Clementine Rose and the Special Promise 11 (3 page)

Clementine awoke early on Sunday morning. She'd had a wonderful dream, where she'd visited Sophie in Paris. The two of them had eaten croissants, drunk hot chocolate and walked along a riverbank. It had seemed so real that Clementine was met with a pang of disappointment when she opened her eyes. She lay in bed for a while and thought about what Sophie was doing that very moment.

Knowing that her mother and Uncle Digby would already be up preparing breakfast for the ten guests who had stayed overnight, Clementine quickly got dressed. She tiptoed out of her room, careful not to rouse Lavender, who was snoring gently. Clementine padded down the main stairs and stopped in front of the portraits of her grandparents.

‘Hello Granny and Grandpa,' she whispered. ‘Guess what? Will and Drew are coming today – and not just for a visit. They're moving to the village, which means I can see them
all
the time. Oh, and I had a dream about Sophie last night. Do you think she was dreaming about me as well?'

Digby Pertwhistle walked out of the dining room with a feather duster and a cloth in his hands. He thought he'd heard a voice and glanced up at the child. ‘Good morning, Clemmie,' he said. ‘Are you catching your grandparents up on recent events?'

Clementine nodded. ‘I was just telling them about Drew and Will. I already told
them about Sophie. I think Granny was as upset as me.'

The old man smiled. He may have just been the butler of Penberthy House to the outside world, but he cared for the child as if she were his own granddaughter. He wondered if Clementine would soon reach a time when she stopped talking to the paintings on the wall. He hoped not. ‘You'll have to write to Sophie next week and tell her all your news,' he suggested.

‘I'm going to,' Clementine said. ‘We made a pinky promise to write to each other every week. She's going to help me with my French and I'm going to tell her everything that's happening here so that when she gets back it won't feel like she's been away at all.'

‘That sounds like the perfect plan,' the old man said, his eyes sparkling. ‘Now, how would you like to have some crepes with sugar and lemon for breakfast?'

Clementine grinned. ‘Yes, please! Then we can pretend we're in Paris with Sophie.'

‘Quick, let's sneak some in before the guests are up,' Uncle Digby whispered, twirling the feather duster and pointing it towards the kitchen.

‘Yum! Bye Granny, bye Grandpa,' Clementine called, waving to them. ‘See you later.'

She then skittered down the stairs and followed Uncle Digby into the kitchen.

By midday all of the guests had left and Clementine was now helping her mother to make the chocolate mousse for tonight's dessert. It was one of Clementine's absolute favourites, especially when she got to lick the beaters. Clarissa flicked the switch on the mixer, sending it into a whirring frenzy.

‘They're here!' Clementine gasped, startling her mother. The child leapt off the stool she was standing on and raced out of the kitchen, leaving the door swinging wildly in her wake. Clementine rounded the corner at full speed
and bumped right into Aunt Violet, who was carrying a tray of crystal glasses. The woman spun around on the spot. Clementine held her breath as the glasses wobbled dangerously. One teetered on the edge and the child reached out just in time to catch it.

‘Clementine! Slow down, for heaven's sake,' the old woman scolded. ‘This crystal is
irreplaceable
. It belonged to your great-great-grandparents.'

Clementine winced. ‘I'm sorry, Aunt Violet, but Drew and Will are here!' The child quickly returned the glass to the tray and skidded across the entrance foyer to the front door.

‘Well, why didn't you say so before?' Aunt Violet placed the tray onto the side table by the stairs. She smoothed her hair and checked her reflection in the mirror. ‘Hurry up and open the door, Clementine.'

The child, who had been waiting impatiently, gladly grabbed the handle and pulled hard. Will and Drew were standing on the porch smiling.
‘Hello!' Clementine shouted, her excitement bubbling over.

‘Good afternoon, gorgeous girl,' Drew said, giving her a great big hug.

Clementine giggled and rubbed her cheek. ‘You've got prickles.'

‘I do?' Drew smiled. ‘Sorry about that. I couldn't find my razor this morning. I must have packed it into one of the hundreds of boxes by mistake.'

‘Welcome to Penberthy Floss,' Aunt Violet said, unable to wipe the silly grin off her face. ‘I hear the village has some new residents.'

Drew smiled. ‘Thank you. It's wonderful to be here.'

‘Do you want to build a cubby?' Clementine asked Will. ‘Lavender and I have been waiting for you all day. I thought we could make up a play and Mummy said we can use the video camera.'

The boy looked at his father.

‘Go on,' Drew said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Will smiled and nodded, and the two children were soon galloping away down the hall.

Clementine opened the library door. ‘This is the best spot for cubbies,' she explained.

‘It's so big,' Will agreed. ‘We'll be able to build a whole city of cubbies.'

‘Are you happy you're moving to Penberthy Floss?' Clementine asked. ‘My friend Sophie just moved to France and I miss her a lot.'

Will nodded. ‘I'll miss my old friends too but I can visit them. You should see my new bedroom. It's got the whole universe painted on the ceiling and there are even stars that twinkle. They're really lights but they look like stars. Dad says we can get a dog soon.'

‘What will you call it?' Clementine asked.

Will shrugged. ‘You can help me think of some names.'

‘Oops, I forgot that we need some sheets for the cubby,' Clementine said. ‘I have to ask Mummy which ones we can use.'

The pair charged back down the hall and around the corner, but an unfamiliar sight
stopped them in their tracks. They peered into the entrance hall at the silhouette of two figures.

Will looked at Clementine. ‘Are they …?'

Clementine tilted her head and nodded. ‘I think so.'

Drew released Clarissa, whose face was a darker shade of pink than the long-stemmed roses on the hall table.

Clementine and Will ran towards them. ‘Are you in love?' Clementine asked.

Drew and Clarissa looked at the children and then at each other. Clarissa had been meaning to speak to Clementine all week but, with Sophie leaving, she'd thought the poor child had enough changes to deal with. Clarissa's heart thumped. ‘Clemmie, I was going to talk to you,' she began.

‘Why?' Clementine asked.

‘Well, I should have said something before now,' her mother explained.

Clementine frowned. ‘Mummy, Drew's loved you ever since the filming. Didn't you
know? Can we please get some sheets for our cubby?'

Drew and Clarissa looked at one another and laughed. ‘Are you okay, buddy?' Drew asked his son.

‘Of course,' Will said. ‘I knew that's why you wanted to move here. I heard you on the phone lots of times all lovey-dovey.'

Clementine giggled.

‘Now I get to play with Clemmie all the time,' Will added. ‘We're making the biggest cubby ever, and Clemmie's going to help me think of a name for our new dog.'

‘Mummy, can we get the sheets now?' Clementine asked. ‘We want to get started straight away.'

Clarissa smiled at Drew as he wrapped his arm around her waist. ‘Absolutely,' she said. ‘Let's see what this cubby is going to look like, shall we?'

Clementine and Will's cubby covered almost the entire library. Lavender and Pharaoh had spent part of the afternoon playing chasings in and out of the sheets until the pair of them had fallen sound asleep under one of the armchairs. Clementine was shooting a close-up of Lavender while Will narrated in a deep and frothy voice, like a man he had heard on the television.

‘We've just stumbled upon a rather unusual hog. I'm not sure of the species but perhaps it's teacupis piggis,' the boy said.

‘Clemmie! Will!' Clarissa called. ‘You'd better get changed. The Bakers will be arriving soon.' The woman walked into the room, wondering where the children were.

Clementine crawled out from under the covers and stood up. ‘Can we leave the cubby here?' she begged with pleading eyes.

‘Why not? We don't have any guests in until mid-next week,' her mother replied. ‘Just don't tell Aunt Violet.'

‘Don't tell Aunt Violet what?' the old woman asked, appearing behind her niece. She was wearing a silk blouse and striking teal green skirt, which Clementine thought looked lovely on her. ‘Godfathers! What's all this mess?'

‘Will and I made a cubby in the jungle,' Clementine informed her. She pointed behind the woman and gasped. ‘Watch out for the hippo, Aunt Violet! They look cute but they're really fierce.'

Violet Appleby flicked her hand and stood tall. ‘Hippo schmippo! That beast wouldn't stand a chance against me. Now, hurry up and pack this away,' she instructed.

‘But Mummy said we can leave it up and play here tomorrow after school,' Clementine protested.

Aunt Violet fiddled with the pearls around her neck. ‘Well, you'd better lock the door. I don't want that Mr Baker telling people the place is a mess.'

‘Why? What was he like?' Clarissa asked. She'd been so busy that she hadn't had a chance to ask about him.

‘Put it this way, Clarissa. He's no Pierre,' said Violet Appleby.

Clementine remembered what Mr Baker had said about taking Lavender. She looked over at the armchair the little pig was underneath, still sound asleep, and felt a pang of worry. ‘Aunt Violet, should we hide Lavender?'

‘Why on earth would you need to hide her?' Lady Clarissa asked. She was now intrigued to
know what had happened during their visit to the patisserie.

‘I'm sure Mr Baker was just joking, Clementine,' Aunt Violet said, quickly explaining the situation to Clarissa. ‘But perhaps we should leave them in here to be on the safe side.'

The children left their video camera and the pets and followed Lady Clarissa out of the room. Aunt Violet locked the door and put the key into her pocket.

Clementine and Will had just begun a game of Snakes and Ladders when the doorbell rang.

‘They're late,' Aunt Violet said tersely as she fished around in the drawer for a pair of salad servers. ‘I told them to be here at five.'

Clementine rolled the die and glanced at the clock. The big hand was on the three, which meant it was quarter past the hour. Digby Pertwhistle was already on the terrace by the billiard room, firing up the barbecue. As there
were currently no guests in the hotel, he had opted out of formal attire and had donned beige trousers and a short-sleeved blue shirt.

Lady Clarissa placed the last strawberry on top of the huge bowl of chocolate mousse. ‘Do you want to come with me, Clemmie?' she asked. ‘I'm going to take the Bakers straight to the terrace.'

‘Okay,' Clementine replied, sliding off her chair. She wondered if Mr Baker's daughter would like any of the same things she did, like ballet and poems.

‘I'll start on the drinks,' Drew said. He'd already helped Digby to set up a makeshift bar and had come back inside to collect the ice buckets.

Will scooped the board and pieces into its box. ‘I'll come with you, Dad.'

Father and son headed out of the kitchen and around the rear hall to the billiard room, which had recently been renovated. It had been shut off for years, the receptacle of more junk than Clarissa cared to remember. But
in the past few months the billiard table had been unearthed, the walls repapered and the cobwebs done away with. It was proving to be a huge hit with the guests and had direct access to a lovely terrace, which could now be put to proper use. Clarissa wished she had reinstated it years ago but, with a total of sixty rooms, there was always too much to do at Penberthy House.

The bell rang again just as Clarissa opened the door. A woman with a mane of platinum-blonde curls that reached almost to her waist stood beside Roger Baker. She wore towering red heels, which bumped her up a couple of inches taller than her husband, and her red dress clung to her every curve. The child in front of them looked like a miniature version of Mrs Baker with equally long hair. She was wearing a black skirt, a silver sequinned midriff top and a pout to match.

‘Hello, welcome to Penberthy House,' Clarissa said with a smile.

‘Sorry, Roger didn't say whether we were supposed to dress up or not,' the woman said, giving Clarissa's sundress and cardigan the once-over.

Clarissa was about to answer when Mr Baker jumped in. ‘You must be Clarissa Appleby. I'm Roger and this is my wife, Chanelle, and my daughter, Saskia.' He turned to his wife and daughter. ‘And this is Clemmie Rose. I told you she was a little cutie.'

‘Where's your pig?' his daughter demanded. ‘Daddy said you've got a pig and I want to see it.'

Clementine gulped and looked at the man.

‘Sassy, I'm sure that Clemmie Rose will show you the pig soon,' her mother cooed, ‘although I can't imagine for the life of me why you'd want a pig as a pet. They're so dirty and smelly.'

‘Lavender is actually very clean,' Clementine said. ‘She's lovely but she's asleep at the moment.'

Saskia stamped her foot. ‘But Daddy said that I could see her.'

‘Perhaps you can later,' Clarissa said, smiling at the girl. ‘Now, why don't we go through to the terrace? I believe Uncle Digby's got the barbecue started.'

Mrs Baker's head swivelled from side to side as the group piled into the entrance foyer. ‘What a beautiful house,' she gushed. ‘Look at those portraits.'

‘That's Granny and Grandpa,' Clementine said. ‘I told them you were coming tonight.'

Saskia curled her top lip. ‘They're not
real
people.'

‘I know,' Clementine replied, shrinking into her mother's side, ‘but I like to think they're still here and part of the family.'

‘That's so stupid,' Saskia muttered under her breath.

Lady Clarissa put an arm around her daughter. ‘Please follow me,' she said, leading the way to the billiard room. The group exited through the French doors and onto the patio, where the barbecue was sizzling away. As if on cue, Drew popped a champagne cork.

‘Ooh, who do we have here?' Mrs Baker simpered.

Drew set down the bottle and held out his hand. ‘Hello, I'm Drew and this is my son, Will,' he said, nodding towards the boy, who was standing beside him.

‘It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Chanelle and this is Sassy and my husband, Roger,' the woman said.

Uncle Digby turned from the grill and shook hands with Mr Baker. ‘Hello again,' he said warmly.

Saskia pointed at Aunt Violet, who had just appeared in the doorway. ‘Is that your wife?' she asked.

‘Godfathers no!' the old woman sputtered. ‘Just because we're a similar vintage doesn't mean we're married. Mr Pertwhistle is our
butler
.'

Chanelle's heavily made-up face creased with confusion. ‘How curious. I thought butlers wore those funny penguin suits and didn't speak unless they were spoken to.'

‘I'm glad to say we don't observe such rules here,' Clarissa said, shooting Aunt Violet a glare. ‘Uncle Digby began working for my father a long time ago and has become a very dear member of our family. I honestly don't know how we would cope without him.'

The old man winked at her in gratitude and turned back to tend the barbecue.

‘Do you want to play a game?' Clementine asked Saskia. ‘We have Snakes and Ladders.'

Saskia rolled her eyes. ‘I hate that one.'

‘I've got a soccer ball?' Clementine offered hopefully.

‘I
hate
soccer too,' Saskia spat. ‘I want to see the pig!'

Clementine and Will looked at one another. ‘But Lavender's asleep,' Clementine said.

‘That's not fair. Daddy said,' Saskia whined.

‘I've got an idea. Why don't we make a movie instead?' Will suggested.

Saskia flicked her hair over her shoulders. ‘Only if I can be the star.'

‘I'll go and get the camera,' Will said, heading over to Aunt Violet to ask her for the library key.

Clementine looked across at her mother, who winked. Not that they knew it, but both of them were already thinking it was going to be a long night ahead.