‘So, what’s this all about?’ Millie rushed into the sitting room, drying her hair with a towel. She’d just returned from a vigorous hour and a half of tennis training and, having caught a whiff of her armpits, decided she needed a shower before dinner or no one would want to sit with her.
Alice-Miranda explained to the room of twenty girls that Mrs Abboud was open to the idea of a fundraiser, but only if she could help. ‘I think we should form a committee,’ she proposed, ‘or else there’ll be too many cooks and everyone will be getting in the way of each other and then nothing will happen at all.’
‘The first thing we need is a date,’ Chessie said, turning to a fresh page in her open notebook. ‘So we know how long we have to get things organised.’
The rest of the girls agreed.
Miss Crowley took out her term calendar and quickly scanned the weekends until the break. ‘As far as I can see, Sunday the thirteenth looks like the best option,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing else scheduled.’
‘Fine, pencil it in,’ Sloane said, reclipping one of the barrettes she’d recently taken to wearing in her hair.
Alice-Miranda bit down on the end of her pen. ‘What roles do we need for the committee?’ she wondered aloud. She’d seen her mother and father head up enough of them to know that specific responsibilities were important and supporting one another was paramount to the success of any activity.
‘We need a chairperson,’ Millie said. ‘Which, for the first time in village history, won’t be Myrtle Parker!’
The girls laughed.
‘I don’t know how she’ll cope with not being the boss,’ Ivory commented as she retied the cerise-pink ribbon around her ponytail. ‘Wait until she hears that the concert is being run by children. She’ll be aghast!’ The girl pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and pretended to faint.
‘There has to be a treasurer to look after the money side of things,’ Sloane suggested, only to be greeted by a room full of wary faces. ‘I don’t want to do it,’ she said, throwing her hands up. ‘It’s far too much responsibility than I’d care to take on, and I know you’re all thinking it was my mother who tried to get Fayle closed down so she could sell the land and make a fortune. She might be my mother, but I can assure you that I don’t have the same greedy genes.’
‘It’s fine, Sloane,’ Alice-Miranda said gently. ‘No one was thinking that at all.’
Caprice snorted. ‘Speak for yourself.’
Sloane turned to fix the girl with a steely glare. ‘Considering you weren’t even here when that happened, I’d keep my mouth shut if I was you.’
Caprice folded her arms. ‘It’s going to be so much fun telling all these school stories to Gloss and Goss when I’m the most famous singer and actress in the world.’
Sloane’s jaw dropped.
‘Don’t worry, no one reads that rubbish,’ Millie whispered to her. ‘At least no one with any sense. Come on, let’s get back to business.’
Alice-Miranda gave Millie a wink, thankful that another potential explosion had been averted.
‘We need a secretary to take all the notes from the meetings,’ Millie said, and glanced over at Chessie, who was furiously scribbling down everything the girls were saying onto her notepad. The others followed Millie’s gaze.
Chessie looked up, wondering why the room had fallen silent, then grinned. ‘I’d be happy to do it.’
The newly founded committee got to work. Their discussions ricocheted from advertising and media to signage and risk assessment, which everyone agreed was a total bore. Fortunately, Miss Crowley offered to do the paperwork for that. Before long, Chessie had compiled quite a list.
In the end they voted Alice-Miranda to be the chairperson, Chessie as secretary, Millie was the treasurer, Sloane was in charge of promotions, Ivory and Susannah put their hands up for venue management, Danika was in charge of technology and Shelby was to look after the car park. Caprice appointed herself as the head of talent as she was the one with the most contacts in the business. When Millie pointed out that it was Alice-Miranda who probably had the best connections, Caprice promptly reminded everyone that her mother was the famous television chef, Venetia Baldini, which solved the catering issue right away. The children brokered a deal that, if Caprice could get her mother to organise the food, she could program the show – on the proviso that the entire committee would have input on the acts. The girl agreed, though only because she had already decided on at least a dozen songs she was planning to perform. Everyone else came under a team leader, so there were plenty of girls ready to do the legwork.
‘What are you putting your hand up for, Jacinta?’ Millie asked.
The girl startled from where she’d been giving the carpet her full attention. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’
‘Your job?’ Millie said with a frown.
‘Oh.’ Jacinta shrugged. ‘I don’t mind. You choose.’ Since Mrs Parker’s revelation about Lucas the other night, she’d barely been able to think of anything else. It hadn’t helped that her father had telephoned again this afternoon and asked if there was any chance he could pick her up after school tomorrow and take her for a milkshake. Jacinta hadn’t known what to say. He interpreted her silence as a yes and said that he would arrange it with the school. Jacinta wanted to tell her mother, but was worried she’d be upset. Part of her badly wanted her father to be the man she’d always hoped he would be yet there was every chance he could disappoint her again. Why did grown-ups have to be so ridiculously complicated?
‘How about you organise other activities?’ Millie said. ‘If it’s going to be a proper festival, we’ll need a whole bunch of stalls with things like face painting and craft. What about a kissing booth? I know a few girls who’d pay good money to peck Lucas on the cheek.’
The girls giggled and some guffawed. ‘Jacinta would, that’s for sure,’ Sloane teased.
‘I don’t have to pay for mine,’ Jacinta retorted and was met with raised eyebrows and catcalls. She blushed a deep shade of red and shook her head. ‘The stalls are a great idea. I’ll work on that, but there won’t be any kissing at this festival.’
‘We need a name,’ Chessie said. ‘Who knows, if it goes well, it could become an annual event and we could choose a different cause to support every year.’
‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ Alice-Miranda said, rubbing her hands with excitement. ‘Once we’ve done it this time, it will be so much easier with the next one as we’ll know what we’re doing. Okay, does anyone have a thought about the name?’
‘What about Kids for Kids?’ Danica said.
‘Boring!’ Caprice bleated. ‘And we’re not just doing things for kids, we’re doing them for a whole family.’
‘I wonder if we could play on the school name,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Winchesterfield …?’
Jacinta’s eyes brightened. ‘The Fields Festival, or Fields of Fun?’
‘I love those!’ Alice-Miranda gasped. ‘Chessie, can you note both of those ideas down so we can all think about it and revisit them in a couple of days?’ She looked around the group. ‘We should probably assign each person a task to achieve before our next meeting too. It’s Tuesday today, so how about we reconvene on Thursday after dinner to check in and see how far we’ve got? In the meantime, I’ll speak to Miss Grimm and Miss Reedy about the date and assure them that they don’t have to lift a finger – this is all on us,’ she said, and turned to the teacher. ‘Miss Crowley, could you ask Mr Plumpton and some of the faculty members if they’re keen to lend a hand? I know dear Mr Charles will support us, as will Mrs Smith and Mrs Jennings.’
‘So long as she’s on ticket sales or something and not cooking,’ Caprice crowed.
Tabitha smiled and gave a decisive nod. ‘And if you’d like me to come with you to speak to Miss Grimm and Miss Reedy, I’m happy to.’
The dinner bell rang, breaking up the party.
‘Something smells delicious,’ Sloane said with a note of surprise.
‘I saw Mrs Smith arrive just after lunch,’ Chessie whispered conspiratorially. ‘She said she was doing her famous Keralan fish curry.’
‘Brilliant.’ Millie licked her lips. ‘I hope she’s made naan bread as well and the pappadums with mint raita – they’re my favourite.’
‘Perhaps I’ll have dinner with you girls tonight,’ Miss Crowley said as the group stood up to leave. ‘It’ll beat tinned spaghetti on toast in my flat.’
Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘That would be lovely and, don’t worry, you won’t be the only staff member there.’
Brimming with ideas and exciting plans, the newly formed committee walked down the hallway to the dining room and, sure enough, found a table full of teachers already inside.
Livinia pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her mind a whirl of confusion. She’d searched high and low for the dratted note after her run-in with Ophelia and couldn’t believe it had been sitting in the middle of her desk the whole time. Trouble was, it didn’t read the same way she remembered. Her eyes took in Ophelia’s distinctive handwriting and personalised letterhead. Yes, she had been in a hurry when she received it, but this note expressly told her not to accept any interviews. How had she got it so wrong? Livinia let out a deep breath and wrung her hands together. She would go and apologise to Ophelia at once. It was the least she could do.