Alice-Miranda Shines Bright 8 (15 page)

 

A
t the end of the school day, Alice-Miranda walked back to Grimthorpe House, where she bumped into Miss Reedy.

‘Hello Alice-Miranda,' the English teacher greeted her. ‘Did you have a good day?'

‘Hello Miss Reedy. Yes, I think so.' Alice-Miranda half-smiled and half-frowned at the same time. ‘What time do you want us at singing practice?'

‘I'm afraid we've had to cancel. Mr Trout broke a tooth at lunchtime and he's got an emergency dental appointment. I need to be here, as we haven't got anyone to cover for Mrs Howard yet, so we'll catch up later in the week.'

‘Is there any news on Mr Parker?' With all of the drama surrounding Jacinta and Mrs Jelly, Alice-Miranda had quite forgotten until then that there were search teams out looking for him.

The teacher shook her head. ‘Charlie came in earlier and said that there was still no sign.'

‘Seeing that our rehearsal is cancelled, could Millie and I go out on Bony and Chops again for a little while and help with the search?'

Miss Reedy looked at the clock. It was just after half past three. ‘I don't see why not. Just be careful and make sure that you're back before dinner at six.'

‘Thank you, Miss Reedy.' Alice-Miranda raced off down the hallway to get changed and see if Millie had already arrived back at the house.

Twenty minutes later the two girls were cantering across the open field towards the woods.

Millie turned in the saddle to face her friend. ‘Where should we go?'

‘What about the other side of the stream, further past Gertrude's Grove?' Alice-Miranda suggested.

‘I've never been that far before,' Millie said. ‘You don't think we could get lost, do you?'

Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘If we do, I just have to give Bony his head and he'll soon sniff out the nearest vegetable patch around – and surely there would be a house with a telephone close by.'

Millie nodded. ‘Okay, lead the way.'

Alice-Miranda squeezed Bonaparte's flank and the pony loped along. When the pair reached the edge of the woods, Alice-Miranda pulled gently on the reins and he slowed to a trot. Fortunately she was so small in the saddle that the overhanging branches didn't present any real danger. The girls rode across the meadow known as Gertrude's Grove.

Instead of tying the ponies up along the fence as they often did, Alice-Miranda opened the gate that led to the stream and they continued on their way. They found an old path and rode deeper into the woods.

‘It's a bit creepy in here,' Millie said, turning her head to look around. She was almost expecting a witch to fly out of the undergrowth. ‘You know, if we'd mever met Miss Hephzibah and we still believed in the legend of the witch in the woods, I'd be terrified right now.'

‘I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Millie,' the child replied. ‘Mr Parker,' she called into the foliage. Millie did the same.

The track broadened and Alice-Miranda glimps­ed a flash of red in the distance.

‘Can you see that, Millie?' A small red sedan was parked further along on the edge of the track, partly hidden by some overhanging branches.

‘I wonder who owns it,' said Millie.

Alice-Miranda shrugged. ‘I don't know but I think Bony needs a drink and there's a stream just down there.'

She slid from the saddle, took the reins over his neck and walked towards an old timber bridge.

Millie did the same. ‘I don't think anyone's been across that for a while,' she said, after noticing the missing timbers and disintegrating posts.

The girls walked the ponies down a rough path to the edge of the stream, where Bony and Chops plunged their lips into the cool flowing water and slurped loudly.

Bonaparte pulled his head up and whinnied, spraying water all over Alice-Miranda.

‘You horrid monster,' she said, laughing as she wiped the slime from her cheek.

But something had upset the little horse. He swivelled around and seemed transfixed on a large oak tree behind them.

‘What is it, boy? What can you see?' Alice-Miranda held his reins tightly.

There was a rustling sound and Alice-Miranda spotted Bony's target. ‘Millie, there's someone up there.'

Millie could see the figure high above them now too. ‘That's a bit weird.'

‘Let's go and say hello.' Alice-Miranda pulled on Bonaparte's reins and walked him back up onto the gravel track. An old fence lined the way and although it was a bit shambolic, there was an upright section just perfect for hitching the ponies to.

‘Hello,' Alice-Miranda called. ‘Are you all right up there?'

The figure moved and Alice-Miranda saw that it was a woman.

‘Hello,' the woman replied.

‘We're looking for someone,' Alice-Miranda said. ‘You haven't seen an old man out here, have you?'

The woman shook her head and began to make her way out of the tree. She used the branches like steps and in a few seconds had leapt from the lowest limb onto the ground.

Alice-Miranda noticed that she was very tall and slim and had pretty red curls tied back in a ponytail. She thought she looked about the same age as her Aunt Charlotte.

‘My name is Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones and I'm very pleased to meet you.' The child held out her tiny hand.

The woman smiled and took Alice-Miranda's hand into her own.

Alice-Miranda noticed that she had a pair of binoculars slung around her neck. ‘Are you looking for Mr Parker too?'

‘Mr Parker?' The woman frowned and shook her head. ‘Why? What's happened to him?'

Alice-Miranda launched into the story of Mr Parker's accident and recent awakening. The woman looked taken aback.

‘Do you know Mr Parker?' Alice-Miranda asked as she finished her tale.

The woman shook her head. ‘No. Not at all. But that's an awful story.'

‘I'm Millie,' the red-haired child spoke up.

‘Sorry Millie, it was terribly rude of me not to introduce you,' said Alice-Miranda.

‘Hello,' the woman replied.

‘You didn't tell us your name,' Alice-Miranda reminded her.

‘It's Ursula.'

‘If you're not helping search for Mr Parker, then may I ask what you were doing up that tree?' Alice-Miranda asked.

‘Oh . . . just work.'

‘What sort of work do you do?' Alice-Miranda asked.

‘Are you a spy or a secret agent or something?' Millie added.

Ursula's eyes twinkled. ‘I'm a secretary.'

‘A secretary?' Millie frowned. ‘Why would a secretary be up a tree with a pair of binoculars? I thought secretaries worked in offices.'

Ursula grinned. ‘I do. It's just that I'm helping my boss on a special assignment.'

‘Who's your boss?' Millie asked.

‘You certainly ask a lot of questions, don't you?' Ursula replied. ‘His name's Silas.'

‘What a strange coincidence,' Alice-Miranda said. ‘We met a man called Silas just yesterday, at Miss Hephzibah's. He's the mayor and he had got lost while looking for something out here and Miss Henrietta had given him a cup of tea and some directions.'

Ursula's mouth twitched into a nervous smile.

‘Is he your boss?' Millie asked.

The woman nodded slightly. She could hardly believe that these girls were the two children Silas had mentioned in his tale.

‘The world really is the smallest place, isn't it?' Alice-Miranda beamed. ‘Did Mayor Wiley find what he was looking for?'

‘Yes, I think so, and quite a bit more actually.'

‘We did too,' Millie said with a large grin. Alice-Miranda nudged her sharply in the ribs.

‘Millie, you know we promised not to talk about that.'

‘Do you mean the gold in the cave?' Ursula asked.

Millie and Alice-Miranda looked at each other, their eyes wide.

‘But we didn't tell Mayor Wiley about that,' Millie said. ‘We only talked to Miss Hephzibah and Miss Henrietta and we promised to keep it a secret.'

Ursula sighed. Silas had neglected to mention that he hadn't actually been told about the gold. Eavesdropping was one of his specialities and clearly he'd been doing a great job of it yesterday.

‘I'm afraid that my boss has a rather big set of ears on him,' Ursula said.

‘Was Mayor Wiley planning to tell anyone else about our discovery?' Alice-Miranda's forehead wrinkled into a deep frown.

‘Yes,' Ursula replied. ‘I think so.'

‘But Miss Hephzibah and Miss Henrietta said that it would be better for everyone if it stayed a secret. We need to talk to Mayor Wiley right away,' Alice-Miranda declared.

‘I suspect it could be too late for that,' Ursula said.

‘Excuse me for saying this, Miss Ursula, but considering he's your boss and you said that you were here to help him with a special assignment, you don't sound as though you're very happy about whatever he's doing,' Alice-Miranda observed.

‘I'm not, actually. That awful woman's plans are a travesty. I can't stand that he's helping her,' Ursula replied.

‘Which awful woman?' Alice-Miranda asked.

‘Finley Spencer. She's after the woods for a housing estate and now that Silas knows about the gold, I'm afraid that the development will go from bad to worse. It's terrible enough to think of all this beautiful land covered in brick veneer boxes, but imagine if she decides to build a goldmine instead!'

‘Where exactly was Mayor Wiley going yesterday, before his detour to Caledonia Manor?' Millie asked.

‘He was trying to find the owner of the land to convince them to sell,' Ursula said. ‘He's hoping for a big fat commission.'

‘Who owns the land?' Alice-Miranda asked.

‘An old fellow,' Ursula replied, her voice wavering slightly.

‘But Finley Spencer can't
make
him sell his land,' Millie said.

Alice-Miranda frowned. ‘That's true, Millie. But I think the law's different when it comes to who owns things like gold or silver, because it's not
on
the land but
in
the land,' the child said. ‘I was reading about it when we did an assignment in Science last term. It's very complicated. Someone can register a claim for the mining rights even if they don't own the land.'

Millie sighed and smiled at her friend. ‘Trust you to know these things.'

‘Why don't we go and find the man who lives out here and warn him about Ms Spencer's plan?' Alice-Miranda looked at Ursula. ‘Do you know his name?'

The woman nodded. ‘Mr Frost.'

‘Do you know where the house is?' Alice-Miranda asked.

‘It can't be over there.' Millie pointed at the dilapidated bridge. ‘No one's driven over that in years by the look of it.'

‘I think it is,' Ursula replied. She'd been wondering about the state of the bridge herself.

‘Really?' Alice-Miranda said. ‘Have you been out here before?'

Ursula shook her head. ‘No, I just looked up some old maps . . . at the council. The house is about a mile from the stream.'

Millie looked at her watch. ‘We need to be back on time or Miss Reedy will have a fit.'

Alice-Miranda frowned. ‘I'm sure she won't, not if she knows that we're on important business. Were you planning to go and see him?' she asked Ursula.

The woman looked surprised, as if she hadn't thought of that at all.

‘No . . . I was just going to leave this in the letterbox at the end of the road.' She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a white envelope.

‘We could take it to him,' Millie offered. ‘It won't take long to get there on Bony and Chops and we can still get back to school in time.'

Alice-Miranda nodded. She'd been thinking the exact same thing.

‘Miss Ursula, excuse me for asking, but is there a reason you didn't walk to the house yourself?' Alice-Miranda asked. She wondered what the woman was really doing. If she only meant to leave the letter in the letterbox at the end of the road, why was she up the tree with a pair of binoculars?

‘Dogs,' Ursula replied. ‘I'm terrified of them.'

‘Dogs?' Millie frowned. ‘Has Mr Frost got vicious dogs?' She wasn't too keen about going there herself if that was the case.

‘I don't know but I'm such a wimp I wasn't willing to risk it,' Ursula replied.

Alice-Miranda wasn't convinced. She was sure there was something Ursula wasn't telling them.

‘We'd better get going, Alice-Miranda,' Millie said.

Alice-Miranda looked at the letter. ‘Shall I take that then?'

‘Oh, yes please.' Ursula handed it to her.

‘And don't worry – we won't tell him where it came from.'

Ursula frowned.

‘I'm sure that your boss wouldn't be very happy if he found out you'd warned Mr Frost about his and Ms Spencer's plan,' Alice-Miranda explained. ‘I had assumed the note was anonymous.'