“He’s right,” Sebastian said, nodding vigorously.
“Stop that before your head falls off,” Martha said, as Sebastian continued to bob his head in his excitement.
Doug interrupted before Sebastian could come up with a suitable reply. “I still think we ought to use the night of the ball as cover, but it’s going to be a little trickier getting into the lounge fireplace without being seen.”
All was quiet for a moment as everyone contemplated the difficulties ahead. Doug was right. The doors of the lounge weren’t locked at night like those of the library. Anyone from the ball could wander in at the wrong moment. All they could do was hope that the teachers chaperoning the ball would make an attempt to keep everyone in the ballroom.
Thinking out loud, Doug said slowly, “We’ll have to enter the passageway right after curfew. By then, the juniors and seniors will all be at the ball and the underclassmen will all be in their rooms. If we wait until after the ball is over, we’ll have to deal with the security guards. I don’t think we should try that again.”
“Yeah, there won’t be any locked doors to keep them out this time,” Sebastian said.
“I can get us some flashlights like I did before,” Doug continued as if Sebastian hadn’t spoken. “The ball lasts until midnight, so we’ll meet in the lounge at 11 o’clock.”
“That won’t give us very much time,” Martha said.
“Yeah,” Sebastian said. “Do you think we can find the treasure and get back to our rooms before midnight?”
“If we don’t find the treasure, it’s not really going to matter if we’re caught out after curfew,” Doug replied.
Once again, silence fell. Doug was right. If they didn’t find the treasure, there would be no more Dinswood Academy, and thus no need to worry over being expelled. To some, that realization might have been liberating, but it just made the four of them sad.
Finally, Doug broke the silence. “Remember to dress…”
“We know,” Martha interrupted, “dress warmly in dark clothes, right?”
“Right!” the others answered in unison.
They were just about to go back inside the castle when suddenly Emma remembered Reggie’s first revelation. “What do you guys make of the fact that Cal Thrabek is an anagram for Blackheart? Do you think it’s just a coincidence?”
Shaking his head in the negative, Doug answered, “It’s too weird to be a coincidence, but I have no idea what it means.”
“Maybe it’s an alias, and Cal Thrabek isn’t his real name,” Sebastian said.
“I think you’re right, Sebastian,” Martha agreed.
Pleased that Martha had agreed with him, Sebastian continued. “The question is why would an old man need an alias? What is he trying to hide?”
“Do you think he could be the one who hit Doug on the head that day in Windland?” Martha asked.
“No, the guy I saw had dark hair and looked like Mr. Hodges—at least from a distance,” Doug replied quickly. “Besides, Cal came along right after it happened. He wouldn’t have had time to hit me at one end of the alley and then appear seconds later on the other end.”
“I guess you’re right,” Martha said with a sigh.
“Maybe he knows about the history of the castle and just liked the name Blackheart,” Sebastian suggested.
Doug shrugged his shoulders. “We could sit around guessing all day, but it’s not going to get us anywhere. When we see him again—if we ever see him again—we can ask him. Right now, we need to focus all our energy on finding that treasure.”
“We’ve just got to find it this time!” Emma cried.
“Yeah, the fate of the academy is in our hands,” Doug said solemnly, looking at each of them in turn.
Without a word, Sebastian raised his right arm out in front of him with the palm of his hand facing the ground. Martha and Emma were confused for a moment but Doug, evidently understanding Sebastian’s intent, put his hand on top of Sebastian’s. The girls quickly followed suit until they were all standing in a circle in a manner reminiscent of a football huddle. “For Dinswood!” Sebastian shouted. Uncaring of who might be watching, the others echoed the cry.
The two weeks before the ball seemed an eternity to Emma. All she could think about was finding the treasure and saving the school. As a result, she was having difficulty concentrating on her studies. She had to keep reminding herself that in the event Dinswood Academy was spared financial ruin, she still needed to maintain a high grade point average in order to be eligible to attend. Emma consoled herself with the fact that the others were having the same difficulty. On nights when Emma was having trouble getting to sleep, she could hear Martha tossing and turning in her bed. Sebastian was so excited he couldn’t seem to relax. His constant jabbering and inability to sit still for more than two minutes at a time was beginning to wear on everyone’s patience, even Doug’s.
Things were even more difficult for Doug because of his father. Doug knew how worried his dad was about the future of the school, but he couldn’t say anything; after all, they had no guarantee that they’d find the treasure, if indeed, a treasure really existed. The strain of keeping a brave face for his dad and hiding his doubts from the others was beginning to tell on him.
Finally, the night of the junior-senior ball arrived. Emma and Martha stood on the terrace watching the proceedings in the ballroom through the windows of the French doors. Several of the other underclassmen were doing likewise. Normally, Emma would have been enthralled by the decorations and the orchestra, not to mention the period costumes that everyone was wearing; but tonight, she was concerned with only one thing—getting into the passage and finding the treasure. Hopefully she’d have other balls at Dinswood Academy to enjoy; and one day when she was a junior, she’d be one of the girls gliding around the floor in a beautiful gown.
Later on in the evening, they were joined by Doug and Sebastian. There was very little conversation, even Sebastian seemed somewhat subdued. They were all thinking about the job ahead. Soon the bell signaling curfew rang, and a few of the teachers came out onto the terrace to shepherd all the underclassmen to their dorm rooms; it was now nine o’clock.
When Emma and Martha got back to their room, Clarice and Susie were already there. Susie was talking excitedly about the dance, and Clarice was listening with a rather bored expression. “I can’t wait until it’s our turn. It looks like so much fun!”
“Really, Susie,” Clarice said with a yawn. “I don’t see what the big deal is. I’d rather have a normal prom with a band. I can’t believe they make everyone parade around in those ridiculous costumes. It’s like they’re characters out of a romance novel.”
“That’s exactly why I like it,” Susie said, for once, not intimidated by Clarice.
Amazed, Emma looked over at Martha. This was the first time Susie had ever stood up to Clarice. Martha raised her eyebrows to indicate her own amazement, and then, deciding to help Susie out, said, “I’m with you, Susie. I think it’s a great idea.”
“It sure looked like everyone was having a good time,” Emma couldn’t help adding.
Seeing that she was outnumbered, Clarice shrugged her shoulders and with a “whatever” muttered under her breath, she went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
Once Clarice had shut the door behind her, Susie looked over at Martha and Emma and said with a sigh, “I just don’t understand Clarice sometimes.”
“Just sometimes?” Martha asked dryly.
A few minutes before eleven, Emma got out of bed and put on dark slacks and a black sweatshirt. She heard movement from across the room and assumed Martha was doing the same. Silently, she tiptoed over to the door and waited for Martha. A moment later, Martha appeared beside her. Emma had just put her hand on the doorknob when a voice said, “Hey, where are you guys going?”
It was Susie. Emma and Martha froze. Frantically, Emma searched her mind for something to say that would satisfy Susie. Their latest conversation came to mind. Whisp
ering so as not to wake up Clarice, Emma said, “We were going to sneak out and watch a little more of the ball. You won’t tell on us, will you?” Considering that she and Martha had come to Susie’s aid earlier, it didn’t seem likely that Susie would rat on them now.
Before Susie could answer, Martha asked, “Do you want to come with us?”
Emma could have kicked Martha. What was she thinking?
Susie hesitated for a moment before answering. “I’d really like to, but I’d better not. I don’t want to make Clarice mad again.”
“Okay,” Martha said, trying not to sound too relieved.
With that, Emma quickly opened the door, and the two girls stepped into the hall. Once they were far enough away from their room, Emma said, “Asking Susie to come was pure genius. She won’t suspect anything now. I just have one question. How did you know Susie wouldn’t come with us?”
With a wicked grin, and in her best British accent, Martha answered, “Human nature, my dear. Human nature.”
When they got to the double doors leading from the dorms to the main hall, they stopped. Opening one of the doors just a crack, Emma peered around it to make sure the coast was clear. She could hear music coming from the ballroom at the opposite end of the hall. The music was somewhat muted, and Emma realized the doors to the ballroom must be closed. That would be good for Doug and Sebastian, because they were going to have to pass the ballroom in order to get to the lounge. Fortunately, the girls’ dorm was on the west end of the school and relatively close to the lounge entrance. Once the girls entered the main hall, they’d only be out in the open a short time. Seeing that there was no one else in the main hall at the moment, the girls pushed through the double doors and hurried to the lounge, but once they got there, they encountered something totally unexpected. The doors to the lounge were closed, and there was no light coming from the space between the bottom of the doors and the floor; all was dark inside the lounge. Emma began to panic. Although it was true that the lounge doors were never locked, the doors themselves were equipped with locking mechanisms. What if tonight the staff had decided to lock the lounge doors in order to keep couples from the ball out? As these thoughts were going through her mind, Martha was already reaching out to try one of the doors. Thankfully, it opened easily. With a sigh of relief, the two girls slipped inside, closing the doors behind them. Emma and Martha stood just inside the door for a moment to allow their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Just enough moonlight was filtering through the windows to enable them to determine the location of the furniture in the room.
Suddenly, a head appeared above one of the couches. Emma gasped, and Martha covered her mouth to stifle a scream. “Shhh! It’s me, Sebastian.”
“You idiot!” Martha hissed angrily. “You just about gave me a heart attack.” As if to emphasize her statement, Martha put her hand over her heart and swallowed in an attempt to calm its furious pounding. “Don’t ever do that again!”
“Sorry,” Sebastian said, genuinely contrite. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to let you know we were here.”
Before Martha and Sebastian could get into a real verbal battle, Emma asked, “Where’s Doug?”
“I’m over here,” Doug answered. Emma followed the sound of his voice and saw a dark shape standing behind a chair near the fireplace. “We weren’t sure if it was you or not, so we figured we’d better hide.”
“Did you shut the doors and turn the lights out?” Emma asked.
“Yeah,” Doug answered. “There was no one in here when we got here, so I turned out the lights so that everyone would think the lounge was closed.”
“What if one of the teachers happens by?” Martha asked.
“I was hoping we’d be in the passage by then.”
“Well then, we’d better get going,” Martha said.
With that, everyone hurried over to the fireplace. Doug gave each of them a flashlight and then instructed Sebastian to shine his light on the fireplace. Counting seven up from the base and seven from the edge of the fireplace, Doug quickly located the correct stone. It was loose just like the one in the library’s fireplace. In no time, Doug had removed the stone and was reaching inside. His hand felt a metal handle. Lifting the handle, he let it fall and then repeated the process six more times. After the seventh knock, there was a scraping of stone, but the fireplace didn’t swing around as they had expected. Instead, a section of the wall to the left of the fireplace swung open. Sebastian shone his light into the opening and saw stone steps leading downward.
“I’ll go first,” Doug said without hesitation.
“I’ll bring up the rear just like last time,” Sebastian said jovially.
Without any further discussion, Doug turned on his flashlight and started into the passageway. Emma followed with Martha and Sebastian behind. Emma counted the steps as they descended, there were twelve in all. Doug was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps where the passageway widened considerably. With a sweep of their flashlights, they could see that the walls were made of stone, and the ground they were standing on was stone as well. Emma realized this passageway was a part of the cave system that ran under the castle, just like the one leading from the library. Once everyone had made it safely down the stairs, Doug continued on. His flashlight revealed a bend up ahead.
Emma lost sight of Doug for a moment as he disappeared around the corner. Hurrying to catch up, she rounded the curve and plowed right into Doug’s back. He had stopped in the center of the passageway and was staring at something straight ahead. Emma felt the hair on the back of her neck rising. What had Doug seen that would cause him to stop so suddenly? A dozen horrible possibilities ran through her mind in quick succession, including snakes and giant bugs. She was about to ask Doug why he had stopped when Martha bumped into her. There was a grunt a second later as Sebastian ran into Martha.
“Hey, what’s going on? Why’d we stop?” Sebastian asked.
“Look at this!” Doug said excitedly.
The others moved forward until they could see what had captured Doug’s attention. In the beam of Doug’s flashlight sat a large treasure chest. The chest was approximately two feet by four feet and stood about three feet high. It was made of wood and had a gleaming brass lock. It looked very old. Emma should have been elated, but instead, she was confused. The riddle had said “great treasure awaits the brave of heart.” Could it really be this easy?
They all just stood there looking at the chest with their mouths agape until Sebastian said, “Why are we just standing around? Let’s see if we can get it open.”
Needing no further prompting, Doug moved forward and tried to lift the lid. It wouldn’t open. “We’re going to need the key,” Doug said, looking around at the others.
“Where are we supposed to find the key?” Sebastian asked.
“I don’t know. Look around. Maybe it’s somewhere close by.”
Immediately they began sweeping their flashlights around. They were in a fairly large room surrounded by stone walls on three sides. There didn’t seem to be any way out other than the way they’d just come. Emma was really confused now. All of a sudden Sebastian shouted, “I found the key!”
The others looked where Sebastian had his flashlight trained. A gold key was hanging from a peg that had been driven into a portion of the cave wall that was more earth than stone. Sebastian quickly grabbed the key and handed it to Doug. They each held their breath as Doug inserted the key and turned the lock. This time when he lifted the lid, it came up easily. Doug shone his flashlight inside.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Martha said when Doug remained curiously silent. “What’s in there?”
“It looks like a rope ladder,” Doug said in apparent disbelief. The others crowded forward as Doug lifted the chest’s only contents up for them to see. It was indeed a rope ladder. It was about thirty feet in length and was composed of two strands of rope with loops on the end, obviously for hanging it on something. Each of the two ropes th
at formed the sides of the ladder were knotted at regular intervals. Resting on top of the knots and forming the rungs of the ladder were narrow pieces of wood, each about a foot long. Because of its length, it was fairly heavy, so Emma and Martha had to help Doug lift it free of the chest.
“This is crazy,” Sebastian said angrily as the others worked. “Where’s the treasure?” At that, he began stomping around in frustration.
Not able to believe it herself, Emma shone her flashlight into the chest. The chest was now empty except for a small folded piece of paper in the lower right-hand corner. Bending over to retrieve it, she was on the verge of telling the others what she had found when Sebastian screamed.
Sebastian was walking around the outer edges of the room when suddenly he tripped on something and was pitched forward. The next thing he knew he was falling through empty space. Sebastian screamed in terror. With his arms flailing wildly, he tried to grab onto something, but his hands encountered nothing but air. Just when he was convinced he was about to die, his downward flight was halted, and he was left hanging upside down, his arms dangling limply over his head. It took him a moment to understand what had saved him, but gradually he became aware that his right pant leg was caught on something. Saying a quick prayer of thanks, he began calling loudly, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the deep hole into which he had fallen, “Help me! Hurry and get me out of here!”
Just then, he heard a tearing sound and felt himself falling a little farther into the hole. His pant leg wasn’t going to hold him much longer. “Hurry! Hurry!” he screamed in panic.
“Sebastian, hold on!” Martha cried.
Doug swung his flashlight to illuminate the corner of the room from which Sebastian’s voice had come, but Sebastian was nowhere to be seen. “Where are you, buddy? We can’t see you.”
“I’ve fallen in a hole. Hurry! I’m hung on something, but I don’t think it’s going to hold much longer!”
The Secret of Dinswood Page 27