A very fine day for a flight - and for once we actually managed one, managing to log another two hours apiece in our log-books.  As the Eastern Island tower reported no incoming aircraft were expected, we made our longest trip yet - all four of us taking off together, with Miss Pelton flying behind to shepherd us. A circling climb to four thousand feet, then across towards Main Island, looking down at the wakes of ships and water-taxis far below us.

 Still, even at that altitude the main peaks towered over us, and we flew just near enough to feel a powerful updraft pulling us off course.  A few more circles to eight thousand feet, and we were over Mount Kiribatori, looking down over a tiny green patch just big enough for a camp site, that Helen and I will hardly forget. We missed the mountain peak by half a mile, under Miss Pelton's careful supervision - but I hate to think what Helen would say if I told her about my other near-miss involving adventures on that summit ...

 It was surprisingly chilly at that altitude, and I was glad of my wool-lined gabardine flying-suit. What with the wind-chill and the cold air, even through the helmet I could feel my ears freezing as we turned to make a long sweep North to follow along the spine of Main Island. Despite the cold, it was an excellent sight, all the island laid out beneath us, with nothing but eight thousand feet of air in the way. Some of the modern designs I have seen for fighters (or "Pursuit-ships" as Helen insists on calling them) have enclosed cockpits, but I doubt they will ever catch on.

 After a rather bumpy landing in the growing afternoon heat, we returned to the Academy to find it rather empty. Evidently, the third-years are off on another trip, and three of the dorms are away at Superior Engineering, tinkering with engines bigger than anything available at Songmark. (After our first year, we are allowed some choice in which classes we take, though I doubt Helen will ever manage to escape the maths side of things.) Two second-years we know quite well, Dolores and Margarethe, invited us up to see their block - after nearly two terms here, we had never set foot in their territory.

 The Songmark main buildings are three long two-storey blocks, facing a central courtyard. Ours is the central one, above the staff living quarters and staff kitchens - the second-year block has its dorms above the main dining-hall, while the third-year block is above mostly classrooms.  Actually, though we had hoped for some more spacious accommodation to look forward to in September, in fact the dorms are no bigger or better than ours. Molly pointed out that the locks on the doors are, however, of a far superior manufacture.

 On scale, Molly continued, she quite expected the third-year block to be welded shut by the Tutors at lights-out each night. Margarethe seemed quite concerned at the idea, and confessed that she had never yet been in that block herself - certainly, each year in Songmark seems to like keeping surprises from its juniors.

March 1st, 1935

A day we had been waiting for all Spring - when our challenge to our rivals at the S.I.T.H.S. actually comes to a clash. After breakfast, Miss Devinski called in my dorm and Jasbir's, to ask if we are really intent on seeing the dance challenge through - she warns that unlike Songmark, perhaps a half of the S.I.T.H.S. crowd are natives, and may have been practising for years.
 Of course, we intended to stick it through - Jasbir is a brick, and came in to support us. She was sorely disappointed herself this week, when Miss Wildford turned down her application to audition at the Coconut Shell. (Apparently Miss Wildford said NO, very loudly and firmly in six languages, four of them Indian, though I think Jasbir got the point before she had to hear it in Tamil and Farsi.)

 With obvious misgivings, Miss Devinski signed our Passes, and wished us luck. Naturally, it is sure to be a hard-fought contest - but I led St.Winifreds' senior croquet team in the grudge match against Genghis Academy's finest, and am hardly going to back out of a few dance manoeuvres.  Besides, win or lose, we are determined to put up a good show - but we would never manage to live it down if we ducked out at this stage. And quite right too.

 Being a holiday, we had some support on this one, with Prudence Akroyd managing to beg passes to watch us shake a grass skirt. She also arranged them for her dorm, on the understanding she kept in full Songmark uniform and not her recently perfected Native dress, until arriving at the Dance school. Our Tutors do seem to be somewhat strict when it comes to dress standards --although considering what we manage to squeeze into the rules as it is, it might be just as well that they start on the cautious side.

 A rapid water-taxi across to Main Island, steering around a battered freighter creeping into the jetty of Superior Engineering, and we were there - standing in Ferry Square Market, our Costumes in our valises, feeling much as I imagine troops must when alighting on a foreign shore for their first campaign. At least we know what we are up against - five rather overconfident and rather well-padded Island girls, who have accused us once too often of being too rich and too thin. (How they accuse Maria of that is beyond me, as she is extremely solid, though almost none of it is "excess baggage".)

 Casino Island seemed fuller than ever - being a holiday and the first of the month, many shops were opening up that we had never seen open before. But there was no time to look, alas - in five minutes we arrived at the dance-school in good order, or what Prudence Akroyd calls "mob-handed." The S.I.T.H.S. were there - in fact, it looked like ALL the S.I.T.H.S. were there, easily two hundred of them crowding around, eager to see us getting trounced most thoroughly.

 With such a crowd, the dance teachers had staged an open-air contest under a row of waving palms (oil palms, not coconuts, alas) and had announced the rules with a loudspeaker - ten minutes each dance, themselves to select the first two, and the last one to be decided by ourselves - best out of three winning, with their decision as final. A tough schedule - half an hour almost non-stop, with two minutes break. The S.I.T.H.S. team have changed their line-up today, replacing two of the girls with a pair of obviously senior male students, of the mustelid persuasion. Still - if they feel they need to change their tactics radically to take us on snout to snout, we must be worrying them.

 Maria was looking a little apprehensive, until one of the crowd shouted something I did not quite catch about the price of Spaghetti. That proved ill advised for the opposition, as she dropped her head and tossed her horns in a manner I have rarely seen - and I was quite glad that it was a dancing bout rather than a self-defence class we would be going into. Molly looked as gleefully fierce as we have seen her off the target range, and Helen was sharpening her claws nonchalantly on the railings, shaving off large pieces of hardwood.

 The first dance was "The Palm Sway" as we had half expected. I fear that I was too busy concentrating on my own performance to judge on how the contest as a whole was running, and so I must paste in the piece from the "Daily 'Elele" and let that stand as the official account.

 "March 1st - skirt-shaking showdown at Dance School!  Off-island team throw down the gauntlet! As brought to you by Missy Aha (whose Editor told her to come back with a hot story or not at all.)"

 Round one: - The Spontoon Islands Technical High School team outnumbered the opposition five to four - and would have given a weight advantage with even numbers, projecting a good "presence" as they stepped through their warm-up routines. Students Tabodo, Lalaba and Oneabo led in a 3-2 formation with Maoa and O'Grady back on the wings. Facing them was a four in line formation from over on Eastern Island, the Songmark team of Bourne-Phipps, Inconnutia, Duclos and Procyk a new contender, having only studied for two seasons.

 The High School team took an early start, with a loose interpretation of the first melodic turns, swaying in good order as they shifted to 4-1 formation, Maoa in the front, the position held by his Mother in last year's South Island Luau festival. Songmark shifted into a forward V, nice individual steps from Bourne-Phipps and Procyk, with Duclos and Inconnutia dancing a solid backing pattern.  The teams broke apart in the ninth chorus, Songmark dancing in a plain but well-organised line, with good timing if a little textbook about the swaying technique.

 Our High School re-formed on the eleventh chorus, a smooth shift into a "Rock and wave" pattern, Oneabo making the most of her poundage as the centrepiece while the others surged in the "Banoba Whirlpool" manoeuvre - a little rushed, but a good attempt for a non-professional team. Songmark seemed slightly nonplussed, the manoeuvre not being taught as part of the formal courses here - but rather than attempting to imitate it, Bourne-Phipps rallied in a textbook "Storm Surge", with Inconnutia as the pivot - and they rallied with solid, obviously practised teamwork with a spirited performance by Duclos, showing her stripes to full advantage as she stepped into the lead of the final fugue.

 Round One finished with our High School lined up in a "Willow-leaf" with O'Grady as the focus, finishing their move on the exact last beat. Songmark were caught just a little late, but pulled off a creditable "Wave-break" just in time to avoid any major points loss.

 Judges' verdict - Spontoon Technical High School win, on general polish, though very little to choose between the two teams. Both sides still looking fairly fresh, but O'Grady and Oneabo panting noticeably.

 Round two: - the band struck up "High Tide at Sunset", which our readers will remember was such a hit last year for Mr. Barkley. A very fast-paced number for two amateur teams, and a choice that caused some comment amongst the spectators.

 Songmark got ahead with a good start this time, Bourne-Phipps leading. Evidently some gymnastics training here, but she managed to hold the moves well within the Traditional range, while the Songmark team fell into line, dancing with evident enthusiasm, as the High School were caught wrong-footed and Tabodo almost tripping over her own tail. Some points surely lost there. The High School rallied in a 2-3 formation, finding their pace as the fifth chorus started, Maoa leading the steps. Some solo improvisations on the back row caused heads to turn - a few points off from O'Grady, high kicks are really NOT in the mainstream Tradition, whatever the Tahitian dancers might perform for the Moulin Rouge audience!

 The final ten choruses picked up the pace considerably, both teams dropping any pretence of advanced moves and dropping into facing lines, working hard on the taught moves, really throwing themselves into the sways, Inconnutia moving her weight with suprising energy, taking some very appreciative cheers from the crowd.  Songmark and our High School finished raggedly, Oneabo managing to pull a good flourish right at the end. A very energetic performance from both teams - and both sides obviously in trouble, Oneabo's tongue hanging out like a window-blind, as the judges deliberated. Procyk's tail was certainly drooping, but no sign of either side calling on the substitutes (Sind for Songmark and Ehringberg for the Technical High School, both sitting on the bench looking daggers at each other.)

 A surprise decision - Songmark win, having avoided any real points penalties, and keeping up the required style all the way! The crowd very quiet now, with one dance to go and everything to play for. A game of three halves this, with the bets split right down the middle.

 The judges called in Maoa and Bourne-Phipps to choose the final number in the break - most of us were expecting a long quarrel over the choice, but it looked to this reporter as if the choice had been hammered out long in advance. Both captains returned to their teams, looking grimly determined, evidently tired but still game for the last bout. Both substitutes looking on from their bench, tails definitely bristling there, watching this third and final round.

 Round Three: - the dance band struck up the tune, and surely the crowd were asking themselves questions as they recognised "White Wall of Water", all twenty-two choruses worth, starting up. A long, brutal grind of a dance, totally unrelenting up till the final stanzas, NOT one most of us expected as the third round of an amateur contest.

 Maoa dropped her team back, swinging into an easy-looking blend of improvisations, more Hawaiian in tradition than anything seen so far, evidently content to save her team's strength. Songmark took the initiative in the third chorus, Procyk and Duclos moving forward to a vigorous "Surf Kick" pattern, a nice piece of formation work though a little energetic so early in the round. Inconnutia and Bourne-Phipps relieved them at the front line, the spirited Songmark pattern standing out against the technically fine but slower-moving High School formation, finishing up the sixth chorus with a "Surge Wall" that pushed the High School line right back against the boundaries.

 On the ninth chorus, Maoa dropped the Hawaiian moves and tail-waved her team back into 2-3 wedge, Oneabo in the middle rear position not looking in a good way.  A forward surge, a more vigorous style with definite Maori influences, certainly pushing the Songmark team back to their side, both teams definitely tiring now, in what would be the end phase of a standard length dance set but only half- way through this one. Two, three choruses of stalemate, Songmark with a slight reprise of their "Surge Wall" but adding some touches obviously appropriated from their opponents. Two hard, confrontational chorus' worth, and the band picked up the tempo still further - as the crowd held its breath and waited to see if either team would stay on their feet long enough to reach the finale.

 Chorus twenty arrived - and the High School made their move, a reprise of the "Banoba Whirlpool" that would have matched the beat exactly. But by this stage, none of them had enough left in them to make the tricky crossover moves, Maoa and O'Grady actually colliding as they stretched for the last round - Songmark moving forward to make the most of it, re-forming their line formation as they held the centre as the final chorus swept by, the High School struggling to keep in step as the music ended.

 Judges' decision - Songmark Wins!"

I must say, at the time, we were hardly in a fit state to take more than a brief bow before staggering back to the dressing room, Molly being practically carried in between Maria and myself. But after a few minutes refreshing shower, we rapidly changed into our Songmark uniforms andwent out to mingle with the crowd. Jasbir seemed definitely overjoyed with our luck - though true enough, we had won by staying power rather than dazzling technique.  The S.I.T.H.S. team did not reappear till much later, when I congratulated Miss Maoa on her splendid performance. She looked a little rueful, but shook hands and promised us an even harder-fought rematch next term. I had just assured her we would be ready for that, when I heard Molly say a most unladylike word behind me.  Indeed, I was quite surprised at the sight myself - our own Missy K, arm in arm with one of the S.I.T.H.S. newcomers, Mr. Tabodo as she introduced him. I was about to remind her of school Solidarity when she dropped a complete bombshell - that he is actually her fiancé, all arranged and socially approved already.

Had Molly been in one of those amusing american cartoons they show at the cinema matinees, one would have heard her jaw hit the ground with a loud clang. A less likely match I could hardly imagine, as having spent forty minutes facing the local dance team almost snout-to-snout on some moves, one could hardly but admire their exceptionally fine form, in one way and another. Mr. Tabodo, one of the senior year's classmen, being an
exceptionally tall and agile young gentleman of the mink persuasion, with a gloss on his coat that proclaims he is more used to strenuous work in the fresh air than behind a desk or workshop bench.

Missy K thoroughly enjoyed Molly's obvious discomfiture, and announced that they have been engaged for two years already - and that unlike the rest of us, neither her Family or our Tutors will mind if she suddenly has to make her planned lengthy engagement a shorter one. With that she bounced off, and indeed when in high spirits she can certainly bounce.

I confessed myself puzzled at her comments about perhaps having a shorter engagement than planned - till Helen reflected that it would be difficult to spot if our classmate was getting any rounder. Molly looked at the departing couple with a very strange expression, shaking her head with the evident thought of "How did SHE get HIM?"

 Still, it was quite a day of triumph for Songmark, and we returned to Eastern Island to discover the news had travelled ahead of us. Miss Devinski was most generous - passes to Casino Island for all day Saturday, hurrah!

next