For goodness’ sake. I’m starting to feel irritated. ‘Seriously, I’m OK.’
‘Of course you are,’ Kit says, his voice oozing sympathy.
‘Sounds like you’re the one we need to keep an eye on, Kit,’ Josh says. ‘You’re acting like a right weirdo.’
‘I wasn’t talking to you.’ Kit clenches his fists, suddenly mad.
‘Ooh, testosterone surge alert.’ Pepper rolls her eyes. ‘Come on, Kit, let’s get your muscles working on the first-floor toilets.’
Kit gives a low growl, then turns away as Pepper ushers him and Anna out of the kitchen. Josh and I are alone.
‘Hey.’ He glances at me and smiles, looking suddenly self-conscious.
‘Hey yourself.’
‘Right . . . I’ve apples for you to peel, then crumble mix to make and peas to shell.’ Mrs Moncrieff bustles in.
Josh rolls his eyes. ‘Great,’ he says. ‘Bring on the fruit and veg.’
For the next few minutes, Mrs Moncrieff sorts us out with the equipment we’ll need. We’re given two blunt peelers to do the apples with; no knives. Mrs Moncrieff says she’ll core the fruit later.
‘Now are you quite all right, Evie dear?’
‘Great, thanks,’ I mutter.
‘Good, good,’ she says with a smile. ‘I’m afraid I have to leave you as the storeroom is flooded. We moved what we could yesterday, but I want to go through what’s there, see what’s ruined and what can be saved.’
She hurries out of the room and Josh and I get on with our work, applying our peelers to the huge pile of apples Mrs Moncrieff has set in front of us.
‘I saw that look Bunnock gave you earlier,’ Josh says as soon as we’re alone. ‘What was all that about the knives?’
I take a deep breath and tell him. Josh shakes his head.
‘Something very weird is going on.’ He falls silent.
Relieved he isn’t buying into Lomax’s self-harming story, I focus on finishing my apple peeling. I wonder if Josh is remembering our brief kiss. I’d like to find out what he thinks, but my head feels too confused because of Kit to talk about it, so I keep the conversation focused on Samuel’s dramatic departure from the island.
‘I hope he’s OK.’ I chew on my lip. ‘Why d’you think he ran off?’
Josh makes a face. ‘Dunno, but he’s kind of strange and he knows lots of things, so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he could handle a motorboat even in a storm all the way to the mainland. He obviously remembered exactly how to pick the lock on the corridor door and I only showed him how to do it once, using a bit of wire, which is much harder than with my long pins.’
‘I see,’ I say.
Josh sighs. ‘Samuel’s smarter than you think – and he definitely knows stuff your average person doesn’t.’
‘That’s true,’ I say, remembering Samuel’s story about the dead kitten inside the sausage. ‘You know, he said he had something important to tell me yesterday, but when I asked what it was he just said he’d tell me later and of course, by the time we got back, he’d run off.’
‘That’s certainly odd.’ Josh lays down his apple peeler. ‘But, again, Samuel is odd. D’you think he just wanted to tell you another strange fact?’
‘At the time I did, but now . . .’ I frown. ‘Now I’m thinking that the way he was talking was different from when he tells you about trees or animals or whatever. He looked worried, like it was a seriously big deal.’
‘If it was such a big deal, why not tell you there and then?’ Josh asks.
‘I don’t know, but he did get called away,’ I say.
‘Mmm . . . do you think what he wanted to say had anything to do with the knife being put under your pillow?’ Josh asks. ‘Maybe Samuel saw whoever did that.’
I shrug. ‘Maybe.’
‘Hey.’ Josh looks up, his eyes widening with excitement. ‘Perhaps Samuel wrote down whatever it was.’
I wrinkle my nose. ‘Why d’you think he’d have done that?’
‘He writes down lots of stuff in this notebook. He keeps it up in our room, in that hiding place I told you about. It’s worth a look, don’t you think?’
‘Yes.’ I stand up. ‘I know they lock the doors up there during the day, but could you get us into the boys’ bedroom?’ I ask. Josh stares at me. ‘Now?’
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘I remember that after our first day you said you’d carry stuff for picking locks at all times . . . or was that a joke?’
A slow smile creeps across Josh’s lips. ‘No joke,’ he says. ‘Let’s go.’
The boys’ bedroom looks just like the girls’ with three beds, each set with a simple white cover.
Josh kneels down at the far end of the room and pulls away the small armchair that sits in front of the wall.
‘Is that the hiding place?’ I ask.
‘Yeah, under this floorboard,’ Josh explains. ‘I found it on the first night. Samuel and I were using it for our contraband.’
I wrinkle my nose. ‘I can’t believe Samuel had contraband.’
‘He didn’t really, just his notebook and a bit of food we smuggled up from the kitchen. Here . . .’ Josh curls his fingers under the edge of a patch of floorboard about seven centimetres long, then lifts it up. Underneath I can see his little MP3 player, plus the charger, then the edge of a piece of stiff white card.
‘What’s that?’ I ask, pointing at the card.
‘Dunno. I didn’t notice it last night when I put the player back.’ Josh kneels down and puts his hand into the gap. He feels along the dusty plank of wood and draws out the white paper. He turns it over.
It’s my missing photo of Irina, the one from under my pillow.
I gasp. ‘This is mine,’ I say. ‘It’s the picture I found in Lomax’s office, the one that got swapped for the knife. What’s it doing here?’
Josh shakes his head. ‘Maybe Samuel switched them.’
I frown. ‘Then why did he want to talk to me so badly?’
Josh doesn’t answer, he’s staring down at the photo. ‘This is your birth mum?’ he asks. ‘You don’t look much like her.’
‘I know.’ Something shrivels inside me. Kit had seen a similarity or at least he’d said he did. ‘She was really pretty, much prettier than me.’
‘Nah, to be honest, she looks too thin, like unhealthy-looking. You’re way better-looking,’ Josh says matter-of-factly. ‘How come Samuel has it?’
‘No idea,’ I say, my face burning. Does he mean that about me being better looking than graceful, beautiful Irina? ‘Last time I saw it, it was under my pillow.’
Josh frowns, then reaches into the hole again. ‘Let’s see if the notebook is here.’ His fingers probe under the floorboards. ‘Yeah, look.’ He draws out a small notebook with a black cover, opens it and squints down at the first page.
‘What’s in it?’
‘On this page, Samuel facts,’ Josh says wryly. ‘Written in the tiniest writing you’ve ever seen.’ He hands me the notebook. I scan the open page. Every millimetre is covered with minute sentences:
one quarter of the bones in your body are in your feet, people have on average seven million breaths every year, everyone has a tongue print as well as ten fingerprints, the northern leopard frog pushes its food down its throat with its eyes, when a glacier melts it fizzes
And so on.
‘You’d think he’d have taken this with him.’ I flick through the pages to the final few entries. I read the last line and my jaw drops.
‘Have you found something?’ Josh asks, edging closer.
I nod, unable to speak.
‘Show me.’
I shove the notebook at him, but even as I hand it over the final entry stays imprinted on my brain:
I just found Lomax’s gun and I know why it’s there. It’s to kill Evie.
Twenty-four
Josh looks up at me. His expressive face is etched with a deep frown.
‘D’you think this is for real?’ he asks.
�
�Yes, I do.’ A chill settles inside me. ‘I’m already sure Lomax killed my mum on this island and somehow covered it up. Samuel must have found out that he wants to kill me to stop me from revealing what he did. The knife under my pillow must have something to do with it too.’
Josh’s frown deepens. ‘D’you really think that . . .?’ He pauses. ‘What about your mum’s photo?’
‘Maybe Samuel found the photo at the same time as he found out what Lomax is planning.’
‘Or maybe someone else put the photo here,’ Josh says thoughtfully. ‘Kit knows we keep stuff under this floorboard, nobody else does.’
I stare at him. Could Kit be involved?
‘Think about it, Evie; he’s been acting really oddly, like all aggressive and stuff.’
I chew on my lip. What Josh says is true. Kit was aggressive earlier, at least to Josh. Plus, he has dismissed my belief that I’ve seen Irina’s ghost – or that she might have been murdered here – and he’s going along with the idea that I put a knife under my pillow so I could hurt myself.
On the other hand, Kit has no possible reason to want to hurt me. If anything, the last time I saw him he was over-the-top concerned that I might want to hurt myself.
‘It’s not him,’ I say. ‘It’s got to be Lomax. Anyway, none of this explains why Samuel felt so desperate that he stole the Aurora and left the island instead of waiting to talk to me later.’
‘Maybe he got scared when we went missing,’ Josh suggests.
‘You mean he thought I was already dead? That’s why he took the boat, to get away from Lomax? Get to safety himself?’
‘Exactly. Oh man, this is heavy.’ Josh replaces the floorboard and draws the armchair back into position. ‘What do you want to do?’
‘We have to tell—’ I start.
‘What are you doing in here?’ Kit stands in the doorway, a big scowl on his handsome face.
I spin round, instinctively hiding the notebook and photo behind my back.
‘Nothing,’ Josh says.
Kit glares at him. ‘I wasn’t asking you.’ He turns to me. ‘Evie, why are you here? You’re not supposed to be in this room.’ He jerks his thumb at Josh. ‘Especially not with him.’
‘Oh, chill out, for goodness’ sake,’ Josh snaps. ‘I was just trying to help her.’
‘Yeah and I know exactly how you’d like to do that,’ Kit spits, clenching his fists and storming towards Josh.
‘Calm down,’ I say. ‘Both of you.’
Kit reluctantly stops, though he’s still glaring at Josh.
‘Are you OK, Evie?’ he asks. ‘I’ve been worrying about you all morning.’
‘I’m fine,’ I say. I draw the notebook out from behind my back. ‘I’m with Josh because he helped me find this. It’s Samuel’s. Look.’ I point to the entry we’ve just read.
Kit takes the notebook and scans the page. ‘OK, I can see this looks alarming,’ he says, ‘but you have to remember who wrote it. I mean, Samuel’s probably imagining things.’
‘He doesn’t imagine things. You know that as well as I do,’ I say, my chest tightening.
‘OK, then he’s got it wrong.’ Kit peers down at the notebook again. ‘Even if he found some sort of gun, it’s probably not real or, if it is, it’s used for killing rabbits or something. You shouldn’t be worried about it anyway.’
‘This isn’t about me being worried, it’s about Lomax wanting to kill me because I’ve found out he murdered my birth mum.’
‘What?’ Kit’s eyes widen. ‘That’s what you think? Is that why you hid that knife?’
‘I told you a million times I didn’t hide the knife. I don’t know anything about the knife.’ My voice rises.
‘OK, OK.’ Kit raises his hands, patting the air as if to calm me down. ‘But . . . well, don’t you think all this . . . a knife, a gun . . . it’s all a bit too much of a coincidence? And, even if any of it is true, what would be the point of risking everything to kill you when you don’t even have any evidence against him? Plus, there’s no way Mr Lomax is capable of committing a murder.’
‘He is capable of it,’ I argue.
‘And of covering it up for fifteen years,’ Josh adds darkly.
‘Why on earth would Mr Lomax have killed your mum anyway?’ Kit goes on, pointedly ignoring Josh. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’
‘Maybe he liked her and she rejected him,’ Josh suggests, an edge to his voice.
Kit glares at him.
‘Yes, perhaps he fell in love with her and invited her to the island.’ A lump lodges in my throat as I imagine Irina, her eyes sparkling as she happily agreed to visit Lightsea, only to find out when she arrived that Lomax had darker intentions. ‘Maybe he tried it on and my mum said no because of me back at home.’ I gulp. ‘And then Lomax pushed her off Easter Rock out of jealousy.’
‘For goodness’ sake,’ Kit mutters.
Ignoring him, Josh turns to me. ‘What do you want to do, Evie?’
I consider for a moment. ‘We should tell Mr Bradley,’ I say. ‘He’s the only adult physically strong enough to confront Mr Lomax.’
‘Evie, please.’ Kit reaches for my hand. ‘I’m so worried about you. You’re being paranoid . . . I think maybe you’re seriously ill.’
I take a step away from him.
‘Telling Bradley’s a good idea.’ Josh makes his way to the door. ‘Coming, Evie?’
I look at Kit. His expression is furious, but I can see the hurt in his eyes too.
‘I’m not ill.’ The words spill out of me. ‘Why won’t you believe me?’
Kit frowns. He says nothing. Josh waits, watching us from the door.
I walk out of the room without looking back, then follow Josh down the stairs. The photo of Irina and the notebook are still clutched in my hand. Josh doesn’t speak as we hurry down both flights of steps. My heart feels heavy in my chest at Kit’s refusal to trust me, but as we reach the entry hall fear overrides my misery. I point along the corridor towards Lomax’s office, then put my finger to my lips.
‘Lomax could be here,’ I mouth.
‘OK, then we need to find Bradley urgently.’ Josh glances up and down the deserted hall. ‘He’s probably still checking for storm damage outside.’
‘Where do you think he might have—?’ But, before I can finish my question, Mr Bradley himself strides into view.
‘Where are the others?’ he demands.
‘Cleaning bathrooms, I think,’ I say, rushing over to him. ‘Please, Mr Bradley, I really need to talk to—’
‘Get the others and meet me outside in two minutes,’ Mr Bradley orders, marching over to the front door. ‘There’s a big mess outside the boathouse that needs clearing up before the storm starts up again.’
‘But sir—’
But Mr Bradley has already gone, slamming the front door shut behind him.
‘Let’s get the others, fast,’ Josh says. ‘It’ll be easier to make him listen then. I’ll fetch Kit, you find the girls.’ He sets off, racing up the stairs two at a time. I follow him as far as the first floor. Pepper’s voice booms out of the bathroom along the corridor. I run towards it.
‘How are you doing that without barfing?’ she’s saying as I rush into the room.
Anna is peering into the toilet bowl. Pepper stands over her, a disdainful expression on her face.
‘Hey, Evie,’ Pepper says, glancing over. ‘Anna reckons the plumbing is about to blow up.’
‘I didn’t say that . . .’ Anna looks up, blushing furiously. ‘I just said it was a bit inefficient.’ She catches sight of my anxious face. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asks.
There’s no time to explain. I have to get out of the building, avoiding Mr Lomax at all costs, and tell Mr Bradley everything I’ve discovered.
‘We’ve been ordered outside. Now.’ Without waiting for either girl to react, I turn on my heel and run back downstairs. I grab my boots and attempt to tug them on, but the laces are stuck in a tight knot, presumably from where I
pulled them off yesterday. Swearing loudly, I try to drag the boots on anyway. It’s no good, the knot just tightens. As I fumble to unpick it, Kit and Josh appear and collect their own footwear. Kit says nothing. I glance along the corridor towards Lomax’s closed office door. Is he inside? Does he know I’m just out here? As the three of us sit in silence, Pepper strolls into the hall, Anna trotting at her side.
‘Why d’you run off, Evie? Hey, what’s that?’ Pepper asks, pointing to Samuel’s notebook on the seat beside me.
I frown, hoping that if Lomax is in his office he hasn’t heard her say my name.
‘Oh, don’t tell me,’ Pepper says with a loud groan. ‘It’s Loonymax’s latest brilliant idea: he wants us to keep notebooks recording our mental state. I’ll be writing: “bored and disgusted by toilets” in mine. What’ll you put in yours, Evie?’
I look up, an icy shiver crawling down my spine. If Lomax is here, he will almost certainly have heard that.
Except . . . I shake myself. Lomax isn’t going to try to kill me in front of everyone. I need to focus on getting my boots on and going outside to talk to Mr Bradley.
‘Evie?’ Pepper asks impatiently. ‘What’s up?’
‘I’ll tell you later,’ I whisper, turning back to my laces.
‘OK, woman of mystery.’ Pepper grins.
I concentrate on my boots again. Despite all my efforts, the knot is getting worse.
Kit stands up. ‘I’m going out,’ he says.
‘At least I don’t have to stay in that bathroom,’ Pepper says, peeling off her rubber gloves and sitting down with a theatrical flourish. ‘I don’t think I could have stood any more of that blocked toilet.’
‘It wasn’t blocked,’ Anna says with a sigh, fetching her boots and sitting beside her. ‘It’s just a really old system.’
Anna ties her bootlaces in a neat bow, then follows Kit outside, while Pepper tugs her own boots on with a sigh. Josh shuffles from foot to foot, impatient as he waits for us. Cursing again, I redouble my efforts with the knot. Pepper keeps up a steady stream of grumbling chatter beside me, but I hardly hear a word. Thoughts career around my head:
Lomax murdered my mum on this island, then covered it up.
All My Secrets Page 14