The tiny child recoiled. ‘Ow.’
‘Sorry, don’t know my own strength sometimes,’ Thea grinned. ‘Must be all that fried chicken my mama likes to feed me.’
There was an awkward silence.
‘I’m Gretchen,’ the smaller girl beside Thea spoke.
‘It’s nice to meet you, Gretchen.’ Alice-Miranda held out her hand which, to her relief, Gretchen shook gently.
‘This is Lucinda Finkelstein.’ Alice-Miranda motioned towards her new friend.
Lucinda smiled.
‘Eww, gross,’ Thea grimaced.
‘What . . . what’s the matter?’ Lucinda had no idea what was wrong but right at that moment she wished that the floor would open up and swallow her whole.
‘Are you friends?’ Thea asked.
‘Well, we’ve only just met today but I’m sure that we’re going to be good friends,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
‘I don’t think I’d trust her to be my friend,’ said Thea to Lucinda, while glaring at Alice-Miranda, ‘because you’ve got something really gross stuck in your braces and your good friend here hasn’t even bothered to tell you. Gretchen would be unfriended immediately if she let me walk around with something that disgusting stuck in my teeth. But then again, I don’t have a mouth full of metal to contend with, you poor thing. That must be so uncomfortable. Ugly too,’ said Thea sweetly.
Lucinda spun around and looked at Alice-Miranda. ‘Do I really have something stuck in there?’ She smiled as widely as she could.
‘Well, there’s a tiny bit of, I think it’s a strawberry seed, maybe, but you can hardly see it,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
‘Hardly see it. You’re kidding, aren’t you?’ Thea screwed up her face. ‘I’d be getting myself to the bathroom quick smart.’
Lucinda’s face had gone from pink to fire-engine red. ‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she said and dashed away.
‘Gretchen, why don’t you go with her and make sure that it’s all gone?’ Thea suggested.
Gretchen nodded and scurried off after Lucinda. As soon as both girls were out of sight, Thea leaned in and with outstretched arms shoved Alice-Miranda’s shoulders against her locker.
‘Ow!’ Alice-Miranda protested. ‘What did you do that for, Thea?’
‘What are you doing here?’ Thea’s twang disappeared completely, replaced by clipped vowels.
‘Sorry?’ Alice-Miranda frowned.
‘Why are you here? You ruined my life. It was all your fault I had to leave that school and move – to another country!’ Alethea stamped her foot. ‘So why are you here?’
‘Oh, Alethea, I knew it was you!’ Alice-Miranda slipped out of the bigger girl’s grasp. ‘I know people say that we all have someone who looks just like us out there in the world– you’ve only got to see Mrs Oliver and Aunty Gee to know that’s true – but I thought I must have been going mad. You were simply too good a twin not to be you. But why are you called Thea Mackenzie? I suppose Thea is just a short version of Alethea. But Mackenzie? I don’t understand.’
‘You don’t need to understand anything, you little brat. You don’t know what it’s like to be me,’ Alethea hissed.
‘Of course I don’t,’ Alice-Miranda smiled. ‘That would be impossible – to know what it’s like to be anyone other than myself.’ Alice-Miranda stopped for a moment. ‘I thought when you left Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale that you went to Sainsbury Palace School.’
Alethea’s whole body tensed. ‘I did, but then I had to move again and it’s all your fault.’
‘I can understand if you were cross about the boat race at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale but I’m sure that you didn’t have to leave. You should have talked to Miss Grimm. You could have worked something out. She’s really a wonderful person – she was just heartbroken and sad when you were there, that’s all. And I really don’t see how I could have had anything to do with you leaving Sainsbury Palace. I’ve never even been there for a visit,’ Alice-Miranda explained.
‘As soon as I met you my life started to fall apart. The last thing I need is you coming here and ruining everything – again.’ Her blue eyes filled with tears. ‘I’ve made friends here and people like me. And no one knows anything . . . about Daddy,’ Alethea whispered.
Alice-Miranda began to understand. Of course, Alethea’s father had recently been in quite a bit of trouble at home. She remembered her father saying something about his being charged with tax evasion and fraud and there was a huge criminal court case going on.
‘It’s all right, Alethea. I’m glad that you’ve made friends and that you’re enjoying yourself. I won’t tell anyone your real name if that’s what you want.’ Alice-Miranda looked up at the older girl.
‘You’d better not, or you’re dead.’ Alethea grabbed Alice-Miranda’s wrists and twisted as hard as she could.
Alice-Miranda tried to pull away. ‘Ow, Alethea, that hurts. Please let go. I promise I won’t tell anyone who you are. I’m only here for a month until Highton’s reopens and then I’m going home to Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale.’
‘You’d better not be lying to me – or else,’ Alethea threatened. ‘So, what’s my name?’
‘Thea Mackenzie,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
‘And where am I from?’ she demanded.
‘Alabama,’ Alice-Miranda confirmed.
Alethea finally let go of Alice-Miranda’s arms, leaving blotchy red marks.
‘You’d better rub that,’ Alethea warned. ‘Don’t want anyone thinking you’ve hurt yourself now, do you?’
Lucinda and Gretchen reappeared.
Alethea smiled at Lucinda. ‘Everything okay?’
‘Yes,’ Lucinda frowned.
‘Well, you’d better go to lunch, girls. Don’t want to miss it, do you?’ Alethea flashed a toothy grin.
‘Of course not,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘Goodbye Thea, goodbye Gretchen. It was lovely to meet you.’
‘That was weird,’ Lucinda said as the pair scurried along the hallway towards the stairs.
‘What do you mean?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘Thea made it sound as though I had half a strawberry mashed into my braces but you were right, it was hardly anything – and then she sent Gretchen along to check that it was all gone. I almost felt like she was trying to get rid of me. Either that or she’s just very caring,’ Lucinda observed.
‘Yes,’ Alice-Miranda was lost in her own thoughts. ‘That must be it.’
Alethea had always been tricky at WinchesterfieldDownsfordvale and as much as Alice-Miranda was a firm believer in second chances, she had a feeling that her time at Mrs Kimmel’s was about to become a whole lot more interesting than she had first thought.
Lunch was served in several sittings, with each grade given half an hour before they went out to ‘play’. Some days that meant time in the gymnasium or the library or on the tiny rooftop terrace, but at least two days a week the girls trekked across Madison and Fifth avenues to Central Park where they could run around properly.
Alice-Miranda’s stomach grumbled. She eyed her serving of cheesy lasagne and followed Lucinda to a table where Ava and Quincy were already halfway through their lunch. Alice-Miranda put Alethea out of her mind. She wasn’t planning to tell anyone her secret.
Quincy was munching on a crispy iceberg lettuce leaf. ‘What took you so long?’
Lucinda spoke first. ‘Alice-Miranda saw a girl in the sixth grade that she thought she knew.’
‘And did you?’ Ava asked.
‘No, she just looked like someone I know,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
‘Too bad.’ Quincy stabbed at her last bite of lasagne. ‘It must feel weird being at a new school with no friends. It might have been nice to see a familiar face.’
‘Who said I have no friends?’ Alice-
Miranda smiled. ‘I’ve got the three of you, haven’t I?’
Lucinda grinned. She’d known Alice-Miranda for less than four hours but already felt as if they could be friends for life.
Quincy nodded. ‘Point taken.’
Alice-Miranda asked her new friends if they had any brothers or sisters. Ava and Quincy said they had one each and Lucinda had two brothers. Ava’s was younger but Quincy and Lucinda’s brothers were all older. When Alice-Miranda told them she was an only child they groaned with envy.
‘You’re so lucky,’ Lucinda grouched. ‘I wish I was an only child. Toby and Zeke get to do everything they want and because I’m the only girl, Papa treats me like a princess in an ivory tower.’
‘I’m sure there are much worse things in the world than being treated like a princess,’ Alice-Miranda replied, chewing daintily on her salad.
‘I know that’s true but you don’t understand. I’m not allowed to do anything. I feel like I’m in prison – I’m either at school or at home or at some activity that Papa says is suitable for a “girl like me”. I just want to escape and have some adventures of my own – ones that don’t involve play dates at my mother’s friends’ places or afternoon tea at the salon.’ Lucinda’s forehead was puckered into a frown.
‘You should come home with me,’ Ava grinned. ‘Every day’s an adventure there.’
‘Where do you live?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘East Harlem. It’s north of the park – and I think it’s an awesome neighbourhood. There are so many different nationalities and the food is amazing.’ Ava loaded her fork with lasagne.
‘Do your parents work in the city?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘My mom is a detective downtown. My dad lives in Hong Kong but I get to see him sometimes in the holidays. He hasn’t been around since I was little,’ Ava explained. ‘We live with our grandma too. She helps look after me and my brother.’
‘A detective? That sounds dangerous.’ Alice-Miranda’s eyes widened.
‘Yeah, it is. I really worry about her sometimes.’
‘I’d love to meet her,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘She must be very brave.’
‘I think she is,’ Ava agreed.
‘I’ll ask Mummy and Daddy if we can invite your family to the opening of the store,’ Alice-Miranda suggested. ‘Your parents too,’ she said, glancing at Quincy and Lucinda.
‘I don’t know if my family would fit in with the people your parents are used to hanging out with.’ Ava stuffed a chunk of bread roll into her mouth. ‘You know where we come from; it’s different to the Upper East Side.’
‘I don’t come from the Upper East Side either,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Is your mother a good person?’
‘Of course she is,’ Ava replied, breadcrumbs sputtering from her mouth.
‘And what about your brother and your grandmother? Are they good people?’
Lucinda and Quincy had no idea where Alice-Miranda was going with her line of questioning but they gave her their fullest attention.
Ava swallowed before she spoke. ‘Sure they are.’
‘So why wouldn’t my parents want to know them?’ Alice-Miranda asked. ‘I don’t care where you live. In fact, I’d really like to come and visit you one day after school, if you’d invite me.’
‘That would be great,’ Ava grinned. ‘But I bet your parents wouldn’t let you ride the subway home with me.’
‘I think they might. Daddy knows that I want to experience the real New York and riding around in a town car or a limousine is not how most people get about. Riding the subway is on my list of things to do,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘I read in my guidebook that it’s perfectly safe so long as you’re sensible and don’t go to out-of-the-way places after dark.’
‘What about you ride the subway with me and then another time we can go out somewhere in your limousine. This experience thing, it works both ways, you know?’ Ava nodded and raised her eyebrows.
‘What about you Quincy? Do you live far from school?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘I go in the other direction downtown to Hell’s Kitchen,’ Quincy explained.
‘And I’ve never been to either of those places, or ridden the subway,’ Lucinda griped. ‘I’ve never been anywhere.’
Alice-Miranda wondered what Lucinda meant by anywhere.
‘Well, of course you must have been to lots of places, Lucinda. Manhattan Island is not that big. I’m sure you could actually walk from one end of it to the other in a day if you wanted to. My headmistress at home, Miss Grimm, well, her husband Mr Grump gave me the most wonderful guide book and it has this fantastic little map and on the way over I went through it with Mummy and Daddy and we marked all the places we’re going to explore while we’re here. We’re going to Broadway and Madison Square Garden to watch a Knicks game and I’d love to see a baseball game at Yankee Stadium and walk along the High Line and visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There are so many places to see.’ Alice-Miranda was fit to burst. ‘And I’ve heard about this place called Serendipity 3 which has frozen hot chocolate – I can’t imagine how good that must taste.’
‘Oh, it’s awesome,’ Quincy nodded.
Lucinda’s face fell. ‘I know you think I should have been to all of those places, but trust me, I’m not lying when I tell you that I haven’t.’
‘None of them?’ Alice-Miranda quizzed.
‘Well, I visited Serendipity 3 with Dolores our housekeeper one day when Mama and Papa were out of town. And frozen hot chocolate tastes every bit as good as you imagine. But I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone at home because Dolores said that she would get into trouble for taking me there.’
‘What about the park and the zoo?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘I go to the park with school but I’ve never even been to the zoo,’ Lucinda replied.
Alice-Miranda thought that was very odd.
‘I can’t go because my father is allergic to fur and so he says that I’ll probably be allergic too. It’s stupid, I know – I pat Maisy all the time and I don’t get a rash.’
‘Do you live in the city, Lucinda?’ Alice-Miranda wondered if perhaps the Finkelstein residence was out of town somewhere.
‘Fifth Avenue, just opposite the Met,’ she replied.
‘She lives in a mansion,’ Quincy nodded. ‘You should see it. It used to belong to the Rockefellers a long time ago.’
‘So you live in New York City but you don’t live in the city at all.’ Alice-Miranda was shocked. ‘That’s just silly.’
‘I told you. My father wraps me in cotton wool. I can’t wait until I’m eighteen and I can do whatever I please.’ Lucinda placed her knife and fork neatly together on her empty plate.
‘Surely you don’t have to wait until then.’ Alice-Miranda smiled at her. ‘I’ll speak to your father as soon as I can.’
Lucinda’s face drained of all its colour. ‘Oh no, Alice-Miranda, you can’t. That would only make things worse. My father doesn’t appreciate anyone interfering with our family. He’d be so mad,’ she pleaded. ‘I think he’d lock me in my bedroom and throw away the key.’
‘But you have to live Lucinda,’ Alice-Miranda explained. ‘My granny always says that we should make the most of every single day, not just look forward to things in the future.’
Lucinda had a gnawing feeling in her stomach. Alice-Miranda was right. She had to let her father know that she wanted to do more and she didn’t want to wait until she was grown up. She knew if her father found out about Alice-Miranda he’d put a stop to their friendship immediately. But there was something about this tiny girl, with her cascading chocolate curls and eyes as big as saucers, that made Lucinda feel just that little bit braver.
The rest of the afternoon whizzed by. At 3.15 pm the bell rang proclaiming the end of the day. Hundreds of pairs o
f feet ran to their lockers and the hallways were jam-packed with girls eager to get home. Alice-Miranda said goodbye to Ava and Quincy, who headed for the back door on their way to the subway station.
‘I’d better not walk out with you,’ said Lucinda, her gaze dropping to the floor.
‘Don’t you go out the back door?’ Alice-Miranda assumed that Lucinda must walk home, since she only lived opposite the Met. It wasn’t far at all.
‘No, Raymond picks me up out the front.’ She looked embarrassed. ‘I’m not allowed to walk.’
‘Oh.’ Alice-Miranda’s mouth formed a perfect circle. Lucinda’s situation was far more serious than she had first imagined.
‘Anyway, I don’t want Raymond to see us together,’ Lucinda added.
‘Why not?’ Alice-Miranda asked. ‘Surely you’re not worried about that silly Highton-Smith – Finkelstein feud? And he won’t have any idea who I am, will he?’
‘No, I don’t think so, but my father always asks him and Dolores who I’m with at the end of the day and if it’s not the daughter of one of Mama’s friends then Papa will ask me lots of questions until he gets to the bottom of things.’
‘You know, you could tell him the truth: I’m a new friend from overseas and I’m only here for a short time,’ Alice-Miranda reasoned.
‘You don’t know my father, Alice-Miranda. He won’t stop until he knows your name. Once he’s made up his mind about something there’s no changing it,’ Lucinda replied. ‘Please let’s just keep our friendship a secret, for now.’
‘If that’s what you want.’ Alice-Miranda reached out and held Lucinda’s hands.
Lucinda gulped. ‘We have to.’
‘Oh, hello Lucinda.’ Alethea had just spotted the two girls. ‘You haven’t had an argument already, have you?’
Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘Of course not.’
‘Then why so sad?’ Alethea asked in a baby voice as she stared at Lucinda.
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