Free Clementine Rose and the Special Promise 11 by Jacqueline Harvey Page A

to hand it to Saskia, who was standing at the end of the second row.
    â€˜About time,’ the child said, rolling her eyes. When the song ended, Saskia walked to the centre of the stage, microphone in hand.
    Ethel wondered what had happened to her script and then noticed a pile of confetti-sized pieces of paper on the floor beside the second row. She dreaded what the child might be about to say.
    â€˜And now I have to introduce Clementine to do a poem for you, which she wrote.’ The girlwalked away but not before muttering, ‘And it’s really boring.’
    â€˜How dare she?’ Aunt Violet grumbled. She had half a mind to march up onto the stage and drag the girl off.
    Clementine bit her lip and looked out at the crowd. She spotted Uncle Digby and Aunt Violet and smiled. She then glanced sideways at her mother and Drew standing in the wings. They both gave her a thumbs up. Clementine took a deep breath and turned back to the audience. ‘I wrote this poem about my mummy because she’s the best mummy in the whole wide world,’ she began.
    Clementine recited the words perfectly. By the end, there were quite a few people reaching for their handkerchiefs and even Aunt Violet mopped at her eyes.
    â€˜Bravo,’ the man in the ugly plaid jacket called out as Clementine took a bow. ‘That was brilliant!’
    â€˜Oh, well done, sweetheart. You must be the apple of your mummy’s eye,’ said the woman beside him.
    Saskia’s face resembled a thundercloud as she stormed across the stage and snatched the microphone from Clementine’s hand. ‘She’s not even your real mum,’ Saskia scoffed.

    The crowd gasped.
    â€˜Sassy, that’s a dreadful thing to say!’ the woman with the peacock hat called out. ‘Apologise to that little girl right now!’
    â€˜No!’ Saskia spat.
    Clementine swallowed. She could feel her eyes beginning to sting.
    Clarissa Appleby’s heart was pounding as she watched her tiny daughter.
    â€˜I told you what’s going to happen when your mum marries his dad,’ Saskia hissed, pointing at Drew.
    The audience sucked in another breath.
    â€˜Saskia May Baker, you stop that right now,’ the man in the plaid jacket ordered.
    â€˜What’s going on? I didn’t hear what she said,’ an elderly gentleman called. He had thin strands of long hair slicked over from one side of his head to the other.
    â€˜Excuse me, young lady, how dare you?’ Aunt Violet stood up and marched towards the stage.
    Clarissa and Drew looked at each other.
    Will had made his way down from the risers and onto the stage behind Clemmie. Ethel Bottomley was flapping about on the edge of the wings wondering what she should do next.
    â€˜Clemmie and I want our dad and mum to get married,’ Will said, smiling at Clementine.
    Clarissa gasped. ‘Oh my goodness, that explains everything.’
    â€˜The kids have been acting strangely because they thought I was going to propose,’ Drew said, coming to the same realisation.
    â€˜Who’s getting married?’ demanded the gentleman with the slicked-over hair.
    â€˜No one’s getting married,’ Drew replied. He walked onto the stage with Clarissa by his side.
    Clementine and Will exchanged quizzical looks. ‘But what about your big surprise?’ Clementine asked.
    â€˜What happened to the singing?’ A lady in the second row peered around the peacock hat, trying to get a better view. ‘Are the children doing a play now? I hope it’s not Shakespeare – he’s terribly boring.’
    Clarissa smiled at the two children. ‘Is that what you thought it was?’
    Clementine and Will nodded.
    â€˜How do you feel about that?’ Drew asked.
    â€˜Well, at first we were upset because Saskia said that you wouldn’t love us anymore and you’d have a baby and it would be the most important thing,’ Clementine