Alice-Miranda at Camp 10 (4 page)

Louella Derby had just sat down when the phone rang.

‘Good afternoon, Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies, this is Louella Derby speaking.'

There was a long pause as she listened to the caller. ‘Yes, of course. I'm sure that she'd be very happy to talk with you right away, Ma'am,' Louella said. ‘May I just put you on hold for a moment?'

The secretary pressed the ‘hold' button and then hesitated before buzzing the intercom.

Miss Grimm's tired voice came through. ‘Is it urgent, Mrs Derby?'

‘I'm so sorry to bother you, Miss Grimm. I know you've had a hectic day but there's someone you'll want to speak to on the other line.'

‘I doubt there is anyone on earth that I want to speak to at the moment, even the Queen herself. And if it's the builder telling me about another problem, hang up. I'll call him back tomorrow when I have the energy to deal with whatever disaster he's going to throw at me time this time. Now I must get –'

‘No, no, please don't hang up. It's Her Majesty,' Mrs Derby said quickly.

‘Queen Georgiana?' Miss Grimm was suddenly wide awake. ‘Why didn't you tell me? I suppose you tried but I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. Did she say what she wants?'

‘Not exactly, but she's heard about the delay with the new boarding house and has a proposal that could be a lifesaver for both of you.'

‘Well, don't just sit there talking, Mrs Derby. Put her through and, for heaven's sake, don't cut her
off. I haven't got her direct line and it takes hours to get through that lady-in-waiting of hers. What's her name?'

‘Marmalade,' Louella Derby replied.

‘Yes, Mrs Marmalade. That woman's more terrifying than a terrier in a room full of tabbies,' Miss Grimm replied, smiling at the image.

There was a long silence.

‘Well, what are you waiting for?' Miss Grimm snapped.

‘You actually,' a deeper voice replied.

Ophelia Grimm almost fell off her chair. ‘I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I hadn't realised my secretary had transferred the call.'

Ophelia took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Although she'd met the Queen on several occasions and hosted her for tea in the study, she still couldn't get used to the idea that the monarch of their country was on the other end of the telephone.

‘How may I help, Your Majesty?' she asked.

‘I was wondering if I might pop around and see you,' said Queen Georgiana. ‘I have something to discuss and it might be easier if I laid it all out in front of you.'

Ophelia nodded fiercely then realised she hadn't actually replied. ‘Yes, of course, Ma'am. Any time that suits.'

‘What about in ten minutes? I'm over at Chesterfield Downs for the night. We had some new horses arrive this afternoon and I thought I'd come and see how they were settling in.'

‘Certainly,' said Miss Grimm.

‘And don't make a fuss. I'd rather no one knows I'm there. I was supposed to have this sorted out months ago – I'll look a right twit if it goes ahead and I haven't had it trialled.'

Ophelia was intrigued. ‘Yes, Your Majesty, I won't breathe a word. Might I suggest your driver parks in the front? I'll come and open the main doors. The girls never use that side of the building and they should all be in the house getting ready for tea when you arrive.'

‘Splendid. If we can come to some sort of arrangement, I rather hope you can tell the girls the good news this evening,' Queen Georgiana said. ‘There's no time to lose. Hang on a tick, dear.' There was a short silence while Queen Georgiana ran her eyes over the proposal in front of her.

Ophelia Grimm wasn't certain that she was still on the line when suddenly Her Majesty's voice boomed, ‘Oh, for heaven's sake!'

‘Is everything all right, Ma'am?'

‘I've just realised I need some boys for this as well. Right. Well … Yes, that's it. Can you get onto Professor Winterbottom and have him meet us too? The old boy owes me a favour. I gave him a hot tip in the first at Ellingworth. The man made a small fortune, I believe.' And with that Queen Georgiana hung up the telephone.

Miss Grimm dialled the number for Fayle School. She glanced at her watch, hoping the Professor hadn't already gone to tea. She was about to give up when he answered. Ophelia raced through the Queen's request, noting the favour she had done him, and the Professor said that he'd be over in a flash. She looked around her study. There was a pile of enrolment papers on the desk and several stacks of books that Miss Reedy had suggested the girls could study this term, which she wanted to read for herself.

‘Mrs Derby!' Ophelia called as she reefed open the double doors.

Louella leapt from her seat. ‘What's the matter, Miss Grimm?'

‘Quickly, come and help me tidy up. The Queen's coming.' She picked up the papers from her desk and dumped them into the secretary's outstretched arms.

‘When, Miss Grimm?' she asked as she balanced the pile and took them to her own desk.

‘About ten minutes,' Ophelia replied.

‘Goodness, she's always given us more warning than that,' Mrs Derby called over her shoulder.

‘Not this time. And you're not to tell a soul. Help me get this done and then you can go and stand guard at the front doors. Oh, and Professor Winterbottom's on his way too.'

‘Yes, Miss Grimm.' Mrs Derby raced back into the headmistress's study and cleared away the cup and saucer on her desk.

The chair in the centre of the teachers' table sat empty, awaiting the arrival of the headmistress. Miss Reedy had held off for as long as she could, but had relented and directed the children to the servery half an hour ago. It wasn't fair to keep them waiting any longer and Mrs Smith was worried about the pasta drying out and the sauce becoming gluggy.

It had taken longer than usual to get everyone through but at least the horrendous noise had died down once the girls and staff were busy eating.

Miss Reedy leaned closer to Mr Plumpton and said quietly, ‘I can't believe she's not here. Tonight of all nights.'

The man frowned. ‘Yes, I'd have thought she'd have some announcements to make.'

‘I can do the announcements, Josiah. It's just not a good look with the new teachers and students. I'm sure many of them have heard rumours of the past situation, when we never saw her at all. She's been so wonderful of late. I do hope nothing's wrong.' Miss Reedy scanned the tables, keeping an especially close eye on the latest arrivals. She had an excellent vantage point as the teachers' table sat on a small podium overlooking the room.

‘She's probably been held up by the builders,' Mr Plumpton said. ‘That stable conversion has turned into a bit of a nightmare.'

‘Yes, well, surely the girls and teachers should come first?' Miss Reedy raised her eyebrows.

‘I know my girl comes first,' he whispered. Miss Reedy's cheeks flushed bright red.

Mr Plumpton moved his right hand and brushed it against her left. She started as if he'd jabbed her with an electric cattle prod.

Miss Reedy leapt to her feet and pointed. ‘You! Little girl with the blonde plaits, what's your name?'

The small child looked up and swallowed hard. Her eyes were fixed on Miss Reedy like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding truck.

‘Yes, you,' Miss Reedy said.

‘Essie,' the girl squeaked.

‘Hmm. Essie, are you acquainted with the objects known as cutlery? You know, knives and forks?'

The child nodded. ‘Of course, Miss Reedy.'

‘Then might I suggest that you use them?' the teacher said sternly. She'd caught the child picking up a strand of spaghetti with her fingers.

Several other girls reached for their silverware.

Miss Reedy glared. Essie stared at her plate, not game to look up again. The teacher slowly sat down.

‘Goodness me, what are the parents teaching these children? It's no wonder they ship them off to boarding school – at least we still have a focus on manners.' Miss Reedy shook her head and concentrated on her own meal.

Across the room, Caprice Radford twirled her fork around the long strands of pasta with an expert touch. She'd had a miraculous recovery from her alleged homesickness. ‘Is she always so mean?'

Millie thought that was rich coming from Caprice.

‘Oh no, Miss Reedy's not mean at all,' Alice-Miranda replied.

‘But she is strict,' Sloane added. ‘You don't want to get on her bad side.'

Jacinta looked up from where she was sitting opposite Caprice. ‘We used to call her a fire-breathing dragon with a toothache. But she's not like that any more, not unless girls do something really awful.'

Caprice grinned. ‘Sounds like a great name if you ask me. Who's that man next to her?'

‘That's Mr Plumpton,' Alice-Miranda said. ‘He's our Science teacher.'

Caprice snorted.

‘What's so funny?' Alice-Miranda asked, wondering what the girl was getting at.

‘Just look at him. He's the shape of a bowling pin and he's called “Plumpton” – seriously?' Caprice rolled her eyes.

‘You're right.' Sloane giggled conspiratorially.

‘Mr Plumpton's the sweetest man and you'll never meet anyone more passionate about their subject,' said Alice-Miranda. ‘I think he's adorable.'

‘How long's he been in love with the dragon lady?' asked Caprice, as she stared at the teachers.

‘Oh, ages,' Sloane said.

Alice-Miranda really didn't like where this conversation was heading. ‘So, what sport are you doing this term, Caprice?' she said loudly.

‘Gymnastics,' the girl replied.

‘Great,' said Jacinta. ‘It will be good to have someone new on the team.' She'd hardly spoken to the girl, as Jacinta was among the year sevens who had to walk back from Caledonia Manor, but Sloane had told her about their room rescue on the way to dinner.

Millie's ears pricked up. ‘Do you compete, Caprice?' It was the first time she'd spoken to her since the earlier incident.

‘I've been school champion every year,' the girl replied.

Millie took a deep breath. Of course she was. ‘Sounds like you might have yourself some proper competition, Jacinta,' Millie said.

Jacinta frowned.

‘Why? Are you the school champion?' Caprice asked.

‘She's the national champion,' Alice-Miranda said proudly. ‘We hope we're going to be cheering her on at the Olympics one day.'

‘So long as I stop injuring myself,' Jacinta said with a shrug.

Caprice gulped. Millie was enjoying watching the girl squirm.

‘Actually, I think I picked tennis for this term,' Caprice said, biting her lip.

Millie eyeballed the girl. ‘Really? Great. That's my thing.'

‘Millie's amazing,' Alice-Miranda said.

‘Are you the national champion too?' Caprice asked tartly.

Millie shook her head. ‘No, but I'm looking forward to playing against you.'

Miss Reedy stood up and walked to the microphone at the end of the teacher's table. ‘Girls, we'll start lining up for dessert. It looks like Mrs Smith has outdone herself with –' she squinted – ‘is that apple pie and ice-cream?'

Doreen Smith gave a decisive nod from behind the servery.

‘Well done! And in difficult circumstances, might I add. Now, we'll do this in an orderly fashion and I'd ask you to keep the noise down, please. It was quite unbearable earlier and I won't put up with that again.'

Miss Reedy pointed at the table in front of her. ‘Off you go, girls.'

Chairs scraped across the floorboards as the children stood up, clattering cutlery and plates. Just as the group was about to move off, a pair of high heels clack-clacked across the floorboards.

‘Hello everyone, I'm so sorry I'm late,' Miss Grimm apologised loudly as she strode to the podium at the far end of the room. Her red suit stood out like a beacon and her smile was positively beaming. Alice-Miranda thought she looked as lovely as ever.

Miss Reedy looked at the girls in front of her and indicated that they should sit back down.

A hush fell over the room.

Miss Reedy stepped back from the microphone. Ophelia Grimm smoothed her hair and clasped her hands in front of her before she began to speak.

‘Good evening, girls, staff. I am terribly sorry for being late. Mr Grump sends his regards too. Poor man has a cold and he was eager not to share his germs. I'm sure that you're going to find what I'm about to tell you very exciting. As you're all well aware, we've had some delays with the new boarding house. Things are rather uncomfortable for everyone at Grimthorpe House and in here too.' She peered across the room. ‘You look like marbles in a jar out
there. But I have an announcement that will solve all our problems.'

The teachers stared at one another in puzzlement.

‘What's going on?' Benitha Wall, the PE teacher, said to Mr Trout. She spoke far louder than she'd meant to.

‘If you'd be so kind as to wait a second, Miss Wall, I'll tell you.' Ophelia Grimm scowled at the woman, who slumped down in her chair, trying to make herself invisible – which was quite difficult, considering she was over six feet tall and almost half as wide.

‘Professor Winterbottom and I have been tasked with trialling a new and exciting award scheme for none other than –' She paused for a moment – ‘Queen Georgiana herself. The program is aimed at students from the ages of eight to fourteen, so that includes all current Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale students. We don't have anyone under eight at the moment.' Miss Grimm winked at Alice-Miranda, who smiled back. ‘The award requires the demonstration of resilience, respect, self-discipline, courage, creativity and service to the community. Under normal circumstances we'd be able to complete the activities over a
slightly longer period. However, as we are trialling the program, which is due to be rolled out across the country before the end of term, Queen Georgiana has asked that we get cracking right away. The overall award will be known as the Queen's Colours but you will be working towards the first level, the Queen's Blue. I do hope that all of you will be capable of achieving it. I'm also very excited that there will be a special award for the student who achieves the highest individual point score. Over the years to come, you will be able to complete further levels towards the ultimate prize of the Queen's Colours, which will be awarded at a ceremony at the palace. That, however, is still a way off yet.'

A murmur shot around the room as the girls and teachers began to speculate.

‘Quiet, everyone,' Miss Grimm ordered. ‘Tomorrow afternoon, all one hundred and twenty-five of you and the teachers will be heading off to camp.'

A huge cheer went up around the room. Some girls hugged their neighbours and others jumped up and down in their seats.

A self-satisfied look crept onto Caprice's face. That special award was hers.

‘Camp? Is she joking?' Mr Trout asked.

‘No, I'm certainly not joking, Mr Trout.' Miss Grimm smiled at the man. ‘And this is not just any old camp. This is camp, community service, physical challenges, time for the choir to shine and a dozen other things all rolled into one.'

Mrs Smith wiped her brow with the back of her hand. ‘What a blessed relief,' she whispered.

Miss Reedy took a step forward and whispered in the headmistress's ear. ‘But Miss Grimm, Miss Wall and I have spent hours arranging the camp for just before the half-term break. We can't possibly rearrange things at such short notice. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a last-minute camp site booking?'

Ophelia Grimm turned to the English teacher. ‘Miss Reedy, as one of the finest staff members in this school, surely you remember that the first rule of being a good educator is flexibility. Her Majesty has offered us this opportunity and, given that we have a number of problems with the facilities at the moment, I have taken it with both hands. There is a program written for the entire duration of the camp and I'm sure that you will find the amenities surprisingly comfortable in your role as camp coordinator.'

‘Me?' Miss Reedy asked, scowling.

‘Yes, Miss Reedy, we've decided that you and Mr Lipp will be in charge of the camp. Professor Winterbottom must stay at Fayle to look after the boys who are not attending and I have to stay here to make sure that all of the building and maintenance is finished by the time you return.'

‘But, but,' Miss Reedy protested. ‘That's huge. How many boys are coming? And really – Mr Lipp? Again?'

‘But nothing, Miss Reedy. It's time to rise to the occasion and show me how you can shine. The Winchester-Fayle Singers will have an event at the end of camp, so I expect them to be primed to do their best as always. We need Mr Lipp to attend to their rehearsals. And in answer to your question, there will be a relatively small number of boys attending. Just the singers and a few extras.'

Beads of perspiration were dotted along Mr Plumpton's brow. He couldn't believe that he'd have to deal with Harry Lipp again so soon. The man was incorrigible, as he had proved during their trip to Paris where he did his best to woo Miss Reedy.

Miss Reedy gulped. ‘When are we leaving?' she asked quietly.

‘The destination is sorted and Mrs Derby has been on the telephone arranging buses so, all things being equal, you must be ready to go tomorrow at midday. You'll be back again on Saturday,' Miss Grimm explained.

Miss Reedy did the calculations in her head. ‘I suppose five days is bearable,' she said. ‘Just.'

Miss Grimm stepped back up to the microphone. ‘Now, girls, the only thing you need to do is collect a packing list from Mrs Derby on your way out and organise your bag as soon as you get to the house. Teachers, I'll need you all to remain behind so we can go through the arrangements.'