The children were on the bus early the next morning and heading to the final destination of their trip – a tiny World Heritage-listed village called New Lanark. It was an hour south of Edinburgh and forty-five minutes from Glasgow. They were soon on a motorway, and not long after that turned off onto a narrower back road. New Lanark sat in a valley, hidden from the rest of the world on the banks of the River Clyde.
‘I think I’ve been here before,’ Alice-Miranda remarked to Millie. There was something vaguely familiar about the road. ‘Actually, I’m almost certain Uncle Morogh and Aunt Audrina brought me here with Mummy and Daddy. If I’m right, they live quite close by in a beautiful old manor. I wish I could get a message to them that we’re just over the river. You’d love them, Millie. They’re a bit mad but loads of fun.’
‘You’ve been to so many different places. How do you remember them all?’ Millie asked. To be fair, since meeting Alice-Miranda, she’d travelled a considerable amount too.
A sign appeared on the crest of the hill, bearing the words ‘New Lanark’ and a little information about the historic village.
‘It is the same place!’ Alice-Miranda cried. She clapped her tiny hands excitedly. ‘It’s all coming back to me now. New Lanark was a cotton milling town far ahead of its time because the workers and children were treated to leisure days and education. That was a rare commodity for the lower classes in the eighteenth century because most people didn’t believe they should have days off, or learn to read and write and do arithmetic. It was a way for the rich people to keep the poor in their place, which is horrible but true. Thank goodness times have changed a lot since then, although I think it still happens more than we know. Unfortunately, those privileges, which are considered basic human rights today, meant that the costs of running the mill skyrocketed and it sent the place broke. For a long time it was derelict, but then some clever people realised what an important place it was and sought to preserve it as a reminder of the past. How exciting to be back here again and this time I’m much older, so I’ll remember a lot more!’
Millie thought Alice-Miranda remembered quite a lot already.
The bus pulled up at the top of a steep section of road. The valley below was shrouded in mist. The converted mill building had been beautifully restored and transformed into a hotel. The children were all staying on the third floor, with the teachers on the level beneath them. The girls in Alice-Miranda’s group had a family suite with one queen bed, two singles and a rollaway.
Madagascar pointed at the queen bed. ‘I’m not sleeping in there.’
‘Me either,’ Alethea said, and both girls raced for the two singles.
Alice-Miranda shook her head and chuckled. ‘I don’t mind sharing.’
Lucinda and Sloane said they were happy to as well, but in the end Sloane took the rollaway.
The children hurried downstairs to one of the conference rooms they’d been allocated for the program. Mr Ferguson was writing the points scores on a large whiteboard and had added some columns for the final challenges. No one knew what they would be except for the Highland games on Saturday.
‘Look – we’re in the lead!’ Madagascar yelped, and pumped her fist. For someone who only hours before had been screaming about going home, she had certainly changed her tune.
‘Quickly, children, please find a seat,’ Morag said. ‘First up, you’ll be taking a guided tour of the village and becoming acquainted with the layout and history, and this afternoon you’ll be involved in your first challenge of the day.’
Barclay Ferguson turned and grinned widely. ‘Aye, it’s fantastic too. Ye’re goin’ to be searchin’ for an elusive creature.’
Sloane shuddered. ‘Don’t tell me there’s another monster in these parts.’
‘No, this one’s as cute as a button and very friendly,’ the man said, his eyes sparkling.
There was a spitfire round of conjecture from the children about what Mr Ferguson’s creature might be, which canvassed the rabbit, badger, pheasant, weasel and hedgehog.
‘Cat?’ Gretchen said, even though she really hadn’t meant to. She’d been mesmerised by Miss Cranna’s jumper, which was one to outdo them all, with a montage of cats and kittens chasing after balls of wool.
The children giggled, but fortunately Miss Cranna had been distracted. She cast a look at her boss that pleaded with the man not to divulge what was in store, but of course Barclay couldn’t help himself.
‘Haggis,’ he whispered indiscreetly.
Sloane grimaced. ‘Haggis is food. Heart and liver and lungs all minced up in a sheep’s stomach. Urgh, disgusting.’
Barclay shook his head, chortling. ‘Haggis is a wee creature that roams about Scotland with the roundest little body and the cutest face ye ever did see and I can tell ye it’s also delicious.’
‘No, it’s not,’ Millie said loudly. Her father was fond of haggis, though she’d never acquired a taste for it herself.
‘Miss Cranna, can ye put the picture on the screen, please?’ Barclay asked.
The woman nodded and opened the file on the computer.
Ava Lee gasped as the picture filled the screen. ‘Oh, that’s so sweet!’
The creature looked like a long-haired guinea pig, although it had a face more akin to a baby bat and three claws on a very skinny leg that resembled that of a chicken. With tufts of long hair on its head, it was sort of glamorous and weird and multi-coloured to boot.
‘Ye canna see it in the picture, but the wee thing has a problem with its legs. The ones on the right are longer than the ones on the left, so it walks with a limp or sometimes around in circles,’ Mr Ferguson explained. ‘Must be very frustratin’, to say the least, not te mention difficult te get where yer goin’.’
‘That’s not real,’ Madagascar scoffed. ‘You just made it up to send us on some wild goose chase.’
‘Well, if that’s what ye think, then perhaps ye don’t want te earn any points from the sightin’s and never mind if ye capture the thing, what a prize yer’ll be having then.’
At the mention of points and a prize, Madagascar closed her mouth.
‘I think it sounds like fun,’ Alice-Miranda said to her team mates, as they all set off with their teachers to explore the town.
There was plenty to see, starting with the textile mill, where you could watch the weavers at work with their giant looms. Then came the historic classroom in which the mill founder, Robert Owen, created the first Infants Class in the world. Last of all, they were taken on the Annie McLeod experience, where the children sat in pairs in pod-like chairs which moved around the exhibit, transporting riders back in time with ghostly apparitions, including young Annie herself talking about life in the mill town in the 1800s.
Mrs Clinch found the whole place to be absolutely marvellous. She couldn’t help but think the venue would make an incredible excursion experience. Besides the obvious history of the site, there was a lot of maths and science at play too. Perhaps she might suggest it as an option for the senior girls when she returned to Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale – a week-long trip here wouldn’t go astray. Benitha Wall smiled to herself when Caroline shared her idea. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought the woman was actually enjoying herself.