Alice-Miranda, Millie and Caprice arrived at Grimthorpe House to find the place under siege from Mrs Howard, who seemed to be under siege from Shaker. The housemistress was on a mission to get the place in order, which was no small task given the addition of twenty-five girls and all their belongings.
‘Good afternoon, Mrs Howard,’ Alice-Miranda greeted the woman. She was almost bowled over by Susannah, who was carrying a tower of towels to the linen cupboard. Several other girls were heaving suitcases and boxes of books. ‘This is Caprice.’
‘Oh, welcome dear,’ Mrs Howard told the girl. ‘I’ve been expecting you. What a pity you weren’t able to arrive yesterday with everyone else.’
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Caprice apologised. ‘Mummy was recording a show and she needed all of the family to be there.’
‘Yes, I met her this afternoon when she dropped your bags off and she told me so. Charming woman, and I do love watching Sweet Things.’ Mrs Howard patted her stomach. ‘You can see I like eating them even more. Anyway, never mind. This place seems twice as chaotic as yesterday, so you’ll just have to cope, I’m afraid.’
‘Would you like us to show Caprice to her room, Mrs Howard?’ Alice-Miranda offered.
‘Yes, please. Caprice is sharing with Jacinta and Sloane.’
Millie’s stomach twisted. That sounded like a very bad idea. Jacinta and Sloane were fiery enough on their own at times without adding Little Miss Perfect to the mix.
Mrs Howard turned to Caprice. ‘There’s a chest of drawers for you, dear, and I’ve cleared the end of one wardrobe but I’m afraid you’ll have to do your homework out here in the sitting room until Jacinta moves over to Caledonia Manor. Has anyone seen Sloane? She should have been back by now,’ Mrs Howard quizzed. ‘Actually, Millie, Alice-Miranda can take Caprice and you can stay here and help me with some jobs.’
‘Why me?’ Millie complained.
Howie glared. ‘Why not you?’
‘Yes, why not you?’ Shaker’s trembly voice echoed over the housemistress’s shoulder.
Mrs Howard spun around. ‘Oh, there you are, Mrs Shakeshaft. I need you to go and see how the new girls are getting on upstairs.’
‘But I’d much rather help down here.’
Mrs Howard eyed the old woman. ‘Are those cake crumbs around your mouth? You’d better not have been eating my supper.’
A sheepish look spread across Shaker’s powdered face. She quickly brushed her lip and scuttled away down the hall.
‘I’ll come back and help in a minute,’ Alice-Miranda said to Millie.
‘Thanks,’ the girl mouthed in reply.
Alice-Miranda led the way down the hall, pointing out who slept where and the bathroom on the right. ‘This is it. Millie and I are next door.’
She turned the handle of Sloane and Jacinta’s room and wondered what sort of state she’d find the place in. Neither of the girls was tidy and they spent most of the time blaming each other for the mess.
A third bed had been installed over the holidays. Alice-Miranda showed Caprice the spare chest of drawers and opened the door of Jacinta’s wardrobe, glad that the usual avalanche of belongings stayed put.
‘This is the hanging space Mrs Howard was talking about,’ Alice-Miranda said.
Two suitcases and a giant tuck box sat at the foot of the new bed.
‘Do you have room inspections?’ Caprice asked.
Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘Mrs Howard does them every week but she never tells us when they’ll be.’
‘What do you get if you win?’ Caprice asked.
‘All sorts of things. It’s different every time. Sometimes the girls who win get to choose a place to go for a weekend outing or Mrs Smith makes their favourite treat. Last year Millie and I got to have afternoon tea with Miss Grimm in her study,’ Alice-Miranda explained. ‘It’s always something lovely.’
‘How many times has this room won?’ Caprice asked.
The tiny child frowned. ‘Mmm.’ Alice-Miranda thought for a moment. ‘Never.’
‘Never! We’ll see about that.’ Caprice unzipped her first suitcase and flew into action.
‘Do you want some help?’ Alice-Miranda offered, grinning. Maybe Caprice was just what Jacinta and Sloane needed. Mrs Howard would be very grateful to have a tidy influence on the pair.
Caprice didn’t look up. ‘No, I’m fine.’
‘I’ll see you later then. Have fun with your unpacking.’
Alice-Miranda scurried down the hallway to the sitting room at the back of the house. Millie appeared from the utility room. The rest of the girls had disappeared and so had Mrs Howard and Shaker.
‘What were you doing?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘I just had to carry some junk down to the cellar.’
The room was still crowded with boxes but neither girl knew what else Mrs Howard wanted moved.
‘Come on, let’s go before Howie comes back and gives us any more jobs. I’ve got homework,’ said Millie.
‘What happened before, with you and Caprice in the dining room?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘That girl’s weird,’ Millie said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, one minute she was all sweet and lovely and then the next she was awful. I suppose it had to happen. We were always going to get a new one.’
Alice-Miranda shot Millie a curious look.
‘A new Alethea. For a while it looked like Sloane would take that crown but she’s not half as bad as she used to be,’ Millie huffed.
‘Sloane’s fine and maybe Caprice is nervous about being at a new school,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘What did she say to you?’
‘She was showing off about winning the academic scholarship and she said that you weren’t the cleverest girl in the school,’ Millie said. ‘She’s so pretty too. You wait. She’ll have the teachers wrapped around her little finger in no time.’
Alice-Miranda put her arm around Millie’s shoulder. ‘Don’t be upset. I’m sure she’s nothing like Alethea. And, you know, even she’s changed a lot since she was here. Besides, I’m not the cleverest girl in the school.’
‘Yes, you are. Anyway, I don’t want to spend any more time with Caprice than I have to. I might catch something, like show-off’s disease. I hear that’s not very pleasant at all. Your head gets really, really big and you start shooting your mouth off about everything!’
Alice-Miranda frowned. Caprice had seemed fine to her and it wasn’t like Millie to be jealous. There had to be more to it.