The Last Secret. Sophie Cleverly

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       Chapter Three

       IVY

      he holidays weren’t particularly filled with cheer, but they managed to pass without any conflict, which seemed like a Christmas miracle in itself. Our stepmother was constantly glaring at us, but she mostly kept her distance.

      Father, on the other hand, seemed to be getting stranger by the day. He spent most of his time in his office, and then sometimes wandered around the house with no apparent purpose. He looked a little off-colour too, and wasn’t eating very much. But he seemed happy enough, in his own way. I wondered if he was still thinking about Mother.

      We didn’t show him the papers that we’d found – Scarlet wasn’t sure if we could trust him, and we definitely didn’t want to leave them anywhere Edith might come across them. I just wanted to find out what they said first.

      When the New Year arrived and the day finally came for us to go back to Rookwood School, we were practically buzzing with excitement. It seemed so strange to feel that way, given how horrible the school had been for us most of the time. But now it was full of friends, noise and chatter. It was alive, while our home just felt chilly and dead.

      Our stepmother was standing in our bedroom doorway that morning, with her arms folded, watching us pack. “Don’t come back this time,” she sneered, before marching off. Scarlet made a rude gesture after her.

      While Father drove us to school, I spent the whole journey through the winding lanes thinking of the music box tucked away in my bag. We’d hidden the papers inside it again, along with the photographs. Part of me was afraid that the secret catch would stop working and they’d be trapped in the box forever, but we’d tried it several times just to make sure. Each time it sprang open like it had before.

      At one point, Father started coughing so hard he had to stop the car in the middle of the road.

      “Are you all right?” I asked.

      It took him a few minutes before he said anything again. He’d gone rather green. “I’m fine,” he said. “Just feeling a little under the weather, that’s all.” He slapped his face gently with his hands, recomposing himself. “Right. We must get going. I’ve got work to do.” And off we went again.

      We pulled into Rookwood, through those grand gates, the stone rooks staring down at us from their pillars. It was a January morning and there was still a layer of frost over everything, making it sparkle in the sunlight. The bare trees waved their cold limbs at us as we passed.

      As we went down the drive, the familiar sight of numerous motor cars and buses greeted us – each one spilling passengers out at the front of the school. I took a deep breath. We were back.

      When we finally made it to the main entrance, Father stopped the car and helped us out with our bags. He seemed to be struggling somewhat. “Here you go, girls,” he said. “I hope you have a good term.”

      “Thank you,” I said, unsure what else to say.

      “I’m … sure we will,” said Scarlet. She wasn’t used to being on speaking terms with our father either.

      Inside Rookwood’s huge doors, the new headmistress, Mrs Knight, was calling instructions to the girls who were streaming in. “Straight to your dorms, please! Assembly in one hour!”

      We heaved our bags upstairs through the crowd. It took some time, but we eventually made it to our assigned dorm, room thirteen.

      “Let’s dump our things here and then go and find Ariadne,” Scarlet suggested.

      “Good plan,” I replied. I put my bag down in front of the wardrobe while Scarlet threw hers on her bed. Of course, there was something important I had to do first. I reached in with care and pulled out the music box, setting it down gently on the desk. It chimed quietly as it touched the wood. I hoped that it looked enough like any other trinket box that no one would think anything of it.

      “I wonder who Ariadne will be sharing with?” Scarlet asked as she made a vague attempt at hanging up the few clothes she owned. A dress slid off its hanger, but she ignored it.

      “Hmm.” I wrinkled my nose. “No idea.” Our best friend had been sharing with a girl named Muriel Witherspoon last term, but Muriel had been expelled after being responsible for a string of awful events. Now Ariadne was once again left without a roommate.

      My excitement began to build at the thought of seeing Ariadne again. I’d missed her so much the past few weeks. She always knew how to cheer us up, like a ray of sunshine through the dark brooding clouds of Rookwood.

      We made our way to her dorm room, where I was pleased to see the door already flung open and our best friend beside the bed with her suitcases.

      “Ariadne!” Scarlet called out, running in to hug her.

      I followed and joined in.

      “Hello!” Ariadne said brightly, once we’d released her from the hug. “Did you have a good Christmas?”

      I shared a look with my twin. “It was … fine,” I said. My thoughts immediately flashed to the music box, but we were interrupted by a voice from the doorway.

      “Good morning,” came a voice with a Scottish accent. If Ariadne was a ray of sunshine, this voice was rain on the moors.

      “Oh,” СКАЧАТЬ