Mrs Kimmel’s School for Girls was one of the oldest in the city. There had been a long line of headmistresses before Jilly Hobbs, who was the sixteenth woman in charge of the revered institution.

A middle-aged man with thinning grey hair and a substantial mid-section welcomed Alice-Miranda and Cecelia at the top of the short flight of steps. A thick black belt held his trousers in place and he wore a blue shirt with an extravagant K embroidered on the pocket.

‘Good morning, ma’am, miss,’ he greeted the pair.

‘Good morning, sir, my name is Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith Kennington-Jones, and I’m very pleased to meet you.’ She held out her hand which the man shook vigorously.

‘Good morning,’ Cecelia echoed her daughter, and shook the man’s hand too.

He nodded at Cecelia, then kneeled down and grinned at Alice-Miranda.

‘Well, aren’t you just as cute as a button. I’m Whip Staples, at your service.’

‘I’m just starting today, Mr Staples. And it’s only for a month but I can’t wait to meet everyone. School in New York is quite a different adventure to my boarding school back at home. May I ask what you do here?’ Alice-Miranda enquired.

‘Well, for a start, please call me Whip – all the girls do – and I guess I look after everything from security to sanitation and a whole lotta things in between.’ The man’s grey eyes twinkled as he spoke.

‘Do you take care of the garden?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

Whip glanced at the window boxes along the front of the building with their bright red geraniums, and at the two square pots of standard roses that stood guard either side of the front door.

‘Well, I suppose I do,’ he smiled. ‘Have to admit, though, it doesn’t take me long.’

He held open the door.

‘See you soon, Mr Whip,’ said Alice-Miranda.

A small rectangular entrance hall lined on one side with a cabinet full of polished silver trophies opened out into a circular reception area. There were overstuffed antique chairs positioned around the room and a spiral staircase which rose up for at least four floors. A patterned carpet runner in shades of green and blue snaked its way up the middle of the stairs and was held in place by polished brass rods. A sparkling crystal chandelier adorned the lower ceiling and in the centre of the room, way up high at the very top of the building, an enormous K, the same as on Whip’s shirt, was replicated in a glass skylight.

Alice-Miranda’s jaw dropped open as she took in her surroundings. ‘Oh Mummy, it’s so lovely,’ she whispered.

A young woman sat behind the reception desk. She greeted the pair warmly and directed Cecelia to sign in.

Alice-Miranda introduced herself in the usual way and proceeded to ask all manner of things about school. Where the classrooms were and what time they had lunch and where the girls went to play.

‘Sweetheart, you really mustn’t ask so many questions,’ her mother chided.

‘But Mummy, I only have a month so I need to know everything as soon as possible,’ Alice-Miranda buzzed.

The young woman, whose name was Miss Cleary, telephoned through to the headmistress whose office was immediately off the reception area.

‘Miss Hobbs will be right out, ma’am,’ Miss Cleary announced. ‘Please take a seat. I’m sure she won’t be long.’

‘Look, Mummy,’ Alice-Miranda said as the pair sat down on two chairs opposite the reception desk. ‘There’s Aunt Jilly.’

Through a large oval-topped glass door with the Kimmel K etched into the centre, Alice-Miranda could see Jilly Hobbs engaged in an animated discussion with three small girls. They were sitting on a couch and she was leaning forward on a chair opposite them, smiling and laughing at whatever it was they were sharing.

‘I love that Aunt Jilly has a glass door on her office – she must be very welcoming to her students and the staff,’ Alice-Miranda observed. ‘I must tell Miss Grimm about that when I get home.’

‘I’m sure Miss Grimm will love hearing about it,’ said her mother with a raised eyebrow. Given that Ophelia Grimm had only recently come out of ten years hiding from her students and staff, Cecelia smiled to herself at the thought of Alice-Miranda suggesting Ophelia install the same in her own study.

The door opened and the three girls giggled their way out of the office, followed by a portly labrador dog wearing what looked to be a neck scarf.

‘Goodbye girls, thanks for stopping by,’ Jilly Hobbs called after them from inside the office.

The girls disappeared through another archway off the reception hall.

Miss Cleary glimpsed the dog as she ambled across the hallway towards Alice-Miranda. ‘Where are you off to, Miss Maisy?’

‘She’s lovely.’ Alice-Miranda scratched the labrador’s ears. Maisy immediately rested her head in the child’s lap and began to drool.

‘You scratch her ears like that and she will be your friend for life,’ the receptionist smiled.

‘Hello you two.’ Jilly Hobbs walked out of her office. Cecelia stood up and the two friends warmly embraced. Alice-Miranda waited her turn.

‘Hello Aunt Jilly.’ Alice-Miranda hugged Jilly tightly around the middle. ‘I’m so excited to be here.’

‘And I’m thrilled to bits that you’re going to join us – for a little while, at least. I see you’ve met Maisy.’ The headmistress leaned down and gave the dog a scratch.

‘Is she your dog?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

‘Technically yes, but if you ask any of the girls, they’ll tell you she belongs to everyone at Mrs Kimmel’s – at least until she does something to disgrace herself.’

‘She’s lovely,’ Alice-Miranda smiled.

Maisy put her nose in the air. ‘She’s hungry,’ Cecelia observed.

‘Oh dear, can you smell lunch cooking? Maisy, don’t you dare go down to that kitchen. You’ll have us shut down by the city,’ the headmistress berated. ‘Why don’t you head up and visit the ladies in the library? They’ve always got a treat for you.’

On hearing the magic word ‘treat’, Maisy shuffled across the parquetry floor towards the staircase.

‘Good girl, you go get some exercise. Come on in.’ Jilly ushered Cecelia and Alice-Miranda into her study and closed the door.