Alice-Miranda on Vacation (4 page)

“Now I feel like I’m home,” said Alice-Miranda, brushing minuscule creases from her shirt. “Come on.”

She ran down the hallway to the central staircase, where she promptly leapt onto the banister rail. Jacinta followed at her heels.

“Alice-Miranda,” Jacinta whispered urgently. “Mrs. Shillingsworth is coming.”

“Good, she can time me.”

“Alice-Miranda,” Mrs. Shillingsworth barked. “You wait right there, young lady.”

The girls turned their heads in unison to catch sight of Mrs. Shillingsworth, a stack of fresh towels in her arms, charging toward them.

“Get down,” Jacinta urged.

“It’s okay. Really it is,” Alice-Miranda assured her friend.

Mrs. Shillingsworth set her fluffy tower down on a Louis chair opposite the top of the staircase. She fished around in her skirt pocket and retrieved what looked to be a rather large stopwatch.

“I thought you were going to have a practice run without me. I believe that just before you took yourself off to that school of yours, you had managed
a new record.” Mrs. Shillingsworth fumbled in the other pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. From behind her ear she produced a small pencil. “Ahh, here it is, eleven seconds from the top to the bottom.”

“I’m a bit out of practice, Shilly; I don’t know if it will be a record breaker. Count me down.” Alice-Miranda gripped tight and wiggled her bottom.

“Three, two, one!”

The tiny child giggled as she whizzed down the gigantic spiral staircase, landing with a delicate jump at the bottom.

“Stop!” she shouted back up to Mrs. Shillingsworth, who was leaning over the balcony next to Jacinta.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” said Jacinta, shaking her head.

“What was the time, Shilly?” Alice-Miranda shouted.

“That would be twelve seconds,” she replied. “But I do think your record was set the day after Daisy polished the staircase. And what about you, Miss Jacinta? Are you eager to throw yourself down the Highton Hall roller coaster?”

“Well, it does look fun.” Jacinta eyed the banister. “And I suppose in the absence of a beam or bars to train on, this is the next best thing.”

“Go on,” Alice-Miranda urged. “Hop up and give it a go. Just loosen your grip and enjoy the ride.”

Jacinta climbed nimbly to the top and positioned herself as Alice-Miranda had done before her.

Mrs. Shillingsworth reset her watch. “On your mark, get set, GO!”

Jacinta squealed as she whizzed down the rail. Her dismount was quite stunning and she finished with a flourish, as though she’d just completed a double somersault from the beam. Alice-Miranda clapped enthusiastically and was joined by her mother, who had entered the hallway in time to see Jacinta zoom past.

Cecelia clapped loudly. “That was magnificent.”

“It was brilliant,” Jacinta laughed.

“What was Jacinta’s time?” Cecelia called up to Mrs. Shillingsworth.

“Well, she’s a speedy one, ma’am. Eleven point four seconds. If you don’t look out, Alice-Miranda, I think you might lose your crown.” She frowned.

“I don’t mind.” Alice-Miranda hugged her friend. “Mummy, we’re going for a walk. I want Jacinta to meet everyone. And then we might pop over to see Mrs. Greening.”

Cecelia put her hands on her hips. “Mmm, I thought you might want to do that. Just mind you
leave enough room for Dolly’s roast,” she said with a smile.

Alice-Miranda kissed her mother on the cheek and grabbed Jacinta by the hand, and the two girls hurtled off into the garden.

“I can’t believe I just did that,” Jacinta said as she bounded along beside her friend. “I mean, I know we sometimes try to do it in the boardinghouse, but that rail’s a bit splintery and it hurts like mad unless you’ve got thick pants on. My mother would have a fit if she saw me riding your banister rail.”

Alice-Miranda grinned. “I think it was made to be ridden. Mummy and Daddy sometimes join in and Shilly times us all. Once we even coaxed Mrs. Oliver into having a turn. She’s very proud of her record—for the slowest ride ever. It’s a bit of a family tradition.”

Jacinta stopped and stared at the ground. “I don’t think we have any family traditions.”

“Well, we have tons—and you’re most welcome to join in with them anytime you like.” Alice-Miranda pulled her friend in the direction of the field.

A
lice-Miranda turned the handle of the weathered timber door in the middle of the high stone wall that stretched the length of the garden. The two girls entered the long meadow. It was dotted with vast oaks, all just begging to be climbed.

“Where are we going?” Jacinta asked.

Alice-Miranda pointed toward a row of poplars.

“Over there.”

Beyond them Jacinta could just make out the top of a roof and some chimneys. “I want you to meet my friends Jasper and Poppy. Jasper is nine and he’s loads of fun, and Poppy is the sweetest five-year-old you’ll ever meet. Their father, Heinrich, looks after
the farm, and sometimes their mother, Lily, helps Mummy in the house—when we have parties and things. Then we’ll go and see Daisy and Granny Bert too.”

The girls were walking under the branches of a very large oak tree when suddenly something rustled in the leaves above.

“Ow,” Jacinta complained. She rubbed her head and looked around for the offending missile.

“What was it?” Alice-Miranda scanned the ground and found a little stone. She bent down and picked it up. “I thought oak trees produced acorns, not pebbles.”

The girls peered into the plush canopy but couldn’t see any delinquent creatures.

“Ow!” Alice-Miranda squeaked as a larger pebble glanced off the top of her head and hit the ground with a light thud. “Whoever or whatever you are, please stop throwing stones. It’s really not very nice,” she called into the tree.

A sliver of light shone through the emerald limbs and suddenly another pebble hit Jacinta.

“Right, that’s it.” Jacinta swung into action. “I’m coming up there, so whatever you are, you’d better watch out.”

Jacinta scaled the low branches quickly, swinging
her legs up onto the higher boughs. As her friend climbed, Alice-Miranda was distracted by a flash of blue. It seemed that the hidden rogue was trying to make a getaway. A figure landed on the ground right in front of her.

“Stop right there,” Alice-Miranda commanded. “Please,” she added.

It was the boy from the lane. Before he had time to make an escape, Alice-Miranda held out her hand and said, “Hello, my name is Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones and I am very pleased to meet you.”

The boy stared at Alice-Miranda as if he were observing an alien species.

“I know who you are,” he spat.

“Well, please don’t think me rude,” Alice-Miranda continued, “but I don’t recall us meeting before now, although I’m sure that I saw you in the laneway a little while ago.”

“We haven’t met before,” the boy replied.

Jacinta jumped to the ground beside her friend.

“That wasn’t very nice, you know, throwing stones at us.” Jacinta glared fiercely.

“Well, I’m not particularly nice,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “In fact, I’m not nice at all.”

“Who told you that?” Alice-Miranda asked.

“Everyone,” the boy replied.

“Well, that’s just silly. You don’t know everyone, do you? Not everyone in the whole world. That would be impossible. I mean, my daddy knows quite a lot of people, but he would say that it’s just a tiny number really out of the whole wide world—”

“Do you ever shut up?” the boy interrupted.

Alice-Miranda smiled at him. “I’m sorry. You haven’t even had a moment to tell us your name.”

“Why would I tell you my name?” he said with a sneer.

Alice-Miranda nodded at Jacinta. “Well, this is my friend Jacinta Headlington-Bear—she goes to Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies with me, and she has come home to spend the holidays.” She tried again. “And you are?”

“You don’t need to know,” he said bluntly.

“But it would be so much better if we knew your name. Then we could be friends,” Alice-Miranda insisted.

“Friends? With you?” The boy snorted. “You’ve got to be joking.”

“Why? I would never joke about being friends …,” Alice-Miranda began.

Without warning, the boy reached out and shoved Alice-Miranda so hard that she fell backward to the
ground. She landed with a thump on her bottom. While Jacinta was helping her back to her feet the boy turned and ran toward the stand of poplars, disappearing through the hedge.

“Hey!” Jacinta called. “What did you do that for?”

Alice-Miranda dusted herself off.

“That was interesting,” she said, frowning.

“Interesting! I think he’s the most horrid boy I’ve ever seen.” Jacinta’s cheeks were an angry red. “Let’s go after him. Someone needs to teach that little monster a lesson,” she added.

“Don’t worry—he won’t get far. He must be here visiting someone. The village is quite a long walk away, so I can’t imagine he’s come all the way from there. Let’s go and find Jasper and Poppy—they might know who he is. Perhaps he just needs some friends.”

“He doesn’t deserve friends,” Jacinta huffed. “And he definitely didn’t want to be friends with you.”

The two girls continued on their journey. They ducked through the hedge and came out near an ancient stone farmhouse. It was beautifully preserved and had a lovely garden trimmed with hollyhocks.

Alice-Miranda led Jacinta down the side of the house and through to the backyard. A tall blond woman was hanging sheets on a clothesline.

“Lily!” Alice-Miranda called. The woman snipped the last peg onto a white sheet and turned around to greet them.

“Hello there, young lady. It’s wonderful to see you,” she said, giving Alice-Miranda a hug. “And who’s this you’ve brought with you?” Lily’s tanned face beamed.

“Lily, this is my friend, Jacinta Headlington-Bear. We go to school together, and she’s going to spend the holidays here with us.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Jacinta.” Lily smiled. “I know two children who have been dying for you to get home, Alice-Miranda.” Lily picked up her empty basket and the girls followed her to the back door.

“You didn’t see a boy come through here a few minutes ago, did you?” Jacinta asked. “Dark hair—a little bit taller than me?”

Lily hesitated. “Why?”

“Well,” Jacinta began, “he was in one of the oak trees in the field and the little brat was throwing stones at us and then he pushed Alice-Miranda to the ground and ran off. Someone needs to give him a good talking-to.”

“Oh dear.” Lily fiddled with her hair. “I’m afraid I do know who that boy is.”

“He seemed to know me, but I can’t say I remember ever seeing him before,” said Alice-Miranda, puzzled.

“You’re right—you wouldn’t have seen him before. I imagine he knows who you are from seeing some of the photographs of you with Jasper and Poppy.”

Jacinta was indignant. “Well, he needs to learn some manners.”

“Come in, girls. Jasper is upstairs in his room and Poppy is coloring in the kitchen. They’ll be thrilled to see you,” said Lily, avoiding any further discussion of her nephew.

P
oppy squealed with delight the moment Alice-Miranda entered the kitchen. She squeezed her tightly and immediately invited her and Jacinta to sit down and color. Lily called Jasper to come down from his room four times before he finally emerged, dragging his feet.

“Muuum, I was in the middle of a battle,” he protested. Then he caught sight of Alice-Miranda.

“You’re back!” Jasper exclaimed as he rushed to give Alice-Miranda an enthusiastic hug. Spying Jacinta at the table beside his sister, he quickly let go and turned a very bright shade of pink.

“You didn’t tell me we had guests,” he whispered to Lily, who was getting some drinks organized.

“You didn’t ask,” she replied. “And Alice-Miranda is hardly a guest, darling.”

“You know what I mean, Mum.”

Alice-Miranda introduced her friend. “This is Jacinta Headlington-Bear. She’s staying with us for the holidays.”

“Hello.” Jasper looked up shyly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Jacinta hadn’t met many boys, but Jasper seemed the politest one she had ever encountered. He was certainly the opposite of that other horrid boy. Jasper was sweet and friendly and there was something about his smile that made her want to smile right back.