Alice-Miranda in Paris 7 by Jacqueline Harvey

the curtains move in the window directly opposite. They were open and although he couldn’t see anyone, he was certain someone was there. And he suspected that person was watching him.
    Lucas turned to his friend. ‘Hey Sep, come here.’
    ‘What’s the matter?’ Sep sat up and shuffled off the bed.
    ‘Can you see anyone – over there?’ Lucas pointed at the window.
    Sep shook his head.
    ‘The curtains just moved. I think someone’s watching us.’ Lucas squinted. The afternoon sun was bouncing off the windowpane, creating a dazzling glare.
    ‘I think you’re imagining things,’ Sep said. He looked down to the street level. ‘Although, last night I saw a guy carrying some stuff into the basement over there. He was a bit weird.’
    ‘How do you mean?’ Lucas asked as he shielded his eyes against the light and stared at the window.
    ‘I don’t know. He just gave me the creeps a bit.’
    There was a sharp knock at the boys’ door.
    ‘Downstairs in five minutes, lads,’ Mr Lipp called from the other side.
    ‘Come on.’ Lucas turned away from the window. ‘Let’s go and see if Prof Winterbottom’s got that sports kit. I think I saw a basketball hoop down at the park, so I hope we’ve got a ball.’
    Sep was about to turn around when he saw the curtain move. For just a moment there was a face. It was a young fellow and just as quickly as he appeared, he was gone.
    ‘Hey, you’re right, someone is over there,’ Sep called to Lucas, but his friend was already halfway down the hall.

Cecelia Highton-Smith was in a particularly buoyant mood. It was a while since she had spent time alone with her sister. When Charlotte had called and suggested they meet in Paris and have a week together at the shows, she had been absolutely delighted by the prospect. It seemed they were hardly ever in the same place any more. Since Charlotte’s marriage earlier in the year to the dashing movie star Lawrence Ridley, it had been even harder to catch up. Cecelia had hoped for a family reunion in New York at the reopening of their department store, Highton’s on Fifth, but Lawrence had organised a belated honeymoon at the same time. And while Charlotte still oversaw public relations for the family business, Lawrence’s latest movie had taken them to live for an extended period in Los Angeles.
    Cecelia hadn’t told Alice-Miranda she was coming to Paris yet. She didn’t want to get her hopes up in case there was a last-minute change of plans, which there frequently seemed to be. But when the jet touched down at Charles de Gaulle airport, Cecelia felt a flutter of excitement. She and Charlotte could surprise Alice-Miranda by being at the children’s first performance. Then perhaps Miss Grimm would give her permission to take her daughter out for a day. There were some designers she was hoping to see during the visit and one in particular, a new fellow that she wanted to sign on.
    Of course the family department store, Highton’s, had their regular buying team in Paris for the shows, but Cecelia always found that it helped when the boss showed up too.
    Charlotte was flying in from Los Angeles and planned to meet Cecelia at the Ritz. She had her own reasons for wanting to see her sister and she was also keen to meet Rosie Hunter, who she’d just employed to report on the fashion shows for the Highton’s website and magazine. Charlotte would prefer to have met the woman in person before taking her on, but she seemed to have an incredible knowledge of fashion and a wonderfully witty style of writing, even if Charlotte couldn’t find anything she’d published previously. When Rosie offered to get herself to Paris, providing Highton’s would pay her accommodation and an amount for each article, Charlotte felt there really wasn’t anything to lose.
    When Charlotte’s plane landed not long after her sister’s, she couldn’t wait to get into the city. As the car sped along the motorway she rested a protective hand on her