Alice-Miranda to the Rescue (8 page)

Bonaparte's nostrils flared and he kicked up at his belly.

‘What's the matter with you, mister?' Alice-Miranda said. She gave him a pat and tried again to tighten the strap. In the box next to him, Chops whinnied loudly.

Millie opened her pony's stall door and grabbed his reins. Chops's eyes darted all over the place and he stomped on the ground. ‘Stop that,' she said.

‘I hope Bony hasn't given himself another stomach-ache,' Alice-Miranda said. ‘There's a lot of
sweet clover in the field at the moment and you know what a greedy-guts he is.' Her pony was susceptible to bouts of colic, usually brought on by a visit to a vegetable patch and his particular predilection for cabbages, though he had been known to get sick on lush grass too.

Buttercup was in the stall on the other side of Chops, pawing at the ground.

‘They're all a bit nuts this afternoon,' Millie said. There were three more horses in the stables whinnying and thumping about.

Alice-Miranda raised her nose into the air. ‘Can you smell smoke?'

‘Maybe Charlie has a bonfire in the garden somewhere,' Millie said.

Alice-Miranda inhaled deeply. ‘No, it smells different to that.'

Out of nowhere, a bloodcurdling scream echoed overhead. ‘Fire!' a girl shouted. ‘Help!'

‘There's someone in the flat!' Millie exclaimed. She immediately flew into action, pushing Chops back into his stall and slamming the door.

Alice-Miranda left Bonaparte and fled upstairs with Millie right behind her. She tried the handle but it wouldn't budge.

‘Help me!' the girl shrieked on the other side, pounding the door.

Alice-Miranda's eyes widened. ‘It's Caprice,' she gasped. She was about to race downstairs in search of a spare key when the door burst open and Caprice flew out, coughing and sputtering. A pall of thick smoke billowed onto the landing.

Spotting a fire extinguisher outside the office, Millie shoved Caprice out of the way and dashed down to get it.

Alice-Miranda looked at Caprice, whose face was blackened with ash and streaked with tears. ‘Go let the horses out and get Mr Charles,' she said, before covering her mouth and nose and running into the flat.

Caprice stumbled down the steps as Millie wrenched the extinguisher out of its bracket and charged back upstairs.

‘Alice-Miranda, where are you?' Millie shouted, choking on the toxic grey smoke.

‘In here!' Alice-Miranda ran into the sitting room to find the curtains ablaze. She fled through the smoke to the kitchenette, where an old plastic tub was sitting in the sink. She quickly filled it with water and raced back to throw it on the flames.

Millie appeared beside her with the fire extinguisher. ‘How do you do this again?' she said. Panic was beginning to take hold as she fiddled with the top of the metal handle.

‘Release the pin,' Alice-Miranda yelled, running back to the kitchen for more water.

Millie felt for the pin and pulled hard. ‘Got it!' she cried out.

Alice-Miranda dumped another bucket over the flames, then threw the container to the ground. ‘You take the hose and I'll press,' she shouted above the crackling and hissing. Her eyes were bleary with tears and they felt as if they were being stung by a swarm of angry bees.

Millie pointed the nozzle at the fire while Alice-Miranda grabbed the handle with both hands. A blast of water shot towards the blazing drapes. Millie sprayed the flames until the jet slowed to a trickle.

Charlie Weatherly burst into the room carrying another extinguisher. He had the pin out and was dousing the last of the flames in seconds. Without a word, Millie let go of their hose and ran to refill the plastic tub. By the time she returned the fire was out.

Charlie dropped the extinguisher with a thud and coughed violently. In the distance a siren screamed
louder and louder until it stopped just outside the building. Minutes later, a fireman trundling a thick hose raced up the stairs and into the flat. Several more firemen charged into the room, shouting instructions at one another.

‘Is everyone okay?' an older chap called. He looked at the girls and their smudged faces. Alice-Miranda's white shirt was covered in soot and Millie's hair resembled a bird's nest.

The girls turned and hugged each other fiercely, relief flooding through their veins.

‘Wow, that was intense,' Millie said before launching into a series of wheezy coughs.

Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘I'm just glad the fire's out,' she rasped. As the smoke began to clear, she spotted something lying in the bedroom doorway. ‘What's that?' Alice-Miranda said, wading through the haze to investigate.

Millie squinted, struggling to see.

‘It's a puppy!' Alice-Miranda exclaimed. She quickly scooped it up and checked that it was still breathing.

Millie clasped her hands together and bit down on her thumbnail. She hoped it was all right.

‘We need to get you all out of here,' the fire captain instructed. He gestured to one of his colleagues, who ushered the children and Charlie downstairs.

As the four survivors emerged into the late afternoon sunshine, drinking in the fresh air, Miss Grimm hurtled towards them. ‘Oh, thank heavens!' she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the girls and hugging them tightly. ‘Are you all right?'

Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘Thanks to Millie,' she croaked. ‘She got the extinguisher.'

A crowd of onlookers had gathered outside the stables and there were still more girls and staff rushing up to see what was going on, having heard the sirens and seen the fire truck careering up the drive.

Ophelia Grimm stepped back and noticed the fourth member of the party. ‘What have you got there?' she asked.

‘A puppy. I found him in the flat,' Alice-Miranda said, as she cradled the fluffy creature against her chest.

The headmistress frowned. ‘How on earth did he get up there?'

‘We don't know,' Alice-Miranda replied.

The fire captain walked out of the building towards them. ‘Hello Miss Grimm,' he greeted the headmistress. ‘You owe a great debt of gratitude to Charlie and the girls here. If it had been just a minute
or two longer, that whole place would have gone up. It's rare to have a stable fire that doesn't end badly.'

Miss Grimm paled. ‘Do you know how it started?' she asked.

‘There was an electric heater upstairs and it looks as if some towels were dropped right in front of it,' the man informed her. ‘Is someone living up there?'

The woman reeled. ‘No!' she said. ‘I wonder if we have a squatter.'

Millie shook her head. ‘It was Caprice. She was in the flat when it started.'

There was an audible gasp from everyone within earshot.

‘What was she doing up there?' Miss Grimm demanded.

Millie shrugged. She opened her mouth to say something but was overtaken by another coughing fit.

‘Where's Caprice now?' The headmistress looked around at the crowd, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

‘I told her to let the ponies out,' Alice-Miranda said. She could see Bony and Chops and the others running about at the top of the driveway. Miss Wall was trying to herd them through the open gate into the field.

Mrs Howard arrived huffing and blowing. ‘Is everyone safe?' she puffed, completely out of breath. A look of relief washed over her face when she saw Alice-Miranda and Millie with Charlie. ‘Where's Caprice? She was screaming about a fire, so I called the brigade, but then she disappeared before I had time to find out what was going on.'

The fire captain stepped forward. ‘I think you should get the doctor to check this lot over and probably take that little fellow to the vet too,' he said to Miss Grimm. ‘You'll want to make sure they aren't suffering from smoke inhalation.'

Another siren wailed in the distance. ‘That will be the ambulance now,' the housemistress said. ‘I called them and the police, just to be on the safe side.'

‘Well done, Mrs Howard. I'm glad someone had their wits about them,' Ophelia Grimm said gratefully. She looked over at her secretary, who had just raced up the drive and was being caught up on the drama by Miss Reedy.

The girls and teachers were clamouring to see what had happened, asking Alice-Miranda and Millie if they were all right, and admiring the unexpected newcomer.

‘Oh my gosh, he's so cute,' Sloane gushed.

‘Mrs Derby, can you call Dr Davidson and tell him we've found a stray pup?' Miss Grimm asked.

Sofia Ridout sighed, watching the animal rest his head in the crook of Alice-Miranda's elbow. ‘I wish we could keep him.'

‘A school dog!' Sloane exclaimed. ‘We could all help to look after him in the boarding house.'

‘That's a lovely idea, girls, but I suspect someone will be missing him very much,' Miss Grimm said. She was quite taken with the little bundle of caramel fur herself. She reached over to stroke his head and the tiny pup gave her a lick.

‘I have enough to look after without adding a four-legged child to the mix,' Mrs Howard tutted.

There was a groan of disappointment from the girls as Alice-Miranda passed the puppy to Mrs Derby.

‘There's Caprice!' one of the girls shouted. Everyone turned to see where she was pointing. The girl was partially hidden behind a hedge, as if she was looking at what was going on while trying not to be seen.

‘Right, Mrs Howard, can I leave you with the girls?' the headmistress asked. ‘Miss Reedy, please come with me.'

‘Do you
really
need me?' Miss Reedy huffed. ‘There are quite a few things I simply must organise by this afternoon.' Learning that her wedding weekend had quite literally gone to the dogs had not put her in a very good mood, to say the least. She still needed to make several phone calls to suppliers before they closed for the day.

Miss Grimm was surprised by the woman's tone. ‘We've just had a very serious incident, Livinia, and I think Caprice might be in shock.'

Livinia Reedy checked herself. ‘My apologies, Miss Grimm, of course,' she mumbled, and followed the headmistress over to the hedge.

‘I'm so glad everyone's safe,' Alice-Miranda said. She linked arms with Millie and rested her head on the girl's shoulder. ‘Bye, little puppy.'

Mrs Derby smiled at the girls. ‘Don't worry, Dr Davidson will take good care of him.'

Mrs Howard put her arm around Millie. ‘Come along, then. Let's have the paramedics take a look at you two.'

‘Cool,' Millie said. ‘Can we sit in the back of the ambulance?'

‘Whatever is the girl doing?' Miss Reedy said as she and the headmistress trotted down the driveway. They could see Caprice peering out from behind the hedge as clear as day.

‘Your guess is as good as mine, but she'd better have a very good reason for being in that flat.' Ophelia frowned. ‘Caprice, come out here at once!'

The girl shrank down and froze.

‘Now!' the headmistress boomed. She was in no mood to be toyed with.

‘Yes, Miss Grimm,' Caprice replied, her voice wavering, as she emerged from behind the bush. Her face was smudged with black and her uniform was filthy.

‘Are you hurt?' Miss Grimm asked.

Caprice remained tight-lipped and cast her eyes to the ground.

‘Perhaps we should go to your study and we can talk there,' Livinia suggested quietly. ‘And if we need to, we can ask the paramedics to come down and make sure that she's all right.'

‘That's a very good idea,' Ophelia said, nodding. The shadows were long and the sun was low in the sky. There was a slight chill in the air too. The headmistress placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and steered her down the road. They walked directly to the back of Winchesterfield Manor and through Mrs Derby's office to the headmistress's study.

‘I'll get us some tea,' Miss Reedy said. ‘And a hot chocolate for you, Caprice.'

‘Thank you,' Miss Grimm replied. ‘I think we could all do with a drink.' She motioned for Caprice to sit on one of the dark green leather chesterfield lounges. Ophelia waited for Miss Reedy to return
with the refreshments before pressing on. She wanted to have a witness to their discussions.

‘Here we are,' Livinia said, setting the mugs onto the coffee table.

‘Now, Caprice,' Miss Grimm began gently, ‘I hear that you let the horses out and alerted Mrs Howard to the fire. Well done for that, but I do need to know what you were doing in the flat in the first place.'

The girl gulped and glanced around the room.

‘The truth is all I'm interested in, Caprice. Millie and Alice-Miranda both saw you. They said you were pounding on the door to get out.' Ophelia looked at the child. ‘I can't tell you how relieved I am that you're all right.'

Caprice blinked her big blue eyes. Tears welled and then spilled onto the tops of her cheeks. Miss Reedy jumped to grab a tissue and handed it to the girl.

‘I … I went for a walk to the stables after school and I heard a noise upstairs, so I had a look,' Caprice began, then paused.

‘Go on,' Miss Grimm urged. She wondered why Caprice went to the stables in the first place. She didn't have a pony at school and hadn't seemed
even vaguely interested in horseriding since she'd arrived, despite having told the headmistress about her champion dressage horse in her interview.

‘Daddy said that he might buy me another pony, one I could bring to school because my Lipizzaner is far too valuable to have here,' the girl explained, as if reading Ophelia's mind, ‘so I went to see if there was a spare stall.'

‘What did you find upstairs?'

Caprice stared at her hands and began to pull apart the tissue she was holding. She swallowed hard. ‘There was someone up there.'

‘A member of staff?' Miss Grimm pressed.

‘I don't think so,' she replied, her voice barely more than a whisper.

‘Oh, goodness,' Livinia Reedy gasped. ‘Did they hurt you?'

Caprice shook her head.

‘Well, what were they doing?' Ophelia Grimm asked, leaning towards the girl.

‘I don't know,' Caprice said. Then the words began to tumble out, as if someone had pulled an orange from the bottom of a shop display and now the whole lot was falling fast. ‘I heard a noise in the bedroom. I pushed the door open and saw someone
go out through the window, then I turned to run downstairs and tell Charlie but I must have tripped over and hit my head. When I woke up there was smoke everywhere and I had to get out because I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to die.'

‘Oh, Caprice, you poor thing.' Livinia Reedy went to comfort the child. She placed her arm around the girl's shoulders and Caprice buried her head against the woman's chest.

A row of lines formed across the headmistress's forehead. ‘Did you see what the person looked like?'

Livinia Reedy sat back and allowed the girl to speak. Caprice sniffed and wiped away her tears. ‘No, I couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman.'

Ophelia Grimm stood up and walked to her desk. She picked up the telephone and buzzed her secretary. ‘Mrs Derby, could you get hold of your husband and Charlie and ask them to come to my office immediately?' There was a long pause as Mrs Derby explained what had happened with the puppy. ‘That is good news. Thank you.' The headmistress hung up and turned around. ‘Constable Derby and Charlie will be here in a few minutes,' she said, sitting back down.

Caprice chewed on a nail. ‘But I don't even know what the person looks like and I'm not hurt.'

The headmistress frowned. ‘No, you don't appear to be but you must have hit your head if you blacked out. We'll need to have the paramedics take a look at you and we must investigate the incident properly. We can't have a stranger roaming about the campus. Did you see the puppy in the flat?'

Caprice shook her head sharply. ‘What puppy?' she asked, wide-eyed.

‘Alice-Miranda and Millie found a puppy lying on the floor after they'd put the fire out,' Ophelia explained. ‘It's a wonder the creature didn't die from smoke inhalation.'

‘Is he all right?' Caprice asked.

‘Yes, Mrs Derby says he seems fine. It appears we'll be looking after him until we find the owner or until Dr Davidson returns from his holiday – whichever comes first. Perhaps he belongs to the stranger you saw.'

‘Well, I'd say they're dreadfully irresponsible,' Miss Reedy sighed. ‘People like that shouldn't be allowed to own pets.'

Caprice sat silently, staring at the door.

‘Livinia, could you ask the teachers and any support staff who are not currently on duty to meet in the teachers' lounge in fifteen minutes?' asked the headmistress.

There was a sharp knock on the door and Louella Derby poked her head around. ‘Hello Miss Grimm. Constable Derby and Charlie are here,' she announced.

‘Please send them in,' Ophelia said.

As the woman opened the door, a ball of caramel curls raced ahead of them.

‘Come back here, you naughty little thing,' Louella called, but the creature was on a mission. He ran into the room, dodging the furniture and Miss Grimm's legs, and stopped in front of Caprice. The girl flinched and tried to shoo him away but the pup would not be deterred. He jumped up onto the couch, then leapt up and licked the girl's cheek.

‘Eww!' Caprice squealed. But she couldn't resist his charms and was soon cradling him against her chest.

‘He's sure taken a shine to you,' Mrs Derby said, reaching out to take the puppy. The girl reluctantly handed him over.

Miss Grimm welcomed the men. ‘Good evening, Constable Derby. Hello Charlie. Please take a seat. You need to hear what Caprice has just told us about what happened in the flat.'

Caprice sat up straight and flicked her copper-coloured locks over her shoulder.

‘How are you feeling, Charlie?' Ophelia asked.

‘Fit as a fiddle, Miss Grimm, and thankfully Alice-Miranda and Millie are too. Talk about brave. I don't know how many children would have had the wherewithal to locate the fire extinguisher and know how to use it. Seems like those lessons we gave them a while ago paid off,' Charlie Weatherly said with a grin.

The woman nodded. ‘They certainly did.'

Constable Derby took out a notebook and pen from his top pocket. He looked at the girl, who was fidgeting with the cushion on the seat beside her. ‘All right, Caprice, let's start from the beginning, shall we?'