All My Secrets (18 page)

‘Nah, to be honest, she looks too thin, like unhealthy-looking. You’re way better-looking,’ Josh says matter-of-factly. ‘How come Samuel has it?’

‘No idea,’ I say, my face burning. Does he mean that about me being better looking than graceful, beautiful Irina? ‘Last time I saw it, it was under my pillow.’

Josh frowns, then reaches into the hole again. ‘Let’s see if the notebook is here.’ His fingers probe under the floorboards. ‘Yeah, look.’ He draws out a small
notebook with a black cover, opens it and squints down at the first page.

‘What’s in it?’

‘On this page, Samuel facts,’ Josh says wryly. ‘Written in the tiniest writing you’ve ever seen.’ He hands me the notebook. I scan the open page. Every millimetre
is covered with minute sentences:

And so on.

‘You’d think he’d have taken this with him.’ I flick through the pages to the final few entries. I read the last line and my jaw drops.

‘Have you found something?’ Josh asks, edging closer.

I nod, unable to speak.

‘Show me.’

I shove the notebook at him, but even as I hand it over the final entry stays imprinted on my brain:

Josh looks up at me. His expressive face is etched with a deep frown.

‘D’you think this is for real?’ he asks.

‘Yes, I do.’ A chill settles inside me. ‘I’m already sure Lomax killed my mum on this island and somehow covered it up. Samuel must have found out that he wants to kill
me to stop me from revealing what he did. The knife under my pillow must have something to do with it too.’

Josh’s frown deepens. ‘D’you really think that . . .?’ He pauses. ‘What about your mum’s photo?’

‘Maybe Samuel found the photo at the same time as he found out what Lomax is planning.’

‘Or maybe someone else put the photo here,’ Josh says thoughtfully. ‘Kit knows we keep stuff under this floorboard, nobody else does.’

I stare at him. Could Kit be involved?

‘Think about it, Evie; he’s been acting really oddly, like all aggressive and stuff.’

I chew on my lip. What Josh says is true. Kit
was
aggressive earlier, at least to Josh. Plus, he has dismissed my belief that I’ve seen Irina’s ghost – or that she
might have been murdered here –
and
he’s going along with the idea that I put a knife under my pillow so I could hurt myself.

On the other hand, Kit has no possible reason to want to hurt me. If anything, the last time I saw him he was over-the-top concerned that I might want to hurt myself.

‘It’s not him,’ I say. ‘It’s got to be Lomax. Anyway, none of this explains why Samuel felt so desperate that he stole the
Aurora
and left the island
instead of waiting to talk to me later.’

‘Maybe he got scared when we went missing,’ Josh suggests.

‘You mean he thought I was already dead?
That’s
why he took the boat, to get away from Lomax? Get to safety himself?’

‘Exactly. Oh man, this is heavy.’ Josh replaces the floorboard and draws the armchair back into position. ‘What do you want to do?’

‘We have to tell—’ I start.

‘What are you doing in here?’ Kit stands in the doorway, a big scowl on his handsome face.

I spin round, instinctively hiding the notebook and photo behind my back.

‘Nothing,’ Josh says.

Kit glares at him. ‘I wasn’t asking you.’ He turns to me. ‘Evie, why are you here? You’re not supposed to be in this room.’ He jerks his thumb at Josh.
‘Especially not with him.’

‘Oh, chill out, for goodness’ sake,’ Josh snaps. ‘I was just trying to help her.’

‘Yeah and I know exactly how you’d like to do that,’ Kit spits, clenching his fists and storming towards Josh.

‘Calm down,’ I say. ‘Both of you.’

Kit reluctantly stops, though he’s still glaring at Josh.

‘Are you OK, Evie?’ he asks. ‘I’ve been worrying about you all morning.’

‘I’m fine,’ I say. I draw the notebook out from behind my back. ‘I’m with Josh because he helped me find this. It’s Samuel’s. Look.’ I point to
the entry we’ve just read.

Kit takes the notebook and scans the page. ‘OK, I can see this looks alarming,’ he says, ‘but you have to remember who wrote it. I mean, Samuel’s probably imagining
things.’

‘He
doesn’t
imagine things. You know that as well as I do,’ I say, my chest tightening.

‘OK, then he’s got it wrong.’ Kit peers down at the notebook again. ‘Even if he found some sort of gun, it’s probably not real or, if it is, it’s used for
killing rabbits or something. You shouldn’t be worried about it anyway.’

‘This isn’t about me being
worried
, it’s about Lomax wanting to kill me because I’ve found out he murdered my birth mum.’

‘What?’ Kit’s eyes widen. ‘
That’s
what you think? Is that why you hid that knife?’

‘I told you a million times I
didn’t
hide the knife. I don’t know anything about the knife.’ My voice rises.

‘OK, OK.’ Kit raises his hands, patting the air as if to calm me down. ‘But . . . well, don’t you think all this . . . a knife, a gun . . . it’s all a bit too much
of a coincidence? And, even if any of it is true, what would be the point of risking everything to kill you when you don’t even have any evidence against him? Plus, there’s no way Mr
Lomax is capable of committing a murder.’

‘He
is
capable of it,’ I argue.

‘And of covering it up for fifteen years,’ Josh adds darkly.

‘Why on earth would Mr Lomax have killed your mum anyway?’ Kit goes on, pointedly ignoring Josh. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

‘Maybe he liked her and she rejected him,’ Josh suggests, an edge to his voice.

Kit glares at him.

‘Yes, perhaps he fell in love with her and invited her to the island.’ A lump lodges in my throat as I imagine Irina, her eyes sparkling as she happily agreed to visit Lightsea, only
to find out when she arrived that Lomax had darker intentions. ‘Maybe he tried it on and my mum said no because of me back at home.’ I gulp. ‘And then Lomax pushed her off Easter
Rock out of jealousy.’

‘For goodness’ sake,’ Kit mutters.

Ignoring him, Josh turns to me. ‘What do you want to do, Evie?’

I consider for a moment. ‘We should tell Mr Bradley,’ I say. ‘He’s the only adult physically strong enough to confront Mr Lomax.’

‘Evie, please.’ Kit reaches for my hand. ‘I’m so worried about you. You’re being paranoid . . . I think maybe you’re seriously ill.’

I take a step away from him.

‘Telling Bradley’s a good idea.’ Josh makes his way to the door. ‘Coming, Evie?’

I look at Kit. His expression is furious, but I can see the hurt in his eyes too.

‘I’m not ill.’ The words spill out of me. ‘Why won’t you believe me?’

Kit frowns. He says nothing. Josh waits, watching us from the door.

I walk out of the room without looking back, then follow Josh down the stairs. The photo of Irina and the notebook are still clutched in my hand. Josh doesn’t speak as we hurry down both
flights of steps. My heart feels heavy in my chest at Kit’s refusal to trust me, but as we reach the entry hall fear overrides my misery. I point along the corridor towards Lomax’s
office, then put my finger to my lips.

‘Lomax could be here,’ I mouth.

‘OK, then we need to find Bradley urgently.’ Josh glances up and down the deserted hall. ‘He’s probably still checking for storm damage outside.’

‘Where do you think he might have—?’ But, before I can finish my question, Mr Bradley himself strides into view.

‘Where are the others?’ he demands.

‘Cleaning bathrooms, I think,’ I say, rushing over to him. ‘Please, Mr Bradley, I really need to talk to—’

‘Get the others and meet me outside in two minutes,’ Mr Bradley orders, marching over to the front door. ‘There’s a big mess outside the boathouse that needs clearing up
before the storm starts up again.’

‘But sir—’

But Mr Bradley has already gone, slamming the front door shut behind him.

‘Let’s get the others,
fast
,’ Josh says. ‘It’ll be easier to make him listen then. I’ll fetch Kit, you find the girls.’ He sets off, racing up
the stairs two at a time. I follow him as far as the first floor. Pepper’s voice booms out of the bathroom along the corridor. I run towards it.

‘How are you doing that without barfing?’ she’s saying as I rush into the room.

Anna is peering into the toilet bowl. Pepper stands over her, a disdainful expression on her face.

‘Hey, Evie,’ Pepper says, glancing over. ‘Anna reckons the plumbing is about to blow up.’

‘I didn’t say that . . .’ Anna looks up, blushing furiously. ‘I just said it was a bit inefficient.’ She catches sight of my anxious face. ‘What’s the
matter?’ she asks.

There’s no time to explain. I have to get out of the building, avoiding Mr Lomax at all costs, and tell Mr Bradley everything I’ve discovered.

‘We’ve been ordered outside.
Now
.’ Without waiting for either girl to react, I turn on my heel and run back downstairs. I grab my boots and attempt to tug them on, but
the laces are stuck in a tight knot, presumably from where I pulled them off yesterday. Swearing loudly, I try to drag the boots on anyway. It’s no good, the knot just tightens. As I fumble
to unpick it, Kit and Josh appear and collect their own footwear. Kit says nothing. I glance along the corridor towards Lomax’s closed office door. Is he inside? Does he know I’m just
out here? As the three of us sit in silence, Pepper strolls into the hall, Anna trotting at her side.

‘Why d’you run off, Evie? Hey, what’s that?’ Pepper asks, pointing to Samuel’s notebook on the seat beside me.

I frown, hoping that if Lomax is in his office he hasn’t heard her say my name.

‘Oh, don’t tell me,’ Pepper says with a loud groan. ‘It’s Loonymax’s latest brilliant idea: he wants us to keep notebooks recording our mental state.
I’ll be writing: “bored and disgusted by toilets” in mine. What’ll you put in yours, Evie?’

I look up, an icy shiver crawling down my spine. If Lomax is here, he will almost certainly have heard that.

Except . . . I shake myself. Lomax isn’t going to try to kill me in front of everyone. I need to focus on getting my boots on and going outside to talk to Mr Bradley.

‘Evie?’ Pepper asks impatiently. ‘What’s up?’

‘I’ll tell you later,’ I whisper, turning back to my laces.

‘OK, woman of mystery.’ Pepper grins.

I concentrate on my boots again. Despite all my efforts, the knot is getting worse.

Kit stands up. ‘I’m going out,’ he says.

‘At least I don’t have to stay in that bathroom,’ Pepper says, peeling off her rubber gloves and sitting down with a theatrical flourish. ‘I don’t think I could
have stood any more of that blocked toilet.’

‘It wasn’t blocked,’ Anna says with a sigh, fetching her boots and sitting beside her. ‘It’s just a really old system.’

Anna ties her bootlaces in a neat bow, then follows Kit outside, while Pepper tugs her own boots on with a sigh. Josh shuffles from foot to foot, impatient as he waits for us. Cursing again, I
redouble my efforts with the knot. Pepper keeps up a steady stream of grumbling chatter beside me, but I hardly hear a word. Thoughts career around my head:

Lomax murdered my mum on this island, then covered it up.

Her ghost was trying to warn me. And so was Samuel. And now he has run away and gone for help because he knows that Lomax is trying to kill
me.

‘Need a hand?’ Josh kneels down and picks expertly at the knot in my lace. It undoes in seconds.

‘Thank you.’

Pepper, whose boots are now also done up, bounces around me on the balls of her toes.

‘Come
on
, Evie,’ she drawls. ‘Before pigging Bradley gives us pigging Quiet Time.’

‘I’m done.’ I stand up and rush outside, struggling to hold the door against the wind. I’m determined to go straight to Mr Bradley and show him the notebook, but to my
horror he’s already halfway across the moorland, Kit jogging at his side. Anna trails in their wake.

‘Oh no,’ I say as Josh and Pepper appear.

‘Are you OK?’ Josh asks.

‘Yes, Evie’s fine.’ Pepper rolls her eyes. ‘And, oh, let me see, um, yes, I’m fine too, except for the stink of toilet cleaner on my hands, thanks for
asking.’

‘I didn’t mean—’ Josh starts.

‘I’m only joking,’ Pepper says. ‘Jeez, you’ve got it bad, man. It’s written all over your face.’

Flushing, Josh turns and hares off after the others.

Pepper and I start running too. What exactly did she mean by that? Underneath my overriding need to speak to Mr Bradley, a secondary set of worries about Kit and Josh is building up. I have to
sort out whatever is going on with both of them. I glance at Pepper, whose long limbs are stretched in a graceful run as she keeps pace beside me. Does she mind that Josh has just asked about me
rather than her?

‘Josh was just a bit worried about me,’ I explain. ‘We found this . . . this note Samuel left. He thinks I’m in danger . . .’

Pepper’s head whips around. ‘Because you’ve been digging up stuff on your birth mum’s death?’

I nod.

Pepper lets out a low whistle. ‘I thought there was more to it.’

‘More to what?’ I ask, feeling confused. The ground beneath our feet is soggy from the rain, but the air smells amazingly fresh. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Just that you’re obviously in a state because Kit and Josh are both totally into you and hate each other’s guts because of it.’

I stop running, so shocked by her words that I forget all about my urgent need to find Mr Bradley. Pepper halts beside me. I look into her deep brown eyes.

‘Do you really think that’s true?’ I gasp.