by Janet Rising
Hurray! I thought. Then I gulped. National Heritage had had their chance, as far as I was concerned, but that wasn’t why I’d gulped. I gulped because I hadn’t emailed Alex the whole story. I’d sort of skipped the details about Robert Collins planning to build on the site. I’d kind of omitted to tell Alex about Mrs. Collins going into a home. I’d definitely not made it completely clear that Drummer’s field didn’t exactly belong to me.
Why?
Well, you know what grown-ups are like, they always go on about knowing best. They will insist that you don’t know how things work, and that the most boring, stupid, unreasonable, unfair, idiotic and downright insane things are right in the eyes of the law and that’s that. I had feared that if I’d I told Alex all the ins and outs of our situation, he wouldn’t want to get involved.
But he did! It was totally amazing that Alex had responded! Alex had contacts. Alex was on our side.
A celebrity, James had said we needed. Well, I’d come up with one. I’d played my celebrity card, and he had turned out better than we had ever hoped. I’d done my part. Now we all had to pray that Jessica Tamarad and Time Detectives would save the day.
It was our second chance.
Suddenly everything seemed to happen very fast.
Firstly, I got an email from Jessica Tamarad, asking to come and view the site. Everyone was instantly uplifted by this news, of course.
“Brilliant!” shouted James. “Great work, Pia. I didn’t think anyone would really be able to get a celebrity, but you did.”
“And you started the ball rolling with the TV thing. This is so going to work,” Katy said.
Sophie was all for it. She also had a couple of reservations, though. “Did you tell them who the site belonged to, Pia?” she asked me.
Uh-oh, I thought, here we go…
“Er, well I didn’t actually say,” I told her. “She didn’t actually ask.”
“Good!” Sophie said decisively. “No point putting up barriers until the TV show is ready to take the bait. We have to play this thing smart.”
I could see Katy looking doubtful. She’s always up-front about things, but I was with Sophie on this one. After all, things were getting desperate, and this was our second chance. We couldn’t blow it now. I told Sophie Jessica Tamarad was coming on Saturday, in two days’ time.
“Oh, that’s not good!” Sophie said. “Dee and I have a show—miles away. We won’t be here.”
“Don’t worry,” Katy said, “we’ll all be here and show her around.”
“OK, get her drooling over what she might find,” Sophie advised us.
“Got it!” I’d told her, pushing away the nagging worry that had crept into my gut again. We had to do this!
Secondly, Aunt P came over again to—in her words—straighten out her darling Bam-Bam. We were all dreading it—no one more so than poor Bambi.
“So tell me,” Bambi said, her voice heavy with sarcasm. “Am I supposed to let myself be straightened out or not? You’re the people with all the smart ideas. That don’t work,” she added.
“What’s she saying?” asked Cat. I told her.
“What’s the answer?” I asked. Everyone stayed silent.
“I suppose,” began Katy, “it depends on how, exactly, Aunt P intends to do the straightening.”
“That’s helpful—not!” said Bambi. I relayed this back to the waiting gang.
“You’ll have to play it by ear,” said Cat, laying her pink cheek against her pony’s brown one. “I can’t bear the thought of you going back to Aunt Pam’s, but I don’t want Aunt Pam getting rough with you. You’ll have to decide for yourself what will be worth doing.”
Bambi stayed silent.
I’d got Drummer in from the field, and he was in his stable next door. I didn’t want him leaning over the gate and encouraging Bambi. Whatever Bambi did, it had to be her decision. She had to make up her own mind how far to go.
“I can’t even ask Aunt Pam to stop,” moaned Cat. “Bambi belongs to her, not me.”
“If she’s really horrible, we could always call the authorities,” said Bean.
“She won’t be cruel,” Cat told her, making a face. “She’s not a monster.”
“I’m very glad to hear that!” Bambi murmured.
“Look out, she’s here!” shouted Dee, and we all piled out of Bambi’s stable and scattered.
“I can’t bear to look,” said Katy, disappearing into Bluey’s stable with a broom. “I’m going to de-cobweb Bluey’s stable.”
“That should take you all of three minutes,” observed Bean. Katy’s stable was immaculate. “Why don’t you do Tiffany’s instead? That will keep you busy for hours.”
“Because it’s your job, and you’re just too lazy to do it!” replied Katy.
Cat held Aunt Pam’s offside stirrup as she mounted up in the yard. The tension in Bambi was obvious for all to see. Her head was up, her tail clamped down, and she rolled her eyes to try to see what Aunt Pam was up to in her saddle.
“She’s got a long schooling whip!” whispered Bean.
“Poor Bambi!” cried Katy.
Aunt Pam headed Bambi for the school, and Cat joined us, her face as black as thunder. “If she hurts Bambi,” she said, her hands clenched into fists, “I’ll, I’ll…”
I gulped. This was so not good.
For a few moments we all stood in silence. Well, almost.
“Must you do that?” cried Katy, looking daggers at Bean.
“What?”
“Bite your nails?”
“They’re my nails!”
“I can hear you crunching. It’s disgusting!”
“You’re in a great mood today!”
“I’m stressed!”
Bean looked skyward and stuffed her hands in her pockets.
We stood around not saying anything, seeing as everything anyone said just fired up everyone else. The moments ticked by.
“She’s back!” yelled Cat, bounding out of the stable as Bambi returned to the yard with a clatter of hoofbeats. Aunt Pam was no longer in the saddle. Handing the reins over to Cat, we saw her say something—and by her body language, it wasn’t complimentary. Fingers were pointed at Bambi, then wagged at Cat as Cat’s face turned redder and redder.
Eventually, Aunt Pam got in her car and whizzed off, and we all poured out of our hiding place now the enemy had retreated.
“What happened?” I demanded.
“That showed her!” Bambi said, adding a humph! at the end.
“Aunt Pam’s furious!” Cat told us miserably.
“Why?” asked Katy.
“Because,” said Bambi defiantly, “I straightened her out!”
“Bambi dumped her,” Cat explained. “She’s not a happy camper.”
“What did she say?” Bean asked. “Is she giving up her idea of having Bambi at home?”
“Oh yes,” Cat said, nodding, “she’s decided Bambi’s far too naughty for Emily after all.”
“Hurray!” yelled Bean, punching the air. “Our plan worked brilliantly!”
I looked at Katy. She looked back at me. Something wasn’t right.
“You don’t look very happy about it, Cat,” I said. She looked anything but.
Throwing her arms around Bambi’s neck, Cat began to cry. Bambi lowered her head and nuzzled Cat’s back in sympathy.
“I overdid it, didn’t I?” Bambi said quietly.
“Are you crying with joy?” Bean asked her hopefully.
“No!” came Cat’s muffled reply. “Not only has Aunt Pam decided she doesn’t want Bambi at home any more, she’s decided she doesn’t want her at all.”
“But that was the plan,” said Katy, confused. “That’s what you wanted—for Aunt Pam to continu
e letting you have her on loan.”
“You don’t understand,” Cat told us, between sniffs. “She isn’t going to let me have her. Aunt Pam is going to sell Bambi!”
Saturday dawned bright, sunny and warm. So why did I keep shivering?
“What time is it?” James asked me, for about the millionth time.
“Haven’t you got a watch?” I asked him crossly. Nerves are so getting to me, I thought.
“I use my cell phone,” he explained.
“Well, you’re not using it now!” I snapped. I’d lost count of the number of times I’d glanced down the drive, looking for Jessica Tamarad’s car, even though I knew she wasn’t due for another hour.
Everyone but Sophie and Dee were at the stables. Mrs. Bradley was being dragged around, as usual, by her stubborn Dales pony. Nicky was keeping an eye on her daughter Bethany, who was dabbing her pony Pippin with a dandy brush while Pippin dozed in the sun. I think he was actually snoring. Cat had gone riding on Bambi. She had said she didn’t know how many more times she’d be able to do that, and she wanted to be alone.
Drummer wasn’t speaking to me. He wasn’t speaking to me because of Aunt Pam’s plans for Bambi. He felt I’d let him down (and I could see his point) so I was getting the silent treatment. He pretended he was angry, but really, I think he didn’t trust himself to speak. He was awfully upset, and I had no words to console him. That was partly why I was being so bratty with James.
I looked along the drive again, and there was a car, coming along it.
She’s early! I thought, getting up to greet her. James came out of Moth’s stable and stood by my side as the car stopped and out got the driver, wearing corduroys and a dark-colored shirt.
“She’s one unattractive woman,” murmured James, snorting.
I gasped. When I breathed out, it came out in a single word. “Oh!”
“Hi, Pia!” said Alex Willard, waving at me as he slammed the car door shut.
“Er, hello,” I replied.
“You didn’t expect to see me, did you?” asked the great man, grinning. “But I thought I’d come along and see if I could do anything. I’d hate to see you all get evicted because of new developments here.”
“Oh thanks,” I gushed. “Thanks very, very much.”
“I thought I’d stay for a few days and see what Jessica finds. It’s going to be pretty exciting.”
I was confused. It sounded like Jessica was arriving with a shovel and was going to start digging today. I thought she was just having a look-see.
Everyone suddenly came out of the woodwork, anxious to be introduced to the famous horseman. Alex remembered Bean from when we’d gone to his yard on our riding vacation, and he said he remembered James and Katy, too, from our activity ride, but he was lovely to Mrs. Bradley, who went all shy and giggly (so not a good idea—she’s too ancient for that kind of behavior), and Nicky was just as bad.
“He’s soooo good looking,” she whispered to me, when Alex was talking to Katy. I supposed he was, in an old sort of way. I mean, he’s got gray hair and everything. He must be at least forty.
And then Jessica Tamarad turned up.
After what seemed like hours of chatting between Jessica and Alex, we finally all trooped out to the field to look at where the house used to be, all standing looking at the grass and the trees that hid the view behind them.
“So this is it, then?” Jessica asked. She had long black hair and dark eyes, and she was wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt. A huge yellow gemstone swung from a long golden chain around her neck, and her fingers held a collection of golden rings. She could give Sophie a run for her money in the glamour stakes.
We all stared at the ground and nodded.
“We’ve surveyed the site from the air,” Jessica said, smiling, “and it’s come up aces.”
“That’s fantastic,” said Alex, grinning at me.
“From the air?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Jessica, “we can see whether there has been a structure from the air—this site shows a huge house used to be here. Definitely Elizabethan.”
“How on earth can you know?” asked Katy.
“From the shape. Most big houses built at that time were in the shape of a letter E. The aerial shots show such a house. It’s very exciting!”
It certainly was!
“National Heritage didn’t think so,” grumbled Bean.
“Well, we’re certain we’ll find lots of interesting things once we start digging,” Jessica said firmly. “I’ve got the team coming first thing Monday morning to get cracking.”
“What?” we all yelled.
“Oh yes, it’s all worked out,” said Jessica, looking around.
“It will be fascinating to see what you do find,” agreed Alex.
“Er, there’s just one thing about that,” I said, nervously biting the inside of my mouth. “The land doesn’t actually, well technically, sort of belong to us and…”
“Oh, I know that,” Jessica said, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder with one hand. “I’ve already arranged with the owner for us to bring in the machinery and tents. We pay them, of course.”
We all stood there, totally lost for words. “You’ve spoken to Mrs. Collins?” asked Dee.
“Mr. Collins,” corrected Jessica. “I’ve been dealing with Mr. Robert Collins. He said I was to deal directly with him. We can’t do anything without the owner’s permission, naturally!”
“Oh,” I said. Obviously, Robert Collins had already forced his mother to hand over the stables to him. “And he agreed to you digging up the site?” I asked, wanting to be sure.
“Oh yes, very helpful,” said Jessica.
“Why?” James asked. “Won’t you want to preserve the site, if you find what you are looking for?”
“Well, that’s debatable…” Jessica began. I didn’t like where this was going.
“We are hoping to find some artifacts,” she continued, “but obviously the structure is no more. I mean, it’s not like we can open a house to the public—but I’m sure whatever we find will be of great historical interest.”
“She’s no better than National stinking Heritage!” James whispered in my ear.
“Shhhh!” I whispered back, unable to believe my ears.
“So you wouldn’t stop Robert Collins from building on the land once you’ve finished finding whatever you hope to find?” Alex asked.
“We can’t really,” Jessica confirmed. “I mean, it’s his land.”
“He’s getting you to dig the foundations for his houses!” James exploded.
“Probably!” Jessica laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised!”
“And you’re paying him!” cried Dee.
“Yes,” agreed Jessica. “Ironic, isn’t it?”
“It’s criminal!” burst out Katy.
Alex looked at me with a sorry-didn’t-know-about-this kind of look, and I felt sick.
“Oh great!” exploded James. “We’re actually helping Robert Collins. We’ve played right into his hands!”
“Now we’ve got to come up with a third chance!” wailed Katy, to the bewilderment of both Alex and Jessica. “Because our second chance is an epic fail!”
When I told Mom that Alex Willard was staying in the area for a few days, she immediately said we should all meet up for dinner at the Mill House.
“He won’t know anyone here, it’s only polite, and he is trying to help you after all, Pia,” she’d told me, when I’d explained why he was here.
I remembered the first meeting Mom had had with Alex Willard and wasn’t looking forward to repeating the experience. Mom flirting. Alex embarrassed. Me wanting to die. Then I remembered the second meeting they’d had. Alex had definitely been interested in my mom on that occasion.<
br />
An idea started growing in my brain. What if…?
“I’ll give him a call on his cell,” I said.
“How come you’ve got Alex Willard’s cell phone number?” Mom asked me suspiciously.
I waved his card at her, and she narrowed her eyes. “I thought you said you’d lost that?” she said in an accusing way.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I thought I had!” I lied. I’d told her that because I’d been scared she’d call him for a date. Now, with my new idea, I wasn’t so sure that hiding it had been such a good idea.
Alex was definitely excited to be invited. I told him the name of the restaurant and where it was, and we agreed to all be there at seven.
The Mill House is a fabulous, tiny, old restaurant with great food, and as it is only half a mile away from where we live, Mom and I walked there. Alex had already found a table and was waiting with a bottle of chilled white wine, two glasses, and a Coke for me. Mom and Alex greeted each other—“Hi, Sue. You look terrific.” “Hello, Alex. We couldn’t let you eat on your own now could we?”—while I watched intently. Was there still a spark there on Alex’s side? He’d definitely shown interest in Mom at the activity ride at Christmas. Mom had been very intrigued by Alex when we’d first seen him at the TV studios. Did they still find each other attractive?
Because here was my plan:
Get Alex to like my mom.
Get my mom to like Alex.
Get them to hook up.
Live happily ever after.
I mean how cool would it be having Alex Willard as a step-dad? No, really! Imagine!