Meanwhile, Millie and Jacinta had made their way back to Grimthorpe House, where Millie quickly retrieved her missing pencil case.

As they walked down the hallway, a shrill voice coming from inside Jacinta’s room caught their attention.

“Look, Sloane, look at this. Isn’t that Ambrosia Headlington-Bear? She must be your roommate’s mother. Imagine always being in magazines and newspapers. She’s like royalty. You’d better make friends with her daughter—you never know what you might get us all invited to.”

Millie and Jacinta stood outside. Millie pressed her ear up against the door while Jacinta leaned down to peer through the keyhole.

“Ooh, and make sure you introduce her to your brother as soon as you can. They might get married.”

Jacinta’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “Married! What are they talking about?”

“And look at this, Mummy,” a young voice added. “All those beautiful dresses, and we’re the same size. I’m sure she won’t notice if one or two go missing.”

“What are they doing in there?” Millie whispered, straining to hear.

“Planning a wedding and raiding my wardrobe, by the sound of it.” Jacinta’s face was getting redder by the second. “Right, that’s it.”

Jacinta flung open the door, ready to pounce. Millie almost fell over and just managed to steady herself. Sloane and her mother spun around.

“What are you doing?” Jacinta demanded. “Are you looking through my things?”

Sloane slammed the wardrobe door shut and kicked a dress under the nearest bed.

“No, of course not,” the young girl replied. “I’m just moving in.”

“You must be Sloane Sykes.” Millie marched forward to stand beside Jacinta.

“Yes, and you are?” the girl asked, arching her eyebrows.

“I’m Millie and this is Jacinta. She’s your roommate—the one whose things you were just ferreting through.”

“Ahem.” The woman cleared her throat.

“And you must be Mrs. Sykes.” Millie’s lips drew tightly together in a straight line.

“Yes, but you can call me September,” the woman replied, crossing her arms over her ample chest and striking what seemed to be a modeling pose.

“Did Mrs. Howard let you in here?” Jacinta asked.

“Yes, she told us to make ourselves at home, and so we were just unpacking, weren’t we, darling.” Mrs. Sykes pointed at the suitcase still lying closed on the bed.

“Yes, Mummy.” Sloane smiled at her mother like a piranha in a goldfish bowl.

September Sykes wore skyscraping gold heels and a metallic blue dress so tight and short she must have been vacuum-packed into it. Her waist-length platinum hair bounced in loose curls, and her makeup appeared to have been applied with the aid of a cake decorator’s spatula.

Sloane Sykes, in a crisp new uniform, was shorter, thinner and wore only slightly less makeup, which, on an eleven-year-old, was more than a little disturbing.

“And what’s your surname, Millie?” September smiled, revealing a set of dazzlingly white teeth.

“McLoughlin-McTavish-McNoughton-McGill,” Millie replied.

“Oooh, that sounds important,” September cooed.

“No, not at all.” Millie frowned.

Mrs. Howard appeared in the doorway, with Mrs. Derby, the headmistress’s secretary, in tow.

“Millicent and Jacinta, what are you doing back here? You know you’re not allowed to return to the house after breakfast,” Mrs. Howard chided.

“Sorry, Howie,” Millie apologized. “I forgot my pencil case.”

“And it was just as well we came back, seeing as you’ve left these two in here alone going through my things,” Jacinta snarled.

“Jacinta Headlington-Bear, mind your manners. That’s no way to treat your new roommate.” Mrs. Howard spun around to face Sloane and her mother, and then turned back to the girls.

“But it’s true.” Millie nodded.

Mrs. Howard’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You two can apologize, please. NOW!”

Millie and Jacinta scowled. With heads bent toward the floor they both muttered a halfhearted “Sorry.”

“That’s not like you at all, Millicent. You, on the other hand, Jacinta—well, I hope we’re not heading back to the bad old days,” Mrs. Howard tutted. “I’m sure the girls will make it up to you, Sloane.”

“Don’t fuss, Mrs. Howard.” September grinned. “Jacinta and Sloane are bound to become best friends. Or rather, BFFs—isn’t that what you girls call them these days?”

Jacinta rolled her eyes.

“Yes, well, her manners had better improve by this afternoon. Now, off you go, you two. Lessons are about to start, and you don’t want to be late on your first day. Mrs. Derby will bring Sloane over in a little while, once she’s had a chance to get properly settled.” Mrs. Howard’s forehead wrinkled like pin-tucking on a blouse, and she gave Millie and Jacinta one of her best-ever death stares.

The girls marched off. Not a word was spoken until they reached the safety of the veranda.

“What was that?” Jacinta demanded. “Who is that woman? And that girl—I’ve never seen anyone her age with makeup like that!”

“Don’t worry, Jacinta.” Millie put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes when Miss Grimm and Miss Reedy spot her. She’ll be wiping that mascara off in no time.”

“But she’s awful, and I don’t see why I have to be in the same room as her.” A fat tear wobbled in the corner of Jacinta’s eye.

“It’s all right,” Millie replied. “She’s probably just nervous about being at boarding school.”

Millie couldn’t believe their bad luck. Alethea Goldsworthy had left big shoes to fill when it came to being the school bully. But if the few moments that Millie had spent with her were anything to go by, Sloane Sykes, it seemed, had very big feet.