01x12 - The Ghost

[bunniefuu]

Hello?

Darrell?

Alicia?

Is anyone awake? I am now.

I need the lavatory.

Thanks for letting me know.

No, it's just...

I'm not sure
I can go alone in the dark.

You've just been given
a special pen for courage.

Yes, I have.

So... be brave.

Go by yourself.

Is anyone there?

Just the hallway.

Oh, my gosh! The ghost... She...

Gwen, fetch Matron.

Why do I have to be the one...? Now!

Is she all right? It's just a little
fainting. Don't be so dramatic.

Mary-Lou?

Mary-Lou, wake up, child!

Margaret, the cold compress.

Hurry up, please.

Lady Jane in the bathroom.

You're in the san, you're safe.

Oh, thank goodness! My best friend!

That's quite enough of that.
Everyone out!

Could a friend stay with me,
Matron?

I'm staying. Margaret's staying.
How many friends do you need?

Just until she falls asleep, Matron.
What would be the harm?

One girl may stay for ten minutes.

Darrell, would you mind?
Of course not.

Why does she have it in for me?

Matron? She doesn't. She's just...

No, not Matron. Lady Jane.

The wet clothes, the racket strings.
It was all her. I know it was.

You know ghosts aren't real.

Then who's been roaming the halls
in a hooded cloak?

I don't know,
but I promise I will find out.

Ugh!

Your ribbon's frayed. I'll fix it
for you if you like?

Why?

What do you mean, "why"?

I can do it.

Fine. Now I suppose I owe you one.

One what?

Poor Mary-Lou. If I'd seen a ghost,
I'd probably never sleep again.

At least then we wouldn't have to
put up with your sleepwalking.

It's probably just another nightmare

after all that excitement
at the pool.

Emily.

You saw the ghost
on the back stairs, right?

Where was Mary-Lou's sighting?

Er, just outside
the girls' lavatory.

And I saw her in the san.

Oh, please!
We all know what this is about.

One of Alicia
and Darrell's tricks again.

We wouldn't scare Mary-Lou
to the point of fainting.

Listen. The ghost has to be someone
with access to the san.

Can we please stop this nonsense

and focus on
our hobby presentations?

You sound just like Katherine.
And what's wrong with that?

I wouldn't do that if I were you.

Senior lacrosse uniforms
for the final match.

Arrived with yesterday's fruit.

And a few of Matron's
personal items.

You should be getting back to class.

What are you doing here?

I was just visiting Mary-Lou,
Matron.

Close the door, please.

What's that? Oh, it's a map.

The corridor outside the bathroom,
the stairs, the san.

You've marked all the places
the ghost was spotted.

And now we know what path she takes.
We can follow her.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

Overnight ghost watch? Tonight? Yes!

In 1944, the bouffant hairstyle
reached new heights,

and so did the hair itself.

Hm.

Do you really think it's Matron?

She's frightened of ghosts.

Obviously an elaborate cover story.

Shh! Pipe down, girls.

Quite obviously,
Mary-Lou is no Rita Hayworth.

Twirl, Mary-Lou. Twirl.

And that concludes my presentation.

Lovely work, Gwendoline.

Gwen, perhaps you could release
Mary-Lou from that pompadour.

What were you whispering about me?
You almost ruined my presentation.

Sorry if it was distracting,
but not everything's about you.

You think you're so clever.

She IS rather clever.

Fine. Have your little secret.
But I'm watching you.

Hello?

Irene?

Darrell, Darrell! The ghost!
Wake up. She's in the hallway.

What?

I know that song.
Where have I heard it before?

She's going the wrong way.

According to this, she supposed
to be taking the back stairs.

Perpendicular...

by the vertex...

Darrell and Sally gone.
Not so clever now.

Out here, Sally.

We'll be in ever so much trouble.
Only if we get caught.

We've lost her.

That's impossible.

There must be another route to the
san, one that we don't know about.

Where did she go?

What's happening? A secret passage.

This must be her trick
to getting around.

Shall we?

I can't see much.

But I can hear her footsteps. Quick!

Come on, Darrell.
Hurry or we'll lose her.

Blech! Ugh!

Ugh. How far do you think this goes?

Do you think there are
many spiders in here?

Shh!

Oh! Thank heavens, Matron.

I know it's late, but some
of the girls are out of their beds.

And they're not the only one.
Back to the dorm, now. But I...

No, I won't ask again. You have to
come. They found a secret passage.

Oh, a likely story.
And where might that be?

By the fireplace in the lobby. Come.
Come and I'll show you.

Oh!

I'm not sure we should be doing this
after all.

Who is it?

Darrell?

I told them Darrell was the ghost,
but no-one would listen to me.

Gwendoline doesn't know anything.
Gwendoline's just a pretty face.

It was right there by the...

It's... gone.

This is a merry wild goose chase
you've led me on. What?

It was here, I promise you.
I saw them go into it.

Enough of this nonsense.

And with all this distraction, I've
gone and left my keys somewhere.

I'll be late for the pictures.

But I don't understand...

Do I have a fever? Oh!

Could I be hallucinating?
There was definitely a passageway.

You are giving me a migraine, child.
Back to bed!

Whoever you are,
we don't want any trouble.

Emily!

You're the ghost? You?

You shouldn't have followed me.

Why do this?

You couldn't understand.
You couldn't possibly understand.

Then perhaps we should explain it
to them.

All right, Mother.

Mother?

But I don't understand.

Why didn't you tell us
that Margaret was your mother?

To protect our privacy, I suppose.
You girls are different from us.

Your families have money.
Your mothers don't work.

I didn't want to bring Emily down.

I'm proud of what you do.

I made tea for Emily.
Shall we all...? Oh!

Butterfingers. Is something
the matter? She's fine.

My hands get a bit stiff sometimes.

You've been helping her
with her darning. At night.

That explains
why she's always so tired. Is she?

She falls asleep in class.
It's nothing.

There's just been more prep lately.
I should have noticed. I'm sorry.

I never meant to scare anyone.

I only wore the cloak
to hide my face,

and then the lie
took on a life of its own.

A lie always does.

Oh.

Hosting tea parties
in the san at night?

Miss Grayling will hear of this.

I was helping Mother
with her chores.

I knew you were lazy,

but getting children
to do your work for you, Margaret?

Have you no shame?
Girls, go to bed immediately.

Matron, you don't understand.
Please, Matron.

I'll deal with you in the morning.

Emily, wait! You just couldn't
mind your own business, could you?

I'm sorry. Sorry doesn't help.

If mother loses her job,
I don't know what we'll do.

Surely you could stay
if your mother had to leave?

Not everyone
can afford boarding school.

I have a free place because Mother
works here. Now she's fired.

I didn't know. I'll make it right.
You can't fix this.

No-one can.

How do you think Matron found us?
You don't think...?

No, not even Gwen
could do something so underhand.

We have to help Margaret.
I promised Emily I'd make it right.

But how?

I don't know,
but I'll think of something.

Um... Is Matron here?

Not yet. Why?

I chose to be out of my bed
last night.

Perhaps if I told Matron,
she wouldn't be as hard on you.

It's very kind, Darrell.

But if Matron doesn't believe I can
do my job, why would she keep me on?

It is arthritis, isn't it?

My mother suffers from it too.
In her hips, mostly.

You're quite the detective.

I get in trouble for it sometimes.

All the time.

Does Matron know?

No. She mustn't.
If I lose this job...

If I lose this job,
I can't afford the doctor.

Well, surely a doctor
would treat you?

He wouldn't let you suffer
just because you couldn't afford it.

Someday I hope the world
is the way you see it.

But, until then, we soldier on.

Maybe if you spoke to Matron, if you
told her about your condition...

What condition is that?

Darrell?

Rheumatoid arthritis.

In my hands.

You see? Margaret isn't lazy.

She just needed the help
because of the pain.

I'm sorry about your illness.

But...

what good is an assistant
who cannot use her hands?

Matron, please...

Your daughter cannot spend
her entire school life

doing your job, can she?

It's already taking its toll
on the poor girl.

It's just as well
term ends tomorrow.

I suggest you
get your affairs in order.

You will not be returning
to Malory Towers.

You're the ghost?

You climbed out the dorm window
night after night? You're my hero!

Why was Darrell's ghost trap
never triggered?

Because once she'd set it, I had to
use the door and change my route.

You improvised. It's a rare skill.

I'm so sorry for frightening you,
Mary-Lou.

I'm just glad Lady Jane isn't real!

We... could use your help, you know.
Trying to save Emily's mother.

I don't even know Emily's mother.
It's Margaret. Matron's fired her.

How awful.

So you'll help?

I meant to have a mother
that works in the school.

Just come to Miss Grayling's office

and tell her
how beastly Matron's been.

She's nice enough to me.
I wonder why.

It would mean so much coming from
a girl that Matron truly admires,

such as you. Please, Gwen.
You played a big part in it all.

If not for me...

do it for Emily.

How come we just found out about
you? You were great at hiding it.

May we speak to you, Miss Grayling?
Alone?

Well, not alone, but, um...
Without me, she means.

The impertinence of this creature.
Every story has two sides.

Or four, as the case may be.

I'd like to keep this brief.
It's been a difficult day.

That's what we need to talk about.
Margaret shouldn't have been fired.

Oh, I suppose you're an expert
at running a boarding school now,

are you?

She's trying to fire my mother
for having stiff and sore hands.

That's poppycock. I didn't know
your mother was sick. Neither did I.

She has rheumatoid arthritis.

All this time working so closely
with her, you never noticed?

Oh, she's slippery, that one.
And she was hiding it from me.

Because she thought you'd fire her.
And she was right!

If your mother couldn't cope,
she should have come to me.

It was wrong of her to ask you
to sacrifice your sleep,

your academics, your health.

She didn't ask. I insisted.

Look, I fired Margaret
because she was unprofessional.

You're unprofessional!
Miss Rivers! It's true.

Matron didn't
take my illness seriously

until it was almost too late.

She blamed it on strawberries

and accused Mary-Lou
of pretending to faint.

When did Mary-Lou faint?

She... hardly fainted at all.

She gives mother all
of her personal darning to do,

that's why she can't keep up.
That's stuff and nonsense.

Now, Gwendoline will set this
straight. Won't you, Gwendoline?

Well.

Thank you, girls, for your candour.

Emily,
could you please fetch your mother?

Matron...

where are you going?

Er, to the toilet?

We need to talk.

We're coming back next term.
Oh, Mother!

Oh, that's wonderful.
And no more night-time sewing.

I'm so pleased, Mother.

And best of all,

Miss Grayling promoted Margaret
to Matron of South Tower.

You can call her Mother now.
Your secret's out.

Mother will even have an assistant
of her own next term.

Miss Grayling says they'll
work around her sore hands

because they value her so much.

Aw, that's wonderful.
Is Matron staying on?

Yes, but she has to do
the whole job herself.

Even the parts she loathes.

Darrell saved the day. We all did.

Even Gwen. What do you mean, "even"?

Well, Gwen, you didn't do much.
But I heard you shrugged a shoulder.

How does that saying go?

"The shrug is mightier
than the sword"?

No, Alicia. The pen.
The pen is mightier.

I really have to teach
you about sarcasm!

Perhaps Darrell will get a special
courage pen. Just like mine.

Poor old Gwen. She just can't bear
to see Mary-Lou doing well.