At half past eight, after a wonderful tale about mischief-making monkeys and a hippo who liked to eat liquorice, the children brushed their teeth and crawled into their makeshift beds. Outside, the rain had begun to splatter against the windows but within minutes the only noise inside the tents was the shallow breathing of little bodies and a small squeak coming from Lavender, who was also fast asleep.

Clarissa peeked in on the group, switched off the children’s torches and closed the library door.

Aunt Violet had stayed in her room for the rest of the day. Clarissa had taken her a tea tray of boiled eggs and toasty soldiers for her supper, but Violet was fast asleep. Beside her, Pharaoh opened one eye and stared at his hostess, then curled his lip. Clarissa thought Clementine was quite right when she said that he was the strangest creature she’d ever seen.

Clarissa looked at the bags and clothes covering the room. Her aunt certainly had a lot of luggage with her. She walked over to straighten the cushions on the chaise longue and noticed a letter on the desk.

Clarissa leaned in to take a closer look, scanning the page. She glanced towards the bed where her aunt slept. ‘So that’s why you’re here,’ she whispered. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have nowhere to go. And while Aunt Violet was a lot of things, cranky and rude being top of the list, she was also family.

Just after 10 pm, Digby Pertwhistle retired to his room. It wasn’t long afterwards that Lady Clarissa made a final check on the children and went up to bed too.

Outside, the wind was beginning to howl. A loose shutter on the far end of the house had started to bang and Clarissa hoped that it didn’t wake anyone. She hated the thought of having to go and attend to it in her nightdress, but it wouldn’t be the first time. Overhead, thunder rumbled but down in the library the children slept without stirring.

Clementine was in the middle of a lovely dream about her grandpa. She was telling him a new poem she had learned when suddenly lightning tore open the darkness and filled the library with light. She awoke with a start and felt as if she was falling through a giant hole in the sky.

It took her a few moments to remember where she was.

Clementine lay awake under the desk as the light flickered around her. Goosebumps suddenly sprang up along her arms. It wasn’t just the storm – she had a feeling there was someone else in the room. She crept to the edge of the tent and pulled open the sheets. A figure dressed in white stood at the end of the room. It had silver hair and bare feet and there was a glow coming from the end if its arm. Clementine wondered if it was one of her ancestors, perhaps from the portraits on the walls. She watched as the ghost pulled some books from the shelf. Clementine rubbed her eyes and wondered if she was still dreaming.

‘I knew it,’ a voice whispered. ‘I knew you were in here. And now you’re mine.’

It was the ghost speaking. Clementine reached for the camera beside her.

Sophie stirred. ‘What are you doing?’ she yawned.

‘Shhhh!’ Clementine pressed her finger against Sophie’s lips. ‘There’s a ghost out there.’

Sophie’s eyes widened. ‘A ghost? On our safari?’

‘I’m going to take its picture,’ Clementine whispered.

Sophie shook her head. ‘No!’

‘Stay here.’ Clementine began to crawl out from under the desk.

The ghost had its back to her. It turned around and at the same time a huge streak of lightning lit up the window and the whole library.

‘Oh!’ The ghost caught its breath. ‘Who’s there?’ it whispered urgently when it saw Jules’s two-storey tent.

Clementine crept in front of the white figure and pressed the button on the camera. The flash went off and Aunt Violet stood frozen to the spot.

‘You again! What are you doing?’ she demanded.

‘Phew!’ Clementine let out the breath she had been holding. ‘I thought you were a ghost, Aunt Violet!’

Sophie scrambled out from under the desk. ‘What’s that?’ she asked, pointing at Aunt Violet’s hand.

Jules was awake now too. He wriggled out of his tent to join the girls. The children had Violet surrounded.

‘Go back to sleep,’ she ordered. ‘You’re all dreaming. I am a ghost. You are asleep and I was never here. Now give me that.’ She reached out and tried to snatch the photograph that had whirred out of the old camera.

‘What’s going on in here?’ Lady Clarissa flicked on the library lights. ‘Aunt Violet! What on earth?’

Digby Pertwhistle hadn’t been able to sleep either and was on his way to the kitchen to make a cup of cocoa when he heard the kerfuffle.

‘Is that you, Violet?’ he asked, squinting at the old woman in her nightgown.

Violet tried to hide whatever it was she was holding behind her back.

But Clementine handed her mother the picture that was coming to life in front of them.

‘Is that . . .’ Clarissa hesitated, peering at the image. ‘Is that the Appleby tiara?’ She handed the photograph to Digby Pertwhistle.

‘Oh, my dear, I think it is. That tiara and the matching necklace and earrings have been missing for years. Your mother always thought the set had been stolen. You know it’s worth a fortune.’

‘Is that the tiara Granny’s wearing in the portrait?’ Clementine asked her mother. ‘The one with all the sparkles?’ She turned to her great-aunt. ‘This morning when you were coming out of my room, Aunt Violet, I saw something twinkly in your hand and then you put it in your pocket. What was that?’

‘It was none of your business,’ the old woman replied.

‘Aunt Violet, please don’t speak to Clementine like that. What else did you find?’

‘Mummy’s earrings,’ Violet said, pouting.

‘We’ll deal with those later. May I have the tiara, please?’ Clarissa asked.

‘No! It’s mine!’ the woman snapped.

Digby frowned at her and shook his head softly. ‘I think you’ll find it belongs to Clarissa.’

‘Everything belongs to Clarissa,’ Violet yelled. ‘The house, the furniture, the china. But this is mine. And so are the earrings and the necklace. I found them when I was little and I hid them in different places in the house. I forgot about them until I was packing up the flat and found an old photograph of Mother wearing them. I couldn’t think where the tiara was and then yesterday when I saw that the cabinet was gone, I remembered. You’re not having it. I, I, I need it.’ Violet’s lip trembled and it looked as if she was going to cry.

‘Aunt Violet, why don’t you give it to me and I’ll put it somewhere safe and we can talk about it in the morning,’ Clarissa said soothingly.

‘No!’ The woman shuddered. ‘You don’t know what it’s like. I haven’t got any money left. None at all.’ Violet began to wail. ‘I don’t even have anywhere to live!’

‘I know,’ Clarissa said, as she and Digby exchanged glances.

‘It’s all right, Aunt Violet,’ said Clementine. ‘We don’t have any money either. And we have plenty of space. You could stay here with us if you like. But you can’t have my bedroom,’ she added. ‘Grandpa said so. And you should try to be a bit kinder, like Mummy said you used to be.’

Violet was cornered. She jammed the tiara on top of Clementine’s head and stomped past Clarissa.

‘But I’m keeping the earrings, and the necklace too if I can remember where it is,’ she said as she turned and stared at the group. Then she fled upstairs to her room.

‘Why is Aunt Violet so mad?’ Clementine asked her mother.

‘I think she’s embarrassed,’ said Clarissa thoughtfully. ‘She’s been very sneaky.’

Clementine lifted the tiara from her head and stared at the sparkling jewels. ‘It’s lovely, Mummy.’

‘Yes it is, Clemmie,’ her mother replied. ‘And I’m going to put it away in a very safe place.’ She strode to the opposite end of the bookshelf, reached up, and rested her hand on the spine of one of the books. The shelf spun around, revealing a safe buried in the wall.

‘I think that’s a very good idea,’ said Digby.

‘It’s okay, Lady Clarissa, we’re on safari,’ Jules declared. ‘Nothing can get past the wildlife photographers.’

Lady Clarissa spun the dial and swivelled the books back into place. ‘All right, off to sleep everyone,’ she instructed, ‘or you’ll never get up in the morning.’

Clementine kissed her mother goodnight and climbed back under the desk. Sophie followed her and Jules disappeared into his tent.

‘Would you like to join me for some cocoa, dear?’ Digby asked.

‘That would be lovely, thank you,’ Clarissa replied wearily.