Alice-Miranda at the Palace 11 (9 page)

‘Would it be all right if we finished the game first?' Cecelia asked. She wondered why Aunty Gee was in such a rush.

‘Of course, Cee. Pass me that ball, please, Alice-Miranda.' Her Majesty rubbed her hands together
and performed a couple of lunges before sweeping her arms up over her head and stretching from side to side.

Cecelia and Hugh frowned at each other. The woman had perked up remarkably in the past couple of minutes.

Alice-Miranda picked up a shiny silver ball and passed it to Her Majesty, who closed one eye and lined up the jack. With expert precision, Queen Georgiana rolled the ball down the pitch.

Lawrence smiled. ‘You're on target, Aunty Gee. I think you've got it.'

He clenched his fists in anticipation while the rest of the group held their breath. They watched the ball roll closer and closer until, just as it was about to touch the jack, the little red sphere veered wildly to the left, then to the right before it shot into the air towards the group.

‘What on earth?' Queen Georgiana squawked as she leapt out of the way.

The jack whizzed past her and across the lawn, hitting Lord Tavistock hard on the shin as he was in the middle of a hotly contested game of badminton against Thornton Thripp.

‘Ow! Ow! Ow!' The man hopped about on one
foot. ‘Who threw that?' he yelled, glaring at Queen Georgiana.

‘Don't look at me, Tavistock. It was the best bowl of the game so far,' Her Majesty huffed, folding her arms.

Millie heard someone giggling not far away and turned to scan the grounds. ‘Over there!' she yelled, pointing at the statue of the Venus de Milo. A mop of curly hair could be seen poking out from under one of the marble woman's missing arms.

Millie grabbed Alice-Miranda's hand and, together with Lucas and Jacinta, they shot off towards the statue.

‘Who's there?' Aunty Gee squinted into the distance. ‘Well, don't just stand there, Bunyan. Off you go!'

Frank Bunyan sighed and jogged after the children.

‘We know you're up to something,' Millie yelled out as they neared the statue.

The twins tumbled out and made a dash for the edge of the garden, running for the cover of the woodland.

‘Hey, don't leave me here!' Caprice called after them, but it was too late. The twins were gone.

Alice-Miranda spotted the girl and stopped while the others charged on ahead, chasing after the twins. ‘Caprice? What are you doing here?'

Caprice blinked innocently. ‘The twins said we were going to play a game. I promise I had no idea what they were up to.'

Alice-Miranda wondered if the girl was telling the truth. She didn't exactly have a good track record. ‘I suppose they did leave you here,' Alice-Miranda conceded. ‘That wasn't especially gallant of them.'

‘That's what I thought,' Caprice said, emerging from her hiding spot.

‘You'd better come with me,' Alice-Miranda said.

Caprice reluctantly followed the girl back towards the games. She stopped dead in her tracks when she realised that Queen Georgiana was standing there with her hands on her hips.

‘Who do we have here?' the Queen demanded.

The girl gulped. ‘I was playing with your grandsons. I didn't know what they were doing, I swear. I thought they had a remote-controlled helicopter or something.'

‘The speed that jack came at me, I'm surprised I didn't lose a leg. As it is, Tavistock is going to have a bruise the size of Belgium. Wait until I get my hands
on those two,' Queen Georgiana harrumphed. ‘Anyway, who are you?'

‘My mother is in the kitchens,' Caprice began.

‘If your mother works in my kitchens, why don't I know you? I pride myself on knowing all the offspring of my staff by name.' Aunty Gee's brow had begun to resemble a furrowed field.

‘Her mother is Venetia Baldini,' Alice-Miranda volunteered.

Her Majesty nodded. ‘Ah, very clever woman, your mother.' She looked at the girl closely. ‘Are you sure I haven't seen you before?'

Caprice glanced at Alice-Miranda, waiting for the girl to remind Her Majesty that they'd met at the children's school camp earlier in the term.

‘This is Caprice,' Alice-Miranda said. ‘She started at school with us a little while ago.'

Aunty Gee's frown lines disappeared. ‘Oh, hello. I suppose I have met rather a lot of children lately.'

‘I'd better go and see if my mother needs any more help,' the child said, eager to leave before the Queen's memory sharpened up.

Hugh had retrieved the jack from the middle of the badminton court and brought it back to the group for examination. He gave the red orb a twist
and it came apart in two sections, revealing a tiny motor inside.

‘You know, this is remarkably clever,' Hugh said. ‘If the boys put this together themselves I see a big future in engineering.'

‘At the moment the only future I see for them is breaking rocks in the far field,' Her Majesty replied.

‘Why don't we get some tea?' Cecelia suggested.

Aunty Gee nodded. ‘Yes, I think I could do with a cup.'

‘Lawrence and I will give you a hand, Cee,' Hugh said, patting his brother-in-law on the back.

Aunty Gee and Alice-Miranda watched as Millie, Jacinta and Lucas jogged back across the lawn. There was no sign of the twins, or Bunyan for that matter.

‘We lost them in the woods and then we thought we were probably going to get lost too,' Millie puffed. ‘So we came back.'

‘Never mind,' Aunty Gee said. ‘They won't get away with it.'

‘What happened to you?' Jacinta asked Alice-Miranda.

‘Oh, she found a friend of yours from school that my grandsons had been leading astray,' Aunty
Gee said. ‘She was a very pretty thing. What was her name again?'

‘Caprice,' Alice-Miranda replied.

Millie looked as if she'd just stepped in something particularly unpleasant. ‘What's
she
doing here?'

‘Her mother is preparing our meal for this evening and she's been helping down in the kitchens,' Aunty Gee explained.

‘She was probably the ringleader,' Millie muttered.

‘What did you say, dear?' Queen Georgiana asked. Her hearing wasn't what it used to be.

Alice-Miranda looked at her friend and shook her head.

‘Nothing, Aunty Gee,' Millie said, forcing a smile.

‘Oh, well, I think that's the end of boules for us today.' Queen Georgiana spotted Cecelia balancing two cups of tea and walked over to meet her. Hugh and Lawrence were a little way behind with some plates of food and drinks for the children.

‘Is Caprice staying here?' Millie asked.

‘The dinner will run late, so I suppose so,' Alice-Miranda said.

Millie made a face. ‘She'd better be gone by
tomorrow. We don't need her lurking around and messing things up.'

‘That's for sure,' Jacinta chimed in.

‘Don't worry about her, Millie,' Lucas said reassuringly. ‘She won't try anything. Not after what happened at camp.'

‘We probably won't even see her,' Alice-Miranda added. ‘It sounds as if her mother is keeping her busy.'

‘Good,' Millie said with a nod. She hoped Venetia Baldini would run Caprice ragged.

‘Marjorie,' Queen Georgiana called as she approached the badminton courts, ‘may I have a word?'

Marjorie and Lloyd were in the middle of beating the socks off Elsa and Freddy. Freddy was storming around the court while Elsa was doing her best to placate him. At that moment, Marjorie slammed the shuttlecock. It flew over the net and bounced off Freddy's balding crown.

‘Ow!' the man whimpered. ‘That wasn't very sporting.'

‘Sorry, Freddy, you'll just have to learn to move faster.' Marjorie winked at him, then ran over to the sideline.

‘Good shot, Marjorie!' Her Majesty exclaimed.

Marjorie grinned. ‘Thank you, Ma'am.'

‘I just wanted to let you know that I've lined up those ducks,' Queen Georgiana whispered. ‘And I've met your man Bunyan too.'

Marjorie gave a small nod. ‘Very good, Ma'am.'

‘Oh, I think my team is about to make a start at French cricket,' Her Majesty announced loudly. ‘Wish us luck. And those grandsons of mine are in huge trouble when I find them, Freddy. Did you know they tampered with our boules jack? Just wait until I get my hands on them for ruining our game. My team was looking good for the win,' Her Majesty blustered before heading on her way.

‘What was that about, darling?' Lloyd Lancaster-Brown asked.

‘Nothing to worry about,' Marjorie said, patting him on the arm.

‘Are we finishing this game or not?' Freddy called tetchily from the other end of the court.

‘I'd just as soon not,' Elsa said, her nerves threadbare. ‘I should look for the boys and work
out what they have to do to make amends with their grandmother.'

‘Forget about them, Elsa. Boys will be boys,' Freddy said, not realising his mother had walked back to retrieve her sunhat.

‘And perhaps,' Queen Georgiana boomed, ‘fathers should be fathers.'

Freddy leapt into the air. ‘Yes, Mama,' he said before slinking off the court.

Lloyd looked at Marjorie. ‘Why don't you have a rest in the marquee for a few minutes? I've just realised I need to get one of the butlers to press my pants for tonight, so I'd best go and get that organised.'

‘I'm sure Balfour could arrange it for you, darling,' Marjorie gestured to Braxton, who was standing beside the giant clock.

‘Over my dead body,' Lloyd hissed.

Marjorie frowned.

‘It's all right. He's busy playing timekeeper. I'll find someone to do it inside.'

Lloyd kissed Marjorie's cheek and sped off, leaving her wondering what that was all about.

Caprice trudged back towards the palace, annoyed at the twins for leaving her high and dry. The last thing she felt like doing was peeling more potatoes. She bypassed the service entrance and decided to take herself for a wander through the gardens, away from the games.

Evesbury Palace was like nothing she'd ever seen. There was a new surprise around every corner – statues, ponds, a maze or a woodland with hollowed-out trunks, where Caprice almost expected to find real fairies. Apart from the trilling of larks and the rustling of leaves, there was a magical silence about the place.

Caprice followed a stream into a grove of trees but stopped when she heard voices. She couldn't see where they were coming from but they were low and clearly didn't want anyone to hear their conversation. Naturally, she crouched down behind an oak tree to listen.

‘So are we still on track?' the first voice asked.

‘Yes,' the second replied.

‘Good. Timing is everything. We should be ready to make a move by Tuesday at the latest.'

‘What about Fiona?'

‘She's onside. At least, she will be by tonight.'

‘But how?'

‘Never mind. Let's just say, it's done.'

Caprice peered around the tree, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever was speaking. But she could only see their backs through the undergrowth. They were both wearing polo shirts, one white and the other a pale pink. She craned her neck to see who they were when, suddenly, she overbalanced and fell into the clearing with a dull thud. The girl scrambled to her feet and peeked through the hedge, hoping they hadn't noticed her.

‘Oh, hello Caprice,' Edgar said as he and Louis traipsed into the glade. ‘We've been looking for you everywhere.'

The girl spun around and narrowed her eyes at the pair. ‘You left me to take the blame.'

‘It's not our fault you didn't follow us,' Edgar scoffed.

‘Your grandmother is furious,' Caprice said.

‘She'll get over it.' Louis seemed as if he couldn't care less. ‘What are you doing?'

‘Nothing,' the child replied. ‘I just heard some voices. I don't know who they were.' Caprice turned back to see if they were still there but they'd gone.

‘What were they talking about?'

‘Someone called Fiona,' Caprice said with a shrug. ‘It didn't mean anything to me.'

Edgar yawned. ‘Sounds boring.'

‘Come on, then, what are we going to do now?' Louis asked.

Caprice shook her head. ‘I'm not doing anything with you two. I have to go back to the kitchens.'

‘That's a shame,' Edgar said. ‘I was going to suggest showing you the tower, but if you'd rather help your mummy …'

Caprice's eyes lit up. ‘Are you kidding? Lead the way!'