my surprise, Penny actually answered her honestly. “My parents haven’t replied to the letter. And I don’t think they’re going to. I thought of writing to my uncle to see if he might pay for me to go, but …” She trailed off, and looked around at us. “It’s none of your business, anyway,” she finished.
“Careful,” Madame Zelda said, waving her finger. “We must have the composure of a ballet dancer, mustn’t we?”
Penny sighed and slumped down to lace her shoes on. “Yes, Miss. Sorry, Miss.”
Scarlet rolled her eyes, but something Penny had said stuck in my mind as we began doing our stretches. I thought of writing to my uncle. The thought grew bigger and bigger. We had two aunts now, aunts who were both kind and generous. If we wrote to them …
At the end of the lesson, I grabbed Scarlet. “I think we should write to Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Sara about the trip!”
“Why?” My twin wrinkled her nose. “To tell them our stepmother is the spawn of the devil? I think they already know that.”
“No,” I said. “To ask them for permission. They might be able to pay the fees for us.”
Scarlet’s eyes widened. “Is that allowed?”
“I have no idea.” I thought about it for a moment. “I’m hoping Aunt Phoebe might have been listed as a guardian on our records.”
Scarlet started to grin. “You’re a genius. Let’s try it!”
We composed the letters that night. We wrote to both Aunt Sara and Aunt Phoebe, telling them all about the trip and asking if we could go.
“We’ll go to the village first thing tomorrow and post them,” said Scarlet. “They won’t take long to get there.”
I crossed my fingers. Ariadne was sitting on my bed and nervously knitting. “I hope they say yes,” she said, twirling the wool round her fingers.
“Me too,” I said. “If we don’t get permission by Friday, then we’ll be taken off the list.”
We had to do it. I didn’t want our stepmother to win again.
Friday dawned, and I was desperate for assembly to start – because Friday’s assembly meant letters.
I ran into Rose in the corridor as I headed for the lavatories, feeling chilly in my nightgown. She was leaving the room she had shared with Violet, her face forlorn as she slowly pulled the door closed. Violet and Rose had been inseparable after meeting in the asylum. She must miss her.
Rose was unusual to say the least – she was an enigma, and rumours abounded throughout the school. We knew very little about her. She wasn’t one to talk, usually, and when she did, she spoke so softly that you had to strain to hear her.
“Good morning, Rose,” I said brightly.
She smiled at me.
“Did you hear about the trip?” I asked, carrying on walking as she came up beside me.
She nodded.
“Our stepmother wouldn’t give us permission,” I explained, “but we’re going to ask our aunts. I hope we’ll be able to go. Well, I was worried about going at first, but I think Ariadne needs us.”
As we reached the lavatories, I started to worry that we were having a bit of a one-sided conversation. At least, more one-sided than usual. “Do you think you’d like to go?”
Rose looked back in the direction of her room. “I would,” she whispered. “Very much. Only …”
She trailed off, but I could fill in the gaps. She didn’t have Violet any more, and she wasn’t a proper student. Even more than that, there was no one who could give her permission.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t think. It’s not long, though. Only a week.” We went inside, and I washed my face with the freezing-cold water from the sink.
She smiled again, but she seemed sad. If only there was something we could do. But if we couldn’t get on the trip ourselves, I didn’t see how we’d be able to take Rose.
After breakfast, we headed for assembly. Scarlet pretty much bounced into her seat, dropping her satchel on the floor and nudging it about with her foot. She was so jittery, waiting to see if we’d got a letter. I was too. I barely listened to what Mrs Knight was telling us.
“Now,” Mrs Knight said, “don’t forget that today is the deadline for your permission letters.” My ears pricked up, and Scarlet squeezed my knee. “On that note,” the headmistress said, “it’s post day.”
She began reading out names from the pile of letters in her hand. “Agatha Brown! Alice Carter-Jones!”
Scarlet squeezed my knee even harder as the alphabet got closer to our surname. I had to slap her hand away, because I didn’t want my leg to fall off.
“Scarlet and Ivy Grey!”
Scarlet leapt up and ran for the stage. She grabbed the letter from Mrs Knight’s hand and was back in her seat tearing open the envelope before I even had time to speak.
I read it over her shoulder. I didn’t recognise the beautiful looped handwriting, but I soon realised it must belong to our Aunt Sara.
Dear Scarlet and Ivy,
My darlings, I hope you are well. I received your letter about the school trip. I have managed to speak to your Aunt Phoebe (it wasn’t easy – I had to telephone someone named Philip?).
We have decided that you ought to be allowed to go on the trip. We’ll keep this quiet from Edith, shall we? I have enclosed a cheque for you, which should be more than enough to cover the trip, and a letter of permission.
Go forth, my darlings, and have a new adventure!
With love,
Sara Louise
“Aunt Sara is the best!” I said. I was so glad we’d found her. At least someone was on our side who could help us. Aunt Phoebe was lovely too, but she couldn’t be
