Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School
Key Facts (Possible Spoilers)
Mademoiselle Lepattre is the official Head, but Madge Russell is still very involved with the school.
Location
The School is located on the Tiernsee, in the Austrian Tirol. Madge and Jem live up on the Sonnalpe.
Series Characters Whereabouts:
Joey Bettany is 16 and a Prefect in the Sixth
Robin Humphries is a Junior and is reported as being "stronger"
Cornelia Flower is a Middle, and has already formed a disreputable partnership with Evadne Lannis
Peggy Bettany is a very small child, and with her brother Rix, is living with Madge and Jem (and baby David) at Die Rosen
Before the term proper begins, the school attends the wedding of Bernhilda Mensch to Kurt von Eschenau, in Innsbruck. Bernhilda's sister, Freida, along with Joey, Robin, Maria Marani and Marie von Eschenau are her bridesmaids. During the wedding reception "die grossmütter" (Bernhilda and Freida's grandmother) dies.
Juliet, who has been at college for 18 months, turns up for Bernhilda's wedding and will be staying at the Sonnalpe to recover from a bout of scarlet fever.
Joey is horrified at first by the thought of being the next Head Girl, and is battling with the reality of growing up. She is missing the large number of "old girls" who have now left or will be leaving soon.
Eustacia steals the key to the Library from Joey's drawer, and the prefects decide to deal with this themselves, without informing the staff. She repeats the offence by stealing the key for the Science Lab from staff room, so that she could find somewhere quiet to read!!! A startling event brings Miss Wilson to the scene and the staff take action.
A feud between the Fourth and the Fifth develops over Eustacia leaving her fountain pen on Margia Stevens' desk. The Fourth actually takes Eustacia's side against Margia and the Fifth.
The expedition to the Stubai Glacier is taken by train to Innsbruck, where they stayed in an hotel. Miss Wilson and Miss Stewart are the accompanying mistresses. From Innsbruck an electric-cable train took them to Fulpmes, which is at the foot of the Stubai Glacier. The girls took turns to stay with the Robin, who was not able to join in the walking and climbing.
As a blizzard approaches the party of walkers on the glacier, and the group is hurrying to shelter, it is Eustacia who causes Miss Wilson to fall and injure her ankle. The group shelters from the blizzard in a hut. To pass the time until they are recued - or the blizzard passes - Joey tells historical stories.
The Robin becomes ill as a result of the worry when Joey did not come home and as a result Robin does not return to the school for a good while. As a consequence of her actions on the expedition, Eustacia is given the silent treatment by the Third, Fourth and Fifth forms.
After half term, preparation begins for the end of term Sale, as well as the next issue of the Chaletian. However, details of the sale are not given. The fued between the Fourth and Fifth escalates.
Whilst on the way back from the dentist, Joey has a premonition of trouble, and when they arrive back at the school, they learn Eustacia is missing. She has left a note for Joey, saying that she is running away back to England. She blames Joey for making here school life miserable.
On her rescue she is taken to Die Rosen (Madge and Jem's home) and whilst there, they begin to call her Stacie, and she apologises to Joey for "being such a beast".
At the end of the book, the first "grandchild" of the Chalet School is born; Gisela Mensch has a daughter, to be called Natalie.
Contributed by Gillian Hussain, Australia __ working from a hard back edition.