Free Most Rebellious Debutante by Karen Abbott

its name if it doesn’t include a picnic.’
    Bertie wasn’t impressed with the notion of collecting wild flowers, but was happier to hear that they would paddle in the stream afterwards and that he could take his favourite stable dog with them, called Wellington after the famous duke.
    ‘I know where a big fat toad lives,’ he generously shared with Lucy. ‘Would you like to see it?’
    ‘Certainly,’ Lucy replied calmly, knowing he would rather she had screamed or fainted at the mere thought. ‘I know where a few fat toads live near my home, as well.’
    ‘Do you?’ he admired, wide-eyed. ‘I bet they’re not as fat as
my
toad.’
    ‘Probably not,’ Lucy conceded kindly. ‘Why don’t you dig up a few fat worms to feed him with?’
    ‘Shall I?’ His face brightened. ‘Right, I’ll do that!’
    And so, in mid-afternoon, the trio, dressed in their oldest clothes, set off through the kitchen garden and orchard into the meadow that lay beyond, accompanied by the excited young dog. The air was filled with the sweetfragrance of the mid-summer flowers that released their scent as they were brushed against. There were buttercups , daisies, cornflowers and clovers, and many more all growing amidst knee-high grasses that waved in the light breeze. A small woodland bordered the meadow and Lucy hung the picnic basket from a low branch of a tree out of Wellington’s reach.
    ‘It will be safe there,’ she informed her charges. ‘Now, you know that you are not to go beyond the fence that borders your papa’s land. Lord Rockhaven’s gamekeeper won’t want you running about on Montcliffe land frightening his pheasants.’
    ‘I
wouldn’t frighten them,’ Bertie informed her. ‘I like birds. And, anyway, Lord Rockhaven’s gamekeeper isn’t there. Another man lives there now. I think he’s a pirate. He sits in a chair on wheels and another man pushes him about sometimes, so he must be very old.’
    Lucy raised an eyebrow at this impressive tale. ‘What makes you think he’s a pirate?’
    ‘’Cos he wears an eye-patch just like in my book!’ Bertie said scathingly. ‘And I bet he has a wooden leg too – only I’ve never seen it.’
    ‘How do you know all this?’ Lucy queried. ‘Your mama hasn’t said anything to me about it.’
    Bertie shrugged. ‘Nurse Harvey has been so busy with Georgie, she often lets us go out to play by ourselves, so I decided to do some exploring. I didn’t take Bella, though. She’d be frightened of him.’ He contorted his face as he added with relish, ‘He looks very fierce and probably has a big cutlass to cut little girls into bits and pieces!’
    Arabella stared at him wide-eyed. ‘Don’t tell such lies!’she shouted, adding with bravado, ‘But I’m not scared, so there!’
    ‘Yes, you are, ’cos all girls are scared, aren’t they, Aunt Lucy?’
    ‘Not always,’ Lucy countered. ‘And I am not so sure you should be trespassing on Lord Rockhaven’s land, especially if he has rented out his gamekeeper’s cottage to someone else. But stop this squabbling, or else there’ll be no paddling in the stream. Come on, let’s see who can find the most flowers.’
    With the incentive of competition, the two children were happily occupied for some time, plucking specimens from the ground and clutching them in their hot hands. When their interest waned, Lucy allowed them to splash in the nearby stream. They took off their shoes and stockings and scrambled down the sloping bank into the cool water and screamed with delight when Wellington joined them, barking and leaping and soaking the skirt of Lucy’s frock as she sat on the bank with her bare feet dipped into the cool water.
    ‘Take that dog somewhere else!’ she commanded Bertie, jumping to her feet and shaking out her skirt. ‘Let him chase rabbits or something, though I doubt he will catch any with his daft antics and all that noise. They’ll be safe in their burrows before he even has scent of