Read Rugby Rebel Online

Authors: Gerard Siggins

Rugby Rebel (8 page)

BOOK: Rugby Rebel
7.3Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
Chapter 24

. . . . . . . . .

N
EXT morning Eoin called down to the Rock to pass on the bad news, but neither of his ghostly friends were anywhere to be seen. He tore a page from his notebook and scribbled a quick note, telling them where he was going to try next. He tucked it in under the boulder where he hoped Kevin would find it.

School dragged slowly, but at least Mr Dunne was happy with his progress on the history project. It was half-day Wednesday, but with the cup final around the corner Mr Carey was keen to ensure there were no more injuries so they went through a light session before working on their fitness and stamina.

As soon as rugby was over and he was showered and dressed, Eoin nipped out the school gates and headed for the Dart station.

He bought his ticket and sat in a window seat to get a good view of Dublin Bay as they raced into the city centre. As the train went behind a row of hedges, Eoin closed his eyes.

‘Where are you off to then?’ came a whisper.

Eoin opened his eyes to see Kevin and Brian sitting opposite him. Eoin turned his head to check that no-one was near him in the almost-empty carriage.

‘Did you follow me?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ said Kevin. ‘Brian here spotted you dashing off and he came to get me. Luckily enough we can run a lot faster because we’re dead.’

Kevin looked around. ‘This is a very strange railway carriage. It moves a lot quicker than the old Kingstown Express too.’

Eoin grinned. ‘I’m off to your old school to see if I can find out more about this key.’

Kevin frowned. ‘Do you know, I haven’t been back there for many, many years. But I suppose I can show you the way.’

Eoin got out at Connolly Station and followed the map he had called up on his phone. As he expected, Kevin was completely lost as the city’s landscape had changed so much. They turned right onto a street that climbed steeply to the top of a hill.

‘Ah, I recognise this now,’ said Kevin. ‘This has hardly changed a bit.’

They rambled up the street, gazing at the beautiful old doorways and colourful window boxes. Kevin looked up as they neared the top of the street.

‘That’s my old school,’ he sighed. ‘Happiest days of my life, or so they told me. What are you planning to do, Eoin?’

‘I thought I’d try to find the Belvo equivalent of Mr Finn,’ he said. ‘He might be able to help. Are you two going to tag along? Try to keep it quiet.’

Eoin rang the bell on the big, black doorway, and waited while someone came to open it.

‘Hello, I wonder can you help me,’ he started. ‘I was looking for the school historian …’

‘Well, young man, I’m the school archivist, so perhaps I can help?’ said an elderly man dressed in black.

‘It’s a complicated story,’ Eoin began.

‘Well, you’d better come in and tell me then,’ he smiled. ‘I’m Brendan. What’s your name, and is that a Castlerock jumper I spy under your jacket?’

‘It is,’ said Eoin. ‘I’m Eoin Madden, I’m a student out there. I was doing some, eh, research and I found this old key. I’ve been led to believe that it has something to do with Belvedere.’

‘And how were you led to believe this?’ asked Brendan.

‘Well, I can’t really say yet,’ said Eoin. ‘I was wondering if you had any idea what connection it has to your school?’

‘Hmmm,’ said Brendan, ‘I’d have to think about that.
There is one mystery in the archive that I’ve never quite understood, though. Come with me.’

He led Eoin along a corridor, where his Castlerock gear drew some hostile glowers from other boys. Brian and Kevin followed, and Eoin grinned as he imagined what the Belvo boys would do if his ghostly pals suddenly appeared to them.

Brendan showed him into a large room lined with bookcases and filing cabinets. He walked to a glass case in the middle, and Eoin was startled to see a series of artefacts to do with Kevin Barry, including an old browning photo of him charging up the wing at what was labelled ‘Lansdowne Road’, but looked nothing like the Aviva Stadium.

‘This cabinet concerns the school in the years from 1916 to 1922,’ Brendan explained. ‘I’m sure you’ve heard of Kevin Barry, who was a pupil here, and these other items also come from around that time.’

He reached inside and picked out a wooden chest about the size of an egg box; Eoin spotted that Kevin had suddenly taken interest in what they were looking at.

‘Here it is,’ Brendan smiled. ‘This was hidden in the archives for many years. It was found with a note saying it had been delivered in the dead of night during the
War of Independence and that it came from another Dublin school. It’s locked tight and no-one ever got to the bottom of it. I wonder is this anything to do with your key?’

Eoin gasped. Kevin and Brian had just reappeared behind Brendan and were closely examining the rest of the contents of the display case.

Eoin took the key from his pocket and poked it into the keyhole. He turned it, and was delighted when it clicked and the little chest sprang open.

‘Oh my goodness,’ said the elderly archivist. ‘That was a great surprise. Let’s see what’s inside.’

He lifted the lid, and there, lying on a purple velvet cushion, was another brass key.

Chapter 25

. . . . . . . . .


I
THINK I know what that’s for,’ Eoin said, carefully. ‘There’s a lock back in Castlerock that’s been unopened for years. Could I possibly borrow it?’

‘Well … I’m sure there’s no harm in that, since you’re the one who found the key to open it after all these years, but I’ll have to get in touch with your headmaster to tell him. It’s Mr McCaffrey still, isn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ replied Eoin. ‘Or maybe Mr Finn – he’s the archivist – would be better?’

‘Well, maybe, if you think he might know what the key unlocks …’

Brendan disappeared for a few minutes to call Mr Finn, and came back with a smile on his face.

‘Mr Finn told me you were the boy who won the Young Historian Competition, and you probably had a very good reason to borrow the key, so here it is. You will look after the key, won’t you? We would like it back when you’re finished.’

Eoin slipped the second key into his pocket and thanked Brendan before exiting through the front door.
Again he was startled to see Kevin and Brian standing outside.

‘Well, what do you think?’ he asked after the door closed behind him. ‘I’ll bet you any money the key fits the secret doorway.’

‘Well, I think you’re probably right,’ said Brian. Kevin nodded, too.

‘Did you see the exhibition they had about me in there?’ he asked. ‘It actually felt a bit embarrassing. There was a report saying I was too serious – what rot! They even had one of my school copy books with my scribbles all over it.’

Eoin laughed. ‘I suppose I’d better be careful that all my schooldays stuff is safely locked in the attic before I ever get famous!’

The three wandered down the street. Eoin said hello to a funny-looking gentleman who doffed his straw boater hat and waved as they passed.

The ghosts disappeared after Eoin got onto the train, which was now packed with people travelling home after work. He felt the key poking into his leg and wondered what lay behind the mysterious doorway.

As he walked up the drive to Castlerock, Mr Finn opened a window and called out, ‘Mr Madden, can you come up to see me, please?’

Eoin waved in reply, and jogged up the steps.

Mr Finn had a small office on the first floor where he was researching the history of the school. The desk was a jumble of stacks of books and papers that resembled the Manhattan skyline, and in between them Eoin could just about see the elderly teacher.

‘Eoin, what is this all about?’ he asked, ‘The Belvedere archivist phoned to tell me of your visit.’

‘I found a key in the grounds here, sir, and well, I was led to believe that it had something to do with that school,’ he began. ‘And sure enough when I went into town to Belvo we discovered that it opened a chest. Inside the chest was another key, which I think could fit the lock in the door in the secret chamber under our dorm.’

‘I’m still not sure what you’re talking about at all, Eoin,’ Mr Finn said. ‘But I do love an adventure and I suppose there’s no harm in trying the door.’

The two walked up the stairs to the dormitory, where they found Alan lying on his bed reading a zombie comic. ‘Hello, Mr Finn,’ he said, jumping to his feet.

Eoin waved a key at him and grinned. ‘I think I have it,’ he told his pal.

The boys combined to open the trapdoor, and Eoin switched on the torch which lit up the room below
with a yellow, flickering light.

‘The torch is running low, Mr Finn,’ he explained. ‘We’d better hurry.’

Eoin led the way down, followed by Mr Finn and Alan. He went straight to the door and found the lock.

‘Here goes,’ he said, gently pointing the key into the lock and twisting. The lock groaned, and Eoin gave it another twist.

‘It may be rusted,’ said Mr Finn. ‘Here, let me try?’

But just then Eoin grunted an extra effort and the lock responded with a loud ‘
clunk
’.

The torch faded just a little more as Eoin looked back at the teacher.

‘Will I open it, sir?’

‘Go on, you’ve come this far. Be careful though, there may be little furry creatures running around in there!’

Eoin pushed at the door, which was stiff and required some extra shoulder, but once it moved it swung open with a creak.

It took him a couple of seconds to get used to the dark, and he realised the torchlight was almost spent. There was some light coming from the wall to the right, where an ancient window frame was allowing some of the evening sunlight through. He stepped carefully over to it, unsure of what was underfoot.

‘My, oh my,’ said Mr Finn, following him into the chamber. ‘This is a bit like what those archaeologists who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb must have felt.’

Eoin noticed that there was a small hole in the corner of one of the panes, but carefully used his sleeve to rub away at the window, removing decades of dust and grime. The sunlight flooded into the room.

Mr Finn stood open-mouthed in the middle of the room which was packed with boxes of papers, as well as some large wooden crates which were nailed shut.

‘I think we need to call the gardaí, sir,’ said Alan.

‘Oh, I’m sure there’s no need, this is just a lot of forgotten old rubbish,’ Mr Finn replied. ‘There may be plenty of interest for my researches of course, but I can’t imagine what else there would be.’

‘No, sir, look over by the window,’ Alan insisted.

There, leaning up against the wall, stood a rifle.

Chapter 26

. . . . . . . . .

E
OIN and Alan froze, staring at the weapon. They had seen rifles before in museums, but never in real life.

‘Gosh, you’re right, Mr Handy,’ said Mr Finn. ‘Eoin, come away from that wall, and don’t touch that gun.’

The light outside had started to fade, but Eoin took one last look out the window. There was a good view of the small glade of trees where the Rock stood. He thought he saw a flash of red and yellow but it disappeared just as soon as he noticed it.

Mr Finn ushered the boys out of the chamber, and pulled the door behind him.

‘Alright, you two,’ he motioned to the boys as they climbed back into the dormitory. ‘I’m going downstairs to get the headmaster, and some batteries for that torch. Please don’t go back down that hole again.’

Eoin and Alan sat on the edge of their beds, their minds racing at all that they had seen.

‘What do you think is in those boxes?’ asked Alan.

‘I don’t know, but they look very old,’ replied Eoin.
‘I wouldn’t say anyone has been behind that door for a hundred years.’

Eoin peered down the steps. ‘I wonder why Kevin was so drawn to this school. He seems to know more than he’s telling us.’

Mr McCaffrey walked in, with a very grave expression on his face.

‘What on earth has been going on here, Madden?’

He stared down into the secret chamber. ‘Has this anything to do with the mobile phones you said were stolen?’

‘Well, sir, that’s how we first found this room …’ Eoin started.

‘Show me what you found, Mr Finn. You boys remain up here,’ the headmaster snapped.

Eoin and Alan waited while the teachers went down to the hidden chambers. They returned within five minutes.

‘Madden, Handy, I’m afraid we will have to move you to other quarters tonight,’ said Mr McCaffrey. ‘I will have to call the gardaí and they will be very disruptive coming through your room. Gather up your baggage and everything you need for school tomorrow and we’ll find beds for you and the other pair. Handy, will you go and locate your room-mates?’

After Alan left, Mr McCaffrey sat down and looked Eoin in the eye.

‘Neither Mr Finn nor I are quite sure what is going on here, Mr Madden,’ he started. ‘But I intend to get to the bottom of it. And what is this about you going in to Belvedere College?’

Without mentioning the ghosts, Eoin tried to explain how he found the first key and why he went to the other school to retrieve the second, but even he realised he sounded ridiculous.

‘You just had “a feeling” that there was a key that fitted the lock down there?’ asked the headmaster. ‘And you expect me to believe you?’

‘Well …’ he stammered.

‘Eoin is a very honourable, truthful boy,’ interjected Mr Finn. ‘I’m sure he meant no harm here and he may have done us a great service if those boxes contain what I believe they do.’

‘Well, at least one of the crates seems to be full of rifles and ammunition,’ started the head, before stopping himself from revealing any more. ‘Pack your bags Mr Madden and I’ll meet the four of you at my office in fifteen minutes,’ he ordered. ‘And please stay nearby this evening as I’m sure the guards will want to talk to you.’

Eoin did as he was told, and Mr Finn helped him
to pack. ‘Don’t worry, Eoin,’ he said. ‘Mr McCaffrey is naturally concerned for the school. But it will all blow over soon, I’m sure. I must confess that I’m quite excited as I think the papers down there are from the missing years of the school archive.’

Eoin smiled and lifted his bag off the bed. ‘Thanks, Mr Finn, glad I could help. I know my story sounds a bit mad but I hope it all works out well in the end.’

Alan, Rory and Dylan arrived just as Eoin was leaving and he filled them in briefly on what was happening. ‘We have to be at the headmaster’s office in ten minutes, so hurry,’ he said. ‘Mr Finn will explain while you’re packing.’

BOOK: Rugby Rebel
7.3Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Chaos: The First by Tammy Fanniel
A Life Beyond Boundaries by Benedict Anderson
Loving Rowan by Ariadne Wayne
Sharing Secrets by Forrest Young
Tango One by Stephen Leather
Where the Air is Sweet by Tasneem Jamal
She Said Yes! by Shawna Jeanne