The Barn Owls arrived back at camp just as Mr Lipp was rushing about rounding up the Winchester-Fayle Singers for choir practice.

The rest of the children were to use their spare time before dinner to have showers and tidy their rooms for an inspection that Miss Reedy had promised for that evening.

‘Hurry along, everyone. Mr Trout’s waiting for us in the hall,’ Mr Lipp directed.

Clearly Mr Trout was rehearsing already as pounding piano music echoed through the camp.

The children arrived in dribs and drabs. When Figgy wandered in last, fifteen minutes after the rehearsal had started, Mr Lipp looked as if he was set to explode.

‘Glad you could join us, Figworth.’

The teacher was flapping his arms and strutting about like a peacock. His suit was just as colourful too, as he’d traded his beige safari gear for one of his more traditional ensembles. This time it was a pair of pink plaid trousers, a bright yellow shirt and a polka-dot cravat.

Figgy slunk into the back row and began opening and closing his mouth like a giant carp.

The song reached its explosive crescendo and Mr Lipp made the children hold the last note for far too long. Most of them lost their breath well before he cut them off. Except for Caprice, who warbled like a songbird.

‘Stunning, Caprice. Absolutely beautiful. But as for the rest of you, learn to hold a note,’ Mr Lipp huffed.

An hour after the rehearsal had started, Alice-Miranda put up her hand. ‘Excuse me, Mr Lipp, but aren’t we supposed to be at dinner?’

He looked at the clock on the wall and then at his watch. ‘Oh goodness,’ he blustered. ‘Yes, yes. We don’t want Miss Reedy sending a search party.’

The children looked sideways at one another, glad that Alice-Miranda had spoken up. The rumbling of stomachs threatened to drown out the singing.

‘Off you go,’ Mr Lipp said. ‘We’ll reconvene tomorrow.’

In the dining room, the children were greeted by Miss Reedy, who seemed remarkably relaxed. She’d been too busy with Mr Plumpton, plotting a little getaway for the end of term, to notice their lateness.

‘Sorry, Miss Reedy. Mr Lipp didn’t realise the time,’ Alice-Miranda apologised on behalf of the group.

‘Oh, goodness,’ she said, glancing at her watch then at the bain-maries, which she hoped the staff hadn’t already started to clear. But the children were in luck. The mystery meat and rice dish hadn’t been a huge hit with the students and there was plenty left. ‘Run along, everyone, you must be starving,’ she said with a smile.

‘What are we doing after dinner?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

‘I think the camp leaders have a trivia night planned,’ Miss Reedy said.

Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘I love trivia.’

Sloane rolled her eyes. ‘Only because you’re so good at it.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ Caprice said with a smirk.

Caprice’s plans to make Alice-Miranda look stupid backfired horribly. In the early rounds she fed Millie a stream of incorrect answers, which the girl reluctantly attempted to get Alice-Miranda to use. In the end Caprice was forced to change her plans. What a pity Alice-Miranda’s buzzer was about to fail.

‘This has been one of the most exciting trivia competitions we’ve ever seen at Bagley Hall,’ Beth said. She and Lionel, another one of the instructors, were acting as quizmasters. They were dressed in gaudy checked jackets with pork pie hats and oversized glasses. Miss Reedy commented that she thought they looked like used car salesmen. Mr Plumpton wondered if they’d borrowed their jackets from Mr Lipp.

‘Okay, so we’re down to the final round and it looks like we have two Barn Owls in the lead: Caprice and Alice-Miranda,’ said Beth. She led a huge round of applause.

‘Go Alice-Miranda!’ Sloane cheered.

‘Go Caprice,’ Figgy yelled.

‘Girls, we need you to come out the front,’ said Lionel.

Alice-Miranda and Caprice walked to the table that had been moved into place for the final. Two buzzers sat side by side. The girls took their seats and smiled at the audience.

Millie didn’t say a word. She moved off to the side and looked at where the power cords for the buzzers were plugged into the socket. Her eyes followed the cords to be sure which was which.

‘Now, if the first person to buzz gets the question wrong, then the other will have an opportunity to answer. Best of three,’ Lionel said.

Beth moved back to the whiteboard to record the scores.

‘First question. What is the capital city of Portugal?’

The girls pressed their buzzers. Alice-Miranda’s flashed first.

‘Yes, Alice-Miranda.’ Lionel looked intently at the child.

‘Lisbon,’ she replied.

‘Correct!’

A huge cheer went up around the room.

Caprice’s eyes searched the room for Millie.

Millie had spotted her target. Fortunately, the teachers were too busy drinking tea and watching the competition to notice her.

‘Second question. This is a history one. Name the Egyptian pharaoh responsible for the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza.’

Both girls jammed their hands on the buzzers, but Caprice made it first.

‘Yes, Caprice?’

The girl smiled sweetly. ‘Khufu.’

‘Well done!’

The children cheered wildly again.

‘Okay, this is it. The third and final question. Whoever gets this right wins the title of Bagley Hall Quiz Champion – well, for this week anyway.’ Lionel grinned.

Miss Reedy stood up from her seat at the teachers’ table and addressed the students. ‘Settle down, everyone. Before we finish I’d just like to say that both girls have been very impressive and we will be taking their performances into account when adding up today’s individual scores.’

‘But the winner gets more points, don’t they?’ Caprice demanded.

‘Yes, of course,’ said Miss Reedy slowly. She was a little surprised by the girl’s tone.

Caprice smiled at the teacher then glared at Millie, who was still crouched next to the power points.

‘Last question.’ Lionel couldn’t believe that he was using the cards generally reserved for students in high school. These little girls were amazing. ‘What is the longest river in the world?’

The girls hit their buzzers simultaneously but only Caprice’s lit up.

‘Caprice.’ Lionel looked at the girl through his oversized quizmaster glasses.

‘The Amazon,’ Caprice replied smugly.

Lionel bit his lip and looked at his card. ‘I’m afraid that’s incorrect.’

Caprice’s jaw hit the ground. ‘It can’t be wrong. I know these things.’

Lionel looked at Alice-Miranda. ‘Do you know?’

The child nodded. ‘I think so. Is it the Nile?’ She looked at Lionel expectantly.

‘It’s the Nile!’ Lionel shouted and the crowd went crazy. The young man walked over and raised Alice-Miranda’s hand in the air.

Caprice’s face was as dark as a moonless night.

Alice-Miranda looked about for Millie and gave her friend a wave. Millie gave a half-hearted smile. She wondered what evil plan Caprice was plotting for her punishment. It wasn’t her fault the stupid girl didn’t know the answer. She’d done what she was asked, and it sickened her to the core.

Alice-Miranda turned to Caprice and held out her hand. ‘Thanks for a great match.’

Caprice turned her head the other way. But when she spotted Beth frowning at her, she quickly turned back to Alice-Miranda and grabbed her hand. She shook it vigorously then leaned across and gave the tiny child a hug too.

‘You were fantastic,’ Caprice simpered.

‘Thanks, Caprice. You were pretty amazing yourself.’

Beth presented Alice-Miranda with a tiny plastic trophy.

Miss Reedy stood and walked to the front. Judging by the contagious yawns that were spreading around the room, Miss Reedy was hopeful that the children would have an early night and her hallway patrols would be over quickly. She was feeling quite tired herself. She tapped the microphone and addressed the students.

‘Well done, everyone. What a marvellous evening we’ve had. Now, just before we go Miss Wall is going to update the team scores. Any treats will be held over until tomorrow. No midnight feasts, I’m afraid.’

A groan spread around the room.

‘And the leader of the teams competition tonight is … drumroll please …’

The children pounded their feet on the carpet.

‘The Robins!’

High-pitched squeals almost perforated eardrums as the youngest students celebrated their success.

‘See, I told you everyone will get a win at some stage,’ Jacinta told Sloane. ‘Hope it’s us soon. I could do with some chocolate.’