Clementine Rose and the Special Promise 11 (4 page)

Roger Baker wandered over to talk to Uncle Digby. They were soon comparing barbecuing techniques while Drew pulled out some chairs for the rest of the party. Clarissa thought Chanelle might be keen to know about the children's school or some of the community activities she could become involved with, but it seemed that the woman's top priority was to locate a hairdresser and beautician. Clarissa gave her a few suggestions, although having
her nails done was not something she'd ever fussed about and she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a facial. Aunt Violet was a little more helpful but Drew just nodded and smiled politely. He didn't have the foggiest idea about paraffin pedis or mini-waxes. It all sounded rather painful as far as he was concerned.

Clementine scratched around for something to say to Saskia while they waited for Will to return. She tried to take extra care with her words as the girl seemed to bite at every syllable she uttered. ‘Would you like a drink?' she finally asked. ‘We have some home-made lemonade.'

Saskia shrugged. Clementine carefully poured two glasses and another for Will, which she left on the tray. She passed Saskia hers.

The girl peered into the cloudy liquid. ‘What's that stuff?' she asked, pointing into the glass.

‘It's just the little bits of lemon,' Clementine replied. ‘There's ice in there too.'

Saskia sniffed the glass suspiciously and pulled a face. ‘It doesn't smell like lemonade.'

‘It tastes yummy,' Clementine assured her. ‘Mummy taught me how to make it and all the guests love it in summertime.'

Saskia lifted the glass to her lips and took the smallest of sips, then spat it out all over the place. ‘That's disgusting!' the girl declared.

Clementine frowned and sniffed her glass, then took a tentative sip. It tasted perfectly all right to her.

‘MUMMY!' Saskia screeched at the top of her lungs. ‘Clemmie Rose said this was lemonade and it doesn't even have any fizz and it's got bits in it.' The girl tipped the rest of the contents onto the terrace.

‘Sassy!' Roger reprimanded. ‘Stop that now!'

Saskia spun around and glared at her father. ‘You can't tell me what to do!' she shouted, throwing her glass onto the sandstone pavers. Everyone watched on in dismay as it smashed into a thousand tiny pieces.

Clementine gasped.

Aunt Violet's mouth flapped open as she stared at the child. ‘Good heavens, what do you think you're doing?'

A low groan quickly escalated to a high-pitched wail. Uncle Digby covered his ears as Roger Baker stalked over to the girl. He grabbed her by the arms, which were now flailing about like washing on the line in a fierce wind.

‘Don't tell me what to do,' Saskia roared.

Mrs Baker turned to Drew in desperation. ‘Quickly, do you have some proper lemonade?' she asked.

Drew didn't miss a beat. He jumped out of his seat and pulled a bottle from the bucket of ice nearby.

Chanelle snatched it from his hand and tottered over to her daughter. ‘Sassy, darling, Mummy's got you some real lemonade. You don't have to drink that nasty home-made brew.'

Saskia continued warbling for a few seconds before she stopped and took the glass from
her mother. She raised it to her lips and gulped it down.

Chanelle pushed a stray curl away from the girl's face. ‘Is that better, honey bunch?'

Saskia nodded. She blinked her big amber eyes and fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

‘Oh, Sassy, don't cry. Daddy didn't mean to be angry,' Mrs Baker said, stroking her daughter's hair.

Violet Appleby shook her head and tutted. ‘Surely Mrs Baker is not rewarding that dreadful behav–'

Clarissa scraped back her chair. ‘Aunt Violet, could you give me a hand in the kitchen?' she asked.

The old woman rolled her eyes and stood up. ‘I'd have had the child standing on one leg in the middle of the back lawn for the rest of the evening,' she hissed.

‘She's a high-spirited little thing, isn't she?' Clarissa said, wishing Aunt Violet would keep her voice down.

Violet Appleby threw her niece a look. ‘Clementine is high-spirited at times, Clarissa,' she said pointedly. ‘
That
child, however, is a downright menace to society.'

The two women entered the billiard room and passed Will, who was heading in the opposite direction. The boy had been struggling with the lock on the library door and had missed the commotion.

‘What happened?' he asked, surveying the mess.

‘Just a little accident,' Chanelle said.

‘Is that what we're going to call it?' Uncle Digby muttered under his breath as he swept up the glass.

‘Well, kids, why don't you go off and make a movie?' Roger said. ‘Sassy, be sure that everyone gets a turn in front of the camera.'

Saskia's lip dropped and Clementine braced herself for another tantrum. ‘Come on, let's go,' the child said, eager to avoid a repeat performance of the girl's earlier behaviour. ‘I know a tree we can climb.'

‘But I don't climb trees,' Saskia protested.

Clementine sighed. She was beginning to wonder if there was anything in the world the girl actually did like to do.

Saskia followed Clementine and Will across the back lawn. ‘What are we going to do for the movie?' she asked.

‘We could make up a story,' Clementine suggested. ‘What if we turn into pirates? The oak tree over there can be our ship.'

‘I don't want to be a pirate,' Saskia said, kicking a tuft of grass. ‘
I
want to be a princess and
you
have to be an evil witch and then
he
has to save me.' She pointed at Will.

Clementine smiled. ‘Okay. What about if, in the end, the evil witch turns out to be good?' she said.

‘No, that's stupid. Everyone knows the witch is
always
evil and the princess
always
has to be rescued,' Saskia snapped.

‘Princesses can look after themselves, you know,' Clementine said. ‘They don't
always
have to be anything.'

Saskia scoffed. She bent down to pick up a stick and broke it into little bits. ‘Does your mum love his dad?' she asked after a while.

Clementine nodded.

Saskia pulled a face like she had stepped in dogs' droppings. ‘Gross.'

‘No, it's not,' Will said.

‘They'll probably get married and have a baby and then they won't care about you two anymore,' Saskia said, smirking. ‘That's what happened to my cousin. Her dad got married to this horrible lady and they had a baby and now they ignore her and she has to sleep in a cupboard.'

‘That wouldn't happen to us,' Clementine said. ‘That's not even true.'

‘Yes, it is. You don't know anything about my cousin,' Saskia retorted, folding her arms across her chest. ‘Where's your dad, anyway?'

Clementine shrugged. She wished it was dinnertime already.

‘She was adopted,' Will said, to Clementine's dismay.

‘Then it will be even worse because
she's
not your real mother,' Saskia said.

Clementine felt her tummy twist.

Saskia turned her attention to Will. ‘Where's your mum?'

Clementine waited for him to reply but the boy said nothing. ‘She died,' Clementine said. Will looked at her with angry eyes. ‘Well, she did,' the child said, her stomach clenching again. She wondered if she was having another appendicitis. The doctor had said that you only had one appendix and he'd taken that out, but maybe Clementine had two and he'd missed the second one.

‘You didn't have to tell her that,' Will whispered.

‘And you didn't have to tell her I was adopted,' Clementine replied. She didn't know why she was so angry. She had never worried about telling people that Uncle Digby and Pierre had found her in a basket of dinner rolls. But Saskia was different to her other friends. Even Joshua didn't seem quite so bad at the moment.

‘Well, are we going to make this movie or not?' Saskia sighed.

Will's brow furrowed. ‘I don't feel like it anymore.'

‘Me either,' Clementine said.

‘I told Mummy you'd be babies,' Saskia said, rolling her eyes. She stalked back across the lawn and around to the terrace, leaving the two friends on their own.

‘Do you think what she said is true?' Clementine asked.

Will shook his head. ‘No, my dad would never marry your mum.'

Clementine suddenly felt very cross. ‘Good. I don't want them to get married anyway.' She spun around and stomped to the other end of the garden. Will turned and skulked off in the opposite direction.

Lady Clarissa watched as Clementine pushed a potato around her plate. Her daughter had unexpectedly insisted on sitting beside her at the dinner table, while Will sat next to his father at the opposite end of the table. She was surprised the children hadn't wanted to sit together and had a feeling their young guest might have had a part to play in the matter.

‘Eat your dinner, darling,' Clarissa whispered.

‘I'm not hungry,' Clementine replied. She felt awful, as if she had swallowed a whole loaf of bread and it was now stuck in her throat.

‘So, Drew, what do you do for a living?' Roger asked. His moustache danced about as he chewed on a sausage.

‘I'm a cameraman and sound technician,' Drew replied.

Roger looked at him in surprise. ‘I can't imagine there'd be much call for that sort of thing around here,' he said.

‘I work all over the place,' Drew explained. ‘That's how I came to know the Applebys. A colleague of mine, Basil Hobbs, happens to be their neighbour. He recently made a documentary about Penberthy House and I worked on the production.'

‘Ooh, how interesting. Has it been on telly yet?' Chanelle asked.

‘No, it's on next month. I think Basil's going to host a screening for everyone here in the village first,' Drew said. ‘Clemmie's the star of the whole thing.'

Clementine looked up at the mention of her name.

Saskia glared across the table at her. ‘
She
is going to be on TV?'

‘Yes,' Aunt Violet said proudly. ‘Clementine did the most wonderful job playing the roles
of the women who have lived in the house, including myself. She's also going to be the host of Grandparents' Day at school next week.'

Clementine frowned and felt another stabbing pain in her side. ‘I don't know for sure yet, Aunt Violet,' she whispered.

‘
I
should be on TV,' Saskia said. ‘I'm much prettier.'

‘Sassy,' her father chided. ‘Clemmie Rose is lovely.'

‘But I'm lovelier,' the child insisted.

‘Right, has everyone finished?' Lady Clarissa said, taking the opportunity to change the topic. She stood up and began to clear the plates. ‘I've got chocolate mousse for dessert. That should sweeten things up.'

‘I wouldn't bet on it,' Aunt Violet muttered into her napkin as she dabbed at the corners of her mouth.

‘I'll help you with those.' Drew stood up and took the pile of dirty dishes from Clarissa.

Chanelle frowned and looked over at Uncle Digby. ‘Isn't that
your
job?'

‘He's not on duty,' Aunt Violet quipped, quick to leap to the man's defence this time. ‘But I'll come and help if you like, Clarissa.'

‘It's all right. We won't be a minute.' The woman smiled at Uncle Digby, who gave her a wink. They'd never seen Aunt Violet so keen to be helpful.

Clementine slipped down from her seat.

‘And where are you off to?' Aunt Violet asked the girl.

‘Please may I be excused? I need to go to the toilet,' Clementine said quietly, her voice almost a whisper. With a nod from her great-aunt, she padded inside.

Clementine didn't really need to go to the toilet, though her tummy did feel all mixed up. She couldn't help worrying that what Saskia had said was true. If her mother and Drew did get married and have a baby, it would be their very own. What if they liked the baby better than her? Would they send her away? They couldn't do that to Will because Drew was his real dad, but Clementine didn't even know who
she really belonged to. It had never occurred to her before but Saskia seemed to know a lot about these things. Clementine reached the kitchen door and pushed it open. She gasped as she saw Drew bending down on one knee and her mother reaching out towards him.

‘Mummy!' she cried, racing into the kitchen and sliding between the pair.

‘What's the matter, darling?' Clarissa asked. She scooped the charging girl into her arms.

Clementine hugged the woman tightly. ‘I don't feel well,' she murmured into her mother's neck.

‘Oh, sweetheart, has something upset you?' Clarissa asked, stroking the girl's hair. ‘Is it Saskia?'

Clementine nodded, not wanting to tell her mother what was really on her mind. She turned around to find Drew still on one knee, cleaning up a splodge of mayonnaise on the floor.

‘The Bakers will be on their way after dessert and then you can tell me all about it,' Clarissa said. She set Clementine back onto the ground
and fixed her ribbon. ‘Do you want to help me take out the mousse?'

‘Okay,' Clementine replied, eager to stay by her mother's side.

Drew looked over and flashed the child a warm smile. ‘Don't worry about Saskia, Clemmie,' he said. ‘She's just jealous, that's all. You're the only girl I know who has a teacup pig and is about to be a television star.'

Clementine nodded and dropped her eyes to the floor. As she followed her mother to the door, she looked up and glimpsed Drew's reflection in one of the glass doors of the sideboard. She saw him put something into his pocket and, quickly turning away, hoped it wasn't true.