The Lights Under the Lake. Sophie Cleverly

had come back. Some had enrolled at other schools for good, their parents horrified by the spate of poisonings and anonymous threats. Violet, former arch-enemy of Scarlet, had been taken away by her guardian, and nobody had heard from her since. Not even Rose, who Violet had rescued from the asylum and brought to Rookwood. Rose had been allowed to stay while efforts were made to find out where she came from.

      Things were now as normal as they could be. Lessons, porridge and stew, detentions for Scarlet; all under the now slightly more watchful eye of Mrs Knight. And now, I supposed, under the lens of Ariadne’s camera.

      The next day began, as they tended to do, with an assembly.

      We were shuffling into the hall when Mrs Knight breezed past us, clutching a piece of paper.

      “Looks like an announcement,” said Scarlet, craning her neck to see over the first formers.

      “Oooh,” said Ariadne. “I hope it’s a good one. Perhaps they’re going to improve the school dinners.” I was amazed that she had managed to keep up her appetite after being poisoned by the stew last term.

      “Maybe they’re cancelling all the lessons. Or firing all the teachers and letting us run the school,” my twin suggested, her face suddenly hopeful.

      I laughed and took a seat in our row, praying the announcement would actually be about something good, and not another one of the ‘unfortunate incidents’ that Rookwood was becoming famous for.

      But as Mrs Knight took to the stage, I could see a twinkle of excitement in her eyes. “Good morning, girls,” she called cheerfully.

      “Good morning, Mrs Knight,” we chorused back. The chorus wasn’t quite as loud as it had been before we’d lost so many students.

      “Before we go on to the hymns this morning, I have an announcement to make!” she said. “And I think this is one you’ll all enjoy.”

      Scarlet nudged me. “Firing all the teachers,” she mouthed.

      “We could all do with a fresh start after last term,” Mrs Knight continued. I felt that was a bit of an understatement. “And so I have prepared a special treat: a school trip!”

      A ripple of excited murmurs spread across the hall. Mrs Knight held out her hands to quieten everyone down, looking unusually pleased with herself.

      “Now, girls, this will be a great opportunity to show some Rookwood School spirit. We will be staying at a wonderful lakeside hotel for a week of nature activities and working together.”

      Scarlet and Ariadne were grinning, but I felt a tiny shiver down my spine. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go near another lake.

      “Parents have already been notified by letter so they can give permission and pay the fees.” She smiled down at her notes. “There will also be a notice in the local paper. We want to show just how great our school can be.”

      Hmm. I could see what she was up to. She was putting her brave face back on, and hoping that this would rescue the school’s reputation. I wasn’t sure it would be enough. The murderous and swindling headteachers of the past had done too much damage, surely?

      Miss Bowler strutted on to the stage. “I don’t want any dilly-dallyers on this trip, so you need to sign up on the sheet, or you won’t be getting a place!”

      Already everyone was whispering to each other in excitement. “We have to go,” Scarlet said in my ear. “A whole week away from Rookwood! No lessons!”

      “It sounds good,” I muttered back.

      “Oh, I do hope Daddy will let me go,” said Ariadne.

      I shuffled awkwardly in my seat. That was a point. If our parents had to agree that we could go, and agree to pay the money … did we have any chance?

      Mrs Knight continued: “Erm, right, yes, myself and Miss Bowler will be leading the trip, and there will be additional supervision from some of the elder prefects. Safety will be of the utmost importance, and we want everyone on their best behaviour.”

      My twin’s expression was as mischievous as ever. “Easy,” she whispered. “What could possibly go wrong?”

       Chapter Two

       SCARLET

      s soon as the assembly was over, we ran for the sign-up sheet.

      Or at least, I ran. And I might have shoved rather a lot of people out of the way. But what mattered was that I got there first, picked up the pen dangling from a string beside it, and wrote SCARLET GREY and IVY GREY in big letters on the top two lines and ARIADNE FLITWORTH just underneath.

      “You can’t write someone else’s name,” a girl behind me complained.

      “I can,” I said, pointing at the sheet. “I just did.”

      We had to go on this trip. There were no two ways about it. At last, an opportunity to get away from this horrible school for a whole week.

      I stood back and watched as other girls began jostling to add their names to the list.

      Ivy and Ariadne appeared next to me, having hurried to keep up.

      “I added you both,” I told them.

      “Oh, goody!” said Ariadne, clapping excitedly. Ivy just looked a bit green.

      “What’s up with you, then, Ivy?” I asked.

      “Do you think Father will agree to this?” she said after a pause. “Or more to the point, will Edith agree to it?”

      She was right. Just having our names up there didn’t mean anything if we couldn’t get permission. I wasn’t even sure if our father would be at home right now, or if he’d be off working in the big city somewhere, and that meant the person who would receive the letter would be Edith, our stepmother. I chewed my lip. This could be difficult.

      “Ugh,” I said. “You make a good point. I don’t think she’d want to open her purse strings if we were starving on the streets, let alone to send us on a school trip.”

      Ivy nodded slowly. “We’ll just have to wait and see, I suppose.”

      I looked back at the sheet – it was full already, and people were already trying to fit their names into the blank space round the side in the hopes that someone might drop out. Other notices had been knocked off the board and were scattered on the parquet floor of the entrance hall. I didn’t think anything like this had ever happened at Rookwood before, at least not in recent years.

      I clenched my fists, determined not to let our stepmother stop me.

      “We’re going,” I said confidently. “And that’s that.”

      “You’re not going,” Edith’s voice sneered down the telephone, “and that’s that.”

      We were sitting in Mrs Knight’s office, just me and Ivy, and we’d been allowed to make a call. Apparently our dear stepmother had received the letter already, and wasn’t impressed. “But why?” I whined. I knew I sounded childish, but I truly didn’t understand. If it had been her precious boys, she would’ve said yes without a thought.

      “Because it’s a waste of my money, Scarlet,” she snapped.

      You mean Father’s money, I thought, but I held