Franklin's Emporium Page 5

  ‘Your brothers have agreed to take full responsibility for you for the rest of the time your parents are away,’ Minty said. ‘You’re going home first thing tomorrow morning.’

  It was hard not to look pleased. I was happy Mum and Dad weren’t going to have their second honeymoon interrupted after all and, as a bonus, I was going home to the boys. They were weird but responsible. I’d be OK with them.

  A wave of guilt made me rush up and hug Minty.

  ‘I’ll miss your cooking,’ I said.

  I didn’t push my luck trying to hug Adrian. He was still convinced I’d burnt down the Vermin Shed.

  ‘I’m sorry about what happened,’ I told him. ‘I liked working with you in the garden.’

  His stony face relaxed a bit. ‘I can’t say I’m not disappointed, Alex. Apart from this one incident it was a pleasure to have you around.’

  A pleasure?

  I thought about that while I packed my suitcase. Minty and Adrian had done their best and made me welcome. It was only Maisie who’d made my life difficult. And if it hadn’t been for the white lace gloves we’d have settled for avoiding each other.

  I didn’t see Maisie, apart from at mealtimes, till Minty drove me to the old railway station. Maisie came with us. I suppose she wanted to make sure I’d really gone.

  She didn’t speak to me until I was safely stowed on the old steam train. I had the whole carriage to myself. There was no corridor, just a door either side with a window you let down with a leather strap.

  Minty helped me load my suitcase and bags onto the luggage rack, kissed me goodbye and got out. I slammed the door shut and lowered the window.

  ‘Thank you for everything, Aunt Minty,’ I said. ‘And I didn’t leave that flare by the shed, truly I didn’t.’

  Minty looked me straight in the eye. ‘We’ll never know what really happened.’

  Maisie tossed her hair. ‘Who else did it then?’

  ‘As I said, we’ll never know.’

  Maisie flushed.

  I was sure Minty suspected Maisie and I was just as sure she’d never admit it even though it wasn’t fair. She’d always be on Maisie’s side.

  The engine coughed, a whistle blew and the train began to shudder as it got up steam. Minty waved. ‘Goodbye.’

  Maisie pursed up her mouth and made kissy movements with her lips.

  ‘Goodbye, ickle BABY Alex.’

  I knew she’d want the last word. I’d come prepared. I whipped out the blue and white striped bag from my pocket. I waved it at her.

  She screamed.

  I pulled the window shut. The train hauled itself out of the station, picked up speed as it moved round a bend, whistled and surged down the track.

  I settled back in the plush, green seat and tucked the bag away. What was I going to do with the gloves? I knew now that magic always comes back on you and I didn’t dare throw the gloves away; they’d only reappear. I gave up thinking about them.

  As soon as the train was out of Golden Bay my phone pinged. I’d got a proper signal. I rang the boys. Sam promised to be on time picking me up at the station while Ben got lunch. He was waiting on the platform when the train arrived. That was a first. The boys must be taking looking after me seriously.

  Sam took my case in one hand and knuckled the top of my head as a welcome home with the other.

  ‘How’s the arsonist?’ he asked.

  ‘I didn’t do it,’ I insisted as we set off for the car park.

  ‘Course you didn’t,’ he said, cheerfully, throwing my suitcase in the boot of his old car.

  He and Ben teased me about it all through lunch, which was a pizza and a can of cola. I was already missing Minty’s cooking.

  ‘Oh, shut up!’ I said in the end. I threw down my crust and started to leave.

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Ben pulled me back into my chair. ‘Why don’t you tell us what really happened.’

  I wasn’t sure at first. I started to tell them, cautiously, ready to stop if they laughed. They were gripped. They didn’t say a word till I’d finished. They looked at each other, then at me.

  ‘You read too much,’ Sam said.

  That’s when they fell about laughing, punching each other on the arms, saying, ‘White lace gloves!’ and yelling with laughter again.

  I gave them my version of Minty’s death-stare and stormed out. I was mostly angry because I knew if Ben and Sam didn’t believe me, Mum and Dad certainly wouldn’t. All I’d be able to do was deny burning down the Vermin Shed without telling them who was really responsible. I was going to have to get rid of the gloves by myself – and I had an idea.

  I made my preparations. The first thing I did was get a pair of silver grape-cutter scissors from the cutlery drawer. A friend of Mum’s had given them to her one birthday. She never used them and they were all grey and a bit crusty, the way silver goes when it’s never polished. I hoped that wouldn’t matter; I didn’t have time to go hunting for silver polish.

  The next thing I did was snap on a pair of rubber gloves for protection against magical contamination. Finally, I went to my room and fetched the paper bag from my wardrobe where I’d stashed the lace gloves.

  I went to my desk, emptied the contents of the bag onto it and shivered. It wasn’t the draught coming from the open window that made me go cold; it was the gloves. No wonder Maisie had freaked out. All three pairs were exactly what she’d asked for: lacy and fingerless, with a frill round the wrist, but one pair was only big enough to fit a baby’s hands, and one was yellowed and stiff with age.

  I picked up the scissors and poked the point at the tiny gloves. My plan was to cut them into a squillion pieces and bury the bits in the garden where they’d rot away. I snipped experimentally, which wasn’t easy in oversized rubber gloves. A single silky strand came away and entangled itself in the blades. I jiggled the scissors and the entire glove unravelled into one long thread. I hadn’t expected that. The second one unravelled in exactly the same way.

  I repeated the trick with the brittle old gloves and it worked with them too. And with the third pair. When I’d finished, six strands of lace lay coiled in separate heaps on my desk like dismantled spiders’ webs.

  I thought furiously. If what I’d read was true, silver could break magic. The problem was, could I do the breaking now I was nowhere near Golden Bay and the liftman? I could only try. A spell came into my head.

  I snipped each of the six strands in half and chanted:

  ‘With silver blades your power I sever.

  Be gone, O gloves, and come back never.’

  A flash of blue and white light, filled with golden sparks, exploded into the air, twisted into a mini vortex and spun out of the window. I watched it dissolve into a faint, glimmering mist until it evaporated into nothing.

  That’s it, I thought. No more gloves, no more Franklin’s Emporium, no more Golden Bay. I leapt around my room, bouncing on the bed like a little kid and yelling in relief.

  I should’ve known better.

  EPILOGUE

  Mum and Dad believed me when I said I hadn’t burned down the shed, and they didn’t nag me for an explanation of what had really happened. What they did do was have a long phone conversation with Minty and Adrian. It left them looking thoughtful.

  They made quite a few phone calls to Adrian and Minty after that. They also spent a lot of time talking between themselves in soft voices. They stopped when I was around. Even the boys didn’t know what was going on.

  After a couple of weeks of driving us mad with their whispering Mum and Dad sat us round the table for a family conference. This was going to be big.

  Dad plunged straight in. ‘You know Adrian’s boss was upset by what happened at Maisie’s party?’

  I had no idea where this was going. ‘Yes,’ I said cautiously.

  ‘Apparently his relationship with his boss became strained and he applied for a transfer. He’s relocating to Manchester.’

  ‘OK.’ I had the feeling an axe was going
to fall.

  ‘He and Minty want to move as soon as possible and...’ Dad took Mum’s hand and squeezed it. She nodded.

  The axe fell. ‘We’re buying their holiday house. We’re moving to Golden Bay.’

  ‘You’re kidding!’ This was the worst thing ever.

  ‘How can you afford it?’ Ben asked.

  ‘The redundancy payment plus the profit on selling this old house.’

  Dad grinned at me. ‘Also, because Adrian wanted to sell as soon as possible we got their house at a knock-down price.’

  Mum went all dreamy. ‘It’ll be wonderful. While Dad and I were away we talked about living in a more simple way. I want to set up my own cake-making business and Dad wants to expand his woodworking from a hobby to a job. We can do both those things in Golden Bay. It’ll be lovely to start a whole new life.’

  I could think of a lot of objections to that but Ben and Sam got in first.

  ‘Not to be selfish or anything...’ Ben said.

  ‘... what about us?’ Sam finished.

  Mum patted Sam’s hand. ‘You can’t afford a studio in London yet but you can have the whole top floor in the new house while you’re making your reputations as artists. It’s a converted attic with skylights all across the roof. It’ll be perfect for a studio.’

  ‘It’s all settled then,’ I said bitterly.

  They were too busy talking and getting excited to hear me. I might as well have been invisible. I went out, the liftman’s last words buzzing in my head.

  ‘I’ll see you again – soon.’

  BONUS BITS!

  Test your knowledge of

  FRANKLIN’S EMPORIUM

  Turn to the back for the answers (no peeking along the way!)

  1. Who had bought the present that Maisie threw on the floor?

  a) Uncle Adrian’s boss

  b) Uncle Adrian’s wife

  c) Uncle Adrian’s sister

  d) Uncle Adrian’s brother

  2. What job do Alex’s twin brothers do?

  a) plumbers

  b) artists

  c) shopkeepers

  d) fishermen

  3. Where did Alex enjoy visiting most in the old town?

  a) the caves

  b) the rickety old pier

  c) the rockpools on the beach

  d) Franklin’s Emporium

  4. Where did Alex most like to read?

  a) her bedroom

  b) the Vermin Shed

  c) the garden

  d) the beach

  5. What do Maisie and her friends call tourists?

  a) Cockles

  b) Grockles

  c) Sheckles

  d) Winkles

  6. On which floor was Harriette’s Haberdashery the first time Alex went there?

  a) Top floor

  b) Third floor

  c) Basement

  d) Ground floor

  7. How much did Alex pay for the second pair of gloves?

  a) £10

  b) £5

  c) £15

  d) £30

  8. What was written on the jar label where Alex hid the three pairs of gloves?

  a) nails – large

  b) nails – small

  c) screws – assorted

  d) screws – small

  9. What made Maisie scream as Alex left Golden Bay?

  a) Alex pulled a face

  b) The number on the train

  c) Alex stamped on her toe

  d) The blue and white bag

  Interesting and Curious words

  When reading, do you sometimes think: ‘what does that mean?’ or ‘why has the author used that word?’ If so, then you are being a good reader as you are thinking about the words! Here are some interesting words used in this book.

  redundancy – no longer in employment

  ‘Dad had lost his job and got a big redundancy payment.’

  reminiscing – enjoying remembering the past

  ‘Mum put the phone away and started reminiscing.’

  Regency – style of the late 18th and early 19th centuries

  ‘It was a Regency house at one end of the sea front.’

  mortified – very embarrassed or ashamed

  ‘I know you don’t want to come to my party and that’s OK because I don’t want you there either but Mummy would be mortified.’

  epaulettes – ornamental shoulder piece on a coat, jacket or military uniform

  ‘And he had epaulettes, with gold edging, on his shoulders.’

  Mannequins – a dummy used to display clothes in shops

  ‘I had to go down the alleyway of lurching pink mannequins to reach it.’

  humble – showing a modest feeling about one’s own importance

  ‘It came out sort of desperate, although I was trying to sound humble.’

  wheedle – use flattery to persuade someone to do something or give you something

  ‘Maisie began to wheedle.’

  manacle – one of two metal bands joined by a chain to fasten a prisoner’s hands or feet together, a bit like handcuffs

  ‘The claw squeezed tighter, like a manacle.’

  daunting – difficult or intimidating to deal with

  ‘I know this kind of grand party might seem daunting if you’re not used to it but you’ll love it if you give yourself a chance.’

  What next?

  If you enjoyed this book, why not try writing your own story about a magical object or magical shop? Let your imagination run wild but if you’re a bit stuck, here are some starting points:

  – an item of clothing that allows the wearer to have a type of superpower…

  – a shop that changes what it sells based on what the shopper needs…

  ANSWERS TO QUIZ

  1. a) Uncle Adrian’s boss

  2. b) artists

  3. d) Franklin’s Emporium

  4. b) the Vermin Shed

  5. b) Grockles

  6. c) Basement

  7. a) £10

  8. a) nails – large

  9. d) the blue and white bag

  Chapter One

  BACK TO FRANKLIN’S EMPORIUM

  ‘I’ll see you again, soon.’

  The voice echoed in my head as I waited for the lift in Franklin’s Emporium.

  When the old liftman had said those words to me eight months ago I’d almost laughed. I knew there was no way – ever – I was going to come back to the seaside town of Golden Bay and its huge, run-down old department store, Franklin’s Emporium. Yet here I was, with my mum, waiting to get into the lift.

  The lift pinged and the doors slid open. The liftman pulled aside the black metal grille and Mum went in, trying and failing to see over the pile of Fran’s Fancies cake boxes in her arms. I stuck as close as possible to her and stared at the floor. I did not want to make eye contact with the liftman.

  Mum nudged me with an elbow. ‘Move over, there’s plenty of room.’

  I shuffled grudgingly away, about five centimetres.

  ‘Top floor, Terrace Restaurant, please,’ Mum said in her chirpy way.

  The lift glided upwards. I sneaked a glance at the liftman. He didn’t look any different from how I remembered him. He still wore a smart blue uniform with gold epaulettes and a pocket embroidered with three gold crowns. He stood, tall and gaunt, in his corner, bright eyes peering at me from under huge eyebrows like a hedge in need of trimming. I thought he might say, ‘Nice to see you again,’ but he didn’t speak a word until we got to the top floor.

  ‘Terrace restaurant,’ he announced and opened the doors on the busy restaurant.

  I nipped in front of Mum. ‘I’ll guide you.’ I steered her out.

  ‘Thank you,’ she called over her shoulder to the liftman.

  ‘You’re welcome, Madam,’ he said in his cracked old voice. The doors shut and the lift glided downwards.

  ‘Strange old man,’ Mum said.

  ‘Too right,’ I muttered, leading Mum through the tables to the counter a
t the far end where a jolly, fattish man was sifting through papers.

  He beamed with a grin like a half-moon when he saw us. ‘Ah, the cakes – the wonderful cakes!’ He trundled out from behind the counter.

  ‘To the kitchen with these.’ He took the boxes from Mum and whisked away, backwards, through a pair of swing doors. ‘Come!’ he bellowed.

  Mum shook her head in amused exasperation. ‘You don’t need to stay. Charles wants to sort out orders for tomorrow and it’ll take a while. He’s very particular about my cakes.’

  She rummaged in her purse for some money. ‘Get some treats for Cesare.’

  Cesare is her new kitten and she’s besotted with it.

  ‘Get a toy for him as well. There’s plenty to choose from in the pet shop unit.’

  When Franklin’s Emporium closed long ago, it became neglected and run down. Then it was sold, re-opened and let out in units. There were all kinds: cafes and coffee shops, second hand book shops, furniture and toy shops. There was once a haberdashery though that disappeared last summer. The pet shop unit, Paws 4 Thought, was on the ground floor but there was no way I was going to take the lift. I walked down all seven flights of stairs so as to avoid the liftman. He was a kind of wizard and I wasn’t going to risk getting involved in his magic, not after what happened last summer.

  I came out in the grand, marble-floored lobby supported by pillars sculpted with nymphs and fauns. Right in the middle of the vast space was a huge cube of red fabric. It was covering scaffolding that stuck out at the top. As I passed it I heard my brother Ben’s voice and a lot of hammering and banging. My brothers were artists and this was one of their installations. I grinned. The inhabitants of Golden Bay were going to get a surprise when the covers came off.

  The pet shop unit was tucked away in a corner, on the other side of the lobby. A lot of the units and pop-up shops arrived overnight like mushrooms and disappeared just as suddenly. Paws 4 Thought had appeared like that, materialising the day before Cesare sauntered up our garden path and turned my mum’s brain to mush.

  Mum had picked the kitten up and done the cooing thing. I knew it had cast a spell on her when she instantly forgot about her new bakery project and went hunting for food to stop the kitten’s tragic mewing. Up till then Mum had been totally obsessed with setting up her cake and bakery business, Fran’s Fancies. That was one of the reasons we’d come to live in Golden Bay.