‘Thank you, Your Majesty,’ Stanley smiled. ‘And thank you to that little one out there, who came up with the idea in the first place.’
Queen Georgiana winked at Alice-Miranda, who winked right back.
Jacinta finally confessed to Alice-Miranda, Sloane and Millie that she’d been so upset about the thought of leaving Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale that she decided to get into trouble on purpose so that Miss Grimm would make her repeat. She apologised for being a terrible brat and said that she had no idea her behaviour would cause such a huge fuss. As Sloane pointed out, in the end things had worked out for the best. Millie, however, couldn’t resist telling Jacinta that there’d been no need to be such a pain about it all.
On hearing the news about Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale’s progression into secondary school, Mildred Jelly had called and begged Miss Grimm to reconsider her decision. Apparently her long waiting lists were a figment of an overactive imagination. With every single girl making the decision to stay put, it wasn’t long before an advertisement appeared in the paper for a new headmistress and Science teacher at Sainsbury Palace.
Ursula resigned from her position at the council. She couldn’t stand to work for Silas Wiley a minute longer. As chance would have it, Miss Grimm advertised a casual position as a housemistress the very next day. Ursula is currently looking after the girls until Mrs Howard returns. After that, who knows. She and her father are taking things one day at a time.
Queen Georgiana arranged to rebuild the bridge across the stream and fix Stanley Frost’s driveway. He had the telephone reconnected and Ursula insisted that he buy himself a new second-hand car.
Myrtle Parker agreed that Stan and Reg could continue their fossicking whenever they wanted. She put away her lists too and was stunned when Reg arrived home one afternoon with two plane tickets to Tuscany.
Nurse Raylene returned to Winchesterfield and was surprised to find herself out of a job. Her father had made a full recovery and she was thrilled that Mr Parker had too. Myrtle Parker was still quite glad to see her go – she was far too young and attractive to spend any more time than necessary with her Reginald.
Alice-Miranda and Mr Parker struck up a lovely friendship. She still went to read to him as often as she could, and together they shared books and poems and lots of laughs. He especially loved Matilda.
Silas Wiley’s announcement with Queen Georgiana garnered him a great deal of support throughout the district. His entrepreneurial skills were still questionable, though; he decided to sell his pizza restaurant and invest in a putt putt golf course instead. He was devastated to lose Ursula, who had been the best secretary he’d ever had.
Miss Reedy’s Summer Spectacular went off without a hitch. Jacinta and Sloane sang a fabulous duet and the concert was a fitting end to the year. With Caledonia Manor set to house the senior students in the new term, the last weeks of school were some of the happiest anyone could ever remember.
And as for the holidays, there was still some debate about what the girls would get up to. Aunty Gee had mentioned that perhaps Alice-Miranda might like to spend some time with her at the palace. Sloane asked Alice-Miranda if she could take some friends along too. There’s still a little time to decide.
Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies Staff
Miss Ophelia Grimm
Headmistress
Aldous Grump
Miss Grimm’s husband
Mrs Louella Derby
Personal Secretary to the Headmistress
Miss Livinia Reedy
English teacher
Mr Josiah Plumpton
Science teacher
Howie (Mrs Howard)
Housemistress
Mr Cornelius Trout
Music teacher
Mrs Doreen Smith
Cook
Charlie Weatherly (Mr Charles)
Gardener
Elsa
Stablehand
Students
Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones
Millicent Jane McLoughlin-McTavish-McNoughton-McGill
Alice-Miranda’s best friend and room mate
Jacinta Headlington-Bear
Friend
Sloane Sykes
Friend
Madeline Bloom, Ashima Divall, Ivory Hicks, Susannah Dare, Danika Rigby
Friends
Sainsbury Palace School Staff
Mrs Mildred Jelly
Headmistress
Professor Crookston
Science teacher
Others
Aunty Gee
Queen Georgiana
Constable Derby
Local policeman, married to Louella Derby
Myrtle Parker
Show Society President and village busybody
Reginald Parker
Husband of Myrtle
Hephzibah Fayle
Friend of Alice-Miranda’s and owner of Caledonia Manor
Henrietta Sykes
Sister of Hephzibah and step-granny of Sloane Sykes
Ambrosia Headlington-Bear
Jacinta’s mother
Silas Wiley
Mayor of Downsfordvale
Ursula
Silas’s personal assistant
Stanley Frost
Owner of Wood End
About the Author
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 CBCA 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
Books by Jacqueline Harvey
Alice-Miranda at School
Alice-Miranda on Holiday
Alice-Miranda Takes the Lead
Alice-Miranda at Sea
Alice-Miranda in New York
Alice-Miranda Shows the Way
Alice-Miranda in Paris
Alice-Miranda Shines Bright
Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor
Clementine Rose and the Pet Day Disaster
Clementine Rose and the Perfect Present
Clementine Rose and the Farm Fiasco
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Alice-Miranda Shines Bright
9781742752914
Copyright © Jacqueline Harvey 2013
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at www.randomhouse.com.au/offices
First published by Random House Australia in 2013
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Harvey, Jacqueline
Title: Alice-Miranda Shines Bright/Jacqueline Ha
rvey
ISBN: 978 1 74275 291 4 (ebook)
Series: Harvey, Jacqueline. Alice-Miranda; 8
Target audience: For primary school age
Subjects: Detective and mystery stories
Dewey number: A823.4
Cover and internal illustrations by J.Yi
Cover design by Mathematics www.xy-1.com
Internal design by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Typesetting and eBook production by Midland Typesetters, Australia
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