Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. He has written over thirty books for young readers, including three other School Ship Tobermory adventures.
Iain McIntosh’s illustrations have won awards in the worlds of advertising, design and publishing. He has illustrated many of Alexander McCall Smith’s books.
First published in 2019 by
BC Books, an imprint of Birlinn Limited
West Newington House
10 Newington Road
Edinburgh
EH9 IQS
www.bcbooksforkids.co.uk
Copyright © 2019 Alexander McCall Smith
Illustrations copyright © 2019 Iain McIntosh
The right of Alexander McCall Smith to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978 1 78885 220 3
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Typeset by Mark Blackadder
Printed and bound by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
A new term begins
Ben and Fee MacTavish were two ordinary people, rather like you and me. But there was one way in which they were different – they were twins. And it is a bit different being a twin, as any twin will tell you.
“It’s like being double,” Fee explained. “You feel that you’re you, but then you also feel that there’s another you – if you see what I mean.”
Her brother agreed. “Yes,” he said. “It’s exactly like that.”
There was another way in which their life was not the same as everybody else’s. Most people go to ordinary schools – schools that have buildings. These buildings have doors and windows and corridors like any other building and are, of course, always in the same place. When you go to a school like that, you always know exactly where it is going to be. And you would be most surprised if one day you arrived for school and it was not there, but had floated away over the horizon. Most people would be a bit surprised by that.
But that was exactly what Ben and Fee’s school could do. For some time now, they had been students on the School Ship Tobermory. This was a large sailing ship based in the town of Tobermory on the Scottish island of Mull. The Tobermory took students from all over the world. All the classes were held on board the ship and all the students lived there for several months at a time. Everybody had a cabin, shared with one other person, and this cabin was their bedroom. Three meals a day were served in a large dining hall, called the mess hall, having been cooked in the galley by Cook, a stout man with tattoos of an anchor, a sailing ship and a whale on his arms. The food was always good and, of course, being at sea, the sea air gave everyone a healthy appetite.
Fee and Ben had just celebrated their birthday, which had fallen in the holidays when they were staying with their parents. Their mother and father were both scientists who worked on their own research submarine. Their job required them to go off on long underwater trips, taking samples of seaweed and coral, of sand and rock, and of all the things that make up the underwater world. They also studied fish and sharks, and sometimes even whales, finding out where these wonderful creatures went to, and how they lived their watery lives.
Sometimes Ben and Fee were able to go off on the family submarine, but, for the most part, the need to go to school made that impossible. It was for this reason that they had been enrolled as students on the Tobermory.
“We’d love to be able to send you to an ordinary school,” said their mother. “But that just wouldn’t work, would it? We’d be away on our submarine and you’d have nobody to look after you.”
“Don’t worry,” said Fee. “We much prefer going to ship school anyway, don’t we, Ben?”
Ben did not always agree with what his sister said, but in this case he thought she was right. “Yes,” he said. “It’s much more fun being part of a ship school. And we learn all sorts of things about sailing and the sea.”
“And other things too,” Fee reminded him. “Maths and history and science. We study all of that as well as knots and swimming, and how to splice a rope, and …”
“… and how to rescue people who have fallen into the sea,” added Ben.
Their parents thought that all of this was very useful.
“And it’s great for making friends,” Fee said.
“Good,” said her mother. “Friends are really important.”
Once again, Ben agreed. Friends were important, but sometimes friends could be a problem. And at the beginning of that exciting new term on the Tobermory, Ben realised that he had a major problem – with his best friend.
Ben’s best friend on the Tobermory, and probably in the world, was Badger Tomkins. This was not his friend’s real name, but it was the name that everybody had always used. Some people – although this was probably untrue – said that Badger had forgotten what his real name was, and that even his parents had trouble remembering it. That can sometimes happen when somebody has a nickname. When their real name is used they might look blank and say, with a puzzled look, “Who? Me? Are you talking to me?”
Badger came from New York, where his father ran a large business. Badger was not quite sure what this business was, but he knew that it involved a lot of talking on the telephone and shouting. Badger’s father was always so busy with work that he had little time left for his son. He was not deliberately unkind to him, but they hardly ever did anything together.
Badger’s mother also seemed to have far too much to do to give him much attention. She played a lot of tennis, and although Badger would try to watch her tennis matches, he very quickly became bored. He also felt that she was a bit too competitive. If she did not win, she would storm off the court, sometimes even throwing her racquet down on the ground. That was not the way you should play tennis, thought Badger.
“You must have a really interesting time at home,” Badger once remarked to Ben sadly. “Your parents take you on their submarine, don’t they? And they talk to you, I guess.”
Ben did not know what to say. It can be difficult to say very much when you know that a friend is unhappy. You feel that you should say something like “Cheer up” or “Things can hardly be that bad.” But sometimes your friend can’t cheer up, no matter how hard they try, and sometimes things actually are every bit as bad as they seem to be.
Ben and Badger shared a cabin on the Tobermory. They were on Middle Deck, on the port, or left, side of the ship. In this cabin were two hammocks – the swinging beds in which sailors have always slept – two lockers for clothes and other personal possessions, and a small table with a shared chair. There was also a porthole that had to be kept closed most of the time but that could be opened in good weather.
Sharing a room with somebody else can be difficult. It often happens that people who have started off sharing as friends after a few days feel desperate to get away from each other. This may be because one person is tidy, while the other is not. It may be because one person is very quiet when asleep, while the other mumbles or coughs or snores loudly. Or there may be many other reasons why sharing simply doesn’t work. It had never been like that with Ben and Badger. They liked sharing a cabin, and they enjoyed talking to each other at night after lights out. Often they would lie there in the darkness and talk for what seemed like hours before sleep covered them with its soft blanket of silence. And then, in the morning, they would find that they still had thi
ngs to say, and would carry on talking until they tumbled out of bed to begin the day.
But now Ben found that sharing with Badger was just not what it used to be. Something had happened to his old friend, and he could not work out exactly what it was. It was not that he looked any different – there was no mistaking him for somebody else – but when it came to the way he spoke, then he had clearly changed.
“Did you have a good holiday?” Ben asked Badger when he came into the cabin at the beginning of the new term and started to unpack his bag.
“Yes,” came the reply. That was all, just: “Yes.”
Ben asked his friend whether he had gone home. “Yes,” came the reply.
“To New York?” asked Ben.
“Yes.”
Ben frowned. Surely Badger could say something more than yes. New York was an exciting city, and there was always a lot going on there.
“I wish I could go to New York,” said Ben. “What do you think I should do there – if I ever go?”
At first this question was greeted with silence. Then, rather grudgingly, as if he did not really want to answer, Badger said with a shrug, “I don’t know. I’m sure you could find something to do.”
Ben stared at Badger. This was not like the friend he had known for so long and with whom he had shared so many adventures – the friend who was usually more than happy to talk about all the things he had been doing. He wondered whether he should ask him if there was something wrong, but decided not to say anything just yet. There are times when people do not feel like talking, and it is best to leave them alone. Usually they snap out of their mood sooner or later, and return to normal. That would probably happen to Badger, Ben thought.
Ben busied himself with his own unpacking. He hoped that Badger would start to talk, but he did not. Badger simply slumped on his hammock and buried his nose in a book. Ben’s friend might not want to talk, but there were plenty of other people who did, and Ben now set off to find them. “I’m going up on deck to see if everyone else is back,” he said.
There was a grunt from Badger – just that, a grunt, and nothing more. Ben hesitated at the door, glancing quickly at his friend. If Badger was going to be rude, then he would at least let him know what he thought about his behaviour. So rather than say anything, Ben slammed the door behind him as he left the cabin. That would let Badger know how he felt, and that, perhaps, might bring him to his senses.
Up on deck, Ben found his sister standing near the foremast, talking to Poppy Taggart, one of her closest friends on board the Tobermory, and the girl with whom she shared a cabin. They were looking at some photographs that Poppy was holding. Poppy came from Australia, and was usually unable to go home for the holidays because the journey took far too long. This time, however, she had been able to spend a whole month with her family, helping to shear the sheep on their farm. Like Ben and Fee, Poppy lived on Middle Deck – one of the three decks on which students on board the Tobermory had their cabins. In fact, Poppy was the Senior Prefect of Middle Deck, which was an important position.
Poppy greeted Ben with a smile and showed him the photographs. There were some of her parents’ farm and some of her whole family around a campfire in the bush. In one of the pictures, Poppy was crouched beside the fire, blowing on it to get it going. Hanging just above the embers was a large tin can, blackened by smoke.
“That’s a billy can,” Poppy explained. “That’s me getting the billy going to make tea.” In the background behind her was a large pool, surrounded by eucalyptus trees. “That’s a billabong,” she added.
The photographs reminded Ben of the voyage that the Tobermory had made to Australia recently. That had been a real adventure and it had made him keen to get back there as soon as he could.
Poppy asked about Badger. “Is he coming on deck? I think I saw him walking up the gangway earlier.”
“He’s here,” said Ben. “But …”
When he did not finish, Poppy sensed there was something wrong. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say more.
“Well?” Poppy prompted.
“He didn’t say much,” Ben told her. “I asked him about the holidays and … well, he just said yes or grunted.”
“That’s odd,” said Poppy.
She remembered that Badger’s parents were usually too busy to take much notice of him. Perhaps that was the reason why he had come back so unhappy. “Did you ask him if there was anything wrong?”
Ben shook his head. “He didn’t want to talk,” he said.
Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Angela Singh and Tanya Herring. They were close friends and had spent the school holidays together.
Tanya had been a stowaway on the Tobermory after running away from her cruel aunt and uncle. They were meant to be looking after her but they had done no such thing, forcing her to work long hours in their dog kennels. Tanya’s father, a sea captain, had been missing at sea for years, and although he was thought still to be alive, nobody knew where he was. Tanya was sure that had he known about her treatment at the hands of her aunt and uncle, he would have come to rescue her. But he did not know, and so she was left with nothing but a vague hope that one day she would meet him again. Eventually, she had decided to run away, and had ended up hiding on the Tobermory until she was discovered. When Captain Macbeth heard her story, he decided that Tanya could have a free place on board and be given the same chance as every other member of the school. That had made Tanya happier than she had ever been before.
Angela had been particularly kind to Tanya and had invited her to spend the holidays with her family. They had all gone camping in France for a few weeks, and she and Angela now showed the others photographs of their trip. They had met a family who lived in a limestone cave beside a river, and had been shown round this unusual home with its walls of stone and its floor of compacted earth.
“It’s really comfortable,” said Angela. “It’s warm in winter and cool in summer. And you don’t have to worry about any holes in your roof.”
Ben listened and looked at the photographs, but he was still thinking about Badger. He was worried, and began to wonder if there was anything he had done to offend his friend. If Badger was still so unfriendly tomorrow, he would tackle him about it. He would say that he was sorry if he had done something wrong, and that he would never have done anything to offend him deliberately. If that did not work, then … he did not know what to do.
The thought of spending a whole term sharing a cabin with somebody who would not talk to him was not a happy one. In fact, Ben could not bear the thought of that and decided that if things did not improve he would have to ask to be moved. Captain Macbeth would occasionally allow people to change cabins, although there had to be a good reason for it. Ben wondered what the Captain would say if he went to him and explained that his best friend was no longer talking to him? Would that count as a good enough reason to change cabin?
There was a lot to do on board that first day back. Decks have to be scrubbed every single day, whether a ship is at sea or in port, and this kept Ben busy that afternoon. His friend Thomas Seagrape was with him in the group assigned to this duty, and they chatted as they emptied the buckets of seawater they had used to make the boards of the deck spotless. There was no sign of Badger, but Ben had not expected to see him, as they were on different work rotas and Badger was probably on sail-room duty. That was harder work, which involved the unfolding of spare sails that had been stacked away while the ship was in port.
Ben thought that Badger might be in their cabin when he returned from deck duty, but there was no sign of him. The other boy’s possessions had all been stacked away, and there was a spare pair of deck shoes placed neatly beside his hammock, but apart from that there was nothing to show that anybody else shared the cabin with Ben.
There was no time to think about this, though, as Captain Macbeth was due to address the whole ship’s company up on deck, and everybody had to be there to hear what he had to say. This
happened at the start of every term, and it was at this meeting that he would say where the Tobermory would be sailing to. That was always an exciting moment, as this would be the first that anybody heard of where they would be spending the next few weeks, or even the next few months.
Ben made his way up to the main deck, thinking about what the Captain might say. Fee and Poppy were already up there, and he was not surprised to find them discussing where the ship might be going.
“Somebody told me it was Greece,” said Poppy. “I hope they’re right.”
Fee looked dubious. “I heard it was Iceland.”
Amanda Birtwhistle said she saw Mr Rigger carrying a book about Iceland under his arm. “Why would he be reading about Iceland if we weren’t going there?” she asked.
Ben shivered. “I hope it isn’t Iceland,” he said. “Iceland sounds a bit cold.”
Poppy disagreed. “It may sound cold,” she said, “but remember: this is summer.”
“And they have all those hot springs,” Fee pointed out. “And those jets of water that shoot up into the sky. What do you call them – geysers? And volcanoes.”
“We’ll see,” said Ben. “We won’t have long to wait. Captain Macbeth will tell us soon enough.”
He looked around the deck, hoping to see Badger, but there was no sign of him, and he wondered whether he was still down in the sail-room. But then he spotted him, and what he saw made him catch his breath.
On the other side of the deck, in a small group all by themselves, were the three people Ben liked the least. Ben usually got on with most people, and he was not one to hold a grudge against anybody else. But these three were hard to like, no matter how much you tried. They were known as Hardtack and Co., after their leader, William Edward Hardtack. The other members, always at Hardtack’s side, or lurking somewhere behind him, were Geoffrey Shark, with his characteristic shark’s-fin hairstyle, and Maximilian Flubber, with his prominent ears that waggled every time he told a lie – which was quite often.
The Secret of the Dark Waterfall Page 1