Alice-Miranda on Vacation Read Online Free Page A

trainers on their feet.
    “Now I feel like I’m home,” said Alice-Miranda, brushing minuscule creases from her shirt. “Come on.”
    She ran down the hallway to the central staircase, where she promptly leapt onto the banister rail. Jacinta followed at her heels.
    “Alice-Miranda,” Jacinta whispered urgently. “Mrs. Shillingsworth is coming.”
    “Good, she can time me.”
    “Alice-Miranda,” Mrs. Shillingsworth barked. “You wait right there, young lady.”
    The girls turned their heads in unison to catch sight of Mrs. Shillingsworth, a stack of fresh towels in her arms, charging toward them.
    “Get down,” Jacinta urged.
    “It’s okay. Really it is,” Alice-Miranda assured her friend.
    Mrs. Shillingsworth set her fluffy tower down on a Louis chair opposite the top of the staircase. She fished around in her skirt pocket and retrieved what looked to be a rather large stopwatch.
    “I thought you were going to have a practice run without me. I believe that just before you took yourself off to that school of yours, you had manageda new record.” Mrs. Shillingsworth fumbled in the other pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. From behind her ear she produced a small pencil. “Ahh, here it is, eleven seconds from the top to the bottom.”
    “I’m a bit out of practice, Shilly; I don’t know if it will be a record breaker. Count me down.” Alice-Miranda gripped tight and wiggled her bottom.
    “Three, two, one!”
    The tiny child giggled as she whizzed down the gigantic spiral staircase, landing with a delicate jump at the bottom.
    “Stop!” she shouted back up to Mrs. Shillingsworth, who was leaning over the balcony next to Jacinta.
    “I can’t believe you just did that,” said Jacinta, shaking her head.
    “What was the time, Shilly?” Alice-Miranda shouted.
    “That would be twelve seconds,” she replied. “But I do think your record was set the day after Daisy polished the staircase. And what about you, Miss Jacinta? Are you eager to throw yourself down the Highton Hall roller coaster?”
    “Well, it does look fun.” Jacinta eyed the banister. “And I suppose in the absence of a beam or bars to train on, this is the next best thing.”
    “Go on,” Alice-Miranda urged. “Hop up and give it a go. Just loosen your grip and enjoy the ride.”
    Jacinta climbed nimbly to the top and positioned herself as Alice-Miranda had done before her.
    Mrs. Shillingsworth reset her watch. “On your mark, get set, GO!”
    Jacinta squealed as she whizzed down the rail. Her dismount was quite stunning and she finished with a flourish, as though she’d just completed a double somersault from the beam. Alice-Miranda clapped enthusiastically and was joined by her mother, who had entered the hallway in time to see Jacinta zoom past.
    Cecelia clapped loudly. “That was magnificent.”
    “It was brilliant,” Jacinta laughed.
    “What was Jacinta’s time?” Cecelia called up to Mrs. Shillingsworth.
    “Well, she’s a speedy one, ma’am. Eleven point four seconds. If you don’t look out, Alice-Miranda, I think you might lose your crown.” She frowned.
    “I don’t mind.” Alice-Miranda hugged her friend. “Mummy, we’re going for a walk. I want Jacinta to meet everyone. And then we might pop over to see Mrs. Greening.”
    Cecelia put her hands on her hips. “Mmm, I thought you might want to do that. Just mind youleave enough room for Dolly’s roast,” she said with a smile.
    Alice-Miranda kissed her mother on the cheek and grabbed Jacinta by the hand, and the two girls hurtled off into the garden.
    “I can’t believe I just did that,” Jacinta said as she bounded along beside her friend. “I mean, I know we sometimes try to do it in the boardinghouse, but that rail’s a bit splintery and it hurts like mad unless you’ve got thick pants on. My mother would have a fit if she saw me riding your banister rail.”
    Alice-Miranda grinned. “I think it was made to be ridden. Mummy and