Alice-Miranda on Vacation (2 page)

“S
o, Mummy, you survived my first term.” Alice-Miranda turned to her mother sitting beside her in the front seat.

“Yes, I suppose I did,” Cecelia Highton-Smith said, sniffling, as she turned the key in the ignition. The car lurched forward and they were on their way.

“I’m so glad you finally stopped crying.” There was a stern tinge to Alice-Miranda’s voice. “I mean, you have stopped crying, haven’t you, Mummy?”

“I’m sorry, darling. It’s just that your father and I missed you so much. It wasn’t the same without you romping around the house.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” Alice-Miranda replied. “But
you were terribly busy. Daddy told me you were both off all over the place every other day, taking care of the business. So it was much better that you didn’t have to worry about me at all. And besides, I saw you and Daddy three times during the term anyway. I can’t imagine you had a minute to miss me.”

Alice-Miranda’s parents had been caught off guard when their only daughter decided to start boarding school early. Although they had expected her to go at some stage, it had come as quite a shock when she telephoned the school and organized to commence at the beginning of the new school year. But they knew that once she had made up her mind there was no point trying to stop her. And if truth be known, Alice-Miranda was quite right about her parents’ being busy. Her mother, Cecelia Highton-Smith, had recently become chairman of the board of her late father’s retail empire. Highton’s, the most stylish department stores in the world, sold ladieswear and lingerie, Labradors and llamas and everything in between. When Cecelia married Hugh Kennington-Jones, newspapers had heralded their match as the most magnificent retailing merger the world had ever known. With Hugh at the helm of Kennington’s, the largest supermarket chain in history, busy was something of an understatement.

“Do you really love it at school?” asked Cecelia as she glanced at her little daughter.

“Oh, Mummy, it was everything I could have hoped for and so much more.” Alice-Miranda was practically bursting with enthusiasm as she spoke. “Wasn’t Miss Grimm’s wedding the most beautiful ever? Well, except for Miss Higgins’s. I suppose they were equally lovely in their own way. Who would have thought I would be a flower girl twice in one term, especially when I didn’t even know either of the brides until just a little while ago. And then Jacinta won the championships, which of course she would because she’s the best gymnast ever, and Mr. Charles won the garden competition—you should have seen his face, Mummy, he didn’t stop smiling for a week. And our lessons were so wonderful. I hadn’t realized my brain could take in so many things all at once. Then we had our swimming carnival—I didn’t do very well, but I did try, and Millie won seven ribbons. She’s incredible! I think she could go to the Olympics. She’s pretty amazing at tennis too—maybe she will win Wimbledon as well. Oh, I wish she were coming home with us too.…”

“Darling, please take a breath,” her mother laughed.

“Ahh,” Alice-Miranda sighed. “I suppose I do have two weeks to tell you everything.”

“Two weeks, only two weeks! Darling, please don’t remind me.” Moisture glistened in the corner of her mother’s eye. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to take you back again in just—”

Alice-Miranda cut her off. “Mummy, please don’t start. We have two whole weeks, so let’s just enjoy them.” She passed her mother a clean tissue. “Promise?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“All right, but only if I have to,” her mother reluctantly agreed.

“Yes, you have to. Otherwise I’ll phone Miss Grimm right this minute and ask if I can stay at school for the holidays,” Alice-Miranda teased, her brown eyes sparkling. “I’m sure Mr. Charles would love some company, and Mrs. Derby would look after me.”

Her mother immediately changed the subject. “What about you, Jacinta? Have you had a good term?” Cecelia glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

“Yes, Mrs. Highton-Smith.”

“Please call me Cecelia, or Cee. Mrs. Highton-Smith sounds like my mother.”

“Sorry, Cecelia,” said Jacinta, smiling to herself. “It
has
been a good term, although it started very badly. I’d been so sick and I was cross with everyone, but then Alice-Miranda came, and in the end it really was the best term ever. Who would have
thought that she would be able to bring Miss Grimm out of her study after all those years? School is like a different place altogether now. I just wish my parents had been able to get back for the gymnastics championships, but as usual Mummy was tied up somewhere with her friends and Daddy was away on business.”

“Never mind, darling. I’m sure they are very proud of you.” Cecelia fixed her stare on the road ahead.

The silver Range Rover sped along the country lanes, through the village of Winchesterfield and then on to the tiny hamlet of Downsfordvale with its quaint row of whitewashed cottages. The countryside tumbled past and the girls chattered about the term and what they were planning to do at home.

Alice-Miranda swiveled around to look at Jacinta in the backseat. “I can’t wait for you to meet Bonaparte.” She turned back to her mother. “Did Max bring him in last week, Mummy?”

“Yes, darling. Max has been very busy working Bony. I think he’s been lunging him every day—he told me that he feared the saddle girth would need to be let out a few notches.”

“I don’t think Daddy will be able to call him Bony Pony anymore by the sounds of that.” Alice-Miranda giggled.

“I hate horses,” Jacinta declared.

“Really? Why? I can’t imagine it,” Alice-Miranda replied. “Bonaparte is a big softie. He wouldn’t hurt anyone—and you don’t have to ride if you don’t want to. There are lots of other things we can do.”

“Well, I won’t be going near any horses, that’s for sure,” Jacinta stated.

Cecelia glanced in the rearview mirror. “I’m not very good with horses either, Jacinta.”

“It’s not that.” Jacinta frowned. “I’m actually an excellent rider. It’s just that I don’t like them. They smell.”

Cecelia suppressed a giggle. “So, what about you and I do something together when Alice-Miranda heads out riding with her father? We could go swimming, or perhaps you’d like to do some cooking or read a book? We could even take some rods down to the river and try to catch some of those trout Mr. Greening tells me have grown rather large.”

“I’m fantastic at fishing. But I won’t be able to touch them at all. I’m allergic,” Jacinta announced.

Cecelia laughed. “Well, I can’t guarantee we’ll catch anything, but I’m sure we can have some fun trying.” She made a right turn into a sun-dappled lane hemmed on both sides by rough-hewn stone walls. “Nearly home, girls.”

As the car continued along the lane, Alice-Miranda’s attention was diverted by a face peering over the wall. It belonged to a dark-haired boy. He was staring at the road, and as the car went past, his tongue shot out at her like a lizard.

“Mummy, did you see that?” Alice-Miranda asked.

“See what?” her mother replied.

“Just back there, a boy looking over the wall. He stuck out his tongue when we drove past,” Alice-Miranda explained.

“Really?” Cecelia glanced at her daughter. “I wonder who that would be.”

“I’ve never seen him before,” Alice-Miranda continued.

“How rude!” Jacinta exclaimed.

Alice-Miranda shrugged. “Perhaps we might find him later when we go for a walk.”

Jacinta scowled. “I hope not.”

The chimneys of Highton Hall stood tall in the distance behind a thick stand of poplar trees. The car crunched over the loose gravel and halted at a T-intersection.

“Which way?” Cecelia asked.

“Well, I can’t wait to see absolutely everyone, but it’s getting late, and knowing Mrs. Oliver, she’s quite likely made something extra special for our lunch, so
perhaps we should go straight home and then Jacinta and I can go for a walk this afternoon.”

“That’s a very good decision. Dolly has been fussing for days, and I know she’s dying to see you both.”

Dolly Oliver had been the Highton-Smiths’ cook for more years than anyone could remember. Alice-Miranda adored her and Mrs. Oliver felt the same way about Alice-Miranda.

The two girls nodded in firm agreement, and with that Cecelia turned the car left through an imposing set of iron gates into the grounds of Highton Hall.

“Oh, that’s a funny little house!” Jacinta exclaimed, craning her neck to get a better look at the gatehouse with its myriad turrets and chimneys. “Does anyone live there?”

“Yes, do you remember Mr. Greening?” Alice-Miranda asked. “He came to school to help Mr. Charles with the flowers.”

“The old man with the gray beard—was that him?” Jacinta replied.

“Yes, that’s right. He and Mrs. Greening live there.”

“Mr. Greening was born in that house,” Cecelia added. “His father before him was the head gardener here, so they’re very much part of the family. They raised four sons who’ve all grown up and moved away. Now it’s just the two of them—and our girl
here, when she’s at home. I always know where to find Alice-Miranda, especially around four o’clock.”

“Why four o’clock?” Jacinta puzzled.

“Well,” said Alice-Miranda. “Mrs. Greening makes the most delicious cake. It tastes like clouds and has cream frosting that fizzes on your tongue—doesn’t it, Mummy? It doesn’t have a proper name, so I call it Heaven Cake. I’ve asked Mrs. Greening loads of times to share the recipe but she says it’s a closely guarded family secret and she’ll only give it to me on my twenty-first birthday. I smuggled a piece home once and asked Mrs. Oliver if she could make one just like it, but she says there’s an ingredient she can’t work out—and you know Mrs. Oliver is the most wonderful cook in the whole world and a pretty amazing scientist too, so it must be something rare.” Alice-Miranda rubbed her tummy. “Mr. Greening has the most adorable Labrador. Her name is Betsy and she’s very keen on licking ankles for some strange reason.”

“Well, that’s just gross.” Jacinta wrinkled her nose.

Alice-Miranda smiled at her mother.

Cecelia steered the car through another set of ornate gates. A broad avenue of oaks opened up and they were home.

“M
ummy, look!” Alice-Miranda exclaimed. “Everyone’s here.”

Several smiling faces waved at them from the front porch. Alice-Miranda unclasped her seat belt and was out the door in a blink.

“Welcome home, my darling girl,” cried Mrs. Oliver. She enveloped Alice-Miranda in her arms. As always she looked neat as a pin—her trademark brown curls set perfectly in place.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Alice-Miranda beamed. “Mrs. Smith said to say hello and she’s looking forward to seeing you next week.”

Dolly Oliver and Doreen Smith had forged a remarkable
friendship during their time cooking together at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale. Over bubbling pots and sizzling hot plates, they barely drew a breath as they nattered together and exchanged tips. And by the end of the week, Mrs. Oliver had invited Mrs. Smith home for the holidays to work on her top-secret inventions in the laboratory that occupied the ancient cellars of Highton Hall. She’d recently perfected FDF—Freeze-Dried Foods—and was working on several new recipes to expand her range.

“Hello, Mr. Greening.” Alice-Miranda ran to greet him. “You should see the flowers at school—they’re simply amazing! Mr. Charles can’t stop smiling and whistling, which I think drives Miss Grimm a little mad. Your garden is beautiful too,” she added, looking around at the sweep of lawn dotted with colorful flower beds, antique urns and in the center, three life-sized topiary horses, known affectionately as Bess, Beetle and Bobbin. The gardens at Highton Hall were his pride and joy.

“Thank you, miss,” he said, smiling at Alice-Miranda. “It certainly has been quiet around here without you. Mrs. Greening is looking forward to a four o’clock visit—if that’s all right with your mother.” He winked. Alice-Miranda winked right back and touched her fingertip to the side of her nose.

“Hello, Mrs. Shillingsworth!” Alice-Miranda lunged forward to hug the woman standing beside Mrs. Oliver. “It’s so lovely to be home. I can’t wait to tell you about school and all the wonderful things that have happened, and I want to hear everything that’s been going on here too,” she prattled.