Our Australian Girl: The Rose Stories by Sherryl Clark

Author:Sherryl Clark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Published: 2017-05-19T00:00:00+00:00

EVERY day at school, Rose discovered a new subject. In science, Miss Capstan talked about species and what mammals were. Even a huge whale in the sea was a mammal, not a fish. When they went on a nature walk, they found larvae and talked about how they became butterflies and moths. There seemed to be nothing that Miss Capstan didn’t know a lot about, and Rose longed to be just as clever.

While she loved school and was good at some bits of it, Rose soon realised how much she’d missed out on while she’d been studying with Miss Parson. When they had an arithmetic test and Rose was bottom of the class by a long way, she couldn’t stop the tears of humiliation that escaped.

‘We’ll see where you are at by the end of the school term, Rose,’ Miss Capstan had said. ‘Don’t worry.’

But Rose saw the frown on Miss Capstan’s face as she walked away. What if Miss Capstan decided she wasn’t ready for school? What if she was sent home to work with a governess again until she was ready? A huge lump formed in Rose’s throat. She couldn’t bear the thought of having to go back to having someone like Miss Higginbottom.

There was only one thing for it. Rose decided she’d spend every night studying the subjects she’d missed, and she’d ask Aunt Alice to help her with her arithmetic. Rose was determined to stay at this wonderful school, no matter what.

She also had another special reason to stay – Abigail! She’d worried that Abigail was only friendly to her on the first day because Miss Capstan had told her to be. But on Tuesday, Abigail brought sweets to share just with Rose, and she always chose Rose as her partner for walks and class work. She was quick to help Rose when she was stuck on a problem, and by the end of the week, Rose felt as if they’d been friends always. At night, lying in bed, Rose felt so happy about her new special friend that she could barely sleep.

On Friday, Rose got the biggest surprise of all. In physical exercise after lunch, while Abigail and some of the other girls played tennis on the grass, Rose was able to play cricket! She was the youngest and the smallest, but she soon proved herself to be a handy player, and was allowed to bowl.

‘Golly,’ said her team captain, Edna, a tall, gangly girl who was a very strong batswoman. ‘If you grew a little more, you could become our main bowler. We don’t really have anyone with a good arm.’

‘Oh,’ Rose said, her face pink. ‘Well, I do play a bit at home.’

Myrtle, who had just been bowling, sniffed loudly. ‘Girls are supposed to earn a place in the team, Edna.’

Rose squirmed under Myrtle’s scornful glare.

‘I’m sure Rose will do that. There’s talk of a game against Merton Hall, if we can field a decent team.’

‘A proper game?’ Rose said. ‘Are girls allowed to play real games, on a big field?’

‘Of course.

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