The House of Puzzles (14 page)

‘Melbourne was founded?’ Gerald said. ‘You’re right. That was a dull year.’

‘What help is any of that to us?’ Sam asked.

‘None at all,’ Ruby said. ‘But it helped to pass the time. Speaking of which, what
did you achieve, mastermind? Solve the secrets of perpetual motion, did you?’

Sam gave his sister an indignant look. ‘I’ll have you know I have made significant
advances. Take a look at this.’ He ducked under the table and retrieved a cardboard
box. He carefully took out an elaborate assembly of cogs, flywheels and gears.

Gerald, Felicity and Ruby leaned in to get a better look. ‘What’s it do?’ Gerald
asked.

Sam beamed. ‘Watch this and prepare to be amazed,’ he said. He put it on the table
and extended a finger to start a flywheel spinning. The wheel whirred in place, setting
the contraption into a gentle hum. Then a large cog on one side started to rotate.
That in turn wound a spring tighter and tighter. Two other gears sprang into motion,
and soon Sam’s invention was a buzzing blur of activity.

Then a sprocket shot out the top and pinged off Sam’s right eyebrow.

‘Ow!’ he yelped.

The machine burred into a frenzy, bouncing on the table, shedding bits in a metallic
storm of self-destruction. Felicity dived under the table and Ruby grabbed Gerald
for a human shield as bolts, springs and sprockets sprayed everywhere. Gerald wrapped
his arms over his face to ward off the flying machine parts until Sam’s invention
farted out its final flywheel, leaving a scene of devastation across the table and
floor. Felicity emerged from her hiding place, Ruby released her death grip on Gerald’s
shoulders and Gerald unwrapped his arms from around his head. They all stared at
Sam, who sat unmoved in his seat, his front littered with metal debris.

‘I may have wound it a bit too tight,’ he said.

Ruby shook her head. ‘You are a loveable doofus.’

‘You certainly got the motion going,’ Gerald said as
he swept a pile of bits into
the cardboard box. ‘But you might need to work on the perpetual bit.’

Sam plucked a large spindle from his hair and dropped it with the other remnants.
‘I probably should be helping you solve that code,’ he said. ‘But it’s a bit hard
when all you’ve got is a message from 1835 and a torn piece of painting.’

Ruby paused in her cleaning up. ‘Sam, when did you say that revolution took place
in France?’

‘The three glorious days?’ Sam said. ‘In July 1830.’

Ruby thought for a moment. ‘And Gerald, when did you say the Billionaires’ Club was
formed?’

Gerald thought back to the meeting that took place in Dr Crispin’s office with Jasper
Mantle. ‘I’m pretty sure Diamond Jim Kincaid started it in 1830,’ he said.

‘It’s interesting that the note from Jeremy Davey, the Delacroix painting and the
Billionaires’ club all came into being round about the same time, don’t you think?’

There were many things that Gerald had found interesting since arriving at the Oates
Outdoor Education Centre: being attacked by Hello Kitty for a start, the return of
Sir Mason Green, the threat to Professor McElderry’s life. The seeming coincidence
of dates around a coded message, a vandalised French masterpiece and the club he
was about to join would just have to go on the bottom of the list.

Chapter 15

Mr Beare stood with a pointer in his hands before a large map on the wall and waited
for the teams to settle.

A buzz of excitement ran through the room as students, gathered in their tight clusters
of four, craned their necks in search of classmates among the crowd of expectant
faces.

‘Where is everyone?’ Sam said to Gerald. ‘Half the camp isn’t here.’

‘They didn’t complete the first leg in time,’ Gerald said. ‘I hear they have to stay
back and do extra maths lessons.’

‘They ought to be doing geography,’ Felicity said with a sniff. ‘Honestly, it wasn’t
that hard.’

Sam scoffed. ‘Says the person who rode there on a horse.’

Gerald slapped at the back of his neck as if a giant wasp had just stung him. ‘Ow!’
he yelped. He spun around in time to see Alex Baranov whipping something at him from
across the room. Gerald flung a hand out and snatched the object out of the air.

He unfurled his fingers. A bright red mint rested in his palm.

Gerald jumped to his feet and barged across the room to where Alex was sitting with
his teammates. ‘It was you!’ Gerald said, his eyes ablaze. ‘I knew it was you.’

Alex Baranov stood up, his smile bright and bold. ‘Of course it was me,’ he said.
‘Me and a slingshot. A bloody good shot it was too. You should be thanking me. I
was doing you a favour.’

Gerald couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘Doing me a favour?’ he said.

‘Of course,’ Alex said. ‘You could do with a mint. Your breath is toxic—especially
if you’re going for a romantic horse ride in the woods with Miss Snooty.’

Gerald weighed up the benefits of smacking Alex Baranov square in the mouth, but
before he could wind up and unleash, Mr Beare called for quiet. ‘Be so good as to
join your teammates, Mr Wilkins, and we’ll get underway.’

Gerald scowled at Alex and shuffled back across the room. He ignored the boy’s parting
call of, ‘Say hello to
Miss Snooty for me.’

Felicity took hold of Gerald’s arm as he sat next to her. ‘Did he just call me Miss
Snooty?’ she asked. Gerald dismissed the question with a grunt.

Mr Beare waited for silence. ‘Congratulations to you all for making it this far.
As you can see we have lost half of your number already. We are down to twenty-five
teams and I expect to lose half of you again on this next leg. For those of you who
do succeed, you can be well satisfied that you have shown resilience and intelligence
of an extremely high order. For those of you who fail… there will be extra history
lessons with Miss Whitaker.’

Sam leaned in close to Ruby. ‘Lucky you,’ he said. ‘You can’t lose.’

‘One day I’m going to send you to the vet to get fixed,’ Ruby replied. Sam shrank
back into his seat.

Mr Beare raised his voice again. ‘The second leg of the Triple Crown starts today.
As soon as we finish here, coaches will take you to the ruins of an ancient castle.’
He stabbed the pointer at the map, which showed the outline of a vast medieval complex:
moat, battlements, castle keep, bailey, towers, stables, orchards. ‘Miss Whitaker
tells me it was once a summer house of the boy king of Scotland, James VI. We are
very fortunate to have access to the site as it has been closed to the public for
decades. Hidden somewhere in the ruins is this.’ He held up a large picture of the
red stamp that Felicity had found at the checkpoint: an oval surrounded by a band
of dots. ‘The
reason you are here and not becoming more familiar with Pythagoras’s
theorem is because you found this symbol in the first challenge,’ Mr Beare said.
‘This same symbol is located somewhere in the confines of the castle complex. Each
team will be given a satellite locator. You must record the exact longitude and latitude
of the location of the symbol. Those teams who get it right will go on to the third
leg of the challenge and the opportunity to make history as the first team to ever
complete the Triple Crown. The others will have an appointment with their history
books. Are there any questions?’

Sam stuck a hand in the air.

‘Yes? Valentine?’

‘How long do we have to find it, sir?’ Sam asked.

‘Good question. You will have twenty-four hours from your arrival at the castle.
Camping equipment will be waiting for you there.’

Sam put his hand in the air again. ‘So we don’t have to pack a tent?’ he asked.

Mr Beare arched an eyebrow. ‘No, as I said camping equipment will be provided.’

‘Terrific,’ Sam said, flicking a glance at Ruby. ‘Just wanted to be sure.’

Mr Beare brought his hands together with a thunderous clap. ‘Be out in the driveway
in ten minutes. The buses will leave on time. No exceptions.’

There was a rush of bodies towards the cabins as people scrambled to collect warm
clothing for the
adventure ahead. Gerald was trailing Sam out the door when he was
collared from behind and shoved hard up against a wall.

Alex Baranov gripped Gerald’s shirtfront with white knuckles. Gerald could feel the
heat of the boy’s breath on his face.

‘What is your problem, Baranov?’ he said, struggling to lift his shoulders away from
the wall.

‘Maybe I haven’t been clear enough,’ Alex said coolly. He lifted Gerald away from
the wall then slammed him back against the timbers with tooth-rattling force. ‘Or
maybe you don’t hear so well. You will
not
try for the Triple Crown.’

Bang
. He slammed him into the wall again.

‘Or the Billionaires’ Club.’

Bang
.

Alex Baranov’s eyes narrowed to a laser-sharp intensity. ‘You do not need anything
more, all right?’ he said. ‘Your fortune is assured.’

Gerald stopped his struggle. ‘What are you talking about?’ he said. ‘What’s my fortune
got to do with this?’

Alex drew his mouth into a taut line. He tightened his grip on Gerald’s shirt. ‘You
know as well as I do what that symbol represents,’ he said. ‘And what it’s worth.
You don’t want to get in my way of finding it.’

Then Gerald sensed someone had joined them.

‘What are you pair up to?’ It was Mr Beare, his voice dripping with suspicion. ‘The
buses leave in five minutes,
with or without you.’

Alex gave Gerald one more shove against the wall. ‘Nothing, sir,’ he said, with a
forced smile. ‘I was just making sure Gerry packed a change of underwear. You know,
in case he sees a ghost.’

Mr Beare eyed them both with distrust. ‘Five minutes,’ he said.

Gerald shouldered past Alex and headed for his cabin, his brain a lashing tempest.

Gerald now knew what he was up against. Whatever mystery lay behind the Triple Crown
and the egg-shaped symbol, and whatever treasure was hidden at the Billionaires’
Club, Gerald would have to go past Alex Baranov to get to it. But as he thundered
along the path, he was at least able to crack a smile. In the grand hierarchy of
threats that Gerald was facing, little Alex Baranov and his father came off a distant
second to Sir Mason Green.

Dark clouds cloaked the sky as the last of the teams stepped from the buses outside
an imposing stone wall that was coated green and grey with centuries of lichen, moss
and neglect. Inside the outer wall, visible through a fine mist, stood the crumbling
edifice of a once-mighty castle.

Sam paused on the bottom step of the bus and peered
out. ‘What a miserable place
for a summer house.’

‘I doubt even Miss Whitaker would find this place interesting,’ Ruby said. They stepped
down and joined the rest of the students by a large pair of gates set into the outer
wall. Mr Beare wandered among the teams, handing out the satellite devices. ‘Once
you find the hidden symbol, press the red button to record your exact location. Then
make your way back to the courtyard to report in. Just to make it more interesting,
the first team back here with the correct coordinates will enjoy a home-cooked meal.’

While Mr Beare was talking, Gerald kept a thoughtful watch on Alex Baranov. While
Alex’s teammates, Owen, Millicent and Gretchen, chatted in anticipation of the challenge
ahead, Alex was silent. He had about him the cool reserve of a poker player holding
a spare ace.

A sharp jab to the ribs dragged Gerald from his thoughts. ‘Come on, daydreamer,’
Felicity said. ‘We have five minutes to grab whatever gear we want.’

She hooked her arm into his and pulled him to a long trestle table, where students
were picking through a trove of equipment. Battery-powered lamps, coils of rope,
hiking sticks, backpacks, water bottles, first-aid kits, snack packs. ‘Take as much
or as little as you think you’ll need,’ Mr Beare called out. Sam and Ruby were pulling
on down-filled parkas.

‘The symbol is hidden somewhere inside the castle, not at the South Pole,’ Gerald
said. ‘Do you really need
all this heavy-duty stuff?’

Ruby tossed him a jacket and a headlamp. ‘We’ve decided we’re not sleeping till we
find it,’ she said. ‘That means searching through the night. See if you can keep
up.’

Gerald pushed an arm through a sleeve and said to Sam, ‘Is Ruby always like this
in a race?’

‘Oh no,’ Sam said. He glanced at his sister as she elbowed her way past Millicent
to grab a spare water bottle. ‘Sometimes she can be really competitive. It can be
kind of scary.’

Twenty-five teams poured into the vast castle complex. Gerald caught up to Ruby and
Felicity and pulled them to one side. They waited by an ivy-covered column as the
rest of the teams scurried into the crumbling maze of buildings. Within seconds they
had all disappeared: into outbuildings, through the keep into the castle proper,
down into cellars. The outer courtyard was deserted apart from Gerald, Ruby, Sam
and Felicity.