Hollow Pike (32 page)

‘How can we get it?’ Delilah asked.

‘I don’t care,’ Lis said emphatically, ‘we just have to. And then we can live happily ever after. Me and Danny, you and you, and Jack and . . . whoever the hell he
fancies.’

‘Gee, thanks, Lis.’ Jack laughed.

‘You’re welcome. So, we need a plan . . .’

All eyes turned to Kitty, their fearless leader.

‘What am I? 0800-Dial-A-Plan?’ Kitty groaned. The others nodded and Kitty rolled her eyes. ‘OK. But we are going to be in so much trouble if we get caught!’

The clock had to be faulty. It was moving at half the speed of a regular clock; every minute seemed to span an hour. Agitated, Lis drummed her pencil on her exercise book,
willing the time away. The sooner the bell rang at three, the sooner they could get this deranged scheme over and done with.

Kitty threw her a dark look from the other side of the Food Technology classroom, signalling her to relax, but Lis couldn’t. She’d been unable to sit still all day and she had
purposefully avoided Danny; he didn’t need to see her looking like a wreck.

She stared at the blank page before her. The recipe for a diabetic dessert was just going to have to wait; she couldn’t focus at all. This was it. This really was her last attempt to solve
the mystery. If it didn’t work, all she wanted was to spend her final weeks in Hollow Pike with Danny and then head home to Wales.

Finally, Miss Cook (yes, the Food Tech teacher was called Miss Cook) announced that any unfinished (or indeed, un
started
) work must be completed at home, and then told them to pack away
their things.

At last! Let’s get this show on the road!
Lis thought. She tossed her things carelessly into her bag and rushed to Kitty’s side.

‘For Christ’s sake, will you please chill out?’ the taller girl snapped.

Lis pouted. ‘Would you please become human?’

Kitty softened and rubbed her arm. ‘Lis, it’s going to be fine, seriously. Let’s go.’

Wishing she could have even a fraction of Kitty’s bravado, Lis followed her friend out of the cooking room and down the stairs to the courtyard, where Jack was already waiting for them.
His expression was much closer to hers than Kitty’s, and Lis found comfort in this fact.

‘OK, now I’m really nervous,’ he whispered to them.

‘Thank you!’ Lis exclaimed. ‘Me too.’

Kitty ignored them both. ‘Hurry up, Delilah’s waiting for us.’

Swimming against the tide of pupils moving down the driveway and out of the gates, the three of them ducked into the library. Sliding straight past Daphne at the counter, they pushed through the
interior door that led to the Sixth Form computer suite. During school hours, this was the exclusive domain of Years Twelve and Thirteen but, after school, this smaller ICT room was a dedicated
homework area for children who didn’t have computers at home. As most did, it was never busy, especially since October when a Year Nine boy had got into huge trouble for downloading porn.

Delilah was already there, tinkering away on the internet. ‘You guys, quick, come look at this!’ she called.

They walked around the little island of computers to see her monitor. She was looking at some sort of etching from the Middle Ages. It depicted a grotesque old man surrounded by cats, leaning
over a bubbling cauldron.

‘What’s that meant to be?’ asked Jack, frowning at the image.

‘It’s called
The Mage with Familiars
,’ Delilah explained.

‘That doesn’t really help!’ Jack said.

‘I’ve been thinking about Laura,’ Delilah went on.

‘Makes a refreshing change,’ joked Kitty.

Delilah ignored her. ‘Her heart was removed, right? Well in the sixteenth century, goat or sheep hearts were often left as offerings to the Horned God. Witches believed he’d do their
bidding if he accepted a worthy sacrifice.’

Jack grimaced at the engraving. ‘So, Ms Dandehunt wanted Laura’s heart as a sacrifice!’ he exclaimed. Then he added jokingly, ‘Ms Dandehunt’s a cat person.
I’ve never trusted cat people.’

‘That’s what I was searching for.’

‘Crazy cat people?’

‘No!’ Delilah huffed. ‘Familiars. I was trying to work out why Laura and Lis got the crows. I think it has something to do with those birds being witches’
familiars.’

‘That’s what Ms Dandehunt said,’ Lis added thoughtfully.

The school courtyards were now empty and the December sky was turning mauve already. Lis was twitchy, and Dee’s sinister theories weren’t helping. In a short time, they were about to
risk everything to retrieve the diaries.

‘When can we leave this room?’ Lis asked.

‘Rugby practice until five, Spanish club until six and then it’s game on,’ Kitty stated.

‘Good.’ Lis bowed her head. ‘Now, who wants to help me write a diabetic recipe while we wait?’

There was something inherently wrong about the dark, silent school. It was a contradiction. No shouting, no bells, no life. As six o’clock approached, Lis found herself
oddly calm, resigned to what they had to do.

Daphne had long since left the library, instructing ‘you nice Year Elevens’ to drop the latch when they’d finished their homework.

The four of them noisily made their way past the CCTV cameras trained on the library counter and the exit. They needed to be filmed leaving. Lis had to admit, Kitty’s plan was airtight.
She was wasted on schooling; the secret service needed her.

As soon as they stepped beyond the camera’s gaze and into the dagger-sharp winter air, the group stopped.

‘Right,’ said Kitty with authority, ‘does everyone know their positions?’

‘Aye, aye, captain!’ Jack saluted.

‘This should be relatively simple,’ Kitty went on. ‘In and out in ten minutes. If the diary’s not there, game over.’

Lis nodded, refusing to think about the ten billion things that could go wrong.

Kitty continued. ‘Stick to your posts and if you see anyone coming, send a group text. Phones on vibrate?’

They all checked their phones.

Lis turned to Kitty. ‘Are you sure this’ll work?’

She nodded. ‘The CCTV is like a normal video machine. Just press
Stop
.’

Kitty had invented an errand earlier to take her to the main office. She was, of course, casing the joint, and she’d learned everything she needed to know about the school’s limited
security.

The CCTV was an old style video recorder system; no one would question a ‘malfunction’. The trickier part was the burglar alarms, but ‘Spanish for Adults’ in G2 classroom
didn’t finish until eight, so they couldn’t turn the intruder alarms on until then. The plan was to get the diary while the Spanish class was in progress, so they’d have to deal
with the cameras but not the alarms.

‘Remember,’ said Delilah, ‘don’t go anywhere near G2, or we’ve had it.’

‘Cool.’ Lis’s stomach fizzed like it was full of acid. ‘Let’s do it.’

They gathered at the top of the end staircase and peered cautiously down the corridor. The dark passageway stretched before them, the only light spilling from G2 at the farthest
end of the hallway. On this stretch they were vulnerable; if someone came out of Spanish for Adults, they’d be busted.

‘Coast’s clear,’ Lis breathed from her vantage point.

‘What about the Spanish class?’ hissed Delilah.

‘Looks like they’re all in,’ Lis replied.

‘OK. Stick to the wall and stay low,’ Kitty instructed.

Jack had left them already for his role as early-warning look-out. His spot was outside the main entrance to the B corridor – the only access to the G corridor other than the main
staircase, which Dee would cover. Lis edged down the corridor, hardly daring to breathe and keeping her eyes fixed on the end classroom. Her rubber soles made only the lightest tapping sound, but
she cursed them nonetheless. Three strange girls creeping down a school hall must have looked hilarious, but in the moment it was serious as a funeral. Her heartbeat reverberated through her skull,
but Lis ignored it, hastening on till she reached the central junction to the T Block, where the lockers and staffroom were located.

Turning the corner, she pressed herself in alongside the metal lockers. Kitty and Delilah joined her. From this hideout they couldn’t be seen by anyone in G2.

‘Christ!’ The whites of Delilah’s eyes shone. ‘I don’t know if I can handle this.’

Kitty gave her a slow, steady kiss on the lips. ‘We’re nearly there. Hardest bit’s over – this is your spot. If anyone comes out of G2, let us know.’

Delilah tucked herself between the rows of lockers, vanishing into the shadows. ‘Please be careful. Love you.’

‘Right back at ya!’ Kitty smiled and Lis drew strength from their affection. ‘Lis, the office is just at the bottom of those stairs.’

‘OK,’ Lis whispered. She took a last look at the shadows moving within G2 and then started down the stairs to the main entrance hall. The grand old clock ticked louder than she would
have thought possible as she reached the last of the stone stairs. Once in the hall, on her right was the exit to the school driveway, and to her left were the boys’ toilets – two
escape routes if she needed them. Sticking to the walls, avoiding patches of light on the floor, she tiptoed across the hall and onto the short staircase that led to what was essentially the
basement of the school. On this level there was only the deputy head’s office, the bursar’s room and the main school office in which the surveillance equipment was located.

Although not as vital as Kitty’s role, Lis knew she couldn’t mess up. They shouldn’t be in school at all, and if cameras caught Kitty going into Ms Dandehunt’s office
then there would be major hell to pay. It was Lis’s job to make sure the tape from the CCTV didn’t have any footage of them after the point where they were seen leaving the library.

It shouldn’t be too hard
, Lis told herself.
It’s a video machine, for crying out loud. Stop, rewind, tape over. Easy! In theory
.

Just as Kitty had predicted, the door to the office stood ajar. Lis pushed the door softly, cursing the shrill creak it gave. Through the gloom she could make out three untidy desks and numerous
filing cabinets. On top of one was a simple VCR and TV unit. A light on the VCR indicated that it was recording, but the TV wasn’t on.

Lis darted over and pushed the
On
button on the CCTV monitor. The standby light glowed red, but the TV failed to come on. OK, so she needed a remote control. Great. Where was it? She
swivelled to the desk behind her and started rummaging through the crap piled all over it: dirty mugs, paperwork, calendars, mouse mats, the phone, a stapler, but no remote! She was starting to
lose patience when her hands found the slim plastic device underneath a crumpled copy of
Take a Break
. Lis switched on the monitor.

The TV buzzed to life, displaying twelve grainy boxes showing the different camera feeds from around the school. Each was labelled
CAM
1,
CAM
2
and so on. Jack was visible on
CAM
4, waiting by a rubbish bin outside the B corridor entrance, hopping from foot to foot to fight off the cold. Delilah and Kitty were still
hiding by the lockers on
CAM
6.