The House of Puzzles (16 page)

Then a sudden realisation tapped on the window of Gerald’s subconscious: was the
perpetual motion machine also the object of Sir Mason Green’s desires?

Gerald’s heart raced. It made no sense. How could an impossible machine that defied
the laws of thermodynamics be worth Professor McElderry’s life? He rattled his head
to try to get his thoughts back on track. He
could worry about the sense of it all
later. All he had to worry about now was getting Drebbel’s machine to Mason Green.

Gerald looked up to see that Alex had pulled himself onto his knees and held the
rubber mallet back over one shoulder. Gerald flinched.

Alex caught the look on his face. ‘Don’t worry, Gerry. I’m not going to knock you
off,’ he said. ‘Not yet, anyway. Here, come and be a help for a change.’ He nodded
towards a large stone block by Gerald’s knee. ‘You’re going to have to lift that
up and shove it into place once I’ve tapped the keystone out far enough.’

Gerald looked at the lump of rock. ‘Why?’

‘Because if you don’t plug the gap the ceiling will collapse and bury us under eighteen
tons of rubble,’ Alex said. ‘Is that enough of a reason?’

Then Ruby’s voice drifted up from the floor far below. ‘Gerald, what’s going on up
there?’

Gerald did not take his eyes off Alex. ‘We’re agreeing on a date for a sleepover,’
he called back. ‘What do you think we’re doing? You might like to step back a bit.’

Alex flashed Gerald a mocking smile. ‘Ready?’ He raised the mallet from his shoulder
and swung it square against the keystone. The impact sent a shudder through the scaffolding,
like a shiver running down a giraffe’s neck. Gerald dropped to his hands and knees,
waiting for the structure to collapse under him.

But somehow the tower held true.

The keystone did not budge.

‘Come on,’ Alex said. ‘Be ready. I’ll get it this time.’ He lined up again and delivered
another whack to the stone. This time it moved out about ten centimetres. ‘Lift the
block ready,’ he said to Gerald.

Gerald sucked in a breath and hoisted the stone onto his shoulder. It must have weighed
twenty kilograms. A blaze of pain flashed through his collarbone. ‘Give us a hand,
then,’ Gerald grunted.

Between them, Gerald and Alex worked the block in behind the loosened keystone, fitting
it neatly into the gap. Alex whacked it with the mallet, smacking it hard up against
the keystone. He paused to catch his breath. ‘Someone cut that block to just the
right shape,’ he said. ‘A few more good hits and the keystone will be free and this
block will be in its place. The arch will be as good as new.’

Gerald took a careful pace back. The structure beneath his feet seemed to sway. He
glanced down and was suddenly very aware of just how high they were above the stone
floor. He saw Ruby staring up at him, concern written across her face.

There once was a girl named Ruby…

No! He had to concentrate.

Alex struck the block with a tremendous clout. The stone surged forward, spitting
the keystone out like a watermelon pip. Gerald was taken by surprise as the heavy
granite block fell into his fingers.

Fell
through
his fingers.

Gerald dropped it.

‘Careful!’ Alex yelled.

But it was too late.

The keystone smashed onto a plank at the top of the scaffold then spilled over the
edge. Gerald and Alex watched as the keystone fell through the air and hit the floor
far below like a bomb.

‘You idiot!’ Alex yelled. ‘If that machine is broken…’

Gerald did not want to think of the consequences. He may have cost the professor
his life.

Alex looked at Gerald. Gerald held his gaze for a moment. Then they both moved in
a clattering dash down the side of the scaffolding. ‘Ruby! Sam!’ Gerald yelled as
he rattled down the wooden frame. ‘It’s in the keystone. Quick!’

Alex yelled out for his teammates, urging them into action. ‘Find it!’

Gerald and Alex jumped to the floor at the same moment and dashed to the pile of
rubble. Gretchen and Owen were already on their knees, picking through the debris.
Ruby and Sam dived in seconds later.

Alex pushed his way into the scrum, shouldering Ruby aside. She landed awkwardly
on a sharp rock and yelped in pain. In a mad flurry of digging, Alex pulled a sturdy
metal box from the wreckage and held it above his head in triumph.

‘I’ve got it!’ he cried.

The searchers stopped. All eyes were on Alex as he slid his fingernails under the
lid, ready to prise it open.

‘Stop,’ Gerald said, breathing hard. He was on his knees, begging. ‘You said you’d
give it to me.’

Alex didn’t take his eyes from the prize in his hands. ‘Well, I guess I lied then.’
He eased off the lid and let it fall to the ground with a clatter.

He looked in the box.

‘Well?’ said Gretchen. ‘What’s inside?’

Alex’s voice was dry as desert sand.

‘It’s…it’s empty,’ he said. A look of absolute desolation washed across his face.
The words had barely left his mouth when there was a creaking groan from above. Gerald
looked up. It took a moment to register what was happening. By the time the first
bricks were hitting the floor Gerald was on his feet and he, Ruby, Sam and Felicity
were sprinting for the passageway.

The roof was falling in.

The headmaster’s office at the Oates Outdoor Education Centre was crowded with dust-caked
bodies.

On one side, in a sullen line, stood Gerald, Ruby, Felicity and Sam. On the other,
equally sullen, were Alex, Gretchen, Owen and Millicent. Between the two groups stood
Mr Beare who, while not sullen, certainly did not look happy.

Facing them all was Dr Crispin. And judging by the shade of purple his face had acquired,
he was not happy at all.

‘It is a miracle that no one was injured or killed,’ the headmaster said, pacing
the small amount of carpet left vacant in his office. ‘What on earth were you all
thinking, going into such a dangerous place?’

Felicity opened her mouth to answer, but Dr Crispin flung up a hand, cutting her
off. He was mid-rant and in no mood for interruption. ‘How would your parents react
if you had been hurt, or worse? As it is I’ve got the Scottish Heritage Council baying
for my blood. Can you imagine their response to all of this? You lot stumble into
a previously undiscovered cellar under a heritage-listed castle and instead of reporting
your finding you blinking-well destroy it. That castle may be a ruin but that doesn’t
mean you can ruin it some more.’ The headmaster leaned back against his desk and
wiped a checked pocket handkerchief across his brow.

Gerald stared glum-faced at Alex Baranov.

It had been an eventful afternoon. After the first of the stone blocks from the cellar
archway started raining down like mortar shells, Gerald had managed to lead everyone
back to the hidden doorway. They dashed along the passage, keeping just ahead of
a roiling plume of dust that chased them though the tunnel. They shot out of the
stairwell into the courtyard like a fusillade of cannonballs. Gerald gave a garbled
explanation to
Mr Beare about what had happened while somehow avoiding any mention
of the scaffolding, the rubber mallet or the keystone. But with a gaping sinkhole
suddenly appearing in the centre of the castle grounds, swallowing up entire buildings,
the second leg of the Triple Crown was abandoned. Everyone was marched onto the buses
for the drive back to the camp. Gerald avoided taking the coach with the jagged crack
across its windscreen.

Dr Crispin ranted on and on. Discipline this. Responsibility that. Gerald figured
that if he said nothing, the headmaster would eventually run out of puff and everyone
could go and get something to eat. But Dr Crispin, clearly rant-fit from a lifetime
in training, was showing no signs of fatigue.

‘And who came up with this year’s Triple Crown challenge anyway?’ he barked, turning
his full fury to Mr Beare. ‘Why were students at that castle to begin with? Who in
their right mind would send a hundred hormone-addled teenagers into a castle? Can
you answer me that?’

Mr Beare’s pasty complexion faded to a sickly greyish hue. He groped for a response.
‘Um…we used an external supplier,’ he said. ‘A company that specialises in this sort
of thing.’

‘Specialises in what, exactly?’ the headmaster interrupted. ‘Endangering students’
lives and a spot of castle demolition on the side?’ He seethed at the hapless maths
teacher. ‘Out!’ he cried to the eight students. ‘I need to continue this conversation
with Mr Beare. Alone.’

Gerald did not wait for a second invitation. He darted to the freedom of the cold
afternoon outside, followed closely by Ruby, Sam and Felicity. They huddled together
by a frozen fishpond in the courtyard.

‘Well that was about as much fun as a knee to the groin,’ Sam muttered, bundling
in close to the others to escape the cold. ‘Who’s for something to eat?’

Ruby wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. ‘For once, I agree with Sam. Let’s
see what’s on offer in the dining hall. Are you coming, Felicity?’

Felicity bounced on her toes, like an over-eager spaniel late for its afternoon walk.
‘Yes. And I have something I really need to show you all. It’s super important.’

Gerald looked at her with interest. ‘What is it? You’ve been acting strange since
we got on the bus back at the castle.’

Felicity gave him an impish grin. ‘I’ll tell you once we’ve got some hot food in
front of us and there are no prying eyes about.’

They started towards the dining hall, but Gerald paused. ‘You go on,’ he said. ‘There’s
something I need to do first.’

Gerald held back in the courtyard garden outside the headmaster’s office, rubbing
his arms to keep warm, until he saw what he was waiting for.

‘Your father arranged all of this, didn’t he?’ Gerald crossed to Alex Baranov as
the boy stepped from a covered walkway and onto the gravel path that led to the cabins.
‘This challenge for the Triple Crown. It was all designed to locate the hiding place
for Drebbel’s perpetual motion machine, wasn’t it.’

Alex buried his hands deep in his pockets and strode along the path, head down and
saying nothing.

‘It’s a clever way to get a hundred sets of eyes looking for you,’ Gerald said. ‘First,
you weed out the hopeless ones by setting a twenty-mile hike to find a symbol—a symbol
that marks the place where the perpetual motion machine was hidden a few hundred
years ago. Then you let the clever ones loose to try to find the hiding place. What
was the third leg in the challenge? To retrieve the machine? How proud your father
would have been when you were the one to do it. How did he convince Mr Beare to go
ahead with the idea? Throw some money his way, did he? Isn’t that the Baranov solution
to everything?’

Alex stopped and swung around. ‘Forget about it, will you?’ he said. His eyes drilled
into Gerald’s forehead. ‘My father thought the machine was hidden in James VI’s castle
but it wasn’t there so it’s no use banging on about it. My father has even less reason
to be proud of me now.’

Gerald paused as an unexpected emotion washed through him. Was it pity?

Alex dropped his eyes to the ground. A fresh gust sent a flurry of leaf litter across
the courtyard, whipping
at Gerald’s ankles. He suddenly felt very cold.

‘I’ll see you around,’ Alex said in a low voice, then he turned to walk away. Gerald
reached out and took his arm.

‘I’m sorry about all of this,’ he said, ‘I have to get that perpetual motion machine
or my friend is going to—’, Gerald stopped and sighed. ‘It has to do with Sir Mason
Green,’ he said. ‘It’s complicated.’

Alex stared down at where Gerald held him by the sleeve. ‘Sir Mason Green?’ he said.
‘I hardly think he’s going to cause you any problems.’

Gerald grunted. ‘You don’t know him like I do,’ he said.

Alex shook his arm free. ‘You’re an idiot, Wilkins. Mason Green is my godfather.’

Gerald stared open-mouthed as Alex Baranov stalked off to the cabins.