The House of Puzzles (5 page)

Ruby dipped a spoon into her porridge and blew across the bowl. ‘Oh, don’t worry
about Millie and Bletchen,’ she said. ‘I’m still gunning for them. That stupid Hello
Kitty creature and her friend can sleep uneasy knowing that.’

‘What about Baranov?’ Gerald said. ‘He was well out of order with what he said about
Professor McElderry. And about you. How come you’re all smiley-smiley with him today?’

Ruby put down her spoon. ‘Because Alex had the decency to come up to me this morning
and apologise for his behaviour last night,’ she said. ‘He was sorry that he’d got
off on the wrong foot with me and wanted to start over. I may have misjudged him.’

Gerald choked on his bacon. ‘Misjudge Alex Baranov! You can misjudge a basketball
shot or a golf swing, or even Sam’s ability to think about anything other than food,
but you can not misjudge people like Alex Baranov. It is just not possible. What
you see is what you get and what you get is one hundred per cent jerk.’

‘And you made up your mind on that from one interaction last night?’ Ruby said.

Gerald simmered. ‘I’ve met his type before.’

Felicity leaned over and bopped Gerald on the point of his nose with her finger.
‘I do believe you are jealous,’ she said.

The fork slipped from Gerald’s fingers and clattered to the tabletop. ‘Jealous?’
he said, with a little too much
force. ‘Me? That’s ridiculous.’

Felicity flicked a long plait over her shoulder and arched an eyebrow at Gerald.
‘Oh, come off it,’ she said. ‘You don’t seriously think we’ve forgotten about the
Christmas Eve snog you two had at the chalet in California? If those bandits hadn’t
attacked we would have had to throw a bucket of water over you.’

This time it was Ruby’s turn to glow red and sputter out a protest. ‘Snogging? Gerald?
Who saw what now?’

Felicity returned to her breakfast. ‘Oh yes,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing going on
here.’

Gerald struggled to think of something to say. He panicked, turned to Ruby and blurted
out, ‘There once was a girl named Valentine…’

Ruby looked at him as if he had gone insane. ‘What are you going on about?’

Gerald opened his mouth but what came out sounded like a gagging goldfish. He was
saved by Kobe Abraham, who wandered past and dropped an envelope onto the table in
front of Gerald, narrowly missing the lake of tomato sauce on his plate.

‘Mail call,’ Kobe said. ‘Someone thinks you’re worth writing to.’

Ruby nodded at the copy of the
Economist
that Kobe had tucked under his arm. ‘Keeping
up with world events, Kobe?’

Kobe flashed her a smile. ‘You’re either in the loop or in the soup,’ he said with
a finger to the side of his nose.

‘I thought Rice Crispies said there was no contact with the outside world while we’re
at camp,’ Sam said.

Kobe peeled the wrapper from his magazine. ‘It also pays to have sources in the right
places,’ he said. ‘And it looks like Gerald is one who does.’ He brandished another
envelope. ‘And he’s not the only one, as it happens.’

Ruby tilted her head to the side. ‘Who else?’

Kobe tapped his nose again. ‘Ah, that would be telling, toots. Cheerio.’ He turned
and wandered deeper into the dining hall.

Ruby and Felicity looked at each other. ‘Toots!’ they chorused, and fell into giggles.
‘He’s a strange one,’ Ruby said.

Sam grunted. ‘You think he’s strange, you should meet nearly everyone else at St
Custard’s. The place is overflowing with strange.’

‘Better than overflowing with custard,’ Ruby said, watching Kobe as he weaved among
the grid of tables.

‘Who’s Rice Crispies?’ Felicity said.

Gerald wedged a mushroom into his cheek. ‘That’s Dr Crispin’s nickname,’ he said.
‘Don’t let him hear you using it though.’

‘Well, there’s an interesting thing,’ Ruby said, still gazing across the hall.

‘What’s that?’ Felicity asked.

‘Kobe just delivered the other letter.’

‘And?’

Ruby turned back to the three others at the table.
‘To Alex Baranov.’

Gerald spat out a moist
pffft
. ‘Probably the latest issue of
Rich and Good Looking
magazine.’

Felicity patted Gerald on the arm. ‘Don’t worry. I’m sure Ruby will be able to resist
his charms.’

‘Felicity!’ Ruby glared at her friend.

‘What?’ Felicity said. She looked across to Alex Baranov’s table. ‘He is quite cute.’

‘Oh for goodness sake,’ Ruby said, then she turned to Gerald. ‘What’s so vitally
important that you get a letter in the mail?’

Gerald studied the business-sized envelope. It was addressed to his house in Chelsea
in London and had been forwarded to St Cuthbert’s. He recognised his mother’s handwriting
on the front:
URGENT. Must be sent to school camp in Scotland OR ELSE!

The envelope was made with a thick linen paper with an embossed
B
on the flap. Gerald
ran a finger under the seal.

‘Oh, it’s from the Billionaires’ Club,’ he said, holding up a single sheet of paper.
He looked up to be met by three blank stares. ‘You remember,’ he said. ‘The club
that Jasper Mantle and Tycho Brahe wanted me to join.’

‘You mean the butterfly collector and the certifiable lunatic who tried to slice
the still-beating heart from my chest for a chemistry experiment?’ Ruby said. ‘Yes,
I vaguely remember them.’

Felicity took a sip of tea. ‘It’s in New York, isn’t it?’

Gerald scanned the letter. ‘It says that the initiation for membership to the Billionaires’
Club will be held during the mid-term break.’

‘How are you going to manage that?’ Ruby asked. ‘We’re supposed to spend the break
here.’

Gerald’s eyes lit up. ‘It says that Mr Mantle has arranged with Dr Crispin for me
to take time off for a long weekend in New York City!’

He looked up to Sam’s disbelieving face. ‘You get to spend a long weekend in some
six star hotel in New York—with room service and a comfy bed—while we’re stuck here
freezing our buns off in some godforsaken place that if it’s not the end of the world
you can at least see if from here?’

Gerald leaned over, plucked a rasher of bacon from Sam’s plate and took a bite. ‘There’s
got to be some benefits to being a billionaire,’ he said.

Chapter 4

The Captain Oates Outdoor Education Centre bristled with anticipation as two hundred
students gathered in the reception hall. Burning logs crackled in the fire pit, providing
some relief from the bitter cold that clawed at the windows like an impatient house
cat demanding to be let in.

Dr Crispin stood with his back to the flames and held his hands up for silence. ‘Tomorrow
you will embark on the first stage of the Triple Crown.’ He stared at the assembled
faces like a lion scanning the savannah for lunch. ‘I have no doubt that by the end
of the day there will be tears and not a little heartbreak. That is how it should
be. These three tasks are about pushing yourselves to the limit. I like to think
of them in alignment with
my life philosophy: If it’s not hurting, it’s not working.’

Sitting with his back against a wall, Sam whispered to Gerald, ‘Is this supposed
to inspire us?’

Gerald shook his head and stared back at the St Cuthbert’s headmaster as he droned
on about personal mission statements and key performance indicators. He gave the
distinct impression of a general saying farewell to his troops as they prepared for
battle, before he popped back to headquarters for a snifter of brandy and a three-course
meal.

Dr Crispin swivelled his head towards Sam and Gerald. His nose twitched, as if picking
up a scent. ‘I expect at least a third of you to fail,’ he said in a tone redolent
of dawn runs and ice baths. ‘The remaining two tasks will sort the rest of you out.’

If there had been any enthusiasm left in the room at that point it was sucked up
the chimney with the smoke.

Gerald looked over to Ruby and Felicity sitting with a group of St Hilda’s girls.
They all seemed appalled at what they had just heard. Ruby glanced up and caught
Gerald’s eye. Her expression said, ‘Is this guy for real?’

Gerald raised his eyebrows, as if to say, ‘Sadly, yes.’

The headmaster snapped his
fingers like a rifle shot, and looked to where Mr Beare was sitting in a chair. ‘If
you please, Mr Beare.’

The maths teacher lifted himself up and crossed to the centre of the room. He ran
a hand over his chins and smiled at the upturned faces before him. He pulled a
large
envelope from his jacket and held it above his head.

‘I have here the instructions
for the first leg of the Triple Crown.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Shall I read them?’

Enthusiasm bubbled back into the room. ‘Yes!’

Mr Beare made a dramatic event of ripping open the envelope and removing a sheet
of paper. ‘In a moment you will sort yourselves into teams of four: two members from
St Cuthbert’s and two from St Hilda’s. These will be your teams for all the Triple
Crown challenges, so choose wisely.’

A buzz spread around the students. Gerald and Sam turned and pointed at each other.

‘Team?’ Sam asked.

‘Team,’ Gerald replied.

Gerald looked up to where Felicity and Ruby were sitting and was surprised to see
Alex Baranov deep in conversation with Ruby.

Gerald did not have a good feeling about this.

Mr Beare called for quiet. ‘You will have time to assemble your teams shortly. First,
let us find out about tomorrow morning’s task.’

A hush descended on the hall.

Mr Beare unfolded the sheet of paper and read. ‘Starting at 8am, groups will depart
at five-minute intervals on an overnight hike. Each team will be given a map, a
compass and coordinates for a checkpoint. At the checkpoint you will find an ink
stamp that you must
apply to your map to prove that you made it there. You will camp
overnight and hike back in the morning. As the night descends quite early this far
north, some of the teams may have to camp overnight before arriving at the checkpoint.’

Sam and Gerald looked at each other. ‘Seems simple enough,’ Sam said.

‘There is one complication,’ Mr Beare said, raising his voice to be heard over the
excited rumble that filled the hall. The noise died down, and heads turned his way.
‘The maps you will be given are not entirely accurate. All of the compasses have
been adjusted to be at least five degrees off, and the checkpoint is twenty miles
away.’

Gerald and Sam looked at each other again. ‘Twenty miles, a dodgy map and a next-to-useless
compass counts as one complication, does it?’ Sam said. ‘Is he having a joke?’

Mr Beare raised his hands for calm. ‘The more mathematically minded students will
have already calculated that a five degree discrepancy over a twenty mile hike will
have you about two miles adrift of your target for the checkpoint. So we have included
in your kitbags, together with food and a four-man tent, a series of clues to help
you. Now do not forget to stamp your map, because you will need the checkpoint symbol
for the second challenge of the Triple Crown.’

Mr Beare checked his watch. ‘Right, you have ten minutes to form your teams. Anyone
not in a team of
four by then will be disqualified. Go!’

Two hundred boys and girls leapt to their feet and scrambled in all directions. It
was as if someone had thrown a cat into a chicken coop. Sam grabbed Gerald by the
elbow and dragged him towards where Ruby and Felicity had been sitting.

‘Ow!’ Gerald protested. ‘Easy on the arm pulling.’

In the mad jostling of bodies Gerald lost sight of Ruby. He finally spotted Felicity,
who was up on her tiptoes and waving her arms above her head at them. Gerald and
Sam pushed past a cluster of girls who were negotiating with Kobe and Charlie about
pack-carrying duties.

‘Where’s Ruby?’ Sam asked, searching for her face among the crowd. ‘I thought she
was with you.’

‘She was,’ Felicity said. ‘But she got waylaid.’

‘Waylaid?’ Gerald said. ‘By what?’

Felicity nodded towards a group of bodies. ‘Not by what,’ she said. ‘By whom.’

Gerald looked to where Felicity had gestured and saw Ruby talking with Alex Baranov.
He pressed his lips together and pushed his way towards them.

‘Ruby?’ Gerald said, making a point of shouldering his way between her and Alex.
‘What’s going on?’

Ruby blinked up at him and her voice caught in her throat. ‘Oh, Alex was just asking
me something,’ she said, somehow avoiding looking Gerald in the eye.

‘Asking you what?’ Gerald said.

Alex Baranov fixed Gerald with an electric stare. ‘I’ve asked Ruby to join my team
for the Triple Crown, Wilkins. I was just telling her that my friend Owen is an orienteering
champion. He can read a map and compass better than anyone I know. This first challenge
will be a doddle for my team.’

Gerald’s mouth fell open. ‘Join your team? You’re too late. Ruby’s on my team.’

Ruby pulled her shoulders back and jutted out her chin. ‘I don’t believe I’ve agreed
to be on anyone’s team yet,’ she said. ‘Alex had the good manners to actually ask
me.’

‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ Gerald said. ‘Obviously you’re on my team.’

Ruby straightened even further. ‘You’ve made that decision for me, have you?’

Gerald realised he might have gone a step too far. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I would never
do that.’

‘Because you know how much that would annoy me, don’t you,’ Ruby said, narrowing
her eyes.

‘Yes, of course,’ Gerald said, backpedalling as fast as he could manage. ‘I never
meant to annoy you.’

Mr Beare’s voice cut through the hubbub in the hall, ‘Two minutes, everyone!’

A calculating smile settled on Ruby’s lips. She looked first to Alex, then to Gerald.

‘If I was to join your team,’ she said, ‘what would the team motto be?’

‘Our what?’ Gerald said.

‘Our motto. Our slogan,’ Ruby said. ‘What would be the guiding principle that defined
our team?’