Clementine Rose and the Special Promise 11

by Jacqueline Harvey

  ‘Eat your dinner, darling,’ Clarissa whispered.

  ‘I’m not hungry,’ Clementine replied. She felt awful, as if she had swallowed a whole loaf of bread and it was now stuck in her throat.

  ‘So, Drew, what do you do for a living?’ Roger asked. His moustache danced about as he chewed on a sausage.

  ‘I’m a cameraman and sound technician,’ Drew replied.

  Roger looked at him in surprise. ‘I can’t imagine there’d be much call for that sort of thing around here,’ he said.

  ‘I work all over the place,’ Drew explained. ‘That’s how I came to know the Applebys. A colleague of mine, Basil Hobbs, happens to be their neighbour. He recently made a documentary about Penberthy House and I worked on the production.’

  ‘Ooh, how interesting. Has it been on telly yet?’ Chanelle asked.

  ‘No, it’s on next month. I think Basil’s going to host a screening for everyone here in the village first,’ Drew said. ‘Clemmie’s the star of the whole thing.’

  Clementine looked up at the mention of her name.

  Saskia glared across the table at her. ‘She is going to be on TV?’

  ‘Yes,’ Aunt Violet said proudly. ‘Clementine did the most wonderful job playing the roles of the women who have lived in the house, including myself. She’s also going to be the host of Grandparents’ Day at school next week.’

  Clementine frowned and felt another stabbing pain in her side. ‘I don’t know for sure yet, Aunt Violet,’ she whispered.

  ‘I should be on TV,’ Saskia said. ‘I’m much prettier.’

  ‘Sassy,’ her father chided. ‘Clemmie Rose is lovely.’

  ‘But I’m lovelier,’ the child insisted.

  ‘Right, has everyone finished?’ Lady Clarissa said, taking the opportunity to change the topic. She stood up and began to clear the plates. ‘I’ve got chocolate mousse for dessert. That should sweeten things up.’

  ‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ Aunt Violet muttered into her napkin as she dabbed at the corners of her mouth.

  ‘I’ll help you with those.’ Drew stood up and took the pile of dirty dishes from Clarissa.

  Chanelle frowned and looked over at Uncle Digby. ‘Isn’t that your job?’

  ‘He’s not on duty,’ Aunt Violet quipped, quick to leap to the man’s defence this time. ‘But I’ll come and help if you like, Clarissa.’

  ‘It’s all right. We won’t be a minute.’ The woman smiled at Uncle Digby, who gave her a wink. They’d never seen Aunt Violet so keen to be helpful.

  Clementine slipped down from her seat.

  ‘And where are you off to?’ Aunt Violet asked the girl.

  ‘Please may I be excused? I need to go to the toilet,’ Clementine said quietly, her voice almost a whisper. With a nod from her great-aunt, she padded inside.

  Clementine didn’t really need to go to the toilet, though her tummy did feel all mixed up. She couldn’t help worrying that what Saskia had said was true. If her mother and Drew did get married and have a baby, it would be their very own. What if they liked the baby better than her? Would they send her away? They couldn’t do that to Will because Drew was his real dad, but Clementine didn’t even know who she really belonged to. It had never occurred to her before but Saskia seemed to know a lot about these things. Clementine reached the kitchen door and pushed it open. She gasped as she saw Drew bending down on one knee and her mother reaching out towards him.

  ‘Mummy!’ she cried, racing into the kitchen and sliding between the pair.

  ‘What’s the matter, darling?’ Clarissa asked. She scooped the charging girl into her arms.

  Clementine hugged the woman tightly. ‘I don’t feel well,’ she murmured into her mother’s neck.

  ‘Oh, sweetheart, has something upset you?’ Clarissa asked, stroking the girl’s hair. ‘Is it Saskia?’

  Clementine nodded, not wanting to tell her mother what was really on her mind. She turned around to find Drew still on one knee, cleaning up a splodge of mayonnaise on the floor.

  ‘The Bakers will be on their way after dessert and then you can tell me all about it,’ Clarissa said. She set Clementine back onto the ground and fixed her ribbon. ‘Do you want to help me take out the mousse?’

  ‘Okay,’ Clementine replied, eager to stay by her mother’s side.

  Drew looked over and flashed the child a warm smile. ‘Don’t worry about Saskia, Clemmie,’ he said. ‘She’s just jealous, that’s all. You’re the only girl I know who has a teacup pig and is about to be a television star.’

  Clementine nodded and dropped her eyes to the floor. As she followed her mother to the door, she looked up and glimpsed Drew’s reflection in one of the glass doors of the sideboard. She saw him put something into his pocket and, quickly turning away, hoped it wasn’t true.

  Clementine hardly slept a wink that night. She had stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours on end, imagining all sorts of terrible things. When she had finally dropped off to sleep, she’d had the most awful dream. Clementine yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

  Roderick Smee looked over at the child. ‘Were you up late last night, Clemmie?’

  The girl nodded and yawned again. ‘Sorry, Mr Smee, I can’t seem to stop,’ she sighed.

  ‘We went to Clementine’s hotel for a barbecue,’ Saskia said. She was sitting beside Clementine in Sophie’s old seat.

  ‘How nice,’ the man said.

  Saskia made a face. ‘Her mum didn’t cook anything I liked to eat.’

  Clementine was about to say something mean back when she remembered what her mother always told her about saying not-nice things. She closed her mouth and remained quiet.

  Mr Smee wondered whether seating the new girl beside Clementine had been the right decision. He scanned Clementine’s answers to the subtraction questions and smiled. ‘Well, for someone who’s tired, you’re doing a very good job,’ he said. He moved on and was surprised to find Saskia’s page had barely been touched. ‘Would you like some help?’ he asked.

  Saskia smiled sweetly. ‘No, thank you. I can do it. It’s just that my pencil broke and I couldn’t find the sharpener.’

  ‘This is too hard,’ Joshua grumbled loudly. ‘I hate subtraction. It’s stupid.’

  ‘Wait a sec, Josh – I’m coming,’ the teacher said, and walked across to the other side of the room.

  Saskia leaned over and hurriedly copied Clementine’s answers onto her own page.

  ‘That’s cheating,’ Clementine said.

  Saskia plastered on a fake smile and emptied her pencil shavings all over Clementine’s desk.

  Clementine gasped. ‘Don’t do that.’

  ‘Do what?’ Saskia blew the shavings onto the floor.

  ‘I saw you copy me,’ Clementine said.

  ‘No, you didn’t,’ Saskia snipped. ‘I was just checking that you had the right answers.’

  Clementine pulled a book out of her desk and used it to cover her work. Saskia glared at her.

  There was a loud rapping at the door and Mrs Bottomley barged in. ‘Good morning, Year One,’ the old woman said. ‘Mr Smee, I trust that everything is back to normal in here after last Friday’s shenanigans.’

  Clementine could hardly believe Sophie’s party had only been a few days ago. So much had happened since then.

  ‘Children, we need to talk about the arrangements for Friday,’ Mrs Bottomley said. ‘Now, has everyone remembered to invite their grandparents along for the special concert and classroom activities?’

  All but one child nodded. Saskia put up her hand. ‘I don’t know what we’re doing because I’m new,’ she said importantly.

  Mrs Bottomley looked at her. ‘That’s all right. Mr Smee will give you a note and hopefully you have grandparents who are not too far away.’

  The child’s eyes instantly began to fill with tears. ‘But Fifi and Dodge died,’ she blubbered.

  ‘Who’s that?’ Clementine asked.

  ‘My grandparents,’ Saskia sniffed.
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  Mrs Bottomley clasped her hands in front of her. ‘I see. Well, you can invite an elderly friend. There are lots of children doing that. Clementine is bringing her Aunt Violet and Uncle Digby.’

  ‘But I don’t know any old people,’ Saskia whined.

  ‘You can borrow my nan,’ Angus said cheekily.

  ‘I don’t want your nan,’ the girl snapped. ‘She’s probably got blue hair and wrinkles and smells funny.’

  There was a ripple of giggles around the room. Mrs Bottomley’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish and Roderick Smee did all he could to stifle a laugh.

  ‘She’s his nan,’ Joshua said with delight, pointing at Mrs Bottomley.

  ‘You tricked me!’ Saskia screeched in the most unforgiving manner, then promptly burst into tears.

  Roderick Smee walked over to the girl. ‘It’s all right, Saskia. I’ll speak with your mother this afternoon. I’m sure we can work something out.’

  Ethel Bottomley offered the child a handful of tissues. ‘No need to cry about it. There are plenty of other children in the same boat.’

  ‘Yeah, my granny kicked the bucket,’ Joshua said. ‘Before I was even born.’

  Lester nodded. ‘Same.’

  ‘Enough! Please, have some respect, boys,’ Mrs Bottomley ordered. ‘I want everyone in the hall straight after lunch for a full rehearsal. We have songs to practise.’ The woman proceeded to read out the names of the children who were to recite stories and poems on the day. Clementine was among them. ‘And remember that I still have to choose the host of the show,’ Mrs Bottomley reminded them.

  All of a sudden Saskia stopped her bawling. ‘I could do that,’ she said, perking up, ‘seeing as though I don’t have anyone.’

  ‘Well, you can try out at the rehearsal,’ the woman said.

  Clementine stared at the girl next to her. She wanted that part and Saskia knew it.

  Clementine grabbed the soccer ball as the rest of the children raced down onto the oval. ‘Do you want to play?’ she called out to Saskia. The girl had so far spent the whole of lunchtime complaining about the yucky fish fingers they’d had for lunch and telling the children how much better things were at her old school.

  Saskia shook her head. ‘I told you yesterday that I don’t like soccer.’

  Clementine shrugged, somewhat relieved, and jogged away with Poppy. She waved to Will, who was running around with some of the older kids in Year Two.

  ‘She’s a bit bossy,’ Poppy whispered.

  Clementine nodded. ‘She’s worse than that.’

  It wasn’t long before there was a giant game of soccer underway. The children raced up and down the oval shouting and cheering. After a while of sitting on her own, Saskia slunk over to the sidelines.

  ‘Do you want to be on our team?’ Joshua asked the girl.

  ‘I suppose,’ she said, and wandered onto the field.

  ‘I thought she didn’t like soccer,’ Poppy said to Clementine.

  Will raced along, dribbling the ball. He then booted it to Clementine, who broke free of the pack. Joshua sped across from the other side of the field. Just as Clementine was about to go for the goal, the boy raised his leg and kicked as hard as he could – right into Clementine’s shin.

  ‘Ow!’ she screamed, and fell to the ground.

  ‘Sorry,’ Joshua yelled, sprinting away with the ball. He kicked it out to Saskia just before being tackled by Lester. The girl charged up the field and booted the ball straight past Evie, who was playing with her doll in the dirt, and into the back of the net.

  Joshua high-fived Saskia and ran back to the middle of the field, where Clementine was still sitting on the ground holding her leg. She was trying her hardest to stop the tears from spilling. Will knelt down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder.

  ‘Hey, Angus,’ Joshua shouted, ‘Clemmie’s got a new boyfriend.’

  Angus gave the lad a dark look. ‘She’s not my girlfriend!’

  ‘Ooh,’ Saskia called in a singsong voice. ‘His dad is her mum’s boyfriend too. He’ll be her brother when they get married.’ The girl smiled smugly as if she knew a secret no one else did.

  ‘Is your mum getting married?’ Poppy asked.

  Clementine’s face flushed. She stood up and pushed Will out of the way. ‘No, she’s not!’ she shouted.

  ‘Her mum loves his dad and they’re going to get married and have a baby,’ Saskia teased.

  Joshua laughed.

  ‘It’s not true!’ Clementine said, her eyes brimming with tears.

  Will stalked towards the new girl. ‘Stop saying that!’

  ‘Why? What’s the matter? You said so yourself they were in love,’ Saskia said, feigning innocence. ‘People in love get married and have babies.’

  Roderick Smee noticed the small crowd of children in the middle of the oval. He walked over to see what was going on. ‘Is everything all right here?’ he said, noticing Clementine’s face streaked with tears.

  ‘Clemmie got kicked in the shin by Joshua,’ Tilda said.

  ‘Do you want to get an icepack?’ the man said kindly. ‘Tilda can go with you.’

  Clementine nodded and took the girl’s hand.

  ‘Did anything else happen?’ the teacher said, glancing around at the group.

  ‘Joshua was teasing Clemmie and Will and then Saskia joined in too,’ Poppy said. She was already fed up with their new arrival.

  Mr Smee scratched his head. ‘I see. I hope that’s not true.’

  ‘I didn’t do anything,’ Saskia said in a trembling voice.

  ‘Try to be kind to one another,’ the teacher said. ‘You’ve only got a few minutes until the bell – I suggest you get out there and have a good run around.’

  Angus picked up the ball and jogged away. Roderick Smee stood on the sideline to watch over the rest of the game. Saskia had only been in his class for half a day but he already had a sneaking suspicion the girl was going to rival Joshua in the trouble stakes.

  Clementine studied the page, then glanced up. Ethel Bottomley and the children were gathered in the assembly hall to watch the audition for the role of host. Clementine was up first. She wished she could stop thinking about what Saskia had said, but the girl’s voice was stuck in her head like an annoying tune. Clementine’s eyes wandered over to the girl, who shot her tongue out at her like a lizard. Clementine frowned and looked back at the page.

  ‘We don’t have all day, Clemmie,’ Mrs Bottomley urged.

  The girl nodded and stepped up to the microphone. ‘Welcome to our Grandparents’ Day celebrity,’ Clementine stumbled. ‘Oops, I meant celebration.’

  ‘Thank you, Clementine, that’s enough,’ the teacher said. ‘Joanna, you’re up next.’

  Clementine’s cheeks burned and she felt as though she might cry. ‘But I can do it better,’ she said.

  Mrs Bottomley looked at her watch. ‘I’m afraid we don’t have time.’

  Joanna was jigging up and down on the spot as if she needed the toilet. At the mention of her name, she stepped forward and took the script. Eager to prove herself, the Year Two girl read the first three lines so quickly it all sounded like mumbo jumbo. Mrs Bottomley thanked her and then passed the page to Saskia, who read the entire opening without making a single mistake.

  ‘Thank you, girls,’ the teacher said. ‘Given that Clemmie already has a poem to recite and Joanna is a member of the dance group, Saskia can be the host.’

  Clementine felt her eyes sting. It wasn’t fair. She knew she could have done it perfectly if she hadn’t been distracted by Saskia and all the mean things the girl had said at lunchtime.

  ‘Bad luck,’ Saskia whispered as they made their way to sit down. She flicked her hair back and preened.

  Clementine sniffled and went to sit next to Poppy.

  The rest of the afternoon dragged on. Clementine was so flustered she also fluffed the lines of her poem, which made Mrs Bottomley very cross. Saskia giggled at her and made a face when no one was looking. C
lementine usually loved school but she would rather have been anywhere else that afternoon.

  When the school day finally came to an end, Will joined Clementine at the gate. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

  Clementine rubbed her shin and nodded. The spot where Joshua had kicked her had already swelled into a big bump.

  ‘There’s Dad,’ Will said, pointing at the four-wheel drive pulling up to the kiss-and-drop area.

  Lady Clarissa stepped out of the passenger seat. ‘Hello there,’ she called to the pair. ‘Hop in.’

  Clementine spotted Saskia walking past with a smirk on her face. She was with her mother, who was wearing even taller heels than the ones she’d had on the evening before.

  ‘Hello Saskia, how was your first day?’ Clarissa asked.

  ‘I’m the host for Grandparents’ Day,’ the child boasted.

  Clarissa smiled. ‘Goodness, that’s exciting,’ she said. She hoped Clementine wasn’t too upset at the news.

  Clementine clambered into the back of Drew’s car without saying goodbye. She shuffled over as Will hopped in beside her.

  ‘We’d better run,’ Mrs Baker said. ‘Sassy’s getting her hair coloured this afternoon. She’s as brown as a fieldmouse without it. Lucky I got an appointment, seeing that she has the main part on Friday!’ The woman giggled and threw them all air kisses before whisking her daughter along the street.

  Drew looked at Clarissa as she climbed back into the car. ‘Did Mrs Baker just say what I thought she said?’

  ‘She certainly did,’ Clarissa replied.

  Drew grimaced. ‘How old does she think Saskia is? I want our kids to stay kids for as long as possible.’ He smiled at Clarissa and reached across to squeeze her hand.

  Clementine thought back to what Saskia had said and went pale. The girl might have been right after all.

  ‘We’ve got a big surprise for you two,’ Drew said, glancing at the children in the rear-vision mirror. ‘Are you all right, Clemmie?’ he asked, noticing the expression on the girl’s face.

  ‘I’ve got a tummy-ache,’ she lied, and leaned her head against the window.