Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

they had lots of tan spots on them. Clementine liked watching the way the long hairs that stuck out of his nostrils fluttered in time with his breaths.
    She glanced up at his hair. Most of the older men Clementine knew had grey or silver hair, like Mr Mogg and Father Bob, or not very much at all, like Uncle Digby. He just had a few long strands that he combed over the top and kept in place with some goo from a jar. This man’s hair was dark orange and there was something not quite right about the way it was sitting. Clementine stood up on her tippy-toes and reached out to touch the thick crop. Her finger pressed against it gently. The man snorted loudly and she jumped back. Clemmie held her breath but his eyes stayed firmly shut. She wanted to touch his hair again – it felt rough, like the soap pad Uncle Digby used to scrub the saucepans. She reached up and stretched out her hand but just as she did, something terrible happened. As she made contact with the hair, it slid right off the top of his head and onto the floor.
    Clemmie clutched her hands to her mouth. She’d never seen anyone’s hair fall off like that before. The orange mop lay on the floor like a flat ginger cat. Clementine leaned down to get a closer look. She didn’t want to touch it any more but somehow she had to get it back on top of the man’s head.
    Clementine gripped it between her pointer finger and thumb and lifted it up slowly. Just as the hair was level with the top of the man’s head, a fly began to buzz around his left ear. And right at the same time Clementine was about to deposit the hair back onto his head, the man stirred and swatted at the fly. He missed and flicked his hair right into the fireplace, where it erupted into flames and burnt away to nothing in seconds.

    Clementine stood perfectly still and held her breath. She wondered if she could make him some new hair and tape it to his shiny head before he woke up. She remembered her old toy orangutan. Then she remembered that she’d lost it at her friend Poppy’s house.
    Maybe the man wouldn’t notice. Maybe he had some more hair in his suitcase that he could wear instead. Maybe it would grow back before he woke up.
    Clementine was staring at the man and wondering what to do, when out of the corner of her eye she saw a reflection of something moving in the mirror above the fireplace. It was just a flash but she knew that there was someone else in the room. The sitting room was shaped like a capital ‘L’, with another entrance from the back hallway. Clementine wondered if whoever it was had seen what happened with the man and his hair.
    She decided to see who was there and tiptoed past the long floral sofa and the china cabinet to investigate. Clementine leaned around the corner in slow motion.
    ‘Oh!’ she gasped. Sticking up in the air was a bottom and it was attached to Aunt Violet. The old woman was down on her hands and knees with her head under the green velvet grandfather chair.
    Clementine watched for a moment.
    ‘Hello Aunt Violet,’ she whispered.
    There was a dull thud as Violet thwacked her head on the underside of the chair.
    ‘Ow!’ the woman grumbled as she wriggled out. ‘You again!’
    ‘Have you lost something?’ Clementine asked.
    ‘No, of course not.’ Violet stood up and smoothed the front of her trousers. ‘Have you?’ She arched an eyebrow menacingly.
    Clementine wondered if Aunt Violet had seen what happened to the man and his hair. She shook her head slowly.
    She knew that she should tell the truth. It was just that, at the moment, she didn’t quite know how. And after all, it was an accident.
    Aunt Violet looked at Clementine and sniffed. Then she turned on her heel and strode out of the room.
    Clementine tiptoed back towards the man without the hair. He was still fast asleep. She decided that the best plan was to find Uncle Digby and tell him the truth. He would know what to do.

C lementine Rose found Digby Pert-whistle in the dining room,