Sophie Cleverly - The Whispers in the Walls

“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 not even here y—”

My sentence was interrupted by a loud cough echoing around the walls, and suddenly the headmaster appeared on the stage. The teachers shushed everyone into complete silence.

“Good afternoon, girls.” He spoke in the same slow, dragging manner that he had done in his office. “Some of you may not know me, as I have been away for some time, recuperating from an illness. I am Mr Bartholomew, the headmaster of Rookwood School. My father was the founder of this school, which he set up to provide a proper education for his daughters, as well as those of his important, influential friends.” He paused, coughed into a dark red handkerchief, and then carried on. “You may be wondering why I’ve called an assembly at this hour.”

There was a murmur of agreement.

“I have been informed that there were some incidents while I was away.”

I nudged Ivy. “He’s going to tell everyone about Miss Fox!” I whispered. Miss Bowler waggled her finger at me, but I ignored her.

“Well, I can assure you, now that I have returned, we are going to be doing things my way. Severely delinquent behaviour will be punished with immediate expulsion. I will have nothing going on –” he paused, cleared his throat – “nothing in this school that is not directly sanctioned by me. Is that clear?”

Everyone murmured their agreement, but it clearly wasn’t enough for him. “I said, IS THAT CLEAR, girls?” His gravelly voice could reach a surprising volume, and several girls around me flinched.

“Yes, sir!” we chorused.

“The prefect system will be reinstated, since it has been neglected in my absence. I will be selecting representatives from Richmond, Evergreen and Mayhew houses to be my prefects. They will be making sure that everyone follows my rules.”

Ivy was looking at me, and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. Wasn’t he going to say anything about Miss Fox and what she’d done? Surely that was more important than picking prefects?

Mr Bartholomew started pacing up and down slowly, and said, “We will keep the past in the past, and look towards the future. And to that end, I want to welcome two students.”

I looked around. New students ?

“Ivy Grey, stand up, please.”

My sister looked horrified. But she stood up, trembling a little as the eyes of the whole school fell on her.

“Miss Grey will be joining her twin sister, Scarlet. Everyone welcome Ivy, please.”

There was a mumbling of welcomes, but everyone was still looking at Ivy strangely. Not least me, who was wondering what on earth our headmaster was playing at. Why was he pretending that Ivy was new? Why was he covering up what Miss Fox had done?

“And we have another student who has returned from spending some time abroad,” Mr Bartholomew continued in his rattling drone.

He pointed to the back of the room. I turned round, following his finger. “Miss Adams, please stand up as well.”

I couldn’t believe it.

Vile Violet.

She was back .

I had never seen Scarlet look as horrified as she did at that moment. Her complexion went a strange shade of green when Mr Bartholomew called out Violet’s name. I sat down again and grabbed hold of her hand.

But then Violet looked awful too; pale and frightened. I’d never seen her before, but I felt as if I knew her from Scarlet’s diary entries. She’d seemed like a horrible bully, someone to be afraid of, but at that moment I only felt pity for her.

I hadn’t known that they’d found her. I hadn’t even been certain that she was still alive. Perhaps Miss Finch had tracked her down too, or Mr Bartholomew himself. If she’d been locked away in the asylum like my sister … Well, wherever she’d been, she certainly hadn’t been “spending some time abroad”. The thought made me queasy, and I had to look away.

The headmaster had finished the assembly with boring notices and some reminders of Rookwood’s many rules. Lights out at nine o’clock sharp. No food in bedrooms. No running in the corridors. In fact, no running anywhere, except perhaps on the running track.

I still couldn’t believe that he was persisting with Miss Fox’s deception, claiming that Violet had been away and I was a new student. What exactly was he playing at? I supposed that the school’s reputation was being put ahead of us, ahead of me , yet again.

And it meant more lies. Just when I thought I could be myself again, I’d have to act like I hadn’t already been here for months.

We traipsed to the dining hall, where the familiar chatter and clatter enveloped us. I could feel people staring in amazement. I supposed we were a startling sight – perfect mirror images of one another.

“Oh, Rookwood food, how I didn’t miss you,” I said to my stew as we sat down, before realising that, according to the headmaster, I’d never eaten it before. I glanced round, hoping no one had noticed my comment. I thought Scarlet might nudge me and tell me to shut up. But she was distracted, staring at the other side of the Richmond table.

Violet was standing there, and she looked miserable .

Mrs Knight was talking to her. “Miss Adams, I’m afraid you’ll have to join the Evergreen table.”

Penny jumped up. “But Miss, she was in Richmond before! Can’t we just kick someone else out?” Penny had been Violet’s best friend, not to mention another of Scarlet’s worst enemies.

Our house head frowned. “There’s simply no room now that Ivy and Ariadne have joined us. And besides, there are several free places in Evergreen.”

What? Suddenly Mrs Knight was talking about me as if I were a new student, too. She knew full well what had really happened. Why was she going along with the headmaster’s game?

Scarlet spoke up. “She should do as she’s told and go and sit with Evergreen.” And then in a dramatic whisper to me, “As far away from us as possible.”

“Miss Grey, will you mind your manners?” snapped Mrs Knight, exasperated.

I looked at Violet, expecting her to start shouting at any moment. But to everyone’s surprise, she simply walked off to the other table without a word.

Penny sat down again, looking stunned. I could tell she was wondering what had happened to her old friend Violet. The one that ordered everyone else around and wouldn’t be told what to do by anyone.

I picked up a forkful of the unappetising stew and stared at it. Oh well, I was hungry. I ate some, and it was at least hot. Someone had gone overboard with the pepper, though.

Ariadne appeared beside me with her dinner. “Did I miss something?”

“Violet was sent to the Evergreen table,” I said.

Mrs Knight’s gaze flashed to Ariadne. “Miss Flitworth, your room has been arranged. You will be staying with Violet.”

Ariadne’s eyes went wide. I almost choked on my stew.

“I trust there won’t be any problems?”

Ariadne shook her head slowly, but she didn’t blink. “No, Miss.”