The other girls were horrified. They had never heard Alice-Miranda raise her voice before, let alone dare to speak to Alethea in such a way.
“Oh no,” Ashima whispered to Ivory. “We’re going to get it now.”
But to everyone’s surprise Alice-Miranda managed to get the rest of the tangles out without much more than a yelp here and there. When at last she was finished, Alethea spent at least fifteen minutes admiring her reflection in the mirror. Fortunately she hadn’t realized that her hair looked a lot less shiny than before they washed it.
“Beautiful,” Alethea sighed.
“It must be hard to be you,” said Millie. She stood behind Alethea, smiling at her in the mirror.
“Whatever do you mean?” Alethea flicked her hair over her shoulder. “I should think it’s very easy being me. I’m rich, I’m beautiful and I can do anything I want. Silly girl, being me is a dream.”
Millie turned away and put two fingers in her mouth. She spun back around to face Alethea, who had at last managed to drag herself away from her reflection.
“Of course. I only meant that, well, there’s such pressure to be beautiful today. And goodness, beauty does take time,” Millie said with a smile.
“That’s not something you’ll ever have to worry about, Freckles, is it, now?” With that Alethea strode out of the bathroom, leaving Alice-Miranda, Millie and the other girls surveying the puddles of water.
“She’s foul,” Madeline said with a shake of her head. “Don’t let her worry you, Millie.”
“I wonder why she feels the need to be nasty?” Alice-Miranda asked as she picked up a cloth and began wiping down the first sink. “Perhaps her mother isn’t very nice to her.”
“She’s just spoiled rotten,” Susannah replied. “But we’ve only got to cope with her for another year and then she’ll be gone. Thank goodness Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale is a prep school. Imagine putting up with her all the way to leaving.”
“Where is she going next?” Alice-Miranda looked up from her scrubbing.
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Millie replied. “Although I suppose we’d better find out and make sure that none of us is going there too. Imagine—having a couple of years off and then suddenly arriving at the new school only to find … Alethea.” Millie called the name like a narrator in a horror movie, then clutched her hands to her throat and stuck her tongue out.
“Come on, let’s get this place cleaned up.” Ashima picked up the towels draped over the chairs.
“Can you help me take the chairs back to Charlie?” Alice-Miranda asked Millie.
“No—I’ll go and get him and he can take them,” she replied.
“But he’s so busy in the garden. I’m sure we could manage.” Alice-Miranda picked up a chair and began walking it out the door.
“Okay, I’m coming,” Millie called, and followed her into the hall. “By the way, you didn’t tell us what happened with Miss Higgins.”
Alice-Miranda walked the chair slowly down the steps, careful not to tumble forward under its weight.
“It was nothing, really. Just an outline of when I have to do all those things Miss Reedy read out on Monday.”
“Well, when do you have to do them?” Millie asked.
“I have to sit the test on Monday.”
“Monday? That’s so unfair! You don’t even know what you have to study. Did she say what the pass mark would be?” Millie asked.
“Ninety-five percent. And I sort of know what I should be studying, so right after we finish cleaning up I’m going to see Miss Reedy. She offered to help me this morning.” Alice-Miranda continued to the bottom of the steps with the chair.
“Gosh, that’s amazing.” Millie grinned. “Reedy actually offered to help you? She’s usually too busy on the weekends with Mr. Plumpton. She must really like you, Alice-Miranda.”
The two girls made their way over to the greenhouse, where they found Charlie trimming his orchids. They left the chairs outside.
“What was all that, then?” he asked Alice-Miranda. “Did you do something to upset Miss Goldsworthy?”
“No, it was nothing.” Alice-Miranda smiled. “Thanks for the chairs. I wasn’t sure where they came from, so we’ve set them down outside. What’s all that over there?” Alice-Miranda had spied a broken orchid and a crumpled blanket in the corner of the greenhouse.
“I don’t know, miss,” Charlie replied. “I came in this morning and found it like that.”
Millie’s eyes widened. “Maybe there’s a tramp about. Imagine—someone lurking around the grounds at night. How exciting!” She shivered.
“Goodness, Miss Millie, that’s quite an imagination you have there. I’m sure there’s no one about these parts ’cept me and the other staff—and all you girls, of course.” Charlie shook his head. “More likely some of the girls playing hide-and-seek.”
Alice-Miranda studied the bedraggled pile. An uncomfortable thought occurred to her, but she shook it off quickly.
“I was just about to put the pot on. Can I interest you girls in a cup o’ tea?” Charlie lit the stove.
“Sorry, Mr. Charles, I can’t stay. I’ve got a test to study for—but Millie might like to join you.”
“You’re welcome to, lass.” Charlie smiled at Millie. “I’ve got a lovely treat from Mrs. Oliver.” He lifted a cloth to reveal an enormous piece of apple pie.
“Gosh,” Alice-Miranda laughed. “You must be her favorite.”
Millie hesitated. “Are you sure?” she asked Charlie.
“It’d be nice to have some company, Miss Millie.” Charlie’s blue eyes sparkled.
“See you later, Alice-Miranda—good luck with Miss Reedy,” Millie said as she pulled up a chair.
Meanwhile, Ophelia Grimm was watching from her wardrobe. There were several cameras trained on the courtyard that Alice-Miranda had to cross before heading back to the dormitory.
Miss Grimm tracked Alice-Miranda as she skipped along, oblivious to the unseen eyes. “So, she doesn’t need to study for my test,” Miss Grimm said. “Thinks she can pass by flitting about, does she? We’ll see about that.”
Miss Grimm got up from her seat and slammed the secret door shut. It was time to set that test.
Alice-Miranda spent the remainder of the afternoon and almost all of Sunday with her head in various books. True to her word, Miss Reedy sat with Alice-Miranda for hours, reading her written responses and setting quizzes. In all her years as a teacher she could not recall meeting another child with such a prodigious memory.
“What’s the capital of Ethiopia?” she fired.
“Addis Ababa.”
“Correct. How many wives did King Henry the Eighth have?”
“Six,” Alice-Miranda shot back.
“Name them.” Miss Reedy arched an eyebrow, quite sure that this would trip her up.
“That would be Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr.”
“Is that the correct order?” Miss Reedy asked.
Alice-Miranda looked to the ceiling and counted them off on her fingers.
“Well, I’m sure that they are the right names. Mummy and Daddy took me to the Tower of London and I think I remember reading somewhere about Queen Catherine, who ended up divorced, and then I’m sure that it was Anne Boleyn who came next. Mummy says that she was terribly ambitious and look where that got her. Her head on the block.” Alice-Miranda shuddered at the thought of it. “I’m fairly certain that the next wife was Jane and she died just after having a baby. Then I think it was Anne of Cleves, who he didn’t find the least bit attractive. Poor girl—imagine going to another country to marry some revolting old man that you had never met and then he doesn’t even like you. Very unfair. Anyway, he divorced her too, I think. Then came Catherine Howard, another silly girl—a cousin of Anne Boleyn. She ended up the same, with the axe. Last was Catherine Parr. The King died before her. She was lucky, really, because he did have a terrible reputati
on for killing off his wives.”
Alice-Miranda finally took a breath. Miss Reedy stared at her with her mouth open.
“Good gracious, Alice-Miranda. You have given me quite the potted royal history. However do you remember it all? I know girls twice your age who would find learning all that very daunting.” Miss Reedy shook her head in disbelief.
“I don’t know. I just remember things. I love visiting old places and thinking about all the people who were there before me. When I was five Mummy and Daddy took me to Rome. It was amazing to see all those ancient places. I could have spent days in the Colosseum—it was awful to think of all those poor animals killed in the fights, and the people too. But it was glamorous as well, with all the women and their beautiful togas.”
By teatime on Sunday Miss Reedy said that they had done enough.
“Can we do one last quiz?” Alice-Miranda asked as Miss Reedy stifled a yawn.
“My dear girl, you are exhausted and so am I,” Miss Reedy replied. “I suspect that Miss Grimm’s test might not trouble you much at all. Anyway, you can only do your best. That’s all anyone can ever ask of you.”
“Thank you so much for helping me, Miss Reedy. I’m not really bothered about the test. I just don’t want to disappoint anyone.” Alice-Miranda closed her workbook and began packing her pencils.
Fortunately Miss Grimm’s camera network did not extend into every room in the school. She had not seen Miss Reedy and Alice-Miranda working away throughout Saturday afternoon and almost all of Sunday. It most likely did not matter anyway. Ophelia Grimm typed furiously as she wrote the final question on the test: How many wives did King Henry the Eighth have? Name them in order.
“No child of seven and one-quarter will know the answer to that,” Miss Grimm said to herself as she hit print. The pages whirred from the printer. She quickly snapped them up and reread the test from start to finish. There were a couple of questions that might challenge some of her staff members. An unpleasant thought began to invade her head. Perhaps she was being unduly harsh.
“Good grief, woman, stop it.” Ophelia clutched her hands to her head. “She shouldn’t be here. She’s too young and she talks too much and … she’s so like her.” Miss Grimm stood up, determined to banish these ridiculous thoughts from her mind. She wouldn’t allow herself to be hurt again. She stalked to the far end of the study and drew back the curtain. Charlie was weeding the garden bed in the middle of the drive. Was that whistling she could hear? Was he smiling? The man must be going mad. She would write a note immediately for Miss Higgins to deliver. Whistling was banned at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale. What was he thinking, and why did he look so happy? Everyone knew that Charlie was a miserable old ox.
Alice-Miranda was summoned to Miss Higgins’s office during breakfast on Monday morning. Miss Reedy smiled at her when she made the announcement, then mouthed “Good luck” as Alice-Miranda walked by the teachers’ table.
She was not particularly nervous. There were just a couple of butterflies floating around in her tummy, but Mummy and Daddy always said that it was good to have a couple—it meant that you cared. She had explained all about the test to her parents when she spoke to them on Sunday evening.
“That’s ghastly, darling,” her mother declared. “We’ll come and get you straight away. You were accepted into the school and they can’t ask you to do a test now. It’s simply not fair.”
“It’s all right, Mummy. I’ve studied with Miss Reedy and I can only do my best,” she replied.
Her father was far more sensible. “Sweetheart, if you’d like to come home, you know we’ll support you. But remember, you are a Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones. Not a family of quitters. I’m sure that you’ll blitz the test. Just do your best. Besides, I imagine the headmistress has a very good reason for asking you to do it.”
Alice-Miranda knew she could rely on her father to be reasonable. When her mother hopped back on the phone she had calmed down.
“All right, darling heart, we’ll be thinking of you. You know that we’ll be proud of you, whatever happens.”
Alice-Miranda arrived at Miss Higgins’s office with her pencil case. Miss Grimm had thought carefully about where she should sit for the test. Higgins seemed rather taken with the child and she had also spied Reedy talking to her in the quadrangle, looking far too happy. Neither of them could be trusted to supervise. She had come to the very unsettling conclusion that there was no one who could be trusted not to help the little brat. In the end Ophelia had decided that the child must sit the test at the writing table in Ophelia’s own study. It was the only way she could be sure that Alice-Miranda didn’t cheat. The thought of having her in the room created a tingling discomfort that started in the soles of her feet and finished at the ends of her hair. But it had to be done.
“Hello, Miss Higgins.” Alice-Miranda let herself into the office.
“Oh, hello, Alice-Miranda.” For once Miss Higgins did not seem ready to fall off her chair. “I’ve been expecting you. Are you ready to do the test?”
“As ready as I can be.” Alice-Miranda smiled and looked around the room. “Where would you like me to sit?”
“I thought you could sit over there at the writing table.” Alice-Miranda headed for the table and began to pull out the chair. “But I have received a message that you’re to do the test in … there.” Miss Higgins mouthed the word there silently and pointed at the double doors which led into Miss Grimm’s study.
“Really?” Alice-Miranda hastily pushed the chair back under the writing table. “That’s lovely.” She smiled. “I will be so glad to see Miss Grimm again. It’s been over a week and I have really missed our chats.”
“I don’t think she’s going to be in the mood for a chat, Alice-Miranda. In fact, she asked me to explain that you are not to speak to her at all before or during the test,” Miss Higgins said, and shook her head. “She was very specific.”
“Did she say anything about after the test?” Alice-Miranda was bouncing on the spot like Tigger.
“Well, no she didn’t.” Miss Higgins tapped her right forefinger to her lips and tried to mask a smile.
“There you are. I promise I’ll not say a word—well, not unless she asks me something—before and during the test. But I will talk to Miss Grimm afterward.” Alice-Miranda beamed.
“I really think you shouldn’t. She’s been quite upset.” Miss Higgins led the way to the door. “Come on, then, let’s get you in there and get it over with.”
Miss Higgins knocked three times and turned the brass handle.
“Come,” Miss Grimm’s voice boomed from deep inside.
Miss Higgins motioned for Alice-Miranda to enter. But first she grabbed her wrists. “Good luck, sweetheart,” she whispered.
“Thank you.” Alice-Miranda skipped through the doorway.
“There.” Miss Grimm pointed at the writing table adjacent to the bookcase. It was far enough away from her own desk that she wouldn’t be distracted, but the little brat would still be in full view.
Alice-Miranda skipped to the chair and pulled it out. She sat up and began arranging her pencils.
“I hope you don’t mind, Miss Grimm—”
“SILENCE! Didn’t that stupid woman tell you that you are not to speak to me before or during the test?” Miss Grimm roared, her voice shaking.
“Ye–” Alice-Miranda suppressed the urge to answer and simply nodded.
“Then don’t speak,” Miss Grimm commanded, arching her left eyebrow.
Alice-Miranda sat at her desk and tried to remember some of the things she had studied with Miss Reedy. She glanced down at the carpet and saw two very stylish black shoes, rather like a pair her mother had at home. She was about to say something but stopped herself just in time.
“This test has been designed, by me, to see if you are worthy of a place here at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale,” Miss Grimm began. She stood ramrod straight beside the desk but not close enough that Alice-Miranda could have reached out
and touched her.
“You have three hours. You may not ask me any questions, at all, about anything. Do you understand?”
Alice-Miranda nodded again. Miss Grimm set the paper down in front of her.
It looked like a book rather than a test paper. She glanced up at Miss Grimm, not wanting to start before she was supposed to.
“Well, are you going to start or are you going to sit there staring at it?” Miss Grimm barked.
Alice-Miranda wrote her name on the front page. She smiled then, as she realized that Miss Grimm would automatically know who it belonged to, seeing as she was the only one taking the test.
“Something amusing?” Miss Grimm glared at Alice-Miranda from the safety of her desk, to which she had immediately retreated.
Alice-Miranda shook her head, her eyes fixed firmly on the paper in front of her.
“Then I suggest you get on with it. You may find it a little … challenging,” Miss Grimm sneered.
Alice-Miranda opened the booklet and flicked through the whole document before she began. It was divided into subjects. English included sections on spelling, reading comprehension, grammar and writing. That was followed by mathematics. She spied a couple of rather difficult-looking long divisions. Next came geography, then science, art and last of all history. It was a very long paper indeed. Alice-Miranda knew that she would have to make sure she left enough time for each section so she quickly added up that three hours equal 180 minutes, which divided by six sections gave her thirty minutes for each.
She took a deep breath and began. The first section on English was not too bad at all, although there were a couple of challenging vocabulary questions she had to think carefully about.
Write a sentence to indicate your understanding of the word deplorable.
Fortunately her granny used that word quite often when she was describing the standard of children’s manners.
My granny thinks the manners of children today are utterly deplorable.
Alice-Miranda at School Page 9
