They sat for the examination in Port Harcourt, and all three of them sat side by side. They did not actually spy on one another, but they were all well disposed to each other.

After the first paper which was arithmetic, Rose wept uncontrollably. Agnes and Dora sympathised with her. They asked her to wipe away her tears, and assured her that she was going to pass her examination. It Was Agnes who said that her weeping was a good sign, and dared anybody to bet with her that Rose would pass. Then Dora said that as a matter of fact, they were all going to pass the examination with full marks and that they would all be admitted to the school in January of 1945, and that they would all be in one dormitory.

Rose was cheered by this but she was still sceptical, and as she was about to moan again, over her errors and omissions, Dora took her by the shoulders and shook her so violently that it hurt. ‘Look, forget arithmetic and think of English which we will go in for in a few minutes. You can never retrieve your exam paper again, so forget it and…’ The bell rang.

It was time for the English paper and the three girls walked to the examination hall. Agnes and Dora were quite confident, but not Rose who sat dejectedly in her seat and waited for the paper to be brought by the beautiful white woman, bespectacled, short, wearing a lovely blue dress, a handkerchief tucked neatly into her blue belt.

When she spoke, Rose did not understand a word of what she said. She glanced at the other girls, and felt better, because they too like her showed they did not understand. ‘She is speaking through her nose,’ Dora whispered to Agnes. Agnes put her finger on her lips which meant that Dora should keep quiet so that they would understand.

The small white woman must have been conversant in psychology. She stopped, and asked slowly, yet softly, ‘Can you hear me?’ A group of girls seated to the right of the hall said they could hear her. One of the girls put up her hand, and the white woman asked her to speak. ‘We can hear you, but we cannot understand you.’ The girls shifted in their seats. Rose was again almost in tears. What was the difference between hearing and understanding? As she thought this over, another girl’s hand was up, and the white woman again asked her to speak. ‘De people wey no hear you ma, na bush dem commot. We na township girls, we hear you well, but...’

The white woman could not hide her amusement. She was already used to pidgin English spoken in the Port Harcourt area. And in the school, there was a rule that forbade girls from speaking pidgin English. She had made a mistake. She should have taken one of her Nigerian teachers with her. So she tried again, speaking more slowly and emphasising words she would not have normally emphasised, and as she spoke, she distributed the examination papers to the girls.

There were about a hundred girls in the hall, and in a short time, she had given them all papers, and then asked them to read the instructions very carefully before they started answering the questions. When she made sure they now understood her, she asked them to start.

Agnes, Rose and Dora wrote away furiously. Rose was in her element. That was her subject. She wrote the essay, read it over and was satisfied. Then she did the comprehension. The grammar was a bit tricky. She tackled that vigorously and earnestly, and when she finished, she heaved a sigh of relief, and looked around. Agnes and Dora were still writing, and so were the other girls in the hall. So Rose turned to her answer paper and began to read her answers all over again.

‘You now have ten minutes,’ the small white woman said. There was mild commotion. The girls began to tie their answer papers together, and to stretch and yawn.

Time was up and the answer papers were collected by the small white woman. Agnes, Rose and Dora exchanged addresses and went back to their different schools.

What luck therefore for the three of them to meet at the railway station in January of 1945! They had all passed the entrance examination to Archdeacon Crowther Memorial Girls’ School (ACMGS) Elelenwa, and they were now going to the school to start their first year. ‘Isn’t it wonderful that the three of us passed the examinations,’ said Agnes. ‘And didn’t I tell you that you were crying for nothing, that day, Rose,’ said Dora.

‘I still believe I messed up in that Arithmetic paper. I am sure that’s what decided my case, what passed me was the English paper,’ said Rose.

‘You never can tell’ said Dora. ‘However,’ she continued, ‘we three are here, we passed. Thank God.’

So the ‘three musketeers’ (as they chose to refer to themselves) became great friends. When they arrived at the Umukoroshe railway station they alighted from the train, and they helped one another to put their boxes down. There were so many girls on the platform. Agnes could recognise three or four faces she saw at the examination hall the year before, and in particular the self-styled township girl who said she understood what the English lady said and-referred to the others who did not understand, as bush. ‘We are going to deal with her,’ Agnes and Dora said. ‘I don’t agree with you,’ said Rose. ‘The best way to treat such people is to ignore them. The best answer for a fool is silence,’ she concluded.

‘Whether the best answer for a fool is silence or not, if she insults me, I am going to deal with her. Who does she think she is?’

As she spoke, the girl they were talking about came straight to them, and said, ‘I know you, not you three I see for Port Harcourt last year when we do the exam? So una pass too? Me I pass too. But my friend no pass, im fail. And im papa send am go Enitona High School. Imagine, Enitona High School! Not to good school. Na bad school. Na so so belle the girls dey carry when dem go Enitona. I sorry for my friend. Ego carry belle too …’

The girls were shocked. What a girl! What precocity!

‘Una dey wait?’ the girl continued. ‘Onyeburu no dey here. We go carry our box for head. Look, look the senior girls dey carry dem boxes for head. And make I tell you, de people we live here, dem too make nyanga. Dem no go carry na boxes for una. Look dem dey poor like church mouse.’ As she said this and before the girls had time to say anything, she had left them and gone to see to her boxes and other equipment for school.

It was then that Agnes, Rose and Dora looked round to get a glimpse of their surroundings. The railway station was bare and poor. The train that brought them having proceeded on its long and slow journey to the coal city, Enugu, they became aware of their surroundings. There was just a single railway line, and the station master’s office. Behind the office was a two roomed building that belonged to the station master, where he lived with his wife and nine children. At the office, was a hole where one could push in money to buy one’s ticket and adjoining the office, was a kind of hall with an old scale used in weighing loads of produce, being transported by Goods Trains to the far North.

The station itself was littered with sugar cane which was abundant in the area. When the trains made a stop at the station, children came with their long sugar cane stems to the windows of the coaches, begging the passengers to buy. When they bought them, the children cut them in tiny lengths for the passengers.

Agnes was tempted to buy, but Dora and Rose dissuaded her, ‘Where are you going to keep it?’ they asked her. ‘I’ll eat it, not keep it,’ she replied. ‘And thus dirty your beautiful dress,’ they said. But then the township girl who had spoken to them had already bought ten lengths of sugar cane, and the child she bought them from was busy cutting them into tiny lengths. Agnes could not resist the sugar cane so she went over and asked how she was going to carry them to the school. ‘For head,’ she said, chewing one of the sugar canes. Agnes smiled, ‘Well I want to buy some.’

‘You wan buy? Make I call dem for you.’ She turned and hailed another child who came running with about five lengths of sugar cane. Agnes bought some, thanked the girl, and then introduced herself. ‘I am Agnes, what is your name?’

‘Comfort,’ the township girl replied, and Agnes went over to Dora and Rose, and they tried to organise themselves for the long trek to the school.

Agnes and Dora carried what they were able to carry, while Rose and Comfort waited at the station. ‘What a pity this school does not have a vehicle,’ said Rose. ‘Na suffer dem go suffer we for dis school. Mission, dem poor. I know now why I no go Queen’s College. I pass de entrance but my Papa say I no go go Lagos. E say im people wey go Lagos never return. Den my Mama say, “to go Lagos no hard, na return”’.

Rose roared with laughter. She had never heard that expression before. She said truthfully that she did not take the entrance to Queen’s College at all. And that she was prepared to read elementary six, if she failed to gain admission to ACMGS, and try again. But thank God she passed the entrance.

‘You see dat big girl wey wear that fine dress?’ asked Comfort. Rose of course did not take any notice of the big girl that wore ‘a fine dress’. There were so many big girls who wore beautiful dresses whom she took to be their teachers.

‘De one wey wear yellow dress. Wey make im hair. Na de prefect. Dem say ibi good prefect. De teachers like am too much, But e too old. Dem say e done reach twenty years. But im look small, like ibi small pikin. But ino bi small pikin o! Dem dey call am Oby.’ As she said this, she laughed again.

‘OBY. What is OBY?’ asked Rose. Comfort laughed again, and said, ‘I no go tell you. Ibi big secret. If de girl I know say you know, igo punish you well well. But I go tell you. You bi my friend. OBY is “old but young”’. Rose roared with laughter, and as she was laughing the other children returned to carry their other belongings, and as they were walking slowly to the school, there was the sound of the train. The girls crossed the railway line quickly and made their way to the school, while the train, this time coming from Aba, was bringing the girls resident in Aba and its environ to ACMGS.

Comfort seemed to know everything about the school, and told the girls one story after another. She told them that the teachers were very strict and that they were going to confiscate extra dresses from the girls. They were allowed only six cotton dresses, and ten shillings pocket money a term. If they had more than ten shillings, the teachers would take them from them. She told them she brought some cooked food with her though it was against the regulations of the school. But she knew how to hide the food, and she would invite them to eat it after lights out.

What a girl, Rose thought. Agnes and Dora were most intrigued also, and asked questions upon questions. Comfort had all the answers. Nothing was impossible for her. She knew how to wriggle out of any problem.

What a school, Rose thought. The whole place was bush. Both sides of the road was thick bush, there was no clearing of any kind, not even a hut or a farm. Why did she not think of Queen’s College, Lagos. If she passed the entrance examination to ACMGS, surely she would have passed that of Queen’s College. Both were equally competitive. Why did she not know about it? But then who was around to direct her? Her aunt who could have, was far away in Achimota College, in Ghana. The uncle who could have directed her was in far away Fourabay College Sierra Leone. Her own mother was dead years ago, and her father was so busy with his work that he had no time to think about his daughter’s education.

‘I don’t think I like this school,’ Rose said aloud. ‘Say that again,’ Agnes echoed.

‘I like am o. Make I tell you. If you no go Elelenwa, which school you go go — Enitona?’ Comfort asked in her usual way.

‘What about Queen’s College?’ Rose asked.

‘You no hear? “To go Lagos no hard na return.” I done tell you.’ Agnes and Dora laughed. Rose joined reluctantly.

‘I would have gone to QRC, Onitsha,’ said Agnes, ‘but my step mother preferred Elelenwa. And I had no choice in the matter. However, I am glad I passed. It is good to be away from home for a change,’ she said,

The girls walked on and on until they arrived at the school. There was no gate. There was only a tiny sign board indicating the school from the main road, and as they entered the premises, they saw that the so-called school was surrounded by bush. To their right was a building they called the office. There was an arrow that pointed to the buildings they called the classrooms. In the middle of the building was a large hall. There they entered.

There were two teachers on duty. There were also fresh girls like them. The teachers spoke only English. They asked them to open their boxes, and they examined them and saw that they had the right number of dresses. If they had any money they were to surrender it to the teachers who would make a note of it.

It was strange, very strange. But, all four girls were assigned to the same house, called ‘Clock House’. A distant relation of Rose was also in that house. Rose later learnt that it was done on purpose so that her relation would take care of her. But where was this relation, her friends asked her. Rose told them that she lived at Enugu and that the Enugu train would come in the evening. She assured them that her cousin would look after them well.

The girls settled very quickly in their dormitories and then came out to play in the field. They asked for a ball which they were given and they played netball. They were good at the game, except Rose, who did not play very well, but she enjoyed the game all the same.

Soon it was time for lunch and the bell went so they trooped to the dining-room taking their plates, cutlery and cups with them. When some of the girls saw the food in the bowl they began to cry. Comfort cried the most. She had okra and stew, eba and rice alright to eat afterwards, but she cried because she thought that before Sunday, and it was just Friday, the food would finish and she would starve. As for Rose, the food was worse than she had imagined. She bad heard that feeding was poor, but not to that extent. At home, she missed her mother who died three years before, but her home was quite orderly, meals were served hot by well trained stewards. Her father, though he had not married again, made sure that she and her brothers and sisters fed well. Feeding well was the priority in her home. And now this. Why, why did she not think of Queen’s College where she had learnt only that morning that the girls in that school were waited upon by stewards, had running water, cooks, and what was more, played tennis.

She must have been deceived. But deceived by whom? She must stop that nonsense. Dora and Agnes had told her that the sooner she stopped thinking of Queen’s College, Lagos, the better for her. So she made a serious effort to like Elelenwa.

She and her friends ate very little at the table. Comfort had told them that she had some food in the dormitory and that she was inviting them all to come and eat. So they trooped to her bedside, and ate to their hearts’ content. Comfort had very good quality. She gave generously and never counted the cost. But she also expected you to give generously when she herself was without. So woe betide you if you had food and hid it from Comfort when you had shared her food with her in the past! Rose, Dora and Agnes learnt this very quickly, and though they did not very much want her to move in their circle, because of her ‘loud mouth’, they made sure that whenever they could, they shared their food with her. But they were more comfortable if she did not invite them to eat with her.

After the meal, the girls trooped to the office to pay their fees to the principal. They queued outside the office waiting for their turns. Rose was the first to go in. She saw the small white woman at close quarters, and observed that she was a pretty woman. Because she was near, she was able to hear and understand her well, though she made some noises, like eh… eh. The principal, who before she received Rose’s school fees told her that her name was Miss Hill and that she was known to the girls as Miss Hill, was very gentle and kind. Rose was able to observe her well. She wore a pink check dress which was well tailored. She had the white handkerchief over her belt as she did on the day of the entrance examination in Port Harcourt. Her hair was long and clean. There was a kind of scent emanating from her which Rose could not recognise. It was after she had remained in the school for four years that she discovered that Miss Hill used Blue Grass perfume by Elizabeth Arden.

Miss Hill’s office was spacious, but bare. The writing desk was just an ordinary wooden table. She did not see a filing cabinet. But there was a shelf containing some books. Miss Hill wrote in a large note book. And Rose observed that when she came in and greeted her, she turned the pages of the note book, and then wrote on a fresh page. When she had paid her fees Miss Hill asked her how much money she had. ‘Ten shillings,’ she replied.

‘I have ten shillings,’ Miss Hill said.

‘Ten shillings’ Rose repeated. Miss Hill smiled and said, ‘Rose, you reply with a sentence. When I ask you how much money you have, you don’t say ten shillings, you say, “I have ten shillings”’. Rose replied, and realised immediately that she was having her first English lesson.

Soon Miss Hill finished with the girls, and again they went out to play netball. As they were playing, they heard the sound of the train, and they realised that the Enugu train had arrived. They stopped playing and ran to the railway station to welcome the girls coming from Enugu. Rose’s cousin was one of them. They were in time for the train. And they helped the girls take their belongings down from the train.

At the assembly, in the evening, Miss Hill spoke to the girls. The new girls felt better! Agnes, Dora and Rose sat together wondering whether their parents did the right thing by sending them to the school. But in the few days that followed they adjusted to the routine of the school, and discovered that though it was hard, especially getting up at five thirty in the morning to fetch water half a mile away, doing house work, and cooking the meals, they enjoyed their classes, their games, and reading.

They were now exposed to the new world of books. Stories fascinated them, and they read everything they could lay their hands on, including ‘True Romances’ which Miss Hill or to be more precise, the regulations, forbade them to read. One of the older girls smuggled in the magazine to the school, and girls read them to their hearts’ content.

Agnes, Rose and Dora shared books. Comfort went as far as ‘stealing’ library books from the school library, and reading them during lessons like Maths, which she was not good at. Some senior girls brought in books by Marie Correlli which the girls read with so much zeal, but which were forbidden in the school. The girls wondered why Miss Hill and Miss Backhouse frowned at their reading Marie Corelli. They did not find the answers, for they dared not bring up the topic at all, but they read volumes and volumes of them when they laid hands on them.

What pleasant times the girls had in their school! What good relationship existed between the staff and the girls!

Rose could remember when she first menstruated. Because she had no mother, she was not warned. Then just out of the blue, she found herself bleeding. She was genuinely afraid. What was happening to her? Who was she going to confide in? Not Susy who was older than she and a relation, not her friends, Dora and Agnes. But she went straight to Miss Hill, and knocked at the office door during prep. She knew she was not allowed to leave her classroom during prep, but she felt that it was the only time she could go and not be seen by the other girls. She wanted as much privacy as possible.

‘Come in Rose,’ Miss Hill called. Rose opened the door quietly and went in. ‘I know you should be at prep now, but you must have something important to say. Are your father, brothers and sisters well?’

Rose burst into tears. ‘I… I… am…’ she choked ‘I… I am blee… ding… Miss… Hill’.

‘Sit down child.’ She went to the adjoining room, and brought a pad. Take this. Use it. You are menstruating. It is natural. Didn’t Susy tell you? She should have warned you. Don’t worry child, you are all right. You have reached womanhood. Here, take this,’ and she gave her two tablets of aspirin.

As far as Rose was concerned, Miss Hill was talking Greek. It was only when the nuisance occurred again, and from what she read in ‘True Romances’, did she know what she was in for. ‘Oh God!’ she said to Dora one day, ‘for the rest of my life, this bleeding occurring every month. God, what a life.’

So Rose, Agnes and Dora got more and more interested in ‘True Romances’, and therefore in boys. The senior girls talked about their boyfriends a lot. But the ‘Three Musketeers’ felt they were too young to talk of boys. It was Agnes who, after giving a thought to what was happening to them, (they were all passing from one phase of life to the other) convinced them that they should begin to give boys a thought. If they were eventually going to get married, the sooner they started having boyfriends the better.

They were discussing this point one night after lights out when Comfort joined them, Comfort in her characteristic way warned them that they were all going to end up ‘carrying belle’. They so roared with laughter, that the prefect was awakened and warned them that if they did not stop their nonsense she was going to report all of them to Miss Hill in the morning. They knew that their prefect was a kind and good prefect. She had never reported anybody, to the principal or to any of the teachers since she was made a prefect. Nevertheless they did not want to be in trouble with her, so they quietly went to bed.

Well, as luck would have it, there was an announcement the next morning that Okrika Grammar School boys were coming for a debate in the school. The Debating Society had organised this event the year before, but for one reason or the other, it did not get off the ground. Now everything was well in hand and in two weeks, they could come. The girls were excited. The senior girls had nothing else to discuss but the impending visit of their brother school. Those who were to speak had prepared their points with the help of the teachers. The topic was ‘The education of girls is a waste of money’.

Rose thought the topic was silly. Dora and Agnes agreed with her. But Comfort said she believed that their parents were wasting their money educating them. They would eventually marry, have children and forget all they learnt in school. Rose pointed out that she had read somewhere where it was said that the hand that rocked the cradle ruled the world. Comfort said that the hand that rocked the cradle was not necessarily an educated hand. All that mattered to women was getting married and having children and starting a beautiful home. She pointed out that she did not understand why the missionaries should forego marriage. Dora told her that nobody was talking about marriage and spinsterhood. The topic was that the education of girls was a waste of time.