Mr O turned back into the room. “Hermie, give her the papers,” he said.
Hermie reached into the desk, and this time he pulled out a sheaf of papers which he handed to me.
I glanced down. The first page had what looked like a geometric drawing on it. A circle with squares and lines all over it.
“It’s your horoscope,” said Mr O.
“So? Big deal. I already know my horoscope. Mummy has a private astrologer and he did my chart when I was a baby. He gives us updates every month.”
“In that case you’ll know you have some SEVERE lessons coming up, then,” said Dr Cronus.
I stuck my tongue out at him.
He rolled his eyes up to the heavens. “Childish,” he said, and Mr O nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “Might have known you’d respond like that. It’s all in your chart. Childish. Spoilt. Stubborn. Used to having your own way. We need to put up some boundaries. Honestly. Leos. They all think that the world revolves around them. Always the same. And you’re a Leo with Leo rising and the moon in Gemini.”
“So?”
“Moon in Gemini means that you have a short attention span,” said Selene.
“And you’re a double Leo. A right handful,” said Mr O.
“And Mars in Taurus at the time of your birth, which can make you wilful and stubborn if you don’t get your own way,” said Mario with a shake of his head.
“Indeed. You’ve got a thing or two to learn all right,” said Dr Cronus, then he seemed to lose interest and turned back to the fire. “Still. All in good time.”
Mr O reached over and took the papers from my hand. “One thing that your astrologer didn’t tell you and that is that, according to the stars, you are this month’s Zodiac Girl. That’s the real news!” At this point, all the people in the room nodded, albeit wearily in the doctor’s case.
Mr O waited to see my reaction and I had a feeling that I was supposed to have fallen to the floor in amazement and kissed his feet. As it was, I was distinctly underwhelmed.
“Yeah? So?”
“I am saying that you are a Zodiac Girl,” he repeated.
“Which means what exactly?”
“It means that, for one month, you get the help of me and my companions here.”
“Like a special offer at the supermarket? Think I’ll pass, thank you very much.”
Dr Cronus tutted his disapproval loudly and Mr O looked very, very cross.
“Millions of girls would kill to be in your position,” he said.
“Cool, so let them come here and be Zodiac Girl and let me go home or to Paris, which is where I’m meant to be.”
All the gathered muttered more disapproval as I said this.
Mr O threw my horoscope in the air. “I am quite clearly wasting my time here!” He looked dangerously close to having a tantrum. “I don’t think that you understand, Leonora,” he said through gritted teeth. “To be chosen as a Zodiac Girl is a rare honour.”
“Okay, so what do you get as Zodiac Girl? A crown? A sash? A certificate? There’s only one thing I want right now and that is the fastest way possible out of here.”
“You’ll get a good caning if I have my way,” said Dr Cronus.
“Yes. Whack her one,” said Mr O as he made a fist and shook it at me. “She’s asking for it.”
Selene got up and came over to Mr O. “Now, now,” she soothed. “That’s not the attitude. She is a child.”
“A child! No. I’m not. Go on,” I goaded. “Whack me one. Come on, bite me. See if I care.” I’d dealt with worse old codgers than him and Dr Cronus in my time. “But I have to warn you, if you lay one finger on me, I’ll sue. My father has the best lawyers—”
“Zip it, zit girl,” said Dr Cronus.
Zit girl! I put my hand up to my forehead where I’d covered up my spots that morning. My concealer must have worn off. “Buh… wuh…” I blustered. The old Crony had actually called me zit girl and now he was sniggering with Mr O as if they were ten-year-old boys who’d just made a really good joke. How rude!
Mr O composed himself then shook his head. “No, no, you’re not getting it, Leonora. You have got the aid of the stars for one month. Don’t you see how wonderful that is?”
I raised an eyebrow at him as if to say that, no, I didn’t.
“It’s true,’ he said. “I am the Sun, Selene is the Moon, Hermie is Hermes otherwise known as Mercury, Dr Cronus is Saturn, Mario no less than Mars himself.”
Oh. My. God. I’d been captured by a bunch of lunatics. I’d had enough. “Yeah yeah yeah. And I’m the Queen of Sheba,” I said as I grabbed the zodiac phone and made a dash for the door.
Chapter Five
No escape
I ran down the maze of corridors not sure where I was going or what I was going to do. All I knew was that I had to get away. I ran through the empty kitchen and tried the back door. It was locked with three enormous brass bolts and no sign of a key, and I looked in all the nearby drawers, pots and jars.
I ran back through to the front and tried the door there. It was also locked. Weird that no-one’s coming after me, I thought as I glanced down at the zodiac phone, punched in Tigsy’s number and waited to hear it ring. Nothing. Maybe there was no signal in such a remote place. And then the phone rang. I pressed a button that was flashing green and listened.
“Hey kid,” said Mr O’s voice. “Just checking it’s working.”
“I can’t call out on it. I just tried it.”
“Oh, it’s not for phoning out to anybody. Do you think we were born yesterday?” In the background I could hear laughter when he said this. “It’s for you and me to keep in touch. I’m your zodiac guardian, remember?”
“Oh really. You and me?”
“Yeah.”
“Just you and me?”
“And maybe the other planets that I introduced you to should you need.”
I chose to ignore the “other planets” issue. “But I can’t use it to phone out? Or receive calls from outside?”
“Nope.”
“Oh really. Hmm. Well, I’ll show you exactly what I think about that,” I said and threw the phone down onto the floor, then stomped on it over and over until it was just a mass of splintered gold particles.
“You’re going to regret that,” said Mr O’s voice from the splinters. “You have the Moon and Mars in your—”
I stomped on the phone again.
“Drama queen!” said his voice again. “Throwing tantrums is no way to get through life, you know. All I wanted to tell you was that it’s a new moon tonight so things might get…”
And then it made a fizzing sound, a pop, then it went quiet.
Things might get what? I wondered as I ran back down the corridors and up onto the first floor which was deserted and where all the doors were locked with no sign of a fire escape anywhere. It was also strange that no-one had tried to follow me. I ran back downstairs and had stopped to catch my breath when the mermaid-looking lady came strolling towards me. She smiled then pointed to my right. “Down there and to the left.”
And off she went.
What did she mean? What was down there? A way out? More lunatics who thought that they were planets? Supper? What? Thinking about supper made me realize I was hungry, starving in fact. But where are the staff in this place? I wondered. The waitresses? And where’s my suite? In fact, maybe I’ll put off running away until the morning when I’ve had a good night’s kip. If Mummy and Daddy have paid then the facilities are bound to be okay as we never stay anywhere less than five-star.
I decided that I had nothing to lose by following Selene’s directions and was about to set off when Hermie appeared. Now who was he again? I asked myself. What had Mr O said? That Hermie was the delivery boy or the messenger or something.
“Where’s my suite?” I asked. “And I’d like a chocolate milk-shake and some French fries brought in. Mr O said you’re the one who fetches what we need?”
Hermie cracked up laughing. “Sui
te? How should I know? I am Mercury. Planet of communication.”
“So communicate. Tell me where my room is, then get me a milk-shake.”
Hermie cracked up again and bowed. “Right. Chocolate milk-shake? French fries? I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks,” I said. “And be quick about it.”
“Sure. Quick is my speciality actually. I can be as quick as if I had winged feet sometimes,” he said then winked. “In the meantime, you need to go down to the door on your left. It’s time to sign in.”
“You mean get my suite?”
Hermie nodded. “Yeah. To… get your suite.”
I turned and made my way to the room he’d indicated. I opened the door and there was Selene behind a table with a pile of clothes on it. “How did you get in here?” I asked. I’d only just seen her a few moments ago, walking the other way.
She tapped the side of her nose. “The Moon has many mysteries, many secrets,” she said, and she picked up a pile of clothes, a pair of trainers, a black baseball cap and a small brown paper bag from the table and handed them to me. “Now, first things first. You’ve missed dinner, so here’s a sandwich, an apple and a carton of orange juice.”
I took a peek in the bag and handed it back to Selene. “Er, no. I don’t think so. I only eat red apples and that one is green. I don’t eat brown bread, I only like ciabatta – toasted – and I don’t do orange juice. I’ve already ordered some fries and a milk-shake.”
Selene took the bag back. “Are you sure? You must be hungry.”
“I’d rather eat my own arm than that.”
“Suit yourself,” said Selene. “You might well have to do that. But in the meantime, you have to change. When in boot camp, you have to dress like a boot camper. So, off with those clothes you’ve got on and pop these on.”
I glanced at the clothes she’d given me. A navy fleece, trackie bottoms and a pair of plain white trainers. Off the scale of uncool. The trainers weren’t even by a cheap designer. “Are you out of your mind?”
“So some folk say,” she replied. ‘I am the Mo—”
“Yeah, yeah. I heard Mr O’s intro. You’re the Moon. Good for you. And I’m a teapot. Yeah. We’ve been through the introductions. So. Where are my things and my suitcase?”
Selene looked taken aback. “In the vault. You can have it back at the end.”
“End? But… you can’t take my things away. They’re mine.”
She gave me a simpering smile. “Not any more,” she said then held out a transparent plastic bag. “Now put your jewellery in here.”
I put my hand up to my throat and fingered my locket on its silver chain. A ripple of panic went through me. “No. No. I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”
Selene smiled again. “We don’t use the word ‘won’t’ here. Nor ‘can’t’.” In a second, her expression changed and became sad. “Now give over the jewellery.” She held out her hand.
I wasn’t actually wearing much jewellery, only my studs, my locket and chain and my silver bracelet. None of it was worth very much as I tend not to travel in my valuable stuff, but no way was I handing it over, especially not the locket. “No,” I said. “You can take a hike.” I noticed that she was wearing a necklace. It was a pendant with a circle in the middle and two half-moons on either side. “You’ve got your necklace on, so I’m going to keep mine.”
Selene looked alarmed, like she was going to cry. “A hike at this time of night? No. Oh. Don’t be difficult. I do so hate it when people don’t co-operate. It can make me very emotional! And especially when there’s a new moon in the sky like there is tonight. It’s a time for new beginnings you know. A good time if you give it a chance and don’t resist it. It can be a time for rejuvenation. So don’t make me MAD! Lunatics, they’re MAD aren’t they? Lune. Another word for moon. Making sense now, is it? Moon. Lune. So I’m warning you, I can get MAD.”
I jumped back when she shouted the word mad as she said it with such force. Boy, Mr O said this lady was a counsellor, but she’s clearly way unstable, I thought as I made for the door.
“MARIO,” Selene called and in an instant Mario appeared and blocked my way out. “Leonora doesn’t want to hand over her jewellery.”
Mario gave her a curt nod. “It’s the rules,” he said then he strode over and bent down so that we were nose to nose. “Now hand it over or else you and I are going to stand here all night.”
I crossed my arms and shut my eyes. “Fine.”
Seconds went by and I took a peep. He hadn’t budged an inch. His big face loomed in front of me. We were almost eyeball to eyeball. At my last school, I could out-stare anyone but this guy was out of my league. I quickly shut my eyes again. Out of sight, out of mind, I thought.
Minutes went by and I took another peep. He hadn’t budged.
“I’d give up now if I were you,” Selene advised. “He can stay like that for decades.”
“I am not going to give you my jewellery,” I said.
“Yes you are, Missy. Everyone else does. Studs, piercings, bangles and beads. All in the bag.”
“They’re not worth anything. Honest. I have much more expensive jewellery at home and you’re welcome to that just… please, don’t make me take my locket off.”
“And what’s so special about the chain?” asked Selene.
I really didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t talk to anyone about it. I didn’t talk about any of my real feelings or fears. Not any more. I hadn’t for a long time. “Nothing. Just I… I always wear it.”
“And now it’s time to hand it over,” said Mario.
“No. Look,” I said as I slipped off my bracelet and took out my studs. “You can have these. Come on. Meet me half way. I’m co-operating.”
Mario took the jewellery I handed him and put it in the bag then looked back at me. “Now give me the locket,” he said.
“No.” I felt a rising panic at the thought of being without it. “And you can’t bully me.”
“Not bullying you, missie. Just that’s the rules. Now come on, what’s so special about that chain?”
I pushed the feeling of panic away. Down deep inside. I wasn’t going to let him know that I felt intimidated. I’d learnt that lesson long ago with Poppy. Never let them see how scared you are. “My sister gave it to me.”
“And you’ll get it back at the end of the programme. Now hand it over.”
“No. No. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” I lashed out at him with my arms and went to kick him, but he stepped back in the nick of time. Instead my foot crashed into the wall.
“OWWWWWW! Oo-oo. OWWWWW. And now you’ve made me hurt myself. I HATE you. You’re HORRIBLE,” I yelled. They could never understand about Poppy and me, I thought. Why should they? “And I’m NOT getting changed into those clothes either. I mean, navy? HelLO? So last decade.”
I wanted to throw an almighty strop, but got the feeling that I’d gone far enough and a mega tantrum wouldn’t wash here. I also felt like I was going to cry. I started to shiver and Selene looked over at me with a sympathetic expression on her face. “Okay, look, Leonora,” she said. “I’ll cut you some slack seeing as this is your first night. You put the clothes on, you can keep the locket on. How about that?”
My first instinct was to tell her to shove it, but it was late. I wanted my chocolate milk-shake and fries. I wanted to go to bed and get some kip. I wanted these crazy people off my back. I nodded. “Okay. But ask him to leave.”
“I’m away,” said Mario. “No way I want to see your sorry butt in the buff.”
And off he went.
“Good girl,” said Selene as I picked up the clothes. She handed me a cup of what looked like water. “Now drink this water.”
“Water? With nothing to flavour it?”
Selene nodded. “It’s all you’re getting.”
“Okay but is it Peroni? That’s the brand I drink.”
Selene gave me a “Don’t be so stupid” look. I took that as a no, so I took the cup and d
rank, but only because I was about to die of thirst or else I wouldn’t have touched the stuff.
“Good girl,” she said again.
I turned my back on her. She annoyed me. They all annoyed me. I wasn’t a good girl. I knew I was bad. I took off my clothes and put on my prison outfit. I was exhausted, but tomorrow, tomorrow, she was going to see just how difficult I could be. And so were the rest of them. “Okay. So, please, can I go to my room now?”
“Sure,” she said. “Follow me.”
Chapter Six
The others
“No. This can’t be right,” I said as I looked around the dingy, narrow room that Selene took me to. With the windows so high on the walls that you’d need to stand on a chair to look out of them, it really did resemble a prison. Where was my private room? My bed? My luggage? All I could see was this unwelcoming dorm with three single beds on one side. No pictures. No flowers. No bowls of fruit or TV. No phone. No Peroni water. No nothing. Just beds, bare cream gloss walls and a couple of sets of drawers and a wardrobe. And it felt damp. I could see condensation on the windows and the glisten of moisture on the shiny wall just beneath.
Selene pointed at the bed that was furthest away on the right. “That’s where you’ll be sleeping.”
“But… but it’s not even made up!” I said as I took in the duvet, cover and sheet that were in a neat pile at the bottom of the bed. “And where are the pillows?”
“You have to earn those,” said Selene.
“Wha…?!” I was so gobsmacked, I couldn’t think of anything to say. To think that MY mother and father had sent me here. I felt a rage inside the likes of which I’d never experienced before and was aware that my jaw had tightened, my fists clenched and I had a bitter taste at the back of my mouth. How DARE they? Even though I had no doubt that I’d be out tomorrow, to even leave me here for one night was unjust. Bang out of order. I was going to so make them suffer when I got home. In fact, I’d take them to court. I would sue them for unreasonable behaviour. I would sell my sad story to the tabloids to the highest bidder and that way I’d be financially free of them. Then I would leave home. Go and live with Tigsy. That would show them. No. Maybe not. They’d probably like that. Out of sight, out of mind. I don’t think they really love me any more, so they’d be glad to get rid of me. I was a constant reminder of Poppy and what had happened, so they’d probably be happier if I went. So, no. I’d stay and make their life a misery.
Zodiac Girls: Brat Princess Page 4
