Rosamund Lilley was not a leader. If you were to ask anyone at the Chalet School they would probably describe her as an intelligent, sensible girl and a steadying influence on her peers, but without the force of personality required to truly lead. However, this did not stop Rosamund having Ambitions. She dreamed of becoming Head Girl. She wanted power and influence. She wanted to be looked up to, just as they had all looked up to Mary-Lou.

Being an intelligent, sensible girl, Ros was well aware of her limitations and she had identified her two main rivals for the Head Girl position long ago. Len Maynard was younger than Ros and no doubt her time would come, but the main contender, Jo Scott, was another matter entirely. Level-headed, practical, a form and dormitory prefect for an eternity; if you cut Jo open she probably had the words 'HEAD GIRL MATERIAL' running through her like Blackpool rock. Ros had to stop her before it was too late.

Mr Lilley was a gardener, a man whose knowledge of all things horticultural was almost legend in Rosamund's home town. However, Ros knew that her father had for some time been supplementing his income by cultivating some plants which his employers would definitely not have approved of. Amongst the beatniks of Hampshire he was notorious. It was a simple matter for Ros to visit his greenhouse one day during the Easter holidays, to pocket one of the paper bags hidden under the seed trays and to hide it in her school trunk. Once at school, the bag and its contents mysteriously found their way into Jo's bureau drawer.

It was unclear how exactly Matey had deduced what the leaves were; suffice to say that Gwynneth Lloyd had led a colourful existence before taking on her current role as a domestic tyrant. Quicker than you could say 'fez', Jo Scott was hauled up before Miss Annersley. She denied all knowledge, of course, but Ros had prepared for this. A few casual remarks made in the presence of Betty Landon and Jo's reputation was ruined. She was quietly expelled, and the staff and prefects did their utmost to suppress any talk of the scandal. To most, it seemed as though Jo simply disappeared from the Chalet School, never to be seen again.

The scheme had worked. Ros was summoned by Miss Annersley before the end of term and informed confidentially that in September, she would be the next Head Girl. But she had not reckoned with Len Maynard. Len had been eyeing the Head Girl position for almost as long as Ros had, and she had thought it hers through right of birth. To learn that Ros Lilley, the girl who had virtually been Len's shadow for the last four years, had been chosen over her… It was more than Len was prepared to take.

Having a doctor for a father is just as useful as being the daughter of a rather immoral gardener. Jack Maynard tended to keep a small pharmacy of sedatives hidden away in his dressing room over at Freudesheim, most of which he doled out to his wife to keep her quiet. Len had plenty of opportunity to slip across to her family's home and swipe a few tablets…

During the course of the term, it became clear to the staff and most of the prefects that there was something wrong with Ros Lilley. She was often tired, vague, forgetful. Eventually Miss Annersley concluded that the stress of being Head Girl was taking its toll on her. It might be better all round if Rosamund was relieved of her post.

And so it was that the School returned in January to find that Ros had vanished and Len was now Head Girl. It's always the quiet ones you have to watch.