Clementine Rose and the Treasure Box 6 Page 5

  ‘Clarissa, if you don’t mind me saying, please make sure that you check the children’s decisions on what can go into the jumble sale,’ the man said as he spied a stunning Tiffany lamp on top of a mahogany side table.

  ‘Yes, I certainly will, Basil. I thought that they could be in charge of the more ordinary household items.’ Lady Clarissa picked up a cracked pie plate. ‘Like this. Uncle Digby and I will look after everything else.’

  Basil wandered to the other end of the room. ‘Oh my heavens, where did you get him?’

  ‘I presume you’ve found Theo.’ Lady Clarissa edged through the furniture to join the man. ‘He’s very handsome, don’t you think?’

  ‘He’d scare the socks off anyone,’ Basil grinned.

  ‘That’s why he’s up here. He was in the library until one of our guests took a walk in the middle of the night. The poor woman screamed so loudly I thought there must have been an intruder. When I found her she was as white as a sheet and frozen to the spot, demanding that I call the police and have the animal shot. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that my grandfather had already done that about eighty years earlier. The next day Uncle Digby and I heaved and hefted Theo up here. You know, he’s awful but I just can’t bear to part with him. He’s been in the family for such a long time.’

  ‘He’d have to be sent to auction anyway, Clarissa. There must be collectors who delight in that sort of thing. It’s not my cup of tea but someone would love him,’ Basil said as he cast his eyes over the rest of the bric-a-brac. ‘I should get going. The children couldn’t fit in the car with me and all the boxes but they’ll be up soon.’

  Lady Clarissa had just farewelled Basil and was on her way to the kitchen when she heard the back door slam.

  ‘Are they here yet?’ Clementine called as she almost bumped into her mother. She’d been bursting to see the Hobbs children again for days.

  ‘Hello darling, did you have a good walk?’

  Clementine nodded.

  The doorbell rang.

  ‘They’re here!’ Clementine raced into the hall and skidded along the polished timber floorboards in her socks. She wrenched open the front door.

  ‘Hello,’ Clementine said.

  ‘Hi,’ the twins chorused.

  ‘Hello,’ Araminta said.

  Lady Clarissa walked up behind Clementine. ‘Good morning. Your father dropped off the boxes a few minutes ago. Come in.’

  ‘How was your grandmother’s birthday celebration?’ Lady Clarissa asked.

  ‘It was fun. Granny had a huge cake and it had about a hundred candles on it,’ Tilda said.

  ‘It was only eighty, Tilda,’ said Araminta, shaking her head.

  ‘That’s even more than Aunt Violet,’ Clementine said. She couldn’t imagine that many people in the world were older than her. ‘Can we go upstairs, Mummy?’

  Lady Clarissa nodded. ‘I think I might help for a little while. There’s a lot to get through. And then I have to make some phone calls and do some paperwork.’

  Clementine nodded. ‘We can do it, Mummy. I promise.’

  Lady Clarissa smiled at the eager foursome. ‘Come on, then. Let’s go and do battle, shall we?’

  The children followed Lady Clarissa up to the attic. She had already pulled back the shutters to let in as much light as possible.

  ‘Now, I thought you could find anything that was household related. Like the vacuum, and the pots and pans down the back. There’s a huge number of old kitchen utensils, too. Why don’t you stack them into boxes and then I can have a look afterwards. Uncle Digby and I will take care of all the decorative things and the furniture and maybe Aunt Violet can help with the clothes.’

  ‘Oh no, Mummy, please don’t sell the dress-ups,’ Clementine begged.

  ‘You know, Mummy said that when the ballet school is up and running, she’d have a concert at the end of every year. Some of the clothes would be perfect for that,’ Araminta said.

  Clementine nodded. ‘That’s a great idea.’

  Her mother relented with a smile. ‘Okay, Clementine, the clothes can stay. Now, does everyone know what they’re looking for?’

  ‘Yes,’ the children chorused. Clementine, Tilda and Teddy headed straight to the far end of the attic.

  ‘I think there’s an old mixer down here,’ Clementine said.

  Araminta got started on a huge old dresser full of cutlery and utensils.

  Lady Clarissa spent about fifteen minutes watching them. When she was satisfied that they weren’t about to put anything especially valuable in the boxes, she headed downstairs.

  ‘Hey, look at this,’ Araminta called. Clementine and the twins made their way to the other side of the attic.

  ‘What is it?’ Tilda asked.

  Clementine looked at the bowl. ‘I’ve seen one of those before,’ she said. She suddenly remembered. ‘Oh! That’s an old-fashioned toilet.’

  ‘Yuck,’ said Araminta. She peered inside. ‘At least it’s clean.’

  Teddy looked at it too. ‘I wonder how many of your relatives have used that.’

  Clementine shrugged. The children continued their sorting and packing and were surprised that they already had six boxes of household items for the stall.

  ‘Does anyone feel like a drink?’ Clementine asked.

  The children nodded. Araminta wiped some beads of perspiration from her brow. ‘I thought you were never going to ask.’

  ‘Let’s get some morning tea and come back later,’ Clementine said.

  Just as they were about to leave, there was a loud thud.

  ‘What was that?’ Teddy said.

  The children looked to see if anything had fallen over.

  ‘Probably just something in one of the cupboards falling down,’ Clementine said confidently. She walked over to the first wardrobe and opened the doors, but everything was still in place. She wandered along and opened each one but couldn’t see anything unusual.

  There was another thud, this time louder than the first.

  Araminta jumped. ‘Can we go?’ she said, her knees trembling.

  ‘It’s all right. I’ve been up here lots of times,’ Clementine said. ‘It’s probably a mouse.’

  Teddy had wandered off into the far corner of the room and discovered a narrow door.

  ‘Clementine, where does this go?’ the boy called.

  Clementine scampered over with Tilda and Araminta behind her. She couldn’t remember seeing the door before. Maybe her mother had moved something out of the way earlier.

  ‘Open it,’ she said.

  Teddy turned the handle, wondering what he’d find.

  It was certainly not what he was expecting.

  ‘Ahhhh!’ the twins and Araminta screamed in unison. ‘It’s a skeleton!’

  The three Hobbs children raced off towards the stairs. Clementine giggled. So much for the twins wanting to find a ghost. But Clementine wasn’t frightened. She peeked in.

  ‘Hello, who are you?’ she said. She was about to leave when she heard a scraping noise. It was loud and didn’t sound like any of the mice she’d come across before. She jumped and ran down the attic stairs, along the hall and down the back stairs to the kitchen. She found her friends all talking at once, telling Lady Clarissa about the thuds and the skeleton in the other room.

  ‘Mummy, I told the children there was nothing up there but when I looked at the skeleton, I heard a scraping noise and I didn’t know what it was either. Where did the skeleton come from? Is it someone in the family?’ Clementine fired the questions at her mother.

  Lady Clarissa directed the children to sit down. She pulled a large pitcher of homemade lemonade out of the fridge and set it down on the table.

  ‘The skeleton’s nothing to worry about. I’d forgotten about him actually,’ she said. ‘He first belonged to your great-grandfather, Clementine. He was a doctor and that skeleton was affectionately known as Claude. We inherited him. Your grandmother used to love playing tricks on your grandfather with him. Sh
e’d put him in all sorts of odd places around the house when I was a girl and then wait for your grandpa to bellow. She and I loved it. Uncle Digby used to get in on the act too, I think,’ Lady Clarissa explained.

  The old man walked into the room balancing a tea tray. He’d just served morning tea to the guests who’d arrived the previous evening.

  ‘What did I do?’ he asked, setting the tray on the bench near the sink.

  ‘The children discovered Claude upstairs in the attic,’ Lady Clarissa explained. ‘Do you remember that time Mummy and I took Claude and set him up in Daddy’s office chair in the library? The poor man almost had a heart attack when he spun the chair around and went to sit down.’

  ‘Oh yes, that was funny. But I think the best one was when we put him in the back of your father’s car with a hat and a coat. Your father was halfway to Highton Mill before he realised who his passenger was,’ Uncle Digby said with a giggle. ‘Although that was very silly of us. In hindsight, the poor man could have had a nasty accident.’

  The children listened to the stories and felt much better about the skeleton.

  ‘But that still doesn’t explain the thuds and the scraping sound,’ Araminta said, frowning.

  ‘It could have been anything,’ said Uncle Digby. ‘And I might just set a few rat traps in case the builders let some creatures in while the roof was being done.’

  ‘Was it Lavender?’ Lady Clarissa asked. ‘Or Pharaoh?’ Both animals were missing from their usual spot in Lavender’s basket.

  Clementine shook her head. ‘I didn’t see either of them up there and usually Pharaoh meows so loudly to let you know he’s around.’

  ‘I wonder if it really could be a ghost,’ Tilda said. ‘Daddy says that all old houses have ghosts.’

  Araminta flinched. ‘I don’t want to go up there again.’

  ‘I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never seen any ghosts. Why don’t you go and play in the garden for a little while and get some fresh air,’ Lady Clarissa suggested. ‘You can do some more sorting later, if you like.’

  While the attic was a treasure trove, outside the sun was shining and the skeleton had put the visitors off going back upstairs for now.

  ‘Do you want to play hide-and-seek?’ Clementine asked.

  ‘Okay,’ Tilda and Teddy said at the same time.

  Araminta nodded.

  Lady Clarissa set a plate of chocolate-chip biscuits on the table.

  ‘Why don’t you take these into the garden,’ she said. ‘I’ll see if I can find Lavender and Pharaoh and shoo them out.’

  Before she could move, a squeal came from the sitting room.

  ‘Oh, oh, what on earth?’ a woman called loudly. ‘Good gracious, there’s a monster in here.’

  ‘Oops! I think our guests have just met Pharaoh.’ Lady Clarissa dashed off.

  Clementine giggled and the others did too.

  Clementine and her friends played hide-and-seek, followed by chasings, stuck in the mud and a rowdy game of soccer. Teddy and Tilda said that they were eager to join Clementine’s Saturday team if there was room for a couple more players. Clementine thought that was a great idea.

  Lady Clarissa had rescued Pharaoh from the startled guests and quickly located Lavender. The pair were sent outside with the children. Lavender couldn’t decide which side she was on, chasing the ball in both directions. Pharaoh wasn’t remotely interested. He jumped up on one of the outdoor chairs and promptly fell asleep.

  Uncle Digby made the children some sandwiches and they ate lunch outside. Ana arrived sooon afterwards.

  She walked onto the back steps with Lady Clarissa. ‘Hello everyone, how’s the attic sorting?’

  ‘We got six boxes done, but then Mintie got scared,’ Teddy said.

  Araminta glared at her brother. ‘It wasn’t just me. You and Tilda ran away too.’

  ‘I hope you’ve been helpful,’ Ana said. ‘Anyway, I’m sorry, kids, but we have to get going. I almost forgot that you’re all having haircuts this afternoon in Highton Mill.’

  Clementine and her mother watched and waved as the Hobbses’ car drove out the driveway.

  ‘Now, why don’t you and I do some more sorting,’ Lady Clarissa suggested. ‘Uncle Digby said he has a bit of time now too. The guests have gone for a long drive and won’t be back until dinnertime.’

  ‘Okay, Mummy,’ Clementine said, and the two walked upstairs. She wasn’t scared about being up there with her mother and Uncle Digby.

  Digby Pertwhistle had already pulled out an interesting array of lamps, ornaments and statues. He was waiting for Clarissa to help move some of the larger pieces.

  ‘Goodness, what have you found, Uncle Digby?’ Clarissa asked as she surveyed the items.

  ‘Oh, this and that. But there’s lots more.’

  ‘What do you want me to do, Mummy?’ Clementine asked.

  ‘Hmm, why don’t you see what’s in the dresser in the back corner.’

  Clementine scurried off, saying hello to Theodore on her way. She opened the dresser drawers and found a whole set of knives and forks and spoons. Clementine dumped them into a box that one of the twins had moved to the far end of the attic.

  She opened the dresser doors and found three different-sized wooden boxes.

  ‘Mummy, what are these?’ she called.

  Lady Clarissa made her way over.

  ‘Oh, they’re music boxes. The smallest one was mine when I was little. I kept all my precious things inside. I’d forgotten about it. I don’t know where the others came from.’

  Lady Clarissa pulled out the box that belonged to her. She opened the lid and a beautiful ballerina sprang up on a platform.

  Clementine gasped. ‘Does she dance?’

  Her mother turned the box around and found a little winder. She gave it a crank and put the box on the dresser. Music began to play and the tiny dancer started to twirl.

  ‘Mummy, she’s lovely,’ Clementine said. ‘Can I keep her?’

  Lady Clarissa nodded. She reached in and pulled out a slightly larger box. This time when she lifted the lid, the ballerina was broken and the lining torn.

  ‘I think this one can go out,’ she said, and placed it in the box with the cutlery.

  The last box was almost twice the size of the others. Inside, the ballerina was tatty and no longer twirled. Clarissa was about to put it in with the goods for the fete when the telephone rang.

  ‘I’ll get it, Clarissa,’ Digby called from the other end of the room.

  ‘No, don’t you run. I’ll go.’ Clarissa put the music box on the floor and dashed as quickly as she could to the telephone in the hall on the third floor. She didn’t like the old man rushing. A health scare earlier in the year had landed him in hospital and given them all a nasty fright.

  Clementine stared at her twirling ballerina. When the music stopped she wound the spring again and again, listening to the same tune chiming over and over.

  Her mother returned and began to help Uncle Digby move several side tables.

  ‘Clemmie, why don’t you take that and show Aunt Violet,’ she suggested.

  ‘Okay, Mummy.’

  Uncle Digby grinned. ‘Thank you, Clarissa,’ he whispered. ‘I don’t think I want to hear that tune ever again.’

  Clementine didn’t see the little creature crawl its way into the largest box, which her mother had left sitting open on the floor. And over the din of the chimes, she didn’t hear the scraping noise that had startled her earlier. Clementine picked up her new treasure and spun around, almost tripping over the box on the floor. She kicked the lid with her foot and it snapped shut.

  Clementine put her precious music box on the dresser and picked up the other one from the floor. ‘You’re supposed to be in there.’ She deposited it into the cardboard box for the fete.

  ‘See you later,’ she said to her mother and Uncle Digby as she sped downstairs to find Aunt Violet.

  ‘You know your aunt won’t thank you for sending Clementine i
n her direction,’ Uncle Digby smiled.

  Lady Clarissa grinned. ‘No, I’m sure to hear about it later, although I think we might have sent Clemmie on a wild goose chase. I’ve just remembered that Aunt Violet’s gone to visit Mrs Bottomley. Let’s just get this done and we can go and have a cup of tea.’

  Clementine woke up just as the clock in the hall struck seven. She rushed to the window. The afternoon before, some men had put up a stripy blue marquee on the front lawn for Mrs Mogg’s cafe. In the dim morning light, Clementine could see Father Bob and Mr Mogg moving trestle tables with Mrs Tribble directing them.

  Clementine ran to the wardrobe and pulled out her favourite red dress and matching shoes. She quickly got dressed and brushed her hair, pinning it back with a red bow.

  Lavender was making snuffly grunts in her basket at the end of the bed. Clementine decided to let the little pig sleep. She needed her to look her best for the photographs.

  Clementine, Araminta and the twins had spent the previous afternoon finding the perfect backdrop for Lavender’s photo booth. They had tossed up between the rose garden out the front and the fountain around the back of the house. It was Lady Clarissa who decided that it would be better for business if they stayed close to the stalls in the front garden. Basil was going to be the photographer for the day.

  Clementine was worried about her new friends. A few days before, Flash had gone missing from the Hobbses’ house and, although the children had searched high and low, there was no sign of him. Clementine remembered how worried she’d been when Lavender had escaped at the seaside. Tilda was especially upset.

  ‘I’ll come back and get you ready after breakfast,’ Clementine whispered to Lavender, and then raced into the hallway.

  Aunt Violet was walking towards her, carrying a thick plait of red rope and a box of pins.

  ‘You look nice, Aunt Violet.’ Clementine admired the woman’s smart navy pants-suit and spotty silk blouse. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m roping off all the areas of the house where we don’t want people to go.’

  Clementine looked down the hallway. The rope was across the top of the main stairs. She took a few steps further and noticed that there was another rope blocking off the floor below. She wondered if the people were going to get any further than the front hall.