Matilda

' "I've done it," I said.

' "And how are you going to buy food for yourself?"

' "I'll manage," I mumbled and rushed out of the front door.'

'Oh, well done you!' Matilda cried. 'So you were free at last!'

'I was free at last,' Miss Honey said. 'I can't tell you how wonderful it was.'

'But have you really managed to live here on one pound a week for two years?' Matilda asked.

'I most certainly have,' Miss Honey said. 'I pay ten pence rent, and the rest just about buys me paraffin for my stove and for my lamp, and a little milk and tea and bread and margarine. That's all I need really. As I told you, I have a jolly good tuck-in at the school lunch.'

Matilda stared at her. What a marvellously brave thing Miss Honey had done. Suddenly she was a heroine in Matilda's eyes. 'Isn't it awfully cold in the winter?' she asked.

'I've got my little paraffin stove,' Miss Honey said. 'You'd be surprised how snug I can make it in here.'

'Do you have a bed, Miss Honey?'

'Well not exactly,' Miss Honey said, smiling again. 'But they say it's very healthy to sleep on a hard surface.'

All at once Matilda was able to see the whole situation with absolute clarity. Miss Honey needed help. There was no way she could go on existing like this indefinitely. 'You would be a lot better off, Miss Honey,' she said, 'if you gave up your job and drew unemployment money.'

'I would never do that,' Miss Honey said. 'I love teaching.'

'This awful aunt,' Matilda said, 'I suppose she is still living in your lovely old house?'

'Very much so,' Miss Honey said. 'She's still only about fifty. She'll be around for a long time yet.'

'And do you think your father really meant her to own the house for ever?'

I'm quite sure he didn't,' Miss Honey said. 'Parents will often give a guardian the right to occupy the house for a certain length of time, but it is nearly always left in trust for the child. It then becomes the child's property when he or she grows up.'

'Then surely it is your house?' Matilda said.

'My father's will was never found,' Miss Honey said. 'It looks as though somebody destroyed it.'

'No prizes for guessing who,' Matilda said.

'No prizes,' Miss Honey said.

'But if there is no will, Miss Honey, then surely the house goes automatically to you. You are the next of kin.'

'I know I am,' Miss Honey said. 'But my aunt produced a piece of paper supposedly written by my father saying that he leaves the house to his sister-in-law in return for her kindness in looking after me. I am certain it's a forgery. But no one can prove it.'

'Couldn't you try?' Matilda said. 'Couldn't you hire a good lawyer and make a fight of it?'

'I don't have the money to do that,' Miss Honey said. 'And you must remember that this aunt of mine is a much respected figure in the community. She has a lot of influence.'

'Who is she?' Matilda asked.

Miss Honey hesitated a moment. Then she said softly, 'Miss Trunchbull.'

The Names

'Miss Trunchbull!' Matilda cried, jumping about a foot in the air. 'You mean she is your aunt? She brought you up?'

'Yes,' Miss Honey said.