The Lights Under the Lake

by Sophie Cleverly

  “Good morning, girls!” Mrs Knight greeted us. We chorused ‘good morning’s back, although it was a lot quieter than it usually was in the school assembly hall. “We’ve got quite a treat for you today! We were just going to go for a walk in the forest, but Miss Moss here has volunteered to give us some instruction in orienteering! Isn’t that wonderful?”

  There was some uncertain mumbling. I wasn’t sure that everyone knew what orienteering actually was. I had some vague ideas that it involved wandering with a compass, but beyond that I had no idea.

  Phyllis stepped forward. “Hello, all! I’ve prepared a bit of an orienteering experience for you.” She smiled nervously. “I didn’t have time to set out a proper course with needle punches and all that, but I hope we’ll have a jolly good time anyway.” She picked up the papers off the ground. “I’ve borrowed all the maps of the surrounding countryside that the hotel had, so we can split into groups of …” She went up on tiptoes and quickly counted our heads. “About five. So we’ll split up and head off around the local area …”

  I noticed then that Miss Bowler was looking a bit put out. She had her arms folded and her nose in the air. Had she been the one who was supposed to run the day’s activity? “Hmmph,” she sniffed. “And how do you know the local area?”

  Phyllis looked over at her, and her eyes widened like a puppy. I think Miss Bowler had upset her. “I-I studied the maps yesterday after I arrived. It’s my profession, after all. And I was interested, of course.” She turned back to the rest of us, her sunny smile returning and the papers waving in her hand. “So I’ve written out some sheets for each group that list landmarks you have to find on the map. The waterfall, the caves, that sort of thing. You will … oh! Who has the pencils?”

  Mrs Knight handed her a small cardboard box that rattled.

  “Ah, good! Yes, so you will get a pencil, and you need to tick off when you’ve found each one. The first team to get back here will be the winners!”

  Nadia’s hand shot up. “What do we win?”

  Mrs Knight smiled. “You get the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done a good job and worked well together as a team.”

  “That’s not a prize,” Nadia moaned. There was mass grumbling. Scarlet looked very disappointed.

  “Nobody said there was a prize,” Miss Bowler snapped. “Now everyone shut up and listen!”

  Phyllis held up the map, pulled a compass from the box at her feet and began explaining the basics of navigating. I noticed Ariadne was nodding along as if she knew it all already, which given the amount of reading she did, was quite likely.

  When she was finished, the teachers began splitting everyone into groups. I heard Mrs Knight say something about prefects and supervision, and my heart sank. “Oh no …”

  “What?” said Scarlet.

  But Miss Bowler was already scanning the crowd. She pointed somewhere behind us. “You there! Sparks! Get over here!”

  We watched as Elsie trudged towards us like she had weights in her shoes. “Yes, Miss?”

  “These four can be a group,” she said, waving her hand over Scarlet, Ariadne, Rose and me. “And you can be in charge.”

  Elsie’s mouth stretched into a grin. “Yes, Miss. Of course, Miss.”

  Chapter Ten

  SCARLET

  t had been bad enough being stuck with Elsie for two bus rides, let alone having to drag ourselves around a dark forest with her. Especially when her friend had just been such a witch to Rose. But Miss Bowler was on the warpath because Phyllis had taken her limelight, and I didn’t feel like arguing on this occasion.

  “Does anyone else get the impression Elsie likes being in charge?” I muttered.

  Rose tried to shuffle behind me and Ivy, and I didn’t blame her.

  Phyllis came over and handed Elsie the various bits and pieces she’d been demonstrating, along with a whistle that was apparently supposed to save us if we got lost. “I hope you were paying attention, girls,” she said. “Now, I want your group to head down the drive and start by the lake.”

  “Of course,” said Elsie with a smile, but she dropped it as soon as Phyllis had moved on. “Ugh. I don’t see why we have to split up.”

  “Because otherwise we’d all find the landmarks at the same time, which would completely defeat the point?” I said. I’d lost all patience with her already, and we’d only been in a group together for five minutes.

  “Shut up,” Elsie snapped back.

  “OK, everyone!” Mrs Knight called out, waving a map to get our attention. “Try to be back here in three hours for lunch!”

  Phyllis stood next to her. “I’ll be walking around and keeping an eye on how everyone is doing. Remember, if you get lost, head downhill towards the lake. You should be able to see the hotel and some of the big landmarks from the shore. If you still can’t find your way, make sure to leave a trail so others can find you. Use your maps wisely. All right, off we go!” She clapped her hands.

  “Right.” Elsie shoved the map and compass into my hands. “You lot can lead the way. I’ll follow.”

  “We can do all the work for you, you mean?” I couldn’t believe it. She had to be joking.

  She just waved a perfect prefect hand at me as if she were the king or something. “Go on,” she said with a smirk. It was just like being back in first year, with Violet treating me like a slave.

  I dragged the other girls into a little circle away from Elsie. If she wanted to be left out, then fine, we’d leave her out. I wasn’t going to waste such a good opportunity to explore somewhere other than Rookwood. “All right,” I said. “Who’s good at map reading?”

  Ariadne raised her hand. “Ooh! Ooh! Me!”

  “You don’t have to raise your hand, Ariadne, we’re not in class.” I handed her the map.

  Rose reached out and tapped my hand. “Compass?” I asked. She nodded. “OK, Rose can do the compass.” I prodded Ivy. “We can tick off the landmarks. And Elsie can go for a nice long walk off a short pier.”

  “Scarlet,” Ivy warned, but I could tell she was amused.

  “I want to take photographs of the landmarks as well,” Ariadne said, putting the map between her knees for a moment and twiddling the knobs on her camera. “I expect they’ll be quite spectacular.”

  So we wandered off back down the hotel drive in the direction of the lake, just as a fine mist of rain began falling from the sky, almost welcome in the warm weather. Thankfully, Elsie was trailing behind us at a safe distance, and so far hadn’t actually opened her mouth.

  When we were further down the road, near the crumbling Pleas enjo your sty sign, Ivy stopped. “Did you hear that?” she said.

  “Hear what?” I hadn’t heard anything.

  She peered into the bushes. “I thought I heard rustling.”

  “It was probably a squirrel or a deer,” said Ariadne thoughtfully. Her eyes went bright. “Perhaps I could photograph it!”

  I grabbed her arm before she could run off into the bushes. “No, Ariadne. Let’s stay on track, shall we? We haven’t even got to our starting point yet.”

  We finally reached the lake, which was very different in the daylight. I stopped briefly on the road to take a look. It was amazing even under the grey clouds, shimmering silver like an enormous mirror. The trees surrounded it in an endless sea of green, their branches gently waving in the breeze. It was so quiet and tranquil.

  “Hurry up, Grey!” Elsie yelled from behind me.

  Well. Perhaps not that quiet and tranquil.

  Ariadne was studying the map as she walked. “I think we should head for the dam first as it’s nearby. And not difficult to spot!” She pointed south, and I saw what she meant. It was a towering structure made of grey stone, topped with huge arches like the battlements of some great fortress.

  As we walked closer, the sound of rushing water grew and grew until it was practically a roar. Rose clamped her hands over her ears.

  “What is that?” Ivy asked, or more accurately, shouted. />
  But as the road came up to the edge of the dam, we could see what was happening. Water was cascading from the holes and spilling down the side in an enormous white torrent, spanning the whole width of the lake.

  “Gosh,” said Ariadne, raising her camera to take a picture. “This is what’s holding back all that water!”

  Even Elsie looked awestruck. At least for a moment. “Is this one of the things we have to find?” She tried to snatch the piece of paper off me, but I held on to it.

  “Yes,” I said indignantly.

  “Right! Tick it off, then! I want this to be over as soon as possible!”

  I held the paper up in the air and tried to draw a tick in the box in the slowest, most sarcastic way I could manage. She glared back at me. Nothing new there.

  She stalked round to where Ariadne was taking pictures and grabbed the map off her. “Let’s go to the caves,” she said. “Come on.” Then suddenly she was walking off into the forest, and we had to run after her, the sound of the rushing water fading into the background.

  The forest surrounded the lake, and as soon as you got a little way in, the trees began to block out the sun, the light only shining through in pinpricks. The smell of pine filled the air, and the ground was a mass of mud and needles that the trees had dropped, almost like a carpet.

  We got quite a way in, all of us staring up in awe at our surroundings.

  “Does she even know where we’re going?” Ivy asked as we hurried after the prefect, who was striding along as if she owned the forest.

  Rose showed Ariadne the compass. “It’s roughly the right direction … I think,” Ariadne said. “Oh, I wish she’d give the map back!”

  I tried to speed up, but seconds later my foot caught on something and I went flying into the mud. I cried out, my hands scraping the ground as I tumbled.

  “Scarlet!” Ivy hurried over. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I said, scrambling to my feet. “I just tripped on something.” I looked down at myself. Ugh. There was mud all up my stockings and pine needles stuck to my sore hands. I brushed them off on my knees.

  Ariadne and Rose caught up. “What did you trip on?” Ariadne asked.

  I looked down at where I’d fallen, and brushed away a pile of needles. Something cream-coloured shone through. I dug it out, and then I realised what it was.

  It was a skull.

  “Urrgggh!” I dropped it immediately.

  Ivy had gone pale. “I don’t like skulls.”

  Ariadne crouched down, looking fascinated. “I think it’s a goat,” she said. “Or maybe a sheep.”

  “It’s horrible is what it is,” I said, regretting that I’d touched the thing. In school we had a human skeleton named Wilhelmina that I’d used as a genius hiding place, but it was old and clean and white. This was none of those things. “I’m going to wash my hands three times when we get back to the hotel.”

  Apparently Elsie had heard the commotion and wandered over. “That wasn’t very graceful now, was it?” she said, looking me up and down. “I thought you were a ballet dancer?”

  I snatched the map off her and handed it to Ariadne. “And I thought you weren’t a total idiot, but we can’t be right all the time, can we?”

  She drew herself up to her full height and stood over me, her arms twitching at her sides. “Right, Grey. Are you asking for a fight?”

  “Well, let me tell you—” I started.

  “Um,” Ariadne said loudly.

  I froze, my hand halfway into the air, Elsie looking like she was just about to shove me, and turned to look at Ariadne’s anxious face.

  “I think we’re lost,” she said.

  Chapter Eleven

  IVY

  peered over my best friend’s shoulder at the map.

  “What do you mean, we’re lost?” Elsie demanded.

  “Well, I’m afraid it’s your fault,” said Ariadne, in what was possibly the politest accusation ever. “I’m not certain if we went in the right direction, and now I don’t know exactly where we are.”

  Rose pointed downhill. “We should go to the lake,” she whispered.

  I knew what she meant. “Yes, Miss Moss said we should head downhill towards the lake if we got lost.”

  We all looked around. The land was only very slightly sloping at this point, and I couldn’t say for certain which way was downhill. I thought I could hear the rushing of the dam very slightly, but I didn’t know which direction it was coming from.

  I shivered a little. It was much colder in the shade than it was out in the sunlight, and it suddenly felt like the trees were giants, closing in on us.

  And as I listened, I heard it again. A rustling noise, though this time it sounded like footsteps on the carpet of pine needles. This time the others heard it too, and we all looked around.

  “Hello?” Scarlet called out. “Is anyone there? Nadia?” she tried. “Anna?”

  But there was no answer. I frowned.

  “Probably just birds,” Elsie snapped. “Now can we please sort out where we’re going?”

  “This is your fault,” Scarlet reminded her.

  Before they could start shoving each other, Rose stepped forward and started walking off into the trees. I had no idea if she knew where she was going, but I didn’t think it was a good moment to ask. If she had a plan, I was going to follow. The other girls trailed after us, Scarlet and Elsie still bickering.

  Rose was moving quickly, but her head was tilted down – she was looking at something on the ground. Eventually, the forest thinned out a little and she came to a halt in front of a rock face, the rest of us breathless behind her.

  “Look,” she said quietly.

  “The caves!” I exclaimed. “You found them!”

  There was a huge black opening in the rock. I went over to it and felt the chill of the shade as I heard the echo of water dripping somewhere deep inside.

  “We’re not lost, then!” said Scarlet, cheering up a little. Elsie remained unimpressed.

  Rose pointed at the ground. Ariadne looked down and said: “Oh! Tracks!”

  So Rose had followed the tracks to get here? I could see them, now she’d pointed them out: animal tracks in the mud.

  “Looks like a fox, or a badger, maybe,” Ariadne continued. She handed the map to Rose and put her camera up to her eye, stalking through the mud to try to get a good picture. “They probably shelter in the caves. Oh!” she said suddenly.

  “What?” Scarlet asked.

  “There’s some people footprints too. Probably some of the others got here first. Perhaps Miss Moss – she said she was going to walk around and …” Ariadne paused for a moment. “Oh …”

  “What?” It was me this time.

  “I think I’m stuck.”

  It took quite a lot of tugging to free Ariadne, and she came out without her boot. We managed to dig it out separately, but it didn’t look like it would ever be clean again. At least she didn’t seem to mind too much.

  Eventually we found ourselves back at the lake, having ticked off most of the list on the way: the caves, the waterfall, the stone cairn, the tallest tree (marked with a wooden sign) and the ancient-looking tree split in two by a lightning strike. And of course, Ariadne had photographed all of them. That meant the only thing left to find was the tower.

  Once Rose had pointed us in the right direction with the compass and we had found the track that circled the lake once again, the tower wasn’t hard to spot. In fact, it was difficult to miss.

  It stood proud over the water like something out of a fairy tale. Made of the same dark stone as the dam, it was tall and rounded with pointed turrets, their rooftops made of a greenish copper.

  “It looks magical,” Ariadne sighed.

  “What do you suppose it was built for?” I asked. I wondered if it was a folly, some rich lord’s idea of something to impress his beloved.

  “I think it was built at the same time as the dam,” said Ariadne. “Or at least it looks that wa
y.” And she was right, it did. They were a very similar style.

  I suddenly had the feeling that we were being watched, but as I turned I found Elsie peering over my shoulder. “I can see the blasted tower,” she said. “Cross it off.”

  “We’re supposed to go there,” I said. “Or else what’s the point?”

  “What’s the point of any of this?” Elsie’s face flushed red.

  “Working together as a team?” Ariadne offered.

  Elsie narrowed her eyes. “I don’t want to work as a team with any of you. You should be doing as I say, or I’ll tell Mrs Knight that you didn’t behave.”

  “We rarely do,” muttered Scarlet.

  “We’re going back,” said the prefect decisively, “because I’m tired and hungry and I’m fed up with having to traipse around after you lot.” Evidently she wasn’t feeling the magic of the surroundings. “And I want to help Cassie find her necklace. That is, if it isn’t the one round your neck.” She looked pointedly at Rose.

  Rose cowered back, her hand rising protectively, though you could no longer see her necklace at all. She shook her head, over and over.

  “Then you’ll let me see it, won’t you?” Elsie tried again. She took a step closer, reminding me uncomfortably of a wolf stalking a sheep.

  “All right, fine,” Scarlet snapped, jumping in front of her. “We’ll go back. Just leave Rose alone. How many times do we have to tell you that necklace is hers?”

  “Hmph,” Elsie said, and turned quickly, her hair whipping past her ears. Then she was striding away – probably in the wrong direction again.

  “Well, we can see the tower,” I said, reluctantly ticking it off the list. “I suppose that sort of counts.” I longed to go near it, to find out what was inside. I imagined a princess brushing her long golden hair out of the top window, or a beanstalk climbing its way up to meet a giant.

  I sighed. Life was rarely a fairy tale.

  We finally made it back to the hotel courtyard, without getting lost on the way. We sat down heavily on the gravel, back to back. My stomach was growling, my clothes were sticking to me and my feet ached from all the walking.