so that the girls outside could hear everything she said, she addressed the white-haired, gracious head of Three Towers Hall.
“Miss Walters, I have an explanation. When you hear it I think you will forgive us for leaving the grounds without asking permission.”
Miss Walters inclined her head, half-smiling at Billie’s earnestness.