A Year of New Adventures by Maddie Please

Author:Maddie Please
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008253448
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-11-14T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Eventually Pippa and Jake came downstairs for breakfast grumbling about jet lag although by my calculations they hadn’t lost any sleep at all. By the time we had sorted out what they wanted (pancakes, maple syrup, and smoked bacon, bleugh – I mean who thought that was a good idea?) Oliver had joined us.

As I doled out the food – all of which to be fair looked quite appetizing, just not together on one plate – the three of them discussed plans for the day. Pippa managed to make every event, from driving into the village to talking to the caterers, sound like a world trade summit.

Apparently Very Important Gideon was going to join us at some point but before that they were going to spend time in the village sorting out the final preparations for the launch party. Although Oliver had rejected The Times, he seemed quite happy to be giving an interview to both the local paper fetchingly named the Green Mountain Trumpet and the local radio station that I’d already listened to (PXVO – The Voice of The Green Mountains), both of which were apparently run by one man and his mother.

They would all be away for most of the day so I had hours to myself. Excellent; it would give me a chance to have a poke about and explore the house and perhaps even send a couple of emails.

Despite complaining that the pancakes, etc. were like soooo fattening, Pippa managed to tuck away three and even wiped the syrup from her plate with a finger. Jake meanwhile was evidently not great at chatter in the mornings and sat at his end of the table packing away pancakes with dedicated resolve.

Huge amounts of coffee with something deadly called heavy cream were drunk. At least I now knew how to get the demon machine topped up and working, and then just as I was about to tidy up they started on some of the fresh fruit salad I had made as an antidote to all those calories.

Eventually Pippa and Jake went back to their rooms, ready to drive into the village with Oliver, and I cleared away and stacked one of the two dishwashers. Oliver seemed quite happy to stay at the end of the table as I did so.

‘Your leg’s better then?’ I said as I wiped the syrup off Pippa’s chair.

‘Yes, I can’t ski yet, but it’s fine otherwise.’

‘I can’t ski either.’

‘Ever tried?’

‘Well, once on a dry ski slope near Gloucester, but all I did was fall over.’

‘I learned to ski out there on the field. It’s a gentle slope, very easy.’

‘Hmm, easy for you,’ I said. ‘That might be an adventure too far for me before you suggest it. Going home with a broken leg isn’t my idea of fun.’

Apart from anything else I couldn’t see myself skiing in trainers and jeans.

‘So how is this adventure going?’ he asked.

I shook my head. ‘I wasn’t expecting it I can tell you! I thought I was going to Shropshire!’

‘Not disappointed then?’

‘No.

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