Secret Journal

by Laura Sieveking

  ‘Zoe! What’s happened? Why are you so upset?’

  ‘Oh, Ella, it’s terrible,’ she sniffled, pulling a tissue out of her dress pocket. She blew her nose and dabbed her eyes. ‘I can’t do this. I can’t host the luncheon!’

  I looked at my friend’s face. Her green eyes shimmered with tears as she looked pleadingly back at me. ‘Zoe, you will be fine,’ I reassured her. ‘You’ve spoken in front of a crowd many, many times! You are one of the best debaters in Year 7—this is no worse than standing up for a debate.’

  ‘It’s not that,’ she said, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. ‘It’s my anklet. The good-luck anklet my Nonna gave me. I’ve lost it! And I’ve never done any public speaking without it!’

  ‘Well,’ I said slowly, ‘are you sure you’ve had it at every single debate? You must have done some debates without it, and that went OK, right?’

  ‘Wrong!’ she cried. ‘I forgot it once and completely messed up. I can’t do it without it.’

  I knew this wasn’t the truth. Zoe could do the speech without her anklet. But I also knew that I had no time to convince her of that. As my Nanna Kate says, sometimes, when somebody has a truth so firmly implanted in their heads, you just have to run with it.

  ‘Where did you have it last?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said, shaking her head.

  I thought. ‘You had it when we went into the bush for Art class,’ I said. ‘Remember? Grace told you to tuck it into your sock. Did you have it later that day?’

  Zoe frowned as she retraced her steps through that day. ‘I don’t think I did,’ she said. ‘I must have lost it in the bush! I remember pulling my socks down while we were drawing so I could get some sun on my legs.’

  I swallowed hard and looked at my watch. There was no time to get permission to go searching through the bush. Monty would never allow it. And there was no way to sneak out there to look … or was there?

  ‘I’m going to find it for you,’ I said, pulling my apron off over my head.

  ‘What, how?’ Zoe stammered.

  ‘I’ll use the secret passage. Don’t worry, Zo, I won’t let you down.’

  ‘But, Ella, there’s no time—’ Zoe began to shout after me.

  I didn’t hear what else she had to say. I was already on my way out the door. I had to help my best friend.

  Chapter 17

  I tore through the grounds of the school, back towards the dormitory. I knew I could get into trouble for this, but my best friend really needed me. I ran across the lawn in front of the dorm, leaping over the garden beds and taking a short cut across the rose garden, which is out of bounds. Then I ran through the front door of the house.

  It was eerily quiet. I knew most of the students were already at the Alumni Luncheon, either entertaining their guests or helping out. And the rest of the school would have been in class. Technically, I wasn’t allowed to be in the dorm at this time of the day.

  I ran up the steps, taking them two at a time, and sprinted up the hallway towards the bathroom. I burst through the doors, looked around and was relieved that nobody else seemed to be in there. I stopped to catch my breath, and only then did I notice the final cubicle door was closed. The toilet flushed and someone turned the lock.

  ‘Ella, what are you doing here?’ Saskia asked as she stepped out.

  No!

  ‘I just wanted to neaten myself up before the luncheon,’ I mumbled. I knew it was a lame excuse, and, judging by Saskia’s face, she thought so, too.

  ‘I was just collecting some of my work to show my family, who are here today. It’s such a special day for us,’ she gushed.

  ‘Sure is,’ I said quickly, willing Saskia to leave.

  She washed her hands slowly.

  ‘I saw on the list you are in the washing-up crew!’ she cackled. ‘It’s so unfair for you.’

  I breathed in deeply, biting my tongue.

  ‘I mean, it’s just not fair you are stuck in the kitchen with the grime and the soap suds, while I get to be at the luncheon like a princess!’ she said.

  ‘Yep, it’s a Cinderella story, that’s for sure,’ I said. ‘Are you done here?’

  Saskia frowned. ‘Well, yes, I am, thank you, bossy boots.’ She dried her hands and clopped huffily out of the bathroom, letting the door swing shut behind her.

  I let out a breath of relief. That was close. Thankfully, I knew Saskia would be too busy being ‘queen for a day’ to think about what I might be doing in the bathroom.

  I walked over to the panel and tried to slide it along the runner. It didn’t budge. I remembered last time: it had to be pushed in a bit first before it would slide. I pushed hard, but the panel remained in place. I pounded it with my fists, but again, it didn’t budge. I tried using all my weight, pushing with my shoulder, to make it move, but no matter how hard I tried, it was still stuck firm.

  I frowned. I thought of Zoe, tearily relying on me back at the function hall. I thought of Saskia, parading around like she owned the school, making everyone feel inferior. And I thought of young Elena, without a friend in the world, yet being brave nonetheless. I channelled my anger about it all, summoned my energy and karate-kicked the panel.

  It indented slightly.

  Yes!

  Now it was pushed in, I hoped it would slide smoothly along the runner. It made a scraping noise as I shunted it along, but it was definitely moving.

  Once the opening was large enough for me to climb through, I slipped into the hole, onto the top step of the hidden staircase. I turned my phone torch on and carefully walked down the rickety treads. When I reached the firm ground of the tunnel floor, I picked my pace up into a jog.

  As I came to the end of the passageway, I could see a slither of light coming from between the slats. I crept up the stairs and gently pushed on the door latch.

  Just as I was about to fling it open, I heard the crunching of leaves. It was the sound of footsteps.

  I froze. Who would be out here in the bushland surrounding Eden College?

  I peered up through the cracks in the door to try to see who it was. But being below ground level, I could only see a few inches above me.

  I heard the footsteps getting louder. They sounded like someone walking slowly. Perhaps limping.

  Then I heard a voice.

  ‘I don’t think it’s here,’ a man said.

  ‘It is!’ a crackly voice replied. It sounded like an old woman.

  ‘You shouldn’t be out here. Come on, let’s go back. It’s almost time to start,’ the male voice said.

  ‘I’m not crazy, you know,’ the older voice snapped.

  I kept the door almost completely closed, holding my breath as the two people walked away from where I was hiding.

  Who could that have been? And what were they looking for?

  When I was certain the people had gone, I flung open the door and climbed out of the passageway. The sunlight burnt my eyes after being in the dark for the previous few minutes.

  I began looking around the area we had been drawing in Art class a few days before. I tried to remember where Zoe had been sitting. But the bush all looked the same.

  Suddenly, a huge cockatoo flew down, squawking at me and giving me a fright. It landed on a branch and looked at me curiously. It nodded, as if encouraging me. Then I remembered—this was the exact place where I had been sketching the cockatoo for my drawing! And if I had been sitting here, then Zoe would have been over to the left with Grace and Violet!

  I rushed across the clearing to where I remembered my friends sketching together the other day. I kicked the dirt and leaves from side to side, furiously trying to find any glimpse of Zoe’s anklet. I stepped up to the log they had been sitting on and rolled it to one side slightly. Grubs and bugs squirmed around in the moist undergrowth, but there was no sign of the anklet. I walked towards the bush path, which we had taken to get back to school. I kept looking and looking. But it was no use.

  Just as I was about to give up, t
he cockatoo let out another ear-piercing squawk. I turned to see it standing on a branch just behind me. It was nodding vigorously.

  I’d never seen a cockatoo act this way before. My eyes dropped to the foot of the tree he was perched on, and I caught a flash of light. I ran over to the base of the tree and rummaged through the leaf litter with my fingers.

  My fingers caught on something in the dirt. It was cool and metallic—a chain! I pulled it up out of the ground and dusted it off. It was Zoe’s anklet!

  I couldn’t believe I’d found it!

  I looked down at my watch and realised the luncheon was going to start in ten minutes. If I was going to get back to the hall in time, I would have to hurry. I briefly thought about running through the bush and into the main gates of the school. But if anyone saw me coming in, they would know I’d been offsite without permission. No, the only way back was through Elena’s tunnel. So I went back over to the entrance, climbed down the first few stairs and pulled the door shut behind me, closing me off into the darkness of the secret passage.

  Chapter 18

  Finally, I climbed back through the panel and into the bathroom. I coughed lightly from the dust in the passageway and tried to pull the panel back across its runners. At first it squeaked along, but then it froze. I pulled one way, then pushed the other.

  Jammed!

  I looked around for something to help me close the panel, but there was nothing.

  I knew I had a choice, then. I could either waste time trying to get this thing shut and miss Zoe’s speech, or I could take Zoe her anklet and risk someone else finding the passage. After one last unsuccessful try, I decided I needed to get to Zoe.

  I ran out of the bathroom and back down the stairs of the dormitory. I bundled out the front doors, and sprinted across the lawn and back up the path, which wound through the school to the main courtyard. By the time I got to the fountain, I was panting heavily. I gulped in some air and kept running. I burst through the function hall doors, causing a few of the guests to startle.

  ‘Slow down, you hoodlum!’ Grace’s Great-Aunt Clarice scolded as I ran past.

  I didn’t have time for Great-Aunt Clarice, so I kept jogging to the front of the room, where Zoe was pacing nervously. Mrs Sinclair, the Headmistress, and Lauren, the School Captain, were trying to reassure her.

  ‘It’s OK, I’ve found it!’ I exclaimed.

  Mrs Sinclair’s eyes lit up.

  ‘See? I told you it would be somewhere obvious!’

  Zoe’s eyes widened and a huge smile spread across her face. She threw her arms around me. ‘Thank you, Ella. You really are a true best friend!’

  Zoe undid the clasp and looped it over her ankle, then pulled her sock up over the top. She glanced at Mrs Sinclair and Lauren. ‘So, am I in big trouble for wearing jewellery?’

  Mrs Sinclair smiled and looked at Lauren. ‘What jewellery? I didn’t see any jewellery! Did you, Lauren?’

  Lauren shook her head. ‘None at all!’

  Zoe smiled widely.

  ‘You’ve got this,’ I said, patting her arm.

  Zoe’s eyes were filled with a new confidence. She smiled, then stood up straight and stepped up to the microphone next to Lauren.

  ‘Welcome to the Alumni Luncheon,’ Lauren said in a cool, confident voice. ‘I’m the School Captain, Lauren.’

  ‘And I,’ Zoe said, leaning into the microphone, ‘am a new Year 7 student at Eden College. My name is Zoe, and Lauren and I will be your hosts today.’

  Zoe then began to talk about her experience in joining Eden College. Some of the guests had taken their seats, others remained standing. They all looked different, but they had one thing in common—they were all smiling and nodding as Zoe spoke clearly and proudly.

  I slipped towards the back of the room, knowing I should be in the kitchen helping with the washing-up.

  ‘Back to it, Cinderella,’ I whispered to myself.

  In the kitchen, everyone was busy getting the finger food ready for distribution. The Year 7 waitresses would take the sandwiches, canapés and dessert treats around to the guests in the breaks between the speeches and performances. It was up to the caterer’s professional waitresses to keep the guests refreshed with tea, coffee and freshly squeezed juice, as they enjoyed the performances.

  I slipped on my apron, which I had left on the counter top, and joined my friend Ruby at the sink.

  ‘You dry, I’ll wash?’ she said smiling.

  I nodded.

  ‘What did we do wrong to deserve a job like this?’ she joked.

  I took a metal bowl from her and spun it around in my hand as I wiped it dry with a tea towel. ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I said, thoughtfully. ‘I think it’s OK being behind-the-scenes sometimes. My Nanna Kate always says it’s the musicians in the pit that make the show.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘Whenever she takes us to the ballet or to a musical, she always makes us stay till the very last note is played. That’s when they usually point to the musicians, who are hidden below the stage. She reckons they are the true heroes of the show.’

  Ruby smiled and nodded, understanding.

  I could hear the rambunctious applause (that means very loud clapping and whooping) as Zoe finished up her speech in the adjoining room.

  ‘And now we are going to have a soliloquy from one of our Drama students,’ Zoe said.

  ‘Oh, this is Violet!’ I squealed. ‘Let’s go take a peek!’

  Ruby and I snuck over to the kitchen door and peeked through its narrow rectangular window. I could see Violet taking the stage. She was dressed in a white dress and she pulled a large piece of cardboard up behind her, which was cut and painted to look like the top of a balcony. It had painted green ivy leaves crawling up the front and, when she stood behind it, it appeared as if she was standing on the little balcony, looking down below. She was doing a scene from Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet, and was playing the part of Juliet.

  I was in awe of Violet as she spoke the words with such emotion and confidence. Even though the words in that play were antiquated (that means old and dusty), I felt like I really understood what was going on, just by the way she was saying the words.

  My eyes darted around the room. I saw Eden Girls sitting with their relatives, either linking arms with them or holding their hands. I felt a sudden pang of homesickness in that moment—what I wouldn’t give to have Mum or Nanna Kate standing there with me.

  As I scanned the room, my eyes caught on something. It was like recognising someone from the past, but not being quite able to pick how you knew them … someone from another life.

  An old lady—very old—was sitting on a chair listening with her eyes closed. She had a smile on her weathered face and she was nodding as she absorbed the words of Violet’s piece. She leaned on her cane with her trembling hands, and those hands, lined with the creases of time, had rings on each finger, all with beautiful stones in the centre. She wore a flowered summer skirt with a white blouse, and, despite the heat, was wearing an embroidered cream cardigan. On her cardigan, I’d noticed something glisten as it caught the light. I looked once, then looked again.

  It was something I recognised …

  It was gold.

  It was beautifully ornate.

  I squinted. What was that familiar shape?

  Could it be?

  It was an Italian sparrow brooch.

  Chapter 19

  I reached into my school dress pocket and pulled out Elena’s Italian sparrow brooch. It felt cold in my hands. I ran my fingers over the crevices on the wings. Then I squinted through the window again. Sure enough, the brooch the woman was wearing looked uncannily similar. But how could that be? Elena’s father had made the brooch for his daughter—it wasn’t from a popular jewellery store. This was one of a kind.

  I waited until Violet’s soliloquy was finished. The crowd applauded loudly as she took a bow. Then Zoe and Lauren stepped back up to the podium.

>   ‘Thank you, Violet,’ Lauren beamed. ‘Now, if everyone can please find their seat at the tables, our waitresses will be bringing around sandwiches and other lunchtime delights.’

  There was a loud scuffling as the standing ladies in the room moved with their younger relatives to find a seat. I saw Grace following behind her great-aunt as she hustled people out of her path with her walking stick.

  The old woman with the brooch was already sitting at a table, but she turned inwards, away from the podium. She looked around with a smile on her face, but she didn’t seem to have anyone with her.

  ‘Excuse me, please move. We need to get this food out,’ the catering manager scolded me. I was blocking the door to the function room.

  ‘Oh, sorry,’ I stammered, jumping out of the way.

  ‘Shouldn’t you be over at the washing-up station?’ she asked me. ‘Quick sticks, get back to it!’

  I wandered back to the sink with a million thoughts running through my head. Should I approach the old lady? Maybe she knew something about Elena’s family and what had happened to them.

  ‘Can you keep going here for a minute?’ I asked Ruby, as she continued to scrub the plates. ‘I just need to get something.’

  Ruby nodded.

  I took off my apron and straightened my dress, pulled up my socks and tightened my hair ribbon. Then I walked through the kitchen door and into the function room. Everyone was talking and laughing loudly. The Eden alumni ladies seemed to be having a wonderful time, telling stories of their youthful days in the school.

  I walked slowly towards the old lady, not taking my eyes off her. But when I got to the front of the room where she was sitting, I realised I didn’t know what to say. She looked up at me with deep brown eyes. Her olive skin was weathered and her hair was silvery. She smiled curiously at me.

  ‘Excuse me,’ I stammered, ‘do you mind if I ask you something?’

  ‘Please sit, bambina,’ she said in a warm voice, nodding to the chair next to her. ‘I have nobody here with me today, so I would very much like some company. What is your name?’