Ask Ms Vogel's Orphanage

An ask blog for a 1940s orphanage AU, based on the movie ‘Madeline’. Please send asks!

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Main Story Plot Masterlist

1. Meet the New Neighbours

2. Bad Hats

3. Mr and Mrs Ambassador

4. Back at the School

5. Class Begins (reblog of ‘Back at the School’)

6. Interruptions

7. Alice Loses her Temper (Again)

8. Lord Cuckoo-Face Pays a Visit 

9. A Chicken and a Tutor

10. Devils in the Night

11. The Other House

12. Fleur and Angelica

13. The School Trip

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I just want to say that I’m really sorry for being MIA for so long! I promise this blog hasn’t been abandoned or anything. I’m in my last year of university and I’ve been stressing out over my dissertation, so I’ve been forgetting to keep up with this blog. I’ll hopefully be almost finished by April so I should be able to update more regularly 😊

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Will Alice find her missing sketchbook???

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Happy late Valentine's day @aph-madeline-au !

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💕💕💕

Thank you so much!!!!

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Fleur and Angélica

The nursery, located as it was on the ground floor by the living room, was a quiet, private place, out of earshot from most of the house and with windows that faced out onto the back garden, so that nobody would see the lights shining.

Still, though, Angélica could still feel energy thrumming beneath her skin, and her stomach was tight with nerves. The house was old and every sound – be it the squeak of a floorboard or rustling from the trees outside – had going tense, waiting for Oliver’s footfalls on the stairs. Fleur pulled a face.

“I told you,” she said, although she kept her voice soft, “He won’t wake up.”

Angélica nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to pull off the stupid cloak, but the house was getting cold now that it was dark, and she didn’t much fancy going upstairs to her room to get a jumper. At least she could get the mask out of her sight – she and Fleur had stashed them under a loose floorboard in the corner of the nursery.

“Come on, cheer up,” grumbled Fleur, frowning at her, “Wasn’t that fun?”

“Well…” Angélica hesitated. She didn’t want to upset Fleur. “I mean… They seemed really scared, don’t you think?”

Fleur’s frown deepened further. “Oui, they were,” she said, “That was the point, Ange. They’ll get over it.”

Angélica bit her lip. All she could see in her mind’s eye was the image of the two girls standing closest to the window. They’d been twins – Angélica had seem them before, passing by with the rest of the students – and they’d seemed really frightened, even after Alice had recognised them and come running. The one with the darker hair especially – Angélica was sure she’d seen tears in her eyes, and that just didn’t sit right with her. She didn’t want to be mean.

“Well, yes,” she said, “It just doesn’t seem like it was a very nice thing to do, that’s all.”

Fleur rolled her eyes, but she seemed uncomfortable. She looked away from Angélica to Joaninha, who was sat between them, watching them with big green eyes as she chewed on a wooden block from the toy box. The three of them sat in silence for a minute, before Fleur looked up again, pouting.

“Alright, well, what do you want to do about it?” she demanded, “Go back over and apologise?”

Angélica shrugged – honestly, apologising seemed like a pretty good idea to her; she’d always been told that honesty was the best policy. Fleur scowled.

“Are you crazy?” she hissed. Angélica looked down at her hands and shrugged again. Fleur huffed impatiently.

“If we went and apologised, then that terrible English girl would tell on us, then Remei and Erlatz would tell Oliver to keep a better watch on us, and you know how he reacted the last time,” she said. Angélica grimaced – Oliver had not taken it well when he was told off by Remei and Erlatz when they noticed that Angélica and Fleur hadn’t learnt literally anything since they hired him to be a tutor at the house.

Angélica shuddered and nodded to Fleur. “You’re right, Fleur. I’m sorry. I just thought it was a little mean, is all.”

Fleur humphed irritably. Angélica hesitated, before continuing: “I don’t want to try and scare them like that again, okay? I don’t think it’s right.”

“Fine,” sighed Fleur, “You don’t have to do that again.”

Angélica smiled, relieved – she’d expected more of a fight, honestly. Fleur may look delicate and sweet – and she was, to a point – but she was stubborn as a mule when she’d made her mind up about something. In fact, she’d given in so easily that Angélica couldn’t help but wonder if she was feeling guilty too, but she knew Fleur too well to ask.

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Trip to the park

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If you’re interested, the coloured version is on my main blog

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Trip to the park

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I’m sorry it’s so short but I know I haven’t posted for ages so I thought I’d post it anyway.

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Idk if you're still doing this but, Mathilde 🧠🧠🧠

((Of course!!! I always love talking about my Danish baby!))

-   She loves to sing, but she really can’t. This does not put her off in the slightest. She’s always getting the others to teach her songs in other languages, and she writes them down.

-   She’s really amazing at baking and other homecrafts! Her grandmother came from Tønder and used to make lace, and she taught Mathilde the basics. Mathilde can’t do the super complicated patterns, and it takes her ages, but she can make little flowers and doilies sometimes for the others. Felisa especially loves them.

-   Mathilde recently bought a second-hand bicycle that’s in quite a bad condition, so she’s been spending a lot of her time reading a book on fixing bicycles and going into the garden to try and fix it.

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🧠🧠🧠!

(Wow sorry I didn’t even see this one lol 😅)

-   Suyumbike can speak fluent Arabic and basic Frenchalong with English and Turkish.

-   Mathilde can speak Dutch, Czech and a bit of Swedish.

-   Felisa can speak fluent French and Latin.

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“What a waste,” Bunty muttered, shaking her head as she looked through her cards. “And after I went through all that trouble to get that chicken. And I plucked it myself, too!”

She gave a gusty, heartfelt sigh, and Erminhilt was very nearly tempted to let her win this round, just to make her feel better. Still, no doubt Bunty would take such pity as a personal insult against her card-playing abilities, so she didn’t. However, she did share a commiserating glance with her Italian colleague before they both turned their gazes to the stares, up which Erminhilt had sent the girls not an hour ago, Felisa still sobbing onto an exasperated Livinia’s shoulder.

“I mean, what did she think we had the chicken for?” Bunty went on, frowning at her cards. “A pet?”

“Knowing Feli, that’s exactly what she thought,” murmured Erminhilt. “Any fives?”

“Go fish,” replied Bunty moodily, “I mean, I was rather hoping that Livinia would set her straight, or at least that she wouldn’t go along with Feli’s nonsense.”

Erminhilt smiled slightly. “Well, Felisa was very upset. Much more upset than Livinia expected, I think. You can hardly blame her.”

“No,” said Bunty, “But it’s such a waste of perfectly good food. Aces?”

Erminhilt shook her head, and Bunty retrieved her card from the pile. Upstairs, all was silent and as it should be, despite the ruckus that had occurred over dinner earlier on. Granted, Erminhilt had expected some kind of upset from the moment Bunty had brought back a live chicken and let the girls – in particular Felisa – see it, but she hadn’t foreseen quite that level of meltdown. She could still hear Felisa’s wails of grief for ‘Luigi’ echoing around the dining room. Her proposal that they all convert to vegetarianism was perhaps understandable, if a touch melodramatic.

Livinia had tried to calm her sister, of course, in her usual gruff and heavy-handed manner, but once confronted with the full force of just how stricken Felisa was, she’d relented and agreed to join her in giving up meat. And of course, Amelia had been ready to agree (she was always up for joining all of the latest causes and societies), and Maud was dragged in as usual. Then Luitgard had agreed, if only to cheer up Felisa, and had strong-armed Gertraud into it also. The other girls had been less keen – Kuniko, Mathilde, Eha and Suyumbike had gone along with it, but Erminhilt had definitely seen all of them sneaking mouthfuls of chicken when Felisa wasn’t watching. Alice and Irina had both refused, Alice because she was contrary and Irina because she wanted to get on Amelia’s nerves.

“Tens,” she asked distractedly, when Bunty cleared her throat impatiently. Bunty huffed, and handed a pair over. With a hum of satisfaction, Erminhilt laid down her third set.

“Even when you aren’t paying attention you’re better than I am,” she grumbled, before glancing up at the ceiling. “All quiet. You know, I was sure the little blighters would be down here after five minutes after some more food. Threes.”

“Just the one,” yawned Erminhilt, handing it over, careful to keep the card up her sleeve well hidden. It was probably blasphemy or something, to hide a card up her nun’s uniform, but then again, Bunty’s expression of baffled confusion when she inevitably lost was worth it.

So focused was Erminhilt on the card game that she didn’t even spot several small figures darting past the open dining room doors.

 “I can’t believe we made it!” hissed Suyumbike gleefully, beckoning the other girls forward. “Thank goodness for Go Fish, eh?”

Felisa gave her a watery smile, still clutching Luitgard’s hand. Livinia cast her a bitter look, and stormed off ahead. Alice rolled her eyes. This was all ridiculous, but she didn’t bother saying so – she’d already said it, after all, several times, and it hadn’t done any good then and she didn’t think it would do any good now. Besides, she enjoyed a good caper every now and again.

As soon as they’d reached the relative safety of the kitchen, the girls split up. Alice, who hadn’t got to eat as much dinner as she’d have liked, even if she had refused to give up meat, headed straight for the biscuit cupboard, but alas, it was empty. Perhaps Bunty had needed the sugar ration for something else this week.

Still, there was always bread. Boring, perhaps, but Alice was hungry.

“Hey, guys!” Suyumbike called suddenly.

Alice turned, and was immediately struck with the urge to roll her eyes. Suyumbike had climbed onto the table, and was mucking about with a bra that Bunty had obviously hung up to dry. Naturally Gertraud, Mathilde and Amelia thought it was hilarious – because they were morons with the mental capacity of cabbages. Even Maud and Felisa giggled, and Eha grinned. Livinia and Luitgard, because Alice would grudgingly admit that they had some taste, just rolled their eyes.

“We could bake something!” piped up Irina from where she’d been peeking into some of the books on Bunty’s shelves, “I’ve found a recipe!”

There were gasps of delight – even Alice found herself smiling, and had to force herself to stop, in case Amelia saw and told everyone. Maud scurried over to the cupboard and after a fearful glance towards the door to check for Bunty and Frau Vogel, pulled out a box.

“Flour!” she called. Well, Maud’s version of a call, anyway. More like normal speech volume for any other person. Whispering volume for Amelia. Meanwhile, Eha had thrown open the doors to the larder, ignoring Luitgard’s frantic calls for order. Mathilde clumsily climbed onto the table with Suyumbike and – with a cry of delight – managed to find another bra. Alice watched them dancing about for a minute, unsure of whether this was funny or pathetic. She was leaning more towards the latter, to be honest, but that could just be her.

“Oh, hey, a box!” Eha stepped out of the cupboard with a box, before prising it open. Immediately, a horrendous smell began spreading into the room. Alice gagged, her hands shooting up to cover her nose in horror.

“Bunty-sensei’s cheese!” wheezed Kuniko, who didn’t like cheese at the best of times.

“Gorgonzola!” agreed Livinia, from where she and Felisa had been stood in the corner, apparently having another argument judging by the pout on Felisa’s face and the scowl on Livinia’s. “Close the box, Eha!”

Eha did so, looking moments from keeling over, and hurried back to the cupboard, past Gertraud who was making fake retching noises and Luitgard, who was rubbing her temples like Frau Vogel did when she was stressed.

BANG BANG BANG!

Alice jumped out of her skin – an air raid? She hadn’t heard a siren – and whirled around to look out of the window, just in time to hear the Vargas twins give piercing screams. In the window were two devils, fearsome and red-faced and wearing billowing black capes that faded into the darkness outside, banging and clawing at the glass. Gertraud bellowed something in German and leapt towards an alarmed Luitgard and dragged her backwards. An almighty crash sounded from the larder and Eha sprang backwards into Irina. Mathilde yelled and staggered backwards, grabbing at Suyumbike’s arm and dragging them both down off the table, still wearing bras, and right on top of Kuniko. Amelia screamed also, almost matching Livinia and Felisa for volume, and launched herself at Maud, who had jumped so badly she threw the box of flour. As Alice watched, frozen, the cloud of flour coated Maud and Amelia, whilst a finer dust settled slowly on everyone else in the room.

The devils continued to wail and bang on the window, and then – one of their cloaks slipped. It was just for a second, but it flapped open to reveal a rather pretty periwinkle dress. A periwinkle dress that Alice recognised.

With a snarl, she leapt forward, causing the devils to scarper. She scrabbled at the window, throwing it open, and yelled:

“I KNOW IT’S YOU, FROG! GO AWAY AND DON’T COME BACK!” she paused to sneeze, which probably didn’t do much for her threatening image, before continuing, “AND IF YOU DO COME BACK, I’LL-”

“You’ll what, Alice Kirkland?”

Alice cringed, closed the window, brushed off her dress, and finally turned around. Frau Vogel was stood over her, her habit somewhat askew and her hands on her hips, looking distinctly unimpressed. Alice swallowed. She was already in disgrace for yelling when Lord Cuckoo-Face had arrived earlier, and Frau Vogel was already irritated because of both that and the little display at dinner the night before.

“They scared the others,” Alice said weakly, “I was just making them go away.”

Frau Vogel turned to look at the others. Amelia was still clutching Maud, breathing hard, her glasses wonky on her face, and Gertraud was still stood in front of Luitgard, her arms slightly spread and her face even paler than usual. Livinia and Felisa, still sniffling slightly, were clinging to Abundantia as she checked over Kuniko, Mathilde, Suyumbike, Irina and Eha for any injuries.

“Anything serious?” asked Frau Vogel. Abundantia shook her head with a laugh.

“A few cuts and bruises, on trodden-on toe for Irina, a slightly squashed Kuniko, and Eha was hit on the head with a tin of spam,” she answered, “I think they’ll live.”

Frau Vogel nodded, and turned back to Alice, frowning severely. However, before she could so much as open her mouth, Amelia spoke up, her voice a little higher than usual.

“She’s telling the truth!” she said breathlessly, “Alice scared them off – we were all too scared.”

Warmth blossomed in Alice’s chest, and she looked past Frau Vogel to give Amelia a small smile. Frau Vogel began to speak, paused, tried again, and then gave a deep sigh and rubbed her face tiredly. When Alice dared to look up, however, she wasn’t angry anymore – she was smiling.

“Bunty,” she said, “I suppose we’d better get these young ladies something to eat, if that’s okay with you. I don’t think they’ll be sleeping anytime soon.”

“On it.”

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The chicken, sat comfortably on the straw in his little wooden box, clucked meditatively to himself, tipping his head a little to get a better look at Felisa. She beamed. She’d always wanted a pet, ever since she was small and still living in Rome, but aside from Gelato, the fat tabby cat who used to live at the house in Rome, she’d never been allowed one.

And, granted, a chicken wouldn’t have been her first choice, but now that she looked upon Luigi – his comical red crest, his clever black eyes, his freckled black and white feathers – she couldn’t figure out why! He was great!

“I wouldn’t get too attached, Feli,” said Bunty from her position at the sideboard, rooting through one of the cupboard for something. “We’re not keeping him.”

Felisa pouted. “But Bunty!” she started, before changing tack (whining never really worked on Bunty) and turning to Livinia, who was sat nearby on the table. “Sorella! Don’t you think we should keep Luigi? He’s such a good chicken!”

Livinia just snorted. “Not for long,” she muttered, swinging her legs. Felisa frowned.

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking round at her twin. Livinia just shrugged and looked away. Felisa sighed.

There was a weird atmosphere today – Frau Vogel seemed sad, like there was some terrible news that she needed to break to them, and it made Felisa nervous. She didn’t like it when the grownups got worried or sad, and she especially didn’t like good news. Maybe – maybe she should go make sure everything was okay. Lulu might know what was going on, in any case. She usually did.

Mind made up, Felisa stood, after one last smile at Luigi.

“Be good!” called Bunty with a wink as Felisa made her way out of the kitchen, ignored by Livinia who had stuck a finger through the wire to try and touch Luigi, who was clucking noisily. Felisa trotted up the stairs, and almost bumped straight into Frau Vogel, about to go out out, Luitgard at her side.

“Careful, Felisa,” she said tiredly, “No running please.”

“Sorry, Frau,” she said respectfully, before turning to grab Luitgard’s hand. “Lulu, I need to talk to you-”

Luitgard frowned sternly. “I’m going out with Frau Vogel,” she grumbled, “We’re going next door to speak to the Ambassador family.”

“Ooh!” Felisa could feel herself bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet, but she couldn’t help it. Even after the weeks their new neighbours had been living beside them, she’d never actually met any of them. “I’ll come too!”

The Ambassador’s house was just like their own, sans the greenery that grew up the side of the school. Beside Frau Vogel, Felisa was bouncing again, trying to see over the walls and into the garden despite her teacher’s admonitions. A large and fancy car stood on the driveway – not a bit like the school’s ramshackle old minibus.

Frau Vogel led them into the garden and up to the front door, where she knocked. Felisa straightened her dress, and cast an eager look at Luitgard. Lulu was busily neatening her hat, but when Felisa caught her eye she gave a small and approving nod. Felisa beamed as the door opened.

A man stood there – rather weedy and skinny, with a pointed face and a head of strawberry-blonde hair that he’d obviously tried and failed to slick back, and now stuck up in oily little tufts. His face was pale – easily paler than Luitgard, possibly paler than Gertraud, even – with big blue eyes and freckles all over, even down his neck.

“Hello, love,” he said, leaning against the door, “How can I help you?”

Frau Vogel pursed her lips. “I came to ask about the girls. I’m afraid they’ve been rather disturbing our lessons driving on their bike all the time,” she said sternly, “So I came to ask whether they could perhaps keep the noise down during school hours?”

“Oh, yes, of course.” The pale man looked Frau Vogel up and down and gave an unpleasant smile. “I wouldn’t worry. They’ve just hired me as the girls’ tutor. Oliver’s the name, what’s yours?”

Frau Vogel looked less and less happy the more Oliver spoke. “My name is Sister Vogel,” she said coldly, “And I am a nun.”

Oliver’s grin widened, and Felisa reached over to grab Luitgard’s hand. Oliver made her nervous, and – judging by the way she squeezed her hand back – Luitgard felt the same way.

“I must go,” went on Frau Vogel before Oliver could get in another word, “The girls’ dinner will be done soon. Thank you.”

“No problem,” replied Oliver, still smiling unpleasantly. “Oh! Maybe we can meet up at some point, compare notes on our kids. I could test you on your teaching methods.”

Frau Vogel’s jaw clenched, but she nodded jerkily, grabbed both Felisa and Luitgard’s hands, and led them briskly out of the gate.

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Main Story Plot Masterlist

1. Meet the New Neighbours

2. Bad Hats

3. Mr and Mrs Ambassador

4. Back at the School

5. Class Begins (reblog of ‘Back at the School’)

6. Interruptions

7. Alice Loses her Temper (Again)

8. Lord Cuckoo-Face Pays a Visit 

9. A Chicken and a Tutor

10. Devils in the Night

11. The Other House

12. Fleur and Angelica

13. The School Trip

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Frau Vogel’s mouth snapped shut, and she felt a brief flicker of irritation – she was only trying to help, after all – but she soon discounted it. After all, Lord Covington was always like this. Rude, pig-headed, far too full of his own self-importance – the list could go on. But no matter how odious his personality, the fact was that he was still her employer, and the owner of the school.

The sole owner, soon, Frau Vogel realised with a jolt. She looked over at Lord Covington. They were stood in her office, away from the prying eyes and listening ears of the girls. Lord Covington looked sad, which was to be expected, but also angry. This, too, was hardly out of the realms of normal, but it still sent a shiver of dread down Erminhilt’s spine. She was well aware that Lord Covington didn’t like her – she wasn’t entirely sure why, because she’d always made sure to be polite and respectful, but if she had to guess she’d say her being German certainly didn’t help matters.

Lord Covington began to speak again.

“As you know, it has always been my wife’s dream to start this school.” He glanced around, his eyes catching the multitude of papers pinned up on one of the walls – art projects from the girls, mostly, with a few written compositions as well – and his lip curled slightly. He turned his attention back to Erminhilt. “However, it is not mine.”

“I see, sir.”

Lord Covington was now examining his pristine white gloves – Erminhilt would have liked to think that it was an admittance of some level of shame over his next announcement, but in reality Erminhilt knew that it was far more likely to simply be an indicator of Lord Covington’s deep disinterest in the subject. She sighed.

“As such, upon my wife’s… death,” he said, seemingly struggling with the final part of that sentence, “I will be selling this house, and closing the school.”

There was a moment of silence, as Erminhilt’s stomach slowly filled with ice. “I’m – I’m sorry, sir?” she asked faintly. “You’re closing the school?”

“Yes, I believe that’s what I just said,” nodded Lord Covington, still straightening his gloves.

“But…” Erminhilt’s thoughts were whirling at a million miles per hour. She couldn’t believe this. “But, sir, what about the girls?”

“They can return to their families,” answered Lord Covington, employing the sort of patronising, know-it-all tone that men used when they had no experience or knowledge of a matter but thought that they did, “And I’m sure you can find a convent somewhere.”

That still leaves Bunty, Erminhilt thought, but didn’t bother voicing that statement. She was well aware that Bunty was the only person in the school that Lord Covington like less than her.

“But, sir,” she said, trying her best to stay calm, “The girls are all orphans. That’s why the school was founded in the first place.”

Lord Covington rolled his eyes. “Then they can go to an orphanage!” he answered impatiently. “Is that not what we pay taxes for?” He finally stopped straightening his gloves, and grasped his walking stick. “Now, I really must be going.”

Hopefully straight to hell, is Erminhilt’s immediate thought, before she reminds herself that she’s a nun and therefore is meant to be forgiving and kind and charitable, etcetera. Even when speaking to thoroughly detestable old men who deserved a good kick in the backside. She took a deep breath, and stepped aside to open the door to Lord Covington.

“Of course, sir,” she said, hopefully managing to keep most of her anger out of her voice. “Here, let me show you to the door.”

Lord Covington sniffed, but allowed her to show him all the way to the door, shutting the door sharply behind him. Erminhilt took a deep, shuddery breath, and blinked rapidly, leaning back against the door and burying her face in her hands. Upstairs, she could hear the noise rising, suggesting that Bunty’s control of the class had once again descended into something more like a minor uprising than a peaceful learning environment.

She took another deep breath and stood. She had things to do – there was no point dwelling on the matter. She had twelve girls to take care of.

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I found this in my art folder and i have no idea why i drew it but it pretty much sums up alice and kuniko’s friendship.

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Alice ground her teeth, keeping her eyes tightly closed, trying her best to pay attention to what Frau Vogel was saying – the Celts and Boudicca was a subject she’d been looking forward to ever since they’d started on the Roman Empire – whilst blocking out the infuriating sounds of the stupid Vespa driving around the next door garden, stopping and starting at random intervals. Even more annoying were the laughing and whispering that came from some of the other girls in the class, especially Amelia.

She probably doesn’t even think it’s that great, Alice thought bitterly, I bet she’s just doing it to be annoying.

Alice took a deep breath. At the front of the classroom, she could hear Livinia hissing at Felisa to stop giggling, and Luitgard’s shoulders were tense in a way that suggested an impending outburst, and wondered who’d explode first – her, Livinia or Luitgard.

Her train of thought crashed as a particularly loud VROOM sounded from the garden, and her teeth clenched to the point that it was almost painful. Beside her, Kuniko glanced round, and gave her the patented Honda ‘Calm Down’ stare. It didn’t help.

“Of course, back then Colchester wasn’t called Colchester, it was called ‘Camulodunum’,” Frau Vogel droned on, casting the window an irritated look of her own. “Queen Boudicca also burnt down the cities of Londinium and Verulamium. Can anybody guess what they’re called nowadays?”

Alice began to drum her fingers on the table, as the others began putting up their hands to take their guesses. Frau Vogel began calling for quiet – mainly to shut Gertie up, since she was running her mouth again – before pointing to Maudie, who’d been sitting with her hand up for a while now.

“Maud, yes,” Frau Vogel said, straightening her habit fussily, “Go ahead.”

Maud flushed flushed with pleasure and smiled, but just as she opened her mouth and began to speak, a there was a sudden roar from outside that drowned her out. Maud blinked, the smile having vanished from her face.

“That’s it,” snarled Alice. Slamming her hands against the desk – and ignoring the sharp kick in the shin from Kuniko and the muttered ‘Alice-chan sit down’ – she got to her feet and scowled at Frau Vogel, who rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly.

“She’s about to blow!” Alice heard Mathilde whisper, and Kuniko sighed heavily.

“Why are we putting up with this?!” she demanded. “They are so ANNOYING!” Frau Vogel rolled her eyes – this did not improve Alice’s temper. “We should go and teach them a lesson!”

Even though they weren’t usually particularly close, talk of fighting made Livinia say ‘Here, here!’

“There’s more of us!” Alice added, encouraged by Livinia’s enthusiasm. “We’d win for sure!”

“ENOUGH!” Not for the first time, Frau Vogel looked as though her patience with Alice’s temper had been entirely depleted. She took a deep, calming breath, and when she spoke again it was at a more normal volume. “Listen, I know it’s a little annoying-”

“Very annoying!” This came from Luitgard, who seemed to have reached the end of her rope with Felisa’s incessant giggling on the subject.

“But they’re still settling in,” Frau Vogel continued on determinedly, “Besides, I bumped into Mrs Biskarret yesterday, and she tells me that they have a new tutor starting this week, so the noise should stop soon.”

“I DON’T CARE!” bellowed Alice, any remnants of her somewhat tenuous control on her temper utterly shattered. “THEY’RE BEING SO INCONSIDERATE JUST BECAUSE THEY’RE RICH AND I’M SICK OF IT!” Everybody was staring now – humiliation made her stomach sick, and tears began to well up in Alice’s eyes. “I THINK – I THINK THEY’RE ALL…” she paused, trying to find the right words. Just as the handle turned on the classroom door, she thought of them. “BLOODY BARSTARDS!”

“Excuse me?”

Everybody in the classroom stayed utterly still, staring at the door. Alice could feel all the blood draining from her face, and her previous humiliation turned slowly to pure panic.

Lord Cuckoo-Face Covington stood at the open door, his eyes wide with indignation and fury.

“Nice one, Alice-chan,” muttered Kuniko as Alice sank slowly into her chair and attempted to look inconspicuous. At the front of the classroom, Frau Vogel – whose cheeks were distinctly pink – looked even more worried.

“Herr Covington,” she said, her accent leaking through as it always did when she was upset. “I wasn’t expecting you!”

“Lord Covington,” snapped Lord Covington, sweeping his icy gaze across the classroom. At the front, Felisa had stopped giggling, and Alice could see that she and Livinia were holding hands. Even Suyumbike and Mathilde had gone quiet, and beside Alice, Gertraud was poised and ready to leap to Luitgard’s defence. “None of this Gerry-speak, if you please. And may I ask, exactly what are you teaching these girls for them to be coming out with such language?”

“I- Well, you see-”

As Frau Vogel searched frantically for an explanation, Alice felt just awful. She tried to catch Frau Vogel’s eye, desperate to communicate that she was so, so sorry about this, but Frau Vogel was too busy with Lord Covington.

“In any case,” said Lord Covington dismissively, “I need to speak with you. Alone. Your maid can watch the kids.”

Although she didn’t quite dare to pull a face, let alone say anything to him, Alice hated hated hated Lord Covington. She wished he’d just go away and never come back, even though Frau Vogel said that they shouldn’t wish ill on anybody.

(Alice wished ill on a great number of people. She wasn’t a very good student.)

Frau Vogel smiled faintly, still rather pale, before turning to the class. “I want you to read your history books, from page 114 to 117, girls,” she said, “Bunty- I mean, Abundantia will be with you in a moment.”

With that, she swept out of the room after Lord Covington, but for once the girls didn’t immediately descend into mayhem. Instead, they stayed deathly quiet. Alice wished that somebody would speak – there was a suspicious lump at the back of her throat, and her eyes were burning. She bowed her head. If Frau Vogel was in trouble, it was all her fault, just because she couldn’t keep her temper. Just like always.

“I didn’t mean it,” she whispered, and sniffed quietly when Kuniko touched her arm.

“I’m sure it’ll be okay,” Kuniko murmured, leaning in to talk to her. “He’s always grumpy anyway. Besides, did you hear him call Bunty-sensei a maid? I don’t think she’s going to like that one little bit, do you?”

Alice giggled a little, blinking furiously. Thankfully, everybody else either hadn’t noticed her tears – or else they were graciously pretending they hadn’t – and she forced herself to calm down. Kuniko gave a faint smile – at least, as much of a smile as Kuniko ever gave – and sat back in her chair.

For a while, nobody spoke – everybody was listening hard for any shouting. But there was nothing, and despite everybody straining their ears to listen, it still made everyone jump when the door opened sharply and Bunty marched in, closed the door, before turning and saying something very sharp in Italian. Judging by the titters from Felisa and Livinia, it wasn’t very polite.

“Awful man,” said Bunty in English, sitting herself on Frau Vogel’s desk. “Absolute-” She said something else in Italian that made the Vargas twins laugh again, the tension in the room broken.

[aph-madeline-au]

Important Update

I’m finding it really difficult to keep up with drawing a comic once a week, but I want to keep going with the plot, so I’m going to start doing updates in fic form. I’ll still be doing drawn updates, just not every time.