Poppy Pym and the Beastly Blizzard

by Laura Wood

  “Good job you were there, Mei,” Kip said, his beady eyes still searching Mei’s face for any signs of deception, as we eventually stumbled through to the entrance hall.

  “It’d be great if you could… um… not tell anyone where we were,” I said.

  “Don’t worry,” Mei replied with a grin. “Your secret is safe with me.”

  Just then Doris came thundering down the stairs with a torch in her hand.

  “Poppy!” she exclaimed. “There you are. I need to speak to you three. Now,” she said, raising her eyebrows significantly.

  “I’ll just go and find the others,” Mei said cheerfully. “Where is everyone?”

  “I think most of them have congregated in the common room again, now that the theatrics are over,” Doris replied, and Mei disappeared back up the stairs. I watched her leave, my mind still spinning with possibilities. Was Mei involved with our mysteries somehow? Could she be the one who took the stamp? I didn’t have time to dwell on it because Doris was tugging at my arm.

  “Come with me,” Doris hissed, dragging us back to the dining hall where the remnants of our dinner still lay scattered across the table. I saw Kip wistfully eyeing up a box of fudge, but with a visible big effort he forced himself to concentrate on Doris.

  “So,” I said expectantly, “have you found something?”

  Doris nodded. “I dismantled the beetle and had a good poke around.” She pushed her glasses up her nose and took a deep breath. “I’m not sure what’s going on, Poppy, but this is pretty serious spy equipment. I haven’t seen anything like it since my own time working undercover.”

  I stiffened, and heard Ingrid gasp. Kip’s face looked like it did that time when he ate sixteen jam doughnuts: all green and queasy. It was one thing to suspect the beetle might have been watching us, but it was another to have it confirmed, and especially to find out it was something so professional.

  Doris looked closely at my face. “I find it hard to believe that you could be the target of such surveillance. Do you have any idea why someone would be so interested in following you?”

  “No,” I said, my heart hammering like an enthusiastic woodpecker.

  Doris didn’t look convinced. “If there’s something going on here, Poppy, you know you can talk to me about it. Perhaps I can help.”

  I glanced at Kip and Ingrid. They both shrugged, and I knew that they were telling me it was my call. “I don’t know what’s going on, Dodo,” I said finally, which was really the truth. “We’re trying to work that out. If I find out anything else I will tell you.”

  “OK,” Doris agreed a little reluctantly. “I trust you, but if you need me I’m always here. We all are.”

  I felt that lovely glow of love for my family easing the tension in my chest. “Thanks,” I said.

  “So,” Doris continued briskly, “back to the matter in hand. I have almost finished putting the beetle-bot together again, and then it should be back in working order.”

  “That’s great,” I said. “Perhaps that will give us an idea of where it came from.”

  “Were you able to recover any of the pictures in the end?” Ingrid asked.

  Doris hesitated. “I managed to recover a fragment,” she admitted. “Just before the power cut, but I’m afraid it rather … exploded.” She looked shame-faced. “Something not quite right with the power source,” she added quickly.

  “And what was on the fragment?” I asked eagerly.

  “Nothing much, I’m afraid.” Doris replied. “It was just one very blurry image and I couldn’t tell what it was really. It’s strange, but it looked like it was some kind of brown fur.”

  “Oh,” I said, my knees turning to blancmange beneath me.

  “Yeti!” Kip whispered, his face ashen.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  “What?” Doris glanced between us. “Did you just say ‘yeti?’”

  “No, of course not,” I said quickly, giving Kip a look.

  “Oh. Right,” he said slowly. “Yeah, sorry I was just saying, you know… yet … I.”

  “Yet you, what?” Doris frowned, obviously confused.

  “Um… Yet I am not worried about what you have found.” Kip smiled weakly. “Forsooth,” he added. “Yonder!”

  “Anyway,” I broke in, a fixed smile on my face. “Thanks for that, Doris. We’ll let you get back to work.”

  “Excellent,” Doris replied, her face lit up. “I have to admit the technology is fascinating.” Her face took on a dreamy, faraway look and I was relieved – Doris wasn’t going to be asking any difficult questions when there was a gadget for her to play with. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a torch. “Here.” She handed it to me. “You’ll need this until the lights come back on. I think Miss Baxter and Miss Susan were going to go and have a look at the generator.”

  “Thanks,” I said, but Doris was already on her way back to her lab.

  This left the three of us alone.

  “Well, I think I covered that up pretty well,” Kip said, looking pleased with himself.

  Ingrid snorted. “You mean when you started babbling in old English?” she said. “Do you even know what forsooth means?”

  “It’s something to do with a man called Sooth who lived a long time ago,” Kip blustered. “He liked people to bring him presents and then the labels said that they were for Sooth.”

  Ingrid shook her head despairingly.

  “Don’t you think we should talk about what Doris found?” I interrupted, exasperated.

  Kip gulped. “You mean … the yeti?”

  “Well, it is strange that the beetle bot filmed some fur,” Ingrid said, “but it could just have been a coincidence. It could have gone past a squirrel or a cat or something…” She trailed off uncertainly.

  A loud crashing noise came from the kitchen.

  “Who’s there?” I cried, whipping around with my torch. All was silent.

  “Let’s go and look,” I whispered.

  “Nah.” Kip shook his head firmly “Let’s not.”

  “Come on!” I exclaimed. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

  “I must have lost it when I was looking for my sense of let’s-not-race-headlong-into-the-path-of-oncoming-yetis-for-no-good-reason,” he hissed.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Ingrid pointed out.

  “Says you,” Kip replied sulkily. “I just don’t understand why we have to keep chasing things into the darkness. Let’s just all take a deep breath and sit down and have a nice piece of cake instead.”

  “The cake’s in the kitchen,” I said. “With whoever is clattering around … possibly eating it all.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?!” Kip cried. “Let’s go!”

  The three of us scuttled into the kitchen, the torch offering only a sliver of light in the darkness. Everything was still and quiet.

  “Hellllooooooo?” I called softly. There was no answer.

  “Perhaps it was just a breeze or something?” Kip whispered. But the room was decidedly un-breezy. We crept around the long metal table that ran down the centre of the room, our eyes peeled for movement. I shone the torch into every corner, and we even started opening the cupboards and checking inside. Nothing. After a few minutes I had to admit that there was no one here. “How strange,” I said. “We definitely heard something.”

  “Wait,” Ingrid replied, squeezing my arm. “There is somewhere we haven’t checked yet.” She pointed towards the corner of the room where a large door stood in shadow. “We still haven’t looked in the pantry.”

  My heart was hammering as we tiptoed over, and I wrapped my fingers around the door handle. I took a deep breath. Maybe Kip was right… Running around in the dark like this suddenly didn’t seem like such a great idea. I was just starting to pull on the door when it swung open by itself and I was thrown backwards, knocking Kip and Ingrid to the floor, and we all landed in an untidy heap. I gave a shout as the torch fell from my hand, smashing to the floor and going out. Once mor
e we were surrounded by a syrupy and impenetrable darkness.

  Just then, something big and furry brushed past me, and I gave a cry. The creature was running out of the kitchen and through the dining hall.

  “YETTTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!” Kip yelled.

  I fumbled around on the ground for the torch, giving it a shake and flicking the switch. I was relieved when it pinged on revealing the two, scared, pale moon faces of my best pals. Beyond them the pantry lay open, and inside were the tattered remnants of Penny’s Christmas cat wrapping paper and a half-eaten box of chocolates.

  “Come on!” I cried, leaping to my feet and chasing after the creature. I heard Kip and Ingrid huffing along behind me. I tore through the dining hall and into the entrance hall where I found the front door standing open, a freezing draught swirling in from outside. “This way!” I panted, and without waiting I sped off into the snow. As soon as I was outside I shone my torch on the ground, and there in the snow I was confronted by the now familiar sight of the yeti’s footprints. A thrill whispered through me as I ran harder. I was chasing down the beast, but I was also chasing down the answers to this puzzle.

  “It’s headed for the woods,” Ingrid said, pointing towards the trail the creature had left behind.

  “Then so are we,” I said, determination blazing around me like the flames on a Christmas pudding.

  “Think about this, Poppy,” Kip gasped. “Think about what you’re doing… Chasing a monster into the deep, dark woods.”

  I swung around to face him. “I have thought! We need answers and this is the only way we’re going to get them.”

  I must have looked like I really meant it because finally Kip jerked his head in a brisk nod. I looked at Ingrid, and she nodded her approval too.

  “Let’s go,” I said, and the three of us sped off into the woods. We ran in silence, following the trail the beast had left behind in the snow.

  “There!” I heard Ingrid’s voice snap like a twig through the frosty air, and I spun around with the torch. A glimpse of brown fur showed briefly through the trees and then vanished.

  “CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!” Kip yelled, his fist raised in the air, and we scrambled further into the trees, chasing the creature down. I saw a flash of the fur coat again, closer now, and I pushed myself to run faster, slipping and sliding in the snow beneath me. “Go left!” I yelled to Kip and he sped off, cutting off the monster’s escape route. The three of us charged forward, like a net tightening around it.

  “I think we have it cornered!” Ingrid finally puffed and she was right, because suddenly there it was, rearing on two legs right in front of us. It was smaller than I had imagined, but still much bigger than an animal, about the same size as me. My knees wobbled beneath me like an unset trifle.

  The beast gave a terrible howl of outrage at being caught.

  And then something entirely unexpected happened.

  “Fine! You’ve caught me! Are you happy now?” a familiar voice asked, and I almost dropped my torch.

  Shining the light at the head of the creature I saw not the ferocious monster I was expecting, but an altogether different beast.

  “Annabelle?” I gasped. “It’s you!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “Yes, it’s me,” Annabelle snapped. I took in the sight of her. She was wearing a thick brown fur coat, over the top of a lime-green jumper that featured a cat wearing reindeer antlers, and some strangely clunky-looking snow boots. “Congratulations,” she continued, “Poppy Pym strikes again. Another mystery solved by you and your great big detective brain.” And to my complete astonishment, she burst into tears.

  Ingrid’s eyes were narrowed and she was looking warily at Annabelle.

  Kip’s mouth was hanging so far open I thought he might be about to dislocate his jaw. “Annabelle!” he managed finally. “You’re the yeti?”

  “Yeti?” she sniffled. “What are you talking about?”

  A host of angry questions sprang to my lips, but I was stopped short by the sight of tears streaming down Annabelle’s cheeks. “It doesn’t matter now,” I said a bit more gently, taking in her puffy red face. She had bits of twig in her hair and dirt smeared on one cheek. All in all she was a very sorry-looking individual. Tentatively I walked towards her and put an arm around her shoulders. She stiffened. “Let’s go back into the warmth and get you a hot drink.” I said, my voice quiet.

  Annabelle didn’t say anything, but she allowed me to guide her back to the path out of the woods. Looking over my shoulder I met Ingrid’s eye.

  “What’s going on?” she mouthed.

  “I don’t know,” I mouthed back. It was clear something was very wrong with Annabelle, and I intended to find out what, and how exactly it was connected to our mystery, but something told me this needed a very delicate approach.

  When we got back to the school it was to find the dining hall was still empty. That was good news as far as I was concerned because it was time for an interrogation, albeit a subtle one, and I didn’t want to be interrupted. Ingrid disappeared to make a cup of tea, and I settled Annabelle in a chair in front of the fire. She still hadn’t said anything else, but silent tears were slipping down her face.

  Kip looked at me and I shrugged. I wasn’t sure what to do next. Luckily, Ingrid arrived with a steaming mug of tea, which she placed in Annabelle’s hands.

  “Thanks,” Annabelle muttered.

  The four of us sat for a moment, allowing the golden heat of the fire to soak into our bones.

  “So,” I said eventually, breaking the silence. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

  “Yeah,” Kip chimed in. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on some tropical island with your mum and dad. It’s all you’ve been talking about for weeks.”

  Annabelle stared into her tea for a moment. When she finally began talking her voice was gruff and sandpapery. “I thought we were going,” she said. “But a couple of weeks ago my mum and dad phoned to tell me the trip was off.”

  “Oh, well, that’s a shame,” I said. “Maybe you can go another time?”

  “We can’t go another time,” she said roughly. “We’ve got no money. It’s all gone.” She dragged the back of her hand across her eyes.

  “What do you mean, it’s all gone?” Kip asked.

  “I mean we’re broke,” Annabelle snapped. “My parents made some business deals that went wrong or something, I don’t know, but it means no holidays, no presents, no Christmas.”

  “But surely your mum and dad still wanted to spend Christmas with you?” I asked.

  Annabelle sniffled again. “They’re selling our house, and they asked if I could go to a friend’s house for the holidays.” The tears were coming faster now. “But I c–couldn’t face telling anyone that my trip was c–cancelled. I knew they would all laugh at me, or pretend to be nice but talk behind my b–back,” she sobbed. I felt a wave of pity crash over me. How horrible to only have the sort of friends who would act like that. I knew that if I was ever in trouble Kip and Ingrid would be right there by my side. I mean, they had literally chased after a monster into the dark, creepy woods just to help me find answers.

  “So you stayed behind?” I said, gently.

  “Y–yes,” Annabelle said. “I didn’t know it would snow so much. I thought I’d be the only one here, so I sort of blended in with the crowd when people were leaving and said my goodbyes then I sneaked into the common room and hid. I wanted to go back to my room but it was locked. All the doors were locked, and I d–didn’t know what to do.” She hiccupped.

  “You spent the night in there?” Ingrid was aghast.

  Annabelle nodded. “I piled up the pillows and blankets and slept by the fire.”

  “We saw the blankets the next day,” I said. “Miss Baxter told us off for being messy. And the night before when we broke in to the library … the smoke from the chimney – that was you!”

  “Yes,” she said. “I tried not to light one but it was f–freezing.�
� She shivered at the memory.

  “That’s terrible,” I said, picturing Annabelle there all alone and afraid without anyone to talk to about her problems.

  “And then the next morning, the professor came in with Ingrid’s mum and dad and I didn’t have time to get away, so I had to hide behind the curtains for hours while you were all chatting and eating cake,” Annabelle said.

  “It was you who took the food!” Kip exclaimed.

  Annabelle nodded.

  Something important started tugging at the corners of my brain, an idea that suddenly made an awful lot of sense. “And that’s not all, is it?” I said, realization dawning.

  Red blotches formed on Annabelle’s cheeks and she shook her head jerkily.

  “You stole the Blammels’ Penny Black,” I said quietly.

  Annabelle’s eyes met Ingrid’s. “Yes,” she said in a voice so low it was barely audible. “I did it. I was hidden behind the curtain all cold and hungry and alone having to listen to you talking with all these people, so many people who cared about you. And then Ingrid’s dad said about the stamp being worth a lot of money and I thought, here’s an opportunity. Maybe I could be the hero. Restore my family’s fortune and then maybe my mum and dad would be happy again.” She spoke fiercely, her red-rimmed eyes blazing, and then she slumped back in her seat and seemed suddenly to deflate.

  “How did you do it?” I asked.

  Annabelle gave a short, humourless laugh. “That was the easy bit,” she said. “I was standing behind those red curtains in the common room, less than a metre away from the table that Ingrid’s dad put the tin on. When Miss Baxter came in and broke those cups it was the perfect diversion. Everyone moved towards her – all eyes were off the stamp. I hardly even thought about it. It only took me a second to lean out, grab the stamp and close the lid. When Ingrid’s dad put it back in his pocket, the tin was already empty.” She looked at Ingrid again. “I’m sorry,” she muttered.

  “But how did it end up in the pudding?” Ingrid asked.