Mask of Aribella

by Anna Hoghton

  Aribella didn’t know what to do. She hated her horrid mask and didn’t want to show it to such an important man. Neither did she want the mask to hurt him as it had just hurt her.

  ‘No . . .’ she lied, feeling the heat of it in her pocket. ‘Not yet.’ She felt Seffie glance at her, but said nothing. Aribella knew her friend understood how embarrassed she was of her mask.

  ‘Look more at mine,’ Seffie cut in, partly to help Aribella. She held up her mask and the Doge leant in to look curiously. Aribella could see his pale blue eyes through his mask.

  ‘Wonderful,’ he said, but he sounded disappointed – or possibly confused.

  Aribella suspected he was being generous. She wondered how much the Doge really knew of the Cannovacci. She thought of the Lion’s Mouth and suspected that the Cannovacci shared with the Doge only as much as they had to. Still, it was a relief to hear he knew Rodolfo. It would make her plea for Papa a lot easier.

  ‘And how is Rodolfo? I do hope he’s not fallen ill as well.’ The Doge coughed. ‘Terrible thing, old age. Just terrible.’

  ‘Oh no, he’s—’ Aribella stopped. It was probably best the Doge didn’t find out that Rodolfo was currently banned from coming to the palace. ‘He just thought it would be better to send me, seeing as I’m the daughter of the prisoner.’

  ‘Daughter? You mean, you have a parent in my prison?’

  Aribella nodded. ‘Yes, my father – and he’s not well, Signore— I mean, Serenissimo Principe.’ She blushed.

  ‘Oh, Signore is fine, dear girl.’

  ‘Thank you, Seren— Signore. My papa was accused of witchcraft, but it wasn’t him, you see . . .’

  ‘It was you.’ The Doge nodded. ‘I understand. And of course you are no witch. I will rectify this as quickly as I can.’

  ‘You’ll release him?’

  ‘As soon as possible. Though like you Cannovacci, I am also bound by certain rules. There are proper codes of conduct I must follow. But I can ensure that his trial is brought forward and I promise you it will be fair.’

  Aribella had hoped for Papa’s release, but still she felt a surge of gratitude towards the kindly Doge. ‘Really?’

  ‘Of course. After all, the Cannovacci keep our city safe. It’s the least I can do. And until the trial, I will see to it that he is well looked after.’

  ‘Oh, thank you, Signore, thank you!’ She looked at Seffie, who was also beaming.

  She heard Io click and Seffie nudged her. Aribella remembered what Rodolfo had said.

  ‘Signore, there’s something else. We think there’s something . . . evil, out on the lagoon. A creature. Or creatures,’ she added, unsure how much the Doge would understand if she started talking about the spectre. ‘They are very dangerous. Please warn the fishermen not to fish after dark and all the islanders to stay off the lagoon at night.’

  The Doge nodded. ‘My guards already patrol the lagoon. I am sure that if there is a danger, I will be the first to know. After all, we have the same goal – to protect Venice.’

  It was such a relief to hear the Doge say this and Aribella felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders.

  ‘However, I will make sure the islanders are aware of the dangers of fishing at night. Now, I think it’s time you two got back to your hotel.’ The Doge rang a small golden bell.

  The doors opened and the guards reappeared.

  ‘Guards, please escort my guests out. Goodbye, dear girls.’

  The disgruntled guards led Aribella and Seffie back to the gondola, although this time without any painful arm-pinching. Behind them came the light flap of leathery wings. The guards blinked when they saw the gondola and Aribella was sure they were wondering how two children had got it into the palace right under their noses.

  ‘What happened with your mask? Why did it hurt you?’ Seffie asked, as the guards left them and they climbed aboard.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Aribella admitted. ‘I don’t get it.’

  ‘My mask will make us both unwatchable on the way back so you don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to.’

  ‘Thanks, Seffie,’ Aribella said, relieved about this – and the fact that her friend hadn’t mentioned her lie to the Doge. Her face was still smarting.

  As Seffie untied the mooring rope, she took up the oar and slipped it into the water. She was worried she might have trouble rowing without the mask and wondered if she should ask Seffie to row instead, but she had enjoyed the journey here so much that she found she was reluctant to give up the oar. She needn’t have worried, however, for this time the oar responded instantly, as if the gondola recognized her, and they moved smoothly out on to the lagoon and back to the Grand Canal. Io wheeled away into the sky.

  Despite her trouble with the mask, Aribella felt lighter. The Doge had proved as kind as she’d hoped. He was surely going to make sure Papa was freed, and to warn the islanders. For the first time since seeing the spectre, she did not feel so worried about the people she loved most. As she rowed back up the Grand Canal towards the Halfway Hotel, a bubble of happiness filled her chest.

  That was until she saw Jacapo standing on the hotel’s jetty, waiting for them.

  J acapo’s expression was thunderous. Behind him, Ursula was twisting her hands nervously.

  Aribella and Seffie had no choice but to steer the gondola towards the jetty, jump out and hurriedly tie the rope to the mooring post. As soon as it was secure, the gondola sank into the canal. Aribella wished she could disappear too.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Jacapo snapped. ‘Who gave you a permesso to use that gondola?’

  ‘I—’ Aribella started. She didn’t want to get Rodolfo into more trouble.

  ‘We—’ Seffie stammered.

  ‘Ursula?’ Jacapo said.

  Aribella desperately tried to hide her thoughts, but it was no good. She felt Ursula’s eyes boring into her. The nudging feeling started in her head.

  ‘They were at the palace,’ Ursula said. ‘Asking the Doge about Aribella’s papa. Rodolfo gave them his permesso.’

  If possible, Jacapo looked even more furious than before. ‘You went to the palace? After everything I said to Rodolfo this morning! It’s the final straw. He will lose his mask over this, I’ll make sure of it!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Signore,’ Aribella gushed. ‘I had to ask about Papa. It wasn’t Rodolfo’s fault, it was mine.’

  ‘It was both of ours,’ Seffie cut in. ‘And we didn’t just go for Aribella’s papa. We needed to warn the Doge that something has made the birds and fish leave Venice, and that people should be careful on the lagoon. He was grateful we told him. He’s going to make the guards patrol the lagoon, and warn people not to go out there at night.’

  ‘I see Rodolfo has already filled your head with his silly theories!’ Jacapo said. ‘Venice is not in danger, if it was Nymeria would have alerted us.’

  ‘But all Nymeria does is sleep,’ said Seffie. ‘How’s she meant to alert anyone?’

  The doors of the Halfway opened and Rosa rushed out on to the jetty. ‘Jacapo, Ursula, please! May we do this inside? Passers-by may not be able to see you, but if you keep shouting they will hear you. We don’t want them thinking there are ghosts on the Grand Canal.’

  Jacapo’s lips pursed, but he turned and marched through the doors. Ursula followed, avoiding their eyes. Rosa gestured to Aribella and Seffie, and they traipsed into the Halfway too.

  ‘I’m sorry for getting you into trouble,’ Aribella whispered to Seffie.

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Seffie whispered back. ‘It was worth it.’

  They smiled at each other.

  ‘I think the only thing to do is to take their masks away until they learn to use them responsibly,’ Jacapo said as soon as the doors were closed.

  Seffie let out a cry of dismay, hugging her precious animal mask to her chest.

  Aribella’s stomach dropped. She hated her mask and it certainly wasn’t working properly, but it was the only mask she had. How could she practise her
power without it?

  ‘Really, Jacapo!’ Rosa interjected. ‘They’re Novices and this is their first offence. Aribella must have been very worried about her papa, though I know that’s no excuse for rule-breaking,’ she added quickly, as Jacapo’s lips pursed again. ‘But they deserve a second chance . . . Leave it with me. Rest assured, I will think of a suitably arduous chore to give them as punishment.’

  Jacapo still looked livid, but he turned reluctantly to Aribella and Seffie and said, ‘Fine. But I’m watching you two. Do anything else like this again and your masks will be taken quicker than you can both say “Grand Canal”. Do you understand?’

  Aribella and Seffie both nodded quickly.

  Jacapo glared at them one last time before marching up the staircase. Ursula hurried after him.

  ‘Phew,’ Seffie blew her breath out loudly. ‘Did you see how Ursula couldn’t even look at us? Didn’t realize she was such a coward. How dare she read our thoughts? She must be really trying to impress Jacapo . . . Thanks, Rosa. You really got us off the hook.’

  But Rosa was not smiling. ‘Don’t look so relieved, Persephone. What you did was still against the rules and it has consequences.’

  ‘We had Rodolfo’s permesso,’ Seffie muttered.

  ‘Which reminds me, hand it over,’ Rosa said.

  Reluctantly, Aribella passed Rosa the miniature gondola. She felt awful for getting Rodolfo into trouble too, even though it had been his suggestion. She looked over at Nymeria. As always, the golden lioness was sleeping deeply. Did that really mean Venice was safe?

  ‘Thank you. Anyway, my punishment won’t be nearly as severe as Jacapo’s would have been,’ Rosa continued. ‘As it happens, I need some help in the reading room, checking all the overdue book records. Fin’s already volunteered.’

  ‘Of course he has,’ Seffie muttered.

  ‘You two can help him every afternoon.’

  ‘Until when?’

  ‘Until it’s done, Persephone.’

  ‘But the reading room is huge!’ Seffie protested.

  ‘Well then, the sooner you get started the better,’ Rosa said in a tone that was uncharacteristically strict. But as they turned to go up the staircase, she dropped her act for a moment to whisper, ‘I hope you had good news about your father, by the way, Aribella?’

  Aribella nodded, and some of the warm, bubbly feeling returned. Papa’s release was definitely worth getting in trouble for. And how difficult could helping out in the reading room really be?

  She soon found out.

  ‘It will take us months to get through this,’ Seffie complained.

  They’d spent every afternoon that week in the reading room and had barely made a dent in the list of overdue books.

  ‘And we’re stuck doing it with Fin,’ she groaned. ‘I wish they’d just checked me out of Halfway.’

  Aribella did not believe this at all. In truth, she suspected her wild-hearted friend had a secret soft spot for the bookish boy but covered it up by being mean about him. She’d seen lots of the fishing children do this with people they liked and had never understood why.

  But Seffie was in a bad mood. She was missing her freedom and her birds. And to Aribella’s dismay Luna had disappeared too. She left her balcony doors open every day and night, even though the chilled air bit at her, but the little cat didn’t come. Seffie said Luna’s disappearance had to be connected to the birds and wanted to investigate. But with Papa’s trial taking place any day now, Aribella didn’t want to put a foot out of line. Besides, the Doge had warned the islanders not to go out at night and there had been no news of spectre attacks. Maybe Rodolfo’s reading of the stars was wrong. He hadn’t been seen since his argument with Jacapo – much to Jacapo’s annoyance. His gondola had gone too. The whispers around the hotel were that as Rodolfo had been threatened with seizure and checking-out, he had vanished before this could happen. Aribella and Seffie discussed it endlessly.

  ‘We need Rodolfo here at Halfway,’ Seffie had said. ‘What if the stars have more messages?’

  ‘He won’t come back until he’s sure Jacapo won’t convince the other Elders to take his mask and check him out. And then there’s all that stuff about Clara and Zio.’

  ‘I don’t know that any of it matters now.’

  They went back and forth like this for hours.

  The reading room was full of books of all shapes and sizes, some with furry spines, some covered in sequins, others as big as tables, and there were lots of squashy chairs to read them in. Aribella wished she could just spend the afternoon in one of those chairs looking at books instead of sorting them. The room had hundreds of shelves, some so high that they needed ladders to reach the top. It was a wonderful place for readers, but not for people who had to check overdue books.

  ‘Wish we were dolphins,’ Seffie grumbled, climbing up a ladder. ‘Then we could use echoes to find the missing books in no time. I wonder if they’ve left Venice too?’

  Any book from Rosa’s list that they couldn’t find on the shelves they had to check against the borrowing book. Then they had to make a note of who had taken it out and forgotten to return it. The borrowing book was leather-bound and so large that even this took ages. Its yellowing pages were covered with lists of titles, names and dates.

  Today, Fin was late, and when he eventually did appear, materializing through one of the bookshelves, he caused Seffie such a shock she almost fell off the ladder. She groaned. ‘Do you have to do that? You’re lucky Helena’s not here.’

  ‘That’s rich coming from someone who is here on punishment,’ retorted Fin.

  Seffie stuck out her tongue. ‘At least we’re not here by choice.’

  ‘I like coming to the reading room; it’s usually peaceful,’ Fin added, as Seffie knocked several books off a shelf with a loud crash. ‘Would you please be careful? Some of these books are centuries old.’

  ‘I am being careful,’ Seffie said, grabbing armfuls of fallen books. ‘Ari, can you check the borrowing book for one called The Book of Mysteries. I can’t find it anywhere.’

  ‘The Book of Mysteries,’ Fin muttered. He reached for the borrowing book before Aribella could and riffled through the pages. ‘Oh, it’s a black book.’

  ‘What’s that mean?’

  ‘Means it contains dangerous stuff. There’s only one on Rosa’s list.’

  Seffie scoffed. ‘The only thing dangerous about a book is when it’s thrown at your head.’

  Fin ignored her. ‘Hmm, that’s strange. Someone checked it out but never returned it . . . goodness, it’s seriously overdue! The check-out date was ten years ago. How selfish. What if someone had wanted to read it? The Book of Mysteries sounds quite interesting. Who took it out . . . ? Oh . . . well, that explains it.’

  ‘What?’ asked Seffie.

  Fin’s eyebrows rose. ‘It was taken out by Zio. Makes sense that he hasn’t returned it, seeing as he was murdered.’

  Aribella frowned and noted Zio’s name down on Rosa’s list. They continued to move through the titles until Seffie finally asked, ‘Why do you look so worried, Fin?’

  ‘I’m still thinking about that book . . .’

  ‘No surprise,’ Seffie muttered.

  Fin shook his head and reached for the borrowing book. ‘The thing is – after Zio died, the book should have returned to the shelves of the reading room when his room was turned over for its new guest.’

  ‘Because everyone’s room is turned over when they die?’ Aribella asked, remembering Seffie’s tour on her first day.

  ‘Yes, when that happens everything in the room returns to the hotel. Books should return automatically to the reading room,’ Fin said. ‘But this book hasn’t.’

  ‘So? Maybe the hotel forgot.’ Seffie sounded bored. ‘Or it disappeared when Zio’s room did.’

  Fin shook his head. ‘Impossible. If Zio’s room had been turned over, the book would be here as he was the one to check it out. But it’s not, so there can’t be a new guest. His room
must still be his . . .’

  ‘Does that mean he’s still alive?’ Aribella’s skin prickled. ‘That he wasn’t murdered?’

  Fin nodded slowly. ‘That’s what the evidence seems to suggest.’

  ‘But where is his room then?’ asked Seffie. ‘Surely Rosa would have noticed there was an unoccupied room in the hotel. Unless . . . could it be the room they gave you, Ari?’

  Aribella thought of her bedroom. Could it have been Zio’s? She shook her head. Although Rosa had hesitated when she had handed over the key, she would have surely not given Aribella a room with such a grisly story, or it would have raised some alarm.

  But there was another room unaccounted for at the Halfway, tucked out of sight . . . and maybe forgotten . . .

  Aribella looked at Seffie. ‘What about the locked door in the basement?’

  Seffie’s eyes grew wide. ‘Could be . . .’

  ‘I bet Rodolfo is right and what really happened to Zio is a clue to everything else that’s happening in Venice now,’ said Fin slowly. ‘We have to tell the Elders.’

  Aribella shook her head. ‘The Elders have believed Zio was murdered for years. His portrait is a shrine with all those petals around it. We need more proof than just his room, which we don’t even know for certain is his yet. If only we could get inside! And what if The Book of Mysteries is still there? There might be something important in it. If we could prove Rodolfo was telling the truth about Zio, then the Elders might listen to him about the blood moon too. He could come back to Halfway and continue reading the stars and make sure Venice stayed safe . . .’

  ‘We have to get in that room,’ Seffie agreed firmly. ‘But how?’

  ‘Can you walk through the door, Fin?’ Aribella asked.

  Fin shook his head. ‘I mean, I could, but breaking in would probably set off Nymeria.’

  Aribella’s brain whirled. ‘You always give your key in when you leave the hotel, don’t you?’ she said, thinking aloud.