Ariana Chambers - The Secret

Miss Black starts reading out the names for each group. Holly, Eve and I are in Mr Matthews’s group, along with Izzy, Stephen and Vivien. Great. But at least if they do try anything stupid we’ll be there to stop them.

After a freezing-cold shower in the shower block, which somehow managed to leave me feeling grubbier than before, we set off for the caves. Miss Black’s group have marched on ahead of us and are now out of sight but Mr Matthews prefers a more leisurely approach. It’s less of a hike and more of a meander really, as he stops to tell us what every single flower, plant, bird and tree are en route.

‘Look! Look!’ he cries as we round a bend in the track. ‘A toadstool ring!’

There, in a small clearing, is a perfect ring of toadstools. They’re the red and white spotted ones that I’ve only ever seen in drawings before.

Izzy leans against a tree and sighs like we’ve just scaled a mountain rather than ambled as slowly as snails.

‘Ancient folklore believed this to be a fairy ring,’ Mr Matthews continues. ‘That fairies would come and dance inside.’

Stephen groans. But I can’t help finding Mr Matthews’s enthusiasm infectious. All of his little anecdotes are really bringing the woods to life and, unlike the stories last night, in a good way.

‘Can we just get to the caves, please?’ Vivien says sullenly.

‘What?’ For a moment, Mr Matthews looks as if he’s forgotten the whole purpose of our walk. ‘Oh yes – yes of course.’ He holds his clipboard aloft. ‘This-a-way. Follow me!’

‘If we actually find these caves with him in charge I’ll eat my copy of Watership Down ,’ Holly mutters.

What feels like two hundred bird, tree and flower sightings later, we make it to the caves. Miss Black’s group are sitting on the ground looking bored.

‘Where have you been?’ Miss Black snaps.

Mr Matthews looks genuinely puzzled. ‘Following you.’

‘We got here half an hour ago. What took you so long? Oh, never mind, you’re here now.’ Miss Black blows on her whistle, even though there’s no need as we’re all sat in silence. ‘OK, guys, remember what I said. You must stick together at all times and no running or messing about. I’ll go at the front and, Mr Matthews, can you bring up the rear, please?’

‘Of course.’

‘Now, it will get pretty narrow in there in places. None of you are claustrophobic, are you?’ Miss Black looks around the group.

Stephen frowns. ‘What does that mean?’

‘A fear of small places – you know, like your brain,’ Holly mutters.

‘Shut it!’ Stephen snaps and he, Izzy and Vivien glower at us.

Miss Black starts leading us all into the entrance of the cave. Annoyingly Izzy, Vivien and Stephen hang back so they’re right behind Holly, Eve and me at the end of the group. At first the cave doesn’t seem too bad. A shaft of sunlight has burst through the clouds and it shines pale yellow on the walls. But as Miss Black leads us further in, the caves start to get narrower and darker. Behind us, Mr Matthews turns on his torch. The beam casts around, eerily reflecting on the stalactites that are shimmering with damp. Up ahead of us, David lets out a ghostly howl and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

‘Stop messing about!’ Miss Black barks from the front of the group.

‘Stop messing about!’ she barks again from right behind me, causing me to almost jump out of my skin.

‘My goodness, there’s a powerful echo in here,’ Mr Matthews says. But I hear Vivien giggling and know that she’s been mimicking again. In the darkness, I feel Holly grab my arm and squeeze it tightly. It’s OK , I tell myself. They aren’t the only ones with powers. We’re just as strong as they are. But in the cold, damp darkness it’s getting harder to believe. What if Izzy pulled her time-shifting stunt right now? What if she did something that got us all lost in here? How would I be able to fight back? My eyes frantically search the gloom in front of me and I see a pinprick of light way up ahead. As I edge up the slippery tunnel, the pinprick grows to the size of a thumb. We must be getting near to the exit.

‘Nearly there!’ Miss Black calls from the front.

I hear Eve sigh with relief beside me and the tension in my body starts to ease. But then I hear a weird rumbling sound.

‘Oh great, a thunderstorm,’ Holly says.

There’s another rumble and something hard hits my face. ‘What was that? What’s going on?’ I turn back to Mr Matthews.

‘Bits of the roof are crumbling,’ Holly says.

Mr Matthews points his torch upwards. There’s another huge rumble. I look at Izzy. Is she doing this? But Izzy looks as shocked as I feel. Vivien and Stephen are staring at the roof of the cave too, looking equally scared. As I turn back, a massive chunk of the roof breaks off, hitting the floor behind us with an almighty crash.

The light up ahead is snuffed out.

I crouch down on my heels, trying to stay calm. But fear is closing in on me like the cave walls. It feels as if all of the oxygen is being sucked out, sucked from my body, like a deflating balloon. I try to take a deep breath and it feels as if my airway has been blocked.

‘Are you OK?’ Holly whispers, crouching down next to me.

I nod, gasping for air.

‘Oh dear,’ Mr Matthews says, his voice faint and woolly.

‘I can’t – I can’t breathe,’ I splutter.

Holly puts her thin arm round my shoulders. ‘Are you picking up on everyone else’s panic?’ she whispers. ‘Try to block it out.’

I try to picture the old oak tree but all I see is darkness. I close my eyes. I picture myself walking along the sunlit path to the tree. I picture light and space all around me. And then, finally, I can see the tree. I see its huge roots, like arms reaching out to me. And I picture myself running to sit inside them, pressing my back up against the trunk. Feeling the bark against my skin. Feeling the strength of the tree rushing into me, forcing out all of the fear. I take a deep breath and my lungs fill with air. I open my eyes and now, instead of total darkness, I see the light of Mr Matthews’s torch flickering around the cave.

I look at Holly and give her a weak smile. ‘Thank you.’

One thing I know for sure is that Izzy and the others can’t have been behind the rockslide. I was picking up way too much panic and fear from them. I turn and, sure enough, Izzy and Vivien are huddled together against the wall of the cave. Even in the darkness I can see that they’re trembling.

‘Where’s Stephen?’ Mr Matthews asks. ‘He was right in front of me. Now he’s gone!’ He shines his torch around and the light picks up Izzy, Vivien, Eve, me and Holly. Stephen has vanished.

‘He must have ghosted,’ I whisper to Holly.

She nods. ‘Typical of the Blood Witches to only look out for themselves,’ she mutters. ‘If I’d been given the power to travel through things I’d never have left you.’

‘Me neither.’ I look back at Izzy and Vivien and wonder what they must be thinking of Stephen for leaving them. They definitely don’t look happy.

‘He must have slipped through when I wasn’t looking,’ Mr Matthews says, fumbling around in his jacket pocket and pulling out his ancient mobile phone. ‘OK, the important thing is not to panic. I’ll call for help and they’ll have us out of here in a jiffy.’

‘There’s no way you’re going to get reception in here,’ Izzy snaps. ‘What if more of the roof collapses? What if we’re crushed?’

Vivien whispers something in her ear and Izzy suddenly goes all still and super-concentrated. I wonder if she’s trying to use her power. When Aunt Clara explained all of the different witch powers to us she said that, eventually, time-shifters are able to turn back time. I wonder if that’s what Izzy is trying to do now. So far she’s only been able to slow time down. Izzy continues to focus on the rock in front of her but nothing happens. I turn back to check on Eve. After the way she was on the coach yesterday, I wonder if she’s scared of small spaces. This must really be freaking her out.