The New Chalet School Trivia Quiz

Answer: Miss Browne has won a lawsuit and decided to sell up

Miss Annersley announces at a staff meeting that Mlle Lepattre will not be returning due to illness, so she is taking over as the new Chalet School headmistress. She also tells them that Miss Browne has been involved in a lawsuit and that it has been decided in favour of her branch of the family. Because she will be coming into money, she has decided to give up the school and return to England, and offered St Scholastika's to Madge Russell and Mlle Lepattre.

As they have accepted the offer, the schools will be merging.

Answer: A hotel restaurant

Jem Russell has bought the old St Scholastika's building as a summer home and Joey, Madge and the Robin visit the building to take measurements for carpets. They then go to a hotel for lunch and something hits Joey in the face. At first, she assumes it is plaster from the ceiling, but the proprietor says that it was recently plastered, and Madge also gets hit in the face by a pellet. They realise that a pair of Italian twins have been shooting at them with a catapult.

After the party leave the hotel, Madge nearly gets shot again and Joey finds the male twin - Mario Balbini - hiding in a bush, and breaks his catapult. The twins are angry and swear revenge on Joey and Madge.

Answer: Mice

The Balbinis release frogs, not mice - they have the box delivered to Mlle Lachenais. The trouble starts when the prefects are in a meeting and the twins throw snuff through the window, causing them to sneeze violently. They also plug up the keyhole of the school boathouse with chewing gum. Joey comes to visit and when the prefects tell her about the pranks, Joey puts two and two together and realises the Balbinis are behind it.

Her suspicions are confirmed when stink bombs are fired into the room - although the window is high up, she believes Mario might have fired them from an air rifle, as she knows about his shooting skills.

The fact several rooms were targeted also suggests the twins might be in some kind of gang.

Answer: The Mystic M

Jem Russell gets shot by Mario and a Spanish boy, Manuel Madariaga, while on a walk, and he catches Mario and spanks him. Prince Balbini, the twins' father, sees that Mario has been annoying Jem and apologises on his behalf, and takes the children back to the hotel, before going to the Sanatorium to visit his dying wife. However, Manuel tells Maria, the female twin, what Jem did to Mario and Maria leaves the hotel, finds Jem and shouts abuse at him, mentioning the Mystic M.

The Mystic M are a gang of children whose names all begin with M. As well as Manuel and the Balbini twins, there are four others: Mélanie Kerdec, a Breton girl; Myfanwy and Morwenna Davies, who are Welsh; and a Scottish boy, Murdoch Macintosh. The gang visit the school during a storm and the staff invite them in, giving them a tour of the building; the girls ask to see the dormitories but the boys aren't interested, so Miss Annersley leaves them unsupervised. However, this turns out to be a bad idea, as they sabotage the school fuse box.

Answer: Herr Anserl

Maria Balbini is mistaken for Maria Marani by Rosa, the Russells' nanny, and takes Sybil away with her. Joey, the school staff and the girls hunt for Sybil, but cannot find her, and the stress makes Madge ill. Jem is at the Sanatorium with Princess Balbini, who is critically ill and asking for her children, but they are nowhere to be found. Jem phones Madge to tell her that the Princess is dead and Madge breaks down, telling him that Sybil is missing. Jem comes home and orders Joey to look after Madge while he searches, with the help of Rufus the dog. Gottfried helps him search.

Jem finds out that the twins, Mélanie and Sybil got a lift in a British car and heads to the railway station. A train arrives and Herr Anserl is on it, with Sybil, Mélanie and the twins; he saw them in Spärtz and recognised Sybil, who was unhurt, but very angry. Gottfried drives the group home and Jem has to break the news to the twins that their mother is dead, and that she had been asking for them while they were missing. Maria faints and Joey comforts Mario, and later sings Maria to sleep.

Answer: Elizabeth Arnett and Betty Wynne-Davies

On the train to school, Hilary Burn, Nancy Wilmot and Ida Reaveley describe Betty and Elizabeth as two of the worst-behaved girls at St Scholastika's. Elizabeth has red hair and pale skin, while Betty is dark-skinned and dark-haired, and Elizabeth thinks of things while Betty does them. Ida later notices that Elizabeth has been leaving her dormitory at night; she heard people on the roof of St Clare's House, and recognised Elizabeth's voice. (Biddy and Alixe are Chalet School pupils, while the other wrong answers are St Scholastika's prefects.)

Answer: Acting a play

The prefects change dormitories to catch the girls on the roof, with Joey and Gillian Linton sharing a bed, and discover that they have been getting onto the roof via a storeroom that has the same key as their dormitory. Joey and the prefects discover a group of girls sitting on the floor watching three others - who turn out to be Betty, Alixe and Elizabeth - performing a play. After the girls have been dispersed, Joey and the prefects discover food and drink and an opened packet of cigarettes, with one missing.

Cornelia Flower also comes onto the roof and is about to order the girls to leave when she sees Joey. Joey stays behind to comfort Cornelia, as Cornelia is upset and scared about Mlle Lepattre, who has been a mother figure to her.

Answer: False

Joey and the prefects discuss how to punish the Middles who were on the roof, and Nancy Wilmot comes up with the idea of making them perform the play in front of the whole school. Louise summons the girls involved and gives them an ultimatum: either they perform the play, or they all get a Head's Report. They must also provide food from their own tuck and find parts for the girls in the audience. Betty tries to defy Louise, but Louise reminds her that being on a Head's Report means missing the half-term trip.

The girls subsequently perform the play in front of the school and do not get the reaction they expected; the play is supposed to be a tragedy, but both girls and staff find it hilarious. Elizabeth, who is playing the hero, Don Antonio, has to attempt a sword fight with her gym knickers falling down, and Alixe, who is playing the heroine, Duchess Mariquita, falls on her a bit too heavily!

Answer: Salzburg

Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart, is the half-term destination, and the girls visit the Mozart Museum and Hellbrunn, and see a performance of 'The Magic Flute'. Joey, the Robin and Paula and Irma von Rothenfels go to visit Paula's cousin, Wanda von Eschenau, and her family. It turns out that Prince Balbini is related to the von Eschenau family and that the Balbini twins are staying with Wanda while Prince Balbini is in Styria to sort out some legal matters.

On the way back from Salzburg, a storm breaks out and the road floods, and the coach with Joey, Miss Wilson, Miss Stewart, Louise and several others is stranded until the storm calms down. As a result, they have to sleep on the coach and improvise beds from rugs and cases. The driver worries the girls might panic, but they see it as an adventure, though both Miss Wilson and Joey have trouble sleeping and are exhausted the next day.

Answer: Louise Redfield

At the end-of-term garden party, the school organises a Brownie display telling the story of Grace Darling, and a Guide display about hospitals in wartime. Joey gives Louise a copy of her new book and she and Hilary Burn hide it behind a statue. Anne Seymour accidentally causes a fire in the hall when she leaves an iron on and it burns through the ironing, and a can of turpentine is also set alight. Louise rushes into the hall to get Joey's book out and Hilary goes in after her, and drags her out. Miss Annersley tells Louise off for risking her life, as the book is replaceable, but Louise is not.

Gillian Linton is later revealed to be the next Head Girl, but only for a short period as she is leaving at Christmas to be with her ill mother. Hilary will then take over from her, as she was originally going to be the Head Girl at St Scholastika's, and is therefore the first amalgamee to become Head Girl.