The two friends quickly conferred and settled on taking the group through the library, which had lost its Goldsworthy prefix after Alethea left the school and her father was sent to prison. They were greeted in the foyer by Mr Gordy Winslade, the recently appointed librarian. For a while there, Miss Reedy had looked after the collection on top of her English classes. However, it had all got a bit too much. The woman was a whiz, not a magician, so before embarking on maternity leave, Miss Grimm decided that a specialist staff member would be a valuable addition to the school.

‘Good afternoon,’ the man said warily, tugging on his silver beard. ‘What’s all this?’

Alice-Miranda quickly explained. She and Mr Winslade were old friends. Prior to coming to work at the school, he had been in charge of the Highton Mill Public Library in the village adjacent to her family home, Highton Hall. It was Alice-Miranda’s mother who had alerted the old man to the opportunity, and they’d all been thrilled when he got the job.

‘Oh, splendid,’ the man enthused. ‘I’d love to talk about the library – you know it’s my favourite place in the world. Well, not just this library, although it is special in its own way. I love all libraries. Wherever there are books, there is knowledge and information, emotions, imagination, characters and pagination.’ His voice was getting higher and higher.

As it sounded as if the man was about to break into song, Alice-Miranda tugged on his sleeve. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Winslade,’ she whispered, ‘but we don’t have long as Millie and I will need to get to assembly and we still have lots to see.’

Mr Winslade blushed. ‘Forgive me, child. It’s just that once you get me started, it’s hard to get me to stop, and I can’t wait to be able to help all of you find stories that you love or information you need.’

‘He’s an odd little man,’ the haughty woman said, loud enough for all to hear. This time she earned herself arched eyebrows from every parent in the room. ‘Don’t look at me like that. He is,’ she protested.

‘He’s also one of the kindest people you’d ever meet,’ Millie said. ‘We’re big on that at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale.’

As the group exited the building and crossed the flagstone courtyard towards the classrooms, Miss Reedy came striding up to them. ‘What’s all this?’ she asked over the top of her glasses.

Millie explained what they were doing, which saw Miss Reedy’s eyebrows jump up in surprise. She’d offered to take tours for Ophelia, but the woman had turned her down, saying that Livinia had enough on her plate. She thought they were getting back on an even keel after she’d apologised for the mix-up with the note – despite the fact it was Ophelia who should have been eating humble pie when all the enrolment enquiries began rolling in.

Alice-Miranda turned to the assembled crowd. ‘Please allow me to introduce Miss Reedy, our acting headmistress while Miss Grimm is on maternity leave. Miss Reedy is the most marvellous English teacher.’

‘Why aren’t you in there conducting the interviews if you’re the headmistress?’ one of the fathers chuckled. ‘Are you only pretending?’

Livinia smiled tightly. ‘I think you’ll find that it’s much better to have your interview with the real McCoy. I’ll just get on with running the school while you’re keeping her busy.’

The group of parents and children stood in a huddle, some pointing out parts of the campus, others blank-faced.

‘Miss Reedy, we actually came over to talk to you before assembly if we could,’ Alice-Miranda said.

‘It’s about the festival,’ Millie added, taking advantage of the fact that Miss Reedy might think twice about saying no in front of all the prospective students and their parents.

‘We discussed that on Monday evening, girls, and now is not the time to raise it again. You know Miss Grimm’s feelings on the matter,’ Livinia said with a pointed look.

There was a general rumbling of discontent through the group.

‘That’s a pity,’ a man in a pinstriped suit said loudly. ‘We saw the girls talking about it on the telly and were so impressed. That’s one of the reasons Barbara and I decided to enrol our little Tuesday here.’ He glanced at the girl beside him, who was in possession of two long plaits that reached almost to her knees.

Livinia swallowed hard. Her husband had been rabbiting on at home about the event, saying that all of the staff thought it was a wonderful idea, but she’d also told him in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t going to happen.

‘But we’ve organised everything,’ Millie said in a wobbly voice. The festival meant so much to her – to all of them – that she hated the thought that it might not go ahead. ‘We have a committee and Alice-Miranda is the chairperson and I’m the treasurer and everyone has jobs and we even have the most fantastic name – The Fields Festival. It’s a play on Winchesterfield. And we’re going to have it in the field in the front of the school. Miss Crowley’s been helping us.’

Livinia frowned. ‘Has she now?’ As a new member of staff, surely the woman had enough to do already – and she was yet to have her first rehearsal with the Winchester-Fayle Singers.

‘We’ve got The Stingrays,’ Millie blurted.

Alice-Miranda’s eyes were the size of dinner plates while several of the girls and mothers behind her squealed loudly. Or perhaps they had come from the two fathers at the back, who were clenching their fists like excited schoolgirls. ‘Really?’ she mouthed to Millie, wondering if her friend had somehow received an update.

Millie shrugged while the gaggle of parents began talking over the top of one another and saying how they were going to get their tickets right away. It was bedlam. Livinia Reedy couldn’t believe her ears. The idea that they would have The Stingrays at the school was thrilling. They were the biggest band in the world at the moment, and while she was no aficionado of pop music, she had been known to sing along to them on the radio and they always made her smile.

‘Who else have you secured?’ she asked.

Alice-Miranda jumped in quickly with the list she had so far, which mostly included locals and, of course, Caprice.

‘And we’re hoping to get Nick Waterford,’ Millie added. ‘He’s a good friend of Alice-Miranda’s parents.’

‘Millie,’ Alice-Miranda whispered sharply, ‘we don’t know for sure yet.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Millie whispered back. ‘I think Miss Reedy’s going to say yes anyway – just look at her.’

‘Oh my word.’ Livinia suddenly felt faint. He was more her style. She’d loved Nick Waterford since she was a young girl. She’d been to several of his concerts and thought he was incredible. He was getting on a bit now, but the idea of having him at the school was almost too much. Her spine tingled at the prospect.

‘I almost forgot,’ Alice-Miranda said, pulling the envelope from her pocket. ‘Mrs Derby asked me to give you this.’

Seeing Ophelia’s handwriting, Livinia opened the letter and read it very carefully. She wasn’t about to be caught out a second time, though she was surprised by the contents. ‘Well, girls, it sounds as if you have everything in hand,’ Livinia said, finally allowing herself to smile.

‘You mean we can go ahead?’ Millie asked, glancing at Alice-Miranda.

Miss Reedy nodded and held up the letter. ‘I have Miss Grimm’s blessing right here. She says she’s reconsidered, so you can make your announcement in assembly.’ It was going to be a very happy assembly indeed, as she’d also planned to acknowledge the girls for their bravery too. The announcement of the festival would be the icing on the cake.

‘Yes!’ Millie fizzed, high-fiving Alice-Miranda.

‘And I’ll be taking over liaising with your committee,’ Miss Reedy added. ‘Miss Crowley has enough to do settling in.’

Millie and Alice-Miranda looked at one another.

‘This is excellent news,’ said the man in the suit, and his sentiments were echoed around the group.

Livinia Reedy bid them farewell and dashed away. Perhaps Mr Grump had managed to change his wife’s mind about the event, but whatever the reason, she was glad the woman had. The school would be full in no time flat and she was certain Ophelia would recognise how much the television interview and festival had to do with that. There was no way Benitha Wall would be continuing as deputy. The position would be Livinia’s – of that she had no doubt.