Alice-Miranda in Paris 7 (5 page)

Livinia Reedy and Alice-Miranda set off and, just as the child predicted, they were at the restaurant and back before Miss Grimm had finished outlining the next day’s tour.

Fabien Bouchard sat at the drawing board, tapping his pencil against the blank sheet of paper. Some days the ideas flowed like a river and others, such as today, there wasn’t even a trickle. A pile of unopened magazines sat stacked in the corner of the room. His uncle said that he should use them for inspiration but Fabien refused to look. The critics had said his first collection was wholly original. Fabien was scared that if he looked at what everyone else was doing he might be tempted, in difficult times, to follow their lead.

Right now he was stuck. He hopped down from the chair and pulled a small suitcase out from under the bed. He lifted it onto the bedclothes and snapped the locks, revealing a set of sketchpads. Drawing had always been the one thing he was good at. Even when he was very young and struggled to learn to read, he could always draw.

Then, a few years ago, he had started sketching dresses. He couldn’t even say why. They were just images that would come to him, often in dreams. After a while, he began to put them down on paper. It was his secret until one day Uncle Claude came to visit and saw them sitting on his desk. Everything changed after that. Sometimes Fabien wished he’d kept the drawings hidden. But it was much too late for regrets. And besides, he loved seeing his creations come to life, especially when sewn by his mother’s deft hands.

Last year, Uncle Claude had brought Fabien across for the first ever showing of his designs. Then, a few months ago, Uncle Claude said that the business was getting too big for him to trek back and forth between Paris and Guernsey. It would be far easier for everyone if Fabien and his mother moved to the city, at least for the time being.

After the quiet life he and his mother had led on the island in the middle of the English Channel, Fabien found the idea appealing. Fabien always knew that his mother struggled socially. He had never been allowed to bring friends home from school and she had always kept to herself in the village. Of course, it had been difficult for her because she had refused to learn more than a few words of English. She left the house only to go to the market and never made any friends. Fabien always thought she was just terribly shy. He hoped that moving to Paris would inspire her to get out more. Surely once she was back in France she would live a little, Fabien had thought.

But as soon as they had arrived in Paris, Sybilla refused to leave the house at all. Claude had taken Fabien aside and told him that his mother was unwell. She suffered terribly with a condition called agoraphobia and she was getting worse. Uncle Claude said that even the thought of going outside would make her ill and, to make matters worse, a kind of paranoia had overcome her. She had told Claude she was terrified that if Fabien left the house alone, something awful would happen to him. Uncle Claude promised Fabien that he would get the best doctors. He told the boy that she would not take her medication so it was up to him to help and make sure that when his uncle was away, Fabien mixed the medicine into her food. But she could not know – she was getting sicker and didn’t realise it.

Uncle Claude said that she would get better but for now, Fabien must stay at home with her at all times, or there might be an episode. His uncle told him not to ask her about it either – the mere mention of her health might be enough to tip Sybilla over the edge. Fabien loved his mother more than anyone in the world. His father had abandoned her when she was pregnant with him, so along with Uncle Claude they were the only family he had. He would do anything to keep her safe; even if it meant being imprisoned at home until she was well again. But he was finding it harder each day.

His uncle had made his fortune selling exquisite handmade rugs from the Middle East. The townhouse floors were covered with them. Fabien’s mother always said that her brother was a clever businessman. He looked after them financially and made sure that they had everything they needed. But now he was obsessed with making Fabien a star, whether Fabien wanted it or not.

The young man exhaled deeply. Life could have been worse, he told himself. At least his mother was here with him and Uncle Claude, though sometimes demanding, only wanted what was best for them all. Fabien closed his eyes. An image of a beautiful gown with a voluminous skirt began to form. His pencil flew across the page. For now he must focus on his work and on helping his mother to get well.

Alice-Miranda and Millie had both slept soundly. They were up, showered and dressed long before the appointed breakfast time of half past seven.

Millie finished flicking through the mini guide to Paris that her grandfather had given her just before she left. She put it into her backpack and decided to go and see how Sloane and Jacinta were getting on.

Alice-Miranda was fiddling with her camera, making sure that the battery had charged properly.

‘I’ve got my key,’ Millie said.

Alice-Miranda laughed. ‘I’d let you in, you know.’

Millie grinned. ‘It’s fun being tourists, isn’t it? I feel so grown up having my own hotel key, even if it is just a white plastic card.’

Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘When we’re older, I think we should go on a huge adventure. We could hike in the Andes or study giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands or walk the Great Wall of China.’

‘We could have a gap year like my cousin Amelia did,’ Millie agreed. ‘But you know, we’ll probably have to take Sloane and Jacinta too, or we’ll never hear the end of it.’

‘I’d love them to come,’ said Alice-Miranda.

‘I don’t think backpacking would be Sloane’s thing, though. We’d need to hire a whole village of Sherpas just to carry her suitcases,’ Millie commented. ‘And Jacinta isn’t exactly into camping either.’

Millie disappeared into the hallway and reappeared a minute later. ‘We might want to rethink our gap-year plans,’ she said.

‘What do you mean?’ Alice-Miranda frowned.

‘I woke them up and now they’re having a huge row about whose fault it was that the alarm didn’t go off. And overnight that gigantic suite of theirs has been invaded by the Paris clothes monster, which I think vomited all over their floor.’

‘Oh no.’ Alice-Miranda’s eyes were wide. ‘It sounds like they could do with some help.’

Millie screwed up her nose. ‘I’m not going back in there. It’s dangerous. And I don’t mean the monster.’

Miss Grimm was now marching up and down the hallway and knocking on doors to warn the girls that she would be inspecting their rooms in ten minutes.

‘Come on, Millie, I don’t want Miss Grimm starting the day in a bad mood, do you?’ Alice-Miranda gave her friend a gentle shove and they scurried across the hallway. Alice-Miranda knocked loudly on the door to room 202 and waited.

‘I’m coming,’ Jacinta called from inside. She wrenched open the door.

‘Good morning,’ Alice-Miranda greeted her. ‘Millie and I have come to see if you need any help.’

‘I haven’t,’ Millie scoffed from behind her.

Alice-Miranda turned around. ‘You don’t mean that,’ she mouthed, and then turned back to Jacinta, who did the strangest thing. She grabbed Alice-Miranda and hugged her tightly.

‘Yes, please.’ A tear spilled onto Jacinta’s cheek. She released her tiny friend and retreated inside.

‘It can’t be as bad as all . . .’ Alice-Miranda began to say, then stopped when she caught sight of the sitting room. Millie was right. There were clothes from one end of the place to the other.

‘Was there a bomb in your suitcase or something?’ Millie said bluntly.

Jacinta sighed. ‘I don’t know. It just sort of happened.’

Alice-Miranda began to pick up various garments from the floor. ‘Come on, it won’t take more than a few minutes to get this sorted out.’ She walked over to Jacinta’s black suitcase and upended the rest of the overflowing contents onto the couch. ‘Are you ready to go?’ she asked Jacinta.

‘I just have to brush my hair and find some shoes,’ she answered.

‘Okay, you go and do that and Millie and I will make a start here,’ Alice-Miranda reassured her.

Jacinta disappeared into the bedroom.

‘Tell Sloane to hurry up too,’ Millie shouted after her. She could still hear the shower going.

By the time Miss Grimm knocked on the door, Alice-Miranda and Millie had completely sorted out Jacinta and Sloane’s mess and returned to their own room. The two older girls looked sheepish as the headmistress inspected their suite.

‘I must say, girls, that I am pleasantly surprised,’ said Miss Grimm with a smile. ‘Well done. It’s a lovely room and it looks as though you are quite deserving of it. Now, make sure that you have everything you need for the day and I will see you downstairs in a minute.’

As Miss Grimm was halfway out the door, she poked her head back inside. ‘And Sloane –’ She studied the child’s sensible trainers. ‘Good shoes.’

A few moments later, Miss Grimm had finished her inspection of Millie and Alice-Miranda’s room and moved down the hallway to see Susannah and Ashima.

The four friends met at the top of the stairs.

‘How was your inspection?’ Millie asked, raising her eyebrows.

‘Fine, thank you,’ Jacinta mumbled, casting her eyes to the floor.

Sloane grinned tightly. ‘Yeah, thanks for that.’

‘We were happy to help,’ Alice-Miranda said.

‘Speak for yourself. But I told Miss Grimm how hopeless you both are and that we had to rescue you,’ said Millie, deadpan.

Jacinta and Sloane gulped in unison.

‘Millie!’ Alice-Miranda admonished. ‘She did not.’

Millie laughed. ‘That had you worried, didn’t it?’

‘It’s all right, we promise it won’t happen again,’ said Jacinta. She eyeballed her roommate. ‘Will it, Sloane?’

‘No, it won’t,’ she spat back.

‘Come on, you two, please don’t fight,’ said Alice-Miranda. ‘Tomorrow morning, as soon as Millie or I get up, we’ll give you a wake-up call and make sure that you don’t miss the alarm. Then you’ll have plenty of time to get organised.’

‘So, I’ll just reset the alarm for half past five, shall I?’ Millie asked.

‘No way!’ Sloane grouched.

‘Better make it half past four then, Millie,’ Jacinta grinned. ‘It takes that long for Sloane to have a shower.’

Sloane turned around and poked out her tongue.

Alice-Miranda raised her nose in the air and drew in a deep breath. ‘I’m starving and I can smell breakfast. Let’s go.’

The girls headed downstairs. Fortunately, a tasty selection of croissants and pastries and the promise of a fun day ahead seemed to sweeten Sloane’s and Jacinta’s moods considerably. By the time the group left for the Louvre, they were chatting away as happily as they ever had.

Miss Reedy snapped a photograph of the whole group standing beside the large glass pyramid in the forecourt of the Louvre. The enormous Louvre had once been a palace but was now the most famous museum and art gallery in the world.

‘It says here that it was added to the museum in 1989,’ Millie read from her guidebook. ‘I’m not sure about the two smaller ones, but they were probably built at the same time.’

‘I think they look weird,’ Jacinta said.