“Yes, you did,” Ariadne pointed out, “I was right in front of you!”
Miss Bowler turned, nearly tipping her boat over in the process. “Is this true, Sparks?”
“She slipped,” Elsie said, spreading her arms out.
But our swimming teacher was not amused. “What are the three Ss of Swimming, Sparks?”
“There’s only one S in swimming,” she muttered.
“WRONG!” Miss Bowler barked. “They are Safety, Safety and Safety! Back to the shore you go!”
“But, Miss—” Elsie began to protest.
I swam nearer to the boat and held on to the side. Even on a lake, there were waves from the wind. “What about Ariadne, Miss?”
“Flitworth can get in the water and come back in our boat,” the teacher ordered. “Off with you, Sparks!”
Ariadne stood up, looking completely uncertain.
“It’s all right!” I called out to her. “Just a bit cold!”
“I’m not a good swimmer either,” she called back. She rubbed her arms and stamped her feet. “All right,” she said finally. “I’m coming in!”
I watched as Ariadne jumped up and plunged, completely ungracefully, into the lake. “Ack!” she cried as she came to the surface. “Reallyreallyreally cold!”
“I know,” I said with a smile. I reached out and pulled her over to Miss Bowler’s boat, so that she could hold on to it too.
We watched as Elsie furiously rowed away, a scowl twisting her features. “I hope your arms hurt!” Scarlet yelled after her.
Miss Bowler wrapped Rose in a towel. Rose’s skin was whiter than white and her teeth were chattering.
“Did I drop it?” she whispered suddenly. “Did I drop it?” Her hand shot to her neck, and then she frantically patted at her jumper until she eventually found the golden chain of the locket. I heard her breathe a loud sigh of relief.
“Are you all right now, Rose?” I asked. Her nod was a lot faster this time.
Miss Bowler patted her on the back, making her cough up more lake water. “We’ll keep her in the boat this time,” Miss Bowler said.
After the awful incident was over, things started to brighten up. The day was getting warmer, and I slowly got used to the temperature of the water. Scarlet and I swam across the circle of boats, and tried to show Ariadne how to move her arms and legs in the right way. Father had taught us to swim in a rare moment of happiness in our childhood, before he married Edith. I remembered him laughing as Scarlet and I doggy-paddled across the brook; how he smiled and ruffled our hair. As the memory came to my mind, I felt a pang of something, and realised that – however strange it was – I actually missed our father.
We kept checking up on Rose, who seemed to be recovering well enough now that she was safe out of the water, though I could tell she wouldn’t be happy until she was back on dry land.
We swam however we liked, practised diving, hung off the boats. It was so much better than being forced to do lengths of Rookwood’s horrible pool, though I thought Miss Bowler would have preferred it if that had been what we were doing.
“Do you think we’re near the village?” Scarlet asked me at one point.
“No idea!” I replied. All I could see when I dipped my head in the water was shreds of weeds and the odd silvery fish darting by. The bottom of the lake was deep, deep down.
Eventually I got tired, and clambered up into Miss Bowler’s boat (with help). Scarlet followed. Ariadne seemed to have taken to swimming, however, and was still going, enthusiastically bobbing around.
But moments later, as we sat shivering in the bottom of the boat, she cried out.
I immediately leant over the side. “Ariadne!”
“What’s wrong?” Scarlet asked her.
Ariadne was flailing her arms. “Something touched my foot!” She scrambled over to us. “Pull me out, pull me out!”
“Nonsense, Flitworth,” said Miss Bowler. “Buck up.”
“I’m serious!” Ariadne cried.
I believed her, and I knew Scarlet would too. We both reached out and hauled her up, where she tipped awkwardly over the side and lay with her legs flapping like a recently caught fish. We pulled her back upright.
“What happened?” I asked. “What did it feel like?”
She shuddered, and I put my arm round her. “Like a hand grabbing at my foot,” she said darkly.
The cold pricked at my skin. Whatever had touched Ariadne, something was not right about the lake. I found myself longing for the shore.
Miss Bowler rowed us back, and the boat sped across the water even though she was manning the oars alone. She was surprisingly muscular for someone who never seemed to actually swim herself. The other boats trailed after us.
Elsie was waiting beside the jetty, looking miserable, having haphazardly tied up the Adventure. And as we climbed out and wrapped ourselves in the threadbare towels, I noticed that she was holding Ariadne’s camera.
“Hey!” I called out. “That’s Ariadne’s.”
Elsie looked up. “I know,” she said.
I looked around for Miss Bowler, hoping she would give Elsie a telling-off again, but she was already fussing with the other boats.
Ariadne ran down off the jetty. “Put it down, please! My daddy gave it to me!”
“My daddy gave it to me,” Elsie sneered back, mimicking her nastily.
I took a step forward, but Cassandra had already spotted her friend and was hopping down beside her, easily making the drop. “Give me a look, Else,” she said. Ariadne watched in horror as one prefect threw the camera to the other. I could’ve sworn that time stood still for a moment.
“No,” Ariadne whimpered. “Don’t …”
Cassandra threw the camera back again, while Ariadne trailed between the two of them, hopelessly trying to catch it.
I watched as my twin darted down, running across the pebbles. She stood, fists clenched, in front of Cassandra, who towered over her. I knew there was nothing I could do to stop my sister adding fuel to the fire.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “Give that back to Ariadne, right now!”
Cassandra just laughed, and dangled the camera high above Scarlet’s head. There was a flicker of anger on Scarlet’s face, and then suddenly a sweet smile appeared. “Uh-oh,” I whispered. I knew that smile. She was up to something.
Scarlet ran off to the hut where we’d got changed, without looking back.
“What is she playing at?” Elsie laughed. “Giving up already?”
And then Scarlet reappeared, carrying a pile of clothes. I realised what she was doing.
“Oi!” Cassandra yelled. “Are those ours? What the—”
She lowered the camera, and Ariadne grabbed it right out of her hand, but Scarlet had got the prefects’ attention.
My twin now had a look of intense determination, but she made sure to grin at the prefects as she ran past them. And before they had time to react, she threw all of their clothes straight into the lake.
Chapter Twenty
SCARLET
iss Bowler was furious, but it was absolutely worth it.
I got Ariadne’s camera back safely, and the expressions on Elsie and Cassandra’s faces were priceless. Even more priceless was seeing them frantically splashing around in the water as they tried to pick up their clothes.
Since there was no such thing as a detention on a school trip, I was instead banished back to the hotel to write a hundred lines of I will not throw people’s things in the lake (Miss Bowler had absolutely no imagination). I laughed to myself all the way back up the hill, remembering Elsie’s mouth contorting in rage.
As I got closer to the Shady Pines, there was a loud rustling in the undergrowth beside me. I stopped in my tracks, suddenly realising that I was on my own. What if it was a ghost? Or a bear?
I decided that, whatever it was, my best bet was to shout at it. “Who’s there?” I yelled.
And a moment later, I almost jumped out of my skin
as Julian popped out of the bushes.
“Oh, hello!” His hair was sticking up at funny angles and there were leaves in it. “Sorry! Did I startle you?”
I tried to pretend I hadn’t just been about to run screaming back to the hotel. “Not at all,” I said.
He smiled and waved his binoculars at me. “Just hiding out in the hopes that I might spot something rare. Are you keeping an eye out for birds?”
I looked around. “Well, I can see three crows and …” I stared back down the hill. “A seagull, I think.”
He laughed. “Good work. I’m off to the hide, now. Stay out of trouble. Enjoy yourself.” He tipped an invisible hat at me, and then walked off into the woods.
“I’ll enjoy writing lines!” I called after him.
As I reached the hotel, the chill of the lake wearing off and the heat seeping in, I realised that I didn’t actually have anything to write lines with. With a sigh, I went up to the reception desk, where Mrs Rudge was sitting, staring into space.
“Hullo, Mrs Rudge,” I said.
She looked up sharply. “Nothing’s wrong!”
“I … didn’t say it was?” What a weird lady. “I wondered if I could borrow some paper and a pencil?”
“Oh.” Her eyes went down to the desk. “Of course.” She fumbled around in a drawer and produced some for me. “Enjoy yourself,” she added.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I muttered.
I ran into Mrs Knight in the hallway. “Scarlet?” she said. “What are you doing back here?”
“Have to write lines, Miss,” I said.
She frowned at me. “Whatever did you do?”
I looked at my feet. “I may have thrown Elsie and Cassandra’s clothes in the lake …”
When I looked back up at her, I could have sworn she was trying not to laugh. “Well, that was very bad behaviour. I expect better from you.”
“Do you?” I asked. I genuinely wondered.
“Sometimes,” she replied. “Right, into your room, then. We’ll see you at supper, and I want you to behave this time, please.”
“Yes, Miss,” I said. “Of course, Miss.”
I made it back to our room, and I checked everything, staring into our suitcases and peering into the cupboards. It all seemed to be in order. Relieved, I set about writing lines.
A while later, the others came barrelling back in.
“That was brilliant!” Ariadne cried, dropping her camera on to the bed. She hugged me enthusiastically. Ivy and Rose were still grinning. “You showed them!”
I grinned back. “I did. Though I think Miss Bowler showed me in return. I’m sick of writing these.” I threw the piece of paper on to the carpet.
“Elsie and Cassandra had to walk back to the hotel in their swimsuits,” Ivy said. Her smile faded. “It was rather funny, but I think they’ll be out to get us even more now.”
“Ha,” I said. “They can try.”
Ariadne pulled out her suitcase full of photography supplies. “Thank you so much for saving my camera, Scarlet. I’m going to go down and ask if they have a darkroom here, or just a … well, a room that’s dark.”
“Why?” I asked.
She pointed at the camera. “The roll of film is full. I need to change it, and you have to do that in the dark, or all of the film gets exposed.”
I blinked at her. I hadn’t the faintest idea how a camera worked. She didn’t seem to notice.
“It would be wonderful if I could develop them,” she continued. “Then I can see if I’ve got any good ones.”
“I’m sure they’re lovely,” said Ivy pleasantly.
I rolled my eyes as Ariadne picked up all her equipment and headed out of the room. “At least she didn’t make me pose for them this time …”
At dinner, we had vegetable soup and fresh bread with cold cuts of meat. I gulped it down, starving after all the swimming.
Ariadne arrived with a spring in her step. “Well, would you believe it? Mr Rudge has a darkroom.”
“Really?” Ivy asked. “He likes photography, then?”
“It’s down in the basement. He said they have a lot of guests who come to photograph the scenery, and he decided to take it up as a hobby. I think it was the least grumpy thing I’ve ever heard him say.” Ariadne giggled. “All his photographs just seemed to be of trees, though.”
“So where are the ones you took? I’m surprised you haven’t put on an exhibition already,” I teased.
“You have to leave them to dry,” she replied, as if that was obvious. “I’ll go down and get them later.”
I got up and handed my lines to Miss Bowler, who glared at them and said she hoped I’d learnt my lesson. I said I certainly wouldn’t throw anyone’s things in a lake ever again, and I felt fairly sure that I wasn’t lying. There was no sign of the harpies, which was amusing. I hoped they’d stay away from us now. I imagined them sitting in their room, silently fuming.
When I returned to our table, the conversation had turned back to the day’s events. “I’m telling you, something touched my leg,” Ariadne said. “It was incredibly scary.” Though I had to say, she sounded more excited than scared.
“There is something going on with the lake, I swear it,” Ivy said. “And this hotel. But nothing adds up.”
“Maybe we’re the ones who are haunted,” I said through a mouthful of bread. “Strange things seem to happen to us everywhere we go.” I thought for a moment about our mother, about how her shadow had appeared in my dreams. I’d hoped she was watching over us.
My thoughts were interrupted by Cassandra bowling through the restaurant, nearly knocking over the lady in the wheelchair. She came to a halt beside our table and dropped a necklace right into the middle of it.
“What is this?” she demanded.
I looked at it. “Looks like a necklace to me. A gold one. With a locket.”
Cassie leant over the table. “It’s my necklace,” she fumed. “And we just found it in your room.”
I clenched my fists. “What were you doing going through our things?”
“Well, you had no problem throwing our things in the lake. I knew you little brats were up to something,” she snarled. “So we decided to do a search. And we found this in her bed.” She pointed at Rose, whose eyes went wide. “So she is a thief, AND a freak.”
Everyone was staring. Mrs Knight had noticed the commotion, and she rushed over. “What’s going on, girls?”
Cassandra straightened up again and smiled sweetly. “Nothing, Miss. I just found my necklace, is all. I was just letting everyone know.”
“Oh, well, that is good news,” said Mrs Knight. “Carry on, then.” She wandered back to where she had been standing and supervising, looking envious of the food on plates as she went past.
Cassandra leant back down, and stared intently at Rose. “I know what you are,” she said.
Rose jumped up, her soup spilling on the white tablecloth. With one last look at Cassandra, she ran out of the room.
“A dirty thief!” Cassandra finished, fists clenched, and then she too stormed away.
“What just happened?” Ivy asked, baffled.
I shook my head. “I have no idea. But …” I played through the afternoon in my mind. “I looked through our room when I got back, to see if anyone had taken anything. And it didn’t look like anything had been touched or moved. Do you think Cassandra just planted the necklace?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Ariadne sighed.
One of the maids hurried over and began cleaning up the soup, so we paused for a moment. We thanked her, and she gave us a distracted smile.
“Either that,” said Ivy, looking worried as the maid bustled away, “or Rose actually took it.” She paused. “But she wouldn’t do that. Would she?”
“Of course not,” said Ariadne. “Of course not.” She didn’t look entirely convinced. “I’m sure I would have noticed if there were a necklace in our bed.”
“Unless it was hidden in a
pillow or something,” Ivy pointed out.
“Or in the mattress,” I suggested.
“And …” Ivy leant forward and lowered her voice. “Why did Rose react like that, when Cassandra said she knew what she was?”
We all looked at each other. None of us wanted to say it, but … maybe there was something going on with Rose. Could we really trust her?
Chapter Twenty-one
IVY
e found Rose huddled in a corner of the hotel room. She had a blanket pulled tightly round her. We tried to ask her if she was all right, but her silence had returned. This time, she didn’t even mime an answer. She simply stared at the wall. It was at times like this that I missed Violet, who had always seemed to be able to communicate with her.
I was going to avoid asking about the necklace, because I didn’t want to upset her any further. Scarlet, however, was not so tactful. “You didn’t take her locket, did you?” she asked. There was no response.
“We should give her some space,” I said. Cassandra’s comment had clearly distressed Rose. I knelt down beside her. She was softly shaking beneath the blanket. “I’m sorry about all this,” I said. “Do you want us to go away for a bit?”
Her eyes flicked over to me, and she nodded very slowly.
That decided it. I herded the others back out of the room.
“Just one problem with this,” said Scarlet.
“Um, yes,” said Ariadne. “We’re supposed to be going to bed. Where are we going to go?”
“We could go and steal some more soup?” Scarlet suggested. I didn’t even bother dignifying that with an answer.
I looked up and down the corridor. Some of the doors were open, with a few of the girls heading out to use the lavatory or brush their teeth. There were some separate bathrooms as well, which was a relief, because I hadn’t fancied using the bath in the middle of the room in the first place, let alone after the strange incident where it had filled up by itself. The familiar smell of the oil lamps swam on the air.
Nadia popped out of the door to the room she was sharing with Anna, carrying a towel and a toothbrush. “Oh!” she exclaimed as she nearly ran into us. “What was all that about at dinner? Are they still angry about their clothes getting soaked? Because personally, I found that rather hilarious.”
The Lights Under the Lake Page 11