I Want to be Me Read online

  ‘Can you meet me after school on Wednesday? I have an idea, but I need to think about it.’

  ‘Sure.’ Claudia was immediately intrigued at what Julia might have in mind. ‘Same place, same time?’

  ‘Just don’t look for a schoolgirl!’ Julia laughed.

  As the shadows deepened on the meadow, people started to leave, exhausted after a performance and then a practice. Elfie came over to Claudia’s window group. He was looking quite tired, but there was always a bluff cheeriness about him. He was one of those people who would much rather smile than not.

  ‘Home we go, young Claudia,’ he called out. ‘Which way? It’s getting a little late. Over the bridge to Aristotle Lane?’

  ‘Yes, that’s fine.’

  ‘Good enough. Don’t forget to bring that flute of yours.’

  They walked along the riverbank before turning to cross the meadow.

  ‘We won the first battle, young Claudia. I’m really happy with the way things went, but I have a feeling we won’t be so lucky next Sunday. All we can do is to make a real fight of it.’

  ‘Are you still angry with Elaine and Ferdinand?’ Claudia asked.

  ‘I was never angry with Elaine or Ferdinand,’ Elfie replied. ‘It was my fault. I was in charge and had I been paying more attention I would have stopped those silly violins from giving Elaine a hard time. The fact is, I – we – wanted her to be the way that she was. We needed that. Those silly violins behaved badly, and in the end Ferdinand had no choice. He knew he’d done the wrong thing!’

  ‘Oh, I didn’t understand, so you actually support Elaine?’

  ‘Of course, of course! I wrote her a note, begged her to come back. Didn’t reply – don’t blame her!’

  Elfie puffed a little as they neared the bridge. It had been an exhausting day for him.

  ‘Well, next week is our last, Claudia, one way or the other. I just wanted to say – you’ve done so well, and I’m pleased to say you really are our Claudia Flute.’

  ‘I can’t believe I’m even in the orchestra.’

  ‘Just remember, stick to your guns – be yourself when you play that flute. Well, all on to the final! See you next Saturday.’

  They had crossed the bridge and now waved goodbye. Claudia was thoughtful as she walked the remaining distance home. She was now completely caught up in the competition, and in everything that was going on around it.

  After dinner, she went up to her room and stretched out on her bed to relax. It had been a very demanding day, and she was still recovering from all the attention that she’d received. She looked across at the picture of Aragorn. It certainly wasn’t Ferdinand, she thought. Maybe it was Finn – or perhaps even Antonio from Spoleto? She got up from her bed and went to the mirror.

  ‘Where ever did you find that sound today, Claudia Flute?’ she asked herself.

  Today I saw him fly

  High, high up there

  He touched the clouds

  And so did I.

  Claudia. MySpace.

  9

  Game On!

  Claudia was ready for exam week. She had managed to revise her subjects, in spite of all the drama of Port Meadow. She tried to ignore the chaos in the corridors, the girls who wanted a last-second swot and the panic that broke out when someone realised they didn’t have a pen or a calculator or ruler, or something.

  However, as she sat at her desk for the English exam, Claudia’s mind began to wander back to Port Meadow. She thought especially of her meeting on Wednesday with Julia, and wondered just what Julia had in mind. She had been quite mysterious about it. Then there was the request by Helen Brown to see Finn. That was tomorrow. Claudia admired Finn. He was always ready to help. Claudia wondered just how much Julia liked him. Finn was always ready to help out. She just knew Julia was getting closer to Finn. Suddenly she was startled by a head appearing over her shoulder.

  ‘Claudia!’ It was Ms Travers, the exam supervisor. ‘Everyone’s been writing for some minutes now. Have you been daydreaming?’ Claudia grabbed at her pen, in something of a panic.

  ‘Thanks, Ms Travers.’ She liked Ms Travers, a new young French teacher. She wouldn’t need a second reminder and set about writing her English exam immediately. After school she had a brief chat with Louise, who thought that she’d done quite well in English. Claudia told her she hoped that she got an excellent result, but that she herself had probably not done so well in English. She was hoping for a better result in maths tomorrow.

  The following day, about the same time as Claudia was sitting the maths exam, the affairs of Old College and the Port Meadow competition were about to take a dramatic turn.

  On Tuesday, Finn walked through the gates of Old College to meet up with Helen as he had promised. Fortunately, the porter didn’t recognise him from his previous visit. Finn had taken the precaution of dressing quite differently and today he wore a straw hat and dark glasses, and of course he had brought his violin along, just as Helen had asked him to do. He eventually found Helen’s room and knocked on the door. Helen showed him into her room.

  ‘I’m glad you’ve come, Finn,’ she said. ‘Congratulations on your award. I thought you played extremely well.’ He noticed that Helen appeared to be nervous. She was moving around uneasily, as if there was something worrying her. What was going on? Helen went over to the window, looked out, and then came back to her desk. She motioned to a chair, and Finn sat down opposite her, with his violin across his knees.

  ‘I don’t know how to say this, but I’ll try – your orchestra simply must win this final. I’m not sure that you can, but I do know that, if it’s at all possible, you must win. Do you know why?’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ Finn replied. He knew that Old College was under threat, and that Helen stood to lose everything.

  Helen walked over to her window again and stared down into the square below. This was a difficult thing for her. She didn’t want to hurt Finn’s feelings under any circumstances. She came back to her desk again. ‘You see, Finn,’ she continued, ‘good as you are – and believe me when I say it, you are very good – I think that in the circumstances you need something extra.’

  ‘Why do I need something extra?’ Finn asked. He had no idea at all what Helen was talking about.

  ‘Please keep this confidential. Rightly or wrongly, and probably wrongly, Dr Sloan brought in a new talent just to win this competition. Bringing someone in is fine, but lying about his age, which I suspect he has done, in my book, is quite wrong.’

  ‘You’re talking about Chin Li, of course.’

  ‘A rare talent, and I must say a nice young man as well.’ Helen moved around from behind her desk, picked up his violin case and put it on her desk. She then took out Finn’s violin. She looked at carefully, and even tried a few notes on it.

  ‘I wanted to make sure that you weren’t going into this final with an inferior instrument – a built-in disadvantage.’ She moved back to her desk.

  ‘Come over here, Finn, and look at this.’ Helen uncovered the violin that had been sitting on her desk. ‘This violin has a rare sound. It’s a Strad, or a Stradivarius to be exact.’

  Finn gasped. Of course he knew about the Stradivarius. All violinists did. He didn’t think he’d actually ever see one, until the other day. It was beautiful. Could it be the same one?

  ‘It has a different sound – a bell-like sound.’ Helen continued ‘This violin can make the difference between a good performance and an outstanding one.’ Finn put the violin back on the desk. Helen, who had been holding Finn’s violin, put it down on the desk, exactly next to the Stradivarius. Helen suddenly looked sharply in the direction of the door. She had a worried look on her face.

  ‘I think someone’s listening at the door!’ she said. ‘Finn, would you mind having a look for me?’

  Finn, ever the knight in shining armour, sprang into act
ion, rushed to the door and pulled it open. There was no one there. Meanwhile, in a fraction of a second, Helen switched the violins.

  ‘You see what’s happening to me? I’m jumping at the slightest thing!’ Helen looked at her watch. ‘And now I’m late for another appointment!’ She ushered Finn to the desk; he picked up his violin from where he’d left it, put it into his violin case and in the blink of an eye he was being pushed out of the door. ‘Now just remember, Finn, every mistake should be fixed as soon as possible. Will you remember that?’

  Before he knew it, he was in the corridor and on his way out of the college.

  ‘What was that all about? It was hardly worth the trouble!’ Finn grumbled as he made his way home.

  Back in her office, Helen was smiling at her successful little enterprise.

  ‘Oh dear!’ she said to herself as she picked up the violin on her desk. ‘I’ve made a terrible mistake. I’ve mixed up the Stradivarius with Finn’s violin. He’s got the Strad!’

  Helen grabbed a notepad. ‘Memo – Stradivarius given to Finn by mistake. Exchange on Sunday.’ She signed and dated the memo.

  ‘That should cover it,’ she thought, as she put Finn’s violin under her desk. Much later, back in his room and after recovering from the shock of finding a Stradivarius in his violin case, Finn began to play it just to see what it was like. It was wonderful! Did Helen mean him to have it for Sunday? Of course! Maybe? In any case, he would return it to Helen after the concert on Sunday. He was quite sure that Stradivarius wouldn’t mind it being used in a good cause.

  Helen Brown sank into her most comfortable armchair. She was quite certain that all was not well at the college. She was curious about the second chamber in the underground tunnel. Julia and Claudia had only been there for a few minutes and would have seen very little, especially if it was as large as they said it was. She had quite a good idea of what was in the first chamber, and that is where she got the Stradivarius. As college librarian and archivist, she had every right to know what was down there. But for how long would she be college archivist?

  She angrily threw a book into the chair opposite. She looked around the room. The walls were covered with books and files, and she thought of the years and years of hard work that she had put in for the good of the college. Now there was this conspiracy against her. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.

  Helen couldn’t sit still. She got up and walked over to her favourite window, an old lead light window with coloured glass that looked out on the square. She opened a window and wiped a little dust off one of the glass flowers. She looked over to the far corner of the square, where she saw three figures come out of the great door. It was the master, Jenkins and a smartly dressed man, tall, large and wearing dark glasses, that she had never seen before. They appeared to be having a heated conversation. What was this all about? Who was this strange person? Then, from the other side of the square, Dr Sloan emerged. He began what appeared to be a strange dance, bowing and almost curtsying his way across the square, all the time smiling that horrid syrupy smile. The four talked for a while, with the master pointing at this building and that, and each time Jenkins nodding in agreement. At one point Sloan pointed up to her window. The men nodded. Why was he pointing that out to the master she wondered?

  Helen drew back into her room. She was now quite decided. It was time to find out everything. It was time to act. She would start with those underground rooms. She would see for herself.

  When Helen went into the porter’s room, the porter barely noticed her. It was Jack on this occasion. He was the second porter and was devoted to crossword puzzles.

  ‘Keys, Jack!’ she said rather briskly.

  ‘Morning, Dr Brown – usual place,’ Jack muttered, barely lifting his head. Helen grabbed the keyring and was quickly gone. She went around to the clock tower, and then down by the usual route to the tunnel, which was deserted. She knew the way quite well but had always gone to the vault on the right and had never been to the end of the tunnel.

  She was most impressed by the old, imposing door. It was bigger than she thought it would be. It was at least eight feet high and five feet wide, and the wood was clearly ancient, dark and gnarled. Julia had told her where to find the key and she was soon pushing the old vault door open. On Julia’s advice she had brought two or three extra candles and a large torch.

  It was pitch-dark inside, and Helen found that the torchlight created an eerie effect as it fell on this marble head, that golden box or that statue. She gasped in surprise and took a step backwards. Then she moved inside, found the candles on the table and began lighting them and placing them around the room, quite well apart so that they provided the best light. It was a flickering light that cast shadows everywhere, but as her eyes became used to it she began to see what an extraordinary collection there was in this room.

  She began to take stock. The vault was, as Julia suggested, larger than the first vault. She began to walk around the room, and Helen noticed that there were many things here that the girls had not seen. Apart from the statues, masks and instruments, there was a large number of oil paintings. These were of people, famous people, scenes and musical events, and it was obvious to Helen that they were painted by different artists. Her torch went around the vault, picking out one thing after another.

  The torchlight fell on a huge wall hanging. It was a most beautiful tapestry of a country scene, with a large doorway or gate leading into a field where people were dancing and musicians were playing. This tapestry intrigued her. It invited her to come closer. Her hand went out and touched the tapestry. It had a wonderful silky feel to it. Then, as her hand pressed the tapestry, it gave way. Helen pressed harder and the tapestry simply went further in. What was this? Ever curious, Helen pulled the edge of the tapestry out. She drew a sharp breath. It was a doorway! No door, but nevertheless a doorway!

  Helen decided to go in. She stepped back to get one of the candles, then pulled the tapestry aside and stepped through the door. To her total amazement, it was another huge room. As her torchlight searched the walls and ceilings she could see it was a much larger room than the one behind her. It had much higher ceilings. Her torch shone down the middle of the room and she moved the light from side to side. There was a row of large objects, some rectangular and some oblong, that were covered with dusty covers. What was here had clearly not been touched for a long, long time. Helen felt a shiver go down her spine. What were they? She pulled the cover of the first and closest object. A cloud of dust went up and she sneezed. It was an old piano, with a painted country scene on a timber board across the top. Helen had seen something like this in Germany and she knew immediately that it was rare and valuable.

  She went from one to the other; there were seven in all, and they were all different: all old pianos, some made up of beautiful timber. She was astonished. She moved around the room going from one wall to the next. Along the next wall was a collection of very old wind instruments, horns, flutes and tubas of various kinds. Some were in glass cases, with cards describing exactly what they were.

  Along another wall there was a collection of stringed instruments, violins, violas and the like, all from old times. The wood in some seemed very old indeed. They also had handwritten cards attached to them describing what they were and giving the date as well. Helen fumbled in her bag for a pen, and then took the trouble to write down in her notebook, what was on some of the cards. This might prove useful later she thought. Then there were statues – carved in marble. It was an astonishing sight!

  Helen eventually moved back through the secret doorway into the first vault, and then made her way back towards the corridor. What a fantastic collection this was! It was an underground complex that was actually a museum. This explained a lot. No wonder the master and Jenkins thought that they had something to sell! But did they know about the secret room behind the tapestry? Probably not! Her footprints in the dust on the floor of that
room were the first footprints for a long, long time.

  Now she had something up her sleeve, something big. As she moved towards the vault door she heard a strange sound. It was rather like footsteps, but a slightly scraping sound as well. She froze on the spot. She quickly put out the candles, then when the noise had stopped for quite a few minutes she moved slowly towards the door, feeling her way carefully. She peered through the door. There was no one there, but it felt like there was. She just wanted to leave now, and to get some fresh air and light.

  Finally, Helen emerged from the clock tower, relieved to have that experience behind her. As she walked across to the porters room, she thought about how such a secret could be kept for so long. Jack was still there, still doing crossword puzzles.

  ‘The keys are back!’ Helen said, trying to be cheerful.

  ‘Fine, Dr Brown.’ Jack didn’t raise his head from the crossword.

  ‘Jack,’ Helen asked, ‘who was the head porter before Old Herbert?’ Jack put his pencil down.

  ‘Well, now that is going back a long way. Let me think, that would have to have been Wee Robbie. Now, he did the job for at least 30 years before Old Herbert. He served the previous two masters. They were the good old days – not like now,’ he mumbled. Helen remembered reading about Wee Robbie in an old college magazine. He was a giant Scot, apparently, who was rather fond, or over-fond of his malt whisky.

  Helen wanted to know more. ‘Did he look after the tunnel under the clock tower?’

  ‘Did he what?’ Jack exclaimed. ‘No one could get the key off him, even to the iron door, without a written note from the old master!’

  ‘A bit strange, don’t you think?’ Helen asked. Jack really wanted to get back to his crossword.

  ‘I suppose so, now you ask,’ Jack replied, ‘except…’

  ‘Except what?’

  ‘Except everyone knew that was where the old master kept his best wine. He only trusted Wee Robbie with the key. Why he would ever trust Wee Robbie with the key to a wine cellar I don’t know!’