Squishy Taylor and the Mess-Makers

Squishy Taylor and the Mess-Makers Read Free Page B

Book: Squishy Taylor and the Mess-Makers Read Free
Author: Ailsa Wild
Tags: Ebook
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floor.’
    I’m so nervous that I squeeze Baby so hard he starts crying. I try to bounce him quiet, but he just gets louder.
    ‘But –’ Carmeline Clancy begins.
    The Nanny shuts her down. ‘But nothing, miss. We are not having strangers breaking into the hotel on top of everything else.’
    Carmeline looks sparklingly angry , which is exactly how I feel. But Baby is howling right next to my head and I can’t think. In the middle of everything, I hear a dog barking down the corridor – but the Nanny is basically bulldozing us into the lift.
    We tumble into the foyer and two Fancy Men take our elbows and lead us out.
    ‘You kids aren’t allowed to play in here, you understand,’ one of them says. He doesn’t sound mean, but he’s talking like I’m in kinder. I wonder how long it will be before grown-ups stop baby-talking me.
    As we walk back to our own building, Baby finally calms down.
    ‘Well,’ Jessie says. ‘You just met Carmeline Clancy.’
    We reach our building and press for the lift. Vee looks at Baby, strapped to my chest. ‘Hey, what’s Baby got?’
    I look down. He’s waving a plastic-wrapped biscuit. He must have grabbed it off the trolley.
    ‘ Our Baby’s a thief ,’ Jessie says.
    We all burst out laughing.
    ‘Look out, Baby, that scary Nanny is gonna get you,’ Vee says between snorts .
    ‘Did anyone else hear a dog barking?’ I say.
    ‘No,’ Vee says, laughing harder.
    ‘You know, Carmeline actually seemed really nice,’ Jessie says, getting serious again.
    ‘Well, yeah ,’ I say. We already knew she was nice.
    ‘We probably need to get to the bottom of this mess thing,’ Jessie says as the lift opens into our corridor.
    Vee lets out a great whooping cheer. ‘What was that for?’ I ask.
    ‘Jessie just signed up.’
    ‘Signed up to what?’ Jessie asks.
    ‘To the Carmeline-Clancy-is-Innocent Mission ,’ Vee says.

The house smells like frying garlic and Dad is standing by the stove. I unstrap Baby and sit him on the tiles by Dad’s trouser cuffs. We all collapse on the couch and talk quietly together so Dad can’t hear.
    ‘If it’s not Carmeline Clancy, someone’s framing her,’ Jessie whispers. ‘Otherwise why would they let her take the blame?’
    ‘Exactly,’ I say and Vee nods.
    ‘There’s lots of people who could be framing her,’ says Jessie. ‘Let’s make a list.’ She loves making lists. She gets out a neat little notebook and writes:
    • Hotel cleaners
    • A jealous rock-climber who wants to be the movie star
    • The Fancy Men
    • Other hotel guests
    ‘The Nanny,’ I say.
    ‘Squishy, she’s looking after Carmeline. It can’t be her,’ Vee says.
    ‘But she’s got the best opportunity,’ I argue.
    Jessie writes: The Nanny
    ‘OK, what about motive?’ Jessie asks. ‘What would the suspects get out of framing her?’
    ‘Um, the hotel gets its picture on the news?’ Vee suggests.
    ‘The Nanny’s job gets more interesting,’ I say.
    Trying to figure this out on a piece of paper feels too hard. I just want to do something. I start doing swoopkicks over the top of the couch and landing on the floor behind it. Vee laughs and does a torpedo roll over to land on top of me.
    ‘Oof!’ I say and we both laugh.
    ‘Guys,’ Jessie says. ‘We need to take this seriously!’
    Vee’s squashing my lungs so I can’t talk properly, but I say, ‘You know how … we take this … seriously?’
    ‘How?’ they chorus.
    I heave Vee off my back. ‘We signal Boring Lady and tell her.’
    The others stare at me, a bit disappointed.
    ‘I know,’ I say, feeling noble. ‘It would be more fun to solve it ourselves. But this isn’t just fun. What about Carmeline Clancy? Somebody is ruining her life.’
    They agree, a bit reluctantly.
    Jessie digs out the signalling scarf Boring Lady gave us. It’s tucked into a square under Jessie’s rows of folded socks. She shakes it out. It’s enormous and red . Vee clambers up onto the desk. She can’t reach

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