The Mum Mystery Read online

  ‘November the twenty-first was special because it was the date they started their club,’ Grandma said. ‘Remember I told you the first time we went to Brighton was in November, because it was my sister Esmerelda’s birthday? Well, apparently that was when your mother first suggested they should start a secret club. I might have known it would be Claire’s idea!’

  ‘Will you bring Kirsten’s letter with you when you come to see us, Grandma?’ I asked excitedly.

  ‘Of course, but Kirsten says you can also write to her yourself. I’m sure there’s a lot more she can tell you about the Mysterious Four Club if you ask her.’

  Dad and Lizzie were pleased when I told them my news, and even Matty was quite interested.

  ‘It all makes perfect sense now, doesn’t it?’ Dad said.

  I nodded. ‘But there’s another reason why November the twenty-first is so special,’ I announced. ‘It’s also special because it’s the date that Lizzie came all the way to Brighton to find me.’

  ‘More fool her,’ Matthew joked as he knelt down on the floor to tickle Hercule’s tummy. ‘Next time you should just leave her there, Lizzie.’

  Lizzie put her arm round me protectively. ‘I’m very glad I did find you, Esmie.’

  ‘So am I,’ I said happily. And it struck me that Lizzie had acted just like a mum that day, so in a way Nevada’s prophecy had been right after all. I had met my mum at the end of the pier – not my birth mum, but my new mum.

  ‘And you know what, Lizzie?’ I added. ‘If you and Dad do ever decide to get married, I honestly don’t mind if it’s in a registry office.’

  ‘Just so long as they still need a bridesmaid, right, Esmie?’ Matthew teased.

  And to my amazement, instead of getting cross, Dad and Lizzie looked at each other and actually started to laugh.

  Gwyneth Rees is half Welsh and half English and grew up in Scotland. She went to Glasgow University and qualified as a doctor in 1990. She is a child and adolescent psychiatrist but has now stopped practising so that she can write full-time. She is the author of The Mum Hunt, The Mum Detective, My Mum’s from Planet Pluto and The Making of May, as well as the bestselling Fairies and Cosmo series and Mermaid Magic for younger readers. She lives in London with her partner, Robert, their daughter, Eliza, and their two cats, Hattie and Magnus.

  Visit www.gwynethrees.com

  Other books by Gwyneth Rees

  The Mum Hunt

  The Mum Detective

  My Mum’s from Planet Pluto

  The Making of May

  Something Secret

  For younger readers

  Mermaid Magic

  Fairy Dust

  Fairy Treasure

  Fairy Dreams

  Fairy Gold

  Fairy Rescue

  Fairy Secrets

  Cosmo and the Magic Sneeze

  Cosmo and the Great Witch Escape

  Cosmo and the Secret Spell

  First published 2007 by Macmillan Children’s Books

  This electronic edition published 2011 by Macmillan Children’s Books

  a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

  Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Basingstoke and Oxford

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-0-330-47185-5 EPUB

  Copyright © Gwyneth Rees 2007

  The right of Gwyneth Rees to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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