She was halfway round the ponds when she was surprised to see a young person of indeterminate sex in jeans and a hoodie walking rapidly towards her. Closer up, the flash of a blue fringe under the hood reminded her that this was the redoubtable Ivy, Arthur’s sister, whose views on royalty the Queen had not forgotten.
‘Good morning,’ she said, somewhat stiffly. Young people, or old people for that matter, tended not to run up to her at will.
The girl was slightly out of breath. She grinned. ‘I found you! Great! Hi! . . . Your Majesty.’ She dropped into a belated curtsey that was more of a knee-bend. ‘Can I join you for a sec?’
‘I suppose you can,’ the Queen agreed. She narrowed her eyes. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be in school?’
The girl gave her a brazen stare.
The Queen wasn’t sure exactly what that was, but could tell from the tilt of Ivy’s chin that it wasn’t true anyway.
‘Willow’s looking a bit tired, isn’t she?’ Ivy said. ‘D’you want us to slow down so she can manage?’
‘Do you know my dogs?’
Ivy looked surprised. ‘Of course I do. I help walk them sometimes. That footman who usually does it likes to have a crafty cigarette. He doesn’t think they need much exercise, but I do. I give them an extra ten minutes for him.’
‘I had no idea,’ the Queen said, nonplussed.
‘Look, don’t tell him I told you. Anyway, that wasn’t why I wanted to talk to you. I know what you think about my brother.’
‘He’s a diamond. You probably think he’s a bit iffy because of me. I was rude to you at Christmas and I didn’t mean it and I’m sorry. I just go off a bit at times. Arthur really loves his job. He’s good at it. He needs it. He doesn’t do drugs, ma’am, seriously.’
‘How did you think I—?’
‘I heard him telling the chickens at home. Don’t ask. You and me talk to the horses. He talks to the chickens, OK?’
‘What did he tell them?’
‘You think he stole those drugs from the beach and he took them, but he had to, ma’am. He was with this stupid boy called Josh who was in his year at school. I’m telling you ’cause you don’t tell anyone, right?’
‘It depends,’ the Queen said cautiously.
‘Well, you can’t tell them this because if you did, Josh would kill me.’
‘That was rather my impression. Did Arthur tell the chickens all this?’
‘No, not about Josh. I saw them on the beach together with the bag, after I found the hand. When I was on my way to tell them about it and give Josh’s puppy back to him, before it ate something stupid and killed itself.
