Alice-Miranda Takes the Lead (2 page)

Alice-Miranda led the charge across the cobblestoned courtyard towards Grimthorpe House. From her position on the dimly lit veranda, the housemistress Mrs Howard peered out into the darkness, a flurry of bother frothing on her lips.

‘Oh, thank heavens!' she ex claimed. ‘I was worrying myself into an early grave. Where on earth have you been? Dinner was an hour ago. Now hurry up inside, it's cool out and the last thing I need is a house full of coughs and splutters.'

The girls poured into the hallway, one after the
other. Mrs Howard gathered them around her like a mother hen, locked the front door and turned to face her charges.

‘Sorry Mrs Howard, we should have phoned you,' Alice-Miranda began. ‘Miss Grimm and Mr Grump invited us back to the study for hot chocolate and marshmallows and we lost track of the time. Miss Grimm was telling us about their honeymoon in Africa. It all sounded so wonderful. They went on a safari and they saw elephants and lions and hippos …'

‘And guess what, Howie?' Millie interrupted as she rushed through from behind Alice-Miranda. ‘Two monkeys invaded their bedroom and stole Miss Grimm's lipstick and when she was telling us about it, I almost jumped out of my skin. She's good at scary stories, that's for sure.'

Mrs Howard rolled her eyes. ‘Imagine that! Well, run along girls and brush your teeth. I'll be in to turn the lights off in ten minutes.'

The girls began to disappear through doorways along opposite sides of the long corridor. Alice-Miranda and Millie were headed towards their room when Jacinta whispered Millie's name. She then opened and closed her hands, signalling the number ten. ‘Ten minutes. Okay?' Jacinta asked.

Millie gave two thumbs up.

‘What was that fo–?' Alice-Miranda began. Millie promptly put her hand over Alice-Miranda's mouth and gave her a gentle shove into their bedroom.

Millie shut the door and flopped down onto her bed. ‘Midnight meeting in Jacinta's room.'

‘Midnight! What fun! But it's school tomorrow,' Alice-Miranda said as she unbuttoned her shirt. ‘Won't that upset Mrs Howard? I don't think she was very happy about our staying out late tonight.' She retrieved her pyjamas from under her pillow and began to get changed.

‘Don't worry about Howie,' Millie replied. ‘She was just pretending to be annoyed. She could have phoned the kitchen if she was
that
worried. Anyway, the girls on the corridor always have a “midnight meeting” on the first night back.'

‘We didn't last term,' Alice-Miranda replied.

Millie explained that this was because Alethea wouldn't allow anyone except
her
friends last term. Apparently the meeting was not really at midnight anyway, more like quarter to nine and usually someone fell asleep by quarter past and everyone got off to bed by ten at the latest. After holidays where the girls got to stay up later, it was hard to go back to
the routine of 8.30 pm bedtime for at least a couple of nights.

‘We can talk about what we did on the holidays,' Millie informed her friend.

‘But Millie, there are some things we
can't
talk about from the holidays,' Alice-Miranda reminded her.

During the school holidays, Alice-Miranda, Jacinta and Millie had far more adventure and excitement than any of them had bargained for. Jacinta had gone to stay with Alice-Miranda for the whole break. The two girls quickly found themselves at the mercy of a rather cranky boy and a dastardly stranger. When Millie arrived to join in the fun for Aunt Charlotte's birthday party, things went from bad to worse. A case of mistaken identity saw dear old Aunty Gee kidnapped by a gang of rogues intent on getting their hands on the Highton-Smith-Kennington-Joneses' cook and her formula for Just Add Water Freeze-Dried Foods. The fact that Mrs Oliver and Aunty Gee looked like twins had a lot to do with the confusion. In the end Aunty Gee returned safely and Alice-Miranda's bravery ensured that the crooks were captured, but the girls had been sworn to secrecy. Since Aunty Gee
also happened to be the Queen, her future freedom depended on their silence. Indeed, she would never be allowed anywhere on her own again if news of such misadventures reached the palace.

‘Do we take snacks?' Alice-Miranda asked. ‘Because Mrs Oliver packed a whole tin of her chocolate fudge.'

‘Yum.' Millie licked her lips. ‘Treats are always welcome. But don't expect to have any leftovers.'

Alice-Miranda and Millie finished changing into their pyjamas, grabbed their toothbrushes and hurried to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. The place was a hive of activity as all of the girls from the ground floor readied themselves for bed.

Not five minutes later, the bathroom was empty and Mrs Howard was patrolling the corridor, poking her head into each room, saying her goodnights and flicking off the lights.

Alice-Miranda and Millie lay in the dark, watching the clock as the minutes ticked by slowly until 8.45 pm.

‘It's time,' Millie whispered as she pushed back the covers and sat up, swivelling her legs around to scoop her slippers from the floor.

Alice-Miranda hopped out of bed and pulled on
her dressing-gown, then slid her feet into her pink slippers. ‘This is such fun!' she smiled. Her tummy was full of butterflies. ‘Are you sure Mrs Howard won't mind?'

‘Trust me,' Millie replied. ‘It's a first night tradition. Well, most of the time.' She grabbed Alice-Miranda's tiny hand and they scampered to the door.

The corridor was empty. Alice-Miranda followed her friend as they tiptoed along the softly lit hall to Jacinta's door. Other doors were opening and it wasn't long before there were at least ten other girls headed to the same place.

‘Password?' Jacinta's voice murmured on the other side of the door.

‘Dead,' Millie replied, louder than she had intended.

‘That's not it,' Jacinta whispered back.

‘No, but that's what you'll be if you don't hurry up and let us in,' Millie threatened.

Jacinta giggled and opened the door.

The stream of visitors poured into the room, finding themselves comfortable spots on Jacinta's bed and the spare bed that was to be Sloane Sykes's as of tomorrow. Alice-Miranda and Millie sat cross-legged on the Persian rug in the middle of the timber floor and Alice-Miranda offered the fudge tin around.

Just as the group got settled there was a shuffling sound outside the room, followed by a booming voice.

‘Jacinta Headlington-Bear, turn off that light, or I will be in to turn it off for you,' Mrs Howard instructed. The girls froze. Jacinta had left her bedside lamp on so everyone could see their way in.

‘Just doing it now, Howie,' Jacinta called back.

The girls remained silent until they heard the housemistress's footsteps on the stairs at the end of the hall.

‘That was close,' Susannah whispered as the group let out a collective breath.

Jacinta grabbed her torch from the bedside table, held it under her chin and flicked on the switch, doing her best impression of a ghost. ‘Welcome to
Grimthorpe Hoooooouse.' Everyone giggled.

‘So what do we want to talk about?' Danika asked. Now that she was officially Head Prefect she thought she had better take the lead. ‘What did everyone do in the holidays?'

Ivory, Shelby and Ashima all complained about having to stay at home and being totally bored.

‘Well, I saw Alethea,' Susannah began. ‘She was walking out of Highton's in the city with her mother and she almost knocked me over.'

‘Please, can we talk about more
pleasant
things?' Lizzy replied as she glanced at Shelby and Danika. The three girls had once been Alethea's best friends until they realised how incredibly horrid she was.

Alethea Goldsworthy had been Head Prefect at the beginning of the year, until it was revealed that she was a cheat and a liar, and had consequently left the school in a terrible hurry. She had treated Alice-Miranda especially badly.

‘Well, I feel sorry for her,' said Alice-Miranda.

Millie turned to her. ‘Why? She's totally evil. And after what she did to you, she deserved everything she got.'

‘I'm sure she's not mean and awful all the time,' Alice-Miranda replied.

‘You're too nice, Alice-Miranda, that's your problem,' said Ivory, smiling at her little friend.

‘No, I'm not.' Alice-Miranda shook her head.

‘No, she's
really
not,' Jacinta agreed. ‘You should have seen what she did to Mr Blu–' Millie and Alice-Miranda shot Jacinta a stare that would halt a river of lava. ‘Oh, never mind.'

Danika practically pounced on Jacinta. ‘What were you about to say?'

‘Nothing, nothing at all,' Jacinta lied. ‘Umm, does anyone know where that secret passage is off the Science room?'

The girls shook their heads.

‘Don't you remember Alethea saying that she'd found a secret passage but she was the only one allowed to go there?' Jacinta continued.

‘Knowing Alethea, she was probably just showing off,' Lizzy said. ‘But we should look for it. You never know – maybe she was telling the truth for once in her life.'

‘O-o-o-o-h-a-a-a-h,' Alice-Miranda yawned and rubbed her eyes. ‘Sorry, I'm really tired. I might go to bed.'

‘No!' Jacinta wailed. ‘It's too early. I know, let's tell ghost stories.'

Millie clasped her hands together. ‘I love ghost stories.'

‘No, not ghost stories,' said Madeline, shaking her head. ‘I think we should tell Alice-Miranda a true story – about the witch in the woods.'

‘A witch in the woods?' Alice-Miranda frowned. ‘What do you mean?'

‘I suppose we never got around to telling you about her last term because there were too many other things going on,' Madeline began. ‘But now you
need
to know.'

‘Definitely … yes … for sure,' the other girls chorused, nodding their heads.

‘But I don't believe in witches,' Alice-Miranda smiled. ‘They're only in fairy stories.'

‘Well, you should believe this – because it's absolutely true.' Susannah wriggled forward to the edge of the bed. ‘Come and sit up here next to me.' She patted the bedspread.

The youngest child stood up and moved in beside Susannah and Ashima on the bed. Millie stayed on the floor looking up at the storyteller.

‘All right, you'd better start at the beginning,' Alice-Miranda directed.

‘Well.' Susannah lowered her voice. ‘In the woods
not far from here, there's a witch. She lives on her own in a gigantic house, overgrown with vines and hidden by the forest. There's no one there except her and about a hundred cats, all meowing and calling and scratching and fighting.'

The girls began to shift uncomfortably. Alice-Miranda's brown eyes were wide.

‘Have you seen her?' Alice-Miranda asked. ‘I mean, anyone could make that up. Some of the children who live at Highton Mill, the village near our place, probably tell the same stories about Granny Bert – and she's not scary at all.'

‘I disagree! She's mad,' Jacinta disputed.

Madeline leaned over and took the torch from Jacinta, and held it under her chin. ‘This witch is tall, possibly the tallest woman you'll ever meet and she has enormous hands like a man and she wears the same black clothes every day and her teeth, well the ones she has, are rotten and crooked and there's a fang …'

The girls were now on the edge of the bed leaning in towards the storyteller.

‘But the worst thing is her face,' Madeline whispered. ‘It's …' Madeline grabbed her cheeks and pulled one up and one down, splaying the flesh between her fingers.

At that same moment, a branch scratched against the window outside and the room erupted into squeals which continued for at least a minute.

‘Quiet everyone, shush,' Alice-Miranda commanded, trying to quell the fuss. ‘Mrs Howard will –'

Without warning Jacinta's bedroom door flew open.

‘Mrs Howard will what, young lady?' The housemistress panted. ‘What a ruckus.'

There in the doorway, in an orange chenille dressing-gown with a floral shower cap perched atop her head, stood Mrs Howard. Her gaze moved from one girl to the next until it came to rest on Jacinta.

‘Jacinta Headlington-Bear, was this
your
idea?'

Jacinta gulped, looked up and nodded slowly.

‘Well, tomorrow we'll talk about what you can do to make it up to me. I was about to hop into the bath when I heard such a racket that would wake the dead. I've run all the way from the flat upstairs thinking there was a prowler or the like. And it's just you and your silly “midnight meetings” at nine o'clock. Off to bed, girls, NOW!'

The party began to break up. No one dared to say a word, except Alice-Miranda.

‘Mrs Howard, please don't blame Jacinta. No
one made us come and apparently it's a bit of a tradition to have a meeting on the first night back. Well, except last term, but that doesn't matter. Please don't be cross. I promise we will make it up to you tomorrow. What about we bring you something extra special for your tea? I can ask Mrs Smith if she can make your favourite. It's apple cinnamon bun, isn't it? Is that what you'd like?'

Howie did her best to maintain her furrowed brow, but in the end could barely restrain the smile that was spreading across her face.

‘Oh, dear girl, wherever did you come from?' She shook her head. ‘Now, off to bed quickly. And no more of this, all right?'

The girls nodded in unison and scampered off to their rooms.

Within a very short time, all that could be heard was the sound of Jacinta's snoring, competing with some rather loud snorts from the flat upstairs.