Zodiac Girls: Brat Princess Read Free Page B

window. Despite the bad start the day had got
off to, I couldn’t help feeling excited. Tigsy was good
fun. Okay, so she wasn’t Poppy, but we were going to
have a top time in Paris.
    To pass the flight time, I totted up my accounts and
worked out who owed me what.
    Shirla: $100
    Henry: $250
    Mason: $200
    Plus interest at five per cent. I worked it out on my
little calculator. It’s a dinky pink one. Designer, of
course. So cute. Cost a fortune. To get five per cent, you
multiply by point-oh-five. Cool. And if they don’t pay
me back by January, I shall put the interest up another
per cent. Mummy and Daddy would be so pleased that my
education wasn’t totally wasted , I thought as I tucked my
notebook away.
    There were still hours to go, so I read a few mags,
watched a DVD, snoozed a little and ate a few of the
assorted canapés that had been prepared by Mason
before we left. I had to send a couple of things back –
like when will they get that I don’t eat avocados? I so
don’t do slime. I’ve told Henry again and again. As a
punishment for him accompanying me instead of
Shirla, I made him give me a manicure. When he’d
finished, I told him I hated the colour and redid my
nails myself. After that, I watched another movie, then
dozed off again and woke to feel my ears pop. Ah. We
must be starting to land , I thought as I took a peek outside
the window. I’d been to Paris before and one of my
favourite parts was seeing it come into view from the
plane.
    “Fasten your seat belts as we shall be landing
shortly,” came Pete the pilot’s voice over the intercom.
    We were still above the clouds so there was nothing
to see as the plane continued its descent, but I kept
looking and at last, we burst through clouds and I
could see the ground below. Erk? Fields and fields of green.
What’s that all about? Where’s the Eiffel Tower? We must be
coming in from a different angle to my previous trips, I thought
as I felt the wheels beneath the plane come out ready
for landing. I never realized Paris had so much countryside
around it .
    “Plane ready for landing. Staff, take your seats,”
came Pete’s voice.
    Henry came in from the kitchen area, took his seat
on the opposite side of the compartment and strapped
himself in. I continued looking out the window. “Hey,
Henry. Have we been diverted to another airport
outside Paris?”
    Henry looked down at the floor.
    “Henry?”
    He looked as if he was having an eye nerve attack
and didn’t know where to look. His eyes rotated round
from his shoes to the overhead racks to the window. Up,
down, around, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes.
    “Well?” I asked again.
    “Um. Yes. Slight diversion I think. Slight. Yes…”
    “You think? But why? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
    “Sleeping,” squeaked Henry. “You were sleeping.”
    “Don’t worry, Henry. I’m not going to be cross, just
I like to be kept informed. Is there bad weather? Fog?
What is it? Snow?”
    Henry was looking really peculiar. “Um. No.
Temperatures are cold but no, no snow.”
    Maybe he’s a bad flyer , I thought, but… we’ve flown
together before and he’s never acted like this . “Are you okay,
Henry?”
    “Oh yes,” said Henry looking anything but okay.
    I looked out the window again and got a strange
feeling that we weren’t over France at all. The fields
below looked remarkably like… like England! I knew
it well seeing as three of my schools had been there. A
feeling of panic hit my stomach. There was something going
on that Henry wasn’t telling me about. Oh god, the plane was
going down. Must be engine trouble. Why else would we be
landing here? Oh god, that’s why Henry looks freaked. He
knows. Are we going to make it? Oh god. I’m too young to die .
    I gripped onto the sides of my seat. “Tell me,
Henry, tell me the truth. We’re going to crash, aren’t
we? How bad is it?”
    Henry kept staring ahead. He still wouldn’t