The group left the cellar in dribs and drabs so as not to arouse any unnecessary suspicion. Alice-Miranda, Millie and Jacinta were the next to leave.
Hugh and Mrs. Oliver lingered behind for a moment. As Hugh locked the cellar, Mrs. Oliver ascended the stairs and stepped onto the veranda just in time to find Mr. Greening and Lucas arriving in the jeep.
In the back of the vehicle were a couple of large wriggling sacks.
“What have you got there?” Dolly called out.
Hugh caught up and walked over to take a closer look.
“I found these two leaving Rose Cottage—they were in a bit of a hurry too, so I thought perhaps they’d like to have a chat with Sergeant Gray about what they were doing there in the first place,” Mr. Greening said with a smile. “And we can thank young Lucas here for helping me catch them.” He nodded at the boy beside him in the front seat. “He was out for a walk when he saw me chasing these bumbling idiots. The lad’s fast, that’s for sure. They’d have outrun me if I’d been on my own.”
“I’ll give Gray a call and tell him that you’re on your way,” Hugh replied. “Why don’t you come and join us, Lucas? It sounds like you’ve earned yourself a piece of cake.”
“I’ll be back for some of that too,” Mr. Greening laughed. “Can you ask Mrs. Greening to save me a dance?”
Lucas opened the door of the jeep and walked over to Hugh.
“I believe you’re Lily’s nephew,” Hugh said. “It’s nice to meet you.” He offered his hand.
Lucas shook it cautiously. “Yes, I’m Lucas.”
“Welcome to Highton Hall.” Hugh patted him on the back as they walked inside.
“Where have you been?” asked Jasper, racing toward Alice-Miranda as she entered the ballroom with Millie and Jacinta close behind. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“Sorry—we got caught up with something,” Alice-Miranda said. Millie and Jacinta exchanged innocent looks.
“I had to dance with Mum,” Jasper groaned, “and she stepped on my toes three times.”
The ballroom was a kaleidoscope of colored gowns—a swirl of emerald and aubergine, lilac and buttercup.
Aunty Gee reappeared a few minutes later with Dalton by her side. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight again.
“I still can’t believe it’s actually her,” Millie whispered in Alice-Miranda’s ear.
Alice-Miranda took a deep breath. For the first time since she had arrived home, her strange feeling had vanished completely.
Ambrose McLaughlin-McTavish interrupted the children. “Have you seen Mrs. Oliver?” he asked, his forehead wrinkled with worry.
“Yes, there was a bit of a disaster in the kitchen, but I believe she’ll be back any minute,” Alice-Miranda informed him.
Just as she spoke, Mrs. Oliver emerged through the doorway, looking only slightly worse for wear.
“Are you all right, dear?” Ambrose asked. “I thought you must have grown sick of my company.”
“No, not at all, just a bit of unexpected business to attend to. I am sorry, Ambrose—it was frightfully rude of me to leave you all this time,” Mrs. Oliver said.
“A problem in the kitchen?” Ambrose queried.
“Yes, something like that.”
“That’s perfectly all right. Mrs. Smith has been taking very good care of me.” He smiled. “Would you care to dance?”
“Are you sure? What about your bad leg?”
“My dear, I’m expecting you to hold me up,” he chuckled.
“I’ll do my best,” she said, and led him to the floor.
Cecelia and Hugh had managed to slip back to the party and were taking a twirl around the dance floor.
“Do you want to dance?” Alice-Miranda asked Jasper.
“Okay, but only if you keep your feet to yourself,” he agreed.
“Where has everyone been, Alice-Miranda?” Charlotte asked as she and Cyril danced past the swaying pair. “And have you seen Lawrence? He’s been missing for half an hour.”
“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” her niece giggled as Jasper attempted a fancy dip.
Millie offered to go and get some lemonade for her and Jacinta. While she was gone, Jacinta plonked down in a chair against the wall, feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole evening. She was completely lost in her own thoughts, mumbling to herself.
“Hi,” said a voice.
She looked up and saw Lucas standing in front of her.
“Oh, hello,” she replied. “I’m glad you decided to come.”
“Well, I met your friend’s father and he forced me,” Lucas told her.
For the second time that day, Jacinta couldn’t help but feel that Lucas reminded her of someone. His piercing eyes seemed to look right through her. There was just something about him.
Lily caught sight of her nephew and rushed over to greet him. “I’m so glad you changed your mind. Lawrence will be thrilled.” Lucas shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other and scowled at his aunt.
Jacinta sighed. “It’s been quite a night.”
“Yes, you could say that,” Lucas agreed with a grin.
And then, all at once, that smile—Jacinta knew exactly who he reminded her of. “Oh!” she gasped. “Has anyone ever told you, you look just like Lawrence Ridley?”
Lucas blushed.
“I just wish I knew what he was up to.” Jacinta scanned the ballroom, not realizing she had spoken out loud. “He was out on the veranda talking to himself earlier and then he was kneeling in front of a statue upstairs.”
“Talking to himself?” Lucas replied. “The way you were just having your own private conversation with yourself?”
“Ha, ha,” she said, and narrowed her eyes.
“I’d love to know what he was doing out there in the garden at midnight on Sunday too,” Jacinta insisted.
“Meeting my aunt, I suspect,” Lucas offered.
“Lily? But why? Does Charlotte know?” Jacinta demanded.
Millie returned with two glasses of lemonade just as Alice-Miranda and Jasper finished their dance and joined the group.
“As a matter of fact, I think she does,” Lucas replied.
“Well, I still say he’s been up to no good—even if he is the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.” Jacinta sighed.
Alice-Miranda and Lucas shook their heads in unison.
“What were you going to tell me yesterday, at the cubby, before you changed your mind?” Jacinta asked, looking carefully at Lucas.
“Nothing really. It’s just that, well, I met my father,” he replied. “And he wants to get to know me.”
Jacinta looked as if she had swallowed a fly. “Nothing much? Are you kidding? Well, who is he?” she insisted.
“Umm …” Lucas glanced around the room.
“There he is.” Alice-Miranda pointed to the terrace, where Lawrence Ridley was down on one knee and Aunt Charlotte was positively beaming.
“Lawrence Ridley’s your father?” Jacinta’s mouth gaped open.
“Yeah, weird, hey?” Lucas replied.
“But how? When did you find out?” Jacinta demanded.
“It’s complicated. Maybe I’ll tell you one day,” Lucas teased.
“And from the looks of what’s going on out there, I suspect he might soon be my uncle too.” Alice-Miranda grinned. “That means we’ll be cousins, Lucas—how lovely!”
Lucas glanced over at her and rolled his eyes, then smiled broadly.
For the first time in a very long while Jacinta couldn’t think of anything more to say.
The clock in the hallway began to strike twelve. Outside a rocket soared into the night sky, then burst into a spectacular shower of silver and blue.
“Look!” Alice-Miranda exclaimed. “The fireworks!” She grabbed Millie’s and Jasper’s hands and ran out onto the terrace, with the rest of the party close behind.
Lord Gisborne was summoned to a meeting with Aunty Gee, where, in a blubbering mess, he confessed
to everything. He had employed Rupert Blunt to find out all about the Hall under the guise of writing a history book. Clarry and his partner were two idiots for hire. Along with Blunt, they were charged with breaking and entering, possession of an unlicensed firearm and fraud. The judge handed down the longest sentences on record for crimes of that nature.
Blunt claimed that the buyer for the formula was Mr. Addison Goldsworthy. While he couldn’t prove Goldsworthy’s role in the conspiracy, it seems the government had been after him for a multitude of things. He has recently been charged with massive tax fraud, as well as several hundred outstanding parking tickets, and is awaiting sentencing. Lord Gisborne’s allowance was cut and he was forced to run nightly ghost tours of his crumbling castle to pay the bills. Aunty Gee felt that was punishment enough—for now.
Hugh signed JAW contracts with twenty-eight countries. Alice-Miranda decided that Just Add Water had a much better ring to it than FDF. Mrs. Oliver has since made dazzling progress on her organic vegetable project, but it’s still not quite ready yet.
Ambrose McLaughlin-McTavish has given up watching television, as he much prefers taking Mrs. Oliver to the movies, out for dinner and on picnics. She says she hasn’t had this much fun in years.
Lawrence Ridley is proving himself to be a model father. After years of not knowing he had a son, he’s trying hard to make up for lost time.
For the moment Lucas is staying with Lily and her family, until some new arrangements can be made for school, but he spends every weekend with his dad and Charlotte and is helping them to plan their wedding. Alice-Miranda will soon get to be a flower girl for the third time this year.
Lucas and Lawrence share a love of choc-chip biscuits and watching reruns of Doctor Who. As you can imagine, Jacinta is completely besotted—with both of them.
Lucas’s mother has been home to visit a couple of times now. She wrote him a letter explaining everything. He’s glad she finally told him the truth.
And it didn’t take too long for Lucas to explain everything to Jacinta either. It seems that Lawrence and his mother had been married when they were very young but had quickly realized that working in movies, often in different countries, made things impossible. They agreed to go their separate ways and then his mother found out she was pregnant. Worried that a baby would hold Lawrence back in his career, she made the difficult decision to raise Lucas on her own. She said that she had planned to tell him one day, but the time just never seemed right. Lawrence became a famous movie star and it got very complicated.
Lily had always suspected that Lawrence was Lucas’s father. She had argued with Kitty when the boy was born and said that Lawrence had a right to know about his son. The sisters hadn’t seen each other since Lucas was a baby. But when he was expelled from school, Kitty had no choice but to ask for Lily’s help. Lily agreed, but only after Kitty promised that she would write to Lawrence and tell him everything.
Millie and Jacinta stayed on at Highton Hall for the rest of the holidays. Together with Jasper, Poppy and Lucas, the children had new adventures every day, but none quite as exciting as the night of Aunt Charlotte’s birthday party.
And as for Alice-Miranda’s surprise? Her father recently noticed that one of their three topiary horses—the old girl affectionately known as Beetle—was missing from the front lawn. Somehow she had managed to get all the way to the city to Aunt Charlotte’s back garden—just to remind her of home.
THE HIGHTON-SMITH-KENNINGTON-JONES HOUSEHOLD
Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones Only child, seven and a quarter years of age
Cecelia Highton-Smith Alice-Miranda’s doting mother
Hugh Kennington-Jones Alice-Miranda’s doting father
Granny Valentina Highton-Smith Alice-Miranda’s maternal grandmother
Aunt Charlotte Highton-Smith Cecelia’s younger sister
Lawrence Ridley Famous movie actor and Aunt Charlotte’s boyfriend
Dolly Oliver Family cook, part-time food technology scientist
Mrs. Shillingsworth Head housekeeper
Mr. Harold Greening Gardener
Mrs. Maggie Greening Mr. Greening’s wife
Granny Bert (Albertine Rumble) Former housekeeper
Daisy Rumble Granddaughter of Granny Bert, a maid at Highton Hall
Heinrich Bauer Runs the farm at Highton Hall
Lily Bauer Heinrich’s wife
Jasper Bauer The Bauers’ nine-year-old son
Poppy Bauer The Bauers’ five-year-old daughter
Lucas Nixon Lily’s nephew
Max Stablehand
Cyril Helicopter pilot
Bonaparte Alice-Miranda’s pony
Shergar Hugh’s magnificent hunter
Phinnie Family pony
Boo Aunt Charlotte’s horse
Birdy Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter
FRIENDS OF THE HIGHTON-SMITH-KENNINGTON-JONES FAMILY
Ambrose McLaughlin-
McTavish Millie’s grandfather
Aunty Gee Granny Highton-Smith’s best friend and Cecelia’s godmother (among other things!)
Lord Percy Gisborne Crusty old friend of the Highton-Smith-Kennington-Joneses’
Dr. Marsh Family doctor
WINCHESTERFIELD-DOWNSFORDVALE ACADEMY FOR PROPER YOUNG LADIES STAFF
Miss Ophelia Grimm Headmistress
Aldous Grump Miss Grimm’s husband
Mrs. Louella Derby Personal secretary to the
(née Higgins) headmistress
Miss Livinia Reedy English teacher
Mr. Josiah Plumpton Science teacher
Cook (Mrs. Doreen Smith) School cook
Charlie Weatherly (Mr. Charles) Gardener
STUDENTS
Millicent Jane McLoughlin-
McTavish-McNoughton-McGill Alice-Miranda’s best friend and roommate
Jacinta Headlington-Bear Talented gymnast, school’s former second-best tantrum thrower and a friend of Alice-Miranda’s
Alethea Goldsworthy Ex–head prefect, school’s very best tantrum thrower and enemy of most girls
OTHER
Addison Goldsworthy Alethea’s father, a man of ill repute
Rupert Blunt Author (among other things)
About the Author
Jacqueline Harvey has spent her working life teaching in girls’ boarding schools. She doesn’t have her own topiary horse in the back garden, but she has come across quite a few girls who remind her a little of Alice-Miranda.
Jacqueline has published three novels for young readers in her native Australia. Her first picture book, The Sound of the Sea, was named a Children’s Book Council of Australia Honor Book. She is currently working on Alice-Miranda’s next adventure.
For more about Jacqueline and Alice-Miranda, go to:
alice-miranda.com
and
jacquelineharvey.com.au
Alice-Miranda on Vacation Page 16