"Did you hear what Zephany Ildorim said?" Petal Mara whispered as the girls returned to the main building for their period of brief freedom was over. "Something about Winter Vales and Golden Roses. Didn't Miss Zacharim mention those?"

"So you were awake," Pinky laughed.

"Possibly. I'm not sure. I thought I dreamt it until just now." Petal put a hand to her forehead to determine the level of her consciousness. Then, having decided none of the foregoing had been imaginary, she shuddered with an infusion of excitement. "I know! What if we let Zephany know about Miss Plazenby's garden roses? She'd be so thrilled and pleased with us she might stamp a designer coupon we can use in Cherryball Flats!"

It was presumed the Perfecta girl had connections across the fashion network that included stamping on request, tagging an individual's identity profile with an open door to certain exclusive outlets. Pinky scouted the suggestion however.

"Doesn't sound a good idea to me," she deflected her friend's ardour. They were in the ground floor foyer and other pupils were milling about, looking for their latest classroom, so it was fairly noisy. "She was just showing off. You saw that Dazzle bangle. What use could she have for a Golden Rose?"

"I guess," Petal admitted. "What's our next lesson? Winkel History. Excellent! I need some more sleep," and she laughed in that soft, carefree way of hers that made Petal such a pleasant person to be around most of the time.

For Pinky the history lesson was anything but a period of relaxation for what she had heard totally energised her. Zephany had yearned for a Golden Rose of Winter Vale. Miss Plazenby had such a thing in profusion just yards away. Would she miss one tiny little flower? Pinky thought not. Zephany however would be overjoyed to possess such a thing, especially as it would come as a totally unexpected pleasure, always the best kind. And she, Pinky Ponsonby, would be the one to provide that exquisite delight. The thought gave her delight all her own. After all, how difficult would it be to sneak into a garden, snip off a rose head and present it to the Golden Girl at an opportune moment?

Being close to the end of the year twilight set in early on Mount Syzywyg so that there was little time to dawdle and have second thoughts about what she intended to do.

"Off out for an amble?" Soo Toglak said, watching the pink-haired girl button up her thick tweed coat, twirl a scarf around her neck and adjust a bobble hat in the school colours on her head.

"Before the dews get too thick," Pinky replied absently, checking herself in the mirror and more discreetly ensuring a pair of secaturs were concealed safely in one of the big pockets of her coat.

"I'd offer to come with you but I have some stick exercises I wanted to perfect," came the curious excuse. Soo was something of a fighting girl from the plains of Mangoria. To emphasis her intentions she held up two formidable looking batons which she flourished in an alarming way.

"Mind you kill not an unoffending vase or water receptacle with your martial display," the lyrical Lyra Bellicosa said, another member of Dorm Sensation who was idling in her little corner of the room at the moment. "No vessels shaped by human hand could withstand your mighty prowess."

"Don't break any jugs with those stick things," the more prosaic Danique Ferale added as she sauntered into the dorm with a yawn, tossing her school bag into a corner and flopping down on her bed to read one of her favourite creepy magazines. Soo snorted in contempt, struck up a pose near the window where space permitted, and began a strange dance that was both graceful and lethal all at once. Pinky gave her a brief look and then departed on her own mission of self-betterment as she saw it, the pleasing of Zephany Ildorim.

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Petal Mara she noted had not been in the dormitory so she kept a sharp lookout for her as she knew if she was spotted there would be no getting rid of her. This was a mission she had to do alone. The risk would be hers and the reward also.

Pupils at Miss Plazenby's were allowed to wander around the grounds of the school until the evening meal but not to go beyond the boundary among the pine woods of Mount Syzywyg's ample slopes, and certainly not to wander close to the neighbouring boys' school at Chancefleet. The playing fields lower down the slope were large enough to accommodate any number of girls who wished to partake of a solitary stroll, whereas the gravel walks would be crowded. Pinky did not want to be seen anywhere near the forbidden garden, one of the few places within the grounds off limits to all but a very few privileged individuals, so she sought a meandering path across sparse grassy spaces and through dark copses that concealed her movements until she came to the laurel hedge and low brick walls that marked the boundary of the head mistress's private residence.

The gate was unlocked, even at night, and the head mistress's residence was hidden behind thick oleander and common rose bushes. Miss Plazenby found gravel a distraction in this favourite place of contemplation so that paths were tiled and mossy, soft and silent underfoot. Pinky smiled as she quietly unlatched the wrought iron gate, slipped through and closed it behind her thus leaving no trace of her passing. She did not know what she was looking for as she traced her way along the winding lanes lit by starlight and a distant glow she assumed was the house that sat amidst all this luxuriance. Faint music drifted on the mild breeze, ensuring Pinky would not be discovered for Miss Plazenby was obviously otherwise occupied.

Thus she sought the mysterious botanical wonder that had so flustered Miss Zacharim earlier in the day, expecting by such a reaction to be able to spot it as soon as she set eyes upon it. Her anticipation was exceeded by the reality.

The glow she thought came from the house was actually located in a sheltered dip in the garden grounds, a golden glow, steady and magical. The music too seemed to come from this same spot and she expected any moment to stumble upon some outdoor festivity. Yet as she entered the lower space by means of three wide steps and passed beyond a dark natural archway as bushes reached across to embrace each other she entered an enchanted circle.

There ringed by lesser rose bushes was a great clustering of leaves, and nestling among them were five glowing balls of golden light, only they were not simple spheres. As Pinky tiptoed closer, fearing to disturb the very air by her mortal presence, she could see each light was made of separate shining petals imbued with the tincture of rosy gold. What was more, with a sudden gust of wind, those same flower heads swayed heavily, giving off a rich scent and a melodious tinkling of perfect pitch and harmony as if the wind composed arias just for her.

Something deep within her trembled in sympathy with such beauty and impelled her to remove her hat out of respect. She knelt upon the grass before the great glowing bush and wondered if she could ever breathe again. The gesture jolted her to reality for she felt the heavy cutting secaturs in her pocket.

"Zephany will love me for this!" she sighed and in a moment of seeming sacrilege she reached up, grabbed a prickly stem and severed the head of the nearest glowing rose. A brief stab of regret was assuaged by noting with relief the detached blossom did not suddenly blink out and glow no more, rather, being separated from its sisters it shone all the more brightly. Only the music sounded more melancholy as if it were bidding farewell to its siblings.

Thinking no more of this, Pinky wrapped the rose in her scarf to stifle its telltale glow and departed the garden with guilty haste. Such a crime could not go unpunished of course and her bobble hat lay upon the grass forgotten, with a name label in the lining anyone might read.