Postby KP Presents » Thu Dec 08, 2016 6:47 am
“All right, who can tell me what Mary Seagrove did after the battle?”
Note to self – I hate History! Especially when it is last lesson on a Friday! Still, that meant we would soon be out of school – and the weekend could begin. I reached over and nudged Rachel, who looked at me through her glasses and whispered “What?”
“How long until the bell goes?”
“Two minutes less than the last time you asked Patty,” she whispered back.
“Miss Pickering?”
“Err – she looked after the wounded soldiers under the guidance of Florence Nightingale?”
“That is correct,” Mister Blake said as he started talking again, and my mind wandered…
It had been an amazing summer, even if my cousins the Craigs had been in Australia for most of it. The stories they told when they got back…
Mind you, Rachel, me, Lisa and Charlie – we had had quite an adventure as well, or rather Lisa did because of me, Rachel and Charlie. Finding and rescuing Debbie Dee from the clutches of her kidnappers as we had made us local celebrities – even if the fact we found her was down to my curiosity, and both Rachel and I had been fully bound and gagged by Charlie.
We had intended just to walk to the Cottrell farm, but I got distracted, and… Look, the main thing was one of the best known stars of screen and television was rescued by the three of us, and as a result we got medals and a reward.
A whopping great big reward. I won’t say how much, but I will say this – over the summer, a lot of repairs were done to the house and it was decorated from top to bottom. We stayed at Cassie and Jenny’s place while that was done, as well as a new kitchen and extension been built.
It’s not that Mum went overboard – in fact, with the help of Lisa and Charlie’s dad most of the reward is in what Mum calls an investment fund, and we get money each month from it. But we are certainly in a more comfortable house now, and Mum doesn’t have any debts.
I sometimes wondered what Debbie was doing – her program was on, and I saw things about her in the papers, but I still think of the nice girl I brought home to give Mum a heart attack.
I saw in the paper yesterday she and her family were going to the US, which was nice. Mum has said we can go to Disneyland at some point, but…
The bell ringing made me smile as Mr Blake said “remember, I want your exercises back on Monday. No excuses – that means you Miss Rigg.”
“Yes sir,” Rachel said with a smile. Her dad now owned the restaurant he had worked in, but she still had to do her homework.
As we walked out of the school, I waved by Mum who was waiting by our VW – no way were we giving that up! “Come on you two,” she said as we walked over, “it may be Friday, but you need to come and get your homework done.”
“Yes Mum,” I said as we got in the back. Rachel came home with me every Friday, and we did our homework before we had our tea, and Rachel’s mum came to collect her. I usually went with her on a Monday, when Mum has to work late.
“What’s for tea tonight Mum,” I asked as she got behind the wheel and started the car.
“I’m not sure – you’ll find out at the same time as me,” Mum said as we set off.
“Oh – are we ordering out?”
“Nope,” was all she said as we left the school – and went in the wrong direction. Rachel and I looked at each other, wondering what was going on – and then I realised we were on the road to Holderness Manor.
“Why are we coming here Mum,” I said as we drove up the road that led to the redbrick Manor House.
“Oh you’ll find out in a minute,” was all she said as she stopped the car, got out and allowed us to get out of the back of the car. As we walked up the stairs, Mrs Bridges came out and said “hello Patty, Rachel – come away in.”
In the hallway, we saw Lady Holderness, wearing a mustard coloured cardigan and jumper, a tweed skirt, dark tights and brown shoes. “How are you Jessica,” she said as she hugged and kissed my mother.
“I’m fine Lucinda – and here they are. Come and meet Desmond and the rest of our guests. After you girls – we’re in the library.”
We looked at each other as Mrs Bridges opened the door. As we walked in, Lord Holderness stood up and said “Ah, Patricia, Rachel – come in, come in. We have someone here who wants to meet you.”
As we came in, we saw the three other people – a middle aged couple, the man wearing a jacket, jumper and trousers, and the woman a brown jacket over a dress.
But it was the red headed girl with them who Rachel and I were staring at, wearing a black leather jacket over a jumper, jeans and ankle boots. “Hey Patty, Hey Rachel,” Debbie Dee said, “surprise!”
“Debbie! What are you doing here?”
“We wanted to give her the chance to see both of you again,” Mister Dee said.
“Jessica, I’d like to introduce you to Benjamin and Abigail de Witt, Debbie’s parents. Benjamin, Abigail, this is Jessica Pickering, Patricia’s mother.”
“I’m very pleased to finally meet you,” the man said as he shook Mum’s hand, as I looked at Debbie.
“Okay – my stage name is Debbie Dee, my name is actually Deborah Abigail de Witt – and if you start laughing?”
“Who me,” I said, trying not to laugh.
“You have an incredible daughter, and so do Mister and Mrs Rigg,” her mother said, “You must be very proud of both of them.”
“We are,” Mum said as she blushed.
“So how long are you here for,” Rachel asked.
“Well, I have a break from filming for a few days,” Debbie said, “so I’m staying here for the weekend…”
“And so are both of you,” Mum said. “The story of them flying to America was planted so that Debbie could have some time away from the public eye, and I was asked if both of you could stay here with her for the weekend.
“Always assuming you are both happy with that idea?”
“Can we,” Rachel said, and as Mum nodded Debbie smiled a big beautiful smile.
“I have you clothes in the car,” Mum said, “if Mister Bridges could come and get them?”
“We’ll take care of that later,” Lady Holderness said. “You will be staying for dinner?”
“If I can – I have a clothes bag for myself as well.”
“Why do you have a change of clothes Mum?”
“We will be having a formal dinner tonight,” Lady Holderness said. “So, why don’t you and Rachel take Debbie around the Manor House, and we’ll find you when it is time to dress.”
“Come on,” I said as I took Debbie’s hand, “let’s go and see if Mrs Bridges had anything to drink.” We left the grown-ups in the library as we walked down the corridor, and made our way to the kitchen.
“Had enough of grown-up talk,” Mrs Bridges said as we came in. “Sit down, I’ll fix some milk and cookies for you.” We sat at the old wooden table as she poured three glasses of milk, and put a plate of biscuits in front of us.
“Wow – we get to spend time with you again,” I said, “There are so many questions I want to ask? What’s it like being a star? Being Famous? What’s the best thing you ever did? How did…”
“Hey, hey,” Mrs Bridges said, “you have right through to Monday to ask questions.”
“It’s all right,” Debbie said, “but do you mind if, just for tonight, I’m me? I mean, I love acting, I like being a star, but I also wish sometimes…”
“Yeah,” Rachel said as she took a drink.
“That I was just like both of you – an ordinary girl who goes to school and has friends. Real friends, not pretend ones…”
“Oh boy,” I said quietly, “sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you…”
“It’s all right,” Debbie said, “it’s just I’ve been doing this since I was eight, and I sometimes know just how much I have missed out on growing up. I kept pushing that to the back of my mind until…”
“Until when,” Rachel said as Debbie put her glass down.
“Until I was kidnapped,” Debbie said. “Did you ever hear what happened?”
“No,” I said, “do you want to tell us?”
“We were in Lincoln, and I needed to take a break between signing sessions. So I went to the toilet, finished, watched my hands, stepped out – and was grabbed by a man, who put his hand over my mouth before picking me up and carrying me out of the back door of the bookshop. The next thing I knew, I was tied up and tape gagged in the back of a van, and fro the next few days I was driven from place to place, wondering what was going on.”
“And then we walked in on you,” Rachel said as she looked at me.
“And then you walked in on me, and you were both… Well, Amazing!” Debbie took another drink as she said “even though they caught you both as well, you were so brave, and knew exactly what to do. Then we met our friend Charlie, and ran for it.”
“How could I forget,” Rachel said as she rolled her eyes, earning herself a kick from me.
“Anyway, we went to your house, and it was like nothing I had ever really experienced before. A normal house – well, apart from what you did to Patty here – your mother accepting, and then cooking me fish fingers, chips and peas… It was… It was…”
As Debbie started crying we both went round and hugged her, waiting until she finished and said “sorry – it just all came back to me then.”
“It’s all right,” I said, “is you want to talk about it this weekend, do so – I promise, all of us have been there before.”
“I can believe it,” Debbie said as she dried her eyes, “never mind that for the moment – what can you tell me about the Manor House.”
“Take her round, both of you,” Mrs Bridges said, “I have a lot of work still to do for tonight.”
“Come on then,” I said, “Let’s start in the corridor with the Lords of Holderness.”