Alice-Miranda and Millie cantered towards the school, eager to get back before dinner. The black sky had made good its promise and the girls and their ponies were now soaked to the skin. They arrived at the stables sodden and completely out of breath.

‘We’re never going to make it in time,’ Millie puffed as she looked up at the stable clock. ‘We’ll have to get changed before dinner too. Miss Reedy will murder us.’

Elsa, the new stablehand, appeared from inside one of the boxes.

‘Hello girls – oh, look at you two. I was wondering how much longer you’d be out,’ she said with a smile.

‘Hello Elsa,’ said Alice-Miranda. She removed her helmet and began to unbuckle Bony’s girth straps. ‘We hadn’t planned to be quite so long but we met some friends and got a little bit sidetracked.’

‘You’ll both catch a death of cold in those wet clothes! I can put these two away,’ Elsa offered.

‘Thanks, Elsa, that’s fab,’ said Millie.

‘Be a good boy for Elsa,’ whispered Alice-Miranda to Bony. She blew gently into his nostrils. The little pony snorted and Alice-Miranda wiped a small amount of slime from her forehead. ‘What will I do with you?’ she giggled.

Millie gave Chops a quick pat too.

‘You’d better get moving,’ said Elsa. ‘Susannah was up here earlier and she said that Miss Reedy was on the warpath down there.’

‘Thanks, Elsa. I promise we don’t usually do this,’ Alice-Miranda called as she and Millie charged out into the pouring rain and down the driveway towards the boarding house.

They almost bumped into Miss Reedy, who was hiding under a large umbrella on her way to dinner.

‘Girls, look at you. I thought you’d be back at least half an hour ago,’ she scolded them. Miss Reedy was surprised to see the girls and realised that she’d failed to make sure that everyone had returned to the house before dinner. She wasn’t enjoying her dual role and couldn’t wait for Mrs Howard to get back.

‘Miss Reedy, we have some wonderful news,’ Alice-Miranda blurted.

The teacher frowned. ‘It had better be good. You’ll need to get out of those clothes before dinner.’ She turned and walked back up the path and opened the door to Grimthorpe House. Once inside, Miss Reedy went ahead and found a couple of towels that Mrs Howard always left in a little cupboard in the sitting room in case of such emergencies.

The teacher wrapped a towel around Millie and then Alice-Miranda.

‘We found Mr Parker,’ Millie blurted, unable to wait any longer.

‘And he’s absolutely fine,’ Alice-Miranda added.

‘Goodness, really?’ Miss Reedy’s eyes were wide. ‘That’s wonderful news. Where is he?’

Alice-Miranda and Millie told her all about meeting Ursula and Mr Frost and then finding Mr Parker.

No one had noticed Jacinta standing in the hallway. She’d been in her room and wondered why the house had fallen silent when she realised that she was late for dinner. Not that she felt like eating. She was still churned up about the meeting with Mrs Jelly and the news that none of the girls would be attending Sainsbury Palace because of her. She’d expected Miss Grimm to be furious, but she wasn’t – at least, not about what happened at the orientation. Jacinta had still been in trouble for her late-night escape to the stables and had received a solid telling-off for her moody behaviour, but that was hardly anything really.

She’d been about to head off to the dining room when she heard voices and realised that Miss Reedy was in the back sitting room with Alice-Miranda and Millie.

Jacinta couldn’t believe her ears. Mr Parker had been found! He was alive and well and this was her chance to do something good. She’d telephone her mother right away. Mrs Parker would be so grateful.

Jacinta poked her head around the doorway and spied the telephone sitting in its cradle just inside the room. She reached around and picked it up, then sped silently to her bedroom and quietly closed the door.

‘Mummy,’ she whispered down the line. ‘I have some wonderful news. You must tell Mrs Parker right away.’

Back in the sitting room, the girls and Miss Reedy were discussing what to do next.

‘We have to call Mrs Parker at once,’ Miss Reedy said. ‘She’ll be so relieved.’

‘That’s what we said, but I’m afraid you can’t,’ said Alice-Miranda.

‘I don’t understand,’ Miss Reedy said. ‘Of course we have to let the poor woman know.’

‘Mr Parker made us promise that we wouldn’t tell her where he is. He said that he’s not ready to go home yet,’ Alice-Miranda explained.

‘Poor man.’ Miss Reedy shook her head. ‘It sounds like he’s in shock. I don’t think he knows what’s good for him at all.’

Miss Reedy stood up. ‘I’ll call Constable Derby and he can decide what’s best.’ She walked towards the telephone and was surprised to see it missing. She pursed her lips. ‘That’s strange. I could have sworn it was right there a moment ago.’

She walked into Mrs Howard’s office, wondering if she’d put the handset down in there and forgotten about it. A quick scan revealed nothing.

‘One of the girls must have taken the phone to her room,’ she murmured as she walked back into the sitting room. ‘I’ve told them before that’s not on. You two run along and get changed and I’ll keep looking for the phone.’

The two girls raced down the hall. Jacinta heard the footsteps and told her mother that she had to go.

Miss Reedy strode from room to room checking for the missing telephone. She was stunned when she opened Jacinta’s bedroom door to find the girl lying on her bed, headphones in and reading a book.

‘What are you doing here?’ Miss Reedy shouted.

Jacinta pulled out the earphones and frowned at the teacher.

‘Is it dinner?’ she asked innocently.

‘Yes, fifteen minutes ago.’

‘I didn’t hear the bell,’ Jacinta replied with a shrug.

‘Well, you can get going over there right now,’ the teacher said. ‘And have you seen the house phone?’

Jacinta shook her head.

Miss Reedy spun around and caught sight of the handset poking out from under a pile of papers on Sloane’s desk.

‘I’ve told Sloane Sykes before that she doesn’t have sole rights to the telephone!’ Miss Reedy snatched it up and stalked out of the room.

Jacinta shuffled off her bed and slipped on her loafers before following Miss Reedy down the corridor.

Back in the office, Miss Reedy telephoned Constable Derby, who was relieved and amazed to hear her news.