Follow a Stranger

long talk with her last night, after I had seen Miss Carter,

and I hope I shall do better in the future.”

“You mean to leave her at Cheddall, then?” she asked.

“Yes, I do. I cannot pretend to approve of the peculiar

clothes she now wears, or her new hairstyle. She looks just

like any untidy, long-haired student we get in Greece. But I

did appreciate what you said about letting her become a

normal adolescent, and I am prepared to put up with all this

for a while.” His smile was derisive. “I presume it will not

last too long? I cannot guarantee a long-term indulgence.”

She smiled back. “Oh, I think you can be sure that she’ll

grow out of it, eventually.”

His eyes mocked her. “That last word was intended to

frighten me, I think?”

Kate laughed. “Perhaps a little.”

“You think I need to be frightened?”

“Don’t we all need it, at some time or another? Pallas, at

the moment, needs to be part of the scene.”

He raised an enquiring eyebrow. “Translate that, please. I

am not au fait with current slang.”

“She needs to feel like every other person of her age—to be

accepted, to merge with her background. At school, of course,

she will wear school uniform, and she accepts that as normal.

Out of school she wants to dress like the other kids—and

that’s normal, too. It’s all a question of convention, although

you may not think so at first sight. Long hair, jeans and

bright colours are the teenage uniform.”

“So that what I took for a gesture of rebellion is, in fact,

sheep-like following of fashion?”

“Precisely,” Kate said, smiling. She looked round and