Alice-Miranda Holds the Key 15

by Jacqueline Harvey

  Jemima sighed. ‘You can’t blame her for that.’

  ‘No, but I’m sure she’ll feel terrible once she realises that it was all a big mistake,’ he said.

  ‘Let’s just prove that, shall we?’ Jemima tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear.

  ‘Perhaps we should make a move then?’ he suggested.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You can drop me off at the new place and arrange to get me some things,’ he said.

  ‘N-no, I can’t.’ She shook her head. ‘People know my car.’

  ‘Then you’d better hand over your credit card, my dear. I’m afraid it’s going to be a very expensive taxi ride,’ he said.

  Jemima bit her lip. This was proving to be even more difficult than she’d anticipated.

  Alice-Miranda’s mind was in overdrive as she raced down the lane towards Jasper.

  ‘Where are the others?’ she asked, spinning the lad around.

  ‘You’re not supposed to be running,’ Jasper said as they charged back towards the house.

  ‘I’m okay. My ankle doesn’t hurt at all,’ Alice-Miranda assured him. She ignored the tiny twinge that had started up, eager to get the lad as far from the barn as possible.

  Millie came careering around the back of the Bauers’ farmhouse and Poppy sprung up from the other side of the stone wall.

  ‘You were so close to me, Jas,’ his sister said. ‘I had to hold my breath for hours.’

  ‘I thought you were going to get me too,’ Millie said. ‘That stupid hen wouldn’t stop clucking. It was like she was trying to tell you exactly where I was.’

  ‘Let’s play something different,’ Jasper said, just as Lily called out from the front veranda that lunch was ready.

  ‘Great! I’m starving,’ Millie said.

  Lily had set up a picnic in the sun-drenched courtyard. There was a huge platter of sandwiches, a Greek salad and a tin of chocolate brownies. She poured the children cups of home-made lemonade.

  ‘I have to go back to the hall as soon as you’ve finished lunch,’ Lily informed them. ‘Mrs Shillingsworth has a rather ambitious roster for the next six days.’

  ‘Is Daisy up there too?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

  ‘Yes, but she’s nannying for the Treloar children as well. I’m not sure how that’s going to work alongside her garden-party duties,’ Lily said with a shrug.

  Poppy looked up from where she was arranging her sandwiches in a neat row on her plate. ‘Dottie goes to our school.’

  ‘Weren’t you going to offer for us to mind them?’ Millie said to Alice-Miranda, while picking out the olives from her serving of salad.

  Alice-Miranda nodded absently. She felt terrible keeping Chessie a secret, especially from Millie, but she decided it would only be for a little while. At least until Chessie felt brave enough. For now, Alice-Miranda had to gather some supplies for the runaway girl and come up with a plan.

  ‘Lily, can we go back to the Hall with you?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

  Jasper and Poppy groaned. ‘Ohhh, do you have to go home?’

  ‘That works out well, actually,’ Lily replied. ‘These two have a visit to the dentist this afternoon.’

  ‘You didn’t tell us that,’ Jasper said, a note of betrayal in his voice. ‘I hate going to the dentist.’

  ‘And now you know why I left it until this minute to say something,’ their mother said with a grin.

  ‘I love the dentist,’ Poppy declared. ‘He always gives us a lollipop if we’re brave and we get to choose the flavour and everything.’

  ‘Your dentist sounds really smart,’ Millie said.

  ‘Why?’ Poppy asked. She’d never thought about him like that before.

  ‘If he gives his patients lollipops, he’s pretty much ensuring future business,’ the girl replied, taking another bite of her sandwich.

  Lily laughed. ‘Mmm, I think you’re on to something there, Millie.’

  Alice-Miranda placed two sandwiches and a brownie on a white paper napkin in front of her. The children were chatting and laughing when she suddenly dusted her hands and stood up. ‘Oh bother, I must have left my hat in my hiding spot,’ she said with a frown, before quickly wrapping the food. I’ll go and check while you’re all finishing lunch.’

  ‘I’ll come,’ Millie offered.

  ‘It’s okay. I’ll be back soon,’ Alice-Miranda replied. She picked up her parcel, then hurried around the side of the house.

  Millie glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. Alice-Miranda had been gone for ages. She and Lily had cleared the lunch plates, and Heinrich had already left with Jasper and Poppy for the dentist.

  ‘I won’t be long,’ Lily called from the utility room, where she was finishing up a load of washing before heading up to the Hall. ‘Is Alice-Miranda back?’

  ‘Not yet. I’ll go and look for her. I hope she hasn’t hurt her ankle again,’ Millie said. She hopped off the kitchen stool. ‘We’ll meet you at the car.’

  Millie raced outside and realised that she didn’t actually know where Alice-Miranda had been hiding during their game. She and Jasper were already in the garden when Millie had emerged from her spot. She shot up the lane calling her friend’s name.

  ‘Alice-Miranda!’ she shouted as she neared the old barn. ‘Are you here?’

  ‘Coming,’ came the child’s muffled reply.

  Sunbeams poured into the dreary building as Millie unbolted the door. She wondered why Alice-Miranda would have bothered to latch it.

  ‘Alice-Miranda!’ she called out. ‘Did you find your …?’ She thought she saw a silhouette of a figure duck down out of sight near the back of the building. She was just about to say something when Alice-Miranda appeared beside her.

  ‘No luck, I’m afraid,’ Alice-Miranda said with a hapless shrug.

  ‘Who’s hiding there?’ Millie demanded.

  She charged past Alice-Miranda to the stall where Francesca Compton-Halls was lying facedown in the straw. Millie tilted her head to the side to better appraise the ridiculous scene.

  ‘You do know I can see you,’ Millie said, her hands on her hips.

  Chessie slowly rose to her knees and turned around. She looked as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders – in addition to a thick layer of straw. Chessie was about to say hello when her nose twitched and she let out an enormous sneeze. A plume of dust and straw shook out of her hair.

  Alice-Miranda hurried over to the girl and handed her a tissue. ‘Chessie, this is my best friend, Millie. I promise you she’s very good at keeping secrets,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Millie, meet Francesca Compton-Halls. She needs our help.’

  Millie frowned. ‘Well, you’d better start talking. Lily’s almost ready to go.’

  Lily drove Alice-Miranda and Millie back to Highton Hall, where the garden now resembled an ants’ nest. A team of men and women were busily pruning the hedges, stringing fairy lights in the trees and marking out the areas for the various stalls on the front lawn. Mr Greening was in the middle of the chaos, directing everyone this way and that like a traffic warden. Lily checked Mrs Shillingsworth’s extensive list of jobs, grabbed her bucket full of cloths and polishes and scurried away to the dining room to make a start on the furniture.

  ‘So that poor girl has been hiding in the barn for two whole nights?’ Millie said. ‘And all because of her toy dog?’

  Alice-Miranda had relayed the entire story as she’d heard it as soon as the two of them were safely within the four walls of bedroom.

  Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘Rodney. At least we know where he is. I’ll get him as soon as I can.’

  ‘I’m so sorry about jumping in with the babysitting offer earlier,’ Millie said, shaking her head at herself. ‘Daisy looked so frantic. It wasn’t until after I opened my big mouth that I realised we had to think about Chessie first.’

  The girls had met Daisy on the back stairs on their way up to Alice-Miranda’s bedroom and before Millie even realised it, she’d offered for them to look aft
er the Trealoar children so Daisy could work into the evening. The young woman had seized upon the idea and had raced off to make the arrangements.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘It might even work in our favour. We could bring Chessie here before the Treloar kids arrive.’

  ‘But there are so many people around, outside and inside the house,’ Millie said, biting her lip.

  Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘Exactly. Chessie’s less likely to be noticed that way. We could say she’s with the Treloar kids if anyone see her.’

  Millie’s eyes lit up. ‘You’re a genius! Where should we put her?’

  Alice-Miranda tapped her finger to her chin as her mind swam with possibilities. ‘What about here?’ she said. ‘It’s perfect. No one’s going to clean the upstairs bedrooms because this floor isn’t open to the public, and they’ll be much too busy fussing over the rest of the house to notice. We can keep the Treloar children downstairs. We’ve got the bathroom as an escape route between us too.’

  Millie looked at Alice-Miranda and slowly nodded her head. ‘I think we might just have a plan.’

  Jemima Tavistock walked through the kitchen to the laundry room at the rear of Bedford Manor. Although it had been updated over the years with modern washers and dryers, the old boilers and wringers still took up much of the floor space along with a whole row of stone tubs and racks of timber airers in the centre. There must once have been a small army of staff to warrant such an extravagant facility, but these days Jemima begrudgingly changed her own sheets and towels.

  Mrs Mudge had the afternoon off and Jemima had got rid of Prigg by sending the man on a wild goose chase. After hearing that the Kennington’s supermarkets had closed indefinitely, she handed him a haphazard list of the most obscure items and was counting on the fact he would have to travel all the way to the Wandsworths in Ashwood Grove.

  Through another door was a gigantic linen press with sheets and towels stacked high. The smell of starch filled the air. Jemima closed her eyes for a second and was transported back to the old laundromat her mother used to run when she was a little girl. How life had changed over the years.

  She had already filled a box with some cutlery and crockery from the kitchen and various other household odds and sods she hoped no one would miss. She pulled down two sets of sheets and towels, then spotted a couple of duvets tucked into the far corner of the shelf. Jemima retrieved the step-ladder from behind the door and climbed up the rickety thing. She found herself hefting and heaving before the first quilt tumbled to the ground, swiftly followed by the second. She quickly refolded them and carried the lot to the car.

  As she was stuffing the goods into the boot, she heard the unmistakable clatter of Anthony’s old Landrover. Her heart almost stopped on the spot. What on earth was he doing here? Jemima thought to herself. He wasn’t due back until tomorrow.

  Jemima hastily loaded the last of her supplies and gently pushed down on the boot lid until she heard a soft click. She waited for the sound of the kitchen door opening and closing before she jumped into her car and roared off, hoping to goodness he hadn’t noticed.

  ‘What if I run down and get Chessie?’ Millie said. ‘You can stay here and wait for the Treloar children and I’ll take her straight up to your room.’

  Alice-Miranda thought for a moment. Her ankle was still a little sore and she didn’t want to push her luck. ‘You’ll have to come back through the field and the long-walled garden,’ she advised. ‘Just wave to any passers-by and make sure to act normal. I’ll unlock the conservatory door and meet you there.’ She paused. ‘You know how to get there, don’t you?’

  Millie nodded. ‘I think so – it’s around the same side of the house as the big dining room, isn’t it?’

  ‘That’s right.’ Alice-Miranda opened one of her armoires and dug around in the bottom drawer. She pulled out a backpack and passed it to Mille. ‘Transfer Chessie’s belongings into this as it’ll be easier to manage than her suitcase. Probably best if you hide that under the straw and we can collect it later.’

  ‘Brilliant,’ Millie agreed. While she had her reservations about the new girl, she was rather excited to be conducting a clandestine mission.

  There was a knock on the door and Cecelia Highton-Smith poked her head in. Millie dropped the backpack to the floor and kicked it under Alice-Miranda’s bed in one seamless movement.

  ‘Hello darlings, how is everything?’ Cecelia asked.

  Alice-Miranda skipped over to her mother and gave her a hug. ‘We’re having a delightfully eventful day. How are you and Daddy?’

  ‘Sadly, we have no news to report,’ Cecelia replied, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. ‘I thought I’d better come home and see if Shilly needed a hand. And Mrs Smith’s just arrived too.’

  ‘Did she mention if Miss Grimm is better?’ Millie asked.

  ‘Apparently, she’s still in hospital but they have ruled out food poisoning,’ Cecelia said.

  Alice-Miranda sighed. ‘That’s a relief.’

  ‘But if she’s still sick, that’s not so good at all,’ Millie said.

  ‘True.’ Alice-Miranda bit her lip. ‘Let’s hope the doctors work out what it is very soon.’

  ‘I heard that you’re going to be running a crèche this afternoon. Sorry, girls. I should have postponed the garden party. I don’t know what I was thinking and now it’s far too late to cancel.’ Cecelia looked the most downcast Alice-Miranda had ever seen her.

  ‘We’re happy to help, Mummy,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘And I think it’s important that we carry on with the garden party. Fundraising for the children’s hospitals is a very noble cause and a wonderful way to do some good for those affected with food poisoning. And look how well I was cared for at Chattering – everyone was so kind.’

  ‘You know, you’re absolutely right, darling,’ Cecelia said, brightening. She pushed the sleeves of her crisp white shirt to her elbows. ‘It is a welcome distraction from everything else that’s going on. I’ll be in the dining room if you need me.’

  ‘Perfect!’ Millie said excitedly. ‘You don’t need to come near us for the rest of the week, really,’ she added. ‘We’ll look after ourselves.’

  Alice-Miranda grimaced at her friend.

  ‘Um, I mean, don’t worry about us,’ Millie said, her face growing red. ‘Just worry about everything else.’

  Cecelia eyed the girl warily. ‘Are you all right, Millie? Is there something the matter?’

  Millie shook her head a little too emphatically. ‘Of course not. I’m fine. You’re fine too, aren’t you, Alice-Miranda? We’re both fine.’

  ‘If you say so,’ Cecelia said, looking far from convinced as she pulled the door shut behind her.

  ‘What was that?’ Millie huffed. ‘I might as well have come out and told your mother that we’re about to smuggle her neighbour’s daughter from the barn to the house and we have to keep her a secret because her mother is an evil witch and her stepfather doesn’t want to know her.’

  ‘Shhh!’ Alice-Miranda put her finger to her lips. ‘Millie, pull yourself together or I’ll have to fetch Chessie myself. If you carry on like that, the poor girl will be terrified.’

  ‘Sorry. I think it must be the excitement of knowing that we’re helping a fugitive,’ Millie said.

  ‘She’s not a fugitive,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘She’s run away, and at the moment it sounds like she has every reason to. But we’re going to get to the bottom of things and soon.’

  Millie took a deep breath. ‘I think I need to do some yoga and practise mindful breathing. Maybe meditate for a minute to calm myself down.’

  A smile tickled Alice-Miranda’s lips. ‘You do know you’re getting more and more crazy as you get older,’ she said.

  Millie nodded and pulled the backpack out from under the bed. ‘Yes, and that’s exactly why we’re best friends.’

  Adrienne Treloar picked up the telephone on her desk and dialled the number, marvelling at how easy it was these days t
o get hold of the direct line for SPLOD.

  ‘I’d like to speak with Marjorie Plunkett, please,’ she said. ‘I have some information about the Kennington’s case.’

  She’d imagined she’d be put through to an underling and was stunned when the woman herself answered.

  ‘My name is Adrienne Treloar and I’m a doctor and researcher at the children’s hospital in Chattering. We’ve had forty-three children present with symptoms that would suggest they have been caught up in the Kennington’s food-poisoning incident. I believe I have the answer everyone’s been searching for – the answer that should bring an end to all this.’

  Adrienne listened intently as the woman spoke.

  ‘Yes, of course I’ll be here at the hospital,’ she said, and hung up the phone.

  She smiled to herself as she imagined the look on Edwin Rochester’s face when Marjorie Plunkett arrived by helicopter, wanting to speak with her. Adrienne’s fate was about to be sealed. The Head of Paediatrics position couldn’t possibly go to anyone else now.

  Once Millie had departed, Alice-Miranda had gone in search of Rodney, but the toy was nowhere to be found. Shilly said she hadn’t seen him either and suggested that Dolly may have put him somewhere for safekeeping. Alice-Miranda hurried back to her bedroom window and kept an eye out for Millie and their stowaway.

  Suddenly, there was a flash of colour among the greenery. Alice-Miranda smiled and gave a thumbs up as Millie and Chessie dashed along the inside of the wall. Her eyes, however, also stumbled upon Mr Greening, who was heading their way on the ride-on mower. Alice-Miranda quickly unlatched the window, pushed the pane upwards and leaned outside.

  ‘Hello Mr Greening,’ she shouted, waving her arms wildly.

  The man stopped the mower and waved back. ‘How are you today?’ he cried out. He almost seemed to startle himself, having forgotten that he’d cut the engine. ‘Sorry, Alice-Miranda, I didn’t mean to yell.’

  Alice-Miranda grinned down at him. ‘I am feeling much better, thank you. Please tell Mrs Greening we’ve been enjoying her cakes,’ she said. Her eyes wandered over to Millie and Chessie. She hoped they were about to make a run for the side of the house. ‘Did you find your things?’ Alice-Miranda asked, knowing exactly where his missing bucket and blanket were.