Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor 1 Read Online Free PDF

holidays.’
    ‘You little sneak.’ Violet glimpsed the official-looking document poking out of the top of her handbag. The first words were: ‘Eviction Notice’. She walked over and stuffed it back inside, wondering if Clementine could yet read.
    Clementine gulped.
    ‘Well, you shouldn’t be in here,’ Violet snapped.
    ‘What . . . what is he?’ Clementine asked.
    ‘What’s who?’ Violet replied.
    ‘Him.’ Clementine pointed at the creature on the bed.
    ‘He’s a sphynx,’ the old woman replied, rolling her eyes. ‘I told you that earlier. Or are your ears full of wax?’
    ‘No, Mummy cleans my ears every Thursday at bath time, except if I’m too tired and I don’t have a bath, and then she does it on Friday,’ Clementine said. ‘I know he’s a sphynx but what sort of creature is that?’
    ‘It’s a cat, of course, you silly child,’ said Violet, shaking her head.
    Clementine had never seen a cat like it before and she knew quite a few. There was Claws at the village shop and her friend Sophie had a fluffy white kitten called Mintie. Her other friend Poppy had lots of cats on the farm at Highton Hall and none of them looked even the slightest bit like Pharaoh.
    ‘Is something wrong with him?’ Clementine asked.
    ‘Of course not.’ Violet reached into the middle of the bed and patted the cat’s wrinkly head.
    ‘But . . .’ Clementine wondered if she should tell Aunt Violet what she could see. Maybe the woman had something wrong with her eyesight as well as her hearing. Clementine decided that it was better to tell the truth. ‘He’s got no hair.’
    ‘He was born that way,’ Violet replied, as if it was the most usual thing in the world to have a bald cat. ‘My bootiful boy.’ Violet leaned across the bed and nuzzled against his face. The cat hissed at her.
    Clementine wondered if Aunt Violet had taken him to the vet to see if there was a cure. Pharaoh was just about the ugliest creature she’d ever seen, apart from Father Bob’s dribbly bulldog, Adrian.
    ‘And what are you doing in my room, anyway?’ Violet asked, glaring at Clementine.
    The child gulped. She seemed to be asked that question quite a lot. ‘I wanted to see what a sphynx was,’ she replied.
    ‘Well, now you have and I would thank you to stay out of my room, young lady.’ Violet walked to the door and held it open.
    Clementine slid down from the bed and walked towards her.
    Violet stared at the child with her pretty blonde hair and ink-blue eyes. There was something vaguely familiar about her, yet the woman knew that was impossible. She’d never heard of her before today, let alone seen her.
    ‘Off you go,’ said Violet. ‘I have things to do, and talking to you is not one of them.’
    Clementine smiled at the old woman. She had a habit of doing that when she was nervous.
    ‘What are you grinning about?’ Violet demanded.
    ‘Nothing, Aunt Violet, nothing at all,’ said Clementine, and scurried out the door.

A fter her visit with Pharaoh and Aunt Violet, Clementine Rose decided to find her mother and Uncle Digby and warn them about the bald sphynx. She wondered if they might have some ideas about a cure.
    Clementine was on her way to the kitchen when she was distracted by a man. She heard him before she saw him – the loudest grunting snores ever. That was saying something because there had been plenty of snorers taking naps in the sitting room over the years. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw him in the winged armchair by the fireplace, with his head tilted back and his mouth wide open.
    Clementine decided to take a closer look. She tiptoed into the room and stood beside the chair, resting her elbows on the arm with her head cradled in her hands. She thought he must be quite old. His forehead and cheeks were lined like crinkle-cut chips, and the skin on his neck hung loose, just like on the turkey Mr Mogg was keeping before last Christmas.
    His hands were resting in his lap and she noticed