The Forbidden Atlas by Sam Sedgman

Author:Sam Sedgman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526665454
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2025-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

TWELFTH

La Plage Sombre

T he lake was encircled by a crescent of sand. Hattie led the others around it in single file, making their way towards the lights and music on the other side. The sand widened out as they approached the party, becoming more like an actual beach, which was speckled with people dancing, talking and laughing, disappearing in and out of archways in the rock that looked like doors. A small group sitting by the water shot them a suspicious look as they approached. Hattie clenched her jaw to stop her teeth from chattering. Her clothes were soaked through, and she knew the three of them looked out of place.

‘Act like you belong,’ she muttered, pulling herself up to her full height and marching through one of the archways.

The boys followed her into another cave, where music washed over them, a deep bassline thudding through her ribcage from a DJ playing in the corner beneath a rolling ball of light. Its beams caught in glittering glass sculptures dangling on wires from the ceiling, and on the raised arms of dozens of people dancing.

‘Wow!’ Hattie said, mouth hanging open. ‘What is this place?’

‘Mirage,’ said Leon. ‘I had no idea it was this … it was this.’

Some of the dancers bumped into them and shot them quizzical looks. One laughed and pointed. One asked Hattie a question but she couldn’t hear it. Soon they were surrounded by a cluster of young grown-ups confused and delighted to find three children in the middle of their dance floor.

‘Kids! What are you doing here?’ a young woman shouted in French.

‘We’re looking for someone!’ Hattie replied.

‘Do you know Samira Kateb?’ Leon asked, as Isaac gripped his arms, trying not to shiver.

‘You OK?’ Hattie asked him. He nodded.

‘Find Annie,’ the young woman said to one of her friends, rolling her eyes. ‘They’re English.’

They were corralled through an archway into a corridor in the rock. It was quieter here, lit from the floor by candles that flickered in jars by their ankles. A young woman in combat trousers and a tank top pushed through from a low-ceilinged room where a group were playing cards. She had dyed red hair pulled back into a ponytail and her face was daubed with flashes of glitter. ‘How on earth did you three get here?’ she asked. She sounded American.

‘What, like it’s hard?’ said Hattie.

The woman snorted with laughter. ‘Aren’t you a pill?!’ she said. ‘I’m Annie. I’m stuck babysitting you because my English is good. You said something about Samira?’

‘She’s my sister,’ said Leon urgently. ‘Is she here?’

Annie looked him up and down. ‘Little Leonardo,’ she said, grinning. ‘I’ve heard all about you. Yeah. She’s here somewhere.’

Hattie saw Leon’s face ripple with relief. ‘Thank you,’ he said.

‘We’ll find her after we get your friends sorted out,’ said Annie. She put a hand to Isaac’s chin. ‘Looks like you’ve got a nasty cut. Come on – there’s a first-aid kit in the cinema.’

‘She can’t mean an actual cinema,’ Isaac whispered as they followed Annie down the candlelit corridor and up some stairs.

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