Sophie Cleverly - Scarlet and Ivy – The Lost Twin

“A couple? I’m going to get the maximum!” she exclaimed.

And that was how we returned to our room, me carrying a meagre two books and Ariadne tottering under an enormous pile of them. If the girls hadn’t been laughing at her yesterday, they certainly were now.

On Sunday we had to go the school chapel for a service. The sermon echoed off the walls, but I wasn’t really paying attention. I saw Scarlet everywhere, in the brass of the candles, in the stained-glass windows and in the tarnished gold collection plates. I felt like somehow she was watching me.

It started to drizzle as we filed out under the glare of Miss Fox. I tried to hurry back through the jostling crowds with Ariadne trailing behind me. But then I checked myself. You’re trying to be Scarlet – don’t be so wet.

Father had always said that she walked around like she owned the place, like there was a pole down the back of her dress. So that was what I had to do.

And it worked! The stream of girls began to move out of my way as I climbed the steps of the school. I turned back to Ariadne and smiled at her. She stopped and waved back, almost getting trampled in the process.

That was a bit more like it, wasn’t it, Scarlet ?

That night, accompanied by Ariadne’s gentle snoring, I took out the diary, just to hold it. But I soon found myself reading the words again.

Scarlet’s last line, that oft-heard insult – ‘ don’t be as wet as you usually are – just look in the mirror ’ – had been playing on my mind. It seemed out of place somehow. And why would Scarlet underline it? Unless …

What if it’s one of Scarlet’s secret messages that used to drive me mad? What if she’s telling me to look for something? She said she’d try to leave me with some advice – did that mean this was a clue?

I looked at the underlined words again – first, something wet. A lake? A river? That seemed unlikely. And second, somewhere with mirrors …

The bathrooms .

It jumped into my head as if Scarlet had whispered it right in my ear.

It was lights out, and everyone was in bed. There was a good chance that Miss Fox would be patrolling the corridors, looking for rule-breakers. Then again, surely needing the lavatory was a valid excuse to be up in the night. I sat up in bed and looked down at my shoes. Too noisy; I’d have to go barefoot.

I tiptoed to the door – my ballet training was certainly useful for something. I had to tug on the handle hard and it made a squeaking noise as it opened that was like a scream in my head. I winced as I stuck my head out and surveyed the corridor. Empty. The nearby door marked ‘Matron’ was shut tight.

I hurried towards the bathrooms. Every time I passed a door, I half expected Miss Fox to leap out from behind it. Suddenly there was a bang from the other end of the corridor, and I almost jumped out of my nightgown. It was only a window, left hanging open in the breeze.

There was a dim light in the lavatories, but through the door marked ‘Bathrooms’ it was a different story. I could just make out a small row of doors along the dark corridor, each with a number on it.

My heart beat faster as I tried the handle of the first door.

Inside was an enormous cast-iron bath, rusting at the edges, a flat-framed mirror and a faint smell of mildew.

I pictured Scarlet walking into the room, walking right through me. I pictured her when we were five, climbing into the bath and splashing me with soapy water. Then I pictured her sneaking in here to hide something in the last days of her life.

“What am I even looking for, Scarlet?” I whispered. There was a lump rising in my throat.

I walked to the mirror, ran my fingers over the cold glass. My reflection stared back at me, and I had to look away. I tugged on the mirror, wondering if there was anything behind it, but it was screwed tightly to the wall.

I looked around the chilly room. The pages obviously couldn’t be in the bath. They certainly weren’t next to it. That left only one place – underneath.

I crouched down and felt along the rough iron surface …

Nothing . My heart sank faster than the Titanic .

But then – I could almost hear Scarlet’s laughter ringing out in my head – there were four more bathrooms to choose from, weren’t there?

Two and three were as empty as number one. I shivered in my nightgown.

As I walked into number four, I thought I heard a muffled noise, somewhere nearby. I stood stock-still and listened, but there was no sound apart from the dripping of a tap. It must have been a mouse. These old buildings were full of them.

That gave me a thought. Where do mice live? Holes. Holes in the skirting, holes in the floorboards. Hiding places .

I crouched down and I crawled around to where the pipes descended through the floorboards. There was a jagged gap surrounding the lead pipes, just large enough to fit my fingers through.

I touched something. Paper .

“Oh my goodness!” I whispered, drawing it out. My hands were shaking. The pages were crumpled and covered with dust, but Scarlet’s flowing handwriting was clearly visible on them.

It was then that I heard the noise again, even closer than before. I had to get back to my room as soon as possible. I walked out of the bathroom and pulled the door to behind me, as quietly as I could. And then I turned to go back into the lavatories.

Only someone was in my way.

“Hello, Scarlet,” Penny said, grinning and showing her pointy teeth. “What do you think you’re doing in here at this hour?”

I was right about there being a mouse. I was the mouse .

And Penny was the cat about to eat me alive.

enny glared at me. “I said, ‘what are you doing in here?’”

I scrunched the diary pages tightly in my fist behind my back. “I’m … it’s … nothing. I just needed to go to the lavatory, that’s all.”

“You’re up to something,” she said, leaning towards me. “It’s after lights out and you’ve been creeping around in the bathrooms. I’ve a good mind to tell the matron. Or how about Miss Fox?”

She stood there, arms folded, eyes narrowed.

“But,” I said, my mind racing to keep up with my mouth, “won’t you get into trouble as well? You’re not supposed to be up either.” There was a flicker of doubt in her expression. “Why don’t we just go back to our rooms?”

Suddenly, she grabbed my arm and pulled it out in front of me. “Listen, you little worm,” she hissed. “This is my school, and you can’t sweet talk your way out of everything, understand?”