Bird Island Expedition - A Mel, Tab, Mewla & Cathy story

Chapter One
A New Field Trip

 
  "Cath, hurry up!" Tab, Mewla and I were standing impatiently in the doorway of the newsagent's, waiting while Cathy credited her phone. "We'll be late!"
  It was a wonderful hot morning in late May, and the four of us were on our way to school. The only difference was that we were dressed in our own clothes and had large travel bags with us. Our class was going away for our geography field trip. Usually we've always gone away for a couple of days, but this year the school wanted to try something different; we were going away for nearly two weeks to stay on a bird-inhabited island north of the north Scottish coast. We would be studying rock formations, the beaches, the wildlife, and the water. None of us could wait; it was going to be so much fun.
  We were to fly to Aberdeen, then take a coach up to Thurso, on the very north coast, then take a boat out into the North Sea and find an island suitable to camp on. We had been told that we would be chartering a large fishing boat, which had been slightly converted so that there was sufficient cabin space for us all to sleep for a night, as our long journey would stretch into two days. Then when we got to an island we liked, we would be camping in tents for almost two weeks.
  "OK, OK!" Cathy said, rumaging in her purse for her phone card, whilst trying to hold her handbag between her knees. "I need credit on my phone, don't I!"
  "I can't think why." I said. "There won't be any reception out on this island."
  "Oh well, I need it anyway." Cathy grinned, handed over the money, then gathered up her handbag and her travel bag. We all set off again on our way down the road to Tibcot Comp.
  Tibbicca, Purla and Tibleau were just going in through the gates when we got there. They were all dressed much like us, in small denim shorts, flimsy t-shirts and sunglasses.
  "Oooh!" Purla ran over to us and jumped up and down. "Isn't it exciting!"
  Cathy pulled a face at her as if suggesting she thought Purla was mad, then all of a sudden grabbed Purla's paws and jumped with her.
  "I know! I can't wait!"
  "Girls!" Mr Mewan, our deputy head of year, called us from across the yard. "Come over, we want to get started!"
  Cathy grinned. Mr Mewan is young, gorgeous and he and Cathy are kind-of seeing each other. Yeah, it sounds weird I know and is wrong, but he is young, gorgeous and has taken a real shine to Cathy so he and she have been having a kind-of fling since December just gone. The whole class knows about it and Mewbellinne is very suspicious that something is going on, but she fancies Mr Mewan herself, so Cathy and the rest of us take great delight in using it to our advantage. For instance, if Cathy goes off out of the lesson for something, Mewbellinne is convinced she's gone up to see Mr Mewan, so Mewbellinne goes off up there to try and catch them, but Cathy has usually only gone out deliberately and is hiding somewhere so when Mewbellinne has gone, Cathy comes back and when Mewbellinne gets back she feels a fool. Mewbellinne has tried to cause endless trouble for Cathy over it, but only because she wants Mr Mewan for herself, not because she thinks that it's wrong to see a teacher.
  It's also a standing joke amongst us that whatever Cathy does wrong she'll be sent to Mr Mewan so most of us try quite often to get her into trouble, which usually ends up backfiring on us.
  The rest of the class were already assembled in the yard when we wandered over with our heavy bags. Mr Mewan was dressed casually in a trendy t-shirt and jeans. Purla was sat on a pile of travel bags.
  "Taking your whole wardrobe, Purl?" Tab grinned.
  "No - these are several people's bags!" Purla laughed indignantly.
  "Late again!" Tibbicca laughed. "Honestly!"
  "It was madam here." I pointed at Cathy. "Wanting credit for her phone."
  "Credit?" laughed Tibbicca. "What on earth for? It's not like you're going to be texting a boyfriend or anything, is it Cath?"
  She had said it deliberately and we all grinned. Mewbellinne shot sly glances at us all; every time we mention anything to do with Cathy and boyfriends she gets suspicious. Of course, it's made all the funnier by the fact that we all know her secret, and Mr Mewan knows we do. But we are all such good friends that Cathy knows we'd never give her secret away. Mr Mewan didn't look at any of us, but smiled ever so slightly, then cleared his throat and started to talk.
  "Right. I'll call the register, then we'll get all the bags loaded on the bus." he said. "Hopefully by that time the other teachers will have arrived." he checked his watch and grinned at us as we all giggled.
  After he called the register, we all lugged our bags across to the minibus that was waiting in the coach park. Mrs Fisher came hurring out of the Humanities block with a bunch of papers.
  "Have you got my bag, Greg?" she called to Mr Mewan. Mr Mewan looked at us all with a comical worried look on his face.
  "Erm, no." he said. "Should I have your bag?"
  "I asked you to bring it out to the bus earlier." Mrs Fisher said. "What planet are you on this morning, Greg?"
  Mr Mewan grinned sheepishly.
  "I must have not heard you." he said.
  "Typical." Mrs Fisher smiled and went back indoors.
  "He's on planet Cathy." Purla nudged me and we laughed.
  Cathy heard and tried to punch Purla but she dodged.
  Mr Banmew arrived soon after, and five minutes later Miss Mewola came hurrying over.
  "Sorry, am I late?" Miss Mewola said, looking rather hot and flustered.
  "Yes." Mr Mewan said bluntly. Then he laughed. "No, not really. We're waiting for Mrs Fisher - apparently I was supposed to have brought her bags out to the bus but I didn't know anything about it."
  "God this holiday is going to be a barrel of laughs." Tibbicca said to me. "The teachers have already started doing stupid things."
  Mrs Fisher finally came back with her bag, and soon everyone's stuff was loaded onto the bus. I must say the driver waited very patiently while we all faffed around and lost things and found things and lost more things. In the end it was decided that the only way we could ensure that everyone had their bag put on board was to give us all a bit of paper when our bag was put in.
  "Now, has everyone got their paper?" Mr Mewan sighed when all the bags were finally in.
  "No!" Cathy called.
  "Oh, God help me." Mr Mewan sighed and shut his eyes.
  "Only kidding, I have really." Cathy waved her bit of paper and got hurriedly on the bus as Mr Mewan aimed a piece of screwed up paper at her.
  It was great that we were all so happy, even the teachers were more relaxed and up for having fun.
  Of course, there was a mad scramble for the seats at the back of the bus. Cathy and I got some, as did Tibbicca, Purla, Purbelle, Mewfal and Tom. All the others dotted themselves around on the seats in front of us and further down. Mewbellinne ended up sat with Mewlarka, on the row in front of the back row, and Mewlarka was quietly cursing Purbelle because her best friend had managed to get a back seat.
  The four teachers called another register just to make sure we were all on the bus, then they sat down near the front and we started off. Our holiday had begun!
 
***

  We hadn't been going long before all the hilarity started. Mr Mewan texted Cathy from the front of the bus saying that he was going to enjoy spending some time with her out of school and that it would be fun to have to try and conceal it, so he and Cathy were texting each other from about twelve feet away, with their phones on silent, which we all found amusing.
  "Who's texting you, Cathy?" Mewbellinne had enquired, peeping over the back of her seat. Mewlarka popped up behind her and was pulling rude faces behind Mewbellinne's back, which us lot on the back row found hilarious. We were all shrieking with laughter, and Mewbellinne didn't really seem to realise that it was her we were laughing about.
  "Oh, just one of my mates." Cathy had said casually.
  "One of your mates?" Mewbellinne had persisted.
  "Yeah, I'm having a sordid affair with him." Cathy said, still as casually as before.
  We all fell about in giggles again, even the boys, and Mewbellinne then realised that Cathy was taking the mickey, and turned round with a sigh of disgust and sat down.
  After we had been going about three hours, we made a stop at some services and went to Burger King. I think we actually saw fear in the eyes of the people behind the counter when our whole class went in giggling and laughing at the tops of our voices, even the teachers. Mr Mewan was really on form and acted just like any other young guy, and Miss Mewola was very relaxed too. As Mr Banmew and Mrs Fisher were the two older ones, they sort-of stuck together and chatted together. Purla had started a secret bet going round the class that Mr Banmew and Mrs Fisher would have a fling while we were away.
  Once we had eaten we all got back on the coach, and nearly left without Mewbile, who had nipped off to go to the toilet. Thankfully Francis spoke up before we pulled away. There was much giggling from us and rolling of eyes from the teachers, and a sheepish grin from Mewbile as he clambered on board the bus.
 
***

  The aeroplane journey was fun, but nothing exciting happened. Of course, there was the mass whispering of jokes about Cathy and Mr Mewan going off to the aeroplane toilet together, which Cathy laughed off in case Mewbellinne overheard. When the plane landed we all went to have some more food and stretch our legs before getting on another coach to take us up to Thurso on the north coast. Everything was so relaxed and so much fun that we forgot we were on a school trip, it was more like a holiday with all our best friends.
  The coach trip to Thurso was a little more eventful, as Mewbellinne tried to stand up and fell, and we all laughed, and she got cross and went up to the back of the bus and slapped Purbelle. Purbelle, of course, slapped her back, and they then started pulling each other's hair.
  "Fight, fight, fight!" the boys chanted, while the rest of us girls sat and watched them. Of course, it wasn't long before Mr Mewan came up to the back to see what was going on.
  "Girls! Stop that now!" he said.
  "She started it!" Purbelle said, clearing her thick dark hair away from her eyes.
  "I did not!" Mewbellinne said. "I slipped over and they laughed at me!"
  "Oh, Mewbellinne, chill out!" came Cathy's relaxed voice from the back seat. "If any of us slipped we'd just laugh it off! Only you would come charging up and start a fight! Honestly!"
  There were some quiet giggles. Cathy is always so laid-back and takes the greatest delight in being even more so to make Mewbellinne look neurotic. Mewbellinne pouted.
  "Indeed, a giggle from the others is certainly no excuse for you to come up here and start slapping Purbelle." Mr Mewan said. "Please behave from now on. And Purbelle, please don't join in fights any more, just because Mewbellinne hit you doesn't mean I condone you hitting her back."
  "Yes Sir." Purbelle said. Mewbellinne said nothing. She never apologises to teachers when they tell her off. It's very rude of her.
  "Although I must say it's a refreshing change to see Cathy sitting quietly and not the instigator of the trouble." Mr Mewan grinned at us and turned to go back down to sit with the other teachers.
  "Huh! Cheek!" Cathy laughed.
  Mewbellinne sat down again and sulked.


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