Princess in Practice Page 4

  ‘OK, you two – we’re all packed up,’ Jamie called up the stairs from the front door. There was nothing left to do, no reason to stay here. Lottie sighed and turned to leave, but Ellie reached out a hand to stop her.

  ‘You should take this,’ she said. ‘You said you were worried about losing your connection to your family, right? It’s clearly important to you, to have something to remember them with.’

  Lottie stared raptly at the painting. Henry smiled back at her. Ollie wasn’t her last connection to her family.

  ‘You’re right,’ Lottie said, warmth spreading through her. ‘This painting doesn’t belong in this house any more.’ In fact, she thought, none of the Pumpkins belong in this house any more. There was somewhere else they fitted much better.

  ‘OK, Henry,’ she told her ancestor as she lifted the portrait off its hook. She grinned as she held the painting at arm’s length and blew the dust from its chipped frame. ‘You’re coming with me. You’re going back to Rosewood!’

  It took less than five minutes to get to Ollie’s. His house perched on a cliff just outside St Ives. It leaned dangerously to one side and looked as though it were ready to tumble into the sea at any moment.

  The driveway was empty, which meant his mum must be at her studio. Good.

  ‘Ollie’s dog doesn’t like strangers so try not to surprise him,’ Lottie said as they approached the door. Actually Ollie’s dog was soft as a brush, but for some reason she was suddenly reluctant to ring the front doorbell. She was nervous. More nervous than she’d been since walking down the palace’s marble stairs to be officially presented at the Maravish Summer Ball.

  Will Ollie even want to see me? What if he hates me now?

  Ellie leaned over her shoulder and pushed the buzzer.

  ‘Ellie!’ Lottie hissed.

  Ellie grinned back at her. ‘What? You seemed like you were having some trouble.’

  Lottie turned back to the door, anxiously smoothing down her skirt. She heard footsteps in the hallway and her heart palpitated. She held her breath as the door swung open.

  ‘Lottie?’ Ollie’s voice cracked. His eyes were wide, as though he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

  ‘Hey, Ollie.’

  All her nerves melted away. She felt her stomach do a little flip-flop as she took in her childhood friend’s scruffy hair and golden skin. She hadn’t seen him in a year, but some things hadn’t changed. There were still dog hairs all over his jeans and his eyes still twinkled with mischief. But he was noticeably taller and the baby fat around his face had turned into a jawline. He’d grown up.

  There was a familiar pitter-patter of claws and a shape hurtled down the hallway, pushing past Ollie to dive at her.

  ‘Link!’ She held out her arms to Ollie’s dog, but before he could throw himself into her embrace Jamie stepped protectively in front of her. Lottie watched in astonishment as Link froze and let out a low-pitched submissive groan. He flopped on to the floor and rolled on his back, tummy exposed in a passive position.

  ‘Sit,’ Ellie’s voice commanded from behind her. To Lottie’s amazement, Link complied, scrambling into a dutiful sitting position. He’d never even met Ellie before!

  Ellie stepped in front of Lottie, holding out her hand so that Link could sniff her scent. Jamie had moved to one side and was watching carefully.

  ‘Good boy,’ she told the dog, rubbing behind his ear and getting dog hair all over her sleeves. Lottie had never seen Ollie’s dog behave so well, let alone with strangers. Ollie came by her side and together they watched as Jamie and Ellie made friends with the completely docile Link.

  ‘Lottie,’ Ollie said, staring at her two royal friends, ‘who on earth are these people?’

  The Moreno house was as colourful as its inhabitants. Patchwork rugs covered the floorboards, and patterned cushions were scattered across overstuffed sofas and armchairs. The low-beamed ceilings were strewn with garlands of dried flowers and bunting. Ollie took them to the kitchen. The windowsill was crammed with brightly coloured trinkets his mum had collected whenever she visited her parents in Brazil. Lottie smiled to herself as she remembered how much trouble Ollie used to have stopping himself from touching the tiny cacti.

  Ellie and Lottie sat at the green-painted wooden table while Ollie made tea for them, spilling water all over the brick-red floor tiles as he heaved the kettle over to the counter. Jamie stood in the doorway, one foot propped up against the frame, looking totally out of place among the clutter. Ellie had made herself comfortable at the table with a packet of biscuits. Every now and then she would surreptitiously snap off a corner of biscuit and feed it to Link, who sat at her feet beneath the table. Ollie’s dog was so much more docile than the ball of energy Lottie remembered from when she was a kid. Both Ellie and Jamie kept quiet and watched as Lottie and Ollie chatted.

  ‘So,’ Ollie said slowly, as he placed two chipped mugs on the table, ‘I guess you’ve decided you can talk to me again.’

  Lottie cringed. Ollie had every right to feel angry. Phones weren’t allowed at Rosewood Hall and in the past year Lottie hadn’t visited Ollie once. She’d been so scared and unsure about her new life that she didn’t know how to reach out to her old one. She’d decided that the best thing all round was just to stop being Ollie’s friend. What a mistake that had been. Here she was now, about to tell him the truth. Would that be another mistake? The truth could expose him to the very dangers she’d been trying to protect him from.

  ‘I came back to explain myself,’ Lottie said calmly, ‘even though this is probably a terrible idea.’

  ‘It is,’ Jamie said from the doorway. Lottie scowled at him before turning back to Ollie. He was spooning his third sugar into his tea, his eyes trained on her. Watching, waiting.

  Lottie cleared her throat nervously. ‘Ollie, before I explain, I need you to promise two things.’

  Ollie’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘OK …’ He sounded less than convinced.

  ‘I need you to promise that you will never, ever tell anyone what I’m about to say.’ Ollie’s glance darted over towards Ellie and Jamie, who were trying their best to stay inconspicuous and failing terribly. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lottie cut him off. ‘And I need you to promise that you will under no circumstances try to get involved in any way.’

  ‘Well, that’s no fun,’ Ollie said, laughing in Jamie’s direction as if he expected him to join in. Jamie didn’t even crack a smile, but Ollie did get a small chuckle from Ellie.

  ‘I’m serious, Ollie. You have to promise me.’

  He rolled his eyes. ‘Fine, I promise I won’t … do either of those things.’

  ‘I found a job,’ Lottie said. They were the first words that came to her.

  ‘What?’ Ollie’s brow creased in confusion.

  ‘I mean,’ Lottie started again. She just had to tell him quickly, like ripping off a plaster. She let her breath out in one long go. ‘Ellie is the undercover princess of Maradova.’ She glanced over at her friend and Ellie nodded encouragingly. Lottie swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. ‘During my first weeks at Rosewood, a rumour started that I was the princess. So Ellie and I decided to swap identities. I’ve been hired by her family as a Portman – someone who pretends to be a member of the royal family so that the actual royal member can live a safe and normal life. That is, until they’re ready to officially take up their role.’ Lottie took another deep breath as she finished speaking.

  Ollie’s teaspoon made a clinking sound as it fell against his mug of tea. ‘Is this a joke?’

  Lottie shook her head.

  ‘But you have different names. How does this work?’

  Lottie had always been a little touchy about her name but it had come in handy.

  ‘Oh, well, very few people actually knew the princess’s name and, well … everyone assumed Lottie Pumpkin was a fake name, so they just thought it was part of the undercover-princess thing and –’

  Ollie shook his head, as though he were trying to make sense of what he was hearing. ‘So you’re telling me that your lifetime obsession with princesses has resulted in you actually pretending to be one for a living?’ He burst out laughing.

  ‘Well, that’s not quite how it works but –’

  ‘Now I understand why you abandoned me.’ His voice dripped with his trademark sarcasm but there was an edge of genuine hurt in his words too. ‘Because I definitely don’t fit into the world of princes and princesses.’ He gestured to his jeans covered in dog hair.

  ‘You don’t understand,’ Lottie said gently. ‘It’s dangerous for people to know. I couldn’t get you involved. Ellie has to come first.’ But, as she spoke, she realized how disturbing her words might sound to someone outside the world of Portmans and Partizans. Ellie came first – before everything? She felt a pain in her chest as Ollie’s smile faltered.

  ‘Lottie, what are you saying?’ He gave Ellie a sharp look, then Jamie, who darted Lottie a glance that said, I told you so.

  ‘He won’t understand, Lottie,’ Jamie said, turning his back on the room.

  Ollie scoffed, gesturing at him. ‘OK, who the hell is this guy?’ He spoke to Jamie’s back. ‘I don’t know you, but I can tell already that you need to lighten up.’ He laughed, but there was no reaction from Jamie.

  ‘Jamie is Ellie’s Partizan,’ Lottie explained. ‘He’s a personal bodyguard.’

  Ollie chuckled again. ‘He’s what?’

  ‘This is serious, Ollie. Don’t make me regret coming here. This is dangerous knowledge for you to have, but I couldn’t go any longer without explaining and … Ellie was kind enough to give me permission to tell you.’ Lottie’s words didn’t have the desired effect. Ollie’s face had turned serious. None of this was going the way she’d hoped.

&
nbsp; ‘If it’s dangerous AT ALL, you shouldn’t be doing it. You’re really going to lose yourself because of some childish princess fantasy?’

  Lottie narrowed her eyes at him. She resented being called childish, after everything she’d been through.

  ‘Ellie is my friend and –’

  ‘All of you, shut up a second!’ Ellie was staring at a TV in the corner of the room, the volume turned down low. ‘Lottie, look.’

  A banner along the bottom of the screen read BREAKING NEWS and Lottie could hear the phantom clicks of cameras in her head as bulbs flashed on screen from photos being taken at the scene. Two teenagers of Lottie’s age were being escorted through the crowd. One was a pale boy with dark hair and sunken eyes, the other was a very pretty girl in a tan hijab, who looked furious to have so many cameras around her.

  ‘Who are they?’ Lottie asked.

  ‘Just wait,’ Ellie said, not tearing her gaze from the TV.

  The image changed and two other teens appeared on the screen. Lottie recognized them instantly. Jamie stood behind Lottie’s chair and stared at the TV, where two very solemn but familiar faces watched from the sea of ravenous reporters. With their white skin and red lips, they looked like human candy canes. Candy canes that Lottie had seen before.

  Jamie gave a low whistle. ‘Would you look at that?’

  Their friends Lola and Micky Tompkins were on the news.

  ‘Quick, turn it up!’ Lottie said, flapping her hand.

  Ollie reached for the TV remote and increased the volume. A reporter appeared on the screen with the twins, Lola and Micky, and a man behind them in a wheelchair. The reporter spoke urgently into a handheld microphone:

  ‘Negotiations over who would take over Tompkins Confectionery began two months ago after Alfred Tompkins –’ the journalist indicated the man in the wheelchair, the twins’ father – ‘was declared too sick to continue running the much-loved company.’

  Lottie’s heart sank. She’d had no idea Lola and Micky’s father was ill.

  ‘Hubbub and the Butter Company had been negotiating a proposal to merge with Tompkins until two weeks ago when Emelia Malouf and Percival Butter, the eldest children of Hubbub and the Butter Company’s owners, vanished under suspicious circumstances. Negotiations were put on hold while their disappearance was investigated. There’s now been a news release stating that the disappearance was, in fact, a kidnapping for ransom. Thankfully both children have been returned safe and unharmed.’

  The camera panned back to the girl in the hijab and the tired-looking boy, presumably the hostages, Emelia and Percival. Lottie felt a pang of sympathy as they were jostled by the journalists crowding around them.

  ‘Bunch of vultures,’ Ellie hissed. ‘Emelia should throw something at one of them – that’s what I’d do.’

  Lottie’s mind wandered back to the trouble Ellie had had with reporters in the past, who had spread false rumours about why she was being kept undercover and all the wild antics she got up to. It was no surprise she hated them so much.

  ‘Yes, that would help your reputation wonderfully,’ Jamie said drily.

  Ellie snorted in response and turned away from the TV. ‘Yet another reason why Lottie is so invaluable.’ Ellie grinned at her.

  The woman on the TV pressed her finger to her ear, getting more information through her earpiece, and the BREAKING NEWS sign flashed up again.

  ‘We have news that, with the children safely returned, the Butter Company and Tompkins will be moving forward with their plans to merge. This all seems very sudden but it may be an indication of Alfred Tompkins’s deteriorating health.’

  Lottie felt herself welling up. ‘This is terrible,’ she said, her eyes brimming with tears. ‘I hope Lola and Micky are OK.’

  ‘Who are these people?’

  Lottie jumped as Ollie spoke from behind her. She’d almost forgotten he was there. She turned to him, wiping her eyes. ‘They’re friends from school and –’

  Before Lottie could continue the reporter started talking again, pulling everyone’s attention back to the screen.

  ‘The circumstances of the kidnapping remain unclear and, although we have received word that neither child has been harmed in any way, they have no memories of the week they were missing, indicating drugs may have been involved.’

  The scene switched back to the newsroom, and the programme moved on to the next story.

  ‘This is bad,’ Jamie said, leaning for the remote to turn the volume down again.

  ‘Do you think it’s Leviathan?’ Lottie asked nervously. The word caught in her throat as if it were a curse.

  ‘We can’t assume anything,’ Jamie replied, rubbing his chin in thought, ‘but if there are kidnapping attempts being made on children of important families then we need to stay extra vigilant.’

  ‘We could have Nikolay ask Saskia,’ Ellie offered.

  Jamie let out a short breath of impatience. ‘She’s refusing to speak until she can see Anastacia.’

  ‘She still won’t speak?’ Ellie said. ‘So we don’t know anything new about Leviathan?’

  ‘Correct,’ Jamie said flatly.

  Ellie shifted her gaze to Lottie, who looked unexpectedly troubled.

  ‘We should tell Anastacia,’ Lottie said softly. ‘She has the right to know.’

  Ellie nodded.

  ‘I’m sorry … what?’ Ollie exclaimed. Link bristled at the sudden noise and Ellie reached out to calm him. ‘I’m starting to get the feeling there’s a lot more to this job of yours than just pretending to be a princess. Honestly, it sounds nuts.’ Ollie looked accusingly at Jamie and Ellie.

  ‘I told you it was serious, Ollie,’ Lottie said.

  ‘Serious enough that you might get kidnapped?’ Ollie snapped.

  Lottie, Ellie and Jamie fell silent. Finally Lottie let out a long sigh and turned to Ellie and Jamie. ‘Could you give us a moment alone?’

  Ellie put her hands up in defeat and the two of them left the room, Link trailing behind.

  ‘We’ll be waiting in the car,’ Jamie said bluntly.

  As soon as the front door shut, Lottie turned back to Ollie. ‘A lot of things happened over the past year, some of them not so pleasant, but I wanted to come back here; I needed to make sure I still had a connection to home and, well, you’re the only connection I have left.’

  Ollie blushed and looked away, all his previous front vanishing into embarrassment. ‘Oh, man.’ Ollie struggled to look her in the eye. ‘Now I feel bad. But, Lottie, how dangerous is this job?’

  ‘Well –’ Lottie reached for the wolf pendant, concealed under her clothes, and she sighed again, unsure how Ollie would take the truth – ‘I did get kidnapped.’ Ollie’s eyes grew wide, but she continued quickly before he could say anything. ‘It was a failed attempt but it’s why my role is now more important than ever. There’s a dangerous group out there called Leviathan. We know nothing about them other than their name. It turned out that one of the girls at school was working for them. Saskia tried to kidnap me at the beginning of summer, thinking I was the princess.’ Ollie’s mouth opened and closed a few times, struggling to form any words. Lottie pressed on. ‘So you see I need to do this. Ellie is very special to me and I don’t want her to be in any danger.’

  At the mention of Ellie’s name Ollie suddenly found his voice. ‘If it’s serious enough that you might get kidnapped, you shouldn’t be doing this. What would your mum say?’ Lottie flinched and felt her tiara burning in her bag again, singing to her.

  What would she say? What would she think of who I am now?

  ‘My mum isn’t around,’ Lottie replied stiffly.

  Ollie stared at her as if she were a ghost. ‘Well, I am. And I’m telling you this is too dangerous.’ His voice had turned low and serious.

  Lottie felt fire building in her chest. She didn’t like being told she couldn’t do something, and she wasn’t going to stop now, no matter what anyone said.

  ‘You don’t get to decide that. I know what I’m doing. I’m trusting you to respect that, not asking you for permission.’

  He blinked at her, then his shoulders sagged. ‘Do you really know what you’re doing?’

  The question caught Lottie off guard. Being Ellie’s Portman made her happy, happier than she’d been in years. Yet she’d felt this yearning to come back home, as if she were missing something important. She had to try to see it from Ollie’s perspective. He was scared for her and he was scared of the new her.