Lake Ephemeral Part 1 by Anya Allyn

Author:Anya Allyn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sci fi, teenage, thriller, Australian, carnivorous plants
Publisher: Anya Allyn
Published: 2015-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

4.

The next day dawned even hotter than the one before it.

I opened the white plantation shutters and curtains and gazed at the gleaming lake. I remembered the aviary that Amethyst’s mother had mentioned. What would a butterfly aviary even look like? I tried to spot it but all I saw everywhere was a tangle of green.

A jingle of plates and cutlery sounded behind me. I turned to see Miss Fern bringing in a tray of breakfast—hot pancakes, fresh fruit and orange juice. The cats pushed in around her.

Miss Fern set the tray down on my bedside table. “Did you enjoy meeting the children last night?”

“Yes,” I lied.

She put the cutlery beside the pancakes. “Glad to hear it. Well, I’ve got a load of laundry and lots of dusting to do today. Better go get started.” She patted my shoulder, then frowned as she spotted the cats. “Get out of here, Tweedle and Twoddle. I know you’ve got your greedy eyes on Seraphin’s pancakes.”

“Miss Fern, can you take me to see the butterfly aviary today?”

She waved a hand loosely. “You can just head off by yourself. It’s on the other side of the lake.”

“I can just go? By myself?” It seemed a wild jungle out there. Where bigger cats than Tweedle and Twoddle could roam. Lions even. At Newberry, I’d had an adult supervising me at all times—even for trips to the tiny playground at the end of the street.

Smiling, she nodded. “This isn’t like other places. You’re free to go wherever you wish—the other manors included. Malachite’s always dropping in here for a piece of my blueberry pie. Just stay well away from the seventh manor—as Mrs Ashcroft said. It isn’t safe at all.” She tickled Twoddle beneath his thick, furry chin. “Just come back when you hear the bell. That’s school time for the kids of the lake.”

“School already? But I don’t have a uniform, or a bag.”

“Oh, you don’t need anything. Just turn up. The school runs from Monday to Wednesday.”

I tried to hide a twinge of disappointment. I hated school and sitting at a desk all day. Even worse, I already didn’t like one of my teachers—Amethyst’s mother.

Miss Fern shooed the cats towards the door and left the room.

After all the food at the dinner last night, I wasn’t very hungry, and I was dying to see the aviary. I ate two of the pancakes and drank the juice, then carefully took the tray downstairs.

Miss Fern was petting the cats in a sunny spot in the kitchen. “Bless you,” she said as I put the tray down on the bench. “You’re a good girl, Seraphin.”

“I’m off to the aviary now.” I gave her a wide smile.

“Just remember to come on back when you hear the bell. I can’t tell you for the life of me what time that’ll be. Mrs Ashcroft rings it whenever she’s good and ready.”

I couldn’t imagine a school where the bell didn’t ring at exactly the same time every morning. Nodding excitedly at Miss Fern, I opened the heavy, glass-panelled door that led from the kitchen to the outside.

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