The Serpent in the Glass (The Tale of Thomas Farrell) (15 page)

Demelza fingered the bowl in her hand and then, after a small pause as if to determine what to do next, she put it down on the nearest table and left.

Thomas waited until Demelza’s footsteps faded before he spoke. ‘Tregeagle — I mean, Demelza says that her rat goes in the tower sometimes.’

Penders dropped down into the nearest chair and looked at the choice of cereals and jams. ‘As long as it stays out the kitchen and the tuck shop, I don’t care where it goes.’

Thomas sat down next to Penders. ‘She said that Tregeagle sees students in there.’

Penders rubbed his eyes. ‘She’s mad.’

‘I’m going to try and see if I can find an entrance to the tower again. Later tonight, when nobody’s about.’

Penders dragged a jug of orange juice toward him. ‘I thought you might say something like that. I guess I’d better eat a bit more then; I might need the extra energy.’

Thomas peeked through the round-shaped window in one of the double doors that separated the landing from the boys’ dormitories. He and Penders had been there since twenty-past nine. Some of the students from the upper years had been milling around up until a few minutes ago, but now all was quiet.

Penders yawned. ‘So, no Jessica?’

Thomas shook his head. ‘She might tell Merideah, by mistake.’

‘Ah, understood. I think she swallowed that rulebook since she became a prefect.’

Miss McGritch appeared at the top of the stairs, her long, dark brown dress almost touching the floor. Thomas glanced at Penders. ‘Here she is.’

Penders put his face to the glass as the Housekeeper disappeared into her office with her usual large bunch of keys. Moments later she re-emerged with a smaller bunch.

After she entered the girls’ dormitories, Thomas eased open the door. ‘Let’s go.’

‘Where exactly are we going anyway?’ Penders asked, as he followed Thomas down the stairs.

‘If students have been in the tower then there must be a door!’ Thomas explained as he led Penders right at the bottom of the stairs. ‘The tower touches the side of the Manor. Maybe the door’s there — on the inside.’

They crept through Block A and into Block B. Thomas stopped at a corridor that led off to the left just before the Headmaster’s office. It wasn’t a corridor they’d ever had cause to go down. Then, from down it, Thomas heard a door open and the sound of muffled voices.

Thomas grabbed Penders by the arm. ‘Someone’s coming!’

They dove into the Caretaker’s office and Thomas gently closed the door. Then they both pressed their ears against the door. The sound of feet, two pairs of feet, approached. One pair had a limp.

‘Prothero will be returning early tomorrow morning. His arm’s broken. Hopefully he’ll learn to be more careful with me next time,’ came Gallowglas’s voice.

‘Ah, right you are.’ Stanwell’s voice sounded no more than a few feet away.

‘Quiet, I heard something,’ Gallowglas hissed. Thomas heard them step back into the corridor.

They couldn’t have heard him or Penders. They’d made no noise. Surely Gallowglas’s hearing couldn’t be good enough to hear them breathing. Then Thomas heard it: the soft pad of feet toward them from the direction of the entrance hall.

‘A little late for lessons, Mr Goodfellow,’ said Gallowglas, as Thomas heard him and Stanwell step forward.

‘Good evenin’ to you,’ Stanwell’s voice followed.

‘Ah, hello,’ Thomas heard Goodfellow say. He sounded surprised. ‘I left some test papers in my class yesterday. Just drove by to pick them up, so I could get them marked for Monday you understand.’

‘I see,’ said Mr Gallowglas.

‘Well, I best get them and go. A lot to get through you know!’ Mr Goodfellow said.

Thomas heard Mr Goodfellow’s footsteps disappear off in the direction of the staff room. Gallowglas and Stanwell Clear’s voices edged nearer to their hiding place. Penders stopped breathing.

‘Well, I best be gettin’ the mud off my ol’ boots before I check the boys’ rooms,’ Stanwell said as he placed his hand on the handle and began to turn it.

Thomas and Penders backed away from the door. Both now held their breath.

‘Wait,’ Gallowglas said, and the handle turned back. Thomas and Penders let out a silent breath of relief. ‘Make sure Mr Goodfellow leaves the building after he’s got his papers. He’s been asking questions about the club and snooping about. He’s a risk if you ask me, though no one ever does.’

‘Ever do what, Master Gallowglas?’ Stanwell said.

‘Ask me,’ said the other. ‘And it’s Mr Gallowglas here, remember?’

‘Right you are. I do get mixed up with misters and masters, what with an ’eadmaster ’ere an’ all.’ Stanwell paused. No doubt Gallowglas had shot him an impatient glare. ‘I’ll go and see Mr Goodfellow do be doin’ no more stoopin’ then.’

‘I’ll check the boy’s dorms,’ Gallowglas added.

‘As you wish, Mr Gallowglas.’

Thomas heard Stanwell lollop off in the same direction as Mr Goodfellow. Gallowglas paused for a while before the limping sound of his footsteps disappeared down the corridor toward the entrance hall.

‘Oh, great,’ Thomas said after emerging from the Caretaker’s office. He looked down the corridor in despair.

Penders, leaning against the wall in relief, raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s wrong now?’

Thomas ran a hand through his short hair. ‘Gallowglas is checking the dormitories.’

‘Yeah, I heard. We can wait until he comes back down and —’

‘Penders,’ Thomas interrupted, ‘I didn’t lock my room. Mr Gallowglas checks all the doors.’ Thomas locked his door every night since that first night when he’d heard the door open and close, and Gallowglas’s footsteps outside. But he hadn’t thought to lock it on his way out this evening.

‘You sure?’ Penders asked.

‘That I didn’t lock my door?’

Penders shook his head. ‘No, that Mr Gallowglas checks them.’

Thomas began walking up the corridor toward the entrance hall. ‘Yes, I know his footsteps from Stanwell’s. He always checks the doors. Stanwell doesn’t.’

‘He’s never checked mine,’ Penders muttered as he followed.

Thomas reached the end of the corridor and looked up at the landing. ‘You were probably asleep and didn’t hear.’

The two boys ran gingerly up the stairs and across the landing, creeping through the doors into the dormitory area. There was no sign of Mr Gallowglas. Thomas stopped and listened. The shower block to the left sounded empty, and all he heard from the toilets was the odd soft gurgling noise of the water system.

‘He must’ve gone through the common room already,’ Thomas said and his hope sunk. There would be no way now to overtake him without being seen. When Mr Gallowglas checked Thomas’s door he’d find it open and the room empty.

‘Come on,’ said Penders. ‘Let’s follow, we might get a chance to slip past.’

Thomas followed, but he didn’t think that chance would come. Moving carefully through the common room, they stopped at the corridor that held the doors to the rooms of the upper-year students. Mr Gallowglas wasn’t there.

They tip-toed past the low tables and red, padded chairs until they reached the end of the corner room. The door that led to their corridor hung open. Thomas and Penders cautiously poked their heads around the door. Mr Gallowglas was walking slowly up the corridor. He was over half way up and not trying any of the doors as he passed.

‘See,’ Penders whispered, ‘he doesn’t check the doors.’

But as he said it Thomas watched in dismay as Gallowglas approached his door and put his hand out to try the handle.

Just then the washroom door opposite Thomas and Penders opened and out walked Treice Montague in a rather garish pair of blue-striped, though very-well-pressed, pyjamas. He held a green toothbrush in his hand.

Treice saw the two boys immediately and, despite Thomas’s and Penders’ frantic hand and arm signals indicating to the contrary, said ‘Hello’.

Thomas pointed up the corridor and Treice glanced around to see Mr Gallowglas just as Mr Gallowglas turned to see who’d spoken. At last the look on Treice’s face showed he understood their predicament.

‘Mr Montague,’ Mr Gallowglas shouted. Thomas could hear his footsteps coming down the corridor. ‘You should have long since been in your room. And it’s ‘Hello, sir’ when you address me.’

‘Erm, yes, sir. Sorry I’m late. I couldn’t’ — at this point Treice looked at Thomas and Penders again. Penders was trying desperately to convey the message that they wanted to get back to their rooms without Gallowglas seeing them — ‘erm — I couldn’t seem to turn the tap off. I think it’s stuck. I didn’t want to leave it running all night, so I thought I’d better find some help.’

‘I’ll have Mr Stanwell check it tomorrow,’ Mr Gallowglas said. Thomas and Penders gave Treice pained looks.

‘I — I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep until I know it’s off,’ Treice said.

‘What? Oh, very well, let me see,’ said Gallowglas.

Thomas and Penders quickly hid behind a large red sofa. They heard Mr Gallowglas walk past and then enter the washroom. Thomas risked a look and saw Treice moving into the washroom behind the teacher, and this time it was him who made the frantic hand and arm signals for them to run.

Thomas and Penders moved as swiftly and silently as they could. Thomas got to his door and they both disappeared inside. Thomas fumbled in his pocket for his key and locked the door.

They both slid down onto the floor and sighed in relief.

‘Close,’ said Penders. ‘We owe Treice one!’

— CHAPTER ELEVEN —

Goodfellow’s Flight

‘I wanna prove something,’ Penders said suddenly the next morning as he looked toward the entrance of the assembly hall. Treice Montague had just walked in. Being Sunday, Treice wore his casual clothes. Even so, they seemed very nice, and Thomas thought his trainers were the whitest things he’d ever seen.

Penders put his toast down. ‘Treice!’

Treice looked over, smiled, and came and sat opposite them. ‘Hi.’

Penders said hello. ‘Treice, does Gallowglas check your door when he comes round at night?’

Treice frowned. ‘No, I don’t think so.’

‘Maybe you were asleep, he doesn’t check the dorms very often — only when Stanwell can’t do it,’ Thomas added.

Treice picked up a carton of orange juice and poured himself a drink. ‘I think I’d have heard if he tried my door. I’m a light sleeper. Takes me ages to get to sleep. An owl on the other side of the field woke me up the other night.’

‘There you go then, he doesn’t check mine or Treice’s or probably anyone else’s. Only yours,’ said Penders, who had turned his attention back to Thomas. He then turned his attention to the table to decide which flavour jam to have on his third piece of toast.

Thomas and Penders had spoken about it before Penders had slipped off back to his room last night. Thomas wanted to believe it was some random check, or that by some chance he’d just never checked Penders’ door, but it seemed Gallowglas did check his door, and his door alone. But why? Was Gallowglas going to injure him like Prothero? Or was Gallowglas after something? Was Goodfellow after something too? Perhaps they were looking for the same thing?

‘Thanks for last night,’ Penders said to Treice in a lowered voice.

Treice put his glass down. ‘Oh, that’s OK. Anytime! What were you doing anyway?’

Thomas shifted in his seat and Penders looked at Treice with a mouthful of toast. Apricot jam clung to his bottom lip.

‘Something strange is going on, and Gallowglas is involved.’ Thomas looked around to make sure no one else was near enough to hear. He quickly related the events of last night, though left out why they were in Block B in the first place.

Treice looked from Thomas to Penders and back to Thomas again. ‘Mr Gallowglas injured a student?’

Thomas nodded. ‘Yes, he said something about Goodfellow asking questions about some club.’

Then William Prothero walked in and sat next to a couple of students from his year who were seated near the entrance to the hall. His arm had been set in a cast, which he wore in a sling.

On seeing Prothero, Treice bent closer to Thomas and Penders. ‘I’ve not told this to anyone before, but last Thursday I was avoiding some silly girls — er, I mean I was alone in the boys’ changing rooms — and Mr Gallowglas and Miss McGritch came in. They didn’t see me because I was behind the lockers. I heard them speaking though. Mr Gallowglas said something about getting rid of Mr Goodfellow, and Miss McGritch agreed.’

‘You think Gallowglas is gonna kill the science teacher?’ Penders asked incredulously.

‘Who’s going to kill the science teacher?’ came Jessica’s voice from behind Treice. Thomas and Penders had been so engrossed in Treice’s information that they’d not noticed her and Merideah approach. She looked briefly at them and then smiled at Treice.

Treice looked very embarrassed, and didn’t know what to say. Whether his discomfort stemmed from their conversation or because there were two girls standing right behind him, Thomas couldn’t tell.

Thomas decided to fill the girls in, though he wasn’t sure Merideah would approve. ‘Treice rescued us last night; we almost got caught by Mr Gallowglas.’

Jessica sat down next to Treice, who shifted uncomfortably. ‘I see,’ she said turning to Treice. ‘Thank you. Thomas and Penders do need looking after sometimes.’

Treice smiled awkwardly. ‘Oh, it was nothing really.’

Jessica turned back to Thomas and Penders. Treice looked like he wanted to disappear into a hole in the ground. ‘And what exactly did you do last night?’

Thomas glanced at Merideah, who remained standing. He couldn’t read her face. He and Penders quickly filled in the girls on what had happened, what they’d overheard, and what Treice had just told them.

Merideah folded her arms. ‘Do you know how much trouble you’d be in if a teacher had caught you?’

‘No one did,’ Penders said, giving the short girl a stern look. Then he sighed. ‘Merideah, we’ve got proof that Grim Gallowglas is hurting students’ — he nodded his head toward Prothero — ‘and trying to do away with Goodfellow.’

Merideah rolled her eyes. ‘You’ve not got any proof at all. When we passed them just now, I heard William telling his friends he’d fallen off his bike. There’s probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything you heard — or misheard!’