“What’s wrong?” said Amanda. This didn’t look good. Why was Amphora crying?
“What is it?” said Ivy.
“She’s holding a letter and crying,” said Amanda, taking Ivy’s hand and touching the paper with it. Ivy felt it carefully.
“I can tell she’s crying,” said Ivy. “I just wasn’t sure why. What’s wrong, Amphora?”
“It’s so sad,” Amphora wailed.
“What is?” said Simon, looking skeptical. Amanda just knew what he was thinking. Amphora was creating drama out of nothing. Not that she necessarily disagreed with him.
“These love letters.” Amphora held them up. They were written with a fountain pen on blue paper. Fortunately her tears hadn’t smeared anything.
“Ooooh, love letters,” said Ivy. “Whose are they?” She felt the paper again as if that would answer her question.
“You can’t really feel the ink on the paper, can you?” said Amanda.
“Don’t be silly,” said Ivy. “Of course not.”
“You’re not trying some voodoo mumbo jumbo, are you?” said Simon.
“Si-monnnnn,” said Ivy. “I’m just touching, the same way you’d look at something. It does, by the way, help me to get a feel for how old the paper is. I’d say it’s been around for a while, but not centuries or anything.”
“You’re right,” said Simon. “It’s newish but not brand new.”
“So what does it say?” said Amanda, trying to look over Amphora’s shoulder, a futile exercise due to their considerable difference in height.
“It’s so passionate,” said Amphora. “A guy named Kenneth is spilling his guts to a woman named Charlotte. He’s so in love with her he’d live inside a tree if it was the only way to be with her, but she’s kind of cold toward him. Well, not cold, but not warm either.”
“Let me see that,” said Simon, grabbing the letter. “Is there an address or a date or anything?” He scanned the paper.
“No, nothing,” said Amphora. “Do you recognize the writing?”
“Uh uh,” said Simon. “You?”
“Nope.”
“Me either,” said Amanda, trying to get a good look.
“Hey, you don’t suppose Kenneth is Professor Kindseth, do you?” said Ivy.
“OMG, yes!” said Amphora. “It’s got to be.”
“Why do you say that?” said Simon, examining the letter back, front, and sideways.
“What other Kenneth is there here?”
The kids thought for a moment. Then Simon said, “There’s no other teacher by that name, but how do we know it’s a teacher?”
“Who’s Charlotte?” said Amphora.
“No clue,” said Amanda. “There’s no teacher with that name.”
“What a cool mystery,” said Amphora.
“Yes,” said Ivy, “but I don’t think these are the missing items. The letters are sad and a bit incriminating, but there’s no way these could be throwing all the teachers into such a tizzy. Unless there’s some sort of blackmail going on. Do you think there might be?” She reached down and petted Nigel’s ears protectively.
“It seems unlikely,” said Amanda. “I suppose we could document these and go on, though.”
“Yes, good idea,” said Ivy.
“I’ll do it,” said Amphora. “It’s such amazing reading.”
Simon gave her the kind of look a twelve-year-old boy gives a twelve-year-old girl when she gets all mushy, then left the room.
After that the kids unearthed more hidden compartments than they thought possible. Most of them were empty, though, and after a couple of hours without significant discovery, they thought they’d go down to the dining room for a cup of tea. However, they had barely moved when Amanda called out, “Hey!” When the other kids arrived at her location, a supply closet in a niche in the north hall, she was digging into a deep space stuffed with as many types of candy as you can imagine. Every cubic inch was filled with chocolate creams, red and black licorice sticks, chocolate nut bars, M&Ms, candy corn, chocolate-covered cherries, vanilla fudge, gooey caramels, some kind of marshmallow concoction, dark chocolate bars, mints, Cadbury Roses, chocolate Easter bunnies and Santas, something blue and fruity-smelling, and a whole lot more. The smell was amazing and so hard to resist that Amanda had to fling her arm in front of the stash to keep the others from raiding it.
“What do you think this is about?” she said, trying to remember each variety in case this was one of Professor Sidebotham’s setups.
“Who’s fat around here?” said Simon.
“Si-monnn,” said Amphora and Ivy in unison.
“Well, if you eat this stuff, that’s what will happen to you. So it’s logical to look for someone who’s overweight. Who’s fat?”
“No one’s fat—anymore,” said Amanda. The “anymore” referred to the fact that she, Amphora, and a few of the other first-years had been overweight when they’d started at Legatum, but the previous cook’s sugar thefts had reduced the number of calories in the food, and by the end of the term they had all slimmed down.
“Are you sure?” said Simon.
“I can’t think of anyone. Can you?” said Amphora.
The kids took a couple of minutes to skim through the images of the students and teachers in their minds, but no one could come up with a name. Even Professor Mukherjee, the legal issues teacher, who had been roly-poly when spring term had begun, had lost weight, which to everyone’s surprise made him look rather dashing. Legatum’s denizens were all appallingly fit. And so the identity of the owner/manager of the candy stash remained a mystery, at least for the time being.
After their tea break, during which they discovered that the new cook had reinstituted the revered custom of afternoon tea and scones (and grabbed another peek at him—his name was Rupert Thwack), they returned to the third floor. They may have covered a lot of ground, but there was so much more to go that they decided to give it an hour and quit. During that time they found someone’s costume jewelry collection, snapshots from an old Halloween party (you don’t even want to know), and what Simon referred to as a skateboard graveyard.
The skateboard stash so excited Simon that he lingered over it for a long time. It comprised a huge closet full of broken skateboards of every vintage imaginable. Some were popular makes and models, and others were obviously custom designs. There was a Chocolate Raven Tershy Treehouse deck (very purple) with Spiral wheels, a dark blue Antihero Classic Eagle, and a lime green Roger Snack Attack. Under those he found an ancient Makaha sidewalk board and a G&S Stacey Peralta Warp Tail. But his favorite was a Zazzle Chronic Monkey, which was painted a bright emerald green and had a picture of a monkey on the deck. He was busting to tell the girls about it, but after Amanda’s unfortunate experience on the train to London the previous term, he decided not say anything. Amanda was still fuming about being peed on and had taken an intense dislike to monkeys and apes of all kinds, even King Kong, whose skyscraper scene she had long admired.
Simon found this collection even more baffling than the others they’d come across. Why would anyone keep a bunch of broken skateboards? Someone should fix them. They would be incredibly useful around campus. This place was truly nuts.
After he was able to tear himself away, Simon and the girls continued to scour the third floor but didn’t find anything that might qualify as the missing item, which they had started to call “the whatsit.” There were, however, two more floors plus endless basements to go, not to mention the gym and various outbuildings. The chapel, of course, was still off-limits, although none of them had ever let a little thing like one of Thrillkill’s orders stop them.
11
The Crystals
The following Saturday, Amanda noticed that Amphora was wearing a necklace composed of a beautiful apricot-colored crystal. It was so striking that she decided she wanted one too and asked Amphora where she’d gotten it.
“If I tell you, you won’t believe it,” said Amphora, fingering the stone. It sp
arkled like you wouldn’t believe.
“Of course I will,” said Amanda, staring at it. It looked like winter, spring, summer, and fall all at once. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“You have to understand,” said Amphora, “I wasn’t doing anything I wasn’t supposed to.” She seemed awfully nervous. What had she done? Flouted the rules and snuck off to town?
“I know that. But even if you had, so what?”
“No reason,” said Amphora. “It’s just that . . . well, okay, I did do something I wasn’t supposed to. I was out by the chapel. Please don’t tell anyone.”
“Of course I won’t, but why are you worried? You didn’t go in, did you?”
“No.”
“So what then? Please take me. I’m dying to see what you found. This doesn’t have anything to do with gluppy things, does it?”
“Gluppy things” was Amanda’s description of the slime mold she and Nick had found in the garden near the secret room where the previous term’s cook had hidden her virus-treated pink sugar—the same place the cook and the doctor had held Herb Lester. The things were gross and Amanda didn’t ever want to have anything to do with them again.
“No gluppy things. I promise. Ready?”
“Ready. Let’s go.”
As they worked their way down to the spot where Amphora had found the crystal, Amanda said, “So, the new cook.”
“What about him?” said Amphora, reddening.
“He’s cute,” said Amanda.
“Oh? I hadn’t noticed.” She quickened her step.
“Come on, Amphora. Everyone knows you have a huge crush on him.”
“No I don’t.” She walked even faster.
“I don’t blame you,” said Amanda. “He’s got a motorcycle and everything.”
Amphora stopped and looked at Amanda. “I know,” she moaned. “He’s amazing. Did you know that he studied with Jamie Oliver?” Jamie Oliver, the boyish celebrity chef, was the coolest guy ever. Even Amanda had heard of him over in the States. Not that he was a boy anymore, but he’d started in his teens and immediately made a huge splash.
“No, I didn’t, but it figures. See, that wasn’t so bad.” Amanda smiled and Amphora visibly relaxed.
“Please don’t say anything to Simon,” said Amphora.
“I don’t have to. He knows.”
“Darn it, Amanda. Why did you tell him?”
Amanda looked Amphora full in the face and said, “Thanks a lot. Why would you think I’d do that? Simon has eyes. We all do. It’s so obvious it’s ridiculous. You need to work on your disguises. That includes not staring at cute guys when you don’t want anyone to know you like them.”
Amphora sighed. “I can’t believe I’ve been doing that.” She looked miserable.
“Well you have, so cut it out. I don’t blame you, but if you don’t want people knowing, you’re going to have to be a better actor than that.”
Amphora brightened. “Yes, that’s true. Can you teach me?”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Sure. In my copious free time.”
“You don’t have to make that film with Scapulus anymore, right?”
“That’s true. Okay. We’ll meet tomorrow and I’ll give you some pointers. Now can we please see where you found the crystal?”
When they arrived at the spot, Amanda saw a huge abyss where a few days earlier a perfectly manicured lawn had graced the space. She found it almost incomprehensible that the inspectors hadn’t ruled this place off limits, but there it was, gaping but apparently benign. It was pretty deep in parts, but other sections went only a foot or two down, so she waded in.
“There,” pointed Amphora. The place she was indicating was moist and soft.
“You found it just lying there?” said Amanda, whose shoes were already caked with mud.
“Pretty much.”
“I wonder if there are more. Let’s dig around a bit.”
They weren’t about to do that with their bare hands, but conveniently there was a gardening outbuilding nearby and it wasn’t locked. The girls sloshed their way to it in their muddy shoes, and after rooting around returned with a large shovel and a small trowel.
Working outward and downward from the spot where Amphora had found the crystal, they dug as deep as they could. One would use the shovel for the heavy work and the other would follow with the trowel. In this manner they hoped to avoid damaging any crystals they might find. Amanda filmed as they went, attempting to perform a three-hand job with two and ending up with gunky clothes. Fortunately the camera remained if not pristine, clean enough to do the job.
It didn’t take long for them to get results. Within about three minutes Amphora’s shovel hit something hard—so much for their two-step digging process—and when they looked they could see more crystals. This encouraged them so much that they spent an hour excavating, and by the time they had worn themselves out they were very close to the secret room.
At that point they had discovered maybe forty crystals, which they had carefully piled up out of the way. Though they were encrusted with mud, each one was as beautiful as the one Amphora had made into a necklace. Amanda bagged and marked them. She was so excited about their findings she could barely contain herself. An unusual discovery and beautiful new jewelry too. She couldn’t wait to tell Ivy.
When they had processed all the crystals, something caught her eye. She could see another cavern off the abyss. It seemed to extend way underneath the building, right near the secret room.
“Just a quick peek, okay?” she said.
“All right,” said Amphora. “But please make it fast. I’m so tired I’m going to collapse right here.”
Amanda stepped back into the crater and carefully made her way to the hole in its side. “It’s too dark to see anything,” she said, peering in.
“Have you got your light?”
“Of course.” The light on her phone had been invaluable in exploring nooks and crannies. In fact, she and Nick had used it to discover the secret room in the first place. She switched it on and shined it into the cavern, which was huge. Suddenly she screamed and dropped her phone in the mud.
Under the building, right next to the room in which her father had been held, stood an upright skeleton, its skull encrusted with dazzling, glowing apricot-colored crystals, and it was staring right at her.
12
Another Dead Bbody
Amanda was so surprised to see the skeleton that she screamed. It wasn’t that she was afraid. She wasn’t. And she wasn’t exactly thinking, “Oh no, another dead person,” but her reflexes were. She didn’t know what she’d expected to see, but a skeleton wasn’t it. She didn’t know why but she thought of Richard III, the medieval king whose body had been found under a parking lot. What had the people who’d discovered it thought when they’d first seen it. OMG, was it possible that this was another missing royal figure? Maybe it was even Robin Hood or King Arthur.
“What?!” cried Amphora.
“Eek, eek,” Amanda was yelling. She was stomping in the mud so hard it would have been easy for her phone to sink and disappear, which it did.
“What is it?” said Amphora. “Oh no, oh no. I just know it’s another body. It is, isn’t it?”
“Yes!” screamed Amanda loud enough to wake the thing in the cavern. “It’s Robin Hood!”
“What?” said Amphora. “Are you nuts? We have to get Thrillkill.”
“Right. Except I’ve dropped my phone. Oh no, I don’t see it. It must be in the mud.” She felt around. Nothing.
“I have mine,” said Amphora, digging in her pockets. “I’ll get him. Who is it really?”
“I don’t know. It’s a skeleton.”
“Aaaaaaah!” yelled Amphora, trying to text but shaking too hard.
“Hang on,” said Amanda. “Here it is. Eeeeeew.” She’d found her phone way down in the muck. It was in a terrible state, probably as dead as the skeleton. “Here, give me that.”
Amphora waded over and handed her phon
e to Amanda, who punched a message to Thrillkill without remembering to tell him where she was. Oh well. Her GPS would let him know.
“OMG,” said Amphora. “A skeleton?” Then, suddenly, she stopped her hysterics. “Wait. That means it’s really old, doesn’t it?”
Amanda stopped and thought for a second. She was right. The idea of Robin Hood and King Arthur was a bit over the top, but the skeleton did have to be old. Otherwise it would be a body instead of a skeleton. She breathed a sigh of relief. If this were a murder it was an ancient one, and not anything to do with them.
“I think you’re right.” Then, suddenly remembering what she’d seen, she said, “But it had crystals on it.”
“What?” said Amphora.
“The head. It had crystals all over it.”
“Hang on. I have to see.” Amphora started clomping through the mud.
“I don’t think you want to,” said Amanda, trying to clean the gunk off her phone.
“But you said it’s old. That doesn’t bother me so much.”
“Okay,” said Amanda. “Help yourself. Do you have a light?”
“Yes. Can you give me back my phone?”
Amanda gave Amphora her phone. Thus armed, her roommate tiptoed into the mouth of the cavern. She turned on her light and directed it all around.
“Eeeeek!” she yelled when the light hit the skeleton.
“I told you,” said Amanda.
“Wait a minute. Now that I know where it is, I won’t be so shocked. I want to see those crystals.” She turned the light back toward the body. “Oooooh, would you look at that? It’s gorgeous. I wonder who it is. Do you think it’s someone royal?”
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” said Amanda. “And they tell me I watch too many movies.” This, of course, was a highly hypocritical thing to say. Suddenly she thought of Darius Plover. She hadn’t answered him! When she got out of this mess she would have to write to him or she’d never hear from him again.