Alice-Miranda in China

by Jacqueline Harvey

  Coco shrugged. ‘I suppose. Maybe I’ll stay if I can do tricks like Summer Tan.’ Coco looked admiringly at the poster of the girl, which took pride of place on her wall.

  ‘You are better than her,’ said Wai Po.

  Coco shook her head. ‘Mama said she does things that aren’t humanly possible. I wish I could see her perform.’

  Lucille pushed open Coco’s bedroom door. ‘Who do you wish you could see?’ she asked, a cheery smile on her face.

  ‘Hello Mama,’ Coco replied, wondering the reason for her mother’s early visit. She couldn’t remember the last time she had come into her room before school. ‘I was just telling Wai Po that I wish I could see Summer Tan.’

  ‘Oh.’ Lucille’s smile broadened. ‘You never know your luck, daughter.’

  Wai Po looked at the woman, pondering what mischief she was up to today. ‘I will get your breakfast, Coco,’ the older woman said, and walked out of the room.

  ‘You can get mine too,’ Lucille shouted after her.

  It was just as well she couldn’t see Wai Po rolling her eyes.

  ‘Are you excited about our visitors?’ Coco asked, tugging at her mother’s hand.

  Lucille’s smile melted. ‘I am embarrassed,’ she admitted. ‘What will they tell their parents when they return home? That we made them share a bathroom in an alley?’

  ‘Mama, what does it matter? They have come to China to see what life is like here, and this is our life,’ the girl reasoned. ‘I don’t understand why you are always so upset about the way we live. Ye Ye and Nai Nai are so good to us.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose you’re right. But our life is going to be so much better when …’ Lucille trailed off and a strange look settled on her face.

  ‘When what, Mama?’ Coco asked. Her mother wasn’t usually backwards in saying what was on her mind.

  Lucille stared into the distance as though she was in the middle of a daydream.

  ‘Are you all right, Mama?’ Coco asked. She was beginning to worry that there was something wrong with her. This was not her mother’s usual behaviour at all.

  ‘When we have indoor plumbing, of course,’ the woman said. ‘Come, we must get to breakfast and then to rehearsal. You don’t want to be late for school today.’

  ‘I wish Alice-Miranda and Jacinta would be there when we start school, but they aren’t due until lunchtime and by then I think I’ll be ready to burst with excitement.’ Coco grabbed her schoolbag and raced out the door.

  Lucille was just about bursting too. The idea of being part of the world’s best acrobatic troupe, staying in the finest hotels and flying all over the globe, was almost too much to think about. If someone in this family didn’t say something soon, she didn’t know how much longer she could keep it to herself.

  The bus slowed down and veered left off the freeway ramp.

  Millie looked at her watch. ‘We must be getting close to the school by now.’

  ‘I wonder if they’re nervous about meeting us,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘I’m so excited it feels like there are a thousand butterflies doing somersaults in my stomach.’

  Millie grinned. ‘Maybe that’s what’s happening in my tummy too. I thought it was just that seaweed biscuit I ate on the flight.’

  Lucas and Sep were sitting across the aisle from Jacinta and Sloane, who were both gazing out of the windows at the unfamiliar surroundings.

  ‘At least the traffic doesn’t seem as bad here,’ Sep said, just as the bus lurched to a halt.

  ‘Good one,’ Lucas said, eyeing the long line of cars up ahead.

  Sep groaned. ‘Maybe I spoke too soon.’

  September Sykes was sitting a few rows back, regretting both the large bottle of water she had downed on the plane and the decision to wear her brand-new skin-tight jeans. She was now absolutely busting to go to the toilet. She stood up and walked gingerly to the front of the bus, where she whispered into Miss Grimm’s ear.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Sykes, I didn’t quite catch that,’ Ophelia said loudly.

  ‘I need to go,’ September hissed, barely raising her voice. She jigged from one foot to the other like an Irish dancer.

  Ophelia shook her head. ‘My ears must be blocked from the flight. You’ll have to speak up, Mrs Sykes.’

  ‘If we don’t pull over right now, I’m going to wet my pants!’ the woman screamed.

  The entire bus fell deathly silent, then erupted with laughter.

  ‘Mummy, you are so embarrassing,’ Sloane shouted. ‘I disown you!’

  ‘The feeling’s mutual!’ September yelled back.

  ‘Did you really have to broadcast that to the entire group, Mrs Sykes?’ Ophelia rolled her eyes. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long to settle the children down again. She wanted them to be on their best behaviour when they arrived at Bright Star.

  The guide who was accompanying them from the airport to the school was an earnest young man named Grant. ‘Is there a problem?’ he asked.

  ‘Would it be possible to find a toilet?’ Ophelia asked.

  ‘Urgently!’ September added through gritted teeth.

  Grant looked outside and spotted a restaurant. ‘Perhaps we can use the facilities there,’ he said, pointing at the grungy-looking building.

  There wasn’t really anywhere to pull over, so the driver simply flicked on his hazard lights and remained in the middle of the road. Horns blasted and cars edged around the vehicle, while motor scooters and cyclists whizzed by on both sides.

  Grant took the woman’s arm and, after a couple of near misses with speeding motorbikes, they negotiated their way to the restaurant door. At least ten minutes went by before September and Grant reappeared. The woman looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

  ‘Are you all right, Mrs Sykes?’ Ophelia Grimm asked, as she stepped back inside.

  ‘No, I’m not,’ September sniffed.

  ‘What happened?’ Mr Grump asked, noting that their resident fashionista was missing a shoe.

  ‘I had to … squat over a hole in the ground, and there was no toilet paper,’ September said shakily. ‘And then …’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Sykes. I probably should have warned you that there are a lot of places in China that don’t have Western-style toilets, and it’s always advisable to take a packet of tissues with you,’ Ophelia said.

  ‘Shanghai didn’t have anything like that,’ September said as she gratefully accepted a wet wipe from Miss Reedy.

  ‘Where is your shoe, Mrs Sykes?’ Mr Plumpton asked.

  At the mention of her missing footwear, the woman promptly burst into tears.

  ‘We’re here!’ Alice-Miranda exclaimed, gazing out at the white building. Strung beneath the Bright Star Academy sign was a large banner with the words ‘Welcome, new friends’.

  Ophelia Grimm had only just stepped off the bus when she was almost bowled over by a brunette woman in a smart red suit. Behind them, standing to attention on the front steps, was a long line of smiling children. The two women embraced like long-lost friends.

  ‘It all looks so modern,’ Alice-Miranda said to Millie, who was putting her camera away into her backpack.

  The children filed off the bus and huddled together.

  ‘Welcome, welcome, friends,’ said the smiling woman with dark hair. ‘My name is Shauna O’Reilly and I’m the headmistress of the Bright Star Academy.’

  ‘She looks way too young to be in charge,’ Sloane whispered to Jacinta, a little louder than she’d intended.

  Miss O’Reilly winked at them. ‘Why, thank you very much, girls.’

  ‘I thought Miss Grimm and Miss O’Reilly had gone to university together,’ Millie said.

  Ophelia arched her eyebrow. ‘We did.’

  ‘O-kay,’ Millie mumbled in a singsong voice.

  ‘We’re going straight to the auditorium for a quick assembly, then I’ll introduce you to your billets and you’ll spend the afternoon doing some activities with them. We’ve planned a special dinner here at school tonight –
one that all the parents will attend,’ Miss O’Reilly said, buttoning her jacket.

  September’s ears pricked up. ‘A dinner? Does that mean we have to stay here until then?’ She’d quickly located another pair of shoes in her suitcase, but all she really wanted to do was go to the hotel and have a shower.

  ‘Won’t that be lovely, Mrs Sykes?’ Ophelia Grimm could feel her blood pressure rising every time the woman opened her mouth.

  ‘But …’ September was about to say something when Sloane gave her a sharp poke in the ribs.

  ‘Please stop it, Mummy. We are guests here and you need to behave accordingly,’ Sloane ordered.

  Livinia Reedy and Ophelia Grimm smothered their grins. They couldn’t have said it better themselves.

  ‘Well, I hope they have proper toilets here,’ the woman huffed.

  Miss O’Reilly smiled sweetly. ‘Of course, Mrs Sykes. We have all of the modern amenities here at Bright Star.’

  Millie giggled behind her hand. ‘I wonder if Miss O’Reilly and Miss Grimm learned their smiling assassin skills at university together.’

  The children walked through the guard of honour that had been created by the Bright Star students. As they entered the formation, the boys and girls bowed to acknowledge the arrival of their visitors, but there were plenty of smiles and giggles too.

  Alice-Miranda smiled and waved while Millie bowed, although after a while she felt like that drinking bird toy Mr Plumpton kept in the Science lab.

  The children entered the school reception area, which looked more like something out of a space-age corporation. There was a huge television screen flashing a welcome message that was bordered by photographs of each of their faces.

  ‘Gosh, they don’t do things by halves around here,’ Jacinta said. ‘We’d have whipped up a sign in Art class.’

  Miss O’Reilly led them into an auditorium, which would have looked more at home inside an opera house than a school. The students from Bright Star spilled in after them and, within a few chaotic minutes, the visitors and hosts were seated. As several Bright Star pupils took turns welcoming their guests, Ophelia was kicking herself for not thinking to have any of her children ready with a reply. Although, at least she’d thought to arrange the presentation of the school pennant.

  Millie spotted the teacher waving at them and tapped Alice-Miranda on the shoulder. ‘I think Miss Grimm wants you,’ she whispered.

  Without a fuss, the child stood up and quickly made her way to the end of the row. Minutes later, she thanked their hosts for their generous welcome in near-perfect Mandarin.

  After the formal assembly, the children were taken to another reception area to be introduced to their billets. The room was blooming with floral arrangements and centred around a long table laden with afternoon tea. The students fidgeted excitedly as Miss O’Reilly announced each of the hosts and their guests, the children then hurrying towards each other and making speedy introductions.

  ‘Hello, I’m Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones.’ The child smiled at a tiny girl whose hair was wound tightly into two panda ears. She offered her outstretched hand before introducing Jacinta too.

  Coco shook the girls’ hands and bowed. ‘I’m Coco Wong and I am so excited to meet you both. Congratulations on your speech, Alice-Miranda. Your Mandarin is spotless.’

  Alice-Miranda smiled. ‘That’s very nice of you to say, but I’m just a beginner. You can be sure that your English is much better than my Mandarin.’

  ‘Well, you made everyone laugh with that story about your friend not wanting to eat scorpions on sticks.’ Coco grinned. ‘It feels like we have been waiting forever for you to arrive.’

  ‘It felt like that for us too,’ Jacinta said. ‘Is the traffic always so bad?’

  Coco nodded. ‘You get used to it.’

  ‘Do you walk to school?’ Alice-Miranda asked, wondering how far away they were from Coco’s home.

  The child shook her head. ‘Not usually, but sometimes I walk home – it’s not that far. I have to go to the theatre for rehearsals before school.’

  ‘The theatre?’ Jacinta’s eyebrows raised.

  ‘My family has an acrobatic troupe and we rehearse every morning,’ Coco said.

  ‘That’s fantastic,’ Alice-Miranda gasped. ‘We saw the Circus of Golden Destiny perform in Hong Kong and there were some incredible acrobats there. Is that the sort of thing you do too?’

  Coco nodded. ‘I have never seen them in real life, but they are on the television sometimes. There is one performer – Summer Tan – who is my idol.’

  ‘She’s mine too,’ Jacinta sighed, finding her voice.

  ‘We met her and she’s absolutely lovely and so clever,’ Alice-Miranda added.

  Coco’s eyes lit up. ‘You must tell me all about her. What’s she like? Is she as tiny as she appears on the television?’

  Jacinta nodded. ‘She’s pretty small and so flexible. I think her bones are made of elastic bands.’ The girl’s mind raced. ‘Can we see your show?’

  ‘Yes, of course. My family would be honoured,’ Coco said.

  Alice-Miranda gave her friend a gentle nudge. ‘Jacinta is an excellent gymnast,’ she said.

  Jacinta’s cheeks flushed red and her eyes dropped to the ground. ‘I’m not, really.’

  ‘She’s just being modest,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Jacinta’s a former national junior champion.’

  Coco beamed.

  ‘Past tense. I’m not anymore,’ Jacinta protested.

  ‘That’s still amazing,’ Coco insisted. ‘Maybe you can train with us.’

  Jacinta could feel the excitement rising in her body. This was like a dream come true. ‘Do you have a plate-spinning act?’ she asked.

  Coco’s eyes sparkled. ‘I also have a special performance using silk ribbons, which is lots of fun. And we do plenty of trampolining and tumbling.’

  ‘Wow.’ Jacinta was itching to start right away.

  Coco turned her attention to Alice-Miranda. ‘And you?’

  ‘Oh no,’ the girl said, shaking her head. ‘I’m not the least bit flexible.’

  Alice-Miranda glanced across at Millie, who was talking animatedly to a girl with two plaits. She and Sloane were laughing as the girl pulled a funny face. Caprice and Susannah were standing nearby with another girl whose thick black hair tumbled all the way to her bottom in luxuriant waves. Caprice didn’t look very happy, but at least Susannah was smiling.

  ‘Your headmistress seems like a lot of fun,’ Alice-Miranda said. The woman was laughing hysterically with Lawrence Ridley and Ambrosia Headlington-Bear.

  ‘Oh, she is,’ Coco gushed. ‘We’ve been on lots of excursions. Last year we camped on a far section of the Great Wall, where we had to get dropped in by helicopters, and another time we spent three days training to be panda keepers in Chengdu.’

  ‘Wow!’ Alice-Miranda’s eyes widened. ‘That sounds extraordinary.’

  Jacinta looked over at Lucas and Sep with their billet. ‘I wonder who the boys have been paired with.’

  ‘Oh, that’s my cousin Sunny,’ Coco said. ‘He’s really more like a brother because we live in the same house and perform together too. I hope you don’t mind that there’ll not be three children but six.’

  ‘Fantastic!’ Jacinta exclaimed. Alice-Miranda smiled, glad that things between her and Lucas were back to normal.

  Miss O’Reilly pulled a tiny piccolo from her jacket and began to play a spirited tune, which quickly got everyone’s attention. ‘Okay, children. I hope that you’ve had a good chat with your billets, but I’m afraid it’s time to make your way to your after-school activities. We’ll meet back in the cafeteria at half past five for our early supper. See you then!’

  ‘What about your show?’ Alice-Miranda asked Coco. ‘Do you have to perform tonight?’

  The girl shook her head. ‘We only perform Friday to Sunday because Ye Ye – that’s our grandpa – says that it would be too much on top of school. Other performers take ou
r place from Monday to Thursday. We’d better be going. My badminton coach doesn’t like it when we’re late.’

  As the children were leaving the auditorium, Alice-Miranda noticed September sitting on her own. She peeled off and hurried over to her. ‘Are you all right, Mrs Sykes?’ she asked.

  The woman pouted at her telephone. ‘Stupid battery’s run out and my charger’s on the bus. What am I supposed to do until dinner?’

  ‘Why don’t you go with Sloane or Sep to their after-school activity?’ the child suggested.

  ‘They’re not talking to me,’ she said.

  ‘Would you like to come with us?’ Alice-Miranda asked. ‘We’re going to play badminton with Coco.’

  September realised that all the other students and adults had left the room. Two women in white pinafores wheeled in a trolley and began to clear away the afternoon tea.

  Coco smiled. ‘We just have to go to the gymnasium next door.’

  ‘I suppose,’ September huffed. ‘But I hope it’s not too far to walk. My feet are killing me.’

  The Bright Star cafeteria more closely resembled an upmarket restaurant than something one would expect to find in a school. Several buffet stations groaned under the weight of far too much food and, to the children’s surprise and delight, the fountain in the centre of the room flowed with lemonade. Shauna O’Reilly was busy wandering around introducing the parents of the host children to their adult guests and making sure that everyone had plenty to eat.

  Millie picked up a barbecue-pork bun and plonked it onto her plate. ‘This food is great,’ she announced, as the children shuffled along the line helping themselves to the feast.

  ‘Those dumplings look delicious too,’ Alice-Miranda said. She took a small plate of three and added it to her tray.

  The afternoon’s activities had proven to be a resounding success. Although September Sykes had somewhat reluctantly joined Alice-Miranda and her friends, in the end she’d had a wonderful time, even hitting the court to demonstrate some surprising skills with the badminton racquet. Alice-Miranda had taken the opportunity to have quite a lovely chat with her too. Coco Wong directed Alice-Miranda and Jacinta to a table where Sloane and Millie were sitting with their billet, Selina. Caprice and Susannah were at the table next to them, accompanied by the girl with the lavish curls.