Free Alice-Miranda at Camp 10 by Jacqueline Harvey

couldn’t see Wilson. Back in the station, he mimicked her perfectly, throwing his hands around and stomping his feet.
    â€˜Don’t forget my coffee,’ he said cheerily. Then again, he thought, judging by how cross Freeman sounded, she’d probably put poison in it.
    Fenella slammed the car door. She took a deep breath, smoothed the front of her trousers and pushed back a rogue strand of hair.
    â€˜Well, what’s going on?’ Miss Reedy demanded as the officer strode towards them.
    Fenella drew her shoulders back. ‘It seems there has been a mix-up.’
    â€˜I knew it,’ Miss Reedy said as Mr Plumpton sighed, his shoulders slumping as if he’d just been pricked by a pin. ‘Mr Plumpton is not a criminal. He’s a fine upstanding citizen.’ She gave him a knowing smile, then reached out and grabbed his arm.
    â€˜How did it happen?’ Mr Lipp asked, scowling.
    â€˜Someone forgot to remove the vehicle from the police database. Rest assured they will be disciplined for their appalling oversight.’
    Harry Lipp eyeballed her. ‘An apology would be nice.’
    Fenella Freeman stared at his outfit. She wondered if he realised he was on school camp in Dunleavy, not on safari in Africa. He could shoot an elephant before she’d apologise. None of this was her fault.
    â€˜What’s she saying?’ Rufus asked as the students strained to hear what was going on.
    â€˜I think it’s all been a mix-up,’ Alice-Miranda called.
    Half of the occupants of the bus sighed with relief while the other half groaned with disappointment.
    â€˜That’s boring,’ said one of the boys, curling his lip.
    â€˜Can I have a ride in the police car?’ Figgy asked DS Freeman.
    Miss Reedy shot the boy a frosty stare, bettered only by the terrifying look on the detective’s face.
    â€˜You’d better get the children off to wherever it is that you’re going. Enjoy your afternoon.’ Fenella didn’t look back as she stalked to the police car and hopped in. She revved the engine and spun the car around at speed, then roared out of the driveway.
    â€˜She didn’t look very happy,’ Alice-Miranda said to Millie as the teachers and Figgy hopped back on the bus.
    â€˜I’d say someone’s going to cop it when she gets back to the station,’ Sep said, a smile creeping across his face.
    â€˜Oh, that’s lame.’ Sloane shook her head.
    Mr Plumpton turned the key in the ignition and the bus sputtered back to life.
    â€˜Well, I’m glad that ridiculous little fiasco is over,’ Mr Lipp tutted.
    â€˜Yes, and I’ll be happy not to meet another police officer for a very long time,’ Mr Plumpton agreed.

Mr Plumpton manoeuvred the minibus around the circular driveway just as the coaches were pulling out to leave. The children unpacked their belongings and carried them to a large quadrangle behind the manor. Miss Wall was barking orders into a loudhailer, and for the moment Miss Reedy was more than happy to let her. According to the schedule, the children needed to be put into their groups, deposit their belongings in their dormitories and complete their first activities before dinner was served at 6 pm.
    â€˜I can’t wait to find out what we’re doing first,’ Alice-Miranda said to Millie as they left their bags and ran to join the rest of the students.
    Benitha Wall wasn’t at all shy about using her loudhailer. ‘Good afternoon, everyone. So glad that you could make it, Mr Plumpton,’ Benitha Wall said into the loudhailer. She’d seen the minibus pulling into the driveway some time ago and wondered what was keeping them, until she spied the police car. ‘Hope there wasn’t any trouble getting here.’ She couldn’t wait to hear that story in the teachers’ lounge after the children went to bed.
    Josiah Plumpton’s nose glowed and he took a sudden interest in his