More Trouble at Trebizon

by Anne Digby

  'Find the light switches,' said Sue. 'It's too creepy here for my liking.'

  Rebecca walked into the church with her torch beam cast ahead of her. She tiptoed past the silent pews and the little marble font, where the babies of the manor house had once been christened, then through thick velvet curtains that swished behind her, into the vestry. She tripped over a dustpan and brush in the darkness and the loud clatter made the others, out there in the aisle, jump with fright.

  Shivering a little and hardly daring to look at the darkness all around her, Rebecca moved her torch beam along the wall until she found the main light switch. She plunged it on and the church flooded with electric light. The others came rushing in to join her.

  They all blinked in the light and looked around them. Tish was the first one to reach the door to the bell tower.

  'It's bolted!' she exclaimed. 'She could be up here!'

  They slid the bolts back and Tish and Sue used their torches to find the way up the narrow, winding staircase to the tower, in single file. The others waited below, holding their breath.

  'Oh.' Rebecca exhaled in disappointment as Tish's echoing shout came down – Nobody here!

  They heard the clatter of footsteps coming down the stone steps as Tish and Sue descended. They emerged in the vestry with their blue capes smudged with white dust, where they'd brushed against the thick stone walls of the tower.

  'Nobody up there at all?' asked Elf, crestfallen.

  'Only a few spiders and bats,' replied Tish. Margot shuddered.

  'The crypt!' Rebecca said then. 'That's the other possibility.'

  They stomped through the church, up towards the altar, and then turned left through a doorway just in front of the choir stalls which smelt strongly of wax polish. The flight of stairs leading down to the crypt was in darkness. This part of the church wasn't on the main lighting circuit. Rebecca, leading the way, was about to click her torch back on, then stopped. She grabbed Tish's arm in excitement.

  'Look! 'she hissed. She pointed down to the stout wooden door of the crypt. It was firmly closed but a crack of light showed at the bottom.

  'The light's on in the crypt!' whispered Tish. 'There must be somebody in there!'

  The five of them almost fell down the last few steps in their haste and came up hard against the door. Sue turned the handle.

  'That's funny,' she said. 'It won't open –'

  Tish pulled Sue back and pointed to the ancient black iron key that was sitting firmly in its keyhole.

  'It must be locked,' she said.

  They all gathered round. They were too excited to be nervous now. Tish took a firm grip on the big key and slowly turned it back to unlock the door. It moved easily and silently in the lock with just the tiniest little 'click' to show that the door was now open.

  They pushed the door open, inch by inch.

  They could see a naked electric light bulb hanging from the ceiling, glowing brightly, lighting up the crypt. They pushed and shoved each other and crowded through the open doorway –

  'Look!' cried Rebecca in excitement. 'Food!'

  They rushed to an old oak settle, standing with its back against the thick, damp walls of the crypt. On the settle there was an empty cardboard provision box. Piled around it were empty crisp bags, two used drinks cans, three apple cores and a cardboard carton covered in pictures of miniature chocolate rolls.

  'Salt and vinegar!' cried Elf, picking up one of the crisp bags. 'Mara's favourite sort!'

  'And her favourite canned drink, too!' exclaimed Margot, pointing. 'Lemonade and lime. She's drunk two big cans of it!'

  She was picking up the cake carton and examining it.

  'She's a glutton for mini choc rolls, too. She seems to have eaten the whole box of them.'

  Tish and Rebecca were looking all round the crypt. Tish was laughing. 'So she got a lift up from the town in that car Lucy Hubbard saw! Where is she now, though?'

  They scouted round for a few moments, peering behind the huge stone pillars that supported the roof. There was no sign of Mara. The crypt was empty.

  'Never mind. It proves we're on the right track,' said Tish. She was elated in her relief. 'Mara just wanted to give Papa and everyone a big fright – the way she always threatened she would!'

  'Where's she gone now?' wondered Sue, stuffing the remains of Mara's feast into the cardboard box and then putting it under her arm. 'She obviously got fed up with sitting down here for hours –' She shivered and looked round at the damp walls. 'Can't say I blame her!'

  'Gone to find somewhere warmer, I expect,' said Elf, joyfully.

  'She might even be back at Court House by now,' Margot suggested. 'We could have missed her.'

  'Hey!' said Tish, suddenly looking at her watch. 'Do you realize it's nearly eight o'clock? If Mara isn't back yet, we've got to stop Miss Welbeck calling in the police. Come on, quick! Bring the box, Sue, we can show Mrs Barry.'

  Tish led the rush to the door. Elf brought up the rear and flipped the light off as she left the crypt.

  'There's Papa to think about, too,' gasped Sue. 'We've got to let him know everything's okay, before he starts phoning Mara's father in Athens or something awful like that.'

  They all raced away from the church, not even stopping to turn the main lights off. They could see to all that, later. Rebecca ran with them, but she kept looking back.

  'What's the matter, Becky?' puffed Tish as they ran.

  'Nothing!'

  Rebecca didn't like to say anything, not just yet. But she thought it distinctly odd of Mara to leave all that mess in the crypt and the light still burning. Of course, it would make sense if she'd only intended to slip out for a very short time.

  In which case, why bother to lock the door after her? It didn't quite add up, somehow.

  The five girls were just heading across the forecourt towards the front door of Court House when they heard the sound of a horn behind them, the screech of brakes. They found themselves trapped in the headlights of the Barringtons' car, their long shadows pinioned to the wall. They turned as their house mistress called out to them, then hurried back and crowded round the car.

  'Any sign?' she asked, winding the window fully down. 'I think I'd better let Miss Welbeck call the police now. It's five minutes to eight.'

  She looked rather weary. Both she and her husband had been driving slowly, round and round the grounds. having a last look for Mara.

  'No – don't! It's all right,' exclaimed Sue, holding up the cardboard box and smiling. 'Mara's perfectly safe – if she's not back by now, she should be pretty soon. She's run out of food – look!'

  'We've found out where she's been hiding all afternoon,' Elf explained. 'Down in the church crypt – I should think she's caught pneumonia!'

  'Oh, the silly girl,' said Mrs Barrington, climbing out of the car. She looked very relieved. 'Let's go inside in the warm and have a look at that box you're holding, Sue.' She bent and called through the car window. 'It's all right darling, I think you can put the car away.'

  Rebecca and Tish were already running on ahead to the boarding house.

  'Let's see if she's come back!' said Tish.

  As they burst in through the front door they almost collided with Lucy Hubbard.

  'Did you find her?' Lucy asked eagerly.

  'Almost,' said Tish. 'You did something sensible at last, telling us about that car you saw at lunch time.'

  'Isn't she back here yet?' Rebecca rapped to Lucy.

  'No.' Lucy was startled. 'Didn't you find her, then? What do you mean, almost?' she asked Tish. 'I mean, either you found her or you didn't find her.'

  At that moment Mrs Barrington came in with the others and put the box on the hall table, running her fingers through the rubbish inside.

  Girls were hanging over the stairs, listening.

  'Now, tell me about it quickly, you lot. Miss Welbeck will be phoning through at any moment, to see whether she should call the police or not. You're sure these crisp bags and thing
s are Mara's –?'

  'Positive!' said Elf.

  'Oh, look – here's Papa back!' exclaimed Sue, as she saw the shape of the big black car drawing up outside the front porch. 'We can tell him to stop worrying now.'

  Quickly she explained to Mrs Barrington why they knew that the food had been Mara's and the house mistress nodded.

  'I think we can take it that Mara's very near to home,' she said with a smile. 'As you say, she probably got cold and miserable in the crypt and has found somewhere warmer. She must be getting very, very bored by now. I'm sure it won't be long before –' She glanced at her watch. 'I won't wait for Miss Welbeck to phone, I'll ring her myself. I'll go by the front way and have a very quick word with Mr Papaconstantopoulos first.'

  The girls stood back to let her through. She took two steps towards the front door when suddenly a shrill voice rang out.

  'Mrs Barrington! Don't go. Please – wait a minute –'

  They all looked round in astonishment. Lucy Hubbard stood rigidly in the common room doorway. She was pale and trembly. There were tears in her eyes.

  'Whatever's the matter, Lucy?' asked the house mistress, frowning. She came back up the hall. The girls stepped aside again and watched as she walked up to Lucy and took her by the arm. 'What's wrong?'

  'I – I've been listening to everything!' said Lucy. 'And now I know. Mara isn't safe at all. She really has been kidnapped – she must have been!'

  TWELVE

  A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

  'What do you mean, you stupid girl?' asked Mrs Barrington irritably. 'Who on earth would want to kidnap Mara? I think we can be fairly certain that she's safely in school bounds somewhere –'

  'No!' screamed Lucy. 'Somebody's taken her from the church crypt! They must have done!'

  There was a lot of whispering and scuffling overhead as more girls crushed down on to the staircase, pushing each other to get a good view over the banisters. Mrs Barrington looked up sharply.

  'Scoot – all of you! Go on. Up to your rooms!'

  Then the house mistress led Lucy towards the kitchen, nodding to Rebecca & Co. to follow.

  'Calm down, Lucy, for goodness' sake. I think we'd better have a talk.'

  As she opened the kitchen door, Jane Bowen, Jenny Brook-Hayes and Anne Finch fell out, having been listening hard. 'Scoot!' said Mrs Barrington and they quickly fled to their rooms.

  'Now, sit down, Lucy, and try and explain to us what you're talking about.'

  They were alone in the kitchen. The house mistress, the tiny newcomer to Court House and Mara's five friends. Rebecca and Tish stood with their backs pressed against the kitchen door, keeping it firmly closed.

  'I saw Mara come back from town at lunch time!' Lucy blurted out. 'Some boys in a yellow car gave her a lift up to school. They stopped on the way back and went in a shop to buy food for her. And a torch, I believe. Then they came up the little lane, back to school Churchgate way. I kept them in sight all the time, racing on my bike.'

  'The Trebizon Tech boys!' exclaimed Rebecca.

  'Go on, Lucy,' said Mrs Barrington icily.

  Lucy was so frightened by now that she could hardly get the words out fast enough.

  'I concealed myself and watched them park the car! They let Mara out, with the box of food and cheered and honked the horn as she ran over to the church. They shouted things like: Don't you let them find you, darling! and Good luck! and then they drove off. It made me sick,' Lucy added vehemently.

  'And you've kept all this to yourself!' said Mrs Barrington angrily. But she was baffled. 'I fail to see what all the melodrama's about, Lucy. Whatever makes you think that someone's taken Mara away from the crypt against her will?'

  'Lucy hasn't finished yet,' said Rebecca, tersely.

  'What happened next, Lucy?' asked Sue, catching on.

  'I – I – 'Lucy hung her head, unable to speak.

  'Let me guess,' said Rebecca. Her heart was banging hard. 'You thought it was about time that Mara was taught a lesson – and the rest of us, too. A lesson we'd never forget. After the boys had gone, you crept into the church after Mara, tip-toed down to the crypt and very quietly –'

  'Turned the key!' ended Sue.

  Lucy couldn't speak. She just nodded. There was a sickened silence.

  Tish looked as though she were going to hit her.

  'Mara hates being shut in anywhere!' she raged. 'You little fool. At first she wouldn't realize she was locked in that place – but once she did –'

  'I never thought about how she'd be feeling,' sobbed Lucy. 'I just wanted you all to realize how dangerous it was for Mara to disobey her father. I wanted you to be really scared, but you still wouldn't take it seriously, any of you. Not even Mrs Barry! So I just decided to wait until you got really upset and then I'd be the one to think of where she was and you'd all like me –'

  'The heroine of the story!' said Sue, with bitter sarcasm.

  'Never mind all this nonsense!' said Mrs Barrington. She was drumming her fingers on the windowsill, looking out into the darkness. 'I can see exactly why Lucy is so frightened. Mara couldn't have got out of the locked crypt on her own. She must have shouted and banged and somebody must have heard her. But who was it? Who released her? With half the school looking for her, why hasn't the person come forward?'

  She pushed her way out of the kitchen. They trooped out behind her, white-faced. Papa was waiting stoically in the hall. His big, kindly face was crumpled up with worry. He was looking at Tish's snapshot of Mara, in his hand.

  'We didn't want the police in, did we, Papa? But I think they have to be called in now. I'm sorry.'

  He nodded.

  'Come through to the house with me.' She took his arm. 'Help yourself to coffee while I phone the principal.'

  About to disappear through her private door, she remembered Lucy. She turned and called out to her in a cold furious voice:

  'Go and sit in the common room and wait until I summon you. I'd like your mother to be here when we talk about your behaviour today.'

  As soon as Mrs Barrington had gone the hall filled with girls, thronging round, talking excitedly, asking questions. Tish and the others, very pale and shaken, had gathered round the coinbox phone under the stairs and were trying to get through to Syon House. Maybe Curly would know something! Maybe Mara had turned up there by now!

  But Rebecca had gone.

  She was running through the night, shining her torch, faster than she'd ever run before. Her fair hair streamed out behind her, her cape billowed, her eyes watered in the wind. When, at last, St Mary's Church came in sight, the lights were on as they'd left them and its three stained glass windows glowed out against the blackness.

  In her private sitting room, Mrs Barrington had phoned Miss Welbeck first. The principal had at once contacted the police. Now the house mistress put through a call to staff quarters and asked to speak to Mrs Hubbard.

  She was kept hanging on for a while. Then Miss Heath came to the phone and explained that Mrs Hubbard's husband had collected her at six thirty as apparently they'd arranged to dine together at a local restaurant. She should be back shortly. Was there any message?

  Mrs Barrington said yes, it was urgent. Could Mrs Hubbard come across to Court House as soon as she returned? If she were able to bring her husband with her, so much the better. It concerned their daughter, Lucy.

  Of course, it was the job of the police to find Mara. Rebecca knew that. But she couldn't wait.

  She didn't think for a moment that Mara could have gone to Garth College.

  Mara was in some kind of terrible danger! Rebecca just knew she was! She'd never liked the idea of the crypt being left untidy, with the light still on. It simply wasn't like Mara to leave it like that – not of her own free will.

  What had happened to her?

  There was something else that puzzled Rebecca. If somebody had unlocked the door and taken Mara away from the crypt, why had they carefully locked the door again afterwards? It didn't make sense.
>
  Supposing she'd never left the crypt? Supposing she was still in there?

  'But where?' wondered Rebecca. 'Where?'

  She entered the silent church, panting. She walked unsteadily up the aisle towards the choir stalls, trying to get her breath back, then turned through the little doorway that led down to the crypt. She flashed her torch down the stone steps and saw at the bottom that the door of the crypt was ajar just as they'd left it. Her footsteps set up a chilling, sepulchral echo as she descended.

  If only she'd stopped Mara going on the float in the first place, none of this would have happened! If anything had happened to Mara then in a way she, Rebecca Mason, was responsible.

  The crypt was in darkness because they'd switched the light off when they'd fled from there earlier. Rebecca edged her way forward and opened the door a little wider. She stood in the doorway, running her torch beam over the near wall, searching for the light switch.

  She couldn't find it.

  She wanted to go in, but she didn't dare. The crypt smelt musty and damp. The cavernous darkness in front of her reminded her of a huge tomb. It had seemed all right before, when there'd been five of them! Now, on her own . . . Her legs started to turn to jelly. She suddenly remembered vague stories she'd heard about the crypt . . . a nobleman's daughter . . . untimely death . . . ghosts.

  What had happened to Mara?

  Torch trembling a little in her hand, she tried again to find the light switch. Then –

  She heard a distant moaning sound!

  Her scalp went prickly all over.

  'Who – who's that?' she called. 'M-Mara?'

  Just her own voice came echoing back. At last she saw the light switch, edged towards it in the darkness and fumbled it on.

  She looked round, blinking, in the light. The crypt was empty!

  'M-Mara?' she called again. 'Was – was that you?'

  Shaking with fear she began to edge her way round the inside wall of the crypt, glancing behind each pillar as she passed it, calling over and over again. Still this terrible sense of danger for Mara. Still just the sound of her own voice echoing, followed by silence.

  'I did hear something, I did,' Rebecca told herself. 'A moaning noise – where did it come from?'