Alice-Miranda Shines Bright 8 (16 page)

‘Oh, of course.' A look of relief passed across the woman's face. ‘I'd appreciate that very much.'

Alice-Miranda and Millie walked over to the ponies and were mounted and ready to leave in seconds.

‘It was lovely to meet you, Miss Ursula,' Alice-Miranda called.

Millie waved as she urged Chops forward. ‘Goodbye.'

Ursula waved back. ‘Thank you, girls. And please be careful crossing that stream.'

‘We're fine,' Millie turned and called back. ‘It doesn't look too deep.'

‘I suppose it's not,' Ursula said. She turned to walk back to her car. ‘Just promise you won't ever try when it's raining,' she muttered under her breath.

 

 

 

A
lice-Miranda and Millie crossed the stream and cantered along the track.

Millie urged Chops to go faster. ‘We'd better hurry up. Let's just give him the letter and get back.' She wasn't looking forward to riding home through the woods at all.

A few minutes later the trees thinned and the cottage hove into view.

‘My goodness, what a pretty little place,' Alice-Miranda exclaimed. ‘You'd never know it was out here.'

‘Someone must spend a lot of time in that garden.' Millie pointed beyond the low stone wall that surrounded the front of the house.

The sound of barking dogs caused Millie to tug sharply on Chops's reins.

Two cocker spaniels, one tan and one black, raced around the side of the building, their stumpy tails quivering.

‘It's all right, Millie. I don't think we're in any danger of being eaten by these two.' Alice-Miranda slid out of the saddle and pulled the reins over Bony's head. ‘Hello there.' Alice-Miranda bent down to pat the furry beasts who danced around her. ‘Aren't you the cutest little things?'

‘Maudie, Itch, what is it now?' a man's voice called.

Alice-Miranda stood up as a fellow wearing khaki overalls and a checked shirt appeared. He had a thatch of grey hair and a stout shape about him.

He stiffened when he saw the girls and their ponies.

‘Hello there,' said Alice-Miranda. ‘You must be Mr Frost.'

She walked towards the man with Bony clip-clopping behind. Millie slipped down from Chops's back and caught up to her friend.

‘Hello there yourself,' he said, wondering how she knew his name.

‘My name is Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones. I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr Frost.'

The man hesitated then took her tiny hand into his.

‘It is Mr Frost, isn't it?' she asked.

‘Yes, Stan Frost. But how did you know?'

‘A friend told us,' Alice-Miranda replied vaguely.

‘I'm Millie.' The other girl held out her hand. Stan Frost shook it as well.

‘To what do I owe this visit, girls?'

‘We wanted to give you this.' Alice-Miranda retrieved the envelope from inside her jacket pocket and handed it over.

Stan Frost peered at it. ‘Who sent you?' he asked suspiciously. He was wondering to what levels that development company would stoop to get hold of his land. Sending children on horseback was a bit desperate.

‘A friend,' Alice-Miranda replied.

‘Mmm, I see,' Stan scoffed. ‘And how much are they paying you to try to convince me to sell?'

‘Oh, that's not it, Mr Frost. We're not here for Ms Spencer. Quite the opposite.'

Stan Frost frowned. None of this was making much sense at all.

Bonaparte began to paw at the ground. Suddenly he let out an explosive whinny and tugged sharply on the reins. ‘Oh, no you don't.' Alice-Miranda pulled hard. She looked around urgently. ‘Mr Frost, do you have a vegetable patch?'

‘Yes, just around the back of the cottage.'

‘I'm afraid we'd better be going then,' she replied. ‘My Bonaparte has a habit of getting into trouble whenever there are vegetables on offer.'

The pony was becoming more and more agitated.

‘I think he'd have trouble getting into my patch,' Stan Frost replied. ‘It's Cynthia, Cherry and Pickles proof.'

‘Who are they?' Millie asked.

On cue, Cynthia began hee-hawing with all her might. Stan grinned. ‘That donkey knows when she's being spoken of.'

‘You have a donkey?' Millie smiled. ‘I love donkeys. What about Cherry and Pickles, are they donkeys too?'

‘Goats,' said Stan.

‘As much as I'd like to meet them, I think we should get going.' Alice-Miranda was struggling with Bonaparte, who was throwing his head up and down. She pulled the reins back over his head and hauled herself into the saddle. Millie did the same.

Just as she wheeled the naughty Bony around, Alice-Miranda remembered something else. Since meeting Ursula she'd been so busy thinking about Mayor Wiley and Finley Spencer that she had almost forgotten the reason she and Millie had been out riding in the first place.

‘Mr Frost, there is one other thing. Before we offered to deliver your letter, Millie and I were looking for someone.'

The back door banged and Maudie and Itch took off towards the noise.

‘Stan, do you want me to peel some potatoes?' a deep voice called.

‘I'm coming in,' Stan called back.

‘Who's that?' Millie asked, thinking that if it was Mrs Frost she had an awfully manly tone.

‘Who is it you're looking for?' Stan Frost asked.

‘Mr Parker,' Alice-Miranda replied. ‘Mr Reginald Parker.'

The owner of the deep voice appeared.

Stan Frost turned and looked at his friend.

Alice-Miranda studied the second man's face. ‘Mr Parker, it's you! You're alive!'

Reg Parker wondered who the child on the shiny black pony was and why she was so excited. ‘Of course I am,' he said, frowning. ‘Do I know you?'

‘Sort of,' Alice-Miranda replied. ‘Mr Frost, this is such good news. We need to telephone Constable Derby right away.'

Reg Parker's forehead wrinkled. ‘What's he got to do with anything?'

Stan ignored him and said, ‘I'm afraid my telephone's not connected.'

‘Goodness, I imagine that explains a lot,' Alice-Miranda said.

Stan Frost looked at Alice-Miranda and Millie. ‘How about you girls ride around to the field. We'll put those ponies in with Cynthia for a minute so you can come inside. I think we need to talk.'

 

 

A
lice-Miranda and Millie led the ponies around to the other side of the cottage and into the field with Cynthia and the goats. They hitched the reins into the bridles, pushed up the stirrups on the saddles and let Bony and Chops run loose. The enclosure wasn't terribly big and Mr Frost said that he had an excellent supply of carrots to entice the pair back to the fence.

Cynthia seemed very pleased with her equine company and greeted Bony and Chops with a chorus of strangled hee-haws. They both seemed a little wary of her and ran off to the other side of the field with the donkey in hot pursuit.

‘She looks like she's laughing and trying to tell a story all at the same time,' Millie observed.

‘She's a good old girl,' Stan smiled. ‘Keeps me company.'

The children followed Mr Frost to the house. Mr Parker had already retreated back inside to get some drinks. He didn't have a clue what was going on.

Stan Frost turned and looked at the girls. ‘I'm very glad that you found us. I knew that something wasn't quite right with old Reg but he's been a closed shop since he arrived.'

‘Not like his wife,' Millie replied.

‘You can say that again,' Stan agreed. ‘But she's gone now, hasn't she?'

‘Gone?' Millie frowned. ‘Where?'

‘Reg told me she'd gone so I assumed he meant she was gone the same as my Beryl,' Stan replied.

Alice-Miranda realised that Mr Frost was saying his wife had died. She shook her head. ‘No. Mrs Parker's alive and well and worried sick about Mr Parker.'

‘Oh,' Stan exhaled loudly. ‘Dear me. Poor old Myrtle. Who'd have thought I'd ever say that?' He shook his head.

‘How long has Mr Parker been here?' Alice-Miranda asked.

‘He walked across the field out of the blue on Saturday afternoon. You could have knocked me down with a feather. I haven't seen him for . . .'

Millie ended the sentence. ‘Three years?'

‘Yes, that's right. When I asked him where he'd been all this time he said that he was here yesterday, which had me a little confused. Do you know what happened to him?'

‘Mr Parker had an accident. He was cleaning out the gutters and fell off the roof. He bumped his head and broke his leg but he should have been fine – except that he fell into a coma and he's been asleep in the sitting room for the past three years,' Alice-Miranda explained.

Stan Frost's eyes widened. ‘Are you sure?'

‘Oh yes, quite sure. Millie and I have seen him at home and I've been reading to him once a week. We'd all been hoping that he'd wake up soon. You can imagine poor Mrs Parker's shock when she came home from doing the shopping and he was gone,' the child added.

‘But surely she didn't just go out and leave him on his own?' Stan asked.

‘No, of course not. Mr Parker's had a nurse looking after him but she was gone too so everyone assumed that they had disappeared together,' Millie explained.

‘Reg run off with the nurse! I can imagine how well that went down with Myrtle.' The old man grinned.

‘All the evidence seemed to point that way to begin with but then Alice-Miranda found a note among the washing and we learnt that he hadn't gone with Nurse Raylene at all. There are search parties out looking for him today,' Millie said.

‘Well, come on, let's get inside and see what he has to say for himself.' Stan ushered the girls through the back door.

They removed their boots and followed Mr Frost through a small hall into the country kitchen. Four tall glasses sat on the round table and Reg Parker placed a jug of cordial in the middle. There was a plate of digestive biscuits beside it.

‘I wondered if you were still coming,' said Reg, arching an eyebrow at Stan.

‘I was just introducing the girls to Cynthia,' Stan replied. ‘And they were filling me in on a few things. I think we need to get you home, Reg.'

Reg began to pour the drinks. ‘I told you before, I've got nothing to go home to.'

‘Oh, Mr Parker, that's not true. Mrs Parker is so worried about you. She'll be beside herself when she finds out that you're alive,' Alice-Miranda said.

‘But she's gone,' Reg replied.

‘Mr Parker, why don't you sit down and I'll finish that,' the child said soothingly. She took the jug and began to fill the cups.

Reg looked at her and wondered why there was something familiar about that voice. ‘Do I know you?'

‘I've been reading to you, Mr Parker. We've shared some lovely stories. I thought you were going to wake up when we got to the part in
Matilda
where she glued her father's hat to his head. It's very funny and I could have sworn you almost smiled.'

A glimmer of recognition passed across his face.

‘Do you remember something?' she asked, look­ing at him closely.

‘I don't know,' Reg replied. ‘Just a strange feeling.'

‘I get those all the time,' Alice-Miranda said. ‘You should listen to them.'

‘She's right, you know,' Millie agreed.

Alice-Miranda finished pouring the drinks and set the jug down. Then she sat in the spare seat opposite Mr Parker. She wanted to break the news to the man as gently as possible. ‘Mr Parker, you don't know this, but until Saturday you'd been asleep for three years.'

‘That's ridiculous!' he retorted.

‘It's true, Mr Parker,' said Millie. ‘You had an accident and fell off the roof one afternoon. The doctors said that you should make a full recovery but then one day you fell asleep. You'd been that way ever since, until you woke up and walked off.'

‘I think it could be true, Reg,' said Stan Frost, nodding. ‘I told you I hadn't seen you in three years and you insisted you'd been here the day before. But I can tell you that's not the case at all.'

‘Well, if you haven't seen me for three years, how come you didn't know what happened to me? I thought we were friends,' Reg said.

‘I called your house loads of times and got no answer. Then one day, about a month after I'd last seen you, Myrtle picked up and she said you weren't talking to anyone. I thought you'd dumped me. You know how Beryl felt about our friendship too. When you didn't come back out here again she told me that Myrtle had probably found out where you were going every day and put a stop to it. I wanted to come and find you but Beryl was a strong woman, Reg. She thought it was best for everyone if I just let things lie.' A wry smile perched on the man's lips as he finished speaking.

‘What are you smiling about, Stan?' Reg demanded. ‘If any of this nonsense is true then I don't think it's very funny.'

Millie smiled too. ‘He said “let things lie” and that's what you were doing.'

But Reg still couldn't see the funny side of it.

‘Then Beryl got sick, and I don't know . . . It was just easier to be by myself,' Stan gulped.

‘Mr Parker, we need to get back to school but as soon as we do, I'll telephone Constable Derby. I'm sure he'll arrange for someone to come and collect you,' Alice-Miranda said.

Reg picked up a biscuit. ‘But I don't think I want to go back.'

‘With all due respect, Mr Parker, Mrs Parker is quite lost without you and she'll be so relieved to have you home again. And I'm sure the doctors will want to give you a full check-up. It's a miracle that you've woken up after all this time,' said Alice-Miranda seriously.

‘I suppose it might explain a few things I've been wondering about. Like why I'm so slow and what these marks are on my wrist. And I've been ravenously hungry ever since I got here too. But I don't want to see Myrtle,' Reginald replied, shaking his head slowly.

Millie and Alice-Miranda exchanged curious looks.

‘But she's your wife,' Millie said.

‘And if I remember anything about her,' Reginald said, cradling his chin in his hand, ‘her list of chores for me won't have got any shorter over the past three years.'

‘You're right about that,' Stan muttered.

‘But you have to go home. Mrs Parker will be heartbroken,' Alice-Miranda implored him.

Reginald shook his head. ‘No. I won't go. No one can make me.'

‘Can we at least let Constable Derby know where you are so they can call off the search?' Alice-Miranda asked. ‘It would be very unfair to keep people out looking for you when you're quite safe and well here.'

Reginald bit his lip and frowned. ‘I suppose that's for the best, but you tell that young whippersnapper that he's not to let Myrtle know where I am. You tell her that I will come home when I'm ready.'

‘If you really want it that way, Mr Parker, of course it's up to you. But I think it's awful to make Mrs Parker suffer a minute longer,' Alice-Miranda reluctantly agreed.

‘That's the way I want it,' Reginald said firmly.

Stan Frost remembered the envelope that the child handed him. He'd put it into his overalls pocket.

A strange silence shrouded the group. Alice-Miranda glanced around at the room. There were a few photographs, mostly of Mr Frost and the lady she assumed was his wife. There was another with two children.

Stan pulled out the letter and scanned the page.

Dear Mr Frost,

I regret to inform you that your property is under threat from Finley Spencer, who has recently been advised by Silas Wiley that there may be a deposit of gold to be found in the caves on the ridge. In the name of saving the woods and surrounding areas of natural beauty from destruction on a catastrophic scale, I recommend that you register a claim immediately and refuse any offers to purchase the land.'

Yours,

A friend

Stan Frost's jaw dropped. ‘Where did this come from?' He turned the paper over in his hand and looked for any indication of a name. ‘And how in God's name did this Finley Spencer person find out about the gold?'

Reginald Parker sputtered his tea all over the table. ‘But we're the only ones who know about that.'

‘We promised not to tell, Mr Frost,' Alice-Miranda said.

‘She didn't want you to know,' Millie added.

‘She?' Stan asked.

‘Urs–' Millie stopped and coughed loudly.

Stan and Reg looked at each other. ‘Ursula?' they said in unison.

‘Is that what you were going to say?' Stan whispered.

Millie shook her head.

Alice-Miranda decided that they'd better come clean. After all, the woman was only trying to help. ‘Well, yes, that is her name. But you mustn't tell anyone because she would be in terrible trouble with her boss if he found out that she had warned you about Ms Spencer's and Mr Wiley's plans.'

‘How old is the woman?' Stan Frost asked.

‘I'm not entirely sure, Mr Frost. You know it's impolite to ask a lady her age but if I were making a guess I'd say around her mid-thirties.'

‘She has red curls,' Millie said.

‘Red, you say?'

‘Yes,' Millie replied. ‘She's very pretty. Why? Do you know her?'

Stan shook his head. ‘No, I don't think so.'

Reg shook his head too.

But Alice-Miranda wasn't so sure. She was now quite convinced that there was something Mr Frost and Mr Parker weren't telling.

Reginald sighed. ‘I told you, Stan, you should have registered that claim years ago. Now, how do you intend to do it – seeing that your car doesn't run, your bridge is broken and the telephone's been cut off?'

Stan Frost was wondering that himself. ‘Hang about, Reg. We've never actually found much gold up there, other than those few old rocks years ago. Why does this Silas fellow think that the caves are some sort of Aladdin's Treasure?'

Alice-Miranda and Millie glanced at each other across the table.

‘We found a cave up on the ridge too,' Millie began. ‘Well, Alice-Miranda found it. The hole was so small I didn't even think we'd get inside but we did.'

There was a pause.

Reginald stared at Millie. ‘Well, what did you find?'

Alice-Miranda continued the story. ‘The cave was all sparkly and pretty. It looked like it was sprink­led with fairy dust. Millie and I were just looking about, when I followed an especially bright line. We could hardly believe it when the line turned into what appeared to be a seam of gold.'

‘I told you there was gold up there,' Reginald crowed, turning to look at Stan. ‘That's what I dreamt. But it wasn't our cave.'

‘When we told Miss Hephzibah and Miss Henrietta about the gold, they said that it would be best for everyone if we kept it to ourselves but Mr Wiley must have overheard our conversation and now he's going to tell Finley Spencer and I'm afraid that with all the might of her company behind her, we could be powerless to stop her,' Alice-Miranda explained.

‘But you have to stop her,' Reginald insisted. ‘Stan and I have only been looking for fun, but if someone as powerful as you say this Finley woman is gets hold of the news, she'll destroy the woods and the ridge and everything else around here. If she gets the rights to mine the land, Stan's farm will be nothing more than a giant hole in the ground. We never wanted that.'