Clementine Rose and the Paris Puzzle by Jacqueline Harvey

Author:Jacqueline Harvey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Published: 2016-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

The children charged through the garden gate with renewed energy. ‘Can we go to the pond?’ Jules asked, trying to remember which way it was.

Clementine’s blue eyes were huge as she took it all in. ‘There’s a palace!’ she exclaimed. ‘Does a princess live there?’

‘Not anymore,’ Jules said. ‘There was a big fight and all the royal people in France lost their heads.’

Clementine’s jaw dropped. ‘Is that true?’ she said.

Odette nodded. ‘I am afraid it is, but it was a long time ago when the ordinary people were very poor and the royal family was very rich and they didn’t care about their subjects.’

Clementine scrunched up her face. Mr Smee always told their class that violence never solved anything, and chopping off heads was the worst thing she’d ever heard of.

‘The pond is this way,’ Jules shouted. He grabbed Clementine’s hand and they charged off with Will and Sophie close behind.

They ran to the elderly man and his fleet of little antique model sailboats. Clementine chose a boat with a red sail, while Sophie opted for a blue-and-white one. Jules pointed to a green sail, and Will decided he would have a pirate sail with a skull and crossbones emblazoned across it.

The man handed them to the children as well as a long stick to launch their sailboats. ‘I would advise you to take them to the other side so the breeze will send them back across,’ he said.

They did as he suggested. Although the sun was shining, the afternoon air was crisp and the children almost had the duck pond to themselves. They discarded their gloves and, with numb fingers, placed their boats onto the icy water in a neat row.

‘On your marks, get set, go!’ Odette called, and the foursome pushed out their sailboats.

‘Go, red boat,’ Clementine shouted, urging her vessel on.

The boats darted across each other’s bows, at the mercy of the breeze. At one point the pirate ship almost crashed into Jules’ green sailboat. The children cheered and raced about all over the place in an effort to follow their vessels, pushing them out again when they veered too close to the edge.

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