‘What letter?’
‘A letter from Nurse Raylene saying that she’d gone home to see her father,’ Millie explained.
‘But why did she take Mr Parker with her?’ Ambrosia asked.
‘She didn’t. He was still here when she left, and she said that she thought he was getting much better.’
Ambrosia’s eyes widened. ‘So Mr Parker didn’t run off with the nurse?’
‘No. He’s just missing.’
Ambrosia opened Myrtle’s front door and raced to the kitchen, where Mrs Parker was making groaning noises.
She rushed to the woman’s side. ‘Oh Myrtle, this is wonderful news!’
Myrtle lifted her head off the table and rubbed the side of her forehead. ‘What are you talking about?’ she growled.
A sharp memory pierced the fog that shrouded Myrtle’s head. Had she dreamt it or had the child just read something about Reginald?
‘Reginald?’ For a moment Myrtle Parker sat absolutely still, as she tried to remember what had sent her into a spin. ‘Well, don’t just stand there,’ she ordered as the letter’s contents came flooding back to her. ‘Call Constable Derby. Tell the man to get the search teams together. Put out that ABC again. My Reginald is close by and we need to find him.’
Alice-Miranda smiled. ‘That’s the spirit, Mrs Parker.’
‘Constable Derby won’t be back until later this evening,’ Millie said. ‘I’ve already talked with Mrs Derby.’
‘And what did the woman suggest we do?’ Myrtle demanded.
‘Find someone to help us look after you,’ Millie replied.
‘What? I don’t need looking after. I’m not an invalid, you know!’ Myrtle crowed.
And with that, she stood up and smoothed the front of her floral dress, marched to the sideboard and picked up her hat. She jammed it onto her head and scooped up her handbag.
‘Myrtle, what are you doing?’ said Ambrosia.
‘What does it look like?’ Myrtle sniffed. ‘I’m going out.’
‘Yes, I can see that, but where are you going?’
‘I’m going to find my husband.’ Myrtle turned on her low brown heels and stormed down the hallway. ‘And I’d appreciate some help if any of you could be bothered to come along.’
Alice-Miranda, Millie and Ambrosia all looked at one another.
‘I think she’s lost it,’ Millie whispered.
Ambrosia thought the same thing.
‘Perhaps you should go with her, Mrs Headlington-Bear. Millie and I will go and see if we can get Jacinta to come back to school with us,’ Alice-Miranda suggested. She wanted to look for Mr Parker but she was worried about Jacinta too.
‘Yes. It’s not as if the police haven’t looked for Mr Parker already. He really could be anywhere by now,’ Ambrosia agreed.
‘You should call your father and get him to put Mr Parker on the cereal boxes,’ Millie said.
Ambrosia looked at the girls in confusion and then shook her head. ‘Never mind. Let’s go.’
For all her striding and harrumphing, Myrtle Parker had only got as far as the front door. ‘Well,’ she called, ‘is anyone coming with me or do I have to go on my own – again?’
Ambrosia Headlington-Bear sighed then called out, ‘I’m coming, Myrtle.’
Alice-Miranda and Millie followed the women down the driveway. Myrtle Parker hopped into her car and turned the key in the ignition while Ambrosia was still closing the passenger door. Alice-Miranda tapped on the driver’s window and Mrs Parker wound it down.
‘Mrs Parker, did Mr Parker have any special friends in the village before he got sick?’ she asked.
Myrtle shook her head. ‘Reginald didn’t have any friends except me. He was a very private man. Anyway, he had far too many things to do around here to be out socialising.’
But that wasn’t entirely true.
‘Oh,’ Alice-Miranda said with a frown. She was sorry to hear that. She’d often imagined Mr Parker being quite outgoing and funny.
‘Good luck,’ Millie said as Myrtle began to back down the driveway.
The two girls waved and watched as the car puttered along the lane.
‘I hope they find him,’ Millie said.
‘Me too,’ Alice-Miranda agreed. But she had a strange feeling that they wouldn’t be seeing Mr Parker for a little while yet.
‘Come on, let’s go and see the pyromaniac,’ Millie said.
Alice-Miranda looked at her friend reproachfully. ‘Millie, please don’t say anything to upset her.’
‘She’s already upset. Nothing I say will make a difference,’ Millie said.
‘Don’t be so sure of that,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
‘If you say so. But you can go in first. If she’s going to rip someone’s head off, it’s not going to be mine.’
At home, Silas Wiley changed into his new purple jogging suit. He retrieved the little jar from his jacket pocket and took it downstairs to the kitchen, where he hid it in the cupboard among the jams and peanut butter.
‘Safe as houses,’ he muttered.
He took a water bottle from the fridge, snatched his keys from the bench and jogged down the hallway to the front door. For the past few months he’d gone running every day and was surprised by how much better it was making him feel – even if he had struggled to run more than a hundred metres at first.
The front gate banged as he took off down the street towards the huge park on the edge of Downsfordvale. The afternoon sun beat down on his back and tiny beads of perspiration formed on his brow. As he ran, Silas wondered how he should deliver the good news about his discovery to Finley Spencer. Although he hadn’t actually spoken with the owner, surely Finley would be more than happy about what he’d learned and they could sort out the details with the old fellow soon enough. He thought about telephoning her when he got home but decided that was the least dramatic option.
Perhaps he should play it cool and ask for a meeting. Maybe she’d send the helicopter to pick him up. Wouldn’t that make the plebs at the council green with envy? Silas had never ridden in a chopper but he’d always considered it the domain of the super-successful. And Finley Spencer was certainly that.
He turned into the park and started down the perimeter track, completely lost in his own thoughts. Silas ran past a blur of pastel-clad joggers but when he tripped on a stone he was jolted back to the present. A woman was running towards him.
‘Ursula.’ Silas crossed to the other side of the path and almost bumped into her.
Ursula pulled her earphones out. ‘Oh, Mayor Wiley, I didn’t realise you ran in the afternoons now as well,’ she puffed.
Silas was trying hard to calm his breathing too. ‘Yes, yes, Urs. Morning, evening, noon, night. I just love it and we all know the results, don’t we?’ He smiled at her and patted his almost flat stomach.
Ursula had to stop herself laughing out loud. She’d never met such a vain man in all her life. ‘I’ll leave you to get on with it then,’ she spluttered and turned to head off in the opposite direction.
‘No, wait, Urs. Um, I was just about to head back that way myself.’ Silas turned around while jogging up and down on the spot.
‘But I thought you always ran in the same direction around the park.’ Ursula had often heard her boss boasting of his athletic prowess and the exact route he took through the park. Boring as his nattering was, she was grateful for it, as it had allowed her to completely avoid the situation she now found herself in. Ursula turned a grimace into a smile. ‘Of course, sir.’
‘Urs, you really must stop all this “sir” and “Mayor Wiley” business when we’re out of the office. Call me Silas, for heaven’s sake. Anyway, Urs, I wanted to talk to you about something, so it’s wonderful that we’ve bumped into each other,’ Silas gabbled as they began running again.
‘Oh?’
He flashed a grin. ‘It’s to do with Finley Spencer.’
Ursula frowned. She wondered why his news couldn’t wait until they were in the office tomorrow.
‘You mustn’t share this with anyone,’ Silas instructed.
She nodded. If there was one thing Ursula was very good at, it was keeping secrets.
‘Finley Spencer wanted me to help her get some old fogey over at Winchesterfield to sell her his land. She’s keen on a new housing development – you know she’s such a forward thinker. I suspect there will be plans for a giant shopping complex and the like,’ Silas prattled. ‘It will be good for the district.’
Ursula nodded, although she didn’t think there were many developments that were particularly good for the district.
‘Well, I went over to see the fellow this morning.’
‘And was he agreeable?’ she asked.
‘Heavens, no. I didn’t even meet him. There was no one about. But I discovered something that could really set the cat among the pigeons, Urs. Just wait until you hear this . . .’
Ursula listened to her boss’s tale and wondered exactly what he planned to do with all of this information.
‘So you can imagine just how grateful Finley Spencer will be,’ Silas said. ‘But I’d like to do a little bit more research and then I have to decide on the perfect way to tell her. I want her to know just how much trouble I’ve gone to for this deal.’
Ursula lengthened her stride. As she was quite a bit taller than Silas, he struggled to keep up. ‘But you don’t even know if the man is willing to sell the land.’
‘I’m sure Finley will pay him handsomely for it, especially once she knows what’s out there,’ Silas replied.
But Ursula wasn’t so sure. Spencer Industries was a giant company and had a reputation for steamrolling its opposition. The poor man probably didn’t have a hope. And as for going to a lot of trouble, it sounded like Silas had stumbled on the information quite by chance.
‘Anyway, Urs, I wanted your advice. Do you think I should telephone Finley and tell her the good news or should I invite her in? Or perhaps I should suggest we meet in private – and then maybe she’ll send the helicopter for me.’
Ursula shrugged. How would she know what he should do? ‘Whereabouts is the land?’
Silas attempted a suave raise of his eyebrows. ‘If I told you, Urs, I might have to kill you.’
Ursula rolled her eyes. ‘Really? I don’t think that would do your re-election prospects any good.’
‘Well, so long as we’re running under the council cone of silence, the land is deep in the woods on the other side of Winchesterfield.’
Ursula coughed and seemed unable to catch her breath.
Silas wondered if she’d finally run out of puff. ‘Would you like to take a break?’
‘I’m fine. Does this place in the woods have a name?’ she gasped.
‘Wood End. It’s owned by some old-timer. According to the information from Finley, the wife died a few years ago and he won’t be far behind her.’
Ursula began to cough again. Her heart was hammering inside her chest and beads of perspiration trickled down her face. She stopped suddenly, leaving Silas a few steps ahead.
He turned and looked at her. ‘Is something wrong?’
Ursula doubled over. ‘Just something in my throat.’
‘Come and sit down.’ Silas guided her to a nearby park bench, where she buried her head in her hands. ‘What can I do?’ Silas wasn’t used to looking after anyone.
‘I’m fine,’ Ursula managed to get out between coughs. She gathered herself together and stood up. ‘I think I might head home, if that’s all right, sir.’
‘Silas,’ he tutted. ‘Are you sure you can manage on your own?’
Ursula nodded and Silas felt a pang of relief. He didn’t want to catch anything.
‘If you’re not well in the morning, don’t come into the office. And please see the doctor. You know I can’t afford to get sick. My schedule doesn’t allow for days off, Urs.’
Ursula had to look away. She felt like giving him a clout over his senseless head.
‘I’ll see you in the morning.’ She set off across the park, not looking back.
Silas set off again too, but at a much slower pace. Ursula hadn’t been any help at all, so he still hadn’t decided what he’d do about telling Finley Spencer. She would be grateful, very grateful, he was sure. She said herself that people in her industry were richly rewarded. And he was positive that the information he had would make her very pleased indeed.
Millie and Alice-Miranda knocked on the back door of Wisteria Cottage before letting themselves inside.
‘Hello Jacinta?’ Alice-Miranda called.
The house was silent apart from the noise of a television in another room.
The girls made their way through the gleaming white kitchen and down the hallway to the front sitting room. Jacinta was lying on the white leather couch stuffing her face with crisps while Winners Are Grinners blared from the television.
‘Hello.’ Alice-Miranda walked around and stood in front of her.
Jacinta didn’t reply. She craned her neck to see past her visitor.
‘We heard about what happened today. Are you all right?’ Alice-Miranda asked. But she already knew the answer to that question.
‘Would you mind moving? I’m watching that,’ Jacinta snapped and shovelled another handful of crisps into her mouth.
Something was terribly wrong, thought Alice-Miranda. Jacinta didn’t eat junk food. Of all the girls at school, she was by far the most health conscious.
Millie was observing Alice-Miranda’s attempts to talk to Jacinta from behind the couch.
Alice-Miranda decided on a different approach. ‘We’ve come to walk back to school with you.’
Jacinta shook her head.
‘Miss Reedy said that you should come back with us,’ Alice-Miranda explained.
‘I’m not going,’ said Jacinta tersely.
‘But you have to be back for lessons in the morning, and your mother and Mrs Parker have gone out to look for Mr Parker again, so you shouldn’t stay here on your own,’ said Alice-Miranda patiently.
Jacinta looked up, puzzled. ‘But Mr Parker’s run away with his nurse.’
‘No, he didn’t. We found a note from Nurse Raylene. It looks as if he’s woken up and wandered off somewhere.’
‘Well, you’d better go and help with the search,’ Jacinta said, deadpan.
Millie was growing more and more tired of Jacinta’s behaviour. She stalked around to the front of the couch and further blocked the girl’s view.
‘Come on, Jacinta, let’s go,’ Millie said. ‘You’re being ridiculous. We heard how mean that teacher was to you, and giving him a piece of your mind was completely understandable. I think it was brave actually, standing up for yourself and the other girls. But now you’re being stupid.’
Jacinta sat up and put the bowl down beside her. ‘Am not!’ she spat.
Millie rounded on the older girl. ‘Yes, you are. Alice-Miranda is trying to be kind but you’re being rude to her. She doesn’t deserve it. Frankly, I don’t care if you want to be foul – we were all used to it before. But what I don’t understand is how you could have pretended to be nice for so long now when really you’re just the same spoiled brat you always were.’
‘You don’t know anything, Millie.’ Jacinta stormed off to her bedroom and slammed the door.
Millie looked at Alice-Miranda and shrugged. ‘Let’s go. Obviously she doesn’t want to come back with us.’
Alice-Miranda frowned. This wasn’t like Jacinta at all. If this is what growing up did to you, she rather hoped to stay a little girl forever.
‘I’m going to try one last time,’ she said, and raced off down the hallway.
She knocked at the door and poked her head inside. Jacinta was lying on her bed. Alice-Miranda sat down beside her and reached out to stroke the girl’s shoulder.
‘Go away!’
‘But you’re upset and I want to help,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
‘Well, this time you can’t.’
Alice-Miranda paused for a moment before taking a deep breath. ‘I can’t if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.’
‘I don’t want to tell you. It’s none of your business, even though you think you can go around saving the world and making everything better. You can’t, you know. There are some things that you can’t change, even with all your money.’
‘It’s not my money, Jacinta, it’s my parents’.’
‘You won’t understand anyway,’ Jacinta said. ‘You’ve never done anything bad in your life. You’re perfect and everyone knows it.’
Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘No, I’m not. And I’m sure that Miss Grimm will understand that the fire was an accident.’
‘Just go back to school and leave me alone,’ Jacinta fumed. ‘Everything’s ruined.’
Alice-Miranda stood up. It was clear that Jacinta was not ready to talk about whatever was troubling her. ‘Well, you know where to find me.’
Jacinta heard the door close. A silent tear slid down her cheek. She couldn’t believe what she’d just done. Alice-Miranda was the best friend she’d ever had. Her plan wasn’t meant to go like this at all. She hadn’t meant for the other girls to be involved. This was about her and her alone. But she’d set the wheels in motion and she was going to see it through no matter what.
Alice-Miranda found Millie watching television in the front room.
Millie looked up. ‘I gather that didn’t go well.’ Alice-Miranda shook her head.
Millie glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already after five. ‘Come on, we’d better get back.’
The girls walked along the hall.
‘Bye Jacinta,’ Alice-Miranda called. But Jacinta didn’t hear a thing. Her head was stuffed under her pillow and she was silently sobbing her heart out.
Alice-Miranda Shines Bright 8 Page 11
