Read Online Alice-Miranda in Paris 7 by Jacqueline Harvey - Free Book Online Page B

that you have to wear the clothes,’ Alice-Miranda giggled. ‘I wonder if the models feel silly sometimes.’
    ‘Well, I would, wearing a set of ram’s horns on my head, a bathing suit and skyscraper heels,’ said Millie.
    ‘No, my mother wears that sort of thing to the supermarket all the time.’ Sloane kept a straight face. ‘It’s what everyone’s wearing in Barcelona.’
    ‘Really?’ Millie tried to suppress a giggle. ‘Well, come to think of it, my mother was wearing a sleeping cat around her shoulders last time I was home. And I’m sure she had some very fetching crab claw boots too.’
    The girls’ clothing claims became more and more ridiculous and soon they were all laughing so hard there were tears streaming down their cheeks.
    Lulu had been sitting under the seat, dozing, when suddenly she began to growl. She scrambled to her feet and rushed out, pushing her nose against the nearby fence. It was the section covered in black fabric. Fortunately, she was still on her lead and could go no further.
    ‘What’s the matter, Lulu?’ Alice-Miranda walked over to see if she could find the source of the dog’s distress. ‘Is there a cat teasing you over there?’
    Lulu’s growling stopped and she began to bark. Her nose was jammed hard against the fabric and no amount of cajoling could tear her away.
    Millie and Sloane scurried around to join Alice-Miranda. Millie pushed her face against the fence too and closed one eye, trying to see through the thick black fabric.
    ‘I can’t see anything,’ Millie observed. ‘It’s just an empty courtyard.’
    Lulu’s barking grew louder and more urgent.
    ‘Lulu, please calm down,’ Alice-Miranda begged.
    The dog stopped momentarily.
    ‘Did you hear something?’ Alice-Miranda turned to Millie and Sloane.
    ‘What?’ Millie asked.
    ‘I can hear birds and the kids playing basketball,’ Sloane said.
    ‘No, it’s not that. I don’t know exactly.’ Alice-Miranda listened again but Lulu started to bark even more fiercely than before.
    ‘Come on,’ Millie said. ‘We should go.’
    Just as the girls turned to leave, a dark shadow loomed over the top of the fence. A key jangled in a lock and a man burst out of the gate, closing it swiftly behind him.
    ‘
Que faites-vous?
What are you doing?’ he snarled.
    Millie shot into the air. Sloane wasn’t far behind her. Lulu raced forward and began to bark at the man.
    ‘
Bonjour
, monsieur,’ Alice-Miranda said as she strained against Lulu’s lead. ‘Something upset the dog so we were trying to see what it was. Probably just a cat.’
    ‘Take that mutt and get out of here.’ The man’s eyes narrowed to angry slits. ‘Or I will . . . I will call the police.’
    ‘Please, monsieur, we were just taking Lulu for a walk,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘I’m sure there’s no need to involve the police.’
    Alice-Miranda wondered why he was so irate. It was not as if the girls had been trespassing and Lulu had only been barking for a few minutes at most.
    ‘How dare you?’ The man’s grey hair seemed to stand on end as if charged with an electric current. ‘You need to stop spying on people.’
    Lulu’s high-pitched woofs were replaced by a low growl.
    ‘Oh, monsieur, I can assure you that we weren’t spying at all,’ Alice-Miranda explained. ‘We don’t really look like secret agents, do we?’
    The man inched closer to the children. He smelt like smoke and beer.
    Millie gulped. She pulled on Alice-Miranda’s sleeve. ‘Come on, I think we should go,’ she whispered. ‘Now!’
    ‘Monsieur, I have no idea why you’re so cross but it’s not terribly friendly, you know,’ Alice-Miranda began.
    In the distance, Miss Reedy was calling Alice-Miranda’s name.
    Millie once again tugged at her friend’s sleeve. ‘We’d better go. Miss Reedy’s looking for us.’
    ‘Yeah, come on,’ Sloane agreed.
    ‘Your friends, they are much smarter than you are, little one,’ said the man, curling his lip. He