“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 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
