Alice-Miranda Keeps the Beat

by Jacqueline Harvey

  In the end they voted Alice-Miranda to be the chairperson, Chessie as secretary, Millie was the treasurer, Sloane was in charge of promotions, Ivory and Susannah put their hands up for venue management, Danika was in charge of technology and Shelby was to look after the car park. Caprice appointed herself as the head of talent as she was the one with the most contacts in the business. When Millie pointed out that it was Alice-Miranda who probably had the best connections, Caprice promptly reminded everyone that her mother was the famous television chef, Venetia Baldini, which solved the catering issue right away. The children brokered a deal that, if Caprice could get her mother to organise the food, she could program the show – on the proviso that the entire committee would have input on the acts. The girl agreed, though only because she had already decided on at least a dozen songs she was planning to perform. Everyone else came under a team leader, so there were plenty of girls ready to do the legwork.

  ‘What are you putting your hand up for, Jacinta?’ Millie asked.

  The girl startled from where she’d been giving the carpet her full attention. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’

  ‘Your job?’ Millie said with a frown.

  ‘Oh.’ Jacinta shrugged. ‘I don’t mind. You choose.’ Since Mrs Parker’s revelation about Lucas the other night, she’d barely been able to think of anything else. It hadn’t helped that her father had telephoned again this afternoon and asked if there was any chance he could pick her up after school tomorrow and take her for a milkshake. Jacinta hadn’t known what to say. He interpreted her silence as a yes and said that he would arrange it with the school. Jacinta wanted to tell her mother, but was worried she’d be upset. Part of her badly wanted her father to be the man she’d always hoped he would be yet there was every chance he could disappoint her again. Why did grown-ups have to be so ridiculously complicated?

  ‘How about you organise other activities?’ Millie said. ‘If it’s going to be a proper festival, we’ll need a whole bunch of stalls with things like face painting and craft. What about a kissing booth? I know a few girls who’d pay good money to peck Lucas on the cheek.’

  The girls giggled and some guffawed. ‘Jacinta would, that’s for sure,’ Sloane teased.

  ‘I don’t have to pay for mine,’ Jacinta retorted and was met with raised eyebrows and catcalls. She blushed a deep shade of red and shook her head. ‘The stalls are a great idea. I’ll work on that, but there won’t be any kissing at this festival.’

  ‘We need a name,’ Chessie said. ‘Who knows, if it goes well, it could become an annual event and we could choose a different cause to support every year.’

  ‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ Alice-Miranda said, rubbing her hands with excitement. ‘Once we’ve done it this time, it will be so much easier with the next one as we’ll know what we’re doing. Okay, does anyone have a thought about the name?’

  ‘What about Kids for Kids?’ Danica said.

  ‘Boring!’ Caprice bleated. ‘And we’re not just doing things for kids, we’re doing them for a whole family.’

  ‘I wonder if we could play on the school name,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Winchesterfield …?’

  Jacinta’s eyes brightened. ‘The Fields Festival, or Fields of Fun?’

  ‘I love those!’ Alice-Miranda gasped. ‘Chessie, can you note both of those ideas down so we can all think about it and revisit them in a couple of days?’ She looked around the group. ‘We should probably assign each person a task to achieve before our next meeting too. It’s Tuesday today, so how about we reconvene on Thursday after dinner to check in and see how far we’ve got? In the meantime, I’ll speak to Miss Grimm and Miss Reedy about the date and assure them that they don’t have to lift a finger – this is all on us,’ she said, and turned to the teacher. ‘Miss Crowley, could you ask Mr Plumpton and some of the faculty members if they’re keen to lend a hand? I know dear Mr Charles will support us, as will Mrs Smith and Mrs Jennings.’

  ‘So long as she’s on ticket sales or something and not cooking,’ Caprice crowed.

  Tabitha smiled and gave a decisive nod. ‘And if you’d like me to come with you to speak to Miss Grimm and Miss Reedy, I’m happy to.’

  The dinner bell rang, breaking up the party.

  ‘Something smells delicious,’ Sloane said with a note of surprise.

  ‘I saw Mrs Smith arrive just after lunch,’ Chessie whispered conspiratorially. ‘She said she was doing her famous Keralan fish curry.’

  ‘Brilliant.’ Millie licked her lips. ‘I hope she’s made naan bread as well and the pappadums with mint raita – they’re my favourite.’

  ‘Perhaps I’ll have dinner with you girls tonight,’ Miss Crowley said as the group stood up to leave. ‘It’ll beat tinned spaghetti on toast in my flat.’

  Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘That would be lovely and, don’t worry, you won’t be the only staff member there.’

  Brimming with ideas and exciting plans, the newly formed committee walked down the hallway to the dining room and, sure enough, found a table full of teachers already inside.

  Livinia pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her mind a whirl of confusion. She’d searched high and low for the dratted note after her run-in with Ophelia and couldn’t believe it had been sitting in the middle of her desk the whole time. Trouble was, it didn’t read the same way she remembered. Her eyes took in Ophelia’s distinctive handwriting and personalised letterhead. Yes, she had been in a hurry when she received it, but this note expressly told her not to accept any interviews. How had she got it so wrong? Livinia let out a deep breath and wrung her hands together. She would go and apologise to Ophelia at once. It was the least she could do.

  Jacinta swizzled the straw around in her strawberry milkshake, staring blankly at the bubbles.

  ‘Don’t you like it?’ her father asked. ‘We can get something else.’

  The girl shook her head. ‘It’s fine.’

  ‘How’s school?’ he said, hoping his daughter would give more than a one-word reply.

  They were sitting at a booth at the far end of the Cupcake Cafe, which was busy with parents and children getting snacks after school. A small boy, no more than four years old, began to wail. Jacinta watched him, wondering if he was about to launch into full tantrum mode, but his mother shoved an ice-cream into his hand and he stopped the performance.

  ‘Earth to Jacinta,’ her father said, waving a hand in front of her face.

  ‘School’s fine,’ she replied, returning her attention to the frothy pink drink in front of her.

  Neville racked his brain, trying to remember something that his daughter was interested in. ‘How’s your dancing going?’

  ‘It’s gymnastics and acrobatics, not dancing,’ Jacinta said without looking up. ‘I was the Junior National Champion, not that you would know seeing as though you didn’t even bother to watch me compete. You know, I was the only child without any family members there to support me. Thank goodness for Mrs Howard and Miss Wall.’

  Neville swept his hand through his hair. ‘Of course I remember, sweetheart. We sent you a huge bouquet of flowers afterwards. Your mother and I were so proud.’

  Jacinta shook her head. ‘Wrong again. You and Mummy were at Cannes Film Festival. Your assistant, Bridget, sent me the flowers.’

  Neville groaned inwardly. ‘Look, Jacinta, I acknowledge I’ve been a less-than-ideal father and I apologise for that, but I want to make it up to you,’ he said, reaching across the table and taking her hands in his. ‘I want things to be different between us going forward. Better.’

  ‘Why now?’ The girl sat back and folded her arms across her chest. ‘You’ve never been interested in me. What’s changed?’

  Neville rested his elbows on the table and cradled his chin in his hands. ‘I suppose you get older and people you love aren’t around any more and it makes you think about what’s important … I miss you and your mother. I want us to be a family again.’

  ‘We’ve never been a family,’ J
acinta said, her brow furrowing. ‘You and Mummy dumped me in boarding school as soon as I was old enough and hardly ever came to get me for the holidays. When I did go home, I was left with the nanny or your PA. Although there was that one time that the PA thought I was with the nanny and vice versa and I ended up staying home on my own for three days before Great-Aunt Minnie called in and realised that no one was looking after me. How is she, by the way?’

  Neville coughed and covered his mouth. ‘She’s fine. Sends her regards,’ he mumbled, taking a sip of his espresso.

  ‘She must be ancient by now,’ Jacinta said. ‘I remember she smelt funny – like pine trees.’

  ‘You know I never meant to hurt you and I was always thinking of you, sweetheart,’ the man said. ‘You’ve got to let it go. Holding on to past resentments isn’t good for you.’

  Jacinta sighed. ‘I have every right to be angry. You’ve been an awful father.’

  Neville could feel a trickle of perspiration running down the back of his neck. He clenched his teeth. ‘You’re right. I was a terrible father.’

  ‘And husband,’ Jacinta added.

  ‘I thought Ambrosia deserved better,’ the man said.

  Jacinta rolled her eyes. ‘No, you didn’t. You dumped Mummy on your anniversary and then you stopped paying for me as soon as she got a job,’ she said, and took a sip of her milkshake.

  ‘Okay, so my timing was off, but I was in a bad place,’ Neville pleaded. ‘I’d just done the biggest deal of my life and I didn’t know what was next. I felt lost and your mother was so obsessed with being at all the premiere parties and events … I was tired and I just wanted a break from it all,’ the man said with a sigh. ‘It was impossible to keep up with her.’

  It sounded like one excuse after the other and, frankly, Jacinta had heard enough. ‘Could you take me back to school, please?’ she asked.

  Neville looked crestfallen. ‘Oh, I thought we could go to Claude’s over in Downsfordvale for dinner, seeing that the Middle Eastern place in Winchesterfield burned down. I have permission from Mrs Clark.’

  Jacinta finished her milkshake with a loud slurp and stood up. ‘It’s Mrs Clarkson, and the fire is the reason I have to get back. We’re organising a fundraiser for the Abbouds to help rebuild their house and business.’

  Neville’s brow furrowed. ‘Why? I don’t pay school fees for you to spend your time working on charity events.’

  ‘You don’t pay my school fees, full stop,’ the girl retorted. ‘Mummy does and she thinks it’s a wonderful idea. I can’t believe you haven’t even asked about the fire.’

  ‘What about it?’ Neville said, then slapped his forehead. ‘You were there, weren’t you? Sorry, I’ve just got a lot of things on my mind at the moment.’

  ‘Yes, I was there,’ Jacinta said, standing up. ‘We’re organising a concert, but it’s sort of more like a festival with lots of activities. I’m in charge of the face painting and I thought we might have a balloon artist and a couple of craft tents to keep the little kids entertained. And I need to talk to Lucas and see if his father has any contacts with some of the performers on our wish list.’

  Neville was incredulous. ‘You’re going to do all that? At least get my PA, Trista, to help you.’

  Jacinta wondered what fate had befallen Bridget, her father’s previous assistant, who had babysat her more times than she’d seen her own father. The pair hopped into Neville’s shiny Aston Martin that was parked outside the cafe.

  ‘I know you’re angry with me, sweetheart, but you have to believe me when I say I’m a changed man,’ Neville said as he fired up the engine. ‘Your mother and I are going out for dinner tomorrow night and I’ll be back again on the weekend to take you to sport or out for lunch – you can just let me know what you’d like. And I meant it about Trista helping with your fundraiser.’

  Jacinta looked over at him and remembered what Alice-Miranda had said. You can only take people as you find them. ‘Thanks, Dad,’ she said quietly.

  ‘My pleasure.’ Neville smiled across at his daughter. ‘I promise you, Jacinta, we’re going to be a family again. You just wait and see.’

  By Friday morning, everything was beginning to fall neatly into place. The committee had settled on a name for the festival, the scope of duties and had allocated a task to each of the girls to complete. They were yet to lock in a major act, despite Alice-Miranda putting in a call to her Aunt Charlotte. Uncle Lawrence was in Siberia, filming a romantic comedy set in a fish factory, and it was going to be a couple of days before she could speak to him. Meanwhile, Miss Crowley had managed to recruit Mr Pratt and Mrs Clinch, who were eager to be of service. She neglected to mention that both of them had already lodged several complaints about the noise coming from Mrs Reeves’s old flat, where the Abboud family was staying.

  In better news, there had been no official word that Miss Grimm had taken back the reins from Miss Reedy, so Alice-Miranda was hoping the headmistress might have reconsidered her decision. Miss Reedy had done a wonderful job as far as she could tell and it didn’t seem fair to short-change the woman on what she had thought would be a full year’s tenure, particularly over a decision that she was well within her rights to make as acting headmistress. In fact, Miss Grimm seemed to have vanished into thin air and Miss Reedy along with her. Alice-Miranda wondered if Miss Grimm had followed her husband’s advice and taken a break away with the family. Whatever the case, Alice-Miranda decided to track down Miss Reedy to secure the seal of approval for the festival.

  ‘We have to get her to say yes soon or else there’s no point continuing with the plans,’ Millie said as the pair bounded along the path to the junior school. ‘Especially now that we’ve settled on the name.’

  ‘The Fields Festival really is perfect, isn’t it?’ Alice-Miranda sighed. ‘I’d hate to dash everyone’s hopes.’

  The girls scampered through the back entrance of Winchesterfield House and were surprised to see the hallway and office teeming with people. There were mothers and fathers and lots of girls. Some of the children were dressed in casual clothes while others were in uniforms from various schools. Mrs Derby was attending to a mother and child who were filling in some forms at her desk. Alice-Miranda and Millie waited until they’d taken their seats before stepping up to speak to her.

  ‘Hello Mrs Derby, sorry to disturb you, but we wanted to catch Miss Reedy or Miss Grimm,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  The woman shook her head. ‘I’m afraid there’s no chance of seeing Miss Grimm today or tomorrow or …’ She glanced at the calendar on her computer screen and winced. ‘Or until the end of next week.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Millie asked, gesturing to the room of people.

  Louella leaned across the desk. ‘Your television appearance has sparked an avalanche of enrolment enquiries and Miss Grimm is positively overwhelmed with interviews,’ she whispered. ‘Frankly, I don’t know how she’s managing with everything and the baby – thank goodness Mr Grump is on hand. Honestly, working mothers are incredible. It’s terrifying.’

  Alice-Miranda couldn’t help noticing the dark rings beneath Mrs Derby’s eyes and the worry lines etched on her brow. ‘Where’s Miss Reedy?’ she asked. ‘Shouldn’t she be conducting the interviews?’

  ‘She’s out there somewhere running the school as far as I know,’ Mrs Derby said, waving a hand. She took up an envelope on the side of her desk and handed it to the girl. It was addressed to Miss Reedy in Miss Grimm’s handwriting. ‘Would you mind giving this to Miss Reedy when you next see her? I can’t possibly leave this madhouse.’

  ‘Are you feeling all right, Mrs Derby? You look a bit off-colour,’ Alice-Miranda said. She’d seen the woman nibbling on a dry biscuit and spotted a glass of something resembling ginger ale on her desk too.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Louella replied with a pinched smile.

  The room seemed to be growing more and more restless by the second.

  ‘Excuse me,’ a woman said haughtily, elbowing Alice-Mira
nda out of the way. ‘How much longer will the headmistress be?’

  ‘Excuse you,’ Millie muttered. She had half a mind to elbow the woman back.

  Louella ran her finger down the list in front of her. She’d allowed half an hour for each interview, but Miss Grimm had been averaging around forty-five minutes and was now two hours behind schedule. The interviews would likely run until after six, which was a terrible thought, especially given the way Louella was feeling. ‘I’m afraid there are still several families in front of you at this stage.’

  Alice-Miranda had an idea, but there was no time to discuss it. She stood on a chair and clapped her hands. ‘Hello everyone, my name is Alice-Miranda and this is Millie and we’re going to take you all on a tour of the junior school.’

  ‘We are?’ Millie asked.

  Alice-Miranda gave a quick nod. ‘Everyone except the family with the next appointment,’ she said, looking to Mrs Derby for their names.

  ‘Mr and Mrs Davies and Annabelle,’ Louella said.

  ‘Oh, aren’t you the girls who saved that family in the fire?’ a man with an impressive handlebar moustache piped up.

  Millie nodded, and there was a ripple of excitement around the room.

  ‘You were so brave,’ a small girl with long dark braids gasped.

  ‘You and your friends are the reason we’re here,’ a woman with a severe black bob added.

  ‘Well, let’s get moving, shall we?’ Alice-Miranda hopped down off the chair as Millie ran to fetch one of the school umbrellas from the stand by the door. She figured they’d need something for the group to follow given she and Alice-Miranda were still somewhat vertically challenged.

  ‘Just keep an eye on this,’ Millie said, and thrust the object skywards.

  ‘Don’t open that in here, young lady,’ said the man with the moustache. ‘It’s bad luck.’