The Blacksmith’s Daughter by Fay Berry 2013 – Chapter 17 – 19550603

The Opera Unley High School put on in 1955 was one written by our Music Master, Duncan McKie, and it was called, “The Black Tulip. “ Old scholars took the lead parts if there was not a suitable student for the role. Opera practices were the highlight of my week and I enjoyed not only the practices but also the fun we had hitting a hockey ball around before and after each practice. I also enjoyed going home either in someone’s car or by being “donkeyed” on the bar of someone’s bike. One night one of the boys even gave me a driving lesson in his car around the back streets of Parkside and I enjoyed it so much.

There were also sports matches to look forward to during the second term and there was one notable Hockey practice where Miss Dunn had given us permission to wear casual clothes because it was raining and our sports uniforms would have got dirty and not be wearable for the next day’s matches if wore them for the practice. Our team turned up at school in short shorts and tops causing the eyes to pop of all the boys who came out to watch us practice and we girls found that to be great fun.

I found myself forced to face up to Bob O. And explain why I had broken off with him for, as he put it, “no apparent reason.” One day I caught a pigeon and caused a stir in my class when I let it loose and if flew rather noisily out of the class door. We had a Literary and Debating night at the school on the subject, “Is co-education a good thing,” and all the students had plenty to say on that subject. I used the topic as an opportunity to have a poke at the school’s “segregation” policy to the plaudits of all the students.

One weekend Dad took Mum, Nancy King and I to visit and stay at the Wurfel’s farm in Pinnaroo and we had a wonderful time. Nancy and I loved spending time with the five Wurfel boys and we played lots of football, softball and table tennis with them and spent one evening playing “hide and seek” in the dark in the surrounding scrub. In the mornings we tried to drag the boys out of their beds out in the shed and they resisted us by barricading themselves inside with bales of wheat they dragged up against the shed door.

We inspected the Wurfel boys’ new farms at Brim and looked over the two homesteads on the properties. Mr Wurfel hinted that Nancy and I might be interested to know that the boys would move into these homes when they married. We had a hair raising ride to Karoonda over the wet dirt roads caused by the heavy rains in the area when we drove to watch Keith’s football match. My Dad is such a good driver in such conditions so I was not at all afraid but rather enjoyed myself immensely. At Karoonda, we watched Keith Wurfel win his local football match and believed it was our barracking that had won the game for him.

It was two very sad girls who said goodbye to the Wurfels for another indeterminate period before we might see them again. Back in Adelaide Nancy and I told Rosalie Foster our whole “Pinnaroo Story” down to the very last detail and everything brought back memories of the wonderful time we had there. My behaviour at school for a while after my return, particularly in Mr Pederick’s Geography class, was less than desirable.

DIARY ENTRIES

19550603 Friday – Today Pedro nearly blew a valve in the geography lesson. I’m sure he must have high blood pressure.

After Economics there was an Opera practice at which we learned a new chorus called, “Nil Desperandum.” Mr McKie can never seem to get away from using Latin in his Operas or is it Dutch? (The Opera being “The Black Tulip.” Then came hockey practice, lovely mud! The oval was just a sloshy mess. Miss Dunn told us that we were having a match on Wednesday and as there was a practice on Tuesday the day before the match, this means that our uniforms will get dirty if we wear them, so she told us to wear old clothes to the practice. That means the girls will be turning up in shorts, slacks, jeans etc. Won’t Miss Grosvenor love that!

After the practice I talked with Pam in the “Ossif” for a while and then went back to the room to get my case but the room was full of Cadets and they wouldn’t let me in the room. After a long battle I managed to force my way through the door and was just at the point of holding Al up at rifle point when in walked Mr Coulthard. Such is life, I’m “in the gun” again. (This is for you Clive Parsons).

19550605 Sunday – Mum just told me that Dad is thinking of going up to Pinnaroo for the long week end. You little trimmer! Oh I hope we do go.I’m nervous, Mum is just ringing up the Wurfels to see if it is ok for us to come. I asked Rosalie if she can come with us but she’s going to Marion Simpson’s. Mum’s through! And we are going. Three Cheers! Hooray!! Nancy might be able to come but she probably won’t be able to get time of on Saturday morning.

Dad’s just told me he thinks I must be in love with one of those boys because I’m so excited. The Wurfels will be playing football at Geranium. O I’m so excited. Three cheers. I hope this week passes quickly. It is after the night meeting, and Nancy can come. You little beauty! We found that she won’t have to miss work because we will be going to Geranium first. Nan came to dinner and we talked and laughed and played the piano and talked and laughed some more. I’m so glad she can come there’s no one I would like to have come more than her, she’s such fun. I don’t know how I can wait until next Saturday and Pinnaroo!!

19550607 Tuesday – This morning we all turned up in shirts, shorts, jeans etc and you should have seen the boys stare at us. Usually there are quite a few boys out to watch the practice but this time, there were dozens of them. I was wearing a pair of Denim shorts and a check shirt and after the practice Miss Dunn and Miss Ray were both trying to get my hockey pads off and so we were the last off the oval. I was the last one to walk into the school yard from the oval and you should have heard all the whistles that followed me up the yard and I noticed that even Mr Jenkin’s did a “double take” when he saw me. “Vanity, vanity, thy name is Fay O’Connor!” That practice was such fun and luckily Miss Grosvenor arrived late and didn’t see us all as we walked in.

After school there was another practice and we togged up again in our motley garments and trooped out to the oval. While I was there Roger Griggs came up and told me that Bob O. was worrying and wondering about me dropping him. He said that last night Bob was talking to him for about an hour and a half trying to get clear in his mind why I had dropped him. I feel awfully guilty about it. I’ve been taking the cowards way out and have kept putting off and putting off speaking to him. So I’ve made the step at last and told Roger to tell him I’ll speak to him tonight.

After the practice I got back into my uniform and came back to the oval. Just as I was about to cross the road, Robert Kirkenmeaster who was riding by stopped and talked to me for a while, and then while we were still standing talking Bob Battersby and Peter Yeatman passed and said “Hello”. Then Kirk asked me who I was going to the picture evening with and I said, “I’m going with Wendy.” He then asked me, “Why aren’t you going with a boy?” I said, “Because I don’t want to.” He knows that Bob O. has asked me to go with him, but then he said, “And not even with Bob Battersby?” I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just laughed. Jim Luke was grinning at me from the oval so I waved to him and then said goodbye to Kirk and went back into school.

Later, as I was riding down Kyre Avenue I saw Tony Wright walking across the road. He saw me and waved and I waved back. He is a great kid. I turned into Unley Road and there were Bob Battersby and Peter Yeatman standing by their bikes, they must have been waiting for me. They rode along with me for a while and then they turned off down Cross Roads. I’m dreading tomorrow night, I don’t know what on earth I’m going to say to Bob O. It seems Bob has been writing to a girl but has dropped her because of me. Life is really too complicated for me.

19550608 Wednesday – What a day! First lesson after the lunch hour today we left to play a hockey match at Norward. It was a great match. The match against Norwood is always a grudge match because Miss Dunn and the Norwood coach don’t like each other much and so she encourages us to fight to the bitter end. We did, but it still ended up a draw.

This evening was opera practice and Collen, Mr Boundy and Bob O.and I spent most of the time doing Arithmetic homework and none of us could get it th problem out, and Mr Boundy teaches Maths too! After the practice I spoke to Bob and tried to explain why I wasn’t going with him any more. I was having trouble giving him a satisfactory reason so I finally told him that someone had told me that he (Bob) had boasted that he “had me on a string,” Bob practically blew a valve. He talked and argued for quite a while until Ian Kelly and the rest of the boys came up on their bikes. I knew that Bob would ask me to go home with him and I didn’t want to be alone with him any longer than I had to, so I said to Ian, “Now if you had a carrier on your bike you could donkey me home.” And he said, “That’s okay, I can donkey you on the bar. Then Bob said, “I’ll donkey her home” so I suggested that he donkey me half way and Ian the other half. Bob wasn’t too pleased at that and I shouldn’t have done it but, Oh well, I don’t know, I wish he would just understand that I just don’t want to go with him any more and I don’t really have to have a “bullet-proof” reason.

Bob donkeyed me up to the Fullarton Road on his carrier and then I got off and Ian donkeyed me on his bar the rest of the way. Bob said to Ian, “Why don’t you take your arm away and then she’ll fall off backwards.” Nice Boy! I think he has a really jealous streak. It is things like this that he says that confirm me in sticking to the decision I have made. When we eventually got to my place, we stayed and talked out the front until about half past ten and then I said I had better go in. Bob then said that I wasn’t to go in until I had finished the conversation we had started at Opera. I told him I was over that subject and was gong to go inside but then I thought that I had better stay and try and get it over to him that it was over with us. Bob told Ian to go and we talked for about five minutes and Bob raved on and on about wringing Roger’s neck etc. I don’t know who to believe. Oh well. It’s my fault for going with Bob in the first place. I I hope I haven’t hurt him too much but I think it’s his pride that has been hurt most, anyway, I hope so.

19550609 Thursday – First Lit and Deb night – This morning I skipped school and went to Berger Paints to get material for my project. It was very interesting and I enjoyed it. I was taken for a tour over the whole factory watching the production of the various paints from start to finish. In the afternoon I went back to school and the only highlight of the afternoon was that I found and caught a pigeon and kept it for half an hour during my class. When I finally let it go it caused a bit of a stir as everyone watched the pigeon fly up from my hands and out through the door.

This evening was the first Literary and Debating Society evening and it was fantastic. The girl Prefects put on a “Girls from St Un-lily” skit which just about brought the house down. Then there was a debate, entitled “Is co-education a good thing,” It was some debate. The pros won, thank goodness as it was a subject nearest to the hearts of most of the kids. Mike Bradley was the adjudicator. After that we were asked if any one had any comment to make on the subject and the kids forced Peter Lawrey to speak and the only comment he would make was that in his opinion, “co-ed schools were rotten.” Then Wendy said that there should be more supervision in mixed classes and I whispered, “such as Geography lessons maybe?” which made those nearest me laugh.

Then I got up and said that since our school WAS coed, then our school would be greatly improved If the girls were allowed to have the oval at least two dinner hours a week instead of not at all, and then our sports match results would surely be greatly improved. All the girls present cheered and clapped heartily, in fact many of the boys cheered and clapped too, but some booed. Then a boy in the Basketball team got up and told us that the baseball team do not get a fair go which also received applause. Let’s hope Mr Carthew and Miss Grosvenor take a bit of notice and realise that few of us are happy with the “segregation” of boys and girls at Unley High School. I came home in the tram with Colleen, Steve McKie and Janet Sharp.

19550610 Friday – I washed my hair early this morning to have it ready for tomorrow. I’m awfully excited. I am really looking forward to tomorrow and the Wurfels again. Why is it that in first year I used to find so much to do in the dinner hours but now I get so bored in them. I suppose it is because there are fewer girls in our class now. Oh. Well. There was opera practice today and the cast for the Opera chorus has been picked at long last. I hope the Opera is a success this year. It should be. I didn’t go to hockey practice today. I had intended to go home early, but I got talking to Roger Griggs for ages and when eventually I decided to go home I found that the wheel on my bike was shaky and I had to nurse it all the way home.

This evening I went through all the boxes under Charles bed and found some good books there, “Shelly,” “Chaucer” and other books. A year ago I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in this kind of bookbut now I like them. A bit of a change for me.

19550611 Saturday – The day has come at last. We left for Pinnaroo or at least Geranium at a half past eleven. We arrived at Geranium just about five minutes after the match against United had started. Nancy and I barracked and yelled our support of Parilla Wells and poor Nancy’s hand was red as any thing after I had kept on banging my fist into it in my excitement. Parilla Wells won by 2.2 goals and we were delighted. We reckoned that they would never have won if we weren’t there to barrack for them. After the match Nancy and I left in the Wurfel’s car to travel the 46 miles to Pinnaroo. Ken and Max and Keith were in the front and Ian, Nancy and I were in the back and I sat next to Ian. It was so much fun. We were slinging off about the “great amount of traffic” there was on the road and about the size of each town we passed through. When ever we passed through a town Max and Ken would tell us we were now entering New York or LA or Vegas or some other great place. It was fun.

Something strange happened on the way to Pinnaroo, we met my brother Graham coming back from Sydney. For a while he thought we had come to take him home but he soon learned better. It seems he has been burning the candle at both ends in Sydney and has not been well coming back. He said he had been as sick as a dog. I think he would have liked us to take him home, but of course we couldn’t.. I worry about Graham.

When at last we arrived home, that sounds funny “home.” I mean Pinnaroo, Nancy and I went into the house and played table-tennis. I beat Nancy and Trevor and then Trevor beat me. Ken hasn’t flown his 80 hours yet and he said it will probably take him about four years to get his pilot’s licence. Ken is great!! When at last it was time to go to bed I was tired out but I knew I wouldn’t sleep, and I didn’t. Ken, Keith and Ian had to sleep out in the loft of one of the sheds and Trevor and Max slept in with Dad. Nan and I slept together and Mum slept in a bed on her own.

Oh dear, only two more days and we will have to go home again and then I’ll probably dream about Pinnaroo and the Wurfels until next we come, if we come. The boys are all lovely and brown and Trevor is a nice looking kid, but a real little devil, you never did see such a kid. I don’t want to go home I wish I could stay here much much longer. When I get back to school I’m going to keep well away from boys. I had enough with Bob O. Thank goodness I didn’t let him kiss me. That would have been dreadful, kissing a boy I didn’t like. I hope I can still reach sweet sixteen, I have only five months to go.

19550612 Sunday – Last night I didn’t sleep at all and at three o’clock I thought it was morning and I was going to get up when the clock struck. When at long long last It was about a quarter past six, Nancy and I got up (we put the light on because Mum was awake) and climbed through the window and crept out into the yard and went through the front gate and then down the back. We watched the sun rise and it was beautiful. For about half an hour we just wandered around and played softball and various other things and then we decided it was time the boys got up.

We searched round all the sheds until we came to the one they were sleeping in and then we proceeded to do everything we could to rouse them. We threw stones on the shed roof and banged on the door and at last we threatened to go in and drag them out. They proceeded to pile bags of wheat against the door barricading themselves in and us out. Failing to get the lazy blighters out of bed we decided to see if we could get any better results with Trevor and Max. It didn’t take us long to get them up and soon they were out with us feeding the horses. They put their horse Snowy into the sulky and we went into one of the paddocks to bring some sheep back to the house paddock When we got back to the house, the rest of the boys (at long last) had got up and it wasn’t long before we were having breakfast. Meals are terrific fun here and we always linger over them.

After breakfast we were doing the dishes and when I looked out the door I saw that the boys were playing with my softball things so as soon as I could I went outside and mucked around with them. Then Max came out with a football and very soon we were booting that around. Then Mr Wurfel came out and asked the boys to come over and help him with the sheep, so over we all went and Nan and I watched them separate a little lamb that had lost its mother and a mother who had lost her lanb and then Ken brought the car to put the two in to take them to another paddock.

After Ken had done this, he brought the car back and Mr Wurfel, Keith, Trev, Nancy and I went for a drive across the border. They showed us the border fence which is practically buried under the sand. Trevor crawled over the fence and said he had crawled from South Australia to Victoria. Trust him to go one better than Rosalie who when she was here had her photo taken standing with one foot in South Australia and one foot in Victoria. When we arrived back at the homestead we played some more football (I’m getting quite good at it now) and then some softball. As I was running after the softball Ian and I collided and I went over on my ankle and did it hurt. When I tried to stand on it, it gave under me. It was rotten. Eventually it began to feel a little better and I could walk on it so it can’t be properly sprained, but it meant no more football for me.

After dinner, we played table-tennis for a while. I beat Ken by two and then the boys got ready for their Sunday School and we got ready for a drive. Nancy sat in front with Mr Wurfel and Dad and I sat in the back with Mum and Mrs Wurfel, just as we were about to start, Dad said there was enough room for Ian to come (He didn’t go with the others, so I went and called him) I sat on Mum’s lap for a minute, but then Ian suggested I sit on his lap and so I did.

We went all over the new farm at Brim that Ken, Keith and Ian have just bought and looked over the two homesteads that went with the land. Mr Wurfel said that if the boys get married they will probably live in these houses and he seemed to Nancy and I to be praising the boys up to us for a reason. Phew! Seems as though Mr & Mrs Wurfel wouldn’t mind marrying a couple of boys off to us. I wouldn’t mind it either if they were Christadelphians.

When we got back the boys were there before us and I saw that Ken had noted that I was sitting on Ian’s lap. We read magazines and listened to the wireless until dinner time and then we had so much fun at the table. I don’t know how it came up but Nancy and I vowed we were going to be spinsters and have fifty cats and Dad piped up “What, have I wasted another trip up here?” Nan and I practically went into hysterics we laughed so much.

After dinner, Nan and I tried to rope Ken into helping with the dishes, but he wouldn’t, so we decided we would force him to. We chased him round and round the house and it was pitch dark and he knew the lie of the land, but we didn’t. We gave it up after a while and finished the dishes ourselves but after they were done we started chasing Ken around the place again. I was going around one side of the house and Ken jumped out at me and practically gave me a heart attack. I tried to catch him but I couldn’t. Next time, I went around I saw him standing by a window looking in so I quietly crept around and jumped at him but he just caught hold of me and pushed me against the wall and was off again. Then Nancy and I met up again and tried our hardest to catch him but had no luck. Eventually I went inside and got a torch to make it easier to see him to catch. Nancy and I went around the house together, but couldn’t find him. I then decided I’d play Ken’s game so I switched off the torch and hid behind a tree. Nancy started yelling for me but by that time I was out in the garden.

I crouched down and started to crawl along but Trevor heard me and started to give chase, so I got up and ran out across the road into the scrub. It seems that Ken followed me and very soon Nancy, Trevor, Max and Ian were searching for Ken and I the scrub. Every now and then I’d flash the torch and they would be on my trail. Then I think they must have seen Ken, because they started to chase somebody.(maybe they thought it was me they were chasing), I thought I’d go and get a bit closer to see if they’d caught him, so silly Fay crossed over the paddock forgetting that I must have shown up clearly against the skyline and soon they were in full pursuit of me again. I crouched down for ages and then all was silent and I thought they were lying in wait for me (but really they had got tired of the game and had gone back to the farm).

After a while I got up (I was getting stiff) and tried to find my way back to the farm but I got a bit lost. I saw a light and made my way towards that and it turned out to be the shed light. I flashed my torch and heard Nancy yell out to me. I walked to where I thought the gate should be and banged into a barbed wire fence. After I had disentangled myself from that I crossed the yard and found the boys in the shed checking the tractors for tomorrow. We compared notes and Ken told me that he had followed me out into the scrub and then doubled back to the farm. I so enjoyed the chase we had. It is so beautiful in the scrub at night, seeing everything muted by the light of the moon and there is the feeling of safety. In the city you don’t feel safe wandering around in the dark at night, but here you do. It felt a lot like I used to feel when I was a child playing “murder in the dark” in the school yard back home.

Ken took me into his room and we looked at photos for a while and then Nancy came searching for us and she came in and we mucked around putting on Ken’s flying gear. Then Ian called us to supper, but when we got out we found that he had been pulling our legs and supper wasn’t ready. When at long last it was ready we ate supper and listened to the wireless and had a really good time. I don’t know how it started (I Think Trevor trod on my toe and then I ruffled his hair) but we had a real rough and tumble, ruffling each other’s hair and by the time we had finished, I looked like a Zulu. Then Mum decided it was time for us to go to bed, but Nancy and I disagreed and had everyone in fits as they tried to force us to go to our room. When eventually they got us there Nancy and I agreed we were exhausted so we might as well go to bed. Ken has threatened to drag us out of bed tomorrow but I bet we drag him out. Oh I’m tired, and just think tomorrow’s the last day we’ll have here. How awful.

19550613 Monday – I actually slept last night and woke up at about seven o’clock. By the time we were dressed the boys were up so we were deprived of the pleasure of dragging them out of bed. It was raining so the boys couldn’t go out on the tractors so it was decided that we would go to Karoonda to watch Keith play football. It was Murraylands vs Lamaroo and districts. Best players are chosen out of each team to make up one team and Keith was one of them. Everyone calls Keith Jackie.

Dad called out to us and told us that Nancy and I were to go in our car while we took Keith in to Pinnaroo. Now Nancy and I had decided we wanted to go in the other car so we decided to hide. We went up into the boys’ room and Nancy got on to one bed and I stood behind the door. We heard Dad blow the horn and still we stayed there. Then Ken came up to the window of the room and looked in and saw me. He grinned and went on. Still the horn blew and still we stayed there but at last we left and went out and found I needn’t have hidden because Ken was coming in our car.

We went into Pinnaroo and to Fishchers place. Keith was going to Karooonda with them and we were to follow. When we got back to Pinnaroo the others had arrived and Ian came into the back next to me and Ken had to go in the front, a rotten arrangement as far as I was concerned. I don’t think I’ll ever forget today, the drive to Karoonda was terrific. The rain had made the roads practically impassable and we hadn’t gone far when the car ahead of us, a Holden skidded completely round and bogged in the mud. Then did we have some fun. Mr Wurfel had a rope with him and after a long struggle we managed to pull him out.

All the way to Karoonda the cars were skidding sliding and splashing along and we just missed being bogged at least a couple of dozen times. It was exciting. The hair-raising trip was just one of the reasons that I will remember this day, there were dozens of things which made it a red letter day for me. Ian, Nancy and I were mucking around in the back of the car. I don’t know who started it (Nancy says it was me) but we were both trying to tickle Ian and he was wrestling with us. That was fun. I didn’t realise Ian was so strong. I’m not considered to be a weakling for a girl but he just held me by my wrists and I couldn’t move. Ken looked as though he wouldn’t have minded being in Ian’s place and I wish he was. Mum said I should have sat in the front with him and I wish I had now. O well. We still had fun.

Fun, that’s an understatement. Oh. I’m sure I’m blushing. I had the books that I took with me to Pinnaroo on my lap, plus my diary, and Ian saw it and asked what it was and I went red and he realized that it was my diary and made a grab for it. I managed to save it from him and then he asked me when I had started it and I told him three days before he was at our place last. When he realised that there must be something about him in it, it made him all the more keen to read it and Nancy wanted to read it too and I let her read parts (parts that were safe) but then she started to read a part which I didn’t want her to read. It was what I had written on Thursday 7th April about Ken and the rest of the family and about how much I liked Ken.

Of course she shrieked and shut the book up quick and said “What if Ken got that, Fay?” That made Ken get curious and then there was silence for a while and then Ken made a grab for my diary and before I could stop him he was reading it and I couldn’t do a thing about it because every time I snatched at the book I bumped Dad and he couldn’t drive over those roads while I was doing that. Ken didn’t know what page it was on thank goodness but he found a page which was almost as bad, it was Wednesday 13th April and I wrote “I had a lovely lazy day in bed. Nothing to do but read and rest. After dinner I went to sleep dreaming about Ken and all the rest of the Wurfels and didn’t wake up till four o ‘clock,” and Ken read that!!!

After he had read it he went as red as anything and turned slowly round and gave the book back to me and gave me a lopsided grin. I was just as embarrassed as he was but my sense of humor made me tease him about his blushing and I said, “What color is red, Ken?” which didn’t help things much I guess. I noticed (and so did Nancy) that every now and then he would turn around and look out the back window at the car behind us but then his eyes would meet mine and he would grin at me and turn back again.

When at last we arrived at Karoonda Ken got out and went with some of his friends from the other cars and Mum and Doug, Nancy and I went for a walk for quite a while that morning or what was left of it. I stood next to Ian and watched the football but when it was dinner time, Ken came over and stood next to me. The meal was beaut fun, we ate it off a tarpaulin on the ground. All that afternoon, Ken stayed with us and he stood next to me most of the time. Once, I went into the car to rest my ankle for a while and I heard a girl in the next car say to her mother, “…Mrs Wurfel and the three boys with those two girls…” Do people gossip in a country town!

After the first match (Keith played in that one and his team, Lamaroo and districts won) and Keith and Don Fischer came up and Keith introduced him to Nan and me but my past sins are catching up with me, Don said that he had already met me and I can’t remember meeting him at all. Maybe it was last year at the milk bar in Pinnaroo? Ken had the portable radio going most of the afternoon and we were listening to the match between Torrens and Ports and he said Ports would win and I said Torrens would. Of course, just because I wanted Torrens to win, Ports won! Did Ken gloat. At one time Ken was standing in my way so I caught hold of his shoulder and pulled him back but I left my hand there and Ken didn’t seem to mind.

Later he was squatting down in front of me listening to the wireless and I was throwing grass at him and I felt someone staring at my back and there were Mum and Mrs Wurfel, but Mrs Wurfel doesn’t seem to mind what I do, in fact she and Mr Wurfel seem to be wanting us to get interested in their boys. (Mum has been telling us that some of the things Mrs Wurfel says makes her think so anyway).

At last the match ended and it was time for us to start for home. I felt like crying. I didn’t want to go. At least there is some consolation however, and that is that Mrs Wurfel has begged both Nancy and I to go up again as soon as possible so it seems that this Christmas I will be at Pinnaroo again. I shook hands with Mr Wurfel and thanked him and kissed Mrs Wurfel goodbye and thanked her. Then I said goodbye to all the boys, leaving Ken till last. Then when I shook hands with him I felt that I would be crying soon. We looked each other straight in the eyes for a while (he’s got light brown eyes by the way) and then we let go hands and said goodbye again. We got into the car and as it began to move we all waved like mad until we couldn’t see each other anymore and then started the dreary ride home. We hardly spoke at all, just sat there and thought and thought. Oh they’re a wonderful family and Ken is wonderful.

I don’t know what time we got home but Dad had to ring the Wurfel’s up to cheer Nan and me up and then we had such a short time to speak to each one that we couldn’t think what to say. It was funny, each one Nancy spoke to she said, “Hello, did you have a nice trip home?” she just couldn’t think of anything else to say. It was great, though, speaking to Ken again. Anyway I’ll see him again in September if not before. Nan and I got into bed and I started writing letters to the Wurfels but it was awfully hard to do because Maynard and Graham were sitting on our beds talking about the Conference. The letter I wrote to the Wurfels Mum wouldn’t let me send and so I had to write it all again and change bits but anyhow I didn’t change much.

19550614 Tuesday – This morning I stayed home from school and spent the morning re-writing my letter to the Wurfels because Mum wouldn’t let me send the first one. She didn’t like the lots of love at the end of each. In the afternoon I spent most of the time writing up my diary and by the time I had finished that I had little time for my homework. Oh it feels rotten being home again. I wish I was still up at the Wurfels. I hope they write to me.

19550615 Wednesday – I went to school today and what a rotten feeling it is to be back again. My ankle is still bandaged up (sweet memories) and I can’t play hockey but I don’t mind that. There’s a “By” today anyway so I’m not missing anything. Thus passed an uninteresting day at school and the only highlight being Opera practice this evening. Ian Kelly spent all the time doing my Arithmetic homework for me and afterwards he took me home on the bar of his bike (my poor rear portion). Collen Robjohns went home on the back of Mr Boundy’s motor bike. PS I had to do the homework I hadn’t finished and I got 19 /20 for an English essay. It seems to be the only subject I do well at.

19550616 Thursday – I was half an hour late for school this morning but first lessons “Ridiciulous Instruction” so it didn’t matter. It was the school picture evening tonight but I didn’t go because since I was away on Tuesday I hadn’t booked a ticket. I didn’t mind because I had so much homework to catch up on.

19550617 Friday – Today there were all the “Post Mortems” on the picture evening. Helen Brinowski and Mike Bradley went together, but left at half time which caused some speculation. It’s a bit odd when a student goes out with a teacher and there’s such a lot of gossip going round about them. Wendy Swain went with John Brunton and was teased because after it was over he just put her on the bus and sent her home. Colleen went with Rex Beare, Vi Noble with Peter Lawrey which also caused some talk.

19550618 Saturday – This has been a rotten day. Well morning at least. I went to music and spent practically the whole of the lesson getting told off for not practicing more consistently. I was glad to get out of there. In the afternoon I started on my way to Opera Practice but as I was passing the Home for Incurables I heard someone singing and it was so beautiful, and I stopped and listened for ages. He had a beautiful tenor voice and was singing to entertain some of the patients.

This evening was Young Folks and it seems that Nan is just as homesick for Pinnaroo as I am. It seems that she has left a rug and a scarf there and I have left a pair of socks. Pinnaroo, or more likely, the Wurfels have certainly got a hold on the two of us. Ron Hicks and John Knowles gave us a description of some of the happenings at the Conference which provided a great deal of amusement and how! Lois Turner couldn’t stop laughing.

19550619 Sunday – This morning I practiced for an hour at my music!! I’m coming on. I had my bath, did my Sunday School questions all in record time and I also arrived at Sunday School on time too. I think I had better polish my halo. After Sunday School Nancy and I went to Rosalie Foster’s for dinner and honestly, we didn’t stop talking from the moment we got out of Sunday School to the moment we arrived back again. Nancy and I told Rosalie all about our trip to Pinnaroo, practically down to the last detail and practically everything we said brought back sweet memories for us and for Rosalie. Even when the conductor asked if we wanted “five sections, we laughed because we interpreted it as Five boys, of course. I wish I were back there.

19550620 Monday – Today, Guess what! I got a parcel from Pinnaroo, was I thrilled, but when I opened it I all it was only a scarf and a pair of socks! What a let down. No letter or anything so it looks like they are not going to write. Well that can’t be helped. The days seem to pass slowly and uneventfully. I feel like doing something bad, just for a change, but I don’t suppose I will. The girls tried to palm off a debate on me but thank goodness I was able to pass it on to Wendy Swain who just adores that sort of thing. Oh dear, whatever’s wrong with me I’m getting horribly cynical today. Buck up Fay! I asked Mr Jenkins if we were going to have an English test today, but the dear old thing said that he was postponing it. I tricked all the girls into thinking we were going to have a test on the “Master of Ballantyne” and there they were all studying hard and you should have seen their faces when I told them there wasn’t going to be a test today. I narrowly escaped having my neck wrung.

19550621 Tuesday – Did I say life was uneventful? I’ve had enough fireworks to last me for a while today. English lesson today was supposed to be our sports lesson but due to Miss McKecknie (stubborn old lady) who decided she wasn’t going to give up her lesson, we had it, or at least we started to have it, but in the Geography lesson time slot. Mr Jenkins evidently thought our sports lesson was in his time slot , because he didn’t turn up, so we whiled away that lesson and in Geography we all went out to sports. We had arranged to play a basketball match against the boys and had just started this when Pederick came out and called all his “Geography class” back inside. Naturally we kicked up a horrible fuss and gave poor old Pedro tons of cheek.

Eventually he got us back in the classroom but I wasn’t going to have that, so I walked out again and went back and played with the others who don’t do Geography, a few boys included. We were just in the middle of a game of basketball when Mr Smith came up and told the boys off for playing with us. I then decided it was time for me to go into school. I walked in, sat down, looked around me and then got up and searched the room for my folder (not a word from Pedro). I came back to my seat and sat down again and the lesson continued. All through the lesson I kept turning and gazing out of the window and talking to those around me. Then in came one of the boys from our class who don’t do Geography and asked Pedro if they could have the football. Pedrick began to get worried because he thought that we were supposed to be having a sports lesson. By this time every one was kicking up a fuss, saying it wasn’t fair and they were going to strike etc.

The lesson started again and I played up terribly after that and had turned around for the twentieth time when Pedro turned a fiery gaze upon me and yelled, “If you can’t behave you can go out.” I don’t know why I did it, but I replied in a delighted tone, “Oh may I? Mr Pederick, Thank you so much.” Pedro’s eyes nearly popped out of his head but then the gleam in his eye changed to a hard threatening look. “Yes you may!” He thundered. “Oh good, thanks Sir” I replied as though he had just granted me a half holiday and up I got and walked out of the room. The girls told me afterwards that the look on Pedro’s face when I had gone was something you never saw twice in a lifetime. Poor Pedro. (I actually behaved very badly and he should have punished me but he just doesn’t know what to do. I think he knows that we do behave in other classes and the reason we don’t in his is because he is such a hopeless teacher and we know that we won’t learn anything in his class whether we behave or not.)