‘I know that!’ Caprice snapped. ‘It’s my mother’s recipe.’
Millie sputtered cake crumbs all over the table. ‘Your mother?’
‘Yes,’ Caprice nodded. ‘My mother is Venetia Baldini.’
‘Oh, heavens,’ Mrs Smith said. ‘The woman’s a genius.’
Millie shook her head. ‘Well, I’ve never heard of her.’ But that wasn’t completely true. The name was familiar. Millie wondered if she was the beautiful woman her grandfather liked to watch on television.
‘Ms Baldini’s very famous,’ Alice-Miranda explained. ‘Mrs Oliver and Shilly never miss an episode of Sweet Things. And I know Mrs Oliver has tried lots of your mother’s recipes too. I love her honey jumbles – they’re the best ever.’
‘And Venetia’s such a sweet woman,’ Mrs Smith agreed.
If that were true, Millie wondered what had happened to her daughter.
Mrs Smith glanced at the clock. ‘Oop! I’d better get on with dinner.’ She pushed her chair back and thanked Alice-Miranda for the tea then disappeared through the kitchen door.
‘We’d better get going too.’ Alice-Miranda glanced around the near-empty room. ‘I’ve got homework and I want to go and see how Bonaparte’s settling in before dinner.’
‘Who’s that?’ Caprice asked.
‘He’s my pony. He’s very naughty but he’s adorable,’ Alice-Miranda explained.
‘I have a Lipizzaner,’ Caprice said.
Millie rolled her eyes.
‘Oh, how gorgeous. Is he coming to school?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
Caprice shook her head. ‘He’s far too valuable to bring here. We’ve got someone looking after him. He has to be ridden all the time.’
‘Do you compete?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘We’ve won every single event we’ve entered,’ Caprice said.
Millie was listening but pretending not to. You could have put a penguin on a properly trained Lipizzaner and they’d win, she thought to herself. It was her favourite breed of horse but she wasn’t about to say so.
‘What’s his name?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘Shah,’ Caprice replied.
‘That’s a great name. Isn’t it, Millie?’ the child said.
‘Sorry, what did you say?’ Millie looked vaguely at the pair.
‘Shah. It’s a great name for a horse,’ Alice-Miranda repeated.
‘Perfect,’ said Millie. ‘Just like its owner,’ she whispered under her breath.
‘What was that?’ Caprice glared at Millie.
‘Nothing,’ the girl replied.
But Alice-Miranda had heard it too. She had a strange feeling and wanted to talk to Millie in private as soon as she could. Something clearly wasn’t right.
‘Well, we’d better go or Howie will send a search party.’ Alice-Miranda stood up and took the three empty plates to the trolley at the end of the servery.
‘Don’t you like it?’ Millie looked at the slab of cake left on Caprice’s plate. The girl had barely touched it.
‘Not really,’ Caprice replied.
‘I suppose you must eat lots of cake,’ Millie said.
‘Do I look like I eat a lot of cake?’ Caprice spat.
‘No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought that if your mother’s a chef and this is one of her recipes –’ Millie began.
‘You don’t know anything about me, or my mother,’ said Caprice, curling her lip. She stood up, leaving her plate on the table, and stalked off towards the door.
‘We have to clear up after ourselves here,’ Millie called. ‘There are no servants.’
Caprice turned around. ‘I’m sure you don’t mind doing it for me. I mean, it’s my first day and I don’t know how anything works.’
She strode away to the door, where Alice-Miranda was talking to a teacher.
Millie could feel her anger rising. She took a deep breath, picked up the plate and fork beside it, and dumped them onto the tray with a noisy crash.
Alice-Miranda, Millie and Caprice arrived at Grimthorpe House to find the place under siege from Mrs Howard, who seemed to be under siege from Shaker. The housemistress was on a mission to get the place in order, which was no small task given the addition of twenty-five girls and all their belongings.
‘Good afternoon, Mrs Howard,’ Alice-Miranda greeted the woman. She was almost bowled over by Susannah, who was carrying a tower of towels to the linen cupboard. Several other girls were heaving suitcases and boxes of books. ‘This is Caprice.’
‘Oh, welcome dear,’ Mrs Howard told the girl. ‘I’ve been expecting you. What a pity you weren’t able to arrive yesterday with everyone else.’
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Caprice apologised. ‘Mummy was recording a show and she needed all of the family to be there.’
‘Yes, I met her this afternoon when she dropped your bags off and she told me so. Charming woman, and I do love watching Sweet Things.’ Mrs Howard patted her stomach. ‘You can see I like eating them even more. Anyway, never mind. This place seems twice as chaotic as yesterday, so you’ll just have to cope, I’m afraid.’
‘Would you like us to show Caprice to her room, Mrs Howard?’ Alice-Miranda offered.
‘Yes, please. Caprice is sharing with Jacinta and Sloane.’
Millie’s stomach twisted. That sounded like a very bad idea. Jacinta and Sloane were fiery enough on their own at times without adding Little Miss Perfect to the mix.
Mrs Howard turned to Caprice. ‘There’s a chest of drawers for you, dear, and I’ve cleared the end of one wardrobe but I’m afraid you’ll have to do your homework out here in the sitting room until Jacinta moves over to Caledonia Manor. Has anyone seen Sloane? She should have been back by now,’ Mrs Howard quizzed. ‘Actually, Millie, Alice-Miranda can take Caprice and you can stay here and help me with some jobs.’
‘Why me?’ Millie complained.
Howie glared. ‘Why not you?’
‘Yes, why not you?’ Shaker’s trembly voice echoed over the housemistress’s shoulder.
Mrs Howard spun around. ‘Oh, there you are, Mrs Shakeshaft. I need you to go and see how the new girls are getting on upstairs.’
‘But I’d much rather help down here.’
Mrs Howard eyed the old woman. ‘Are those cake crumbs around your mouth? You’d better not have been eating my supper.’
A sheepish look spread across Shaker’s powdered face. She quickly brushed her lip and scuttled away down the hall.
‘I’ll come back and help in a minute,’ Alice-Miranda said to Millie.
‘Thanks,’ the girl mouthed in reply.
Alice-Miranda led the way down the hall, pointing out who slept where and the bathroom on the right. ‘This is it. Millie and I are next door.’
She turned the handle of Sloane and Jacinta’s room and wondered what sort of state she’d find the place in. Neither of the girls was tidy and they spent most of the time blaming each other for the mess.
A third bed had been installed over the holidays. Alice-Miranda showed Caprice the spare chest of drawers and opened the door of Jacinta’s wardrobe, glad that the usual avalanche of belongings stayed put.
‘This is the hanging space Mrs Howard was talking about,’ Alice-Miranda said.
Two suitcases and a giant tuck box sat at the foot of the new bed.
‘Do you have room inspections?’ Caprice asked.
Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘Mrs Howard does them every week but she never tells us when they’ll be.’
‘What do you get if you win?’ Caprice asked.
‘All sorts of things. It’s different every time. Sometimes the girls who win get to choose a place to go for a weekend outing or Mrs Smith makes their favourite treat. Last year Millie and I got to have afternoon tea with Miss Grimm in her study,’ Alice-Miranda explained. ‘It’s always something lovely.’
‘How many times has this room won?’ Caprice asked.
The tiny child frowned. ‘Mmm.’ Alice-Miranda thought for a moment.
‘Never.’
‘Never! We’ll see about that.’ Caprice unzipped her first suitcase and flew into action.
‘Do you want some help?’ Alice-Miranda offered, grinning. Maybe Caprice was just what Jacinta and Sloane needed. Mrs Howard would be very grateful to have a tidy influence on the pair.
Caprice didn’t look up. ‘No, I’m fine.’
‘I’ll see you later then. Have fun with your unpacking.’
Alice-Miranda scurried down the hallway to the sitting room at the back of the house. Millie appeared from the utility room. The rest of the girls had disappeared and so had Mrs Howard and Shaker.
‘What were you doing?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘I just had to carry some junk down to the cellar.’
The room was still crowded with boxes but neither girl knew what else Mrs Howard wanted moved.
‘Come on, let’s go before Howie comes back and gives us any more jobs. I’ve got homework,’ said Millie.
‘What happened before, with you and Caprice in the dining room?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘That girl’s weird,’ Millie said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, one minute she was all sweet and lovely and then the next she was awful. I suppose it had to happen. We were always going to get a new one.’
Alice-Miranda shot Millie a curious look.
‘A new Alethea. For a while it looked like Sloane would take that crown but she’s not half as bad as she used to be,’ Millie huffed.
‘Sloane’s fine and maybe Caprice is nervous about being at a new school,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘What did she say to you?’
‘She was showing off about winning the academic scholarship and she said that you weren’t the cleverest girl in the school,’ Millie said. ‘She’s so pretty too. You wait. She’ll have the teachers wrapped around her little finger in no time.’
Alice-Miranda put her arm around Millie’s shoulder. ‘Don’t be upset. I’m sure she’s nothing like Alethea. And, you know, even she’s changed a lot since she was here. Besides, I’m not the cleverest girl in the school.’
‘Yes, you are. Anyway, I don’t want to spend any more time with Caprice than I have to. I might catch something, like show-off’s disease. I hear that’s not very pleasant at all. Your head gets really, really big and you start shooting your mouth off about everything!’
Alice-Miranda frowned. Caprice had seemed fine to her and it wasn’t like Millie to be jealous. There had to be more to it.
‘What a day!’ Sloane moaned as she pushed open the door to her bedroom. She walked inside and did a double take, before backing out again to check that she was in the right place.
‘Hey Millie, Alice-Miranda, are you there?’ Sloane called from the hallway.
Millie flung open the door and looked out. Sloane was standing against the opposite wall with a puzzled look on her face.
‘What’s wrong?’ Millie asked as Alice-Miranda appeared beside her.
‘I just had to check.’
‘Check what?’ Millie asked.
‘That I wasn’t dreaming,’ Sloane said, rubbing her eyes.
Alice-Miranda frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘You have to see this.’ Sloane scooted back through her bedroom door. The other girls followed.
‘Whoa!’ Millie gasped. ‘What happened in here?’
Sloane shrugged. ‘That’s what I wanted to know.’
Alice-Miranda glanced around the room and smiled. Books were lined perfectly on the shelves according to height, ornaments were displayed as if they were in a shop window and three beautiful blue-and-white wallpaper prints adorned the walls above each of the beds. The third bed looked as if it was about to be photographed for a magazine – two plump blue cushions were propped against the pillows on a smart white duvet.
‘Who did this?’ Sloane asked.
‘I think you’ve been Capriced,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘I gather you haven’t met your new roommate yet. I showed her in here a little while ago and when she started to unpack I knew she meant business. I didn’t realise she’d go this far.’
Sloane opened the wardrobe. ‘Are you kidding me? This too?’
Her clothes were lined up in order with dresses at the end, followed by skirts, pants and blouses.
Millie’s face contorted. ‘What sort of a weirdo does that?’
‘I love her!’ Sloane said.
‘I think it had something to do with her asking me about room inspections,’ said Alice-Miranda.
‘Did you tell her Jacinta and I have never won?’ Sloane asked.
Alice-Miranda nodded.
Sloane shrugged. ‘I don’t mind if she wants to tidy up. I’d love to win.’
But Alice-Miranda wondered if Millie wasn’t just a little bit right. It did seem somewhat extreme. Alice-Miranda was renowned for her tidiness too but she wouldn’t have dreamed of touching the other girls’ things without asking.
‘Sloane, are you there?’ came a voice from the hall. It was Mrs Howard. The woman strode into the room. ‘Good heavens, what happened in here?’ Mrs Howard’s eyes almost popped out of her head.
‘Do you like it? I’ve been tidying up,’ Sloane said, attempting to keep a straight face.
Mrs Howard glared at her. ‘And I’m Queen Georgiana’s long-lost sister.’
‘Really?’ Sloane looked at the woman. ‘Good for you.’
Millie and Alice-Miranda giggled.
‘Oh, all right. Caprice did it,’ Sloane admitted.
‘Do you know where I can get twenty more just like her?’ Mrs Howard said with a smile.
‘What a horrible thought,’ Millie mumbled to herself.
‘What was that, Millicent?’ Mrs Howard asked.
She shook her head. ‘Nothing.’
‘Well, if you want to thank Caprice, she’s out in the sitting room creating some of the most beautiful title pages I’ve ever seen,’ Mrs Howard said. She held up the fabric that had been slung over her shoulder and waved it at Sloane. ‘And I’ve just fixed your tunic. I suggest you stop growing, Sloane Sykes, or you’ll be needing another uniform before the end of term.’ She found a spare hanger in the wardrobe.
‘Thanks,’ Sloane said.
‘I couldn’t have you going around with staples holding up your hem, could I?’ Mrs Howard tutted. ‘Besides, they’d soon ruin the washing machine.’
Sloane grinned at Millie and Alice-Miranda. ‘Sorry, sewing’s not really Mummy’s thing. I’ll get changed and then I’ll go and see Caprice.’
‘If anyone needs me, I’m popping over to see Mrs Smith. Poor Doreen’s in a bit of a muddle and I want to see if I can help her with dinner,’ Mrs Howard said as she headed for the door. ‘Oh, and the year seven girls are walking back from Caledonia Manor. Charlie went to get them but the bus broke down halfway between.’
‘At least it’s not raining,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘Well, there is that.’ Mrs Howard gave a wave and disappeared into the hall.
‘I’d better get back and finish my story for Miss Reedy,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘Do you want a drink?’ Millie asked. ‘Science homework always makes me thirsty.’
Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Not me,’ Sloane said. ‘But thanks.’
Alice-Miranda went back to their room and Millie walked out to the kitchenette, which was off the back sitting room. She expected to see Caprice doing her perfect title pages but the large table that had been brought into the house for the new girls to do their homework at was empty.
As she rounded the corner to the fridge, Millie heard a muffled voice.
It sounded like it was coming from the cupboard under the back stairs. She wondered who was hiding in there already. It was a favourite spot, especially when the girls wanted to steer clear of Mrs Howard and her jobs.
‘You didn’t tell me that I’d have to share a room, Mummy,’ the voice hissed.
Millie knew immed
iately who it was.
‘And it’s a pigsty. I can’t believe it – they’ve never ever won a room inspection.’
‘Boo hoo,’ Millie whispered, and made a face.
‘And there’s a horrible girl.’
Millie’s eyes widened and she leaned closer to the door.
‘She has red hair and freckles and she’s ugly and mean. She said that I wasn’t the cleverest girl in the school. She said that Alice-Miranda is and she’s not. She’s stupid and she’s a baby,’ Caprice spat.
Millie’s jaw dropped.
There was a long silence.
‘Don’t tell me I’d better make the best of it. What! Well, you can tell Daddy that if he sells Shah I’ll never speak to him again,’ Caprice threatened.
Millie’s stomach twisted. If Caprice’s father had any sense at all that’s exactly what he’d do.
‘I hate you. And I hate Daddy.’ A noise like a whimpering puppy came from the cupboard. The door flew open and Caprice stormed out.
Millie stared at her and took a deep breath. ‘I heard what you said about me.’
‘So now you’re an eavesdropper too.’ Caprice walked into the sitting room and slammed the telephone back into its cradle.
Millie followed her. ‘It’s not okay, you know!’
Caprice walked to the table where her books were piled neatly on top of one another. She ignored Millie completely.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room.
The girl’s poisonous words swirled in Millie’s head. ‘Calling someone mean and ugly isn’t very nice, Caprice,’ Millie persisted.
‘I didn’t say that,’ Caprice lied.
‘You must think I’m deaf and stupid,’ Millie said with a gulp. She was determined not to cry.
Caprice’s eyes filled with tears. ‘You made me feel stupid.’
‘What?’ Millie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Why are you crying? You’re the one who’s mean. You’re just upset because I heard you.’
‘You don’t understand what it’s like. I’m new and I don’t know anything and all anyone cares about is my famous mother.’ Caprice’s shoulders began to heave.
The girl deserved an Academy Award, Millie thought to herself. She brushed away the fat tears that had spilled onto her cheeks and glanced around for a box of tissues.
Alice-Miranda at Camp 10 Page 2
