Two Sams at the Chalet School Trivia Quiz

Answer: Samaris is Welsh and Samantha is American.

Samantha is American, though her ancestors were Dutch, and she has travelled a lot - her parents enrolled her at the Chalet School so she could be more settled. Her father owns a ranch in Kentucky. Samaris is Welsh, and has family in Australia, and her mother is French Canadian. Joey figures out that Samaris is Welsh when she hears Samaris referring to her mother as 'Mam' (and Davies is a common surname in Wales).

She is at the Chalet School because her father got a job in Innsbruck.

Answer: My Life and What I Hope to Do with It

Miss Annersley explains that Nina, who is about to start an international concert tour, enjoyed her time at the Chalet School and wants to give something back. She is funding a scholarship for musical pupils, but also wants to give something that will appeal to everyone, hence the essay contest.

She is offering a prize of £20 to be spent on books on the winner's chosen subject. Miss Moore, Samantha's form mistress, expects everyone in her form to submit an essay, and explains that there is a difference between what you want to do and what you hope you will do with your life.

Answer: 5

The occupants of one car are Nina, her cousin Lady Rutherford, and Lady Rutherford's daughters Alix and Anthea. Nina bangs her head on a stone and is hospitalised, and has to have her hair cut off, while Lady Rutherford is burned and has to be given heavy painkillers, and Alix and Anthea both have minor injuries.

The sole occupant of the other car is an American man called Mr Dwight, who later dies of his injuries; Nina is worried about him, but Joey assures her that at least he will be with his mother now, as she recently died and the two were very close.

She and Jack also decide to send the two Sams to visit Nina, to take her mind off the accident.

Answer: Polio

Phil has previously had mastoiditis and, more recently, has been ill with polio, and it causes Joey a lot of worry throughout the book. Phil is very thin and is shy with strangers, unlike her twin brother Geoff, but takes a liking to Samaris. Although she is recovering, she becomes ill later in the book when she loses her appetite and is reluctant to walk. Jack Maynard reckons this is triggered by the weather.

Answer: Miss Ferrars

Miss Stone teaches English, and she makes the class read 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' out loud. When it's Samaris' turn, she reads so well that Miss Stone asks why the rest of the form can't read like that, and Lysbet Alsen gets angry with her and accuses her of being a 'mark-hunter'. Miss Ferrars shows up in the middle of the argument and explains that she is their new form mistress, and makes it clear that she expects the form to get better marks, and that they will be missing out on their games lessons for the next two weeks until their marks improve. Most of the form are games enthusiasts, so this isn't a good thing. Miss Annersley wants to swap the mistresses round as she believes Miss Ferrars will have more of an impact on them than Miss Stone, particularly as she has a reputation for being sporty.

Answer: Shoulder

Con Maynard, one of the prefects in charge, is supposed to be supervising the run, but is distracted by a poem she's trying to write about the snow. Samantha assures her that she's an experienced skier, having done it in Norway, but messes up her jump and ends up landing badly and injuring herself. Miss Annersley calls Carmela Walther, Priscilla Dawbarn and Henriette Zendl, the other three prefects supervising the run, and tells them off for letting Samantha on the run, as only experienced girls are allowed on it and are supposed to get permission from the staff in charge first.

As a result, Miss Annersley puts a new rule in place: any girl wanting to try that run has to have a mistress who is qualified to judge her ability with her. This makes Samantha very unpopular with her peers and the Sixth Formers. Con, meanwhile, feels guilty that Carmela, Priscilla and Henriette are in trouble when she was the one who let Samantha do the run, and goes to Miss Annersley to confess.

Answer: The funicular railway breaks down.

The excursion itself is fine, but on the way back, trouble starts when the funicular railway up to the Stanserhorn mountain malfunctions and slides down the tracks. A small group of girls start to panic, and Matron and Mdlle de Lachenais have to calm them down. Jack Lambert, being an engineering enthusiast, finds the whole thing fascinating, but Samantha can't wait to get back. Luckily, the train returns safely to the station and no-one is hurt.

Answer: Flute

Nina suggests wind instruments such as the flute or clarinet, and Samaris decides she wants to learn the flute. Nina sources one for her, and Joey invites her over to Freudesheim to receive it. Samaris' terrible attempts at playing the flute make Phil laugh, and she gets Phil to eat her tea by promising to play for her. Joey is relieved, as Phil hasn't been well lately.

Unfortunately, Joey's decision causes trouble for both girls, especially Samantha, as other girls are jealous that two newcomers got to see Nina instead of them. One of the girls, Renata van Buren, has an argument with Samantha over it, and gets angry with Jack when Jack tells them both to shut up.

Answer: St Patrick's Day

The mistresses organise a surprise evening themed around St Patrick's Day. A group of younger mistresses sing 'St Patrick's Day in the Morning', Miss Burnett dances a jig and Joey briefly turns up to sing a couple of Irish folk songs. The girls have an Irish meal of boxty bread (a traditional Irish bread made from potatoes), herrings, fried bacon, potato and apple cake with butter, and griddle cake.

They then get given tokens which they exchange for pieces of Yellow Man toffee (similar to honeycomb toffee) and small presents with an Irish/green theme, such as green necklets, coloured pictures of Ireland and hankies with shamrocks on them.

Answer: Each other

Samantha finds out that her parents think Samaris' father and her father may be related, and is anxious for her to come along when the van der Byls come to visit Interlaken for a few days. Mr Davies and Mr van der Byl discover that they are second cousins, and Mr Davies suggests that Samaris invite Samantha over for the holidays. Samaris is unable to come to Interlaken as she hurts herself on a walk, but both Samantha's parents and hers visit her while she's in the school sanatorium.

It is revealed that Samaris and Samantha's great-grandmothers were twins and had the same names as them, and were born in New York.

The original Samaris eloped to Australia with an Englishman she met at work, and Samaris Davies was born in the UK generations later, as a result of her Australian paternal grandfather coming to Britain during World War I with the ANZACs and meeting her grandmother in hospital. Both girls wonder if they got on so well, despite being different ages, because they were related.