Read Online Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor 1 by Jacqueline Harvey - Free Book Online Page B

same colour eyes, you and me.’
    Violet gazed at the child. Her brow furrowed and just for a moment she remembered herself as a young girl and thought she could have been looking into a mirror.
    ‘Well, of course, I am your grandfather’s sister, Clementine,’ Violet replied. The old woman looked up and caught her niece’s gaze. ‘Isn’t that right, Clarissa?’ she said.
    Clarissa nodded. ‘Of course, Aunt Violet. Now,’ she said, changing the subject, ‘come along, breakfast’s ready.’
    ‘After breakfast you’ll have to find Pharaoh for me. He got out last night and he could be anywhere,’ Violet informed them.
    Clementine gulped. She didn’t like the thought of the sphynx lurking about the house.
    As Clementine and Aunt Violet followed Clarissa into the kitchen they found Digby, Sophie and Jules huddled together by the back door.
    ‘What is it?’ Sophie asked, in a confused voice.
    ‘I think it must be that giant rat Clementine was talking about,’ Jules whispered.

    ‘Did you say rat?’ Aunt Violet strode towards the group. ‘That’s not a rat, that’s my baby.’ She stared into the basket and her eyes grew as round as dinner plates. ‘Oh, Pharaoh! How could you?’ Violet clasped her hand to her mouth.
    Clementine ran to see.
    ‘Lavender!’ she giggled. ‘That’s lovely!’
    There in the basket, Pharaoh and Lavender were fast asleep. Pharaoh had his paw resting on Lavender’s tummy and he was purring like a diesel engine.
    ‘Maybe Pharaoh thinks he’s a pig,’ Jules said. ‘They kind of look the same – except Lavender’s much prettier.’
    ‘Wash your mouth out, young man,’ Violet rebuked.
    ‘Come and sit down, Aunt Violet, and I’ll pour you a cup of tea,’ said Clarissa, rolling her eyes at her aunt’s theatrics.
    ‘Toast’s up,’ Digby Pertwhistle called. The children raced back to the kitchen table.
    ‘What did the man deliver?’ Clementine asked her mother, pointing at the envelope that was sitting on the table.
    ‘Oh, I’d almost forgotten about that.’ Her mother sat down and picked it up. She ran her finger under the flap and pulled out a letter, which she read aloud. ‘Dear Lady Appleby, it is my pleasure to inform you that you are the winner of the Cunard’s Coast to Coast Competition.’ Clarissa scanned ahead silently.
    ‘But what did you win, Mummy?’ said Clementine, fizzing with excitement.
    Sophie looked on beside her friend, and Jules raced over to stand behind Clarissa and read over her shoulder.
    ‘Goodness! It’s a cruise. On board the Queen Mary 2, all the way around the world. It’s for three whole months!’ Clarissa exclaimed. ‘I can’t go, of course. What about you, Digby?’
    The old man pursed his lips and shook his head. ‘Couldn’t possibly leave you and the little one for that long.’
    ‘I would get seasick,’ Jules piped up.
    Aunt Violet was on the edge of her seat. ‘The Queen Mary 2, you say? When I was a young woman I sailed on the original Queen Mary,’ she said. ‘With your father and our parents, actually. It was one of the happiest times we ever had as a family.’
    Clementine skipped around to the end of the table and pulled on her mother’s arm. She whispered something in her ear.
    Clarissa gave her daughter a broad smile. ‘Yes, I think that’s a lovely idea, Clemmie.’
    ‘Aunt Violet,’ said Clementine happily, ‘would you like to go on a long holiday?’
    Violet frowned and looked from Clementine to her niece. ‘Really? You’d do that for me, Clarissa?’
    Clarissa nodded and handed Clementine the letter, which she took around to her great-aunt.
    ‘That’s . . . that’s very kind.’ Aunt Violet wiped her hand across the corner of her eye.
    Clementine smiled at her mother and then at Uncle Digby. He gave her a knowing wink.
    ‘But you can wipe those silly smiles off your faces. Three months is not forever, you know.’ Violet sniffed and straightened her shoulders. ‘Just you wait and see.