Penny Deerborn was quite unhappy about how she was going to be spending her two weeks of school holidays.
What had happened was that Penny's parents were going away to visit Penny's aunt. Penny's aunt was having several other guests over too, which meant that there was no room for Penny. As a result, Penny had asked to stay home alone, but her parents said she couldn't be trusted to stay home alone. This was because when she had stayed home alone before, Penny had thrown several wild parties, which her parents weren't pleased about. Penny had then tried to find a school friend to stay with, but they were all going away for the holidays. The last straw had been when Penny's parents received her report card at the end of term, which showed a significant decline in her grades. Last week, her mother had gone to the library to borrow some books and by chance, she had seen a notice on the noticeboard, which read:
"I am holding free private tutoring sessions over the school holidays for schoolgirls who need some extra help with their schoolwork. Free food and board is provided. If you would like more information, please contact Orianna Volkes at..."
After this, the bottom of the advertisement had been divided into rectangles, which listed the woman's phone number. Mrs. Deerborn had torn off the phone number and come home that night where she had immediately dialled the number.
Penny had not been pleased when her mother had gotten off the phone and told her that she would be spending two weeks with Orianna Volkes. But her mother was firm and said, "Penny, you know very well you can't come with us to visit as there's no room for you and you couldn't be trusted to look after yourself last time. Now, if you behave well for this woman and work hard, then I'll consider letting you stay home next time."
Late in the afternoon, on the first day of the school holidays, Penny's mother helped Penny pack her case for the next two weeks. Penny was horrified to see her mother put all of her school uniform items into the case with only a few of her casual clothes. "Why are you putting all of that in? It's the school holidays." "I know, but one of this woman's rules is that you wear your school uniform as it's a formal learning environment." Penny sulkily zipped up her case without another word. This holiday was starting to sound worse and worse.
She felt even more depressed when they drove off. At first, her mother stayed on the main roads, but eventually she turned off them and started driving down a remote, deserted road. After about twenty minutes of driving, they pulled up and parked at the front of a Victorian-style house that was quite large and tall with a low, sloping roof and painted in a soft mossy green colour with white trimmings. To Penny's surprise, she couldn't see any other houses on the road. "Are you sure that this is the right house, Mum?" "Yes, the lady described it to me. She said that it was quite remote."
They got out of the car and Penny took her case out. The house was surrounded by a tiny white picket fence with a gate, which Penny's mum opened. They walked down a garden path that was made out of stone. The garden was quite nice with colourful flowers scattered here and there and the path was encircled by bushes. After walking through the garden, they came to a large veranda that led to the front door of the house. The veranda was decorated with columns and despite herself, Penny was awed by the large house and garden.
Penny's mum knocked at the front door and a few moments later, a woman opened the door. Penny took a look at her. She was tall and quite slim with long brown hair that went past her shoulders and Penny estimated that she was about forty. She was wearing jeans, black boots and a white sweater. While she was very attractive, there was also something stern about her face. However, she smiled when she saw Penny. "Hello, Penny. I'm Orianna Volkes. Please come in and we can get introduced."
Penny's mum and Penny walked into the house where Orianna led them to a lounge room that had coffee cups set out on plates on a wooden table that sat in the middle of the room. "I prepared some tea for you, so you can have a cup while I explain what happens here." Penny's mum and Penny each took a cup and sat down on the sofa while Orianna took a seat in an armchair that sat across from the sofa.
Orianna said, "I'll explain a little bit about myself now. I used to be the headmistress of a private school until I moved here. I've got another job now, but in my spare time, I tutor girls. I am experienced in and teach a variety of subjects, so I can cover all subject areas. Penny, your room is at the top of the stairs - it's the second one on the left. If you'd like to go up there and unpack your case, I can speak with your mother about your subjects."
Penny took her case and walked upstairs. She was pleasantly surprised to find a pretty bedroom with a single bed, two chests of drawers and a wardrobe. A door led to an en-suite bathroom that housed a large bathtub that sat under a shower head, a sink that sat on a cupboard and a toilet. Penny put her toiletries in the bathroom and then started unpacking her clothes and shoes. The only odd thing about the bedroom was that the curtains had been drawn, which blocked the view of the outside.
While Penny unpacked her case, Orianna was downstairs speaking to Penny's mother:
"Mrs. Deerborn, I do have one thing that I need you to sign before we can proceed." Orianna reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is what I call my discipline policy and it mainly says that I have the right to punish Penny if she misbehaves. Can you sign it?" Mr. Mrs. Deerborn was in a hurry to leave, so she said to Orianna, "Can you explain what you mean by punishment?" "The usual. For example, I might give a girl detention if she misbehaves."
Mrs. Deerborn thought for a moment before she said, "Very well. I'm sure that Penny will be fine because she's usually well-behaved." She signed the paper and gave it to Orianna who put it into her pocket with a smile. Mrs. Deerborn said, "Before I go, I do have one question. Why don't you charge a fee for this tutoring. It must be a lot of work?" "There is no fee. Besides, I find that tutoring brings its own rewards." Mrs. Deerborn said, "Wonderful. Tell Penny that I will pick her up in two weeks." She turned and left the house.
About five minutes later, Penny returned. "Where's Mum?" "She had to leave, but she said that she will see you in two weeks."
Orianna turned to look at Penny. "Do you have any questions?" Penny thought and said, "What do you do for a job now?" "I'm a psychologist. While I work as one now, I still continue my studies. Now, let's go and sit down and I'll explain the rules that I expect you to follow for the next two weeks."