The Beast of Seabourne (6 page)

Oz frowned. This wasn't like Caleb. He waited expectantly for the historian to pause dramatically, look up with a grin, and say, “Got you that time,” like he usually did. Silence again ballooned into the room until Oz felt obliged to prick it.

“Where are you going, anyway?”

Caleb laughed softly. “Where indeed. Heeps knows about me now. He's making it his business to make life difficult for me at the University. So he's just arranged for me to go to Bulgaria on an academic visit as a replacement for Madely, who's conveniently gone down with appendicitis. I'll be away for at least a week, maybe two.”

Oz digested this little nugget of news but said nothing. Instead, he tried to understand why it made him feel so uncomfortable. Probably because Heeps was involved, and anything Heeps did made Oz's antennae twitch. Caleb Jones had been almost as good a source of information regarding the artefacts as Soph was, and having him not around would be a pain. However, was it really Caleb leaving that bothered him? Or was it Caleb's disappointing lack of enthusiasm regarding Eldred? It was almost as if Caleb was warning them off.

“Well, have a good trip, then,” Oz said, not knowing what else to say.

As he made to leave, he felt Caleb's hand on his arm. “Just be careful with Mr Eldred, Oz. He's been through a lot for the sake of the artefacts already.”

“Okay,” Oz said, searching the historian's face. For a moment, something shifted behind the large pupils. An echo of an emotion Oz could not pinpoint. He got the impression Caleb wanted to say more, but one glance at the thin line of his white lips told him no more words would be forthcoming.

Back in his bedroom, Oz tried to finish his homework. After half an hour of fjord facts fighting with remembered snatches of the day's conversations with Ellie, Ruff, and Caleb, he was certain of only one thing—he'd run out of ideas of where to look for artefact clues. Like his father before him, Oz was convinced the answers to their whereabouts were buried somewhere in Penwurt's old orphanage block. Ellie and Ruff shared that conviction, hence their frustration at Mrs Chambers' insistence they stay away until the damage from the fire that had devastated the basement—and almost fried Oz in the process—was fixed once and for all. Now that Penwurt was becoming shipshape again, there were no excuses to avoid starting over. Ellie's idea about finding Eldred seemed to be as good as any.

Why, then, had Caleb been so reluctant?

Oz liked his dad's friend and respected him, but already his connection with Obex and his vow to keep the artefacts from getting into the wrong hands had clashed with Oz's desire to find them. There was always a lot more to Caleb than met the eye, and Oz was convinced he knew more than he ever let on. That was almost understandable, bearing in mind Caleb's concern for Mrs Chambers and his wish not to upset her, since she still felt that Oz's dad's death was linked to his obsession with the artefacts. However, Oz felt caught in the middle, and Caleb's lack of enthusiasm was like a spider dangling above his bed: probably harmless but impossible to ignore.

People called Oz many things—adventurous (his mum), rebellious (the Volcano), stubborn (everyone), buzzard (Ruff)—but the more people told him to stay away from something, the more determined Oz was to do the exact opposite.

Chapter 3

Rats

When Oz got to school the next morning, he went directly to Room 63 to retrieve the tank before joining a burbling stream of year eights making their way to the science lab. It looked like everyone had emptied their garages and junk rooms and were bringing in bits of the most random flotsam and jetsam they could find. Bernice Halpin had a clock connected to a couple of plastic water bottles, which she called her “liquid time machine,” and Dilpak had a scale model of a modern windmill next to a large, flaccid balloon, which, Oz assumed, was to be the source of the windmill's power.

Natasha Stilson and Sandra Ojo, both friends of Ellie's, were struggling to control a couple of yards of vacuum cleaner hose attached to a snorkelling mask, which they described as an “underwater meditation device.” Oz couldn't wait to find out what that one did. Ellie and Ruff ran over from their buses to join him, and the three of them entered the science block, where Mr Skelton was ticking off entries on a clipboard. He looked up, registering their faces, teeth gleaming in his freshly shaven face.

“Ah, yes, Messenger, Adams, and Chambers, umm—a working model of the water cycle. Hmmm, sounds very intriguing. Okay, put it over there on the second bench.”

Oz followed Skelton's pointing finger to a space beside a large ice-cream box full of purple liquid, in which bits of what looked like marshmallow floated. According to the card taped to the box, this was supposed to be Shane Brewster and Aaron Bradley's depiction of a melting polar ice cap.

All around them, students fussed over models and put the finishing touches to their projects, but all Oz, Ellie, and Ruff could do was check their connections one last time. It took no more than thirty seconds, which was just as well, because the bell rang for registration at that moment.

Outside, under a bruised sky, latecomers bustled across the yard with their models and posters, but Oz's attention was drawn to three people jostling each other just to the side of the lab. Two had their backs to the entrance and were blocking the third pupil's passage. Oz instantly recognized Skinner's lanky frame and knew the smaller one next to him must be Jenks. The third, facing them, scarlet blooms on each cheek, his expression tight and grim, was Niko Piotrowski, one of Oz's 2C classmates. Oz elbowed Ruff and nodded in Niko's direction.

“What's going on there?”

“Don't know, but Niko doesn't look too happy about it,” Ellie said.

“Come on.” Oz set off towards them.

“Just tell us what you've got, Igor,” they heard Jenks say as they drew nearer. Igor was Jenks and Skinner's nickname for Niko, presumably because he retained his Polish accent.

“Is just my project,” Niko said. “Vocal animal transducer.”

“Yeah, but what does it do?” Skinner asked, peering at the thing suspiciously. It looked like the bell of a bugle connected to the mouthpiece of an ocarina, but between the two, Oz spied a black plastic box with lots of wires coming from it.

“You will find out this afternoon,” Niko said. There was a tremor of anger in his determined words.

“But I wanna know now,” Jenks said, grabbing for the instrument. Niko pulled it away just in time.

Jenks tutted. “Come on, Igor, don't make us take it from you.”

“Yeah, Igor,” echoed Skinner, “show us your project before it accidentally falls onto the floor and smashes to smithereens.”

Niko shook his head. “I have to assemble in laboratory. It is too delicate to show you here.”

Oz knew Niko had taken the competition very seriously. He'd even missed football practise to get it finished. What was more, he'd done it all single-handed.

“Don't be such a ponce,” Jenks said, still unaware that Ellie, Ruff, and Oz were now right behind him. “Come on, show us what you got.”

“That your best chat-up line then, Jenks?” Oz said.

Jenks wheeled, eyes flashing, his face flushing darkly. “Chambers! What do you want?”

“You to get lost,” Ruff said.

“We're just having a little chat with Igor,” Skinner whined.

Ellie turned to Niko. “Having a cozy chat with Jenks and Skinner, were you, Niko?”

“No,” Niko said. “They will not let me take project to lab.”

“Two against one again, Jenks? We need to get you some extra maths lessons,” Oz said.

“Hey, Skinner, didn't you lose some money this morning?” Ruff asked.

Skinner frowned and felt in his pockets. They saw him smile in relief before his eyes narrowed furtively. “Maybe I did.”

“I heard someone found a two-pound coin on the floor over by your bus. Better check it out.”

Skinner's face lit up, and he stepped towards the bus bay.

Jenks shook his head and grabbed Skinner by the arm. “No one found anything, Skinner. Adams is just messing about.”

From behind them, Niko, seeing that his assailants were now well and truly distracted, hurried past and into the lab.

“Oi, where do you think you're going?” Jenks yelled, but his shouts attracted the attention of their year master, Enforcer Manning, a burly Lancastrian with thinning hair, who was making his early morning rounds.

“Kieron, Lee, get to registration!” he bellowed.

“Yes, sir,” Jenks called back cheerfully before dropping his voice to seethe, “Why do you keep sticking your big nose into my business, Chambers?”

“Because I can smell troublemaking gonks a mile off, and funnily enough, the trail always leads to you.”

Jenks glared at Oz but didn't say anything else.

“Don't see you with a project,” Ellie said.

“Well, that's where you're wrong, Messenger,” Jenks sneered. “My brother's bringing it in.”

“I can't wait,” Ellie said.

Jenks bristled, but with Enforcer Manning still scouting for stragglers, he slouched off, contenting himself with a couple of rude gestures in reply. Niko came out of the lab just as a white van pulled up at the school gates and gave a couple of loud blasts on its horn. Jenks and Skinner dashed over. A face, a pastier and older version of Jenks', emerged from the driver's side window.

“Come on, Lee, I haven't got all day.”

“All right, all right,” Jenks said. Both he and Skinner disappeared around the rear of the van and emerged with a lumpy mound swathed in black plastic.

“Think it's a body?” Ruff said.

“I wouldn't put it past them,” Ellie mused.

They left Jenks and Skinner to their dubious offloading and joined a trickle of fellow pupils crossing the open yard on their way to Room 33. Niko appeared at Oz's elbow, having run to catch him up. “Thank you for help with Jenks and Skinner.”

“They're such a pain, those two,” Ellie said.

The whole of that afternoon was to be given over to the science competition, with teams having just five minutes to explain and demonstrate their projects.

“You're all right for Sunday, then, Niko?” Ruff asked, changing the subject.

“Sunday?” Niko looked blank.

“The mixed five-a-side competition,” Oz said. “I know you haven't been able to make practise, but you put your name down a month ago.”

“Yes. I have been busy with project, but now it is finished, I will come to competition.”

“Brilliant,” Oz said. That would put them at full strength. Enough to give Jenks and Skinner and their Skullers team a run for their jellybeans.

“Sounds like you mean business with this transducer thingy,” Ellie said.

“I do research, find great site on Internet for help. I work hard. Now, is nothing left to do but play.” Niko grinned. It was infectious.

Despite Niko's obvious enthusiasm, Oz felt absolutely confident that they would win. The water cycle in a box was a no-brainer for first prize; he was sure of it. He was looking forward to showing the class and Skelton what it could do. In the meantime, there was a whole morning of lessons to get through.

In English, they were doing a poem about a raven. It was quite spooky, but there was more to it than just spookiness. Oz found himself empathizing with the poor chap in the poem, who just wanted to know from the weird raven if his dead girlfriend was in heaven and safe. Oz had been there and got the T-shirt when his dad died in an accident almost three years ago.

However, sitting as he did next to Ruff, Oz had no chance to dwell on such maudlin thoughts. Ruff ‘s opinion of English was that it was a bit “buzzard.” He thought the raven—who kept saying “nevermore” throughout the whole poem—sounded like a stuck record, and spent most of the lesson squawking “nevermore” in a supposedly raven-like voice but which, to Oz, sounded suspiciously like a parrot's.

Geography with Mr Gingell was, as usual, a laugh. Oz planned to show him the water cycle box once the science project was over. They'd covered climate in the first year with Gingell, and he had the knack of making everything seem interesting and relevant. Sometimes, they'd spend a whole week's lessons discussing things that happened in the news. Like when the Icelandic volcano went off and threw ash plumes into the air, or when there was a tsunami. Or when that school trip went missing on a mountainside the autumn before; Gingell did a whole double lesson on how to survive the night in fog. He was better than Gorilla Griddle, the bloke who presented
How to Live on an Island With Just a Safety Pin and a Bit of Dental Floss
on the TV.

At break time, Oz, Ellie, and Ruff grabbed a hot chocolate each from the machine and made their way across to the music block. Halfway there, Ellie halted and pointed towards the science lab.

“Isn't that Jenks and Skinner?” she said.