The Magpie Society One for Sorrow

by Amy McCulloch

  He tuts, but thankfully relents. ‘Come on then.’

  He strides off in the direction of the Tower Wing. ‘I’ve never been in this part of the school,’ Audrey says as we approach.

  ‘Yeah, most of us try to avoid it if we can.’ It’s always had quite a creepy vibe in my opinion. I’ve seen old black-and-white photographs of it where it looks like it had an elegant wisteria vine that spiralled up the outside – I imagine that would’ve been quite beautiful. But now it’s dead, and only the twisted, gnarled branches remain.

  ‘It’s not so bad,’ says Teddy. ‘This way.’

  He swipes us through the door but, instead of taking us up the tower, Teddy guides us down the circular staircase, into the basement. It’s late, and we shouldn’t be out of our rooms, but I know that Mrs Parsons won’t be checking the dorm rooms for another hour so we still have plenty of time.

  The basement is where all the electrical boxes, fuses, servers and media towers are kept – essentially the entire brain of the school. There’s a little office down here too, housing three technicians during the day, who keep on top of it all and spy on what students are looking at on their laptops. As we start walking down, we can hear the low hum of electricity surrounding us.

  ‘Won’t they see that your card was used to get us in here?’ Audrey asks as we enter the office with a clear sign: STAFF ONLY. She looks a little nervous. Three very organized desks sit together in a line, with computer monitors covering every available space. One wall is entirely filled with screens flashing up the CCTV from every possible angle and corner of the school.

  ‘No, I know how to erase that from the log.’ Teddy strides in with confidence and turns on the lights. ‘They used to have one technician on a night shift, but the most he was ever needed for in his entire six years of employment was to rescue a baby fox from the tennis net.’ Teddy sits at one of the desks and I follow suit. Audrey hovers near the door.

  ‘Honestly, Audrey, you can relax. I’ve been coming here after hours for years.’

  She bites her fingernails, a habit of hers I’ve noticed when she gets particularly nervous. Why bother spending so much time painting them just to go and eat them? This girl needs to learn to live a little.

  Teddy taps the brand name on the top of one of the servers: GRANT. ‘My family basically installed this whole set-up. No way Illumen Hall would have had the funds for this state-of-the-art stuff if it weren’t for my dad. The technicians all know me and they don’t care if I come down here during lunches and breaktimes. It’s like work experience. Bring them first choice of the sandwiches from the canteen and just sit and pick their brains.’

  ‘Like how to give us full access on our key cards …?’ I prompt.

  He nods. ‘I shouldn’t, but …’ He takes the cards and types their serial numbers into the computer. ‘And why exactly do the two of you need full access anyway?’

  ‘We can’t tell you that,’ I say, snatching my card back.

  ‘Of course you can’t.’ He laughs. ‘Just don’t get me in trouble, OK?’

  ‘Will the technicians be able to see we have full access?’ I study the card, then look up and notice that our full profiles are on display on the monitor. Name, age, photo, student house, year group, guardian contact details and the areas to which we have access, which now reads AAA.

  ‘Not if I do this …’ Teddy taps in a few more codes, clicks the mouse and we see it change to ‘Limited Access, Lower Sixth, Helios.’ He does the same on Audrey’s profile. She looks like a deer caught in headlights in her ID photo – and not to mention soaking wet. It must have been taken on her first day.

  ‘Done.’ Teddy jumps up from the computer and switches off the monitor. I point to the wall of CCTV screens. ‘Do we need to do anything about this?’ We’d made our way here carefully, avoiding the cameras, but I cast my eyes over the different screens to check there isn’t one that could give us away.

  ‘There are plenty outside, but I know how to avoid those.’

  I can’t help wondering how Teddy knows just the right way to dodge the cameras. Why on earth would he need to sneak around like that?

  As we make our way back up the stairs with our AAA key cards safely in our pockets, Teddy turns to face us.

  ‘I mean it, ladies – be careful with these. You need to really think about when, how and why you’re using them.’ He’s dead serious now.

  ‘We will, Teddy, and thanks for this!’ Audrey smiles sweetly at him.

  Teddy smiles back. ‘So listen, I was going to ask –’

  I look down at my watch. ‘Shit, we’d better get back before Mrs Parsons checks our room.’

  Audrey’s eyes open wide. ‘I can’t afford another strike with her.’

  I grab Audrey’s hand, pulling her away from Teddy before he can finish his question. ‘See you next Saturday!’ I say.

  We don’t wait around to hear his reply.

  38

  Ivy

  ‘Audrey. Audrey, wake up!’ My God, that girl can sleep for England.

  ‘What is it?’ says Audrey, her eyes still squeezed shut. ‘Where’s the fire?’

  ‘Come on. We’re going to miss breakfast.’

  ‘Can’t you go for a run?’ Reluctantly, she opens one eye.

  I sigh. ‘Done.’

  ‘Piano?’

  ‘No way, not this early in the morning. Come on, lazy arse.’ I drag the covers off Audrey and throw a towel at her head. She groans.

  ‘You’re seriously irritating, you know that?’

  ‘Yeah, but I’ll make it worth your while. I asked the cook to bake pains au chocolat. You like them, don’t you? And they’re so much better if they’re warm …’

  ‘Fine.’ Audrey grabs the towel and growls her way to the bathroom. When she emerges again, she looks a lot more alive – but she still glares at me. ‘So, where are these legendary pastries?’

  We head downstairs to the canteen, where one of the cooks, Sandy, is waiting as promised with the fresh, warm goods. Audrey and I grab our share, then sit down at one of the dining tables.

  ‘So, what’s the plan for today?’ Audrey asks. ‘I’m kinda exhausted. Maybe we can just chill out and watch a movie in the common room or something?’

  ‘No way – not now we’ve got these special cards. We have to check out the feathers.’

  ‘You really think there’s something to that?’

  ‘Well, think about the domestic staff – the kitchen, IT, the groundsmen – here at Illumen Hall. These are the people who keep this school ticking over.’

  ‘What’s that got to do with the magpies?’

  ‘Well, what I’m saying is, what if these are the people that have more information about the Magpie Society? What if they are the Magpie Society?’ I look for any trace of agreement in Audrey’s face. It doesn’t come. I sigh. ‘I know it seems like a pretty loose connection but look: we’ve got these AAA key cards now. The feathers are really busy today, deep-cleaning the common rooms. Let’s check out the utility areas to see if there’s any other information.’

  ‘I guess?’

  ‘Come on.’ I stand up and grab her hand.

  As the canteen is deserted, we rush over to a door marked STAFF ONLY. I swipe my key, and then push through. Audrey follows close behind.

  ‘Wow, they really save the decor for the students, huh?’

  I know what she means. As soon as we pass through into the staff quarters, the walls are an unadorned cream colour, with harsh fluorescent lighting. ‘Yeah, seriously. In the oldest part of the building, that used to be a manor house, the “servants’ quarters” are even bigger than the main house.’

  ‘That’s wild.’

  The corridor leads to a utility-type room brimming with washing. Sheets hang from every bit of the ceiling and walls. All you can hear is the rumbling of the washing machines and tumble dryers. It’s a little disorientating.

  ‘Wow. We sure go through a lot of laundry in this place.’

  ‘Hold
on … don’t you find this a bit odd? That there are completely dry sheets hanging everywhere, yet rows of tumble dryers?’

  ‘So?’

  ‘So … why would they need to hang any sheets up to dry when there are enough tumble dryers to get them done?’ Why do I feel like it’s a distraction, a cover-up? Am I seeing patterns that aren’t there?

  But then I look closer. ‘These sheets aren’t fresh. They smell a bit … old. Sure-fire sign they haven’t been freshly hung.’

  I turn to see Audrey sniffing the sheets. She wrinkles her nose. ‘I don’t really get why they’d have sheets hung up here permanently though. To always make it look like they’re busy? To show exactly what the room is used for?’ She searches through them, pulling at different sheet corners. I do the same, searching for … we don’t know what.

  ‘Oh my God, look at this!’ I gasp.

  Audrey rushes over as I pull a sheet back to reveal – a rich oak pannelled wall, decorated with elaborate carvings.

  ‘Whoa! There are so many hidden treasures in this school. You’d never see anything like this back home.’ Audrey traces the raised carvings on the wooden panels.

  ‘Look here.’ She points at a panel with a bird carved into it. It looks distinctly like a magpie. It can’t be a coincidence.

  I push it. Nothing. I try and prise it open with my fingernail. Again, it doesn’t budge.

  ‘Maybe it’s not a door?’ Audrey says, sounding deflated.

  ‘I just – I feel like this panel is sticking out more?’ I carry on pulling it and pushing it, until eventually I manage to swing it and it rotates inwards, revealing a small passageway. It’s long and dark and I can’t see anything inside.

  ‘Oh my God!’ Audrey claps her hands. ‘Where does that go?’ She peers over my shoulder into the dark corridor.

  ‘I have no idea. I thought I could draw a map of this school from memory, but I didn’t know this even existed. Maybe it leads to a bomb shelter – like from the Second World War?’ I fumble my hand on the inside of the door, but can’t feel a light switch.

  ‘Are we sure we wanna go in here? What if we can’t get back out? This school must have a floor plan like the Winchester Mystery House. Nothing makes any sense.’ Audrey hesitates, but still falls into step behind me.

  ‘We’ll be fine,’ I say with more confidence than I feel. ‘Stay close behind me. We can use our phones for light. You fully charged this time?’

  ‘Oh yeah, not gonna make that mistake again!’

  I feel along the walls with one hand and shine my phone light out in front of me with the other. The corridor is very tight and the floorboards below us are old and dusty with rusty nails sticking out at odd angles. I take a step forward and feel a creak. I look down and realize I’m standing on a rotten floorboard, half crumbled away.

  Then in the next moment I’m falling.

  39

  Audrey

  I scream as the floor crumbles beneath Ivy’s feet. But she throws her arms out and I’m able to grab her under her armpits. I lift her back up on to solid ground, and we both collapse into a fit of adrenaline-fuelled giggles.

  ‘What is this place?’ I ask. ‘Do you think it is one of those World War Two shelters that you talked about?’

  ‘I dunno. This looks like it might be even older than that.’ Ivy is clearly intrigued. ‘Look at this – it’s some kind of old graffiti.’ She touches a scrawl of letters: JB. ‘Maybe it’s a priest-hole. I know there were some of those in this part of the school.’ I must look confused, because she goes on, ‘In Elizabethan times, they persecuted Catholic priests because they thought there was a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I, so people used to hide them down these little hidden passageways to protect them.’

  ‘Oh God, that’s horrible.’

  ‘Some of the holes were too small and the priests suffocated,’ Ivy replies. ‘A lot of old buildings claim to be haunted because of it.’

  ‘Stop it, you’re freakin’ me out!’

  ‘Ha, sorry. I used to love all the gory bits of history, but I guess it is kind of morbid.’

  ‘You’re telling me.’ I duck to fit as the passageway narrows. Not for the first time, I curse my height. ‘Man, the priests must have been tiny if they were supposed to fit in here. What part of the school are we even in?’

  Ivy stops in her stooped-over position and looks around. ‘You know, I’m actually not sure. Maybe we should go back the way we came?’

  I take a deep breath. ‘We’ve come this far. I wanna see where this leads. Maybe we’ll find out a bit about how the Magpie Society operates?’

  Ivy stares at me for a second, then nods. ‘Just testing you,’ she says with a small smile.

  We crawl through the priest-hole, which leads eventually to an open space – there are beams crossing underfoot, and we have to be careful to walk on the joists – the last thing we want is to fall through the floor like Ivy nearly did. Our shoes leave footprints in the thick layer of dust. If the Magpie Society ever operated here, they haven’t been around in a very long time.

  ‘It’s kinda wild that all this history is buried here at the school. I’m surprised it’s not a museum or something.’

  ‘Yeah. A lot of buildings in the UK are protected for their history, but – like that weird woman in town said – Illumen Hall has its own rules. I’m pretty sure they can build whatever they want here.’

  ‘Maybe that’s why the Magpie Society was created,’ I muse. ‘Like, it would only take one bad decision, one careless person, to wipe all this away.’

  ‘You might be right about that.’

  ‘Can you hear that?’ I say. I put my hand on Ivy’s arm. There’s a low rumble of water against rock, and the distant caw of a seagull.

  Ivy pauses. ‘Is that … the sea?’

  ‘Wow. Sounds so loud up here – without anyone else around.’

  ‘Look!’ Ivy jumps along the joists now, and I follow more cautiously. She’s found the scrawled mark of a bird etched into the wood. ‘Could be a magpie,’ she says.

  ‘Let’s keep going,’ I reply. The joists shift into dirt and earth, almost as if we’ve left the building’s foundations and entered a tunnel in the grounds. We follow the sound of the waves crashing far below us. I really hope that the ground is solid – I picture the cliff crumbling and us being swept into that cold, grey, terrifying ocean. But I force myself to stop catastrophizing and focus on the part that feels exciting.

  It gets darker, the walls closing in on us, and we use the crappy flashlights on our cellphones to light the passageway in front of us.

  ‘Look!’ I point up to a small wooden plaque. ‘Another magpie.’

  ‘And another door over there!’ Ivy exclaims.

  The further we walk down this passage, the more entrances appear, seemingly from all parts of the school. I think back to the panel that swung open in our room. I wonder …

  ‘This must be how the Magpie Society used to meet up,’ Ivy says.

  ‘Wow, this is so cool. Like discovering a portal to another world.’

  We try some of the other doors, shaking handles and shoving up against ones that appear to be stuck, but most of them are boarded up properly – or locked – and of course we have no chance of getting a key.

  Only one door budges and, as soon as it swings open, the smell of the ocean rushes in. Ivy and I turn to each other, then, without needing to say a word, we both pass through the door and along the passage.

  40

  Audrey

  The further we walk, the louder the sound of the sea grows, and the tunnel leads us to a yawning cavern – and daylight. The cries of seagulls are loud now, as is the sound of the waves. It’s surprisingly warm in here, but the air smells salty. It must be a cave in the cliffs.

  Ivy stops abruptly, and I bump into her back. It takes a moment for us to register what we see inside the cave. A sleeping bag is stuffed in the corner, stinking of damp, a mouldy pillow next to it. There are discarded fast-food wrappers
and drinks cartons everywhere.

  ‘Oh my God,’ I say, gripping Ivy’s shoulders. ‘Someone lives here.’

  ‘Used to live here,’ Ivy replies. She kicks the sleeping bag with her foot, and – it might be my imagination – I’m pretty sure it moves. Ew. I try not to think about what critters might be lurking under all that garbage. ‘Doesn’t look like they’ve been here in a while.’

  ‘We need to tell someone about this,’ I say. ‘I mean, it can’t be safe here if someone can hide out in the school grounds. It could be anyone.’

  ‘Hmm, I don’t know.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Honestly, what would be the point?’ says Ivy. ‘Whoever it was has obviously not been here in ages. Do we really want all the students finding out about everything that’s hidden underneath the school? Surely Mrs Abbott knows already.’

  ‘About this?’ I gesture to the remnants of human life.

  ‘No, probably not about that,’ Ivy concedes. ‘But still.’

  ‘OK,’ I reply reluctantly. ‘Wow, look at all this stuff.’ I keep my voice to a whisper, even though I’m pretty sure we’re alone. Now that I’m over the shock of seeing the sleeping bag, I notice little ‘shelves’ of rock along the cave walls. On them are bits of seaglass, turquoise and aquamarine, with soft, rounded edges smoothed from years of being tumbled by the pounding waves.

  Ivy walks over and picks one up, rubbing it with her fingers. ‘Whoever used to live here must have been a bit of a beachcomber. You can find all sorts of stuff if you walk along the shore.’

  I run my fingers across the treasures. There are fossils here too, and bits of garbage-turned-beautiful – a child’s tin lunchbox filled with odd bits of metal: the pull tabs from soda cans, old screws, coins and even a coil of hardened driftwood. Something glints, catching the light. It’s a single silver earring, with little dangling shells. ‘Hey, doesn’t this look familiar to you?’ I pick it up gently out of the lunchbox.

  Ivy comes over, then gasps. ‘Oh my God. That was Lola’s.’