Free Poppy's Garden by Holly Webb

announcement later on. The one thing she did really want to see was Sophia’s portrait – she was sure it would look very different full-size instead of as a little photo on Mum’s laptop.
    “Oh, look,” she whispered as they walked into one of the smaller drawing rooms, its walls paperedin a green, leafy pattern. “That’s her!” She walked forward, hardly noticing the others around her. She’d almost expected to be disappointed, after thinking so much about Sophia and turning her into a ghost. Let alone that strange dream. But seeing the painting, she felt as though she knew Sophia, almost as well as she knew her best friends.
    “Wow, she looks like you,” Izzy whispered.
    “Does she?” Poppy asked, surprised.
    “Mmm. Izzy’s right,” Emily agreed. “Just give her some blue and green streaks and put her in a floaty sort of skirt and she’d look
exactly
like you.”
    Poppy went a little closer and lifted her hand, wishing she could stroke the surface of the painting – she was almost sure she’d be able to feel the stiff silk of Sophia’s dress or the warmth of her hand. But the guide was watching and she didn’t dare.
    Oddly enough, now that she saw the real painting, Sophia was smiling. Just a little. Her face was sad, but if you caught the portrait in the right light, there was a funny little quirk at the corner of her mouth.
    Poppy smiled back. It was going to work. Everything was going to be all right. Everything.
    “We should do it here,” she whispered to the others, glancing round and seeing Ali staring worriedly atthe painting. Poppy smiled at her, a tiny smile like Sophia’s, and Ali’s eyes widened.
    “Not wait until we’re by the lake?” Izzy asked.
    “No. She isn’t going to go down to the lake, not if she’s got any sense, not after the story we told. Is she?”
    Emily scowled. “We should have thought of that.”
    Poppy shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. It’ll be easier inside anyway. Once we split up, I bet they’ll stay in the house.”
    Poppy was right. Most of the group spilled outside as soon as the tour was over, desperate to go running across the lawns and explore the lakeside. Mr Finlay had given them all dire warnings about staying in groups and being back at the right time, but as they were the older ones they could explore without the teachers. Ali and Lucy and Elspeth gathered in a little huddle by the main hallway, obviously trying to work out where to go, and Poppy and the others sat outside, watching through the big windows, trying to work out when it was safe to dart back in and follow them.
    “Oh, they’re going back up the stairs!” Maya jumped up and they all hurried back into the hallway. “I think they’re going back to that little room withthe painting! Ali saw you staring at it. She probably wants to look at it again and see if she can find out who it is.”
    Poppy nodded. Then she caught her breath excitedly, her eyes sparkling. “We can go the other way up the staircase and get there first. I bet we can. They think that painting’s the Green Lady, so let’s prove it!” She raced up the stairs, which divided halfway up to lead to the different sides of the house. The little green room was almost in the middle, its windows looking out on to the lake at the back of the house.
    They hurried through the rooms, slowing down to a polite walk every time they saw other visitors – the house was very busy with school groups, all there for the competition later on.
    “They aren’t here yet,” Poppy said with a gasp of relief as they darted into Sophia’s room. She yanked the gauzy scarf out of her bag, shaking it out so the folds shimmered and floated in the dusty air.
    Izzy shivered. “If I were Ali, I’d think that was a ghost,” she said. “And it feels like that painting’s watching.”
    Poppy nodded. “I know.” She hopped up on to the chair just beside the door, a wooden one for the guideto sit on. She just hoped no one else came