She pulled her backpack around to her front and very slowly unzipped it, careful not to make a sound. Then she pulled something out of her bag—something I couldn’t quite make out in the dark. But it looked like a rolled-up cylinder of paper. I craned my neck for a better view.
She unrolled the paper, which now looked more like a manila folder full of papers, and smoothed them out flat on top of the cabinet. Then she slipped the key into the lock.
The draw rolled open, smooth on its gliders.
Zoe made the hand movement.
I leapt up and hit the lights.
Grace took a photo.
Violet whipped around, her mouth agape and her eyebrows raised in shock and fear.
We all gasped in unison.
Because it wasn’t Violet at all.
Chapter 17
We were flabbergasted (that means completely shocked and astonished).
It took me a minute to process who I was looking at. Her face had turned pale. Her blue eyes shone with the hint of tears. Her blonde hair peeked out from the sides of her hood.
‘Saskia?’ I breathed.
‘Wh—what are you doing here?’ she cried in a wavering voice.
Grace and Zoe stood as still as statues.
‘We are catching the Eden Thief,’ Grace said, after a moment’s silence. ‘Which appears to be you.’
Saskia tried to say something, moving her mouth into the shape of words, but nothing came out. I could tell she was about to deny it, but then she looked down at her black clothing, her backpack and the folder of paper in her hands and closed her mouth again. Her shoulders slumped in resignation. There was no point arguing. She was caught red-handed.
She dropped the manila folder onto the carpet and pages spilled out onto the floor. Then she covered her face with both hands and began to sob. Her shoulders shook and the muffled sound of her cries hung in the air.
Grace, Zoe and I didn’t move. What could we do? But as Saskia’s sobs grew louder, I couldn’t help but lunge forward and wrap my arms around her shoulders. She sank into my hug and sobbed louder.
She was like a different person. A topsy-turvy, upside-down Saskia. She wasn’t confident and proud, but small and fragile. It was like the time Max went into hospital with a really bad fever. For a while we didn’t know what was wrong with him. And when we were in the waiting room, I saw a tear trickle down my dad’s cheek. It made me feel scared and unsettled— this wasn’t my fortress of a dad, this was a topsy-turvy, upside-down dad. A dad who got scared and sad, just like kids do.
And that’s what it was like seeing Saskia shaking and shuddering with sadness.
‘I didn’t mean to …’ she bawled. ‘I never meant to hurt anyone. I was going to return everything!’
Saskia cried and cried. When it seemed like she was out of tears, she wiped her red face, pushed out of my hug and sank down to the ground. She tucked her knees up into her chest and stared blankly at the opposite wall.
Grace, Zoe and I crowded in around her and sat at her feet. I put a comforting hand on her knee.
‘How did you know I would be here?’ Saskia finally asked, after a long period of silence.
‘Ella worked it out,’ Zoe whispered.
Saskia looked at me. Her face, which was usually so confident and bright, looked timid and frightened.
‘I knew about the missing key to the cabinet. And then when I heard it was being fixed tomorrow … well … I just figured it out,’ I mumbled. I didn’t feel so clever anymore.
Saskia nodded. ‘Smart.’
‘Why did you do it?’ Grace asked, gathering the spilled pages back into the folder and handing it to Saskia. ‘What’s so important that it’s worth risking expulsion for?’
Saskia looked at each one of us, then shrugged. She may as well come clean. ‘I stole the first items from other people, so that everyone would be focused on that. Nobody would notice a lost key if they were looking for other, more important things. And that meant I could steal the key and get access to the filing cabinet … which contained this.’ She opened the manila folder and held up some of the papers inside.
My eyes scanned over the pages, which had maths and English questions all over them. At the top of one page the words ‘Streaming Test’ jumped out like wild accusations.
‘Are these our class tests?’ Zoe asked.
Saskia nodded. ‘I’ve studied them. I know what the questions are, so I’ve already prepared the answers. I just wanted to be in the top streams, like my sister is,’ she trailed off.
‘Saskia, you would have been in the top classes anyway!’ I scolded. ‘Why risk expulsion? You could have done this on your own!’
‘How do you know, Ella?’ she said, slamming the fistful of pages down angrily. ‘In primary school I always had a tutor helping me with test preparation and assignments. What if I can’t do it here on my own? What if I’m not … not good enough?’ Fresh tears filled her blue eyes.
I patted Saskia’s knee. Maybe all that confidence she normally had was just an act. Maybe Saskia was just as scared as the rest of us. Scared about school. Scared about living up to the standard of her sister. Scared about fitting in.
Saskia sniffed and lightly pushed my hand off her knee.
‘And I know what you are going to do with this information, Ella.’
‘What?’ I asked, confused.
‘Oh, don’t play dumb. I know you are going to put this in your story for Eden Press. I know that’s why Grace is here with her camera. You want to expose me to the whole school.’
‘But that’s not—’ I began.
A loud bang interrupted me. The door to Mrs Sinclair’s office swung open and there stood Mrs Sinclair, Ms Montgomery and the school security guard.
The four of us squealed in shock.
Then we looked at each other with wide eyes.
We were in big trouble.
Chapter 18
One week later.
‘In the name of privacy, this reporter has chosen not to reveal the identity of the Eden Thief. But the paper is happy to report that the thief has seen the error of her ways, and all the stolen items have been returned to their rightful owners.
Even though the items were just “stuff”, these things were valuable not because of their monetary worth (that means how much they cost), but because of their sentimental worth. We Eden Girls are strong. But we are also living far from our homes. Some of us desperately miss our families. And while we are like a family to each other, there are some days where a piece of our real homes is what we need to feel connected. Maybe it’s your nonna’s necklace. Or your aunt’s scarf. Or maybe it’s something that reminds you of a special person who is no longer with us. But so long as these items bind you to the giver, you will always have a reminder of that person who holds a special place in your heart. And that special bond is something that can never be stolen.’
I finished reading my opinion piece and looked up nervously. The rest of the Eden Press team were silent. Ivy stood up and wiped a tear from her eye.
‘Ella, that was beautiful,’ she sniffed. ‘That’s exactly the kind of human-interest spin that we need in all our pieces. I think the school community is going to love the angle you’ve taken here!’
The other girls around the table began to applaud. My cheeks went bright red.
I looked to the end of the table and Saskia was staring straight at me. Then she lifted her hands and began to join in with the clapping.
‘I think it’s going to be a unanimous decision here,’ Ivy said. ‘Ella, would you like to be the Junior Journalist for Eden Press? This means you’d get the main feature pieces covering your year group and you’d lead the other Year 7 girls in what you want them to write each month.’
I nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’d love to!’
The end of lunchtime bell sounded and everyone hustled their belongings together. We all shuffled out of the meeting room and into the sunny day.
As I walked along, I breat
hed in the deep scent of jasmine on the wind. Above me, a kookaburra laughed gleefully. I smiled in agreement.
‘Ella! Wait up!’ a voice called from behind me. Saskia trotted up.
‘Hi, Saskia.’
‘Ella, I just wanted … to say thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘For not writing about me in your newspaper piece. Thank you for not telling everyone—especially my sister—that I was the Eden Thief.’
I nodded lightly. ‘I wouldn’t do that to you, Saskia.’
‘I probably deserved it,’ she said quietly.
‘Did you get into a lot of trouble?’ I asked.
‘Well, yes and no,’ she frowned. ‘Mrs Sinclair did call my parents and we ended up having a video meeting with them, Ms Montgomery and me. I finally told them about the pressure I was feeling to live up to Ivy. They’d never heard me talk about that before, so they were surprised. And they turned out to be pretty sympathetic. They said they would stop expecting me to be like my sister, as long as I promised to always try my best.’
I smiled. ‘Sounds like a good compromise.’
‘Well,’ she added, ‘I am still grounded—no weekend passes or common room fun for four weeks—and, as part of my punishment, I have to help with kitchen duty for the rest of the term! It could have been a lot worse though, I suppose. You and Grace and Zoe didn’t get in too much trouble, did you?’
‘Nah, it was fine. Mrs Sinclair understood why we did what we did. Thanks for backing us up as to why we were there. If you hadn’t come clean, Mrs Sinclair may have blamed us, too.’
Saskia nodded slightly.
‘But Ms Montgomery made us write out the house rule about not sneaking out after dark, like, a thousand times, just to make sure we knew how to behave in future.’ I grimaced.
Saskia grinned.
‘I heard you got into the top stream after the tests,’ she said. ‘Congratulations.’
‘Thanks,’ I replied. ‘It really wasn’t as big a deal as we were all making it out to be. I talked to Mrs Sinclair about it, and she said I didn’t need to worry about my scholarship. She told me just to do my best and that was always going to be enough.’
The truth was, Mrs Sinclair also told me that there were lots of girls on scholarships or other kinds of funded positions at the school. She said we make up a really important part of the school community, and I should never feel like I’m at risk of being sent away just because I’m on a scholarship. But I didn’t tell that to Saskia.
‘Well, you’re going to have to put up with me in your classes, I’m afraid,’ Saskia said, smiling. ‘Mrs Sinclair let me sit a different test—one I hadn’t seen before— and turns out I can get good marks just by using my brain! Who knew? So I’ll be in the same stream as you. You’d better watch out!’
I wrinkled my nose up. Had Saskia really changed? She seemed pretty sorry. But there was always going to be that competitive streak to her, that’s for sure. I knew I would have to keep my eyes open with her around. But at least we were heading in the right direction this time.
Saskia let out a little laugh and flicked her ponytail behind her as she skipped off up the path. I shook my head and smiled as I walked away to my next class.
Chapter 19
After classes the next day, I strolled down the path to the sick bay. The school nurse wanted to have a quick check of my eye to make sure everything still looked OK, after that dodgeball incident.
I walked up the steps and opened the glass panelled door, which tinkled a little bell.
There, in the waiting area, sat Violet. She looked up at me with her big, round eyes behind her big, round glasses. She looked a little pale. I sat down next to her.
‘How’s it going?’ I asked.
‘Oh, Ella! It’s fine. I’m fine. I mean, everything’s fine.’
I nodded.
Violet looked down at her hands.
I bit my lip gently and thought. Nanna Kate always says that some people wear their hearts on their sleeves. And other people shove them down deep into their pockets. I had a suspicion that Violet might be a heart- in-the-pocket kind of a girl. But that didn’t mean she didn’t need a friend.
‘Violet, can I ask you something?’ I said.
‘Sure,’ she replied uncertainly.
‘Are you OK?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, are you OK? I feel like we’ve all tried really hard to include you, but you don’t want to hang out with us. And I have something to confess,’ I said slowly. I wasn’t completely sure if I should admit what I was about to say. ‘We were trying to catch the Eden Thief, and we accidentally spied on you sneaking out late at night. And I know you sometimes disappear in the morning, too. And you always seem to hide away at dinner. What’s going on?’
Violet’s eyes searched the room desperately. I could see her mind was spinning, trying to think of what to say next. Eventually her shoulders slumped and she let out a long breath.
‘I have diabetes,’ she blurted.
‘Oh. Is that, like, because you ate too much sugar or something?’
‘No!’ Violet exploded.
I jumped back in alarm. I’d never heard Violet snap like that.
She composed herself, then continued in a calm voice. ‘Sorry. I mean, no. I have Type 1 diabetes. I was diagnosed at the age of one. It wasn’t caused by a poor diet—it’s a disease where my body has problems with insulin. Every day can feel like a battle. I have to monitor every single thing I eat. Every time I put something in my mouth, I have to calculate how much insulin I need in relation to that food. I can’t just grab a snack and run off. It’s just really … really hard, Ella.’ Her voice broke a little at the end.
I thought for a moment. ‘Surely there’s only one thing harder than what you’re already doing …’
‘Yeah, like what?’ she asked.
‘Dealing with everything you have to deal with AND trying to hide it at the same time,’ I said gently.
Violet sighed. ‘You’re probably right, Ella. But I don’t want to look like a freak. That’s why I eat alone. I don’t want people seeing my meals are different. That’s why I skipped the midnight feast—I can’t just binge on lollies whenever I choose. And that’s why I seem to disappear all the time—I’ve been spending a lot of time down here with the nurse. If my blood sugar levels get too high or too low, I have to come down here for monitoring. The school is just getting used to managing my condition. They are being super careful with me and making sure I’m OK. Which is really great, but also really awkward. It’s hard to make friends when you feel so different.’
‘It’s also hard to make friends if you feel you can’t be honest.’ My voice trailed off.
Violet and I sat in silence.
The nurse came out of the back room holding something in her hand.
‘Right, Violet, let’s check your levels. Oh, Ella, hi,’ she said. ‘I’ll just take Violet into the other room.’
‘Actually, if Ella doesn’t mind, is it OK if we do it here?’ Violet asked. ‘Only if it doesn’t make you squeamish,’ she added to me.
‘It’s fine with me—I’d love to see how it works,’ I said, smiling.
Violet’s concerned frown melted away and a bright smile spread across her face.
She took the tiny machine from the nurse.
‘OK, Ella, it works like this.’
After I left Violet to finish up with the nurse, I walked across the sweeping green grass of the manicured Centenary Lawn. I’d only been an Eden Girl for a few weeks, but I already felt like I knew the place inside out.
Nanna Kate says ‘home is where your heart is’. The truth is, my heart will always be with my family. But as I walked along that warm afternoon, breathing in the metallic scent of an impending summer storm, I felt like a piece of my heart was here with my Eden family, too.
I thought of Grace. Of Zoe. Of Violet. Of our dorm room and our midnight feasts. And I wondered if, perhaps, one day, this r
eally would be the place I called home.
Chapter 20
× −
From: Ella
Sent: Saturday, 1:45 PM
To: Olivia
Subject: The Eden Ghost
Hi Olivia,
Everything is back to normal now that the whole Eden Thief thing is over. You have to promise you won’t ever tell anyone it was Saskia, OK? Especially if you end up coming here one day. It’s our secret, right?
Things are heaps better with Violet now, too. She told Zoe and Grace about her diabetes as well, so now our whole room knows about it. She’s heaps more relaxed about sharing with us and she’s even started sitting with us at dinner. And Ms Montgomery said that each one of us can take turns at being her buddy and making sure she isn’t in need of any medical help. I’m actually really happy about that—I want to be able to help her. And, it turns out, she’s actually really funny! I’d never seen her funny side before.
And guess what? Your ghost trap idea totally worked!!! Thanks for the suggestion to put flour on the floor outside our door, right before bedtime. You’re right—if it was a ghost there would be no footprints, even if we heard the clinking sound. But there WERE footprints. Actually, not footprints, but PAWPRINTS! Turns out, Ms Montgomery has a cat! The cat is always outside during the day, so I’d never seen her before, but at night she comes inside. And around her neck is a collar with two shiny, little crystals, because the cat’s name is Crystal! Whenever Crystal walks around, her collar makes a clinking sound.
So there’s no ghost after all!
I’m pretty relieved actually. I didn’t really want to live in a dorm with a ghost.
Anyway, I can hear Zoe calling. We are about to go for a walk with some Senior girls to the café in town for a hot chocolate. It’s one of our weekend privileges.
Email me soon.
I miss you, Olivia.
Love, Ella
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