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The Dance in the Dark
Sophie Cleverly
Scarlet and Ivy return to creepy Rookwood School for a third mystery adventure!Perfect for fans of MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE.With their evil headmaster, Mr Bartholomew, safely out of the picture and kindly Mrs Knight in charge, it looks like life at Rookwood School is looking up. There's a ballet recital Scarlet is desperate to star in, and more clues to uncover about the twins' mother.But after their beloved ballet teacher Miss Finch suddenly disappears and strange Madame Zelda takes her place, freakish things start happening. Poison letters are circulating the school, and 'accidents' are plaguing the students. It seems that the girls are in danger once more…Is someone out for the ultimate revenge?
Copyright (#ulink_7d9a7c2a-7f78-54d9-823b-90b9c7efd60c)
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2016
HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,
HarperCollins Publishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Scarlet and Ivy: The Dance in the Dark
Text copyright © Sophie Cleverly 2016
Illustrations copyright © Manuel Šumberac
Jacket illustrations © Katie Forrester 2016;
Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2016
Sophie Cleverly asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007589227
Ebook Edition © 2016 ISBN: 9780007589234
Version: 2016-04-27
Praise for (#ulink_e6283d14-9f7a-5425-a066-511fd206fb56)
“This is one of the best books I have ever read. It was exciting, funny, warm and mysterious.” Lily, aged 9
“The whole book was brilliant … after the first paragraph it was as though Ivy was my best friend.” Ciara, aged 10
“This book is full of excitement and adventure – a masterpiece!” Jennifer, aged 9
“This is a page-turning mystery adventure with puzzles that keep you guessing.” Felicity, aged 11
“A brilliant and exciting book.” Evie, aged 8
“The story shone with excitement, secrets and bonds of friendship … If I had to mark this book out of 10, I would give it 11!” Sidney, aged 11
For all my Superheroes. The show must go on …
Contents
Cover (#u16ad34dd-2214-5375-8eef-2fa416a6e18d)
Title Page (#uc47b1b0f-777f-55a9-96ec-e3c215a207cf)
Copyright (#uf62e74b7-3aa4-5944-90c6-aadbd38b6547)
Praise (#u30426871-2872-5c58-99a9-10d17d10989f)
Dedication (#uf5fcc61e-9112-5cd5-8a3d-c4668c51a5d2)
Chapter One: Ivy (#u8240731d-01ac-5fdd-8ea7-ec2820065b2a)
Chapter Two: Scarlet (#u40782e4c-213f-5c4a-932c-e9d3c687b26e)
Chapter Three: Ivy (#ua51ebcb5-35a5-5e4b-81d6-7923356c3598)
Chapter Four: Scarlet (#ue5f11714-b09b-502b-bf6c-546d562a2a2a)
Chapter Five: Ivy (#u371bc3da-31d4-5dc2-899e-d24d025a889c)
Chapter Six: Scarlet (#u85064c0e-a1de-5eee-82c1-407be4d983bc)
Chapter Seven: Ivy (#u3705c1dc-9e91-588d-adab-e6a88e3033e0)
Chapter Eight: Scarlet (#ub864cd02-069e-59f6-83c9-9bbc4f806468)
Chapter Nine: Ivy (#u36583344-d9e2-5aa3-ab5e-87a20f762fd2)
Chapter Ten: Scarlet (#ufc5c9026-cba8-57c9-be17-1cded0e84394)
Chapter Eleven: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-one: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-two: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-three: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-four: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-five: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-six: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-seven: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-eight: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-nine: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-one: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-two: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-three: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-four: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-five: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-six: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-seven: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-eight: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-nine: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-one: Ivy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty-two: Scarlet (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
Also by Sophie Cleverly (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_72b9ef70-1f64-5c43-9b42-f9cff64dc013)
IVY (#ulink_72b9ef70-1f64-5c43-9b42-f9cff64dc013)
As new beginnings go, it was a good one.
The sun was making its first attempt at shining after the long dark winter. I had my twin by my side – Scarlet was lounging on the grass, pretending it was warmer than it really was. Tall trees towered over us, their fresh buds stretching towards the sky.
And, well, we were back at Rookwood School. That part wasn’t so good, but things were better than they were last term. Mrs Knight, the interim headmistress, welcomed us in the foyer with a big smile on her face. The school hadn’t had much luck with headmistresses and headmasters of late – Miss Fox was still on the run after being accused of embezzling money, not to mention hiding my sister in an asylum and pretending she was dead. And Mr Bartholomew had been no better. The cruel headmaster had finally been locked up for his involvement in the death of a pupil decades ago. Now the school was headless, so to speak, and Mrs Knight was left in charge.
We’d had our first day of lessons of the spring term, and there hadn’t been a caning in sight. All the teachers seemed happier. Even Violet seemed happier, and that was a feat in itself.
“Everything’s rather good, isn’t it?” I said to my twin with a happy sigh. I was a little chilly in my thin uniform, and the grass was damp, but the view down the long driveway of the school was beautiful now that everything was turning green again.
Scarlet looked up at me, unimpressed. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
I wasn’t, but I was trying my hardest to be airy and cheerful. Of course, Scarlet had to bring me right back down to earth with a bang. Ariadne. Our best friend had been expelled before Christmas, after she was blamed for the fire that Mr Bartholomew had set to cover his tracks. Even after her name was cleared, her parents didn’t want her coming back to Rookwood.
It felt like there was an Ariadne-shaped hole beside us. Several times that day I’d gone to tell her something, or expected her to pipe up with a jolly comment, only to be met with silence.
“I’m sure she’s happy at home,” I said weakly.
Scarlet sat up, grass stuck all down the back of her dress. “Oh, come on,” she said, giving me a gentle shove. “Cheer up, Ivy, things are better. Let’s make a list.” She pulled out her pen and a tatty notebook, the one she’d been using in place of her old diary. “One: no headteachers are going to try to murder us. Two: no more nasty punishments. Three: everyone’s getting on. Penny has even stopped hating Violet.”
Penny Winchester and Violet Adams were former archenemies of Scarlet, and they’d had their own massive falling-out last term. It was true that they had finally made up, although that mostly involved not speaking to each other. “I’m not sure whether that should be on the list of good things,” I said. “Do we really want them teaming up again?”
My twin chewed the end of her pen thoughtfully. “Good point. All right, scratch that one. Now we need a new number three.”
“Well,” I said, “Christmas was nice.”
We’d been allowed to spend Christmas with our Aunt Phoebe, Father’s scatterbrained sister, after she’d found the courage to stand up to our meddling stepmother. I’d lived with our aunt for years before I came to Rookwood, when Scarlet was away at the school. Although I didn’t like to admit it, she’d always seemed to prefer the company of my twin, which was rather strange given how opposite they were.
“Three: Christmas,” Scarlet said aloud as she jotted it down. As an afterthought, she added, “excellent plum pudding.”
I smiled. It had been so strange for me, seeing Scarlet in the cottage where I’d lived when I believed her to be gone forever. Strange but wonderful. I hadn’t even minded when Aunt Phoebe burned the turkey, or when she’d given me the exact same knitted scarf that she got me last year. This time, Scarlet got one too.
“Four,” she said. “The weather is getting better.”
“Ha!” I exclaimed. “Not as much as I would like. My dress is getting damp. And look at those clouds!”
