April nodded. ‘I promise,’ she said as Jessica walked her to the door.
‘One visit, look for what you need, then bring the card straight back. Are we clear?’
‘Absolutely,’ said April, ‘and thank you again. You don’t know what this means to me.’
‘I think I might. Anyway, good luck. I hope you find what you’re looking for. I never did.’
‘So what do you think?’
April and Caro were dodging between backpackers and day trippers on the escalator at Monument, heading for the District line.
‘What do I think? I think all tourists should be given a piece of paper at passport control with the words “Stand on the right” written in big letters,’ said Caro with irritation. ‘Is it too much to ask? Everyone else is standing on that side for a reason, you idiots!’
April was glad she had back-pedalled on her policy of keeping Caro out of the investigation for the visit to the V&A. Partly because no one knew this conspiracy stuff better than Caro, but mostly because Caro’s inability to take anything seriously took the pressure off April a little. She knew time was running out for Gabriel and that she needed all the help she could get, whatever the risks.
‘No, I mean all this about Queen Victoria?’ said April. ‘I mean, could she really have collected a huge library about the occult and paranormal stuff?’
‘Ah well, now you’ve got me on home turf,’ said Caro. ‘This is a classic conspiracy. It was well known that Queen Vic was into all sorts of alternative medicine. She made homeopathy popular. She was also rumoured to be getting tarot readings and holding séances in the palace, all to contact Prince Albert. Gold-plated Ouija board in there, probably.’
‘But where’s the conspiracy?’ said April. ‘She was grief-stricken and ahead of her time, that’s all.’
‘Ah, well it goes deeper than that. The conspiracy angle is
that Victoria’s interest in the supernatural wasn’t just based on grief and hope. It was like she
knew
– not just believed – it had some foundation. There’s all sorts of theories linking the Royal Family with the Freemasons, suggestions that there was something odd going on with their East European roots, but it seems that the Windsors – or the Saxe-Coburg Gothas, back then – have always been aware of the vamps.’
They ran across the platform and jumped onto a train as the doors swished closed. As they sat down, April’s mind vaguely recalled something from her last history lesson.
‘Weren’t the Royal Family connected with Jack the Ripper somehow, too?’
‘One of her grandsons was a suspect. Didn’t you see that Johnny Depp film? They argued the Ripper was the queen’s surgeon. Whoever he was, he had some knowledge of anatomy; he managed to remove his victim’s internal organs whole.’ Caro held up her hands as if she were holding a beating heart. April held up a hand to stop her.
‘All right, you can spare me the details.’
‘Anyway, whether the Ripper was royalty or not, the theory goes that Queen Victoria put her foot down – she wasn’t having that sort of nonsense upsetting her subjects – and ol’ Jack suddenly disappeared.’
‘Wow,’ said April. ‘If Miss Holden put all that in her history lessons I’d have spent less time gazing at Benjamin.’
‘You’ve been gazing at Benjamin?’ said Caro. ‘What, in a romantic way? Are you mental – he’s a Sucker!’
‘So’s Gabriel, remember?’
‘Yeah, but Gabe’s an outsider, a lone wolf. Ben’s in the inner circle of Suckers. I thought all that stuff at the party was just an act to get in with them – wasn’t it? Anything else, it’d be like sleeping with the enemy.’
‘I was only
looking
at him, Caro, when Gabriel wasn’t available. And anyway, he’s not like that. Really, he’s much nicer when you get to know him.’
Caro raised her eyebrows.
‘I know all the glossy magazines say “make him jealous”,
but I think you’re playing with fire there. I thought it was all sorted out between you and Gabriel, anyway.’
‘It is. I think. Anyway, let’s talk about something else,’ said April uncomfortably. She wasn’t happy talking about this with Caro, at least not until she could work it all out in her own mind first. Gabriel’s erratic boiling-hot, icy-cold mood swings were starting to unsettle her, especially when he didn’t seem to want to recover. But she wasn’t ready to face her fear that his behaviour could be undermining feelings she had been so sure of in her hospital bed only a few weeks ago.
‘Okay then,’ said Caro, lowering her voice and glancing at the other people in the carriage to make sure they weren’t overheard. ‘That stuff about vampires not appearing in photos? I delegated it to Fiona.’
‘Caro! I—’
‘Hold your horses! I thought it made sense since Fee’s a computer whizz and she’ll be able to figure it out better than I can. Anyway, she gave me some sort of techno-babble answer. It was something about how the vampires are sort of dead, but they’re also super-alive so they give out a magnetic wave. It was something to do with bees dying, too.’
‘Come on, Caro, focus. I want to understand this. It might be important.’
Caro took a deep breath.
‘Okay … apparently honeybees are hugely sensitive to the earth’s magnetic waves: if you put a magnet next to a beehive, they build it as a cylinder instead of as a honeycomb.’
April made a ‘whooshing’ gesture above her head. ‘That’s fascinating. What’s it got to do with vampires?’
‘Exactly. This is why I delegated. Fee said all this to me and it was like she was talking Swahili.’
‘I thought you were studying biology.’
‘Plants I understand. Well, their molecular structure anyway. I’ve killed every pot plant we’ve ever had in the house. Anyway, Fee’s theory is that vamps let off these magnetic waves … and not only do they confuse bees, they also disrupt cameras, like when you see news footage of some office full of
computer screens – and the camera can’t capture the screens properly. It’s the same idea. But the interesting thing is how Ravenwood is wrapped up in all this.’
They had arrived at South Kensington and jumped off the train.
‘Ravenwood?’ April prompted as they got on the escalator.
Caro smiled. ‘Ah yes. Remember how all the teachers here are ludicrously over-qualified, they’re all from Harvard and MIT? Fiona did a search on Mr Langdon, head of science. Before he came here he was some mega-bucks consultant in Silicon Valley. He’s a world leader in the field of digital imagery.’
‘So? Why would they want him here?’
‘Well our Mr Langdon has just done a deal with one of the big Japanese camera firms. He’s come up with a new sensor for cameras that captures things which were previously invisible. In the press release, he said he owed the idea to one of his students at Ravenwood.’
‘Things that were invisible …? You think he means vampires?’
‘Maybe. It would make sense if one of the reasons the vamps are recruiting all these big brains was for specific purposes, wouldn’t it? Remember all that stuff Miss Holden was saying about how they used to be hidden, but now they’re coming out of the shadows? If they can have their photos taken and appear on film, they can do all sorts of things. Become politicians, celebrities, everything. Even Davina could get married to some billionaire and appear in
Hello!
’
‘God.’
They clunked through the barriers and up the steps, crossing onto Exhibition Road and walking past the Natural History Museum, its roof lined with carvings of weird and exotic animals, the high arched windows framed by curly seaside-rock pillars of stone. They walked up the wide steps of the V&A and in through the entrance, taking a minute to admire the entrance hall before exploring some of the dark, polished corridors, peering into the glass cabinets, while their shoes
squeaked on the stone floors. ‘Reminds me of Ravenwood,’ whispered April. ‘Like someone’s going to jump out at any moment.’
‘Shhh! Here it is,’ said Caro.
The library had heavy double doors with polished brass handles. Through the glass panels in the door, they could see the library itself.
‘It’s like looking into the past isn’t it?’ said Caro. The shelves ran down two walls and were double height with a gallery running around the top. The centre of the room held reading desks. Everything was dark wood. No one would have to remind you to be quiet in there. They walked inside with trepidation; it was intimidating and April suppsed that was the point. There were only two people inside the big room – an old man in half-moon spectacles hunched over a large book and a very thin woman with white hair who immediately approached them waving her hands.
‘I’m sorry ladies, no school parties in here. This is for members only.’
‘Yes, we’re members,’ said April as confidently as she could, pulling out the card like it was an FBI badge.
‘Miss … Mueller?’ said the woman dubiously, reading the name on the card and looking them both up and down.
‘We’re here to visit the special collection, please,’ said April with what she hoped was a charming smile.
‘The special collection?’ said the woman, as if startled.
‘Yes, the special collection,’ said Caro, pointing to the pass.
The woman glanced around and lowered her voice. ‘This is all very irregular. I’m going to have to make a telephone call.’
She walked over to a desk and quickly dialled a number.
‘Hello, this is Mrs Franks, I’m sorry to disturb you … no, I am aware of that sir, but … I’m sorry, but I have two young ladies here who wish to visit the special collection.’ April noticed that she said the words ‘special collection’ in a hushed voice. ‘Yes, it all seems in order … I believe Philips is down there. Very well. Thank you, sir.’
The woman put the phone down with some force, clearly
unhappy, and walked back to April and Caro.
‘You’d better come with me,’ she said, moving towards the back of the room. She produced a bunch of keys and opened a door. ‘Through here.’
They found themselves in a dark corridor. It looked as if it was being used to store old exhibits from the museum. As they followed Mrs Franks, they passed tables of fossils, a sculpture of a horse, and jars full of what looked like baby animals suspended in an unpleasant-looking green-tinged liquid. At the end of the corridor, the woman unlocked another door which opened onto a narrow staircase. They walked down two flights and, from the change in temperature, realised they were underground.
‘Along here,’ said Mrs Franks, indicating another dark corridor. As they turned the corner, there was a roar and both April and Caro leapt back. There was a huge black Alsatian dog rearing up at them, barking and snapping, white foam dripping from his jaws. Behind the dog, a squat man in a blue uniform was struggling to hold onto the beast’s lead.
‘Don’t worry, ladies,’ said the man, raising his voice to be heard over the barking. ‘He’s very friendly once he’s got used to you. Hold out your hands, let him have a sniff of yers.’
April glanced over at Mrs Franks, but her expression hadn’t changed, as if this was a normal day in the library. Perhaps it was.
Nervously, the two girls offered their hands to the dog, who immediately whined and sat down, wagging his tail. April and Caro exchanged a look; evidently they had passed the test.
‘Come along,’ said Mrs Franks, turning towards a large door and making a big show of choosing the correct key. She handed April some white cotton gloves. ‘These must be worn at all times,’ she said as she rattled the key in the lock and pushed the door inwards. ‘No eating or drinking. Strictly one book from the shelf at a time and’ – she fixed Caro with a glare – ‘no books are to be removed from the room at any time under any circumstances.’
‘Of course,’ said April politely.
‘When you have finished,’ said the librarian, indicating a buzzer by the door, ‘ring this bell. I will see you out.’
‘Thank you,’ said April. ‘We’ll be as quick as we can.’
The woman made a humphing noise and disappeared, clicking the door closed behind her.
‘Bloody hell!’ said Caro. ‘What was all that about?’
‘I guess that was the anti-vamp alarm Jessica was talking about.’
‘Well, I’m glad Rover didn’t smell death on me. I’ve never seen teeth that big before.’ She turned her attention to the room they were in, a huge cellar brimming with books, animal skeletons, stuffed specimens and weird plaster models, all carefully preserved by the thrumming air-conditioning units along the walls.
‘Wow, look at this place!’ said Caro. ‘It’s amazing.’
‘In a creepy sort of way,’ said April walking over to examine the shelves. The books were all stored in cupboards with ornate wire fronts that didn’t look as though they’d been opened in years. Putting her gloves on, April pulled a cupboard door open and removed a large book with a leather binding. She put it on the wide table in the centre of the room and opened it. It made a cracking sound, incredibly loud in the quiet cellar, and she winced. ‘It’s like it’s brand-new.’
‘Maybe they are,’ said Caro. ‘Queen Victoria was pretty rich, maybe she bought every book published and no one ever got around to reading them all.’
April shook her head.
‘You’d need a warehouse the size of a town for that. This is the special collection, remember? Someone chose these books for their importance.’