The Lights Under the Lake

by Sophie Cleverly

  I raced through Rookwood’s traditional stew dinner that night. As soon as we were back in room thirteen, I pulled my old battered suitcase out from under the bed. I tossed it on to the blankets and opened it wide, taking a moment to appreciate the possibilities.

  Ivy was looking at me funny.

  “What?” I asked.

  “What are we supposed to pack?” she said. She waved a list that we’d been given of things we were meant to bring. “We can’t wear uniform, but we don’t have most of these things. Hiking clothes?”

  Ugh. She was right. We’d picked up a few things when we’d briefly returned home, but the sad truth was that most of my clothes had been taken away when they’d thought I was dead. And our parents had never provided us with much in the first place.

  “We’ll just have to take what we have. Can I borrow some of yours?” I asked. That was one advantage of being a twin. We both wore the same size.

  She sighed. “All right. Let’s have a look.” She went over to the wardrobe and pulled it open.

  I followed and peered over her shoulder. It contained our ballet outfits, a few plain dresses and skirts that belonged to Ivy, and one that belonged to me. Oh, and the embarrassing costumes that Ariadne had made us, but I wasn’t planning on ever wearing one of those again.

  I moved Ivy out of the way and grabbed my dress and a couple of hers. “Scarlet!” she moaned.

  “What?” I said. “I’m only borrowing them.” I made a show of folding them as neatly as possible and placing them gently in the suitcase.

  There was a knock at the door and Ariadne bounded in. She was clutching the camera again.

  “I’ve been asked to take photographs!” she said, grinning with excitement.

  “Oh no,” I said, putting my hands up to protect myself. “No more posing!”

  “No, silly, not of you. Of everyone. On the trip.” She made a sweeping gesture at the window, as if that conveyed everything.

  “Really?” Ivy asked. “I thought the teachers didn’t like you using the camera?”

  “Mrs Knight asked me personally,” Ariadne said, her chest swelling with pride. “She wants to take lots of pictures for the school newsletter, and they might put some in the local paper as well.”

  The local paper? “Goodness,” said Ivy, sitting down at the desk. “She really is determined to promote the school with this, isn’t she?”

  “Well, make sure you get my good side,” I said.

  “You have a good side?” Ivy asked, puzzled. And then added after a moment, “but we’re mirror twins. Does that mean it’s my bad side?”

  To be honest, I didn’t have a clue. It was just something that I’d heard people say. I changed the subject. “What are you going to bring, Ariadne?”

  “Oh, all sorts,” said Ariadne, and she winked at me. It was a bit strange seeing her attempt to wink. What was that all about? I’d have to ask her later.

  I went over to our desk drawer, which now contained various school books and ink pens alongside Ivy’s pearl necklace and my hairbrush – the only heirlooms we’d inherited from our mother. I’d always thought they were a strange choice, but they’d actually helped us crack the mystery of her true identity and discover Aunt Sara. I stroked the necklace gently. “You should bring this along,” I said to Ivy, pulling it out. “Maybe we’ll get to have a grand dinner in the hotel.” It was usually against the rules to wear jewellery at Rookwood, but if we weren’t at Rookwood then I didn’t think the rules applied.

  Ivy smiled and took it from me. “Maybe,” she said. “I’ll have to be careful with it, though.” She pulled out her own carpet bag from the bottom of the wardrobe and gently lowered the necklace in.

  I packed the hairbrush, along with the Rookwood regulation toothbrush and threadbare towel we were all given. I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to take those away (or even if the hotel would have their own – we’d never been to a hotel before) but they were the only ones I had, so they were going in.

  Ivy pulled out a pen and paper. “We must write to our aunts and thank them,” she said. “I still can’t believe they’ve sent us the money to go.”

  I nodded. “I can’t believe we’re going,” I said. I slammed the suitcase shut and started jumping up and down on it. “This is going to be the best week ever!”

  Chapter Five

  IVY

  he day of the trip arrived, and Scarlet was awake even before the morning bell had rung. As my eyes creaked open, I watched her leap out of bed and pull her suitcase from beneath it.

  “Scarlet,” I managed, half asleep. “We’re not leaving until this afternoon.”

  “So?” she said with a mischievous grin. “Our motto is ‘be prepared’, is it not?”

  I pushed myself up and threw my pillow at her. “You’re thinking of the Scouts. The Rookwood motto is ‘Nothing is heavy for those who have wings’.”

  She tossed the pillow back at me and tried to pick up her suitcase. “Ouch. Whoever came up with that obviously never tried to lift this.”

  I blinked sleepily. “I thought you had barely anything to pack? How did it get so heavy?”

  She bent down, undid the metal catches and flipped the leather lid open. The suitcase had acquired several jars of sweets.

  “Ariadne gave me some of her stash,” Scarlet said. “For emergencies. She said she didn’t have room for all of it.”

  I didn’t think anyone had ever had to have an emergency midnight feast, but I wouldn’t put it past Ariadne.

  We got dressed and headed down for breakfast. We still had a morning of lessons to get through, but even that couldn’t put the brakes on Scarlet’s excitement. “Only eight hours to go!” she said as she collected her porridge in the dining hall. “Then it’s goodbye porridge and goodbye Rookwood!”

  I grinned at her. “We’re coming back, though,” I pointed out.

  “I can pretend that we aren’t,” she retorted.

  Scarlet’s enthusiasm was catching. It really would be great to get away from Rookwood for a little while, and to see somewhere new.

  At midday, Scarlet grabbed my arm. “It’s midday!” she whispered.

  “What does that mean?” I shot back.

  “It means there’s only four hours to go!”

  I laughed. I hoped this trip could live up to her expectations.

  Finally, finally, it was time for us to head out to the front of the school and watch for the bus. In fact we were rather early, but I thought that if we waited any longer Scarlet would burst.

  We sat on the steps with our luggage. The sun was bright and warm where it spilt on to the stone, and the air was filled with the cawing of the rooks. One of them darted to the ground and tipped its head to the side, inspecting us. Another hopped down next to it.

  I’d read about them in a book on birds once. It said that one of the names for a group of rooks was a parliament. I told Scarlet this.

  She pointed at one and said: “Is that a Member of Parliament, then?”

  The rook didn’t look pleased. It squawked at her and then took flight, its wings beating patterns in the warm air.

  We stared at the rooks for a while longer before I heard the school’s enormous doors being pulled open, and Ariadne appeared at the top of the steps. She was dragging two large suitcases that seemed to match the little convoy she’d brought on the very first day of school. She left them propping open the door and came down to us.

  I looked up at her, putting my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun. “That can’t all be sweets in there?” I asked, baffled.

  She blinked at me. “Oh! No! This is mostly my camera equipment. I’m hoping there might be somewhere dark I can develop the photographs while we’re there.”

  I had no idea whether hotels usually had a darkroom, but it seemed unlikely.

  She stepped down on to the drive, took the camera out of the case round her neck and pointed it at us. “Smile!”

  I smiled as the lens clicked and whirred. I think
Scarlet pulled a face.

  “Oh, hello, Rose,” Ariadne said. “I think you got in the picture.”

  I twisted round and saw Rose standing behind us.

  “Where did you come from?” Scarlet asked. Rose just smiled knowingly.

  Talking to Rose was often a bit of a guessing game. “Did you come to say goodbye to us?” Ariadne asked.

  She nodded and smiled, but her smile seemed sad. I watched her twisting the chain of her golden locket round her fingers, as she often seemed to do as a nervous habit. “I wish I could go,” she said quietly.

  Suddenly, we heard shouting coming from the entrance hall.

  Scarlet stood up. “What on earth is going on in there?”

  We all ran back inside, leaving our luggage behind while Rose just stared off into the distance. Some drama was clearly unfolding.

  As my eyes adjusted to the light indoors, I saw Mrs Knight standing in front of one of Elsie’s prefect friends. The headmistress’s arms were crossed in a very clear display of displeasure.

  “Calm down, please, Betty,” she was saying.

  “This isn’t fair!” The girl screeched at her. “I’m a prefect! I’ve got to go!”

  Mrs Knight didn’t budge. “You aren’t entitled to go. Mr Bartholomew chose you as a prefect, yes, but you’ve forged your permission letter.” She glanced over at the new Rookwood secretary on the front desk, a lady named Miss Jarvis, who had slanted spectacles and always looked a little annoyed. I wondered if she’d been the one to discover the forgery. “That is unacceptable behaviour, as is the fuss you are making right now.”

  I gulped nervously. Thank goodness we hadn’t tried forgery.

  Betty scrunched her hands into her dark hair as if she were about to pull it out. “I paid the fees out of my own pocket! You have to let me on that bus!”

  The headmistress was frowning intently, which was about as angry as she got. If Miss Fox had been there, Betty would have been dragged off for a caning before her feet could touch the ground. “You can have your money back, but you have broken the rules, madam, and now you will have to live with the consequences. And you can have a detention for talking to me in that manner too.”

  Betty clenched her fists and stormed off without another word, leaving us all there staring after her. Mrs Knight sighed, though I couldn’t tell if it was frustration or relief.

  As Betty left the room, she nearly bumped into Miss Bowler, who was striding in carrying an enormous bag. “Watch where you’re going, Smith!” Miss Bowler bellowed after her. She dropped the bag on the floor with a thud and then appeared to notice all of our startled faces. “Something the matter?”

  “Miss Smith forged her permission slip,” Mrs Knight said, her voice heavy with disappointment. “She is no longer coming with us.”

  “Well, I never!” said Miss Bowler. “Students these days! They think they can get away with anything …”

  As Miss Bowler ranted to a somewhat stunned Mrs Knight, Scarlet pulled Ariadne and me into a circle. “I’ve just had an idea …” she said, keeping her voice lowered.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Betty’s off the trip. But her space has already been booked,” Scarlet began.

  “But we’re about to leave,” Ariadne said, flapping her arms. “Nobody’s going to get permission from their parents now!”

  “Yes,” said Scarlet. She looked pointedly out of the vast open doors of the school. “But what about someone who doesn’t have parents to ask?”

  I suddenly saw what she meant. This was Rose’s chance to join the trip!

  “Oh, Scarlet,” Ariadne grinned. “That’s brilliant. Go and ask!”

  “You’re coming with me.” Scarlet grabbed us by one arm each, and tugged us over to where the two teachers stood.

  “… and that’s why they should bring back the stocks!” Miss Bowler finished, with a final flourish of her muscular arms. Then she noticed us. “Yes?”

  “Is there a problem, girls?” Mrs Knight asked.

  “Mi-iss,” said Scarlet, in the voice she used when she was trying to get something from a teacher. “We couldn’t help but overhear that a place has just become available … and we wanted to ask if Rose could come?”

  “Who’s Rose?” said Miss Bowler in a pantomime whisper to Mrs Knight.

  “The girl who helps at the stables,” the headmistress said, as this was the way most people referred to Rose these days.

  “Oh, right, right,” Miss Bowler said. “The funny one who’s forgotten how to talk.”

  Mrs Knight frowned. “Well, I’m not sure about this …”

  “You said the hotel’s already been booked,” Ariadne pointed out. “And you don’t need to ask her parents because she doesn’t have any.”

  Mrs Knight looked questioningly at Miss Bowler, but the swimming instructor just shrugged at her. “All right, I suppose she might as well. Your aunt sent a very generous sum that would more than pay for Rose’s place, in fact. Well, tell her to go and get her things, then. Quickly now.”

  Scarlet took this a bit too literally, and turned round to face the outside with her hands cupped to her mouth. “ROSE!” she yelled. “MRS KNIGHT SAYS YOU CAN HAVE BETTY’S PLACE ON THE TRIP! GO AND GET YOUR THINGS!”

  Which was entirely the wrong moment, because as Rose spun round in surprise, Elsie Sparks walked in. And she looked furious.

  Elsie went right up to Mrs Knight, not even looking at us. “Miss,” she said quietly. “Is it true? Betty is off the trip? She just came to me sobbing.”

  The headmistress was clearly losing her patience. “Yes, Elsie. Betty broke the rules. We’re taking Miss … Rose instead. Now if you’ll excuse me, we need to go and meet the bus.” She hurried off out of the front doors, Miss Bowler striding after her.

  Now Elsie was glaring in our direction. “You little rats,” she said.

  “What?” I replied. “What did we do?”

  “Betty should be coming with us. Not your weird silent friend. You’d all better watch your backs!” And with that, she swung her bag up on to her shoulder and stalked off outside.

  Ariadne stared after her. “Should we be worried?”

  “She should be afraid of us,” said Scarlet, clenching her fists. “I’m going to get Rose and we’re going to have a great time. Elsie Sparks can go hang.”

  The bus had arrived, the same one that had taken us to the ballet last term. It smelt of leather seats and petrol.

  Scarlet had taken Rose to get her few possessions, which largely consisted of things that Violet had stolen for her which hadn’t been claimed back. I think the only things she truly owned were the clothes she stood up in and the golden locket that hung round her neck.

  Ariadne and I had climbed on board, lifting our bags into the luggage racks above our heads (Ariadne’s took us several attempts, since it seemed to be full of bricks). We sat near the back, as far away from Elsie and her friend Cassandra as possible, since they were already shooting glares at us. Mrs Knight was standing at the front of the bus, holding the list of names up like a shield as she tried to sort out who was supposed to be there and who wasn’t. Already some girls had tried unsuccessfully to get on board and Miss Bowler had sent them packing with detentions.

  Nearly all the seats filled up, except the two beside us that we had saved.

  Ariadne looked at her watch. “It’s time to go!” she said. “Where are Scarlet and Rose?”

  Typical, I thought. Scarlet had been the one counting down the seconds until this trip and now she was late. “Come on,” I whispered out of the window.

  Miss Bowler climbed on board. “Who are we missing?” she bellowed down the aisle. “Grey and … whatsername?”

  “Yes, Miss,” I piped up. “They’ll be here soon!”

  “They’d better be,” she muttered, but even a mutter from Miss Bowler was rather loud. “The driver is waiting.”

  I peered down the aisle at the driver, who was a fairly young man in a flat cap. He didn’t l
ook like he was waiting. He looked like he was quite enjoying reading his newspaper and eating a biscuit.

  After a few anxious minutes of staring at the front steps, I spotted Scarlet dragging Rose behind her. “Thank goodness,” I said. I was pleased to see that Rose was smiling.

  “Hurry up, girls!” I could hear Mrs Knight saying as she waved them on. They hopped up the steps and headed towards us. Elsie whispered something to Cassandra as they passed. I couldn’t hear, but I was sure it wasn’t very nice.

  Scarlet and Rose took the two seats we’d saved for them on the other side of the aisle, and Scarlet lifted their bags up. Rose waved at us happily.

  Finally Mrs Knight stepped on. “Are we all here?”

  “Yes!” everyone chorused, somewhat pointlessly.

  “Right, then! Off to Lake Seren we go!” She pumped her fist in the air and then climbed into the front seat beside Miss Bowler.

  The driver looked back at her. “Can I finish my biscuit first?” he said.

  Chapter Six

  SCARLET

  he bus pulled out of Rookwood’s gates. As the stone rooks swept past us, I squeezed Ivy’s hand across the aisle. I knew this trip was going to be brilliant.

  We chugged along the country roads, past the miles of hedgerows and open fields and oak trees. The afternoon sun made the bus swelteringly hot, and I started to wish I had a drink.

  At one point Nadia tried to begin a singalong, but Elsie swiftly told her to shut up. At least there was one thing we agreed upon.

  I started telling Rose what I thought we’d get up to on the trip. “It’s a really grand hotel,” I said. “Incredibly posh. I imagine we’ll be drinking champagne and bathing in milk. Or is that the other way round?”

  Rose giggled.

  “And there will probably be dancing and lawn tennis and croquet,” I carried on. I was pretty sure that was the sort of thing they did at hotels.

  “Will there be horses?” Rose asked quietly.

  “Definitely,” I said, though I had no idea. “Probably with glass carriages and footmen.”

  The bus carried on, and soon everyone had pulled open the tiny windows above the seats.