Clementine Rose and the Movie Magic 9 (4 page)

Clementine shot up the back stairs, her face blotchy and wet with tears.

‘Um, hello,' a small voice called out.

Clementine looked up to see Will standing in the hallway. She blinked her big blue eyes but her lip refused to stop trembling.

Will pulled out a tissue from his pocket and offered it to the girl. ‘What's wrong?'

‘Mummy thinks I left my toys in the Sage Room and that I dropped the cake, but I didn't,' Clementine blurted.

Will frowned, puzzled. His father walked up behind him and stopped. ‘Clementine, what's wrong?' the man asked gently.

‘I didn't do it and Mummy thinks that I did,' Clementine sobbed. ‘Mr Doncaster will give us a bad report and Mummy will have to sell the house and we won't have anywhere to live.' She could barely speak for the hiccupy gulps.

‘I can't believe anyone would ever give your mother a bad report,' Drew said with a smile. ‘The woman's an angel.'

Clementine blew her nose and wiped her eyes. ‘I try my best to tell the truth. I really do.'

‘I'm sure you do.' Drew grinned.

‘I have to take my things upstairs,' Clementine said, remembering the skipping rope and rubber snake in her hand.

‘Would you like some help?' Will asked. Drew smiled at the boy.

Clementine nodded. Will offered her his hand and the two of them walked upstairs
to the third floor. Clementine opened her bedroom door.

‘What a mess!' she exclaimed, turning to Will. ‘It's not usually like this.'

Her mother must have been very cross because it looked as if she'd stood at the door and thrown everything inside. In the middle of the floor lay a doll with her right arm sticking straight up next to her head and her left leg kinked at an awkward angle.

Clementine bent down to pick her up and gasped. ‘It's Nellie! I didn't recognise her.' She stared into the doll's glassy eyes. ‘Her hair is all chopped off.'

‘Whoever did it mustn't like dolls very much,' Will said, examining the shaggy crop. ‘She looks like she's been attacked by a hedge trimmer.'

A giggle escaped from Clementine's lips, and Will grinned at her.

‘Thanks,' Clementine said.

‘What for?'

‘Being my friend.'

Will blushed. ‘I don't have a lot of friends.'

‘Why?' Clementine asked.

‘I don't like talking to people very much,' the boy replied. ‘Not since Mum went away.'

Clementine frowned. ‘Where did she go?'

‘Heaven. Is that where your dad is too?'

Clementine looked surprised. ‘I don't know where he is. Uncle Digby found me in a basket of dinner rolls in the back of Pierre's van.'

‘What do you mean Uncle Digby found you?' Will wondered if he'd heard her properly.

‘Mummy adopted me,' Clementine said.

‘Don't you want to know who your real mum and dad are?' Will asked.

Clementine shook her head. ‘Mummy's my real mummy now. She loves me and so does Uncle Digby. Even Aunt Violet loves me when she's not being mean.' She paused for a moment. ‘You have a great dad.'

Will nodded. ‘Your mum's nice. My dad thinks so too.'

For a moment neither of the children said a thing.

Clementine sighed. ‘I wish I could find out who was in the kitchen. Do you think the person who dropped the cake is the same person who put my toys in the Sage Room? I know I didn't leave them there.'

‘Maybe we should look for clues to see who did it,' Will suggested.

Clementine's eyes widened. ‘That's a great idea,' she said, opening the lid of her giant toy box. ‘We can be detectives, like on the television. Except I don't know how to take fingerprints and I haven't got one of those giant spyglass things.'

‘It's okay. You don't need all that stuff to be a detective,' Will said.

Together, he and Clementine began to put everything away. Along with the doll there was a scruffy old bear, a jigsaw puzzle and some building blocks.

Clementine picked up her skipping rope and rubber python and dumped them into the toy box. She was just about to close it when she felt something under the lid. Clementine
peered underneath and saw a tiny paper envelope taped inside.

‘Look at this,' she said to Will.

The boy stretched his neck to see.

Clementine tried to pull it free but it was stuck tight. She pushed the lid the whole way up and leaned it against the wall. The envelope was sealed but there was clearly something inside. Clementine pressed her fingers against the paper.

‘What's in it?' Will asked.

‘It feels like a key,' Clementine said.

Will looked around to see if there was anything they could use to prise it free. He spotted a pair of scissors on Clementine's desk and promptly ran to get them.

After pushing and prodding, the yellowed envelope fell on top of the rubber snake. Clementine picked it up. The paper was old but it was tough. Will cut the end off and shook a small brass key into his palm.

‘What do you think it's for?' he asked.

Clementine looked at the lock on her toy box. ‘It's too small for this,' she said with a shrug, and shut the lid.

Will handed her the key and she carefully placed it in her pocket.

‘But maybe …' Clementine looked over at the little wooden box she'd pulled out from under her bed that morning.

Will read her mind, and the two children rushed over to it.

‘We
are
like detectives.' Clementine grinned. Her heart began to beat faster as she pulled the key out and pushed it into the lock.

Click.

‘It fits!' Will exclaimed. ‘Go on, open it.'

Clementine turned the key and the lock sprung apart. She pushed the lid up and, holding their breaths, she and Will peered inside.

Clementine and Will charged downstairs into the kitchen, which was abuzz with chatter.
Basil, Drew and Aunt Violet were sitting around the table and Uncle Digby was serving tea from the pot.

‘Where's Mummy?' Clementine jigged about impatiently, clutching the little timber box.

‘You look a lot happier than before,' Drew remarked.

‘Your mother's taken Mr Doncaster up to his room but she should be back any minute,' Uncle Digby replied.

Clementine placed the box on the table and climbed up onto a chair. Will sat on the seat beside her.

‘What have you got there, Clementine?' Basil asked.

‘I found this in the attic a while ago and Mummy said I could keep it in my room because it's so pretty,' Clementine babbled excitedly. ‘Will and I just found the key.'

‘How marvellous!' Basil enthused. ‘Can you show us what's inside?'

‘When Mummy comes back,' Clementine said firmly. She was bursting to show everyone
what they had found but she wanted her mother to see it first.

‘In the meantime, can I offer anyone more trifle?' Uncle Digby asked. A large bowl of cake and jelly was sitting on the bench.

Drew picked up his empty bowl. ‘Well, if there's some left over, I'd hate to see it go to waste.'

‘What about you, Clemmie? Will?' Uncle Digby asked as he filled Drew's dish.

‘No, thank you, Uncle Digby,' Clementine replied. ‘But not because it was on the floor.'

Aunt Violet arched an eyebrow. ‘I'd keep quiet about that if I were you.'

Lady Clarissa walked through from the hallway.

‘Is Mr Doncaster happy with his room?' Uncle Digby asked.

‘Yes, I think so,' Clarissa replied. ‘He does seem like a very nice man. I hope I was worried about nothing.'

‘I'm sure you were,' Drew said. ‘I can't imagine what he'd find fault with. You're perfect.'

The adults stopped talking and looked at one another with wry smiles. Lady Clarissa's cheeks reddened.

‘What I meant is that you're a perfect hostess and the house is beautiful.' Drew's neck seemed to be turning a dark shade of crimson.

‘Thank you.' Clarissa bit her lip. ‘I just hope there are no other mishaps.' She walked up behind Clementine and gave the girl a hug, whispering into her ear.

Clementine looked back at her. ‘I love you too, Mummy, and I promise I didn't do those things.'

Lady Clarissa nodded. It wasn't like Clementine to tell lies. There had to be another explanation, though she wasn't yet sure what it might be.

The woman noticed the box on the table. ‘Darling, I won't have time to go through the keys just now. I'm taking Mr Doncaster on a tour of the house in ten minutes.'

‘But we
found
the key, Mummy,' Clementine exclaimed, ‘and we know what's inside.'

‘Oh, really?' Clementine's mother leaned over the child's shoulder, eager to see the box's mysterious contents.

Clementine lifted the lid. ‘It's photographs.' She turned around and looked at her mother excitedly. ‘And there's one of me.'

‘That's a surprise. I thought I knew where all of the family pictures were,' Clarissa said, glancing quickly at the picture Clementine was holding before she picked up a bundle. The one on top was of a baby in a christening gown. She turned it over and smiled.

‘Don't keep us in suspense, Clarissa,' Aunt Violet demanded. ‘Who is it?'

‘Remember when you said there were no photographs of you as a child? I think you might be wrong about that.' Lady Clarissa held up the picture for everyone to see.

‘Brilliant!' Basil clapped his hands.

Aunt Violet pursed her lips. ‘Really! Well, that is a surprise.'

The first part of the pile were all shots of Aunt Violet as a baby and toddler. Lady Clarissa
flipped through them before she passed them to her aunt, who cringed with false modesty.

Clementine pulled out another photograph. ‘Look, Mummy. There's another one of me.'

Lady Clarissa frowned.

Clementine studied the picture more closely. ‘But that's not Lavender. That's a dog. I don't have a dog.'

‘May I see that, please?' Aunt Violet reached across the table. Her face softened into a smile. ‘Clementine, that's not you. It's me and my Paisley. He was a West Highland Terrier and I loved him to bits.'

The girl's eyes grew round in astonishment. ‘We look like twins, Aunt Violet,' she said.

‘Heavens. It's uncanny.' Aunt Violet's eye brows knotted as she studied the picture.

‘Goodness, look at the time.' Lady Clarissa took the photograph from her aunt's hand, returned it to the box and snapped the lid shut. ‘I think you lot had better get back to the library or poor Ana and the children won't have you home before dark, Basil.'

Drew wondered at the hasty end to Clementine's discovery.

‘Where do you think you're going with those?' Aunt Violet demanded. ‘I believe they belong to me.'

‘I thought you and I could go through them later to see if there's anything Basil might be able to use for the film,' Lady Clarissa explained. ‘I need you to look after Clemmie on set while I take Mr Doncaster through the house.'

Clarissa passed the box to Uncle Digby and whispered something. The man nodded and promptly disappeared.

‘Well, if that was morning tea, it appears we've had it,' Aunt Violet said, rising from her chair. ‘Come along, Clementine. I'll fix your hair and see if we can't straighten that dress up a bit.' Clementine's drop-waisted bow was looking a bit worse for wear.

‘Will you listen to my lines?' Clementine asked.

‘Of course.' The old woman hesitated for a second and looked at Clementine.

‘What's wrong, Aunt Violet?' the child asked.

‘Nothing,' Aunt Violet said, shaking her head. ‘Nothing at all.'

Moments later the kitchen was empty.