Clementine Rose and the Pet Day Disaster 2 (5 page)

‘That would be “Poppy and I”, Clementine.’ The teacher turned to her grandson. ‘Angus, did you put anything in the girls’ lunch?’

‘No, Na– . . . I mean, Mrs Bottomley. I didn’t and he didn’t either.’ Angus pointed at Joshua, who covered his mouth.

‘But he’s smiling,’ Poppy said.

‘Don’t tell me you’re going to get in on this act as well, Miss Bauer? My patience is just about worn through today,’ the teacher snarled.

Poppy looked as if she might cry too.

‘I saw a lovely chocolate pudding for dessert but that’s only for the children who eat up everything on their plates,’ said Mrs Bottomley. ‘You’d better tuck in, hadn’t you?’

She turned to walk away and Poppy pulled a face at her. It wasn’t fair.

‘What is it?’ Clementine demanded, glaring at Angus.

He smiled sweetly. ‘What do you mean?’

‘What did you put on there?’ she asked again.

‘I told you, we didn’t put anything on it.’

‘You’re lying.’ Clementine wanted to go home. She’d had more than enough school for one day.

Angus and his partner in crime finished their meals and took their plates back to the servery.

‘He’s horrible,’ Poppy said, pushing the salty potato about on her plate.

‘They’re both horrible,’ Clementine said.

The two lads returned to the table with giant servings of chocolate pudding and ice-cream.

‘Mmm, yum, this is so sweet,’ Angus said with his mouth full. ‘Not salty at all.’ He smiled at Joshua, who grinned back.

‘Yeah, sweet,’ Joshua replied, giggling.

Clementine glared at the two boys. She wanted some too.

‘Come on, Poppy, bring your plate.’ She picked hers up and walked towards the servery.

‘But Mrs Bottomley said that we could only have it if we ate all our dinner.’ Poppy looked sadly at the two plates that were still full of food.

Clementine was watching as the children at the end of the line put their dinner scraps in the bin. Mrs Bottomley was supervising the drink station, where one of the girls had flicked on the tap to the cordial container and couldn’t work out how to turn it off. There was a flood of raspberry crush pooling on the floor and Mrs Bottomley was shrieking for someone to get a towel.

With their teacher and Mrs Winky busy cleaning up, Clementine scraped her plate into the bin, then did the same with Poppy’s. She placed the empty plates on the servery and picked up a chocolate pudding for herself and another for Poppy.

‘But Mrs Bottomley said we had to eat it all,’ Poppy said.

‘Mrs Bottomley’s not fair,’ Clementine replied. ‘And I’m hungry.’

Poppy nodded. She was hungry too. The girls headed back to the table, where Angus and Joshua were now showering each other with sprinklings of salt and sugar.

‘You didn’t eat your lunch,’ Angus said. ‘I’m telling Nan on you.’

‘And I’ll tell Mrs Bottomley that you called her Nan again,’ Clementine threatened. ‘And that you put salt all over our lunch.’

‘Yeah, we did,’ Joshua admitted, grinning.

Angus elbowed Joshua. ‘She loves pigs.’

She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Yes, I do love my pig.’

‘
You’re
a pig,’ Joshua said.

Clementine didn’t like being called names. She’d never met anyone like Angus or Joshua and she didn’t like the way they made her feel one little bit.

‘My tummy hurts.’ Clementine lay in bed clutching her stomach. Tears sprouted from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

‘Oh, sweetheart.’ Her mother sat down beside her. ‘You poor little floss. I can’t believe that you’re sick and it’s only the second day of school.’

Clarissa laid the back of her hand on Clementine’s forehead. She didn’t seem to have a fever.

But something certainly wasn’t right. When Clarissa had met Clementine at the school gate yesterday afternoon she had expected her to be fizzing like a shaken bottle of lemonade, but instead she was flatter than a week-old glass of cola. When she had asked about her day, Clementine said that it was okay. Clarissa was worried. It was as if the child she’d delivered to school that morning had been exchanged for another that she barely recognised at all.

‘So what was Mrs Bottomley really like?’ Lady Clarissa had asked as they scooted along in the car on their way home.

‘Brown,’ Clementine had replied.

‘Clemmie, there must be more to her than that,’ her mother had said. ‘Did you have fun with Sophie and Poppy?’

Clementine had nodded but her mouth stayed closed.

‘Are you feeling all right?’

Clementine had shaken her head. Fat tears had wobbled in the corners of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Lady Clarissa had watched in the rear-view mirror as Clementine wiped them away.

That night Clementine had picked at her dinner, which was most unusual given that it was her favourite: roast lamb with baked potatoes, beans and gravy.

When Clarissa went to check on Clementine later, she found her sound asleep. Her uniform was strewn all over the floor, not hanging proudly on the wardrobe door as it had been for weeks.

Now Lavender was sitting guard on the floor in a bright patch of morning light and Pharaoh was snuggled in beside Clementine on the bed. Lavender looked as worried as Lady Clarissa felt.

Digby Pertwhistle appeared at Clementine’s bedroom door. He knocked gently before entering, carrying a tea tray with two boiled eggs and toasty soldiers.

‘Good morning, Clementine. Your mother tells me you’re not feeling well,’ he said with a frown.

‘Do I have to go to school?’ Clementine asked between teary hiccups.

Clarissa couldn’t remember ever seeing Clementine cry as much. Not even when she was a baby. ‘If you’re not well, Clementine, I think we’ll take you over to see Dr Everingham,’ she said. ‘Should we do that?’

Clementine nodded.

‘I’ll call the surgery and make you an appointment.’ Digby put the tea tray down on Clementine’s desk. ‘Oh, and in other good news, Aunt Violet called this morning. She’ll be back from her cruise this afternoon and has demanded that I pick her up from the dock.’

Digby grimaced and Clementine pinched her lips together trying not to smile.

He raised his eyebrows. ‘It’ll be lovely to have the demanding old dragon back again, won’t it?’

Clarissa rolled her eyes and shook her head. ‘Just what we need. At least this weekend there aren’t any guests booked in. I think it would be best if we had some time with just the four of us, to get used to how things will work.’

‘How long will Aunt Violet stay?’ Clementine asked.

‘I suspect she could be with us forever,’ said Clarissa. ‘She has nowhere else to go. She’s not the easiest person to get along with but she is your grandfather’s sister and I can’t just throw her out on the street. Your grandfather and Aunt Violet were very close once. And I remember that when I was a girl she was jolly good fun. I just hope we can find that Violet again.’

‘Under all those barnacles,’ Clementine said.

‘Yes, Clemmie, underneath all her crustiness,’ her mother agreed.

‘But she can’t have my room,’ Clementine said.

‘Of course she won’t have your room, Clemmie,’ her mother replied. ‘Why would you even think that?’

‘When she was here before, I found her in my room and she said that this was
her
room when she was little and she might like to have it again and make it the way it should be.’ Clementine’s face crumpled as she spoke.

‘Oh, sweetheart, there’s no chance of that happening. I’m putting my foot down this time. She’s having the Blue Room along the corridor up here, whether she likes it or not,’ Clarissa said firmly.

‘Hear, hear,’ Digby agreed. ‘I’d best go and make that call to the doctor.’ The old man disappeared from the room.

Lavender was snuffling about on the floor at Lady Clarissa’s feet. ‘Hello you, why don’t you give Clemmie a cuddle and see if you can make her feel better,’ the woman said. She lifted the little pig up onto the bedclothes.

Clementine hugged Lavender. Pharaoh began to purr loudly beside her too.

‘I’ll come and let you know when we’re seeing Dr Everingham,’ said Clarissa, then kissed the top of Clementine’s head. She looked at Clementine’s uniform, which she’d hung back up on the wardrobe door the night before. ‘Clemmie, is there anything else you’re not telling me? Did something happen yesterday?’

Clementine shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about Angus or Mrs Bottomley or how the whole day was rubbish. She hadn’t learned to read or write or do numbers and she still couldn’t tell the time.

After lunch, when she and Poppy and Sophie had gone to play, Angus and Joshua had followed them and wouldn’t go away. When the girls had finally agreed to a game of chasings, Angus scared Clementine half to death by hunting her into the overgrown garden at the end of the field and saying that a witch lived there. Then the school caretaker Mr Pickles had crashed into the garden and yelled that the children weren’t allowed in there because it wasn’t safe.

In the afternoon, Mrs Bottomley had made them all lie down on the floor. She said that she as going to read them a story but then she started flipping through the magazine on her desk and making shushing noises. She told them that they should close their eyes and have a little nap. Clementine felt like a baby. She hadn’t had an afternoon nap since she was three.

She hadn’t told her mother yet, but she wasn’t going back to school. There was no point. She could still see Sophie and Poppy at the weekend and she’d learn more from her mother and Uncle Digby than Mrs Bottomley. On top of that she wouldn’t have to worry about Angus and Joshua and all the mean things they did.

She was hoping that Dr Everingham would help her tell her mother that this was for the best.

Uncle Digby managed to get an appointment first thing. So, just before half past eight, Clarissa and Clementine set off to Highton Mill, where the doctor had his surgery. There was no one else waiting when they arrived.

‘Good morning, Lady Appleby,’ the receptionist said and then looked at Clementine. ‘Hello, you must be Clementine Rose. I’m Daisy.’ The pretty young woman smiled at the child. Clementine said hello but didn’t smile back. ‘How old are you?’

‘I’m five,’ Clementine replied.

‘Have you started school yet?’ the lady asked.

Clementine nodded. She hadn’t seen this woman before. Usually Mrs Minchin sat in the big chair behind the tall desk.

‘Hello, Daisy is it? It was her first day yesterday,’ Lady Clarissa volunteered. ‘How long have you been working here?’

‘Not long. I’m just relieving while Mrs Minchin’s on holidays. I usually work over at Highton Hall.’

Clementine walked towards the box of toys in the corner. She could hear her mother and the lady talking but she didn’t want to listen.

Dr Everingham’s door opened and a tall man with a thick head of grey hair appeared at the entrance.

‘Good morning, Lady Clarissa.’ He walked into the reception area and looked around. ‘Hello Clementine.’

Clemmie looked up from where she was examining a rather dog-eared book.

‘You’d better come through so we can see what the matter is,’ the doctor said with a friendly smile.

Clementine dropped the book back in the box and stood beside Clarissa. She slipped her hand into her mother’s.