Return to Ribblestrop

  ‘In nomine . . .’ he whispered.

  The chairs and table disintegrated. The wooden pieces clattered round the walls. The cans of drink spun on the floor, the liquid foaming out of them. Tomaz was on his feet, somehow, staggering wildly. The old man could only watch as the boy was blown through the doorway, his blazer flap-ping after him. Then the broken door took on a life of its own and smashed back into its own frame.

  He was sealed in.

  Father O’Hanrahan clung to his crucifix, but couldn’t speak. He was dimly aware of Cuthbertson’s voice in his ear, shouting and cursing: ‘What are you doing, man? Don’t kill him!’

  He knew that all he could do was sit it out – the ghost was roasting him. It was a trial of strength he had not been prepared for. He had holy water with him, deep in his satchel, but there was no way he could get to it. He mouthed the words again, ‘In nomine . . .’ but they seemed to make the furious presence even more violent.

  His belt was lifted from where it had fallen. It sprang upwards and came down like a whip. He was caught a stinging blow across the face, then two more across his hands. The wind continued to blow and he sank to his knees to endure it. He had no idea how long he knelt there, whimpering into his microphone.

  It was dark when he crawled out of the cupboard and across the classroom. He got to his room, somehow, and used his remaining strength to pack a holdall. Then he limped to his car and fell into the driving seat. He could stay at Ribblestrop Towers no longer.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  ‘It was Lord Vyner,’ said Tomaz. ‘I know it.’

  They were in the orphans’ dormitory, up in the east tower. The boy had refused to speak about his experience all through supper.

  His friends waited patiently. When he asked for a meeting, everyone went straight to the orphans’ dormitory. The only problem was the presence of Brother Doonan.

  Asilah had taken him to one side. ‘Just now and then we have to meet alone, sir,’ he said. ‘It’s not that we don’t trust you, and we don’t want to hurt your feelings. . .’

  ‘You don’t want me in the room?’

  ‘No, we want to talk together.’

  ‘I don’t understand – you want to talk to me on your own? In the room?’

  ‘All the kids want to talk. Alone.’

  ‘With me?’

  ‘No, Father. Would you mind leaving us on our own for about two hours?’

  Doonan laughed. ‘I’m so sorry to be slow, Asilah.’ He patted the boy’s shoulder. ‘It’s just as it should be and it’s kind of you to explain. I’ll go round the lake and I’ll knock before I come in.’

  Asilah shook his hand and kissed it.

  Once they’d heard the full story, Millie swore.

  A number of orphans moved closer to Tomaz and Sanjay put his arm round him. ‘That old ghost loves you, Tom,’ he said. ‘He’s looking after you, boy!’

  ‘What’s the priest up to?’ said Eric.

  ‘He’s never a priest,’ said Sam. ‘I do not believe he’s a priest!’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Anjoli. ‘If that old skrag is asking about Tomaz’s house, it’s because he’s after something. We’ve been so slow! He was coming out of Neptune that time – now how did he find out about that?’

  ‘Yes!’ said various children.

  ‘That’s all true,’ said Asilah, holding up a hand for quiet. ‘We never found out what he was doing down those tunnels. He’s got something on his mind.’

  ‘Did you tell him anything?’ said Sanchez.

  ‘No,’ said Tomaz.

  ‘You stayed silent under torture,’ said Ruskin. ‘Because that’s what it was – torture.’

  There was a buzz of indignation all around the room.

  ‘He smacked Tomaz,’ said Eric, shaking his head. ‘That’s as bad as it gets, man.’

  ‘Sounds like the ghost gave it to him, though,’ said Podma.

  Imagio smiled a thin, cruel smile. ‘Where I live,’ he said, ‘he’d be in the ground by now out in the damn desert.’

  ‘Let’s go see him!’ said Anjoli. ‘We need weapons!’

  Everyone stood to leave and it took Sanchez half a minute to get their attention. ‘Listen!’ he said. ‘Listen!’

  The children were calm.

  ‘We made a big mistake last term. We did everything by ourselves, when we should have talked to the headmaster.’

  ‘Oh, come on!’ said Millie. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘Of course I’m serious! We always think we’re best handling these things alone. But all we have to do is say Father O’Hanrahan assaulted Tomaz. He’d be sacked, immediately.’

  ‘He would not!’ said Millie. ‘Our headmaster can’t sack anyone – look at Miles, how come he’s still here?’

  Miles was sitting on the floor, legs crossed. He did his best to smile as the children laughed.

  ‘Miles is loaded!’ said Anjoli. ‘His ma just shells out the cash.’

  Sanjay said something in his own language and there was applause.

  ‘What did he say?’ said Millie.

  ‘I said she pays a million to forget she’s a mother!’

  ‘Shut up!’ said Sanchez, fiercely, looking at Miles. ‘That’s a dirty thing to say, Sanjay! You apologise right now.’

  Sanjay’s smile had died. ‘I didn’t mean it, man. All I meant—’

  Asilah was standing and administered a stinging slap. He said something fierce and furious in his own language, and Sanjay put his hands over his mouth, the tears welling. ‘I am so sorry,’ he said, quietly. ‘I don’t know why I said it.’

  There was a terrible silence. At last, Oli said, ‘Can I ask a question?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Sanchez.

  ‘I’ve been thinking. Tomaz was being interrogated and tortured. And the ghost of Lord Vyner helped him get out of it. That must mean the ghost will make sure nothing bad happens.’

  ‘True,’ said Eric.

  ‘So why don’t we try and talk to Lord Vyner?’ said Sam.

  ‘I wanted to do that at the start of term,’ said Millie. ‘So let’s go down with Tomaz, have a little consultation with the ghost.’

  ‘What does this ghost look like?’ said Imagio. ‘You’re all talking like you believe, but how many of you have really seen it? I’ve never seen no ghost.’

  ‘He’s real,’ said Ruskin.

  ‘What’s he look like? Who’s seen him?’

  Tomaz hesitated. He’d got so used to the ghost of Cyril Vyner: they’d kept each other company in a strange, silent, shy kind of way. He had reason to be very fond of him and he didn’t want to show him any disrespect now.

  ‘It’s hard to describe,’ he said. ‘I never saw him full on, but I know exactly what he looks like.’ He paused. ‘You see him, but then you think it’s because you were expecting to see him. And his face is . . .’

  ‘Damaged,’ said Miles, quietly.

  ‘Yes,’ said Tomaz.

  ‘Is it true he’s had half his head blown off?’ said Eric. ‘’Cause that is grim.’

  Tomaz winced. But it was clear that everyone wanted to know.

  ‘Like I say, you don’t see him full on. I think he knows he’s a mess and doesn’t sort of . . . want to upset you. Maybe – I don’t know – he’s sad a lot of the time. They shot him in the head, so of course he’s a mess.’

  Anjoli said, ‘Where I live we got a ghost. By the river. And he takes little children and he cuts them up.’

  Israel punched him. ‘That is such crap!’

  ‘He chased me! You don’t even know—’

  ‘Baby crap, from a baby!’

  ‘OK, so why do you always run in the dark, huh, big boy?’

  ‘Shut up, both of you!’ said Sanchez. He had his hand over Anjoli’s mouth and Asilah shoved Israel onto the floor. ‘The important thing is that Tomaz is safe. The ghost sorted that out, whatever he looks like and for whatever reasons. What we’ve got to worry about is what this man’s next move might be.’

  T
here were grunts of approval.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Israel. ‘We gotta find out why he’s so keen to get into Tomaz’s house.’

  ‘But that’s obvious,’ said Sam. ‘We all know Tomaz’s house is full of beautiful things. He must be a robber, and that’s —’

  ‘That’s why he was poking around Neptune,’ finished Oli.

  ‘So what do we do?’ said Asilah. ‘If Sam’s right, he’s going to find a way in sometime. Isn’t he?’

  ‘Oh my,’ said Millie.

  Everyone looked at her.

  ‘I’ve just thought of something else. We are stupid – we are slow.’

  ‘What?’ said Sanchez.

  ‘When I was in the car with him and Doonie – first day, travelling down. They told me something important. Father O’Hanrahan is an exorcist. And it’s one of the reasons he’s here.’

  ‘What’s an exorcist?’ said Imagio.

  ‘Imagine you get possessed by an evil spirit,’ said Sanchez. ‘Or if you buy a house and it’s haunted – with a ghost or an evil presence. You call in an exorcist and that person is skilled at saying the right prayers and doing all the holy water stuff. Until the ghosts are driven out.’

  ‘Seems like he’s not much of a match for Lord Vyner,’ said Asilah. ‘At the moment it’s one-nil, easy.’

  ‘Yes, but he was unprepared,’ said Tomaz. ‘Next time he might do better. I mean, if he comes down to my place with Bibles and holy stuff, Lord Vyner might not stand a chance!’

  Sanjay laughed. ‘He’s gonna get a shock when he looks in that satchel of his.’ He caught Anjoli’s eye and they both grinned at each other.

  ‘Why?’ said Sam. ‘What’s the joke?’

  ‘You seen little Joe lately?’ said Anjoli. ‘The scorpion?’

  Some of the other orphans were smiling.

  ‘You did it?’ said Eric. ‘Good man.’

  Sanjay said, ‘It was my idea. After we stung that camel’s arse, Anjoli put little Joe in the old man’s satchel, with a few leaves. He’s gonna get a nice surprise, sometime.’

  ‘Unless Joe’s asleep,’ said Anjoli. ‘I shouldn’t have put the leaves in. He eats and sleeps for days.’

  ‘Look,’ said Sanchez, when the laughter had died. ‘We’d better decide what we do. Who votes we go to the headmaster?’

  Not a hand was raised.

  Millie smiled and took off her enamel badge. ‘That’s the power of democracy, Head Boy. And if you tell him anything, we’ll put that scorpion right up your—’

  ‘We need an action plan,’ cried Asilah. ‘I’m with Millie. We can handle this on our own.’

  ‘First idea,’ said Ruskin. ‘I vote we put a guard in Tomaz’s house.’

  Millie nodded. ‘That is surprisingly good for one so slow.’

  ‘We make sure Tomaz is never alone,’ said Israel. ‘Always in threes.’ He went and sat next to Tomaz and put his arms round him.

  ‘Get radios,’ said Eric. ‘Sort out the tools – just like last time. We don’t wanna be caught short.’

  ‘Maybe a few different plans,’ said Oli. ‘So we can adapt, according to what he throws at us.’

  ‘Weapons,’ said Anjoli. ‘You can’t beat a good weapon.’

  Millie looked at Miles. ‘Why did you muck around with Sanchez’s gun?’ she said, tiredly. ‘We’re going to need it again and the police have taken it.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Eric. ‘If we all get killed, whose fault’s that gonna be?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Sanchez.

  ‘Of course it matters!’ said Millie.

  ‘I know where the gun is,’ said a voice.

  Everyone turned. The voice belonged to Kenji, the orphan in charge of the school tuck shop and bank. He was cross-legged on the floor with his fellow infants, and had been following the debate with interest. His hand was now raised.

  ‘Where?’ said Asilah. ‘How do you know?’

  ‘You said the police had taken it, but that’s not true. Lady Vyner never pressed charges, so the gun was returned.’

  ‘It’s a Thirty-Eight Special, isn’t it?’ said Nikko. ‘Snubnose?’

  Sanchez was nodding.

  ‘I saw it this morning,’ said Kenji. ‘It’s perfectly safe.’

  ‘Saw it where?’ said Millie. ‘You’re wasting time. If it’s locked up somewhere, it’s not going to help us. Sanchez needs it in his pocket – or I do.’

  ‘That’s the point, though,’ said Kenji. ‘It’s in the headmaster’s safe. And we run the Ribblestrop Syndicate, and that means holding the bank’s investments.’ He was pulling a chain out from under his shirt. ‘We have to have a secure storage area and that . . . well, that happens to be the headmaster’s safe. I’m the keyholder. I can get it for you any time, if you want.’

  Sanchez felt Millie’s gaze upon him and blushed. ‘That would be very useful,’ he said, quietly.

  ‘I think so too,’ said Anjoli. ‘I don’t feel safe any more – this is all getting freaky.’

  ‘Tomaz,’ said Millie. ‘At the moment, is there any way the priest could get into your home?’

  Tomaz thought and shook his head. ‘I’ve been wondering about it. You all know the way – you know how it looks . . . it’s just a rabbit hole. Even if he found it, he’s too fat.’

  ‘Could he dig it? Make it bigger?’

  ‘It would take a while, but . . . yes. We do that for Henry. I guess so.’

  ‘Any other way?’

  ‘Only by caving. That was how I got in first, from above. I blocked the way as best I could – it’s not easy to spot.’

  ‘Ruskin’s right: we better get guards down there,’ said Asilah. ‘Groups of three. Through the night.’

  ‘Oli,’ said Millie. ‘Draw up a rota.’

  ‘Set spies,’ said Anjoli.

  The meeting was breaking up. The children hauled themselves to their feet and there was a flurry of high-fives and hugs.

  ‘We’re at war again,’ said Israel. ‘Feels good to me.’

  Chapter Thirty-five

  ‘Millie,’ said Miles, later than evening. ‘I want to ask you something.’

  ‘What?’

  They were alone in the boys’ dormitory and Millie was wondering if she should have brought Anjoli or Sanjay with her. She wasn’t frightened of Miles, but there was something about him that disturbed her.

  ‘I want to show you something as well.’

  ‘Go on then?’

  ‘You know you asked me if Sanchez ever wrote to me? I said you couldn’t read the letter, because it was personal. You didn’t believe me.’

  ‘I still don’t.’

  ‘Do you want to read it now?’

  ‘He didn’t write to you, Miles. He told me so himself.’

  Miles pulled a piece of paper out of his blazer pocket.

  ‘Anyway, what’s it matter?’ said Millie. ‘Why are you so obsessed?’

  ‘Something bad is coming,’ said Miles. ‘But I want you to know that I’m going to look after you.’

  ‘You’re going to look after me?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Millie sighed. ‘You are seriously cracked – you can’t look after yourself, we’ve all seen that. Show it to me.’

  She took the letter and held it to the light. It had clearly been folded and unfolded many times. It was in a childish hand that she didn’t recognise.

  She read it aloud.

  ‘Dear Miles,

  I can’t make this a long letter. Of course I miss you and I understand what you say but you still shouldn’t have done what you did. I don’t know what you mean about coming back to Ribblestrop. I can’t see the headmaster changing his mind, but I will talk to him if I can. So will my dad. We all want you to come back.

  Your best friend: Andreas Sanchez

  ‘You wrote this yourself,’ said Millie.

  Miles shook his head. ‘I didn’t.’

  ‘It’s not even his signature. Anyway. . .’ She passed it back to him. ‘What am I supposed to
say? Big deal. Well done.’

  ‘Listen, Millie. The ghost comes to see me. Every night. If we climb up on the tower, like last time—’

  Millie sighed and turned away. ‘I’m going to bed,’ she said. ‘I’m not staying alone with you – you’re too creepy.’

  ‘There’s something written on the wall. I want to show it to you . . . ’

  ‘You’re writing on the walls as well? I am not climbing that tower with you, Miles. I saw what you did to Caspar.’

  ‘I’m a guardian. You’re safe if you—’

  ‘I don’t want to be around you!’ shouted Millie. ‘What are you turning into? You were freaky before, but this is a new . . . zone of freakiness. You need a shrink.’

  ‘Sanchez brought me back here and I think there were reasons!’

  ‘What?’

  Millie laughed sharply. She stared at Miles. He was in shirt-sleeves, and she noticed the grey cotton was ripped and frayed. He was twisting a cuff in his fingers.

  ‘I think Sanchez must have spoken to the headmaster,’ he said. ‘He wanted me back here, badly. And I think it was for a reason. I think—’

  ‘Wait a moment,’ said Millie. She laughed. ‘Look, I don’t want to disillusion you, but . . .’ She shook her head. ‘They say never indulge the fantasies of dangerous lunatics, so I better set you straight. The reason you’re here, back in Ribblestrop, is because of something I did last term. I changed the letter that was expelling you and I did it as a joke. Total spur of the moment, off the top of my head decision because your photo made you look a lot sweeter than you are. The letter was on the headmaster’s desk and I scribbled on it. Posted it. Back you came. Your “best friend” Sanchez didn’t want me to – he said you were a dangerous liar.’