Alice-Miranda Shines Bright 8 by Jacqueline Harvey

with the older students over at Sainsbury Palace for their orientation, it was very quiet.
    The girls saddled Bony and Chops then wrote a note on the whiteboard outlining the time and a rough plan of where they intended to go. Alice-Miranda stood on an upturned crate and climbed into the saddle. Millie hoisted herself onto Chops’s back and together they headed out into the bright sunshine.
    â€˜Do you really think that Mr Parker has gone with Nurse Raylene?’ Alice-Miranda asked Millie as they walked side by side.
    â€˜Charlie seemed to think so. I can’t imagine what it must be like when someone you think you know just disappears. Like the people you sometimes see on the noticeboards in the grocery shops or on breakfast cereal boxes.’
    â€˜We do that at Kennington’s,’ said Alice-Miranda.
    â€˜Could your father put Mr Parker on a cereal box or on some posters in the supermarkets?’ Millie said.
    â€˜Oh, that’s a wonderful idea. But we’d have to ask Mrs Parker’s permission. She might think that it’s too painful. There’s a Kennington’s in Downsfordvale – imagine if she shopped there and saw Mr Parker. She might get terribly upset,’ said Alice-Miranda thoughtfully.
    â€˜It wouldn’t hurt to ask,’ Millie said.
    Alice-Miranda nodded in agreement. She clicked her tongue and Bonaparte began to trot. ‘Maybe we could go and see her later on. If she agrees, I’ll talk to Daddy tomorrow.’
    â€˜Where do you want to go first?’ Millie called as she dug her heels into Chops’s flank and he caught up to his friend. Bonaparte turned around and tried to take a nip out of the little pony’s ear.
    â€˜Stop that, you naughty brute.’ Alice-Miranda tugged sharply at the reins. ‘What if we explore the woods along the ridge? I’ve never been up there on Bony – only on foot when I had to do the camp at the beginning of the year. There’s a pretty lookout where you can see the whole school and the village too.’
    â€˜Sounds good,’ Millie replied. ‘There are some secret hiding spots up there, you know. But of course, that’s where you found Mr Grump.’
    â€˜He wasn’t really hiding, Millie, at least not from me. But let’s go and see what we can find anyway.’
    Alice-Miranda ducked under a low branch. The track narrowed and she and Bony led the way as the path began to curve upwards into the side of the hill. It was quite a distance before they reached the top.
    Alice-Miranda slipped down out of the saddle and took the reins over Bony’s head. Millie did the same. The two girls hitched the ponies to some tree branches and walked towards a clearing.
    Spread out below them was the school and the village beyond.
    â€˜Isn’t it lovely?’ Alice-Miranda’s eyes shone as she took it all in.
    â€˜I’ll say.’ Millie walked around further to see if there was another vantage point. ‘Come and look at this. I think you can see Caledonia Manor through the treetops.’
    Alice-Miranda scurried over to her friend.
    â€˜Yes, that’s the roof line.’
    The woods stood between the school and Caledonia Manor. Around further was Gertrude’s Grove, where the girls had met Fern and her brother Tarquin and the children from the carnival a couple of months before.
    â€˜Who owns the woods and Gertrude’s Grove?’ Alice-Miranda wondered out loud.
    Millie shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. Why do you want to know?’
    â€˜Just curious.’
    â€˜I’m starving,’ announced Millie. She walked back to the ponies and opened her leather saddlebag. She retrieved two slices of devil’s food cake and handed one to Alice-Miranda, who pulled out two water bottles from her own saddlebag.
    Millie sat on a rock and began to unwrap her cake. Alice-Miranda sipped some water and sat beside her. She stared into the distance, wondering what