Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London (9 page)

“Rusty!” Louise was clearly desperate, but the setter ignored her as she pattered alongside Bentley. “Rusty! Heel!” Louise tried again, but Rusty just kept skipping away from her. Johnny heard footsteps coming up behind but didn't turn round. Louise caught him up.

“Your dog's braver than you,” Johnny said to Louise, who looked terrified.

“I can't leave her,” she replied. “Pigs don't like dogs, but
they'll take me if I'm not with her. It happened to Peter.”

“Who's Peter?” Johnny asked.

“My neighbor. He disappeared last month. He was stupid and went out without his dog—I told him not to.”

“Well I'll find Clara and you can find Peter,” said Johnny. “At least let's have a look.”

“You don't understand,” Louise said. “This isn't some silly boy's game. At least let's get under some cover—I'll be amazed if they've not seen us already.”

The foursome—two children and two dogs—moved to the edge of the field and underneath the protection of some trees. They walked along one of the hedgerows and up to the brow of the hill. As they neared the very top Louise pulled Johnny down and they crawled the final few feet on all fours, mirroring the dogs beside them. From the summit they peered down into the valley below. Johnny had seen this sight before, albeit from the vantage point of the main road running beneath them, empty now apart from a black taxi parked in a lay-by.

The Proteus Institute for the Gifted stood impressively in manicured grounds. It was a four-story, redbrick Victorian building with a large square central tower, all set above some weathered steps cut into the hillside on the opposite side of the valley. There were greenhouses to the left of the main school buildings, around which were patches of vibrant reds and blues from flowers in bloom. A treelined drive ran from the foot of the steps, by the war memorial, and out to the main road. Apart from the drive there was a tall wire perimeter fence that seemed to run for miles without a break around the grounds. On the inside of the fence was a continuous band of lawn, except in the right-hand corner where a maze, built from hedges, almost touched it. On the far side of the building, overshadowed by the hill, were a couple of sports fields with rugby posts and a pavilion. Although early, it was turning into a lovely sunny day
and already Johnny saw a handful of children running though the maze, while others played a game hitting balls through hoops with giant hammers. It was too far away to see if any of them was Clara.

“You've seen it now. OK? Let's go,” hissed Louise in Johnny's ear. Louise seemed very scared of what just looked like a posh school. It didn't make any sense and Johnny wasn't about to turn around and hop on a train to Castle Dudbury.

“I can't go back now,” he whispered. “This is what I came for. I've got to find Clara.”

“You're mad,” said Louise, who'd turned white and was trembling. “You'll never get in there. And if you do you'll never get out.”

Johnny put his hand on her arm to steady her. “Yes I will. And if you tell me what Peter looks like I'll find him too.” He looked her square in the eye and hoped he sounded braver than he felt.

Louise buried her face in the grass, steeling herself. Then she spoke, slowly and controlled. “You can't go on your own—you don't know what you're getting into. And if we're going down there you'd better dump that bag and make sure your dog stays quiet.”

“You're coming too?” Johnny asked, surprised.

“Looks like I've no choice,” said Louise, nodding toward Bentley who was already leading Rusty along the hedgerow and down the hill toward the institute.

Johnny took the little console out of his sports bag and slipped it into the back pocket of his jeans—he didn't know when he might need Kovac's help. Then he pushed the bag out of sight underneath the hedgerow and ran after Louise, who'd nearly caught up with the dogs a little further ahead.

They reached the main road—there was a wide ditch on the far side from the Proteus Institute so they made their way along it, hoping to keep out of sight while heading for the part of the
fence closest to the maze. Climb the fence anywhere else and they were bound to be spotted; next to the maze they had a chance of sneaking into the grounds unseen. As they reached the lay-by with the black cab, two cars rounded a bend and came into view. The children and dogs hid behind the empty taxi. From a brief glimpse, Johnny thought either of the passing cars could have been the one he'd seen outside the park gates a few days before. Of course he couldn't be sure, but a shiver still went down his spine as they drove by. Once the cars were safely out of sight, Johnny led the way forward until they reached the right part of the fence.

“What now?” Johnny asked.

“You're the one who wants to go inside,” said Louise. “I guess we climb it.”

“But what about the dogs? I can't leave Bentley here.” The sheepdog was looking up at Johnny, panting with his tongue hanging out.

“Can he climb a ten foot fence?” Louise asked.

Johnny looked at the fence and wasn't sure he could climb it either. And even if he did there was some very vicious barbed wire running along the top. And once he got over that he didn't know how he'd go about looking for Clara. Maybe he was being stupid, but he couldn't go back now. He knelt down beside his faithful friend. “Sorry Bents—stay here out of sight. OK? I'll be back.” Johnny held Bentley for a few seconds while the sheepdog met his gaze as though he understood.

“You need a leg up?” Johnny asked Louise.

“I'm not a useless girl, you know. I can climb it. I'm not sure you can though.”

“Both together then,” said Johnny. There was no traffic. Louise said her goodbyes to Rusty and the pair sprinted across the road and jumped up onto the fence. Johnny was a good climber and Louise proved to be too—they reached the top together, which
was a mistake. The fence gave way and they fell forward, landing with a thud right on top of the outermost hedge of the maze, just thick enough to hold them for a second, before they tumbled forward inside. Louise was bleeding from the barbed wire.

“You OK?” Johnny asked.

“Fine,” Louise said, clutching her stomach which most definitely did not look fine. Her jacket had been undone and the white T-shirt underneath was quickly turning red. “There's worse stuff in here—believe me,” she added. “For a start how do we get out of here?” The hedges making up the maze were a lot higher than they'd looked from the hillside. Even jumping, Johnny couldn't see over them. As she was taller, Louise tried doing the same, but only the once. Johnny could see it had hurt, even if she didn't make a noise.

“I wrote a program to solve a maze in homework last year,” Johnny said. “Just follow the right or left wall and we'll get through it.”

“You're funny,” Louise said. “You don't look like a nerd. It's really that simple?”

“Yeah,” said Johnny. “It can take a while though. Your choice—left or right?”

Louise chose the right wall and they set off. They could hear children's voices wafting over the hedges, but were careful not to make any noise themselves. Normally exploring a maze would have been great fun, but with Louise gripping Johnny's arm as though her life depended on it, everything felt deadly serious. They walked slowly and carefully for five or ten minutes, taking every right turn they found between the thick hedges. Finally Louise stopped, holding her stomach, and said “Are you sure this is working? We're just going round in circles.”

Johnny hissed, “Trust me.” He turned a corner a little carelessly and bumped into two girls in pink gingham checked dresses. They took one look at Johnny and Louise, another at
Louise's bloodstained T-shirt, and turned and ran screaming. “Quick,” said Johnny. “Don't let them get away,” and he sprinted after them with Louise following. He was gaining but it was hard to follow the schoolgirls as they darted quickly round the different corners. Johnny had almost caught them up when they turned left and the maze opened up into a central clearing with a sundial in the middle and a few other girls sitting on the grass.

One of the girls he'd been chasing shouted, “Strangers—run!” as she careered past the sundial and out the other side. All the other schoolgirls leapt up and followed—all of them except one.

A fair-skinned, blond haired girl jumped to her feet with the others but as they ran off she stopped and turned to Johnny who also halted. Louise staggered into the clearing clutching her stomach. Johnny, all out of breath, managed to say “Clara?”

The girl in front of him replied, “It's you.”

Of all the things she might have said that wasn't what Johnny was expecting. “You know me?” he asked. “How?”

Clara took hold of a golden chain around her neck and, from beneath her uniform, pulled out a locket, with swirls of green delicately covering a golden base dotted with crystals. “Your photo's in my locket,” she said. “Who are you?”

Still breathing heavily, Johnny managed to say, “I'm your brother … Johnny … here to rescue you.”

“Rescue me? What from?” asked Clara and then, looking at Louise, “Who's she? Is she OK?”

Louise didn't look OK. She was holding onto the sundial for support and her face had become as pale as Johnny's and Clara's. “I'm looking for Peter … Peter Dalrymple,” she said. “They took him a month ago.”

Clara scrunched up her face, concentrating hard. “Short, brown hair—posh boy?” she said. Louise nodded. “Yeah—he
was here,” Clara continued. “He didn't last long.”

“They killed him?” Johnny and Louise asked together.

Clara put her hands on her hips. “What is it with you two? Don't be silly—he wasn't good enough.” Johnny and Louise exchanged dark glances. “Look,” said Clara, “it's very competitive at Proteus: ‘fitter than the fittest.' I've lasted longer than anyone. He'll have gone off to Triton.” When neither Johnny nor Louise showed any sign of understanding her, Clara added, “It's another school—I think it's in Wales.”

Louise didn't look convinced. She turned to Johnny. “Peter's gone—you've found her. C'mon let's go, before the pigs find us.”

“Who are the pigs?” Clara asked.

“Pigs in suits,” Louise said urgently. “They take kids and bring them here.”

“I rather think she means us.” The voice belonged to a tall man in a black suit who'd just walked into the central clearing.

“Stevens!” Johnny recognized the man from his mum's hospital.

Stevens smiled coldly at him. “Johnny Mackintosh flies straight into our spider's web,” he said, before sticking a finger in his ear and adding “both children are secure … with an unwanted stray from the village. Request permission to terminate … thank you.” Stevens turned toward Louise and pulled a weapon out from a holster inside his suit. “You know you're not meant to come here, silly girl.”

“No!” Clara shouted. Louise was rooted to the spot by the sundial, but Clara ran between her and Stevens and shouted, “What on earth are you doing?”

“If only you knew, Miss Clara,” Stevens said coldly. “Out of the way.”

“I won't,” Clara said, stubbornly refusing to move. “Don't hurt her.”

“She doesn't concern you. Now your brother's decided to
come and visit us you're going on a little journey. People in high places are very interested in him. And you'll be the icing on the cake.” Clara didn't budge; Stevens squeezed the trigger of his weapon and a beam of green light shot past her shoulder, just missing Louise and setting fire to a hedge behind. Before the man could take aim again, a gray and white missile hurtled at him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

“Bentley!” shouted Johnny. The sheepdog wrestled with Stevens, shaking his head from side to side. Stevens, his suit being torn to shreds, managed to get both hands around Bentley's neck and began to throttle the dog while lifting him away. Then Rusty appeared, clamping her jaws onto Stevens's arm. There was a horrible sound—a sharp snap from beneath the blur of canine limbs—that echoed along the valley. Rusty jumped away and ran from the clearing, while Bentley stood over the motionless figure.

“Quick—we've got to get out of here,” said Louise. “They'll all be coming now.”

“I'm not going anywhere till you tell me what's going on,” said Clara, looking anxiously at Stevens's limp body. “You might have killed a Protector. I've never met you before, you breeze into my school giving orders …” She looked at Louise, “… bleeding.”

“We're wasting time,” said Johnny. “Come on, Clara.” He reached into his T-shirt and pulled out his locket. “Trust me—how else would we both have one of these?” Johnny felt the locket turn warm in his hands and looked down. The crystals had started to glow—so had the ones on Clara's. Then it became light in his hand—he let go and it lifted up into the air, pointing straight at Clara's locket which was behaving in just the same way.

“Wow,” said Clara, open-mouthed. “OK, I believe you.” The spell somehow broken, both lockets fell back to hang normally.
“In here.” She moved to the sundial by Louise and was soon turning the fittings like an expert safe-cracker. The sundial slid across the grass to reveal a hidden entrance with steps leading downward into the earth. “No one knows about this—get in.” Louise didn't need asking twice. She started down the steps, wincing and holding her stomach, followed by Clara.

“Come on, Bents,” shouted Johnny. “In here, boy.” The dog turned to follow the children into the opening, but at that moment Stevens lifted his right arm and fired a shot. With a whimper Bentley collapsed to the ground.

“No!” Johnny shouted, running over to Bentley and cradling the dog in his arms.