Friday, January 11, 2013
Farewell Fiction Friday (for now)
Okay, well I know I went back on my word last time, but this really will be the last chapter for now. By my estimate, I've posted about a quarter of the book, which I think is a pretty good amount. But I've reached a point where I've got some tweaks and changes to make in the narrative before any more of this sees the light of day. Hope you understand.
I'll be back soon, with some nonfiction for a change. I imagine for some of you, that will be refreshing.
Thanks for reading:
(Previous chapter)
Chapter 8
A Little Giant Clue
Ben didn't dream about the missing girl that night—or if he
did, he didn't remember doing it. Instead, he dreamt that he was in the
library's rare book room, holding the metal-bound edition of the Steel Sterling
mystery he'd seen the day before. He was trying to put it back on the shelf,
but it was too heavy. Finally, he heaved it on the shelf with a bang.
Immediately, alarms started buzzing, both from speakers on the walls and from
his leg. He looked down: A clock was strapped to his ankle and it was flashing.
The heavy door to the main library swung shut, trapping him in the vault.
Lights started flashing. A voice boomed over a loudspeaker. It said "Benjamin Bridge
Ben jolted awake at this, but the
alarm was still buzzing in his ears. For a second, Ben didn't know where he
was. The room was dark, just a very faint light filtering in from the window.
Then Ben saw his Gamehound on the desk, its screen flashing the time: 5:50 .
Ben crawled out of bed and snapped
the lid of the Gamehound shut. Instantly the buzzing stopped. An alarm clock
was one of the many useful programs Oz had loaded into his game unit, but at
this hour of the morning, Ben didn't feel at all like thanking his roommate for
it. He looked over with envy at Oz, who was snoring contentedly away on his
bed.
Rubbing his eyes, Ben stumbled around
the room, pulling on clothes, then shoes, as he found them. In a moment, he was
out in the hall, giving the door a satisfying slam as he did. Why should I be
the only one awake? He thought.
The sun was coming up through a haze
of clouds as Ben stepped out the door and started across the quad. It was cool
out and everywhere, thin tendrils of mist floated inches above the ground. Ben
strode across the grass and almost immediately wished he hadn't—early morning
dew was soaking through the tops of his sneakers. Then he heard it: A slow
measured beeping sound, different from the one in his dreams. He looked down
and lifted his pant leg: The ankle monitor was showing a yellow light and
giving off those measured warning tones. Ben felt his pulse rise and looked
guiltily around, as though expecting police to come bursting out of the
buildings and surround him.
He shook his head. Zoltan had said
something the night before about the bracelets going out of curfew mode at,
what? Seven? Obviously, the school's resident security and computer expert had
not factored in Ben's job.
Ben didn't know how long he had
before the ankle bracelet shifted out of warning mode to full-on
send-in-the-SWAT-team mode, but there was only one thing he could think to do:
Find the adult he was supposed to report to, then get up to the main building
to get them to call in a false alarm, or whatever it was they were supposed to
do. He squelched miserably along until he came to the gravel road that led from
behind the main building. He followed it down the hill until he saw the building
he was looking for: a red brick shed standing bright in the mist.
He went to the battered wooden door
on one side and knocked. No answer. He tried to peer through the cracked
window, but it had been papered over. He knocked again. Nothing, no sound.
Well, except for the steady beeping from the monitor. It was distracting and
worrisome.
Sighing hugely, Ben walked around the
building. On the other side, he found a metal garage door, raised up just a
couple of feet. He crouched down and peered in. "Hello?" he called.
Hearing no response, Ben checked his
watch. It was already past 6. Ben scooted under the door and stood up.
The garage was almost pitch black,
but the smell of the place made him relax instantly. He had been expecting the
smell of garbage (the truck was certainly giving off plenty of that funky
odor), but in here he caught only the smell of dust and oil. It reminded him of
his Grandpa's workshop.
After a moment, his eyes adjusted to
the dim surroundings and Ben realized there was some light in here, off in a
corner. He headed that way and immediately wished he hadn't. His foot collided
with something low and unyielding on the floor and Ben fell forward, landing on
a pile of what sounded—and felt—like old metal and glass, judging from the massive
crash and tinkle that followed.
"Hey now! Hey now! Who's
sneaking around in here?" a voice shouted.
A moment later, several large
fluorescent lights flickered to life and Ben found himself sprawled
uncomfortably on a pile of green copper pipes. Nearby, an old mason jar—not
broken, thank goodness—rolled on the floor, nuts and bolts cascading out of it
and rattling on the cement surface of the garage. A shadow fell over Ben and he
looked up.
Reynard looked much taller than he
actually was as he stood over Ben. His sun-weathered face was contorted into a
grimace of annoyance.
"Sorry, sorry," Ben said,
trying to get to his feet. The little giant continued to glare at him, saying
nothing. Nervously, Ben extended his hand.
"I'm, uh, I'm Ben. Ben Bridge
The man looked down at Ben's hand,
but didn't move to take it. "What is that? You bring your alarm clock with
you?" Ben lifted his pant leg and showed him the blinking bracelet. At
that exact moment, the yellow light on the monitor box shifted to red and slow
beeping tone sped up.
"It went off as soon as I
stepped out of Doyle," he started, then stopped, all his words drying up
under the man's harsh gaze.
Reynard glowered at Ben for a moment
longer, then said, "You're late."
"Sorry. I did
try—"
"Door's locked. Key's long gone.
Garage is the only way in. And you're wrong."
Ben stood stupidly, his hand still
held out. "Sorry?" he said again.
"It's not 'Mr. Reynard,'"
he sneered, turning away. "Just 'Reynard' will do."
"Oh," Ben said. "Is-is
that your first name? Or-?"
"I'll tell you when I know you
better."
Reynard picked up a wooden crate and
heaved it onto a work bench near the door. He began piling things into it—a
giant roll of plastic trash bags, a metal brush, other odds and ends. He seemed
to be ignoring Ben completely. Ben put his hand down. The incessant beeping was
very loud in the enclosed space.
"Well?" Reynard said, still
piling things into his crate. "You going to pick up the mess you made of
my scrap pile? Don't expect me to clean it up for you."
Ben almost said "sorry"
again, but instead decided it was smarter to shut up. He bent down and began
pulling the various copper pipes back together, although he had no idea how
tidy the pile had been before. In the end, he just stacked them as best he
could. As he did this, he had a furtive look around.
The brick shed seemed much bigger on
the inside than it did on the outside. The garage bay was cavernous, big enough
to accommodate the dump truck. Or it would have been, if it wasn't filled with
junk. The copper pipes appeared to be just one of a whole family of scrap
piles, some of brass fittings and doorknobs, some of lumber. Several tables
stood all around the walls, each one covered with odds and ends: old radios and
telephones, broken cameras, rows of cracked cups and china.
The walls were lined with shovels,
rakes, and, was that a horse bridle hanging there? Yes, it was, right next to
what looked like a bullwhip straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. Ben craned
his neck behind him and saw that another small wooden door led to a cramped
office full of old wooden filing cabinets and a sprung metal chair.
Ben began collecting the nuts and
bolts off the floor, when he spotted something dangling from the nearest table:
an enormous horseshoe magnet. Ben grabbed it.
"Hey now! Did I say you could
touch my lucky magnet?"
Reynard had spoken so sharply, Ben
jumped, dropping the magnet. Immediately, several nuts and bolts on the floor
attached itself to it.
"Not even here five minutes and
he's stealing my stuff!" the man muttered to himself.
"I'm not stealing it. I just
thought I'd pick up the—"
"Not without asking, you
don't!" Reynard said. He had packed his crate and was now turning to give
Ben his full attention.
"Okay," Ben said. "May
I please use your magnet?"
Reynard shook his head. "Nope.
Get those nuts and bolts off it and hang it back up. Right-side up too. Or all
the luck will run out!"
Ben almost laughed at this, but one
look at the little giant's face and he stifled the laugh.
"Use the small round magnet,
there on the table," Reynard said. Ben hung the horseshoe magnet carefully
in its place, then picked up the heavy disc on the tabletop. It was smaller,
but just as strong as the horseshoe and Ben made short work of gathering up the
nuts and bolts and putting them back in the jar. The magnet's owner watched
him.
"How come someone smart enough
to use a magnet to pick up screws is dumb enough to get in trouble with the
law?" he asked gruffly.
"I dunno," Ben said.
"It was a stupid mistake. I'm not a thief."
"Not what the papers said,"
Reynard answered back. "Yep, I can read. Know all about you. Bad enough
they think I need help hauling trash. They gotta saddle me with a juvenile
delinquent too. Complete with his own noisemaker, too."
Ben said nothing, but his faced
burned. He swallowed his anger, then with an effort of will, looked up and
stared Reynard in the eye. The man was only a few inches taller than he was,
but to Ben, at this moment, he really did seem to tower over him.
"What would you like me to do
next, Mr. Reynard?" he asked. He meant it politely, but for a second he
caught a flash in the man's eyes and realized his error. Having already told
him he was wrong to call him "Mr. Reynard," the school garbageman
must have thought he was mouthing off.
"Just Reynard will do, Mister
Man," he said. "Now take this crate out to the truck."
It took Ben a couple of struggling
minutes, but he managed to shove the box under the garage door, then pick it up
and muscle it up onto the edge of the tailgate. With a final effort, he heaved
it into the bed of the dumper, and it landed with a metallic bang, echoing the
sound the book had made in his dream.
Reynard followed, yanking the garage
door down behind him. "Oh, good. Right in the back of the truck where
it'll spill out and get garbage all over it. Now put it in the cab."
In the time it took Ben to cart it
around to the passenger side, Reynard was already in the driver's seat and
kicked open the door on Ben's side with one foot. Ben gasped and panted, trying
to load the crate into the cab, but it was too high for him. Finally, with an
exasperated grunt, Reynard reached over and grabbed the edge of the crate,
hauling it—and Ben, who was still holding on—effortlessly into the cab.
"Where's your muscle, Mister
Man? How much can you lift anyway?"
"I dunno," Ben said,
clambering onto the bench seat and pulling the door shut.
"What do you weigh, anyhow?
Hundred pounds? Ninety-eight? Bet you can't even lift your own weight. Man
should be able to lift his own weight. I weigh close on to 250 pounds, Mister
Man, and I can lift that and more, you better believe it."
Reynard turned the key and after an
extended grinding and chuffing, the ancient truck coughed to life. Raynard
revved it for a good long while, the truck belching clouds of black oily smoke
into the fading white mist. Finally, when Reynard was satisfied that the truck
was good and warmed up, he shifted into gear and the truck lurched ahead with a
groan. They rolled down to a metal gate which Ben understood to be the service
entrance to Sherrinford. For a moment Ben thought they were going to plow right
through it, but at the last instant, Reynard pulled the wheel hard to one side
and they made a U-turn.
"So this is the job,"
Reynard said. "We haul trash and that's it. The end. We do the head office
first. We empty all the trash cans in the business office, the computer room,
Mr. Reston's office, the Dean's office, all of 'em. Take out the old bags, put
fresh ones in. We do them first while we still smell good. Then we do the
cafeteria, and the kitchen and Mister Man, that's smelly. They're supposed to
put all the trash from last night's supper out into the Dumpster, but they
don't always. And sometimes kids sneak in there for a midnight snack and throw their mess away.
They think no one knows about it, but the rubbish man knows all, and don't you
forget it. Then we do the Dumpsters. Don't matter what's in the Dumpsters, we
take it, throw it in back. I don't care if it's a foofy princess dress or a
maggoty raccoon carcass, we muckle onto it, wing it in the back and take it to
the landfill. You with me so far?"
Ben nodded.
"Jeez I hope so, because this
isn't rocket science. We do the classrooms next—they're real good about putting
stuff in the Dumpsters at night so we don't need to go in so much, unless we
get called on a special job. We do the dorms last—there's a big trash can on
every floor and a Dumpster out back for each. Whatever's in there—this side of
a human body—we haul it away. That's the job, and it's simple, so there
shouldn't be any questions." He paused a beat. "Any questions?"
Ben didn't have any.
They roared up to the back of the
main building, where the back door was already propped open. Reynard handed Ben
the roll of trash bags and led the way inside.
"I should probably talk to
someone about this," Ben said, waggling his leg and the endlessly beeping
monitor.
Reynard shrugged. "Worried that
the bloodhounds are coming for you?" he snorted. "Needs to be rest,
that's all. Old Zoltan forgot you were working for me, not sleeping in."
And without another word, he strode down the hall.
The business office area was cramped,
mostly cubicles and open desks with computer terminals on top. With a grimace
of someone about to undertake an unpleasant task, Reynard went over to one of
the terminals and began stabbing at the keyboard with two calloused fingers,
swearing quietly as he did. Ben stood on tip-toes and peered over his shoulder.
Reynard was in the school network and clicking his way clumsily through a
series of windows until he opened an application that pulled up a screen with a
list of names. Ben realized he was looking at the monitoring system, for next
to almost every name was a green light. The one exception was a name near the top
of the list. The light next to it was flashing red and a pop-up window kept
flashing next to that, showing the word "INFRACTION" in bright red,
with a date and time listed beneath it.
Alternately sighing and swearing,
Reynard clicked on Ben's name, then stabbed some more at the keyboard. Then he
reached into his pocket—as he did he turned and favored Ben with another
glare—and turned back to the computer, hunched over so Ben couldn't see what he
was doing. "Mind your business, Mister Man, while I enter this password
and shut that almighty thing off," he growled.
Ben turned and backed up a couple of
steps. As he did, the beeping stopped. Ben looked down and noticed that the
ankle bracelet light was once again a soothing green.
"There!" Reynard huffed,
glad to have his unpleasant task over with. As he turned away from the screen,
Ben caught one last glimpse of his name. Next to it, there was no red or green
light, just a single word: DISABLED. Did that mean what he thought it meant?
"Thought I told you to mind your
business!" Reynard spat at him.
Ben pointed. "You-you forgot to
shut the program off," he said. "Anyone could get in and mess with
it."
Reynard glared at him some more, his
nostrils flaring. "Well, well, a thief and a computer expert!" he
grumbled. He gestured for Ben to start emptying trash baskets while the man
himself turned back to the computer and fiddled with the keyboard some more,
evidently closing the program. Then Reynard disappeared through an archway that
led to a carpeted hall lined with shining wooden doors. It looked much fancier
in there and Ben guessed that was where Dean Taras and Mr. Reston and a few
others had their offices.
By the time Reynard returned, Ben had
all of the trash collected from the cubicles. The little giant hurled a bag at
Ben, which he caught just before it hit him full in the face.
"You discipline cases must be
worrying Hawksmoor some. His ulcer's bothering him again," Reynard said.
Ben glanced at his watch. It wasn't
even 7 yet. "He's here already? What time do the teachers come in,
anyway?"
Reynard gave him another glare.
"Here? Hawksmoor isn't here. Man's got an important job in the city. He
just flies in with Oscar on certain days."
"But—"
"I guess you didn't hear me when
I said there shouldn't be a need for questions," Reynard said curtly, and
without another word, he led Ben out of the business office and into the
computer lab.
The lab reminded Ben of his school—he
supposed computer labs everywhere looked a bit like this—a row of desktops of
varying size and age, with blue plastic chairs in front of every one. It was
harder to get to the trash cans here. Several more boxes of printer paper were
stacked along the walls and between the desks.
"Get back there and empty those
buckets," Reynard said, pointing. Ben did as he was told, threading his
way around chairs and boxes. He emptied the buckets, but on the last one, by a
computer terminal in the farthest corner, he found several crumpled sheets of
paper stuck between the trash can and a heavy color printer. He glanced
absently at them—a few smeary emails that hadn't printed correctly, a list of
cheat codes for a popular online game. He smiled a little when he grabbed the
last errant piece of paper. It was a partially printed list of late entrants to
the school and Toby's name was there. He was probably still sleeping up in the
secret room, he realized. Why couldn't I get the library as my job, Ben
wondered.
And so it went, with Reynard barking
at Ben and Ben hauling trash, next from the cafeteria (gross) and then from the
kitchen (super gross). But the worst was the Dumpster behind the kitchen. A bag
was stuck at the bottom and Reynard made him climb inside to retrieve it,
something he did only after slopping most of its contents (sour milk and mac
and cheese) down his front.
Reynard kept up a regular string of
chatter, alternating between gruff instruction and muttering comments of one
kind or another to no one in particular, certainly not to Ben, who he barely
looked at.
"Oho, I guess Grindle was
sneaking around here last night," he said once when they were in the
kitchen, or "Well, well, that explains a considerable lot," he said
another time, as they emptied the bathroom trash (also super gross). Ben
thought Reynard must have a lonely job, milling around the school before
everyone was up, and so had fallen into the habit of talking to himself. You'd
think he'd like a little company, Ben thought. But Reynard seemed to take no
notice of Ben, except to make him the target of various insults and orders.
Finally, as the long hand on Ben's
watch slowly crept toward 7, and the moment when he could make his escape (and
take a shower, he thought gratefully), they made their way from the classroom
building and the library over to the dorms. Ben was anxious to finish up and
was leading the way to the girls' dorm when Reynard put a massive hand on his
collar and pulled him back.
"You hold up there, Mister Man,
where you think you're heading? Into the girls' dorm? I don't think much of
that. You go empty the buckets on the floors over in Doyle. You thought the
kitchen Dumpsters were bad. You try emptying the muck in a boys' dormitory. You
meet me down by the Dumpster in back and I guess that'll wrap you up for
today."
Ben ripped several bags off the
dwindling roll and stomped over to Doyle Hall. His neck felt burned where the
collar of his shirt had bitten into it. He hated when people grabbed him by his
shirt collar. It was what bullies did. It was what Grindle did when he grabbed
Oz on the bus. And I have to work for this guy for the whole summer? Ben
thought.
And it was in this dark frame of mind
that Ben made his way from the top of Doyle all the way down, floor by floor.
By the time he reached the basement, he was lugging several overstuffed bags of
trash. And Reynard had been right about them being mucky. More sour milk, this
time mixed with flat soda, sloshed around in more than one bag. Ben caught a
break in the basement—that trash bucket was already empty, so he hauled
everything else out to the back, then reached into the Dumpster. He was almost
all the way in, legs dangling out, to get one last bag, when he heard the roar
of the dump truck and Reynard was there.
"You sure you got every bucket
emptied?" he asked critically.
"Yes," Ben grunted, his
voice echoing dully from the interior of the Dumpster. He was trying to grab
one last bag, at the very bottom, but it was snagged on a bolt poking out from
the bottom of the container.
"I don't know," Reynard
said. "That seemed a little quick to me. I'm counting these here
bags."
Ben sighed in disgust. He meant it to
be quiet, but the echo of the Dumpster made it sound like a groan.
"Don't gripe at me, Mister
Man," Reynard said. "I didn't ask to have a helper, specially not a
man who can't even lift his own weight. What's keeping you in there? You
planning to move in or what?"
"It's stuck!" Ben grunted.
And it was. That last bag wasn't coming loose for anything.
"Oh for the luvva Mike, get out
and I'll grab it. I swear—"
Ben felt the hand on the back of his
shirt again, and decided that was it. With a mighty heave, he pushed himself
back out of the Dumpster and whirled on the little giant.
"Don't touch me!" he
shouted, surprising himself. But what surprised him even more was that the man
took a step back. They stared at each other for a moment.
"I just—I don't like being
grabbed. I was trying to get the last bag out and—I don't like being
grabbed," Ben said again.
Reynard stared at him a moment
longer, but his face didn't seem so stern now. Then he gave a small nod.
"Well, that's fair enough, I guess," he said, then he walked over to
the Dumpster and scrambled over the side.
"Yep," he said to no one in
particular, "it's good and stuck. But I'll get er—" And with a mild
grunt, Reynard pulled up, tossing the bag out onto the ground.
The bag had ripped as it came loose.
Garbage spilled onto the dirt in front of Ben: old soda cans, crumpled paper
airplanes, a sodden pizza box. As Reynard clambered back out of the Dumpster,
Ben was already tearing a fresh bag off the roll to collect the scattered
refuse. Then he stopped and stared.
There on the ground, Ben saw
something he didn't expect to see falling out of a trash bag from a boys'
dormitory: a flash of pink. The balled-up object looked a little like a giant
wad of bubble gum. Ben nudged it experimentally with his foot and it unfurled.
It was a pink tie-dye t-shirt. With a
peace symbol on it.
It was Briana Tanner's shirt.
And it was covered with dark red
bloodstains.
Friday, January 04, 2013
Fiction Friday Fakeout!
Ah, what the hell:
(Previous chapter)
(Next chapter)
Chapter 7
The Lay of the Land
Back at Doyle Hall, the boys were buzzing about Briana
Tanner. Several boys—new and returning students alike—had questioned both Ben
and Oz and other new kids who had ridden on one of the shuttles.
"Her parents didn't drop her off?"
Teddy asked one of the older boys, who was roaming around the halls, a
clipboard in his hand. Teddy had explained that most returning students were
driven here by their parents, who themselves had often been former students,
and enjoyed the chance to come up and see their old summer stomping grounds.
The older boy shook his head.
"Nope," he said, consulting his clipboard, which contained a fresh
memo from the Dean. "Her mom put her on a train this morning. Dean Taras
says she should have been on one of the afternoon shuttles."
Ben nodded. "We were on the
second one." He wracked his brain. There had been some girls on the
shuttle, but he had taken no notice of them. "I guess she could have been
on there, but I don't know. What's she look like?"
The older boy scowled again at his
clipboard. "Girl, 12 years old. Strawberry-blonde hair in pigtails.
Wearing blue jeans, white sneakers, and—" he squinted, then read aloud,
"—and a pink tie-dye t-shirt with a peace symbol on it." Sound like anyone
you saw?" he asked, looking from Ben to Oz.
Oz looked nonplussed. "I wasn't
really looking at the girls," he muttered. "We were the last ones on
the shuttle anyway, and there was—" he looked over at Ben. "—there
were some distractions."
"You ought to ask Toby,"
Ben suggested, thinking back to how observant their new friend had been, how
quickly he had spotted that Ben and Oz had opened that locked door in their
room. "He was on the bus before we were." Ben looked around quickly,
but couldn't see Toby anywhere in the crowd.
"How do we know she's even here
anyway?" Oz asked. "Maybe something happened to her on the
train."
"Or-or in the station. You know,
like maybe someone jumped her in the bathroom or—" Teddy said.
"Or maybe she made it here but
went exploring, maybe in one of the condemned buildings and got hurt—" Ben
added.
The older boy scowled at them.
"What do I look like, I care? You know, the detective thing everyone does
around here gets lame after a couple years. You'll see."
Teddy frowned. "Tina
says—"
"Yeah, well Tina might like the
mystery crap, but the rest of us just come here to get away from our parents,
see our friends. You'll see. Mean time, the Dean says I gotta ask around about
this missing kid, so I'm gonna do it, get her off my back." He glowered at
them a moment more, as though it was their fault he had to search for a missing
girl, then went off down the hall. Teddy followed Ben and Oz up to their room.
"That's not true you know, what
that doof said," Teddy insisted. "A lot of kids come here because of the
stuff they learn. It's a big deal. People who went here as kids went on to be,
like, FBI agents and famous crime writers. And TV reporters that catch Internet
stalkers and stuff. He's just a loser."
"Like Grindle?" Oz asked.
"One of his buddies, yeah,"
They stepped into the room. Teddy
looked around appraisingly. "My room's wider, but not by much. And we
don't have an extra door. Wh-where's that go?"
Without thinking about it, Ben kicked
his duffel into the corner, covering the scuff marks Toby had noticed earlier.
He hunched down and began unzipping his bag. "No idea," he lied.
"It's locked," Oz added
quickly.
If Teddy caught the tension in their
voices, he didn't let on. "Yeah," he said, "there's a lot of
locked doors around here. Maintenance closets and service hallways and stuff.
When this was an academy in the olden days, they had maids and
everything." He flopped on one of the beds as Ben and Oz finished
unpacking, then sat up straight. "Hey, about that girl! I— I wonder if
this is it!"
"If this is what?" Ben
asked, pulling clothes out of his duffel.
"The school mystery!"
Ben and Oz stopped and looked at him.
"Tina told me all about them.
They can be pretty lame some years—mostly like a scavenger hunt or-or
something. But usually they're pretty awesome. The teachers take turns planning
them and they do something different every summer. One year, the writing guy,
Mr. Nolte, hid out for the whole summer," Teddy went on. "No one
could find him. You came into his class and there would be a stack of assignments
and an old tape recorder with a message from him. Or he'd have a computer set
up with a Web cam and teach classes that way. Kids went nuts trying to figure
out clues from the recording, taking screen shots of the Web cam video, trying
to zoom in on details in the background of the images, thinking they could
figure out where he was. He left clues in the library when kids went to
research their assignments. It-it was pretty cool."
"Where was he?" Oz asked.
"Well, everyone thought he was
hiding out in one of the closed-up dorms, but that's against the rules. Safety
reasons. Tina and Greg, they thought they tracked him down to Camp Kadabra
"Was he?" Ben asked.
Teddy laughed. "No way!
You-you're not supposed to leave Sherrinford and the school mystery only takes
place on the grounds here—it's one of the rules." (Especially for me and
the rest of the DCs, Ben thought, suddenly aware of the weight of the ankle
bracelet on his leg.) "But Greg was sure he was over there," Teddy
sighed. "He's kind of a-a dummy. He and Tina got in a lot of trouble that
time. Anyway, some other kids found the teacher. The page numbers on his assignment
sheets made up a code that contained GPS coordinates that led to a cabin in the
woods—there are a bunch of them on this side of the mountain, old tourist
cabins and places like that. Anyway, that's where he was."
"That is pretty cool," Ben
agreed. "So you think Briana Tanner's made up?"
Teddy grinned shyly. "Well,
th-think about it. I mean, our first night, and there's a student missing? They
watch us pretty closely around here. Tina and I weren't out of the back seat of
the car before Dean Taras swooped in and checked our names off her list. And
what kind of parents put a kid on a train all by herself?"
"I don't know," Ben said
quietly. All of a sudden, he felt an uncomfortable pang of homesickness.
Oz nodded, thinking. "But the
bus driver took attendance, checked us off a list before we got on the bus.
Wouldn't the driver have known if he was a name short?"
Ben grimaced. He hadn't thought of
that until Oz mentioned it. I am one sucky detective, he thought, not for the
last time.
Teddy shrugged. "Well, I-I don't
know. But it all seems kind of funny to me."
Just then there was a knock at the
door. Ben got up to answer it, expecting another counselor, but it was Toby,
who looked furtively up and down the hall before jumping inside. He looked even
grubbier and dust-covered than he had at supper.
"Man, this place is jumping.
Lotta guys with clipboards asking questions about that Brenna chick," he
warbled, throwing himself into a chair by the desk.
"Briana," Ben corrected
automatically. Toby scowled at him and hooked his nostril-grabbing fingers at
him threateningly.
"Teddy thinks this missing girl
is part of the school mystery," Oz offered, as he rooted through various
cables and junk in his massive suitcase.
Teddy started to protest but Toby's
face lit up with excitement. "Yeahhh," he shrilled, his voice going
up an octave. "I betcha you're right. Makes total sense. She sure wasn't
on the bus with us." Teddy relaxed instantly, his shy smile returning. Ben
had the idea that maybe he wasn't used to people thinking his ideas had any
merit. "Maybe she's hiding out over in the girls' dorms. I bet there's a
hidden room up there too—" Toby said, then stopped himself as Oz and Ben
simultaneously gave him a warning look. None of them wanted to own up to their
little adventure behind the mysterious door. They liked Teddy, but his family
obviously had a history here and they weren't sure yet if they could trust him
with their secret.
Teddy seemed to take no notice of
this, in any case. "Well, I'm gonna go unpack. You newbies have that tour
tomorrow morning. I don't need to go—my sister and parents showed me around
plenty of times. See you at breakfast?"
They all grunted in the affirmative
as Teddy left.
"All moved in?" Ben asked
as he went back to unloading his duffel.
Toby shrugged. "My roommates are
weirdos. I think I'm gonna camp out up in the secret room."
Oz looked at him owlishly.
"Really? What, are you going to come and go through there?" he said,
pointing to the door.
"Yeah," Toby said blandly.
"Who would know?"
Ben stared at him. "You're in a
school for detectives. Teddy noticed the door right away, just like you.
Probably would have seen the scuff marks on the floor if I hadn't covered them.
Someone would know. And it would be our butts!"
Toby waved this off. "Okay,
dude, don't get 'em in a bunch. It just so happens I was up there a few minutes
ago. And you didn't even know, did you?"
"You do look a little
dusty," Oz offered. He was now dumping items from his suitcase onto the
desk and was sorting them into some kind of order. "Let me guess, you
found a back stairway or something."
"Close. I actually found a cool
mini-elevator in the bathroom wall. It was behind the door. You climb in and
there's a pulley. It takes you down to the furnace room."
"Dumbwaiter," Ben said.
Toby rounded him. "Dumb who,
Bridge?" he shrilled.
"The elevator. It's called a
dumbwaiter. We had one in our old house, but it didn't work. Dad said they had
to use the shaft for the central air ducts that they added later. It's for
laundry and stuff and—" Ben trailed off. The feeling of homesickness was
stronger, and now suffused with guilt. His parents had loved that house—he had
too. And they'd had to sell it and move into a crappy apartment, and to make
matters worse, he had gone and gotten into trouble…
Toby was talking again. "Well,
it's pretty handy. And I can come and go through the basement so you
fraidy-cats won't have to worry about getting in trouble," he sneered.
"Anyway, I meant what I said earlier: someone ought to check the girls' dorm.
They probably have the same set-up and if I were a missing girl or doing a
school mystery or whatever, that's where I'd hide," he said.
Oz nodded. "Makes sense. We
should ask some of the new girls on the tour tomorrow."
"What?" Toby said.
"And let them get credit for finding her?"
Oz held up his hands in a gesture of
surrender. "No, you're right," he said dryly. "You go ahead and
sneak into the girls' dorm. Maybe Ben could break into their rooms until you
find a door like ours, then he can pick the lock and go look for her—"
Ben looked up sharply. Given where
his mind had been, this felt like a slap in the face. Oz understood his error
immediately.
Toby looked up too. "Who can
pick locks? You, Bridge?" he asked, sounding eager and impressed.
"Thanks, Oz," Ben said. Then
he looked at Toby and nodded. "I used to, but not anymore."
"Hey," Oz said falteringly,
his dry demeanor broken again. "I'm sorry. I know—"
"—that Burglar Ben Bridge
Toby bounded out of the chair.
"Well, this is getting lame," he said. "I'm going to go unpack.
Don't worry—" he said as Oz started to open his mouth. "I'll take my
private elevator. See you losers in the morning," he said brightly, and
headed out.
"Hey," Oz said
again, "I'm really—"
"It's okay," Ben
interrupted. "I don't mind that Toby knows, I guess. I just don't want everyone
to know. Don't worry about it." He stepped over his duffel and collapsed
on his bed. For a while he watched Oz set up what was starting to remind him of
his grandpa's old work bench—all sorts of tools and mysterious metal objects
and other junk. The feeling of homesickness all but made his stomach ache. Ben
felt in his pocket. His PerfaPick was still there. And clutching it, he fell
asleep.
In his dreams, he was running down a
dusty hallway, chasing a girl with strawberry-blonde pigtails. "I'm the
school mystery!" she cried, her voice sounding like Tina Jordan's. Then
she ducked through a little door in the wall. But when Ben got to the door,
there was no dumbwaiter, just a rigid stack of air-conditioning ductwork, like
the dumbwaiter shaft in his old house, the house he missed almost as much as he
missed his parents.
When Ben opened his eyes, he saw
another shaft, a shaft of sunlight that was in his face. He heard the clatter
of feet out in the hall. He looked at his watch and saw it was 9:45 . Oz was gone and Ben realized that
the campus tour started soon. He leapt off the bed, threw on a fresh shirt,
grabbed his toothbrush and bolted down the hall to the bathroom.
A few minutes before 10, Ben dashed
across the quad to the main building, where a group of new students were
milling. As he slowed to a stop, Oz stepped out of the crowd, a sheepish look
on his face. He handed something to Ben, wrapped in a napkin.
"You missed breakfast," he
said. "So I grabbed something for you. Hope you like bagels."
Ben looked at the bagel, a hastily
assembled affair with cream cheese dripping out through the middle. In fact, he
wasn't a big fan of bagels at all, but he was hungry. More importantly, he
realized that this was Oz's way of trying to make up for his thoughtless remark
of the night before. He took a huge bite and nodded gratefully at Oz.
"Awefum," he said around a
mouthful of food. "Fanks."
A moment later, a tall girl, another
counselor, appeared at the doorway and ushered the new students inside.
"Come on!" she said officiously. "Sherrinford is a big place and
I have a lot to show you new kids so you don't get lost." As she led them
towards the corridor to the cafeteria/auditorium, she rattled off a brief
history of the school and its buildings, most of it information Ben had already
read online.
The girl walked them through the door
Ben had seen yesterday. "Business offices are back here," the girl
said crisply. "If you need to see any of the teachers or speak with the
Dean, their offices are all along this corridor." It was a narrow
corridor, made even narrower by an assortment of obstacles—several rolling
office chairs, a cart with a couple of old computer monitors on it, and yet
more white boxes of brand new printer paper, their yellow strapping still
cinched tightly around each. The kids sidestepped around each impediment, but then
their way was completely blocked, this time by Dean Taras herself, who was
coming out of an office, talking heatedly to a man in overalls.
This man didn't look like the men Ben
had seen last night. For one thing this guy was short, shorter than the Dean
and most of the students. Short but wide. Muscles stood out on his shoulders
and he had Popeye-like forearms that made him appear almost as wide as he was
tall.
He's a little giant, Ben thought,
absurdly. But it fit. Despite his diminutive stature, the man seemed to fill up
the space in a most imposing way. Part of that may have been because the little
giant gave off a pungent aroma that all but filled the corridor, an aroma of
spoiled food and dirt. He glared at the students for a moment as if they were the
ones giving off a foul odor.
"—I have to call the missing
girl's mother and then speak to the police this morning, so I'll leave this in
your hands. I know this isn't part of your job, Reynard, but the office-supply
people gave us three times the printer paper we ordered and they're being
annoyingly noncommittal about when they'll be able to return to collect the
overstock. As you can see, there are hundreds of boxes, and they need to be put
out of the way, I—oh, hello everyone," she said, finally noticing the
throng of students clogging the hallway. Dean Taras now turned to the
counselor. "Amelia, perhaps it's best if you show them the computer lab
another time. As you can see, we're much too cluttered here just now."
Amelia nodded curtly, but it was clear
she didn't like being derailed by any change of plan. "It's nothing
special," she said as she pushed her way back through the new students and
led them out the way they came. "Just a bunch of old computers from, like,
the Dark Ages. The newest ones are about four or five years old."
As Ben turned to go back, he thought
he heard his name and craned his neck around. None of the kids were looking at
him, then he saw Dean Taras conferring with the little giant she called
Reynard. And Reynard was casting a sour glance his way. Then the Dean and the
man both turned and went back into the office from which they'd come.
Outside, Amelia led them on a brisk
walk across the quad, where they were met by Toby, who was dashing across from
Doyle Hall. "You're late," Amelia snapped. Toby favored her with a
scowl, then shouldered his way into the crowd until he was standing next to Ben
and Oz.
"Get stuck in the
dumbwaiter?" Ben asked.
"Oh, shut it," Toby said.
Amelia led them past the girls' dorm
to a row of buildings that backed up to a towering forest. Along the way, the
girl noted which buildings were closed for safety reasons (although this was
unnecessary—these all either had concrete barricades on the steps leading up to
the doors, or the doors themselves were chained and padlocked). "Here's
where you'll have your classes," Amelia said, pointing to one of the
buildings directly across from them, a three-story structure festooned with
fussily carved stones. Next to it was a more stately building of deep-red brick
and green tendrils of climbing ivy. It was also a three-story affair, but at
the top was a tall spire that Ben took for a bell tower. It reminded him of
nothing so much as a church, but over the doorway, he saw a name carved on the
lintel: SACKER LIBRARY.
"Awesome," Toby whispered.
"This is where I'm going to work! Where are you again, Bridge?"
"Garbage duty," Ben
muttered, then elbowed Toby when he started shaking with silent laughter.
Inside the library seemed like a
church as well: cool and unnaturally quiet. The air was heavy with the smell of
old paper and leather and Ben felt his heart slow a beat. He loved libraries,
had spent quite a lot of time at the one in school. Why couldn't I have had
this job, he wondered, also not for the last time.
The students filed in to a single
massive room, high-ceilinged, with bright windows up in the eaves, letting in
the summer light. Just below these windows, but out of the sunlight, were
shelves and shelves of books. A row of desks and tables filled the center of
the room, and at the end was a circular desk where a woman was hunched over a
computer. She looked up at the students murmuring at the far end. The woman
squinted at them over the top of a pair of bifocals, tapping a pencil
thoughtfully against her teeth. Ben waited for her to drop the pencil and put a
finger to her mouth, shushing the newcomers. But instead she broke into a huge
grin, stuck the pencil absently into the dark hair piled on top of her head,
and gave them a long, languorous wave.
"Hello everyone!" she
boomed, her voice startlingly loud in the space. She leapt to her feet. She was
amazingly tall and thin. In fact, she reminded Ben instantly of a female
version of Mr. Hawksmoor, except that she had a slightly rounded face and a
short nose. Her bright eyes sparkled as she bustled over to the students, arms
outstretched.
"Welcome, fellow
detectives!" she cried. "This is Sacker Library, the very best place
in Sherrinford, and the finest library of mystery in the world."
"Library of mystery," Toby
repeated, a big grin on his face. "Oh, I am going to like it here!"
"Shut up," Ben muttered.
"Thanks, Amelia," the lady
said, then tuned to face the students. "My name is Miss Seaver, I'm the
librarian here. Now, I bet some of you read about Sherrinford online before
coming here. Can anyone tell me about Sacker Library?"
Ben frowned. He had read something
about the library, but couldn't remember what? An eager girl in front of him
raised her hand.
"Well, it's like you said, isn't
it? It's a library about crimes and mysteries?" she asked.
Miss Seaver nodded excitedly.
"Yes, yes! We have many, many reference books and resources on all the
topics you'd expect to find at a regular library, but we do have a special
focus on crime, criminal law, forensic medicine," she was gesturing now to
appropriate shelves on either side of the great room.
Then she pointed to an alcove Ben
hadn't noticed before, this one a clubby little room with old, overstuffed
armchairs and, incongruously, a giant blue beanbag. "We also have a reading
room packed with mystery and crime fiction. Including, of course, a complete
set of the original Reston Twin mysteries."
Miss Seaver walked them around,
showing them the reference desk computers and library catalogs, and explaining
what rules existed here. "Really, the only rule I have is no food or
drinks. You can come and go as you like, pretty much every book here is
available to check out for as long as you like. And yes, you can talk here.
This isn't a church, although it once was, back in the academy days. And just
like a church, we have our sacred and priceless relics," she said, winking
at them.
Before any of them could ask what she
meant by this, she led them behind the circular desk to a heavy, ornately
carved door hanging on massive metal hinges. It looked very old to Ben, but had
one distractingly modern detail: set into the wall next to it was a small metal
keypad. Miss Seaver stood in front of it, quickly tapped in a few numbers.
There was a faint buzzing sound from somewhere and then the door popped open.
Miss Seaver grunted and wrestled with the heavy door. Slowly, it began to open.
She led them into a very different
room now: it was smaller, or at least seemed smaller, since it was filled with
metal racks of books. The racks were on rails mounted on the ceiling that let
them slide forward or backward. But all of the racks were at various positions
on the rails so that none of them lined up in a uniform row. It reminded Ben of
a maze. The air was cooler, the room felt heavy and quiet. Even the lights were
different. There were no windows and Ben noticed immediately that all available
light was coming from strangely humming fixtures overhead. The light made his
eyes feel funny.
"Special lamps," Miss
Seaver said. "So the light doesn't damage the books."
"Feels like a vault," one
student remarked.
Miss Seaver smiled, her voice
lowering from its enthusiastic tone to one of special reverence. "That's
because it is. This is our rare book room. In it is our most special
collection. The room is climate-controlled and nearly all of the books—we have
over 2,000 in here—are preserved in Mylar sleeves."
Carefully, she took down the book
nearest here, a small, thick tome bound in green leather. Ben caught a glimpse
of the name embossed in gold leaf on the front: Edgar Allan Poe. "First
edition," Miss Seaver said in the hushed tone Ben usually associated with
librarians. "Over the years, students here have donated their collections
of mystery and crime books. For a while, it was the fashion among mystery writers
to send signed first editions to the library."
She carefully put the Poe book back.
"You name it, they're here. We have a set of signed Agatha Christie
books," she said, then smiled. "Well, except for the last one or two,
since they were published after her death. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle donated a
portion of his private library to us. Not too many mysteries, though: Sir
Arthur never thought much of his most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes. We do
have one or two of his bound editions of The Strand, the magazine that
published most of the Holmes short stories. So most of his endowment consisted
of books on spiritualism, a particular interest of his later in life."
Ben and the other students followed
her single-file among the rows as she pointed to a stack of old pulp magazine
devoted to the Shadow on one shelf, a bound volume of vintage Super Sleuth
comics on another. Then she called out the names of books by mystery writers
old and new—"McBain here, Dobyns here"—then Ben saw a very odd book
at the end of one row. Unlike the rest of the volumes here, this one appeared
to be encased in metal.
Toby noticed it too. "What's
that one?"
Miss Seaver smiled, then grabbed the
book. With a grunt of effort she lifted it from the shelves. "Anyone here
ever read Steel Sterling?"
Ben raised his hand at the mention of
his favorite hard-bitten, two-fisted private eye.
"Well, the author of the Sterling books, Simon Petrie, taught here for
a year at the very end of his life. He was good friends with Oscar Reston, the
first Oscar Reston, I mean. This was the last Sterling novel he ever wrote, and he had it
bound in a steel cover, with silver plates embedded on the front." She
huffed again and with some effort held out the book so they could see it.
"Thank goodness he didn't give us a full set like this," she said
smiling. She set it back on the shelf, arms trembling. Then she smiled
apologetically at the group.
"Unfortunately, none of these
books can be checked out. Most, like Steel here, are one of a kind. Priceless,
really. That's why we keep them in this vault. Sometimes we'll get university
types—doctoral students or biographers—coming here to do research. But they
have to write months in advance to make an appointment."
"Has anyone ever tried to break
in and steal them?" Oz asked. Most of the students nodded in agreement; it
was clearly on a lot of people's minds.
Miss Seaver laughed. "I wondered
how long it would be before someone would ask. It's just about the first
question I get every year. And my answer is always: Who on earth would be
foolish enough to try to steal books from a library in a school packed with
smart young detectives?"
Then her smile faltered. "You
know, one year, when I was a student here—yes, back in the Dark Ages—one of the
teachers took Mr. Poe there at the end of the row and hid it for the school
mystery. Unfortunately, he neglected to inform the librarian at the time. She
was in quite a state that summer. In fact, she spent as much time as the
students trying to solve the mystery. But one lucky girl beat her to it, and
found it."
"Where was it?" a girl
asked.
"In Mr. Reston's private study,
right there on the shelf with all his other books. Right there for everyone to
see, just like in Poe's story 'The Purloined Letter.'"
Amelia looked at the librarian and
asked a question in a tone that suggested she'd asked this same question every
year.
"And who was that lucky girl,
Miss Seaver?"
The librarian blushed, then smiled
sweetly. "You're looking at her."
As they filed out of the library back
into the warm summer day, Toby hung back. "I'll catch up with you at
lunch," he said. "I'm going to talk to Miss Seaver about my job.
Starts tomorrow!" And with a short wave, he disappeared back into the
library.
Amelia led them behind the buildings,
to a low, long shed that stood beside a dirt track leading into the forest.
"This is the bike shed. We have
enough bicycles for everyone in the school and you can sign them out any time
from 8 til 7. We'll sound warning chimes about 30 minutes before the bike shed
closes. When you hear them, come on back. Actually, anytime you hear the
chimes—especially if they sound for a long time, that means the Dean wants you
back here in the quad on the double. The Sherrinford grounds cover the whole
north side of the mountain, and there are, I'm not kidding, about a hundred
miles of walking and biking trails, but you'll hear the chimes wherever you
are. And if you don't come when they sound, you'll lose bike and trail
privileges." Then she cleared her throat, aiming a glare at the crowd.
"And you DCs, don't even think about leaving the mountain. Those
house-arrest monitors of yours will—"
"—alert the police and it's game
over for us," Oz muttered. Other DCs around him grumbled. They had heard
this enough already in the past 24 hours.
Amelia fiddled with her clipboard and
removed a small sheaf of paper that she began handing out. Ben saw it was a map
of the buildings and grounds, with some of the larger trails marked by names
like Tenderfoot, Rocky Reach, Pathfinder, and True North. "There are many
old sheds and cabins throughout the forest," Amelia went on. "But you
won't find them on your maps, because we don't want you to go there. Most of
these buildings are very old and structurally unsafe. Stay out of them. The
last thing we need is somebody poking around in an old cabin and crashing
through a floor or having a roof cave in on them."
Amelia let this sobering thought sink
in, then noticed something new on her clipboard that she had apparently
overlooked. "Also, I'm supposed to warn you this year to stay off the
Pathfinder Trail. There's a ledge above it and this spring some of the rocks
have been coming loose and landing on the trail. Don't be idiots—stay out of
there. Bike shed will be open starting tomorrow. Which DC is doing that job?"
A boy behind Ben, someone he actually remembered as being on his shuttle,
raised his handing tentatively and in a moment Ben saw clearly who of the new
kids were DCs like him and who were regular students: all the regular students
were smirking or glowering at the boy. Including Amelia, who simply said,
"Well, you better not have been a bike thief, kid."
There were some murmurs of resentment
at this from Ben and the other DCs, but before anything could come of it, they
heard a loud rumbling noise. Ben looked up the service road they were standing
on. Coming down from behind the main building, a massive, ancient dump truck
came clattering along, gravel pinging off its grille and flying in every
direction. Ben and the other students jumped off the road as the truck passed
in a cloud of dust and pebbles. Ben caught a brief look into the cab and saw
the sun-weathered face of the little giant, the man who had been talking to
Dean Taras earlier. He took no notice of the kids he'd almost run over and
roared on down the road.
"Who was that?" one kid
asked.
Amelia, coughing and wiping dust off
her clipboard, said sourly, "There goes the meanest man in Sherrinford.
That's Reynard, the garbage man." Then she brightened. "Who's the DC
assigned to help him haul trash? I wouldn't want to be in his shoes!" All
the students, even some of the DCs, laughed at this. "Come on!"
Amelia brayed. "Which one of you is it?"
Ben kept his hands straight at his
side and stared at the gravel road. Great…just great, he thought.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Final (Fiction) Friday?
So, here's a nice big chapter to wind up on for now. Thanks to everyone who read this far and expressed a kind interest in reading the rest. Maybe I will post it to Amazon, although I've discovered--as some of you have, I'm sure--a few careless errors that need fixing, and perhaps one middling size plot point that might work better in an earlier chapter. Once that's done, well, maybe...
But for now, this will have to suffice:
(Previous chapter)
(Next chapter)
Chapter 6
The Second Mystery
Oz, Ben, and about a hundred other boys poured out a side
door and Ben found himself on the quad surrounded by six other buildings,
including a few that were closed and barricaded. Directly across from him was a
building marked "Belden Hall" on an arch over the door, and from
beneath that arch came an equal number of girls all trooping off toward the
main building. In moments they were back at the main doors where the shuttle
bus had first dropped them off.
Dean Taras was there, directing everyone
down a massive corridor on the left ("straight on through. Watch out for
the workmen. We're still getting settled over in the business office. No
shoving once you're in line for supper! There's plenty for everyone!").
Down at the end of the corridor, they
found themselves in vast open room that, to Ben's dismay, looked like every
other combination cafeteria/auditorium he'd ever been in. After seeing the
old-style craftwork of his dorm and the ornate turrets and roofwork of the main
building, he'd been expecting chunky wooden tables with high-backed chairs,
walls adorned by murals and metal scrollwork. Instead, it was just an average,
cement-floored, whitewalled auditorium with several dozen foldaway tables and
chairs set out. At one end, there was a doorway with an arrowed sign pointing
toward another corridor (the sign read "Business Office & Computer
Labs"). Just inside the doorway, a couple of guys in overalls were
bustling about, shoving some unused chairs and folded tables aside to make room
for two other men, who were wheeling hand-trucks stacked high with white
boxes—printer paper for the office and labs, Ben supposed. To the right, just
as they came into the dining hall, a long buffet had been set up, with stacks
of trays and silverware set out at a table right in front of the entrance. Ben
grabbed a tray and took his place in line.
After he'd loaded his tray with
meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and a huge bowl of green jello on the side, he and
Oz made their way to the tables. There were cards at the head of each table,
marked "1st", "2nd" and so on through
all the years the school accommodated. Ben breathed a sigh of relief. Although
he didn't realize it til then, he'd almost been expecting a label reading
"DCs" and thought he and his fellow disciplinary cases would be
segregated from the rest of the student body.
He and Oz picked seats about halfway
down one table reserved for first-year students. They saved an empty space
between them for Toby, who had not yet arrived. Ben craned his neck to look at
the doorway, and though the line had dwindled to just one or two stragglers,
there was no sign of his new friend.
Ben found himself seated next to
another boy his height an age, but with a round friendly face. He nodded. The
boy nervously nodded back.
"H-hi," he said nervously.
"G-guess it's your first summer here too."
"Yep," Ben said, sticking
out his hand. "I'm Ben," was all he offered. He didn't know how many
people had read about the escapade that got him in the school, but if Oz and
Toby had, it was a good bet others had, too."
The boy introduced himself as Teddy
Jordan and it turned out that he lived directly below Ben and Oz in room 323.
Teddy's older sister, Tina, was also at the school. Teddy pointed up to the end
of the large room, where a smaller table had been set off and Ben could see
about a dozen older kids. A tall girl with long, straight blonde hair looked
over, then smiled and waved at Teddy, who shyly waved back. Even though Tina
had obviously been looking at her brother, Ben felt his heart race and found
himself blushing as he too, hazarded a tiny wave. "She's 16, so she came
back as a counselor. She's really good at English and stuff, so they're going
to put her in the library," Teddy said.
"Is that what the counselors do,
help out with classes?" Ben asked.
"Oh yeah, and other stuff. They
work with the teachers to keep an eye out for the kids, to help them, and
report on them if they get out of line. You know," he said.
Ben looked up again and saw that Tina
Jordan was now talking to a somewhat beefy boy who'd dropped an overloaded
dinner tray on the table next to her and was alternating between speaking to
her and turning to shovel food into his mouth, then turning back to continue
his conversation. When he turned his head back to his tray, Ben's heart sank to
see the boy was none other than Greg, the one who had accosted them on the bus.
Greg shoveled a heap of mashed potatoes into his mouth, then turned once again
to talk to Tina, who by this time had bent her head back slightly. Even from
this distance, Ben could see that Greg was spraying food with every word he
spoke.
"So who's the guy next to your
sister?" he asked.
"Oh," said Teddy, his eyes
narrowing. "That's Greg Grindle. He's a counselor too." Teddy lowered
his voice. "I hate him," he whispered. "But my sister thinks
he's hot you-know-what."
"Well," Ben said,
"maybe she just likes having food sprayed on her."
Teddy snorted and almost spit out his
own food. After a hacking moment, he laughed aloud and gave Ben a cautious
smile. "Be careful what you say. Greg's family has been coming here for
years and a lot of people suck up to him. You badmouth him behind his back and
it'll get back to him, I guarantee it."
Ben shrugged. "I'll take my
chances."
Just then, Toby appeared, slamming a
tray down on the table and flopping into the seat Ben and Oz had saved for him.
He appeared out of breath and streaked with dust and sweat.
"What happened to you?" Oz
asked, looking him over.
"Oh, nothing, just tripped in
the dirt running over here. Sorry I'm late," he said, then stabbed at the
salad he'd set on his plate and stuffed it into his mouth.
After about 20 minutes, when everyone
had finished at least one helping of the food up at the buffet, Ben noticed a
man walked to the front of the dining hall, carrying a microphone stand. It was
evidently already on because he made a great deal of crackling and whoomphing
as he walked along. It was this noise more than the presence of the man himself
that made everyone gradually quiet down.
The man was short and stocky, built
rather like Dean Taras herself, Ben thought. He was balding on top but had a
thin grey mustache on his lip. He set the microphone stand down in front of the
counselor's table (KA-BONNNG it echoed through the room as it landed), then
cleared his throat for quiet. He needn't have bothered. By this time, everyone
was stone silent.
"Good evening children," he
said in a slightly nasally twang. "My name is Oscar Reston. I am the
grandson of the original Oscar Reston, the author of the Reston Twins
mysteries, of which I'm sure you have heard. I just flew in a short while ago
and it's always a thrill to see my second home, especially from the air."
Reston paused, and in that second,
even without looking under tables to check for ankle bracelets, Ben could have
picked out everyone in the hall who was a regular Sherrinford student and not a
disciplinary case, because they were the only ones clapping. The whole moment
had a very staged feel to it, and Oscar Reston beamed for a moment, exposing a
thin row of teeth just below his mustache.
"It is also my honor to be the
director of the Sherrinford School
"But first, I think I must
address the, uh, elephant in the room. As most of you are aware, for the first
time ever, Sherrinford School
At this there was a minor rumbling
among the students. Apparently not everyone had heard about this, Ben thought.
"I have assured your parents as
I will now assure you: We have maintained full autonomy in this program and
have carefully selected the candidates for the program. No disciplinary student
here has been convicted of a violent crime or drug offense. Each case was individually
examined in the most minute detail by our school attorney, criminal law
instructor, and esteemed alum, David Hawksmoor."
At this, Reston gestured towards the counselors'
table and for the first time, Ben saw a small line of older men and women gathered
at doorway. The workmen had gone, their stacks of printer paper boxes towering
nearby. The men and women stood in front of the boxes and Ben easily picked out
the severe, hawk-nosed man he had met all those weeks ago. A small smattering
of polite applause went up and Hawksmoor gave the curtest of nods.
"The students we selected for
the disciplinary program—I hate to call it that, it's really a rehabilitative
program—were chosen because they were, in our estimation, worthy of attending
Sherrinford. Mr. Hawksmoor and our selection committee reviewed their cases and
selected only those who showed superior analytical skills, powers of
observation and deduction, or in some other way showed the abilities that we
prize so highly in grooming our students to take their place among the very
best in the ranks of jurisprudence, public and private investigation, and
general law enforcement."
As Ben looked around, he could see a
lot of eyes glazing over and began to wonder if maybe Oscar Reston should have
given his speech before everyone had a full stomach. But then he had the sense
that someone was watching him. He looked around, and then he saw a pair of eyes
glaring in his direction from the counselors' table. Greg Grindle. Except he
wasn't looking at Ben. Ben turned slightly and saw that Toby was engaged in a
staring match and muttering something. It didn't sound like English, but it
sure sounded like swear words.
Oscar Reston cleared his throat into
the microphone, bringing Ben back.
"My point is, we welcome these
students here," he said, blinking and looking around nervously, as if he
didn't quite believe what he was saying. "They will have a few more, um,
rules to follow, but aside from that and a few additional classes and duties,
they are to be accorded the same privileges and rights as any other Sherrinford
student, and I expect all you old boys and girls to make them feel as though
they belong." At this, he arched an eyebrow and stood a little on his
tiptoes, trying to look both grave and severe, but failing on both counts.
"Am I making myself perfectly clear?"
There was a rumble of "Yes, Mr. Reston ," at which Oscar beamed again
and rocked back on his heels.
He went on to introduce other
instructors at the school, reiterate warnings about staying away from buildings
that were closed on campus (there were quite a few more than just the
dormitories, it seemed to Ben). Then Reston went off on a long digression about being a pilot and how
much he loved flying his little airplane in from the city for these summer
sessions, and invited students to see his display of aerial photographs of the
campus over in the hall by the staff offices. All of the droning began to run
together as Ben himself was feeling the effects of his meal now and was
starting to zone out. He perked up a little bit when Oscar mentioned that all
trails were open to students and they were encouraged to use them during their
free time after classes, and all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday—"although,
again, some of you new students may have special work duties on those free
days," he added, and Ben thought he saw Greg Grindle smirk at him.
"You will have tomorrow to
yourselves, although for new students, there will be a tour of the campus and
grounds at 10 o'clock . Meet at the front door of the main building here," he
said. "Finally, you will note in your materials something about the school
mystery. Our returning students will know something of that, our new students
will find out in due time. We will have more information about this year's
mystery later on in the week. For now, though, the school mystery will be a…er…
mystery," he concluded lamely. Then he started, remembering something.
"Oh, also, after the counselors have handed out the schedules, I will need
all special-program students to remain behind." He seemed about to say
something else, rocked on his heels for a moment, and then stepped away from
the microphone.
And then teachers and counselors were
passing among them, calling out names and handing out schedules. Teddy Jordan's
pretty sister Tina edged by, calling out the names of first-year girls
("Emily Tancredi? Briana Tanner?"), but stopped briefly to ruffle
Teddy's hair affectionately and to give Ben—who was still gawking at her—an
unexpected wink. He flinched as though struck and turned his head away, only to
find himself facing Toby, whose eyes were fixed on him.
"Good God, Bridge," he
said, glowering. "Have some self-respect."
"Bit haphazard," Oz
remarked over the top of this, as he watched teachers and counselors calling
out names and zigzagging around the hall. "Would have been much easier to
sit us all alphabetically, instead of by year. I'd think, uh oh—" he
trailed off.
"Bridge! Burglar Ben Bridge
Ben looked up in time to catch a
wadded piece of paper in his face. Greg Grindle moved quickly past, muttering
something about criminals getting too much press, then called out more names.
Ben saw that Teddy Jordan was giving him a wary look and had edged himself away
ever so slightly. Ben shook his head inwardly and unwrapped the crumpled paper
that turned out to be his schedule.
It was simple chart of blocked hours.
As the judge had told him, he'd have classes most of the day—it really was just
like summer school:
BRIDGE, BENJAMIN (DC)
SCHED MON-THURS
6-7 Work Assignment (see Dean Taras)
7-8 Breakfast
8-9 Writing/Reporting
9-10 Crime Lab
10-10:30 Break
1:30-2 Observation & Deduction
2-2:30 Law and Ethics
FRI-SATURDAY
8-11 Work Assignment
SUNDAY
Free
Even as Ben felt his heart sink—he
was really going to have to get up at 6 o'clock every morning and work before class?
Before breakfast even?—his eyes were drawn to a cryptic note at the very bottom
of the schedule:
STUDENTS OR STUDENT TEAMS MAY USE LUNCH, FREE TIME, AND
EVENINGS UNTIL LIGHTS OUT (10 PM ) TO WORK ON THIS YEAR'S SCHOOL
MYSTERY
He was about to show this to Toby and
Oz, who hadn't yet received their schedules, when Tina Jordan stopped by again,
looking a little flustered. "Teddy?" she asked her brother.
"Have you met any of the new girls? I've found everyone except Briana
Tanner." Teddy shook his head.
"I don't know her either,"
Ben offered stupidly. Tina gave him a distracted smile and moved on out of the
row of tables, walking over to Dean Taras and Mr. Hawksmoor, who were standing
near the microphone, conferring.
Now Greg Grindle was back, charging
down the table, still barking out names of first-year boys "Alan Gerrity!
C'mon, c'mon, raise yer hand! Oswald Goldrick!" he said and stopped a few
feet away, dangling Oz's schedule, making Oz stand up and reach for it. As soon
as Oz's hand was near the piece of paper, Greg snatched it away smiling. Ben
felt Toby tense like a bowstring and saw him put one sneakered foot on his
seat, as if ready to launch himself across the table.
"Cool it," Ben hissed,
putting a hand on Toby's arm, marveling again at the strength he felt on such a
thin limb. "Geez, are you sure you weren't arrested for a violent
crime?" Toby shot him a venomous look, but settled—barely—back into his
seat.
In a moment, Grindle had tired of
torturing Oz and let the schedule flutter to the table, where Oz retrieved it
and scanned it, smiling. "Wow, Crime Lab. I bet we're going to learn all
sorts of forensic science."
"Yeah, but what about the work
detail?" Ben said.
Oz seemed unperturbed. "I have
mine during lunch."
"What?" hooted Ben. "I
have to be up at 6 every morning for my work assignment!" And he showed
Oz, who looked mildly interested, as though Ben had shown him a scabbed elbow.
"Hmm, so you do," he
remarked. "I'm working in the computer lab from 12:30 to 1:30 ." He frowned. "And Dean
Taras herself will be my supervisor. I thought it would be someone on the
school IT staff."
"What about you?" Ben asked
Toby, then realized his friend didn't have a piece of paper yet. Toby sighed.
"Guess they didn't have one printed up for me, since I'm a late entry.
I'll go up and talk to the Dean," he said, pulling himself upright. He
walked right by Tina Jordan, who was now at the microphone calling for her one
missing girl, and spoke to Dean Taras, who seemed annoyed—Ben suspected that
was her default expression—but gestured for Toby to follow her. She excused
herself from Mr. Hawksmoor, who now gazed around the room. His sharp eyes
briefly passed by Ben, but then came right back and fixed him with a look. He
raised a hand, extended one index finger and curtly gestured it towards
himself.
Ben hopped up as thought a rope had
been attached to that finger and wrapped around his neck. He walked smartly to
the front of the room, where Mr. Hawksmoor extended a hand. Ben took it and
they shook briefly. Ben had been right: Hawksmoor's grip was as unexpectedly
firm as Toby's had been.
"Benjamin. Settling in, I
trust?"
"Ye-yes sir. I'm in Doyle
Hall."
Hawksmoor allowed himself a thin
smile. "Ah, I was there my second year. And I understand you are rooming
with Oswald Goldrick?"
"Yes. We met on the way up
here."
Hawksmoor nodded at this. "Hmm,
hmm. Interesting combination, but not a bad one. I understand why Dean Taras
had to room you together. Which reminds me: you know we have an excellent
library here. You'll have free access to the computers there, since you
couldn't have one in your room."
Ben nodded dumbly.
Hawksmoor went on. "I usually
teach Law and Ethics, but this year I'm afraid I’ll have to engage a substitute
for class—although this summer I do hope to be able to deliver one or two
lectures. I suggest you pay close attention. I seem to remember in your
specific instance, you have a strong sense of what's right, but less of a grasp
on what's legal."
Ben bowed his head. "Yes
sir."
Hawksmoor nodded, indicating their
conversation was over.
As Ben walked back to his table, Toby
came trotting over, holding his schedule. "Got it from Dean Taras,"
he squeaked. Ben looked. Toby's schedule was handwritten, apparently by the
Dean herself. "I'll be helping the school librarian," he added,
making Ben wonder when he'd find out about his assignment—and his schedule was
the same as Ben's.
By now, all the students, except for
the DCs, were heading out through the door they'd come in. The workmen were
back and now they were stacking more boxes by this door. Tina Jordan was
standing there, too, looking ever more upset and stopping each girl and
occasionally calling out the name of that last girl she couldn't find. It was
all creating quite the bottleneck.
Shouldering through the throng came a
harassed-looking man holding a laptop computer and a handheld scanner just like
the one used by the technician Ben had met earlier (had that really been this
morning?). The DCs all had a similar look of recognition on their faces. They
knew what was coming.
The man set his laptop on the buffet
table and barked at the students to line up. Ben stared at the man—he was
sporting the most stupendous, ridiculous mustache Ben had ever seen on anyone
outside the pages of a Civil War history book. It covered his mouth entirely so
that when he spoke, Ben wasn't sure if it was the man himself, or just the
mustache that was issuing instructions.
"Line up!" he barked.
"My name is Zoltan Zalud, and in addition to being chief of the school
Crime Lab, I am also in charge of all school computers, security and associated
technology!" He glowered at them. "This year, that includes setting
up the monitoring system for all of the Variable Area Personal Monitoring
Devices!"
As Zoltan launched into an
explanation of how the bracelets worked—it was almost word for word what the
technician and Ben's parole officer had told him this morning—students around
Ben were already snickering and making comments about both the man's name and
his outrageous facial hair. Ben looked around, sure that Toby would have some
acid remark to make, but Ben couldn't see him anywhere in the crowd.
"Listen up!" Zoltan
shouted, his every sentence punctuated in exclamation points. "During the
day, starting at precisely 7 AM , the VAPMDs will be in Daytime
Mode—programmed to allow you access to the school buildings and grounds! You'll
get a map on your tour tomorrow that clearly delineates the boundaries of the
school! At night, precisely at lights out, the VAPMDs will automatically go
into Curfew Mode! That means the boundaries of the VAPMDs will be configured
such that you can only move about within the precise GPS coordinates of your
dormitory! Step more than a few feet out of the door while the VAPMD is in
Curfew Mode, and your device will go into Alert Mode, sending an infraction
signal to the monitoring system! Only a security admin like myself, the staff
at the school infirmary, or certain other teachers, will have an access code to
override the system, so if it's in an emergency, you will need to go to one of
the approved admins to have the code overridden!" He paused, letting his
mustache catch its breath. "Failure to do so will cause the infraction
signal to stand, and the police will be called out immediately to pursue and
arrest you! Any questions?"
Ben looked at Oz, who raised an
eyebrow. "Forget what I said earlier about learning anything in Crime
Lab," he sighed. "I could have explained the system better than that.
All of a sudden, I'm really glad Dean Taras is my work supervisor."
Zoltan barked again at the DCs to
line up—then realized they already were—and impatiently gestured at the first
one to come forward so he could scan the ankle bracelet and log the student
into the system. As Ben edged forward, he was uncomfortably aware that many of
the regular students had remained in the entryway of the cafeteria, gawking.
Several were laughing and jeering, and Ben was sure he could hear Greg
Grindle's grating, guffawing voice over everyone's. After several humiliating
minutes, it was finally his turn. Zoltan roughly grabbed his leg, and after
several swipes, he finally got the beeping noise he wanted from the laptop and
Ben was logged in.
Face red, Ben pushed through the
other students to get out of the cafeteria. Oz was right behind him, smiling.
"I got a good look at the laptop
screen while he was trying to scan you. It's a really cheap monitoring
system—not a true security system, but a modified inventory database program
used by Chinese cargo container ships. I think it would be fairly easy to
override, if I could just get my hands on—"
"Hey!" Toby cried, pushing
his way through the other students.
"Where were you?" Ben
asked.
"Right behind you, duh. Was that
walrus dude a dope or what?"
This made Ben laugh, and helped
dispel some of the humiliation he'd been feeling. Cheered, he was about to
suggest they get out of here and head back to Doyle, when Dean Taras appeared
at their side with such suddenness that even Toby jumped ("That woman's
everywhere!" he remarked later.)
"Benjamin Bridge
Ben froze. "Yes, ma'am?" he
said.
Dean Taras consulted her ubiquitous
clipboard and removed from it a small slip of paper. "Your work
assignment. Report to the Building and Grounds Office—it's the small brick
building near the south gate—at 6 sharp, Monday morning. Missing ANY work
assignment could be grounds for immediate expulsion," she said, looking
warningly him. Then she walked off, calling other students out of the crowd
that was now finally beginning to break up and filter out of the doorway.
"What'd you get?" Toby
asked, as Ben unfolded the paper. "Maybe you're in the library too?"
"Uhh, not quite," Ben said,
his heart falling into his shoes as he read the two words on the note:
Garbage Duty
But before he could say anything,
Tina Jordan burst into the entryway, angry and frantic.
"BRIANA TANNER?!?" she
boomed, louder even than Zoltan Zalud. "HAS ANYONE SEEN BRIANA
TANNER?"
Dean Taras was by her side in a
second to pull the anxious girl down the corridor. But as they left, Ben heard
her say, in an upset and worried voice. "You don't understand, Dean Taras!
I think we have a student missing!"
