Alice-Miranda to the Rescue (19 page)

‘Right, everyone,' Mrs Howard said over the din in the sitting room at Grimthorpe House, ‘I need you all to settle down and pay attention as we have a lot on tomorrow.' She waited for the girls to hush before continuing. ‘Does everyone have their dresses for the wedding pressed and ready, hanging on the doorhandle of their wardrobe?'

There was a chorus of tired yeses. Sloane yawned, setting off a chain reaction around the room, which Mrs Howard didn't miss.

‘Good. Now, put up your hand if you are on any sort of duty in the morning.' Several arms shot up in the air. Mrs Howard nodded. ‘I don't care if there's a terrier tantrum or poodle pandemonium, you must be back here to get changed no later than three o'clock. Mrs Parker assures me that the Best in Show will be announced by then and that will give everyone enough time to get back from the showground and frock up to your sparkling best.'

‘Mrs Howard, where's Fudge?' Millie asked. ‘I was supposed to give him his dinner.' The little dog had slept at the house overnight but there had been no sign of him in the afternoon.

‘There was a note, Millie. It said that the pup had been collected, so I assume that he's with Miss Grimm and Mr Grump,' Mrs Howard said. She had barely been able to read the scrawly writing and thought that whoever had come to get him must have been in a dreadful hurry. ‘Anyway, it's probably just as well as he's more likely to get out with all the girls coming and going from the house. He hasn't had his full vaccinations yet and I wouldn't want him catching something with all these other hounds about.'

‘Will he come to the wedding?' Sloane asked.

‘I can't imagine so, dear,' the woman replied.

‘But he'd be so adorable in the photographs,' the girl said. ‘We could find him a big bow to wear.'

‘Which he'd chew to bits,' Millie pointed out.

‘We'll see. Now, I know it's early but I want everyone to have showers and be off to bed within the next half-hour,' Mrs Howard instructed. ‘I don't need any tired and grumpy girls tomorrow.'

There was an audible groan around the room.

Alice-Miranda stood up and the rest of the girls followed suit. ‘Goodnight, Mrs Howard,' the child said. ‘I'm so excited about tomorrow.'

Mrs Howard smiled. ‘I don't know if I'm excited or terrified but I'm sure it will be lovely in the end,' she agreed.

Damon cradled the pup on his lap as they tore along the lane, a cloud of dust billowing behind them. ‘This one's a cute little fella,' he said. ‘Nice and clean, not like the others, although I wish he'd sit still.' The pup wriggled, trying to free himself from the lad's grip.

‘He's going to bring a pretty penny, isn't he?' Declan said. He clutched the steering wheel and dodged a pothole. ‘Can you believe the price that
woman has agreed to pay? We've been mugs to have worked so long getting paid a pittance. We should've thought about being our own bosses a long time ago.'

Damon snorted. ‘Yeah, we've got more brains than that idiot we work for. The old fool couldn't even remember we'd changed the locks on the gate.'

‘Good thing too, or we'd have been done for,' Declan said. ‘I still wish we could get rid of this mutt tonight.'

‘What if that pesky little girl and her friend saw us at the school?' Damon said, stroking the pup's head.

‘No one saw us apart from that teacher and she was in such a tizz about her wedding I doubt she'll even remember giving him to us.' Declan crunched the gears and the van lurched forward. ‘Besides, what could be more perfect than having thousands of people crawling all over the place with dogs?'

‘So what's the plan now?' Damon asked.

‘We'll head over to Pidlington first thing in the morning.'

Damon looked at the pup in his lap. ‘Hey, Dec, I've just had a brilliant thought.'

‘You're full of bright ideas lately, aren't you?' Declan turned left, past the ‘Keep Out' signs and into the overgrown driveway. ‘All right, don't keep me in suspense, genius.'

Daniel Finchley had tossed and turned for most of the night. When sleep finally overtook his tired body, he'd dreamt about his father. They were building a tree house in the oak tree with the timber his dad had bought before the accident until, like a hologram, the man began to fade away. Daniel desperately tried to reach for him and tumbled out of the tree, freefalling into nothing and waking with a start.

He threw off the covers and pulled on his tracksuit pants and an old T-shirt. Yesterday had been
hard. He was happy that his mother and Mrs Bird had done so well, but Daniel had been reminded of his father at every turn. People were kind and wanted to offer their condolences; there were just too many of them. Daniel wiped his eyes. He could hear the patter of raindrops splashing against his window and decided to go for a run. The house wasn't big enough for him and his head full of memories.

Millie hopped out of bed and walked to the window. She drew back the curtain to reveal a grey sky, which was accompanied by the steady drumbeat of rain thrumming overhead. ‘Poor Miss Reedy,' she said. ‘Yesterday was such a gorgeous day and now it's raining cats and dogs.'

Alice-Miranda padded over to join her friend. ‘You know, they say it's good luck to have rain on your wedding day.'

‘Maybe a bit of drizzle,' Millie said, shaking her head. ‘Not this.'

The girls got dressed, donned their rain jackets and boots and headed up to the dining room for breakfast. They were surprised to find Sloane was
already there and even more surprised to see that she was sitting with Caprice.

Alice-Miranda smiled at the two girls and sat down. ‘Good morning.'

‘I'm not sure that Miss Reedy will think so,' Sloane replied, gesturing to the window.

Mr Grump and Miss Grimm entered the dining room together and walked towards the girls' table.

‘Good morning,' the headmistress and her husband greeted the children. ‘Did Fudge behave himself last night?'

Millie looked at her in alarm and Alice-Miranda's brow wrinkled. ‘Isn't he with you?' they asked.

Ophelia shook her head. ‘No, we left him in the boarding house. We were out at the dog show all day yesterday.'

‘Mrs Howard said there was a note that he'd been picked up. She assumed that it was from you, Miss Grimm,' Alice-Miranda said.

‘Oh, that's odd. It wasn't me. I wonder if one of the other staff members has him.' The woman looked around to see who was in the room. Over in the corner, Mr Plumpton was having a cup of tea. He looked to be muttering to himself as if he were
rehearsing something. ‘Excuse me, Josiah, have you seen Fudge?' Miss Grimm asked.

The man jumped, startled at the sound of her voice. ‘I thought Miss Reedy would have told you – someone came to claim him yesterday. The young man had one of the girls' posters and a photograph with the pup, so she really had no choice other than to hand him over.'

‘No!' Millie wailed. ‘She can't have! We've just named him.'

‘I'm sure that Livinia left a note but, with everything going on for the wedding, and the florist not arriving yesterday afternoon, it must have slipped her mind to tell you herself,' the man said apologetically. He glanced up at the dining-room clock. ‘Sorry, I have to go. There's still lots to do.' He scurried over to the servery and deposited his teacup, then made a beeline for the door.

Miss Grimm's face fell. ‘How disappointing.'

‘I'll say,' her husband added. ‘I was really starting to develop a soft spot for the little guy, even if he has destroyed two pairs of my shoes.'

Ophelia Grimm looked over at the girls, who were similarly crestfallen. ‘Don't worry, we've done
the right thing giving him back to his owners. It's not fair to keep something that isn't ours.'

‘Can we get another puppy?' Millie asked.

Just as Miss Grimm opened her mouth to reply, Mrs Howard stampeded into the dining room, her cheeks flushed. ‘Miss Grimm, a word please,' the woman puffed.

Ophelia spun around. ‘Is something the matter?'

‘I'm afraid I've just had a call from Mrs Parker,' the woman said, gasping for breath. ‘The gutters at the village hall have overflown and flooded the whole place. She needs to move the events here.'

Ophelia Grimm's shoulders slumped. ‘Oh, heavens, can't they go to Fayle?'

Mrs Howard shook her head. ‘They have a full program and, besides, she's already sent word out. There are cars lined up along the driveway and out the front gate.'

Aldous Grump patted his wife's shoulder reassuringly. ‘I'll go and find Charlie.'

‘And I'll get over to the gymnasium,' Miss Grimm said. ‘Today was always going to be tricky but, honestly, this is the last thing we need.'

‘Wait until Livinia finds out,' Mrs Howard said as she and the headmistress rushed out the door.

Millie cradled her chin in her hands. ‘I can't believe Fudge is gone,' she moped.

‘Me either. I'm going to miss him,' Sloane said. ‘I hope Miss Grimm lets us get another dog.' She glanced over and spotted a chew toy Miss Grimm had got for him, poking out from under a table.

‘I think she will,' Alice-Miranda said. She looked at Caprice, who had remained silent on the subject. ‘What do you think, Caprice?'

The girl looked up. ‘Huh?'

‘What do you think about Fudge?' Alice-Miranda repeated.

‘I'm sorry he's gone,' the girl said softly. She bit her lip and frowned. ‘You know something funny? Mr Plumpton said that the florist didn't come yesterday but I saw their van when I was helping Miss Reedy set up the chapel at lunchtime.'

Alice-Miranda flinched. ‘What sort of van was it?'

‘It was an old bomb with dents all over it,' Caprice said. ‘I thought it was rather odd at the time.'

Alice-Miranda, Sloane and Millie exchanged curious glances.

‘What are you all looking like that for?' Caprice asked.

Alice-Miranda leaned forward. ‘Are you sure it was the florist?'

‘Well, I thought so,' Caprice said, shrugging. ‘Miss Reedy was having a meltdown about the florist not arriving and then later on I saw her talking to the man in the white van. She was in a flap about something, so I assumed it was them.'

‘Did it have any writing on the side?' Millie asked.

Caprice shook her head.

‘What did the man look like?' Alice-Miranda said.

Caprice looked at them, bewildered. ‘There were two men. I didn't really see them up close but the one who was driving had a tattoo on his arm.'

‘A tattoo!' Sloane exclaimed. ‘What was it of?'

‘A star,' Caprice said. ‘It was pretty big, which is why I could see it when he was leaning out the van window.'

Alice-Miranda's eyes widened. ‘That's the same man we saw in the village with that fellow. The one who said he didn't know anything about Fudge.'

‘Do you think Fudge has been stolen?' Sloane gasped.

Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘And I bet I know where they've taken him. Sloane, call Constable Derby and
tell him what's happened – we'll be out on the road past Chesterfield Downs. Millie, come with me.'

The two girls pushed back their chairs and hurried out.

‘Be careful!' Sloane called after them. She and Caprice looked at one another, wondering exactly where the girls were headed.