Alice-Miranda On Holiday
Page 17
‘But can’t we stay and hear more?’ Jacinta grumbled. ‘I want to know what happened to the baby elephant you saw on safari. Did he escape from that crocodile?’
‘Next time,’ Miss Grimm promised. ‘And girls?’ She tapped her finger to her cheek as though she had just remembered something important. ‘We have a new student starting tomorrow. She’ll be rooming with you, Jacinta, so I expect you to make her feel very welcome.’ Ophelia arched her eyebrow and gave Jacinta a meaningful look.
Jacinta nodded like a jack-in-the-box.
‘A new girl? That’s lovely,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘I can’t wait to meet her. What’s her name?’
‘Sloane. Sloane Sykes,’ Miss Grimm replied. ‘And there’ll be plenty of time to meet her tomorrow. Now off you go, girls.’
Alice-Miranda was the first to stand. She said goodnight to Mr Grump, who was still sitting in his armchair. Without warning, the tiny child leaned forward and gave him a peck on his stubbly cheek.
‘Now what was that for?’ Aldous asked.
‘Just because,’ Alice-Miranda replied, before skipping over to Miss Grimm to give her a warm hug too. Miss Grimm smiled at her youngest student, with her cascading chocolate curls and eyes as big as saucers.
‘And you know something?’ Alice-Miranda scanned the walls either side of the door. ‘I simply love your photographs. That one of you and Mr Grump is gorgeous, and that one of the elephant is too cute – you could enter it in a competition.’
The previously bare walls now played host to more than a dozen pictures – of Miss Grimm and Mr Grump’s wedding, their honeymoon and even some casual shots of Miss Grimm with girls around the school. There were faces and places and memories.
‘Do you remember, Miss Grimm, when I first met you I said that what this place needed was some photographs? And now look – it’s perfect!’
‘Yes, young lady, I certainly do recall that was one of your recommendations, among rather a few others,’ Miss Grimm teased. Alice-Miranda grinned and leaned forward to give the headmistress another quick hug.
The eleven girls behind her took turns saying goodnight to Miss Grimm and Mr Grump. It was amazing how much things had changed at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale in the past few months. Who would ever have thought that Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones, along with eleven of her friends, would enjoy an hour in the headmistress’s study, hearing all about her recent honeymoon safari to Africa?
Alice-Miranda grinned to herself. She couldn’t wait to see what excitement the new term would bring.
Jacqueline Harvey taught for many years in girls’ boarding schools. She is the author of the bestselling Alice-Miranda series and the Clementine Rose series, and was awarded Honour Book in the 2006 Australian CBC Awards for her picture book The Sound of the Sea. She now writes full-time and is working on more Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose adventures.
For more about Jacqueline and Alice-Miranda, go to:
www.jacquelineharvey.com.au
Have you read all the Alice-Miranda books?
Book 1
Alice-Miranda at School
Book 2
Alice-Miranda on Holiday
Book 3
Alice-Miranda Takes the Lead
Book 4
Alice-Miranda at Sea
Book 5
Alice-Miranda in New York
Book 6
Alice-Miranda Shows the Way
Book 7
Alice-Miranda in Paris
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Version 2.0
Alice-Miranda on Holiday
9781742741086
Copyright © Jacqueline Harvey 2010
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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www.randomhouse.com.au
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at http://www.randomhouse.com.au/about/contacts.aspx
First published by Random House Australia in 2010
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Harvey, Jacqueline
Title: Alice-Miranda on holiday / Jacqueline Harvey
ISBN: 978 1 86471 984 0 (pbk.)
Target audience: For children
Dewey Number: A823.4
Cover and internal illustrations by J.Yi
Cover design by Mathematics www.xy-1.com
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