Alice-Miranda glanced at her watch. If she hurried, she still had time to visit the Parkers. She dropped by the boarding house to let Mrs Clarkson know where she was going and bumped into Jacinta, who was standing in the doorway of her room with a peculiar look on her face.
‘Is everything okay?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Jacinta replied in a wobbly voice. ‘Lucas was just here and he was acting like a complete weirdo, as if he had something to tell me but couldn’t. He’s going to live with his mother in America, I’m sure of it.’
Alice-Miranda didn’t really have time to talk, but she hated leaving her friend alone in her time of need. ‘I was just on my way to visit the Parkers and I’d love some company. Would you like to join me?’
‘I’m not that desperate.’ Jacinta sniffed and mustered a smile. ‘But I’ll come with you and go and see Mummy. I left a book at her place, which I need to pick up.’
Alice-Miranda grinned and the pair of them set off towards the village. ‘How was your dinner last night?’ she asked.
‘I was sceptical at first,’ Jacinta admitted, ‘but I think Daddy’s really going to try this time. He’s even helping me to organise some of the entertainers for the festival – and he’s doing it himself, not palming it off on his PA, which never would have happened before. You told me that you can only take people as you find them, so that’s what I’m doing. Maybe he’s not such a bad person after all and, well, who hasn’t been guilty of poor choices? I know I have.’
Alice-Miranda chuckled and gave her friend a squeeze. ‘I’m so pleased you’re giving him a second chance. Everyone deserves that.’
The girls reached the middle of Rosebud Lane and were surprised to see Miss Crowley in the garden of the cottage next door to the Parkers. It was a quaint stone house with a red front door in the centre, framed by a triangular porch. Symmetrical double-hung windows sat on either side with two identical ones above. Bookended by chimneys, a pretty Virginia creeper had cast its veil over the left side of the building which had been for sale for a little while now, after old Mr Tucker had moved to an aged-care home in Downsfordvale. Miss Crowley was standing beside a tall man in a navy suit and tie.
‘Hello girls,’ Tabitha said with a smile. ‘Lovely afternoon for a walk.’
‘Are you buying the house?’ Jacinta asked.
‘I just came to have a look,’ Tabitha said, then led them down the drive and out of earshot of the estate agent. ‘Actually, I think I probably will,’ she whispered, ‘but I want to see if I can do a deal. I’m sure Mr Coburn up there is counting on me being a silly young woman who doesn’t know how to negotiate, and I’d like to prove him wrong.’
‘Good plan.’ Jacinta nodded. ‘Who doesn’t love a bargain?’
It was right then that Alice-Miranda finally realised exactly who Miss Crowley reminded her of. ‘It’s Jacinta,’ she gasped.
Jacinta looked at her friend. ‘Yes, that’s my name, don’t wear it out.’
‘No, I’ve been thinking ever since Miss Crowley started at school that she reminds me of someone and now I know exactly who it is – it’s you,’ Alice-Miranda explained.
‘Really?’ Tabitha said.
‘Stand next to each other,’ Alice-Miranda instructed.
Mr Coburn walked down the driveway towards the group. ‘Is this your sister, Miss Crowley?’ he asked.
‘See?’ Alice-Miranda said triumphantly. ‘I’m not the only one who thinks there’s a resemblance.’
Jacinta and Tabitha grinned at each other. ‘We’ll have to do some research,’ the woman said. ‘It would be lovely to find a long-lost relative or any relative for that matter.’
Mr Coburn handed the woman his card and promised to call tomorrow to see if she had any more thoughts on the house, then he hopped into his shiny red BMW and drove away.
‘You know, if you buy this house, you’ll be living across the road from my mother,’ Jacinta said. ‘And next door to Myrtle Parker, which is something to consider carefully, although she’s not nearly as bad as she used to be.’
A mop of curly hair popped up over the hedge like a startled meerkat. ‘I heard that, Jacinta Headlington-Bear,’ Myrtle chided.
Jacinta’s eyes widened. ‘Oops,’ she said, giggling behind her hand.
How long Mrs Parker had been listening was anyone’s guess, but Alice-Miranda suspected it was probably from the moment the estate agent’s car had arrived outside the house. ‘Doing a spot of weeding, were you, Mrs Parker?’ the tiny girl asked.
Myrtle drew back her shoulders and brushed a leaf from her hair. ‘Yes, absolutely,’ she said. ‘We have standards to maintain in Rosebud Lane. We’re contenders for best kept street in the village this year.’
‘How delightful,’ Tabitha said, and introduced herself to the woman.
‘Well, I just hope someone buys this place soon and brings it up to scratch.’ Myrtle tsked. ‘It would be a crying shame to have one house letting us down.’
Alice-Miranda smiled to herself. Considering that Mrs Parker’s garden had resembled a weedy jungle up until Ambrosia set to work on it – and Mr Parker diligently maintained it – she could hardly comment on the cottage next door, which, apart from the odd stalk of onion grass, was as neat as a pin and almost as pretty as Wisteria Cottage.
‘We should be letting you go, Miss Crowley,’ Alice-Miranda said. She was eager to find Mr Parker too. As the group was about to part, Neville’s Aston Martin swerved into the road before pulling to a stop in Ambrosia’s driveway.
‘Daddy!’ Jacinta shouted. She raced across the road as her parents hopped out of the car. Much to Neville’s surprise, she launched herself at his middle and gave him a hug.
‘Goodbye, Alice-Miranda. It was lovely to meet you, Mrs Parker. Perhaps I will see you again,’ Tabitha said with a smile. She gave Jacinta a wave and began to walk down the lane towards the main road.
‘Who was that, darling?’ Ambrosia asked, peering across the street.
‘Miss Crowley. She’s the new English teacher at school. Alice-Miranda thinks she and I could be sisters,’ Jacinta said.
‘Crowley,’ Ambrosia repeated. There was something about the name that rang a bell.
Neville forced a grin to his lips. ‘This is a surprise, darling. I thought you had things to do at school.’
‘I did, but Alice-Miranda wanted to visit the Parkers, so I decided to see Mummy and pick up a book I left here,’ the girl said. ‘I’m so thirsty. I hope there’s still some of that date-and-walnut loaf left.’ She ran down the side of the house and around to the kitchen door.
‘Are you coming, Neville?’ Ambrosia detected a hint of disappointment in the man’s face, but it was of no consequence to her. A couple of dinners and a drive in the countryside did not a new man make. There was a long way to go yet before she’d entertain any thoughts of a reconciliation. ‘You’d better get on to that fire twirler you promised Jacinta – you don’t want to disappoint her.’
Alice-Miranda was walking up the Parkers’ driveway when another car pulled up out the front.
‘Stanley Frost, what are you doing here?’ Myrtle called out to her brother-in-law. ‘If you’re expecting a meal, I’m afraid you’re barking up the wrong tree.’
‘Always a pleasure, Myrtle,’ the man called back. He opened the boot and took out a large box. ‘I brought you some photographs for the historical society and some I thought you might like for yourself.’
Alice-Miranda giggled. The man’s timing couldn’t have been better. She had an idea and now she just had to convince Mr Parker and Mr Frost that it was a good one.