Clementine Rose and the Best News Yet Read online

  About the Book

  Clementine Rose will soon have a new brother or sister – and she can’t wait! But not everything is ready for the baby and no one seems to care as much as Clementine. Not to worry, she’s taken things into her own hands.

  As the due date gets closer, things at the hotel just get busier. Aunt Violet and Uncle Digby are quarrelling and the guests are causing problems – especially Niki, the troublesome toddler. Can Clementine really do everything by herself? Or will there be chaos for the baby’s arrival?

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Welcome Home!

  Feud

  Broken

  A Trolley Full of . . .

  Banking

  The Popov Party

  Breakfast Battles

  Plans

  An Artist at Work

  Calls

  Keeping Busy

  Finger Painting

  Finger Pointing

  Quieter Moments

  The Screamer

  Lost and Found

  Baby on the Way

  New Beginnings

  Clementine’s Presents

  Cast of Characters

  About the Author

  Jacqueline Supports

  Books by Jacqueline Harvey

  Imprint

  Read more at Penguin Books Australia

  For Ian and everyone who has helped bring Clementine Rose to life over the years, and especially for Eden, who most closely resembles my gorgeous girl

  Clementine Rose plonked down on the top step. Aunt Violet and Uncle Digby were late. Clarissa had said that they would be home soon, but that was ages ago. Since then, Clementine had had time to practice her skipping, play soccer with Lavender and rehearse all her ballet positions.

  She couldn’t wait for the pair to arrive. With her mother’s help, Clementine had made a special sponge cake filled with jam and cream then decorated it with fresh strawberries, although a couple had dropped on the floor, so it was lucky Lavender was there to hoover them up before anyone noticed.

  Clementine and Will had also painted a big ‘Welcome Home’ sign, which Drew helped them hang in the kitchen the previous evening. But now Will and Drew weren’t even there because Drew had to go to the city and Will had gone along for the ride.

  Clementine yawned and rested her chin in her hands.

  Aunt Violet and Uncle Digby had been away for two whole weeks on a holiday to the seaside. Clarissa and Drew had encouraged the pair to take a well-deserved break, since they would need to take over more of the day-to-day running of the hotel once the baby arrived. Clementine couldn’t wait to meet her new brother or sister. She was going to teach them everything, so they could play together right from the start.

  Clementine was happy that her family was growing again. She’d already gained a father and a brother in Drew and Will, and then a grandmother when she learned that Aunt Violet’s daughter, Eliza, was her birth mother. Eliza had been very sick and, when she knew she wouldn’t recover, had sent the newborn Clementine to her cousin Clarissa, asking her to take care of the child as if she were her own. Clementine was sad she would never know Eliza, but she felt lucky to have had two mummies who both loved her more than anything.

  Clementine grinned, thinking about the last time she’d gone on holidays to the beach with Uncle Digby and Aunt Violet. The pair had been so mean to each other. Aunt Violet had said horrible things about Uncle Digby’s knobbly knees, and Uncle Digby had said Aunt Violet’s hat was so big it looked like a flying saucer had landed on her head. But now they were in love and everything had changed. Clementine hoped they might even get married one day. Except that her grandmother had told her she was too old for all that nonsense and she couldn’t imagine getting married for the fourth time when Clementine had offered to be a flower girl.

  Uncle Digby had looked so sad when Clementine told him what her grandmother had said, the morning they left for their holiday.

  Clementine called out for Lavender to stop digging up the rose garden just as Aunt Violet’s shiny red car turned into the driveway. It sped around the circle and came to a screeching halt in front of the house.

  ‘Granny, Uncle Digby!’ Clementine leapt up, waving her arms. She ran down the steps towards them.

  Violet Appleby stepped out of the driver’s seat, a look of thunder on her face.

  ‘You can get the bags!’ she hissed and slammed the door so hard that the window rattled.

  Clementine recoiled.

  Uncle Digby unfurled his legs and levered himself out of the car.

  ‘Welcome home Gra . . .’ Clementine began, poised to give Aunt Violet a hug, but the woman stormed past her.

  ‘Not now, Clementine!’ she blurted, pushing her way through the front door. Clementine thought it sounded like Aunt Violet was crying. Her own lip began to tremble. This wasn’t how she imagined welcoming the pair home.

  ‘Hello, sweetheart,’ Digby Pertwhistle held out his arms and Clementine ran to him. Despite her size, he picked her up and balanced her on his hip.

  ‘Did I do something?’ Clementine could feel the tears welling. She brushed them away.

  ‘I’m afraid that was me,’ Digby replied with a grimace.

  Clementine blinked, the tears sticking like dewdrops to her long eyelashes. ‘What was it?’

  ‘That’s the problem.’ Digby shrugged. ‘I have no idea.’

  Clementine’s brow wrinkled. ‘Well, that’s silly. Have you asked her?’

  Digby nodded. ‘She won’t tell me, and while I have a variety of skills, mind reading isn’t one of them.’

  Clementine sniffed. ‘Maybe she’ll be in a better mood after she sees the cake Mummy and I made.’

  Digby Pertwhistle nodded. ‘Let’s hope so.’

  Drew leaned across the stove to his wife. ‘I thought a couple of weeks’ holiday would leave them glowing, not feuding,’ he whispered.

  Clarissa frowned as she stirred the gravy. ‘Aunt Violet went straight upstairs to her room. I knocked and offered her a cup of tea, but she sent me away. Uncle Digby hasn’t said much, either.’ She snuck a sideways glance at the man, who was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table.

  Clementine emerged from the pantry with a box of Pharaoh’s cat biscuits. The scrawny sphynx stretched in his basket before padding over to inspect his dinner. Clementine gave him a tickle under the chin and shooed Lavender back to her own bowl. She was known for eating Pharaoh’s meals as well as her own if no one was watching.

  Will was sitting with Uncle Digby, flicking through a comic book.

  Clementine climbed up onto the chair beside her step brother. She looked at Uncle Digby, her brows furrowed.

  ‘Holidays are supposed to make people happy,’ Clementine said. She tapped her forefinger against her lip. ‘Unless you get sunburnt or bitten by bugs.’

  ‘Or your ice cream melts all over your hand,’ Will added, joining the conversation. ‘Or a seagull steals your chips or you get sand in your swimmers and it goes up your b–’

  ‘Will!’ Drew chided.

  Clementine and Will giggled.

  Digby Pertwhistle grinned. ‘I am happy,’ he said. ‘I had a wonderful time, and I thought your grandmother did too – until we were heading home.’

  ‘Is there anything you remember doing that might have upset her?’ Clementine said. ‘Did you spill something on her clothes, or use her lipstick or accidentally spray too much perfume until the bottle was empty?’

  Digby Pertwhistle chuckled. ‘No, none of those things.’

  Clementine frowned. She was trying to thin
k of anything else she’d done over the years that had caused Aunt Violet to be cross with her. ‘What about talking too loudly, or eating with your mouth open – or trying on her clothes?’

  Digby shook his head. ‘Not that I remember.’

  ‘Uncle Digby doesn’t wear girls’ clothes, Clemmie.’ Will laughed.

  Clementine was stumped.

  Drew walked to the table and set plates down in front of the children.

  ‘Are we expecting Aunt Violet?’ he asked. The thud of feet on the stairs answered his question.

  ‘Something smells delicious, Clarissa, though you shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble,’ the woman said, overly cheerful. ‘I’d have been happy with a cheese sandwich after everything I’ve eaten in the past couple of weeks.’

  Clementine didn’t think that was true. Her grandmother always complained when they had cheese toasties instead of proper dinners, but at least she seemed to be in a much happier mood.

  ‘Don’t I get a cuddle?’ Aunt Violet asked, looking at Clementine and Will before spotting the banner strung across the wall. ‘Oh, that’s a beautiful sign – it’s so nice to be appreciated.’ She cast a glare towards Uncle Digby.

  Clementine hopped down from her chair and scurried into the woman’s outstretched arms. Will didn’t move until his father pointedly raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Welcome home, Aunt Violet,’ he mumbled, as she hugged him against her flat tummy.

  ‘I missed you all so much,’ the woman said. ‘It’s hard being separated from your loved ones.’

  Clementine thought that was a strange thing to say, since Aunt Violet had been with Uncle Digby, and he loved her more than anyone.

  Clarissa placed the last of the plates on the table and everyone sat down. Aunt Violet turning her back slightly to Uncle Digby. Clementine frowned. If she had done that to Will, her grandmother would have told her off for being rude.

  ‘Did you enjoy your holiday?’ Drew asked.

  For a moment there was a stony silence. Uncle Digby looked at Aunt Violet, who seemed to be suddenly interested in the ceiling.

  ‘It was wonderful,’ the butler finally replied.

  Clarissa stared at her aunt, hoping to extract a response from the woman.

  ‘It was fine,’ Aunt Violet said.

  Clementine watched her mother exchange a glance with Drew. Clearly something had gone horribly wrong while they were away.

  The conversation stopped, replaced by a worrying quiet filled only by the sounds of cutlery chinking on the china plates.

  At long last, Uncle Digby cleared his throat. ‘You wouldn’t believe who we ran into. Do you remember Mrs Dent from the Endersley-on-Sea guest house?’

  ‘Of course.’ Clarissa smiled. ‘She was lovely, and such a good hostess. Remember, Clemmie, you and Freddy had that adventure with Lavender in the cave.’

  Clementine nodded.

  ‘I didn’t think you were going there on your trip,’ Clarissa said.

  ‘Neither did I,’ Aunt Violet’s lip curled.

  ‘We had some car trouble,’ Uncle Digby said. ‘So Mrs Dent kindly took us in for a night until the mechanic could fix things.’

  ‘That’s what happened last time, but we took your car then, Uncle Digby, and we had to get a tow truck,’ Clementine said, her eyes wide. ‘That’s ’ronic – two times to the seaside and two broken cars.’

  Clarissa and Drew chuckled. ‘I think the word you’re looking for is i-ronic, Clemmie – which is a very big word for someone your age. Where have you heard that used?’ Drew asked the girl.

  Clementine thought about it. ‘It was Mrs Bottomley. She said it’s i-ronic that Granny and Uncle Digby used to hate each other and now they’re in love.’

  Uncle Digby reached across and patted Aunt Violet’s hand, but the woman quickly pulled it away and pretended she needed a tissue. Clementine knew it was pretend because her grandmother didn’t even have a runny nose.

  Everyone went back to their dinners. Fortunately, the conversation turned to other things.

  ‘How long until the baby comes?’ Will asked, his eyes sparkling. He’d told Clarissa the other day that he was excited about his new sibling, but a little worried he wouldn’t know how to hold it properly.

  Clarissa looked up at the boy and smiled. ‘Three weeks from tomorrow.’

  Clementine’s eyebrows jumped up in alarm. ‘Three weeks – that’s just at the end of the holidays. What if it comes early? That’s even sooner.’

  ‘We hope not,’ Clarissa said, exchanging a curious look with Drew. ‘We’ve still got to finish the nursery, and Drew is away working for the next week and we have guests booked in. The doctor says everything is going as expected – there’s no reason to think that will happen.’

  Clementine wasn’t so sure. There was a new boy in her class called Micah and his little sister had come a month before she was supposed to. Three weeks or less wasn’t much time, and she had a lot of things to get ready before the baby arrived. She’d written a secret list the afternoon she’d found out she was getting a new brother or sister. The next week, Clementine had talked to all the adults who she thought would be able to help her and everyone had agreed, but now the baby was almost here she needed to collect everything – and soon.

  ‘How are you going with choosing names?’ Uncle Digby asked. ‘Have you found anything you can both agree on yet?’

  Drew and Clarissa shook their heads.

  ‘I think we should leave it up to the children,’ Drew said, waving his fork in the air.

  Clarissa grimaced. She wasn’t keen on that idea – though Clementine and Will thought it was wonderful.

  ‘I like Balthazar,’ Will said. ‘But only for a boy, of course.’

  ‘Good heavens,’ Aunt Violet’s lip quivered. ‘You might as well call the poor child Shakespeare.’

  Clementine giggled.

  ‘Those are both silly,’ she said. ‘I think we should name the baby Bingo if it’s a boy and Cupcake if it’s a girl.’

  ‘Perhaps if your mother was giving birth to a puppy or a pig.’ Aunt Violet rolled her eyes.

  ‘Don’t be silly, Granny,’ Clementine said. ‘I’m going to write a proper list – but I do like Buttercup.’

  ‘Well, that’s something to look forward to,’ Violet smirked.

  ‘Who’d like dessert?’ Clarissa asked. ‘I have apple crumble and ice cream.’

  There was a chorus of yeses.

  Clementine frowned. Although the mood in the kitchen had lifted and Aunt Violet had stopped being quite so obviously awful to Uncle Digby, Clementine noticed that Aunt Violet had scarcely looked at Uncle Digby all night. She would have to do some investigating.

  The sun had barely begun to rise when Clementine hopped out of bed. Lavender was still snoring in her basket. Clementine grinned when she realised Pharaoh had snuck in during the night and the pair was cuddled up together – they really were the best of friends, even though Aunt Violet still sniffed at the idea.

  Clementine put on her favourite denim overalls and a short sleeved pink blouse, then sat on her bed and slipped her feet into her white sandshoes. She had jobs to do this morning and she wanted to get on with them.

  The girl brushed her hair and pulled it back with a pink bow, then sat down at her desk and checked her notebook. She had four visits to make this morning and, knowing how much Mrs Mogg and Father Bob liked to chat, she could be a while. She didn’t want to tell anyone in the family what she was up to either, or that would spoil the surprise.

  Clementine walked into the hallway and saw Uncle Digby standing outside Aunt Violet’s room. He was balancing a tray with a lovely red rose in a bud vase sitting alongside a teapot, cup and saucer and a plate of toast. He knocked gently and opened the door.

  ‘Well, that’s a relief,’ Clementine said to herself. Uncle Digby had brought Aunt Violet breakfast every morning since they’d realised they were in love. The pair must have made up last night after dinner if Uncle Digby was bringin
g breakfast now.

  Clementine decided to go and say hello to her other grandparents on the wall in the stairwell. She’d been so busy lately that she hadn’t been chatting to them as much as usual, and she didn’t want them to think she’d forgotten them since discovering Aunt Violet was her real grandmother.

  Clementine looked up at the portrait of her grandfather in his uniform. He was so handsome and he had the kindest eyes. Her granny had a smile like a warm hug and was dressed for a ball in the most splendid gown with the family tiara on her head.

  ‘Hello, Granny and Grandpa,’ the child said quietly. ‘Sorry I have to whisper, but almost everyone else is still asleep. Are you as excited about the baby as I am? There’s only three weeks until it arrives, or maybe less, and there’s so much to do – I need to collect all my surprises, and think of some more names, and the cot needs to be built and the nursery finished. And when the baby comes I’m going to have to be very responsible so I can help Mummy and Drew as much as possible. I promise I won’t drop him or her, and I won’t even mind if they cry a little bit. I’m still not sure about changing nappies though. I hope it doesn’t do explosive poos like Micah says his sister does sometimes. That sounds disgusting.’

  Clementine could have sworn her grandfather winked at her. She was just about to tell them the names she’d added to her list last night when there was a loud smash and an angry voice.

  Clementine jumped into the air and flew up the stairs to find Uncle Digby trying to balance the now broken vase on the tea tray with Aunt Violet’s door firmly shut behind him.

  ‘What happened?’ Clementine said, startling the man. He spun around, wondering what she was doing out and about so early. ‘I thought you made up.’