The Whispers in the Walls. Sophie Cleverly

      We sat there, not wanting to say a word.

      “That is all. You may go.”

      “What was that all about?” I asked Scarlet, when I’d overcome the shock.

      “Search me.”

      We walked towards the stairs, and I had that strange feeling once again, doubting that my twin was really beside me. I’d never walked these halls with her before. “Do you think we can trust him?” I asked, as we climbed the staircase.

      Scarlet laughed sarcastically. “Trust him? He looks like a vampire!”

      I risked a smile. “At least he’s not Miss Fox. And he obviously doesn’t like her. Perhaps he’ll come clean to the school, tell everyone what’s really been going on.”

      “He might. I mean, people are surely going to notice that there’s two of me all of a sudden.”

      We’d just reached the top of the stairs when someone came barrelling into me and knocked me backwards on to the carpet.

      “IvyohmygoshIvyyou’reback!”

      I looked up, stunned, and saw a familiar grinning face.

      “Ariadne!” I cried.

      “Hello!” my friend scrambled up, pushing her halo of mousy hair out of her eyes. “I’m just so pleased to see you! And –” she turned and took in the sight of my twin, who looked frankly baffled – “Scarlet! Scarlet’s here! You found her, you really did it!”

      Ariadne started bouncing up and down to the point where I felt mildly seasick. But nevertheless, I was truly, truly pleased to see her again. I grinned and clambered up from the scratchy floor. “Yes, I did it. Well, we did it.”

      “Who is this?” said Scarlet in a mock-whisper.

      “Oh, um …” I held out my hands to both of them. “Scarlet, this is Ariadne. She helped me find you.”

      My sister frowned, but Ariadne didn’t seem to notice. “Nice to meet you!” she said brightly. “Ariadne,” she repeated, “like in Theseus and the Minotaur.”

      “Who and the what?” said my twin rudely

      “Scarlet,” I said meaningfully, “we need to get to our room and …” I looked at Ariadne, and a horrible realisation dawned. There were only two beds in our dorm.

      I looked back and forth between my twin and my best friend. Ariadne’s smile had faded to something that was only a fraction of her usual cheeriness. “Oh yes, about that. Mrs Knight said I had to move.” She looked at the floor. “I’m to have a new roommate, apparently.”

      I felt crushed. Scarlet appeared not to notice – she was too busy glowering at passing students that were staring at us. “I’m so sorry, Ariadne. I didn’t even think about this.”

      “It’s no bother,” she said, though I was pretty sure it was. “We’ll still see each other every day. Can I come and sit in your room now, while you unpack?”

      I nodded. “Of course.”

      And then I grabbed Scarlet before she could get us into further trouble, and we headed back to room thirteen.

      

      Returning to my old room was like a dream. One of those where you go to somewhere you know well, only for it to be strangely different and unsettling. It was the same old room thirteen, but none of my things were where I’d left them. The left side of the room was completely empty, presumably where this Ariadne girl had cleared her things out, while the right side was littered with Ivy’s possessions. “I always chose the right side,” I said aloud. “Well done, sis.”

      Ivy smiled half-heartedly. I think she was annoyed at me for not being very polite to her new friend. But it was her fault, really. I’d heard her side of the story and I knew all about Ariadne, but I didn’t have to be happy about it. Ivy had been supposed to keep everything a secret. How had she known that she could trust this girl?

      I picked up some of the books from the right-hand bed and plonked them down on the left.

      “What are you doing?” Ivy asked from the doorway, Ariadne leaning around her with a puzzled expression.

      “Sorting things out so I have the right, you have the left.”

      Ivy raised her eyebrows at me. “We’re still doing that?”

      “Of course. And besides, this bed has the hole I keep my diary in.” I went over to my suitcase that had been deposited just inside the door and pulled out the flimsy notebook I’d been given in the asylum. “You should really try keeping a diary, Ivy. You never know when it might save your life.”

      “True,” my sister conceded. She traipsed over to the other bed, Ariadne following behind her like a lost puppy.

      I got down on my hands and knees and stuffed my new diary into the familiar hole in the mattress. I wasn’t sure if it would be safe there any more – of course I could trust Ivy, but I didn’t know Ariadne one bit. But then I wasn’t exactly in danger now. Was I?

      “Who’s your new roommate, Ariadne?” asked my sister.

      “I don’t know,” the mousy girl replied. “I asked Mrs Knight, but she just made a funny face and walked away. Who do you think it could be?”

      “Probably just some new girl,” I said, since everyone else would have a dorm already. “I’m sure they’ll be great. You won’t want to hang around with us at all.”

      Or at least I hoped not, because Ivy and I will always be a team of two, no more.

      Ivy started pulling things out of her suitcase and laying them out on the bed. “It’ll be dinner soon. Maybe you’ll find out then.”

      I grimaced. There were many horrors at the school, and the dinners were one of them. But at least it wasn’t hospital food, which had tasted like despair.

      There was a knock at the open door. We all looked round.

      It was Nadia Sayani. I glared at her, thinking she’d come to pick on me, but to my surprise Ivy and Ariadne greeted her warmly. Clearly a lot had changed while I was away.

      She did a double take upon seeing me and Ivy side by side. “So there really are two of you,” she said, slightly breathless. A smile spread across her face. “Well, I never … Twins! Or did your reflection just walk out of the mirror, Ivy?”

      Ivy smiled at her. “Yes, that’s definitely what happened.”

      “Ha! Well, I came to tell you that Mr Bartholomew has called an assembly,” she said. “Before dinner. We all have to get down there now.”

      That was unusual. We never had assemblies on Sunday, nor at this time of day. “Who told you?” I asked.

      “Mrs Knight,” Nadia replied. “She asked me to run round and tell everyone.”

      Ariadne jumped up. “Maybe he’s giving out prizes!”

      I wasn’t so sure. “Or canings …”

      We filed into the assembly hall and sat down on the uncomfortable wooden benches. Looking around, I spotted Miss Finch on a chair at the side, and she smiled at me. The stage was empty, though – no sign yet of Mr Bartholomew.

      I leant over to Ivy. “Do you think he’s going to tell everyone what happened last year?” She shrugged, and pointed at Miss Bowler, the swimming teacher, who was glaring at me from the other side of the hall. We weren’t supposed to be talking, apparently. “But he’s