Alice-Miranda In New York 5 (11 page)

‘Leave me alone,' Alethea screamed.

Andie Patrick ran towards the lake wondering what on earth had possessed an otherwise sensible child to launch herself into the pond.

‘Thea, come on, you need to get out of there,' said the teacher, glaring.

‘I didn't get in here. It was all
her
fault.' She pointed at Alice-Miranda and her friends as they disappeared over the hill after Maisy and her prey.

Girls began to gather at the edge of the pond and stare at Alethea, who finally managed to haul herself out of the water. She was covered in sludge and sobbing hysterically. Mr Underwood offered her his jacket, which she snatched from his outstretched hand.

Meanwhile, over on the East Green, Alice-Miranda and her friends were in hot pursuit of Maisy. In the distance Alice-Miranda spotted someone that she recognised.

‘Mr Gambino, HELP!' Alice-Miranda yelled at her hot dog vendor friend.

Lou Gambino looked up from his newspaper to see a golden labrador streaking across the open field. He couldn't be sure, as his eyesight wasn't as good as it once was, but he thought the dog was chasing a squirrel and behind the dog he saw a little girl with long curls and behind her three taller children. He scrambled to his feet and did the first thing that came to mind.

‘Hey, doggie, would you like a hot dog?' he yelled and retrieved a freshly cooked frankfurt from the pot, flinging it as far as he could in the direction of the hound. ‘Here have another one.' He hurled dog after dog and finally caught the labrador's attention. Maisy stopped in her tracks. She sniffed the air then raced towards the vendor, hoovering up the frankfurts as she went.

‘Well, hello there.' Lou Gambino grabbed the pooch's lead and held tight. ‘Ain't you a pretty girl?'

Alice-Miranda and her friends reached Lou's stand a few seconds later, all four of them huffing and puffing.

‘Oh . . . Mr . . . Gambino . . . thank you,' Alice-Miranda threw herself on Maisy who
was contentedly chomping on another of Lou's delicious dogs.

‘You're very welcome,' he replied. ‘I thought it was you, little miss.'

When the children had caught their breath, Alice-Miranda set about introducing her friends.

‘Mr Gambino, this is Lucinda Finkelstein and Ava Lee and Quincy Armstrong. And that's Maisy.'

‘And she's a really naughty dog,' Quincy added as she bent down and stared into the labrador's brown eyes.

Everyone, this is Mr Gambino.'

The girls all said hello.

‘Where's Mr Geronimo?' Alice-Miranda asked, looking around the park.

‘Harry takes Tuesdays off to look after his baby grandson,' Lou explained.

‘Well, thank goodness you were here. You've saved me from a lot more trouble.' Alice-Miranda reached down and gave Maisy a pat. ‘And you are a very determined dog. I'm just glad you never caught that poor –'

‘Sh!' Lucinda put her finger to Alice-Miranda's lip. ‘Don't say it.'

Maisy stared innocently at Alice-Miranda with her big brown puppy dog eyes.

‘At least she's got good taste in hot dogs.' Lou Gambino grinned as he threw Maisy another one.

‘I'm afraid someone set you up, Alice-Miranda. Everyone knows that the “s” word brings out Crazy Maisy. She doesn't even care about them unless someone points them out,' Ava explained.

‘Have you done something to upset Thea?' Lucinda asked. ‘I don't think she likes you very much.'

‘I think she likes me a lot less now.' Alice-Miranda's mind flashed to the sight of Alethea sitting in the pond and shrieking like a banshee.

M
r Staples strode down the path towards Lou Gambino's hot dog cart.

‘Hello Whip,' Lou greeted his friend. ‘If you've come for a dog, I think the best I can do is hand over that one.' He pointed at Maisy. ‘Mutt's eaten me out of house and home.'

‘Lou, good to see you.' Whip reached out and shook the other man's hand.

‘Hello Mr Whip,' Alice-Miranda said. ‘How did you know where to find us?'

‘The girls by the lake said they'd seen you chasing
Maisy down here. I should have known this morning that she was going to play up. She had that cheeky glint in her eye and I think the ladies in the library have been feeding her candy again. I know what too much sugar does to children – I should have known that it might have the same effect on dogs.'

Maisy looked up at her captors with her doleful eyes. She yawned loudly and it sounded for all the world as though she had apologised.

‘Did Maisy just say “I'm sorry”?' Quincy asked with a grin. The group looked at the dog and laughed.

‘Mr Gambino,' Alice-Miranda started, ‘it's my fault that Maisy got loose and cost you all those hot dogs. I promise I'll come back after school and pay for them.'

‘Don't you even think about it, miss. I was having a slow day anyway. Would've had to throw those dogs out, I'm sure, and now at least Maisy here has had a good feed and she can stop chasing those sq –'

‘NO!' all of the girls yelled. ‘Don't say it.'

Lou grimaced. ‘Oops, I forgot.'

‘Well, Maisy, we need to get you back to school.' Whip Staples took the lead from where it was wrapped tightly around the wheel of the hot dog cart. ‘And
I think your teachers will be looking for you four.'

Maisy stood up and gave herself a good shake. Then she lay down on her stomach and began to push herself along the grass.

‘Have you got a tummy ache?' asked Alice-Miranda.

The group said goodbye to Lou, with Alice-Miranda promising to bring her parents and Mrs Oliver over to see him again as soon as she could.

‘Goodbye girls,' Lou called and began to pack up his stand for the day. Truth be told, he was rather looking forward to getting home and having a quiet time reading the afternoon paper. He didn't enjoy Tuesdays nearly as much as the rest of the week, when he and Harry played chess and solved the problems of the world.

Whip Staples had a firm grip on Maisy's lead. She ambled along, stopping to scratch at her tummy.

‘I hope frankfurts aren't poisonous for dogs,' said Lucinda as she studied Maisy's movements. She thought the pooch looked mighty uncomfortable.

‘No, but if she had some candy earlier and all those frankfurts, she's probably got a mighty fine stomach-ache,' Whip Staples observed. ‘I'll take her
back to school.'

At the boat lake, the lady who ran the cafe had found an old towel so that Lucinda could dry off a little. The girl was wearing Mr Underwood's jacket and still crying about what had happened, although the racking sobs had been exchanged for a shuddering whimper.

Whip Staples appeared with Maisy firmly in hand and the girls beside him.

‘There she is,' Alethea cried out when she saw Alice-Miranda. ‘It's all her fault that I ended up in the lake. She let Maisy go on purpose.'

Alice-Miranda walked over to Alethea.

‘I'm so sorry that you ended up in the lake, Thea. Maisy was just too strong and she got away from me. I didn't mean to let her go. I feel terrible. And I must find that elderly couple and apologise for ruining their picnic,' Alice-Miranda said.

‘I saw you. You let her go on purpose just as she was close to me,' Alethea spat.

Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘Of course I didn't. I can't imagine how awful it is in that pond. I mean, there looks to be quite a lot of silt and mud. I wouldn't wish a dip in there on anyone.'

‘Except me,' Alethea fumed. ‘Gretchen saw you.
She knows you let Maisy go on purpose, don't you Gretchen?' Alethea glared at her friend.

‘Well, I, I'm not sure,' Gretchen replied.

‘Are you my friend, Gretchen?' Alethea demanded.

‘Of course,' Gretchen replied.

‘Then you'd better tell Miss Patrick and Mr Underwood the truth, or I'll unfriend you this minute,' Alethea threatened.

Gretchen gulped. Her face fell.

‘Mr Underwood.' Gretchen tapped the teacher on the shoulder. He and Miss Patrick were talking in hushed tones a few steps away from the girls. ‘I saw what happened.'

Felix Underwood spun around. ‘Excuse me, Gretchen, what are you talking about?'

‘I saw what happened with Alice-Miranda and Maisy. She let go of the dog just as she was running past Alethea. And I think I heard her laugh as Alethea fell into the pond.'

Felix Underwood and Andie Patrick were shocked.

‘Is that true, Alice-Miranda?' Miss Patrick asked the tiny child.

‘Well, I did let go but I don't remember doing
it and I certainly didn't mean to. And I'm sure that I didn't laugh at Thea falling into the pond. That would have been a terrible shock for her,' Alice-Miranda said.

Alethea began to sob. ‘She pushed me.'

‘What are you talking about, Thea?' Alice-Miranda eyes were wide.

‘She reached out when she was running past and she pushed me into the pond. Maisy made me lose my balance and then it was easy for Alice-Miranda to push me in.'

‘Are you sure, Thea? That's a very serious accusation you're making. I can't imagine that Alice-Miranda meant for you to end up in the pond. It was just an accident,' said Miss Patrick soothingly.

‘Why don't you believe me? You weren't even there. You and Mr Underwood were too busy getting your coffee and talking. You didn't see it, did you?' Alethea accused her teacher. ‘She pushed me!'

Andie Patrick and Felix Underwood exchanged glances. It was true. They weren't watching the girls – they were buying coffee and chatting with Frances, the girl in the cafe. They hadn't seen anything. It was Thea's word against Alice-Miranda's.

Andie indicated for Felix to walk away from
Alethea so they could speak privately.

‘What do you think?' Andie asked. ‘Thea's really upset. And Gretchen said that she saw it too.'

‘I just don't see Alice-Miranda pushing Thea in on purpose,' Felix Underwood replied. ‘She's a really sweet kid.'

‘I think we should tell Jilly. She might be able to get to the bottom of it. I met Thea's mother at the parent–teacher night and she's not a lady I'd like to upset,' Andie reasoned.

The two teachers walked back to Alethea.

‘Well, what are you going to do about her?' Alethea glared at Alice-Miranda and pointed her finger.

‘When we get back to school, you can both have a chat with Miss Hobbs and explain what happened – after you change into some dry clothes, Thea,' Mr Underwood informed the girls.

‘I don't see why I should have to go and see the headmistress.' Thea began to sob again. ‘She's the one who should be in trouble.'

Lucinda, Ava and Quincy were listening to Alethea. It was strange but the more upset she got the weirder her southern accent sounded. Quincy, whose father's family was from Alabama, was begin
ning to wonder about Alethea's southern origins.

‘Mr Underwood, can we speak to you?' Lucinda asked her teacher.

‘Certainly, girls.' Felix Underwood glanced at his watch. They were already late so another minute or two wouldn't matter.

‘Alice-Miranda didn't push Thea. She's making it up,' Lucinda frowned. ‘We were there. We saw everything because we were running after Alice-Miranda and Maisy, trying to help her. Thea just lost her balance, that's all.'

‘Thanks girls,' Mr Underwood said. ‘Maybe you can go and explain what you saw to Miss Hobbs too when we get back.'

Felix Underwood would have been quite happy to let the whole thing go, but he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that once she started something, Thea was fully prepared to see it through to the end.

Alethea confronted the girls as they walked away from the teacher. ‘What did you say to Mr Underwood?'

He and Miss Patrick were busy rounding up the rest of the group.

‘Alice-Miranda didn't push you,' said Ava, glaring
at Alethea.

‘She did so!' Alethea spat. ‘You didn't see it.'

‘We were right behind her,' Lucinda nodded her head. ‘You just lost your balance because you were trying to get out of Maisy's way. And the only reason Maisy went crazy in the first place was because you pointed out the squirrel.'

‘I did
not
! You're lying. You're all lying.' Alethea's southern drawl was sounding more clipped by the second.

‘Thea, where did you say you were from?' Quincy asked.

‘Um.' Alethea looked around. She hesitated, then replied, ‘Alabama.'

‘So where exactly in Alabama?' Quincy asked.

‘Atlanta.'

Quincy was getting more and more suspicious. ‘In Alabama?'

‘What's it to you?' Alethea pulled a face.

‘And you grew up there before you moved to New York?' Quincy continued.

‘Yes, of course I did. Why are you asking?' Alethea demanded.

‘I just think it's strange that someone from Alabama would be from Atlanta, seeing as everyone
knows Atlanta is in Georgia.'

Alethea looked as though she might explode.

‘I never said I was from Alabama. Gretchen said that. And she's dumb, really dumb. Of course I am from Atlanta in Georgia,' Alethea fumed.

Gretchen stared up at her so-called friend. Her green eyes were like wet pools. ‘Dumb, you think I'm dumb?'

Alethea was cornered. ‘You're just not very good at geography, Gretchen, that's all. I didn't mean dumb at everything. Just Geography.'

‘I'm perfectly fine at Geography,' Gretchen retorted. ‘And you're just, just . . .' Gretchen was searching for the right word. ‘Mean!'

‘Miss Patrick,' Gretchen called to the teacher who was leading the two lines the girls had fallen into. ‘I need to tell you something.'

‘Don't you dare,' gasped Alethea, her steely eyes threatening.

‘Or what? You'll unfriend me?' Gretchen turned around and stood tall, her hands on her hips. ‘Don't worry. I've just unfriended myself.'

Alethea began to wail. ‘It's all your fault,' she screamed at Alice-Miranda. ‘See what you've
done.'

‘Thea, please stop that noise,' Alice-Miranda reached out and touched the hysterical girl on the shoulder.

Alethea recoiled as though she'd been hit with a high-voltage wire. ‘Don't touch me!'

‘Just tell Gretchen the truth,' Alice-Miranda whispered. ‘If she's really your friend she won't care about any of it.'

‘That's easy for you to say,' Alethea growled. ‘Everyone loves you!'