Chapter 7

Later that day, as the Penny Gaff Gang gathered in the gardens before their second trip into Whitby, Hari was reluctant to go.

‘Come on, Hari, stretch your legs! It’ll be fun!’ Erin tugged at Hari’s arm. Lizzie wondered if she meant to drag him all the way to Whitby.

‘I can’t,’ Hari said. ‘I told you, I’ve got chores to do.’

‘But we’re at the seaside!’

‘You could always help me clean out the lion cage if you want. My uncle will gladly give you a shovel.’

Erin sighed and let him go. ‘I don’t know what’s gotten into you lot. Yesterday you couldn’t wait to get down to Whitby. Today you’re like a load of old ladies.’

‘Everyone’s just worn out after rehearsal and last night, probably,’ Lizzie said. ‘The sea air’ll soon freshen us up.’

‘It’s not the sea air that Erin’s looking forward to,’ Nora grinned, giving Lizzie a nudge. Lizzie smiled back, sharing the joke, but still felt awkward around Nora, and felt horrible for feeling awkward.

As the Penny Gaff Gang headed towards the coast road and Whitby, Lizzie looked out towards the sea and wondered what secrets were hiding out there. How could such a bright, sunlit place be so creepy and mysterious after dark? Looking at the sea now, legends of ghost ships and supernatural mists seemed daft.

But she’d seen that green light last night, and the fog bank. Whether they were the work of ghosts or not, they were real. Lizzie struggled to think of another explanation. An ordinary ship might shine a light, but a green one?

Maybe she should ask the Maharaja if she could watch from one of the castle’s towers and get a better view. She looked over her shoulder back towards Dunsley Castle, and to her surprise saw a dark-skinned figure hurrying away from the grounds.

Whoever it was, he was heading for the moors.

She squinted. Was that Hari? Why would Hari lie about needing to stay behind at the circus? Lizzie puzzled over that for a while. Perhaps he just needed to spend some time alone. After all, there wasn’t much privacy to be had when you were part of a circus. Hari didn’t have his own trailer like Lizzie did.

Besides, she thought, as she saw Johnson the gardener digging in his flowerbeds, there were plenty of people here that Hari probably wanted to stay away from.

Johnson raised his ugly head as they approached. ‘Mind you stay away from these rosebeds!’ he shouted. ‘Prize-winners, they are. Not that the likes of you would care.’

‘We’re not going anywhere near your flowers!’ Lizzie shouted back angrily. It was true, obviously so. They weren’t even heading in that direction.

Erin stuck out her jaw and gave Johnson a poisonous glare. Lizzie thought she might go and jump right in the middle of the flowerbeds, just to give old Johnson a heart attack. But Erin respected Fitzy, and Fitzy had promised they’d respect the gardens.

‘We’re going to the harbour,’ Erin said, turning her back on him.

‘Is that so?’ Johnson snarled. ‘You’d best be back before dark. Else you might be spirited away like the others before you.’

Lizzie felt Malachy’s arm leading her off. ‘Just walk away,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s the best thing to do, always.’

Lizzie went with him. ‘Sorry, Mal. These threats … it just makes me so angry.’

Everywhere the circus went, they met distrust and suspicion. Lizzie hated it. Nobody in her life had been kinder to her than the people of Fitzy’s Circus. Nobody deserved this treatment less than they did.

Lizzie stayed in a black mood for the duration of the walk to Whitby. The sun, close to noon, was fierce and had no clouds to give any relief. The road, which must have been muddy not long ago, was baked to a dusty crisp.

She lagged behind the others and kicked loose stones off into the shrubbery. If it hadn’t been for the lure of the sea, she’d have turned around and gone back to tell Johnson exactly what she thought of him. But she did want to swim again, even if it meant wading in in her clothes like yesterday. She’d never need to be afraid of the water again if only she could learn how to swim.

The welcome sight of the sea shimmering in the distance blew Lizzie’s bad mood away like so much smoke. She couldn’t stay in a sulk with all that beautiful water out there. Already it seemed less threatening than it had before.

‘Hari is not here,’ Dru said, noticing her smile. ‘Perhaps you will let me be your swimming teacher today?’

‘I think I’ll be fine on my own,’ Lizzie said, feeling awkward. After their dance on the lawn, a swimming lesson would just be too much. Besides, she didn’t want him to help her. She’d show him what a fast learner she was.

Soon they were hurrying down the zigzag steps and onto the beach. A lovely great stripe of glistening sand lay before them, unspoiled by footprints. Gulls strutted back and forth on the cliff above, waiting for some dropped morsel.

Lizzie took her shoes and socks off, wishing she had a proper bathing suit and wondering how much they cost. The sand squished beneath her feet delightfully. She was glad to see fewer people were here this time. They had this whole stretch of beach to themselves.

Well, almost. Someone was sitting on a wooden breakwater with his back to them, his arm around a young blonde woman. Lizzie recognized his stripy jacket at once.

‘Isn’t that Billy? That bloke who did the pea and shell game?’

‘It is too!’ Malachy said, with a mixed chuckle and snort.

‘Doesn’t look like him to me.’ Erin sniffed and turned away. ‘Are we going swimming or aren’t we?’

But Lizzie was still watching. Billy – it was definitely him – turned to give the blonde woman a kiss. Lizzie gasped and ran to Erin’s side. ‘He’s got a girl. Billy’s kissing someone! Here, Erin, your beau’s been snapped up.’

Erin shrugged, pretending not to care. ‘So? He was too old for me anyway.’

‘Of course he was,’ Malachy said, suddenly sounding more cheerful. ‘Good job you didn’t talk my dad into taking him on. Imagine if you had.’

‘You sure you’re OK?’ Nora asked her sister. She touched her arm, but Erin swatted it away.

‘I said I was fine!’ she said a little snappily.

‘Never mind, Erin,’ Lizzie said. With a wicked grin, she bent over and scooped up a starfish that was lying in a rock pool at her feet. ‘There’s plenty more fish in the sea!’

She threw the starfish to Erin, who caught it without realizing what it was. As it wriggled in her hands, she let out a shriek and dropped it. ‘Oh, you little devil! I’ll flatten you!’

‘Got to catch me first,’ Lizzie laughed. She raced into the sea, knowing full well that Erin wouldn’t follow her until she’d changed into her bathing costume. Lizzie stood with the sea foaming around her shins, sticking her tongue out, while Erin fumed and flapped and finally started laughing too.

Billy and his girl had quietly slipped away. Good, Lizzie thought. I don’t care what Erin says. She doesn’t need to see you two canoodling in front of her.

She felt a little odd, though, standing in the sea all by herself, so she wandered up and down the beach while Erin and Nora changed into their bathing costumes.

A gleam caught her eye. She bent down and saw it was half an oyster shell, rough on one side but pearly and smooth on the other. It might not be jet, she thought, but it’s pretty. If you cut and shaped the pearly bit, it could make a lovely bracelet – the sort of thing a mermaid might wear.

Encouraged, she hunted for more shells and found the beach was rich with them. Her pockets were soon bulging with shells, not just from oysters but scallops and periwinkles too. There’d be enough for matching bracelets for both Erin and Nora.

‘What are you up to?’ Nora was suddenly by her side, along with the rest of the gang.

Lizzie stood up straight. ‘Just beachcombing,’ she said secretively.

‘Coming for a swim?’ Nora duck-dived, her feet kicking up behind her, and swam under the surface. Lizzie watched her bob up again, further out to sea, gasping and triumphant. ‘It’s lovely once you’re under!’ she called.

‘Right, then,’ Lizzie muttered to herself. ‘I did it yesterday, I can do it today.’ She sloshed away from the shore, gradually submerging herself. Malachy and Dru waved and cheered, egging her on.

Lizzie was up to her neck now. She took a deep breath and ducked her whole head under, thinking, If I do it on purpose, it won’t be so bad. Everything sounded funny underwater. All she could hear were sloshes and gurgles. Quickly, before she panicked, she burst up to the surface again.

‘You’re getting the hang of this,’ Malachy said, clearly impressed. ‘Wish Hari was here to see it.’

Dru did a lazy backstroke for a few yards. ‘She was swimming yesterday,’ he called. ‘Not just wading. Perhaps today, she does not feel up to it.’

His teasing spurred Lizzie on. She lifted her feet from the sea bed and dog-paddled for all she was worth, swimming past the group of her friends and close to where Dru was splashing. She wondered if he was impressed, but she couldn’t tell. All her effort went into propelling herself forward.

The water below her swirled and rushed past, pulling her further out to sea. I can handle this, she thought. I’m properly swimming. If only Hari could see me now!

There were no other swimmers in sight now, and the only thing Lizzie could see out this far were boats. She decided it was time to stop. The undertow had pulled her out a lot farther than she’d meant to come. She put her feet down, expecting to find the sandy sea bed. Her feet went down … and down. As if she’d missed a step going downstairs, they plunged into nothing.

I’ve gone too far out, she thought in sudden terror. The water’s deep here. She floundered, gasping, only just managing to keep her head above water. Remember what Hari showed you, she thought. Tread the water, circle your arms, try not to panic.

But right then a bright crescent of pain split her head in two as if an axe had struck her. Not a cramp but a vision, forcing itself behind her eyes at the worst possible time.

‘No!’ she gasped as she tried to shut it out. But there was no fighting the vision. It overwhelmed her mind, an image like a macabre illustration from a book of ghost stories.

It was a ship of some kind, with a single mast, looming out of a thick white mist. A sickly green light blazed from the prow, casting eerie shadows across the dark waves. Dimly visible through the mist was a figure – the pilot of this strange vessel.

Lizzie didn’t want to look, but her mind’s eye swept closer anyway. The figure was wearing a ragged robe, like a hooded spectre from a stage play. It raised its arms, and from the depths of its black hood Lizzie saw two gleaming lights like eyes.

It was real. A ghost ship, captained by Death himself.

Lizzie opened her mouth to scream, and the ocean flooded in. Salt water choked her. Struggling, her strength fading with every second, she sank beneath the water’s surface.

The shadow on the ghost ship, still visible in her mind, reached its tattered arms out to grasp her…