The committee got to their feet. ‘Dictator,’ Olivia heard one girl mumble over her shoulder.
‘Yeah, who does she think she is?’ asked another.
Olivia’s chin drooped. She had thought she was doing the right thing. ‘Too much?’ she asked, going over to Charlotte.
Charlotte removed the camera from its perch on her shoulder. ‘Nah. Those girls needed putting in their places.’ She raised her eyebrows and scanned Olivia from head to toe, as if seeing her for the first time. ‘Seems like those three could actually learn a thing or two from you.’
From me? Do I really want to be a role model for bullies like that?
Thankfully, Olivia didn’t have too much time to answer that big question because Ivy wandered over, her combat boots sticking out amongst the committee girls’ dainty shoes like two black seeds in a giant pink watermelon.
‘So?’ Olivia probed her sister. ‘Did Mission Deletion work?’
‘Yeah, I took care of it when you were talking to Charlotte.’
This time Olivia really did jump up and down. ‘Congratulations! Your secret’s safe!’ This was the best news she’d heard all day.
Ivy shrugged. ‘For now.’ She started to walk away.
‘What is wrong with people today?’ Olivia muttered, before following her twin out of the school.
Ivy jolted to a stop in the open doorway of her house on Undertaker Hill. No way. It looked as if a closet had exploded. Suitcases lay open with clothes spewing out on to the floor. Ivy even spotted one of her grandmother’s fancy dresses hanging from a lampshade. The house was in total chaos. Olivia and Ivy stood in the doorway, bewildered.
‘Maybe our dad shouldn’t be skimping on a maid,’ Olivia muttered into Ivy’s ear. Maybe you’re right, thought Ivy.
‘Bombs away!’ The girls looked up to see the Count tossing a velvet jacket over the top railing, where it landed in a lumpy pile with a number of other garments.
‘What is going on?’ Ivy demanded.
Horatio scrambled to fold the Count’s clothing, but he couldn’t keep up with the speed at which Ivy’s grandfather was tossing articles down.
The Countess rushed in and stuffed a bag of toiletries into Horatio’s stiff arms. Horatio offered the girls an awkward smile. ‘The Countess can never have too many outfits,’ he said, and then got back to work trying to wrestle the Count’s clothes into a piece of leather luggage.
‘Well, hello!’ the Count shouted from the second floor, leaning over the railing. ‘Didn’t see you all there!’
Ivy snapped her neck back. ‘No offence, but have you gone mad?’
The Countess scurried in with another bundle. ‘Not mad; glad!’ cried Ivy’s grandmother. ‘We have to get back to Transylvania at once!’
With surprising speed, the Count tramped down the stairs and began helping Horatio stuff the suitcase. ‘Yes, without a single moment of delay,’ he declared.
Ivy and Olivia’s heads pinged back and forth between their grandparents.
‘There’s been an announcement. Prince Alex and Tessa have revealed their engagement.’ The Countess wiggled the fingers of her left hand.
‘Oh my goodness,’ Olivia gushed. ‘They’re getting married?’
‘Yes! And the Queen has asked specifically for me to help with the planning!’ She glanced around at the floor. ‘Now, where is my other shoe?’ The Countess was clutching one lace-up boot in her slender hands.
Olivia dropped to the ground, crawling under the coffee table to retrieve the boot’s mate. ‘Wow,’ she said, helping the Countess pack her fancy footwear. ‘And I thought organising a school dance was tough! I can’t imagine planning a royal wedding!’
‘I know, and they are having the wedding in only a few weeks! Weeks! ’
Ivy jolted at this. ‘Why so soon?’
The Countess thrust another pair of shoes into Horatio’s arms and slung a belt over his shoulder. ‘Apparently the Queen wants to get Alex and Tessa married as soon as possible to prove she really does support the two of them. The Transylvanian nobility seem to have gotten it in their heads that this isn’t a real relationship.’ The Countess clucked her tongue. ‘And the Queen is eager to put those rumours to rest. So, the second Alex told her about the engagement, the Queen called me.’ Then as if in confidence, she said to the girls, ‘The Queen knows we’re a bit more open-minded, what with all that business with Charles . . .’
Ivy was so not the type to get excited about anyone putting on a big, white meringue dress – that was more her sister’s department – but even she had to admit she felt a rush of happiness for Tessa, the servant girl who’d been so kind to them in Transylvania. Tessa and the prince had been secretly in love for years and now she was being accepted into the Transylvanian royal family. Ivy. She could almost hear Olivia constructing her version of the fairy-tale romance now.
Ivy watched as Olivia sat on a suitcase to help Horatio lock it. Maybe there were good points to living in Transylvania. Despite the strict hierarchies, the Queen was going to a lot of trouble to prove that she accepted and supported her son’s love. Would finishing school really be all that bad?
When the Count stepped back into the room, he appeared to have caught his breath. The suitcases were packed and the room was starting to look much more orderly. ‘My dearest, we need to hurry if we’re to catch our last-minute flight.’ He turned to the twins. ‘Are you two excited?’