Alice-Miranda in the Alps by Jacqueline Harvey Page B

her camera out of her jacket pocket as proof.
    â€˜All right then, who wants to hit a couple of red runs with me?’ Hamish asked.
    â€˜Me! Me! Me!’ the children shouted over the top of one another.
    â€˜Can we find some black trails too?’ Lucas asked.
    Sloane grimaced. ‘I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.’
    â€˜How about we manage a couple of reds and then see how everyone feels?’ Hamish suggested.
    â€˜It’s all right,’ Alice-Miranda said to Sloane. ‘If you don’t want to go on the black runs, I’ll come back down here with you. But after Gunter took us on that mogul course this morning, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have any trouble handling it at all.’
    â€˜Yeah, you were amazing,’ Jacinta agreed. ‘And you beat your brother, remember.’
    The boy wrinkled his nose. ‘Don’t remind me.’
    â€˜Okay, I’ll give it a try,’ Sloane said, perking up considerably. ‘But if I die, I’m never speaking to any of you ever again.’
    Everyone laughed.
    â€˜Well, der!’ Millie said.
    â€˜You know what I mean!’ Sloane jammed her helmet on her head and snapped her goggles on over the top as she and her friends charged off to get their skis.

Hugh Kennington-Jones took the mug of steaming-hot tea from the old woman. In her youth, the Baroness had been a renowned beauty and, even now, the years had been kind.
    â€˜Have you learned anything, Hugh?’ she asked.
    â€˜Not really,’ he replied wearily. He’d been working his way through the booking sheets and was waiting for Florian to bring him the past guest registers. ‘I can’t wrap my head around the gradualdecline in occupancy. I want to try to pinpoint when it started.’
    Giselle shook her head, her brow creasing into a thousand tiny worries. ‘We cannot understand it, either. Surely a couple of ghastly online reviews are not responsible for turning our clientele against us.’
    â€˜What I don’t understand is that those reviews are completely untrue and anonymous. I mean, there’s no credibility in that.’ Hugh gave the woman a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of it.’
    â€˜What if we can’t?’ Giselle asked, her eyes glistening. ‘What then?’
    Hugh patted her hand. ‘One way or another, we’ll work things out,’ he said. ‘I’m just glad that Alice-Miranda saw Florian when she did, though I do wish he’d told me earlier.’
    â€˜I am glad she saw him too.’ The Baroness sighed. ‘I had asked Florian many times to call you, but you know my husband better than most. He is a proud man and used to being in control. This whole thing just seemed like a bad dream. I really think he believed that one day we would wake up and everything would be back to normal,’ she said. ‘But now I have Monday to look forward to. Alice-Mirandawill be getting a very big hug from her Aunt Giselle, and it will be lovely to see Cecelia.’
    â€˜I hope you don’t mind but there are twelve in our party, so you’re about to be overrun,’ Hugh said.
    Giselle smiled. ‘May there be many more.’
    Hugh glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘You should get to bed. It’s after midnight.’
    Florian walked back into reception carrying a pile of guest registers. They were bound in red leather, each with a frayed silk ribbon stitched into the spine. ‘I found these downstairs,’ he said, lowering them onto the counter with a thump.
    â€˜I shall leave you to your task,’ Giselle said. She turned and looked into her husband’s eyes.
    â€˜I will be up as soon as I can,’ the Baron said, kissing her forehead.
    Giselle waved a hand at Hugh. ‘Goodnight, dear.’
    â€˜Sleep well,’ the man replied as the Baroness walked off.
    Florian flipped