The Ring of Five (8 page)

and the Ring: with the Ring you had no option. Devoy sighed. Sometimes he thought that was the only difference.

Danny started by finding a gravel path that led away from Wilsons. It was lined with old lime trees. He walked for a long time, moving further and further away from the building, and deeper and deeper into the trees. The limes gave way to ancient oaks covered in moss, and the dense canopy of branches above his head cast a deep gloom, despite the fact that there were no leaves. He was relieved when the oaks were replaced by lime trees again, and then amazed when he reemerged in exactly the same spot where he had set out!

He went out into the garden and heard tea being called from a speaker concealed in the bushes somewhere. He saw some other cadets ahead of him and followed them to Ravensdale at a discreet distance.

Ten minutes later he was sitting at the table in Ravensdale with Les and the others. He smiled at Vandra, but she looked away.

"You missed it," Les said excitedly. "Brunholm was in a right old strop about that statue that nearly hit you. Took us all in one by one and asked us to 'account for our movements.'"

"I said there was no accounting for my movements," Dixie told them. "I just ... flow." Danny looked at her to see if she was joking, but her face was serious.

"Then there's the statue supposedly falling on this

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boy who has the anatomical features of a Cherb," the boy with large, blinking eyes said.

"Yeah, well, Exspectre, you have all the anatomical features of a bush baby, but it don't mean you are one," Les said.

Dixie stifled a giggle. Exspectre looked at Les without expression, then turned away.

"Not a whole lot of fun, that one," Les whispered to Danny. "Ah, here comes grub."

They ate in silence, although Danny was aware of eyes on him. Vandra, perhaps, or Smyck. Or even Exspectre, blinking over his plate.

When they were finished, Blackpitt came on the speakers and announced, "Study," then, in a not-very-low whisper, added, "Did you hear we had Inspector McGuinness in today? Verrrry exciting."

"Poor old Blackpitt," Les said, "he does love a good bit of gossip."

Danny followed Les up a set of marble stairs. The cadets chattered among themselves as they walked. Danny got some unfriendly glances, and some openly curious ones. He tried to work out how many cadets thought he was really a Cherb, but gave up. He wouldn't be here long enough for it to worry him.

They walked through a curious domed marble room with a walkway around the top of it, about twenty feet above their head.

"What's that?" Danny asked.

"The Gallery of Whispers," Les said. "They say that if you ask a question at one side, your voice will travel all

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the way around the room and return with the answer. They also say that there is always a snare in the answer."

"It comes in your own voice too," Dixie said, putting on a spooky voice herself.

"You can't get to it from here," Les said, seeing the way Danny was eyeing it. "If you're thinking of trying to ask it who tried to drop a statue on your head, it's forbidden to go up there. Unauthorized entry to the gallery is a Ninth Regulation offense. The answers are supposed to be really tricky, so I suppose Devoy thinks we're not bright enough to work them out."

They passed under the Gallery of Whispers and emerged into a long, high-ceilinged study hall. There were desks in rows, and a high table at the top, where Miss Duddy sat scrutinizing the students as they entered.

"Desk number seventeen, Caulfield," she piped up. The high desk had new books piled on it.

"We do an hour's study," Les whispered, "then we're free."

Danny looked up and saw something moving in the dim-lit rafters. There was a fluttering sound, and then another. Shadows of wings were thrown against the wall, huge and dark.

"What's that?" Danny whispered.

"Only the ravens," Les whispered back. "They're kind of the symbol of Wilsons. They say that the ravens were a gift from the Fifth himself!"

"Caulfield and Knutt, a First Regulation offense each," Miss Duddy intoned. "Whispering in Study."

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Les groaned and turned his eyes to heaven. He pointed Danny to a desk and sat down at his own, which was covered in an untidy sprawl of books and papers. One by one the other cadets took their seats, and silence fell over the hall, broken only by the rustle of paper.

Danny looked at the pile of books in front of him. There were titles like
From the Bosporus to Oxford: One Spy's Journey; Basic Inks; How to See and Not Be Seen; Political Assassination: A Brief Guide;
and
Spycraft: An Intermediate-Level Reader
.

He opened the most promising-looking one, which was called
Poisons: A History
. An upbeat introduction promised "an introduction to the marvelous world of poisoners and poison." He soon found himself lost in a world of queens murdered by asp bites, and hollowed-out rings for holding poisons. There were drawings of people writhing in agony and turning black while still seeming to have a cheerful smile on their faces, as though it was a privilege to be poisoned by some new and wonderful strain of deadly nightshade. He looked up and saw that Toxique, the trainee assassin, was watching him. He pointed wordlessly to the cover of Danny's book and nodded grim approval.

Danny then picked up a dull-looking book on the nature and composition of invisible inks, which seemed to be full of mathematical symbols for the chemistry of inks. Above his head there was more fluttering. He looked up to see a line of ravens. They were sitting on a beam almost directly above his head looking at him, heads cocked to

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one side, their beady eyes unblinking. He started to feel uncomfortable. Why were they watching him? Perhaps they thought he was a Cherb as well.

He looked around the hall. Les had his head buried in a book, but was so still that Danny thought he must be asleep. Dixie was making strange movements with her hands, as though building an imaginary structure in the air. She flashed him a quick smile and went back to her work.

He couldn't concentrate on any of the books, and the minutes stretched out. It was a relief when Blackpitt announced, "End of study. Take your weary brains off to bed. Pay attention to flossing and oral hygiene. Prevention is better than cure," he added bossily.

Danny stood up to go. As he did so, something fell from the rafters above and landed with a splat in the middle of his desk, narrowly missing his head. He looked up. There was only one raven left, but it had its beak open, and if he hadn't known better, he would have said it was laughing.

The cadets made their way toward Ravensdale. As they walked, Les grasped Danny by the elbow.

"Quick. I need you for a minute."

Danny followed Les to the entrance hall. Valant stood at the desk, laboriously copying something into a huge ledger.

"Distract him," Les whispered, then darted off into the shadows beside the fireplace, giving Danny a shove in the back that sent him staggering into the middle of the floor.

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"Yes?" Valant said, raising an eyebrow. Danny thought frantically. Out of the corner of his eye he could just see Les creeping toward the desk, clinging to the shadow of the wall, moving silently.

"We must be careful, Mr. Valant," Danny said. His voice came out slow and grave. "There are shadowy forces at work out there."

Valant looked at him suspiciously.

"Of course there are shadowy forces at work," Valant said, "this is a school for spies, Cadet Caulfield."

Danny was aware that Les was moving quickly toward the open door behind Valant's back. He hesitated. He knew that to keep Valant's interest, he had to give him something interesting. Otherwise the man would just dismiss him as a show-off. He put one elbow on the counter and leaned forward confidentially. Valant looked around and moved closer. Danny kept a straight face, but his mind was searching desperately for something that he could use. Then the headline in the paper he had seen when he was at the Stores came into his head. He beckoned Valant closer. Behind the man, Les had reached the shelves, his wings only a foot away from the back of Valant's legs.

"I hear," Danny said in a low voice, "that Sranzer is still missing."

The effect on Valant was electric. One wiry hand shot forward and grabbed the front of Danny's shirt.

"What do you mean?" Valant said, his voice low and furious. "What do you know about Sranzer, boy?"

Danny gasped. Both because Valant was half choking him and because he had seen Les climb up the shelves

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with incredible speed, then turn so that he was hanging upside down with his ankles hooked over the top shelf. His fingers riffled through the keys that were hanging on a board directly behind Valant's head.

"I ... I ...," Danny gasped as Les selected a key and, with a quick thumbs-up, swung himself upright again and pocketed it.

"I ... I only saw it in the paper ... at the Stores ...," Danny managed to squeeze out. Valant regarded him with deep suspicion, but loosened his grip.

"You'd better be careful what names you bandy around here, boy," Valant said. "There's many a one would dearly love to know what happened to Sranzer."

Valant looked around and put his face so close to Danny's that Danny could smell the musty odor of the man's breath. "Don't let me hear you mention that name again. Do you hear me?" Danny nodded. With relief he could see that Les had made his way to the corner of the room. Danny backed away. Valant's burning eyes fixed on his face. Danny kept backing up until he got to the door, then turned and bolted out of the room.

Les was waiting for him in the corridor, grinning and dangling a large iron key.

"Good work, Danny," he said. "Kind of funny, though, the way Valant jumped at you when you said that name--what was it? Sranzer?"

"Don't ever do that to me again," Danny said furiously, rubbing his neck. "He nearly strangled me!"

"Worth it, though," Les said. "I got the key."

"What key?" Danny snapped, still cross.

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"The key that opens the upper floors of Wilsons. We need to get a look at how that statue fell on you."

"We don't know what's up there. It could be dangerous."

"What? Dangerous like someone dropping a statue on your head?"

Danny hesitated, but part of him did want to get a look at the mysterious upper floors.

"Okay, but just me and you," he said firmly. Les nodded quickly.

Danny went to bed fully dressed, and tried to stay awake, but he must have dozed off, for the next thing he knew, Les was shaking him by the arm.

"Wake up!" Les whispered. Danny sat up in bed and swung his legs out. He slipped on his shoes. Outside, rain drummed on the roofs of the Roosts and the wind howled.

"Are you sure about this?" Danny whispered.

Les grinned. "Let's go." On tiptoe they crossed to the door, eased it open and slipped out into the night. Rain whipped across Danny's face, and below them the tops of the trees tossed like a stormy sea.

"Come on!" Les shouted, his voice almost drowned by the wind. Danny moved round to the front of the Roosts, and felt the full force of the storm. His clothes were soaked in seconds. Les bent to the gate that protected the gangway to the main building. Within seconds it sprang open. He handed Danny a torch.

"You'll need this," he yelled. "It won't be seen. There'll be nobody about in this weather anyway."

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Les stepped onto the gangway. Danny followed, grabbing the handrails as he felt the bridge flex and sway in the howling wind, which was doing its best to snatch him and propel him into the darkness below.

It got worse as they crossed. The gangway dipped in the middle and the two boys' weight set up a pendulum effect in the wind, so that all they could do was cling desperately to the rails, moving neither forward nor back. The torch beams swung wildly in the dark. Danny could feel his arms start to ache from holding on. The wind rose to a crescendo, then momentarily fell away.

"Now!" Danny shouted. "Run!"

Pushing Les hard in the back, he ran after the winged boy, who slipped and slid on the wet planks. As the wind lashed at the gangway, they reached the door at the end. Les fumbled for the key and with numbed fingers put it in the lock. Although the lock looked old and rusted, the key turned with ease, the door opened and the two boys fell into the gloom on the other side. The door slammed shut behind them. They were in.

But they had not been unobserved. Down below, a pair of shrewd eyes had followed them, and had watched the torch beams in the darkness. Now McGuinness stepped back into the partial shelter of the wall behind him. The two boys might find more than they bargained for in the upper floors of Wilsons, but that wasn't his concern. His job was to stop crime, nothing more.

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