I knew those voices! I shuddered, because of all the places to disappear to, this was the very worst! I was in Hettie and Penny’s attic.
I grabbed for my compass but it wasn’t in my hand, or my pocket. I must have dropped it. I searched around the floor and then I heard a growl. Pipi had it in her mouth, hanging from the tattered ribbon.
“Pipi, give it back. We have to get out of here,” I said, reaching out for it.
Pipi barked and shot across the room, knocking into furniture and boxes, and with a great thud she toppled over the dressmaker’s dummy. A huge cloud of dust flew up around us.
“What on earth is going on up there?” Hettie cried.
I threw myself across the room and grabbed Pipi just as I heard the creak on the staircase. With a startled yap, Pipi dropped the compass. It skidded across the floor. The footsteps got louder. There was no time to grab the compass but I couldn’t leave without it. I was going to have to hide. I looked around desperately: behind me there was an old wardrobe. I managed to pull the door closed behind us just as Hettie and Penny burst in. I put a hand over Pipi’s muzzle but she managed to squeak out a whimper.
“Do you think we have mice up here?” Penny asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we had all sorts of creatures living up here. I mean, look at this mess! Didn’t you tell me you had organized this? I mean, what do we need this for?” Hettie said, picking up a hedgehog-shaped boot scraper. “And what are we keeping that old wardrobe for? Between us we don’t have enough clothes to fill the one downstairs.”
I held my breath. Through the crack in the door I could see Hettie’s slippered feet getting closer and closer. The floorboards squeaked and with every footstep the cupboard door creaked open just a little more. I was going to be discovered and there was no way I could explain how I had found myself in Hettie and Penny’s attic.
I could see the compass glinting by the old mannequin. But I couldn’t get to it, not without being seen. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think up a super-amazing escape plan. Mum would tell me that all great explorers had to make full use of their surroundings to survive. Just like Ada Blackjack who had lived for two years as a castaway on an uninhabited frozen island. She had survived by catching small animals and using their fur to keep her warm. But I was in a closet. All I had was some holey dresses and a dusty old fur coat. But thinking about Ada Blackjack had given me an idea. I pulled the fur coat down from the hanger as quietly as I could and wrapped myself and Pipi in it. If this was going to work, I thought, I would have to take Mr Todd our drama teacher’s advice. I would have to commit to the part.
As soon as I saw Hettie and Penny’s feet at the door I leaped out of the closet, howling. Pipi joined in, growling in the back of her throat. Between the two of us we sounded like a hideous bear/dog monster.
Penny screamed and Hettie fell over.
“Raaaarrr!” I cried, getting carried away, before grabbing the compass and running for the door.
With the coat over my head I couldn’t see where I was going. I tumbled down the stairs, crashed through a door and lay panting on the floor. Pipi wriggled out of the coat. But the buttons had got all tangled up in my hair. I tore at it, spinning around and knocking into things. I heard a loud crash and then the thump of something heavy falling over. And then with a yank the coat was finally pulled from my head.
Hettie and Penny loomed over me. I expected them to be surprised or even angry. But Penny just sighed and, even more surprisingly, Hettie smiled.
“I was wondering when you were going to show up,” she said.
Chapter 28
“We have a lot to talk about and not very much time to do it,” Hettie said as she picked up the lamp and chair I had knocked over and put them back in place.
I looked around. Even in the dim light I could see that Hettie and Penny’s house was completely different to how I had imagined it. Under the fur coat, I was sure I had been running through a house of horrors, of stuffed animals and portraits of stern old relatives. But it wasn’t like that at all. It was filled with bright paintings, mismatched home-made cushions and cosy-looking armchairs. Even so, I didn’t want to be sitting in Hettie and Penny’s living room. I didn’t want to be having another scary confusing chat with them, and I definitely didn’t want to be drinking the strange green tea that Hettie had given me. But Pipi was curled up happily on Penny’s lap, and even though she had been a very bad dog, I couldn’t go home without her.
“That wish you made, Amelia – it puts us all in danger,” Hettie said.
I opened my mouth to protest again about not making a wish. But Hettie raised her hand.
“I may be old, but I’m no fool. I know it was your birthday before the rock disappeared. I know you and that new boy have been running around trying to steal the book of island myths. And I know you couldn’t get up into my attic without some sort of strange magic.”
“How do you know all this?” I said.
Hettie looked at me; her strange yellow eyes glinted in the dark.
“You don’t think you’re the only one to have made a wish that came true, do you?” she said.
Suddenly everything made sense. Hettie and Penny’s visits. The warnings. Knowing exactly which book me and Tom had taken. I had a million questions I wanted to ask. But one was more important than all the others.
“What did you wish for?” I whispered.
Hettie sighed.
“On my eleventh birthday, Amelia, I wished to be popular. I’d had enough of feeling different. Of always being teased and finding myself left out. Instead I wanted lots of friends, to be invited to all the parties and to never have to sit on my own. I wanted to belong.”
My eyes met her odd-coloured ones. I couldn’t imagine Hettie wanting to fit in. But then again, I couldn’t imagine Hettie as an eleven-year-old girl either.
“Did it work?” I asked.
“Oh, at first nothing happened. Just like you, I thought that making a wish and touching the rock was just a silly island tradition. But then small things began to happen.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Things like my hair didn’t do the curly sticking-up thing at the back,” Hettie said pointing to her messy bun. “And then my spots disappeared, and the crook in my nose seemed to flatten out.”
“And your eyes, don’t forget your eyes,” Penny said.
“My eyes. They didn’t stand out any more. They weren’t this strange yellow colour; they turned a hazel brown,” Hettie said. “And the more I seemed to change, the more all the boys started to notice me and the girls wanted to be friends with me.”
I tried to picture Hettie young and beautiful and without her strange yellow witch eyes. I wondered if I would have wanted to be friends with her too.
“She got invited to the top table in lunch. Where all the popular girls sat,” Penny added.
I thought of the lunch table where Blair and her friends held court. It was huge. They even had extra chairs for their bags. But no one dared try to sit there unless they were invited by Blair.
“And then other things began to happen too. I won the sports day cup. I’d never run a race before, but my legs just seemed to fly around the track. And I found myself auditioning for the school play and being given the lead role – I would never have stood up on stage before in front of hundreds of people, never.
“But being one of the popular crowd actually turned out to be really lonely. There were all these new rules I had to follow to fit in: I couldn’t let my mum walk me to school and I couldn’t work in my grandma’s knitting shop at the weekend.”
“And she couldn’t keep company with me any more,” Penny said.
I couldn’t imagine Hettie without Penny. It seemed totally mad that there had ever been a time when they hadn’t been together.
“And the more popular I became, the worse the weather grew,” Hettie carried on. “And just before the school play, a terrible storm hit.”
“The sto
rm that everyone still remembers, even your grandpa. It was the one that ripped the roof from the church and nearly destroyed every house on this island,” Penny added.
“If it wasn’t for Penny helping me take back my wish there wouldn’t be any island left,” Hettie said. “She came across the old book of myths in Sinclair’s and together we commandeered a boat to sail out to where the rock was submerged and summon it back.”
“But what about having the lead role in the play and being popular? Weren’t you worried that all of that would be taken away from you?” I asked in a small voice, thinking how hard I had tried to fit in. How much I had wanted to make friends and do well in school so Da could have been proud of me. And how it had all gone horribly wrong.
Hettie shook her head.
“I realized being popular wasn’t nearly as important as all the things I already had. And it definitely wasn’t worth losing them over,” she said, taking Penny’s hand.
“That’s the funny thing about wishes, Amelia: we make them because we think we want them, but it rarely works out that simply,” Penny added.
“So let us help you put a stop to this,” Hettie said, “before you find yourself in a situation that will make you unhappy for ever.”
“No!” I said, shoving the table back, grabbing hold of Pipi and running from the cottage.
Because Penny was wrong. Maybe Hettie’s wish hadn’t been what she truly wanted, but mine was. My wish was going to take me to Mum, to where I really belonged. I wasn’t ready to give that up. Not when it felt so close to coming true.
Chapter 29
That night I fell into bed. I was too tired to disappear again. That, and I couldn’t get Hettie and Penny’s story out of my head. I listened to the house creak and groan in the wind and slipped Mum’s compass under my pillow. Pipi growled when she saw it. But it wasn’t the fierce growl I had heard up in the attic; it was her normal doggy growl, the one she used when she was scared by strangers or the vacuum cleaner. My ankle was still sore from where she had bitten it. Pipi whined and licked my hand when she saw me rub it in bed. I knew she was trying to apologize. I wasn’t cross any more: I understood that she didn’t want me to face danger like I had on Sometimes Island. I wished I could explain why I was doing it. But even though Pipi could tell I was upset faster than any human, she couldn’t understand this.
“You’re a good dog really,” I said, stroking her velvety ears.
With the house quiet and Pipi snoring beside me, I almost wished I could forget about the wish, the storm and Hettie’s story. That I could just go back to being boring Amelia, the weird home-schooled girl who never had adventures. But I couldn’t. Hettie was right, I had a choice to make and I needed to make it soon.
On Monday morning, Pipi wouldn’t let me out of her sight. She pulled at my school trousers and I had to wrestle her for my tie. It was only at breakfast that she calmed down and went to sleep in her basket. But that was only because she peed in my school shoes.
“That won’t stop me leaving,” I told her as I pulled on the new pair of yellow wellies Da had bought me. I shrugged on my yellow mac, opened the door and gasped.
The snow had all come down in one heavy sheet: everything was white. The ground was white, the sky was white, even the sea seemed to have changed colour. The snow lay so thick that I could hear the rooftops groaning with the weight of it. I’d never seen the island look so still. Pipi put one paw into the snow, barked and bolted back inside the house.
It took me ages to get to the harbour. The snow sunk over the top of my yellow wellies as I slowly struggled through it. I could see a couple of kids tobogganing down in a sled. One girl was even wearing snowshoes. Everyone else had arrived in their parents’ trucks and jeeps. But no one was getting on the ferry. The captain was yelling something from the deck but I couldn’t hear because the church bell wouldn’t stop ringing.
“What’s going on?” I asked the group of girls in front.
Blair’s awful friends turned around, their faces white moons under their matching woolly bobble hats. But this time no one made fun of me or told me off for being stupid. Even Blair was too busy trying to listen to what the ferry captain was trying to say.
“Storm warning,” Chloe whispered.
I tried not to think about the inky illustration of the storm from the book of myths. Especially not of the picture of the island sinking into the sea.
“No ferry today. The school is closed,” the captain managed to finally shout over the bells.
But nobody clapped or high-fived each other; no one seemed even a bit excited. Not when all the adults looked so frightened. Tom was staring out to sea watching the dark waves crash against the harbour. I knew he was thinking of the page from the book where the sea had swallowed up the island. I thought about Hettie and Penny’s story and looked up at the church with no roof. But I could feel Mum’s compass in my pocket. I gripped it tighter and felt the warmth grow in my hand. Just one more time couldn’t hurt, could it? I could come back. I could return the powers to the rock and fix everything after I found Mum.
I closed my eyes and muttered into the roar of the waves and the ringing of the bells:
“Take me to Mum…”
Chapter 30
Before I even opened my eyes I knew I was in trouble. I could hear the roar of waves and the sound of the bell ringing louder than ever. But it wasn’t the sound of the church bells. It was the tinkle of Da’s lucky ship bell. I blinked. I was on the deck of Da’s boat, and in the wind and waves it was trying to pull free of its moorings.
I struggled up just as a huge wave buffeted the side and poured over the deck. I gripped the side and stared out into the harbour. A dozen other boats had drifted out on to the sea. A couple had huge gashes ripped across their bows. One made a horrible gurgling noise as it began to sink. I leaned over the other side; Da’s boat hadn’t drifted too far yet. I could still reach the ladder back on to the dock; I could still make it back to shore. Back to safety. But why had the magic made me disappear and brought me here? This wasn’t where Mum was, and the disappointment crashed into me like one of the high waves.
I felt the boat rock again and the rope shuddered. I screwed my eyes closed and thought of Laura Dekker from New Zealand, the young girl who set off alone to sail around the world. At thirteen she made her plans to leave, throwing her school books over the side of her yacht and writing a farewell note to her father. But she had been stopped by the police so it wouldn’t be until she was fourteen that she finally managed to set sail. And then nothing prevented her from making her trip around the world. Not bad weather or even the threat of pirates on the open sea. I knew there was no way she would have abandoned her mission. She had travelled the world in 518 days. I just had to survive long enough to find one last clue.
I pulled myself up just as another huge wave crashed over the boat. The boat bucked up into the air, lobster pots flew across the deck. But this time I didn’t stop. I didn’t even look back. I tugged myself forward and up into the cabin and steadied myself on the wheel. And that’s when I saw it: Da’s red lockbox, where he kept his money, maps and a great big pocket knife. Da always kept it locked for safety, but this time the key was swinging from the lock, like it was waiting for me to turn it. I reached out with trembling hands. Whatever was inside this box was important. I could feel it. I turned the key.
Click.
The box sprang open and inside I saw a letter addressed to me. What was Da doing with a letter for me? Was it one from the school? I pulled it out and stared at it. My name was written in swoopy, scratchy handwriting. There was only one person who wrote like that: Mum. The boat rocked again and the mooring rope groaned. But it didn’t matter. I couldn’t wait a moment longer. I ripped the letter open.
Dear Amelia,
I’m hoping this reaches you for your birthday. The lady in the post office said putting extra stamps on it wouldn’t make it get there any faster. But I’ve stuck a few more on, just in case.
Da told me how upset you got after I tried to call you last time. How you ran away so you didn’t have to speak to me. I hate thinking that I could upset you so much. Especially when I’ve thrown both you and your father’s lives upside down. I wanted to call so many times but I didn’t know what to say to make things better. So I thought that for a little while both of you would be better off without me. But I haven’t stopped missing you, and I know that I need to explain everything properly. So I thought writing might be better. I know you’re not fond of words but sometimes it’s easier to write down the things we’re not brave enough to say in person.
I know as you’re reading this you’re probably wondering why I left. That’s maybe the hardest thing to explain. I grew up travelling, Amelia. My family were always moving from place to place for my dad’s work. And when I grew up I could never settle in one place for long. So whenever I got tired of being in one place, I got up and went on an adventure. Then one day I came to Dark Muir and met your da, and something unexpected and wonderful happened: you. So I moved to this tiny island I had only just heard of, married your da and packed my travelling things away. But life on the island is hard, and after a while I got sad. I missed my family and I hated living so far away from everything. And the more time I lived on the island the sadder I got, and the more me and your da fought. I’m sure you remember the fighting, and for that I’m truly sorry. I kept wanting us to move but this was your da’s home and yours too. And when your grandpa came to live with us, I knew we could never leave. So I took another job away from the island. I wanted you to know that when I left I didn’t know it would be for good. If I had I would have done everything differently. I thought taking a job away would make things better. That it would give me and your da some time and space to think. But the longer I was away the more I realized how unhappy I had become living on Dark Muir. And then I met Bob while I was filming a documentary in Australia and we fell in love. This year we moved into a flat in Edinburgh. We’re both very happy. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving you, Amelia. Nothing could ever do that.
Lightning Chase Me Home Page 13
