by Chris Ward
Professor Loane stepped forward and lifted a microphone. He tapped the end, and a crackle burst out of a speaker at the foot of the stage.
‘I’m sure many of you would rather be learning math or science right now—’—boos and muffled cries of ‘no’ greeted him—‘—but I’m afraid you have been gathered this morning in order for us to uphold one of the great virtues on which this school has been built.’ He paused, and the sniggers and muffled chatting refused to obey his desire for a dramatic silence.
‘I’m talking about unity,’ he said. ‘No one knows for sure why we all came here, but it is a situation that we have so far faced with dignity and gumption and, most of all, togetherness. As you are aware, there aren’t many safe places in Endinfinium. This school was built to protect us all, but it is imperative that within its walls, we show each other the utmost respect. We have few rules—’—here, there were guffaws, and even Captain Roche cracked a smile—‘—but those we do have, we expect you to protect.’ He paused again, face reddening at the pupils’ stubborn refusal to stay silent. ‘A great many dangers lie outside our walls, but the great one from within starts with a capital B. Bullying.’
Benjamin’s face reddened, though not with shame but with frustration. Godfrey never got pulled up in front of the school for calling him ‘bird’s nest’ and ‘runt’ and assaulting him, but then, Godfrey was probably dead right now, and the dead always got respect, even if they were idiots while alive.
‘Hurry up,’ Wilhelm, standing beside him, hissed through gritted teeth.
‘Wilhelm Jacobs, Benjamin Forrest … please step forward.’
Benjamin waited for Wilhelm to move, but his smaller friend was in stubborn mode again, edging forward in tiny steps that made Professor Loane grimace. When they had shuffled onto the middle of the stage like a couple of prisoners with invisible bonds, the professor lifted the microphone again.
‘We don’t condone bullying in our school,’ Professor Loane said, ‘but since there is nowhere to which you can be expelled, we must be lenient. Two days ago, Master Jacobs, accompanied by Master Forrest, assaulted the newest member of our school, Master, um, Cuttlefur, and made some strong allegations against him that were, of course, one hundred percent false. Step forward please, Cuttlefur.’
The blue-haired boy emerged from the middle of the group, wearing a forlorn, woe-is-me look as he glanced from one to the other. Benjamin looked for Miranda, who stood with the other girls off to the left, but her gaze was on the ground as if this was equally as embarrassing for her.
‘Master Jacobs and Master Forrest will now make a public apology to you for their behavior. Master Forrest, you may go first.’
Benjamin took two steps forward, then took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry for bullying you,’ he said, ignoring the sniggers. ‘I won’t do it again.’ He glanced up at Cuttlefur, scanning his face for any sign of amusement, but there was none. If he was some kind of impostor like Wilhelm thought, he hid it really well.
‘Apology accepted,’ he said.
With a dismissive wave from Professor Loane, Benjamin stepped back. He took another deep breath, trying to calm his beating heart and chill his smarting cheeks.
‘Master Jacobs, it’s your turn. Since you were the ringleader in all of this, I would like a longer explanation for your actions, if you please. Step forward.’
Wilhelm sighed and shuffled forward. Benjamin saw Miranda look up, face filled with anger. She hadn’t told the teachers about Rick and the spy camera, and Benjamin wondered if she was saving that up for her own personal ear-bashing. He was glad he wasn’t Wilhelm.
‘We’re waiting, Jacobs,’ Professor Loane said. ‘Let’s not keep everyone from class, shall we?’
‘Keep us from class!’ called a couple of the fifth-years, receiving a strong shh from Captain Roche for their troubles. The wide gym teacher rubbed his hands together and raised an eyebrow as long as a slug, the teachers’ universal sign for a threat of a Locker Room spell.
Wilhelm took a deep breath, and then muttered, ‘Sorry,’ looking at his feet.
‘Is that it?’
‘Sorry.’
Professor Loane cleared his throat. ‘Um, Master Jacobs … this is a very serious matter. Bullying is the worst of all crimes between pupils and will not be tolerated. I will ask you one last time.’
Miranda’s face was so crimson, it was almost on fire, and she was grinding her teeth as if ready to eat Wilhelm whole.
‘Sorry,’ Wilhelm muttered again.
Professor Loane sighed. ‘Very well. Leave the stage, please.’
Wilhelm shuffled off, and Benjamin glanced up again, this time catching the faintest of smiles on Cuttlefur’s lips. Too little to confirm Wilhelm’s suspicions, but it was there. Miranda, however, looked like a deflated balloon. With shoulders slumped, she stared at the floor as if distraught Wilhelm had forgone his last chance at redemption.
‘And you, Forrest,’ Captain Roche grunted, pointing at the door at the back of the stage. ‘Professor Loane isn’t done with you, either.’
He followed Wilhelm into an office room behind the stage. Captain Roche came in and closed the door behind him.
Professor Loane glanced from one to the other, although Wilhelm wouldn’t meet his eyes. ‘Do you boys understand the seriousness of what you did?’ he said. ‘We can’t have bullying here in Endinfinium High. We have to be united.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Benjamin said, looking at Wilhelm, who said nothing.
‘Master Forrest, you can go back to class. Don’t forget to get your things ready for the school trip tomorrow. We leave at eight a.m., sharp. Anything you forget, you will have to do without.’ He turned to Wilhelm. ‘You, however, Master Jacobs, in the unlikely event that you have actually begun to pack, can go right back to your dorm and unpack. You will not be going on the school trip. Instead, you’ll be staying behind to assist Gubbledon and the cleaners deanimate the Great Hall and—’ Here, he paused, this time in a silence so dramatic, Benjamin felt like he was watching an old black-and-white movie. ‘—the toilet block outside the gym.’
‘No!’
Wilhelm sank to his knees in utter despair. Deanimating the Great Hall was one thing—it was a hard couple of days of spraying chamomile—but the gym toilet block was another matter, considered so foul even the teachers wouldn’t enter them. The joint toilets and showers had been off-limits for more than five years, with pupils hurrying back to the dormitories instead after gym class.
Nothing came out, and nothing went in, but school legend said that the toilets—and whatever they had contained—had reanimated to a dangerous level. The school rugby club once had an initiation game for new members to go into those toilets at night, but even the notoriously tough rugby kids now considered it too terrifying and used the toilets in the history block on the second floor instead. These were cleaned every day, so it was a ceremonial initiation rite, though little else.
‘We have decided it is no longer convenient for pupils to be running back to the dorms for a shower after every gym class,’ Professor Loane said. ‘The cleaners will manage most of it, but one very naughty little boy will help out.’
Wilhelm looked up, the usual defiance in his expression gone, replaced by a look of defeat—the face of a general watching his army being routed on a battlefield.
‘I’m sorry for bullying Cuttlefur,’ he said, but Professor Loane shook his head.
‘Too late, boy. Too late.’
18
Final Words
‘Can you pack quietly?’
Benjamin, carefully folding items of school uniform, looked up. ‘Why don’t you go bully someone else?’ he said, and when Wilhelm scowled, he added, ‘Only joking.’
‘Come on, Benjamin. You know I’m right. Cuttlefur’s a creep.’
‘You’re lucky you didn’t get caught spying on him or they might have just locked you up in the old gym toilets and been done with it.’
‘I didn’t want to go on the stu
pid school trip, anyway. “The Bay of Paper Dragons.” What is that, anyway? I imagine it’s just as rubbish as the rest of Endinfinium.’
‘I guess you’ll never find out. I’ll send you a postcard.’
‘Thanks.’
Benjamin felt a sudden sense of regret. He planned to head for Source Mountain as soon as he could get away from the rest of the group, and if he did find a way back to England, he would never come back. This could be goodbye.
‘Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to not trust you. It’s just that it seems you’re chasing after something that isn’t true. I mean, Cuttlefur, sure, he has a stupid name and he’s, you know, quite good-looking, but are you sure you’re not just jealous of him? I mean, Miranda clearly likes him.’
‘No!’ Wilhelm threw a sock at Benjamin’s head, though Benjamin managed to duck just in time, catching a whiff as it passed in front of his face. ‘I’m thinking about the good of the school,’ Wilhelm said. ‘This kid, Cuttlefur … something’s odd about him.’
‘Something’s odd about all of us. That’s why we’re here.’
Wilhelm shook his head. ‘After everything we’ve been through, Benjamin, and you still don’t trust me—’
The door flew open. Miranda stood there, hair billowing out around her face as though dragging a storm along behind her on a leash.
‘You.’ One finger lifted to single out Wilhelm. Was she mad enough to use her magic on him? Something so prohibited it would see her thrown off the school trip, too? But when Benjamin closed his eyes and felt for it, there was thankfully nothing.
‘What? Are you happy your new boyfriend got me thrown off the school trip?’
Miranda flew at him, and Benjamin jumped between them, managing to save Wilhelm but taking a bony fist in his stomach for his trouble. Before Miranda could swing again, he managed to wrap his arms around her, interlocking his fingers as she struggled against him.
‘You’re not my friend,’ she hissed like a fiery dragon, glaring over Benjamin’s shoulder at Wilhelm. ‘Friends don’t spy on each other. Enjoy cleaning the toilets.’ She pulled away from Benjamin and marched back to the door. ‘Oh, and by the way, I’ve got your pet.’
Wilhelm jumped up. ‘Rick? No! I’m sorry, please give him back!’
‘No. Not until you’ve proven yourself. He’s coming to the Bay of Paper Dragons with me, and when I get back, I want to see that you’ve changed your ways. No more spying, no more lying to people, no more attacking other pupils—got that? And if you don’t, I’ll … I’ll … I’ll eat him!’
Benjamin lifted an eyebrow, hoping she realised how bad a reanimated piece of plastic was likely to taste.
Wilhelm, though, looked somber. He sighed. ‘The old gym toilet block will be spotless,’ he said, eyes on the ground.
‘Good!’
Miranda turned on her heels, marching out so briskly, her footfalls were almost as loud as the slam of their bedroom door.
Benjamin turned to Wilhelm. ‘What are you going to do?’ he asked.
Wilhelm shrugged. ‘Clean like I’ve never cleaned before.’ He looked up at Benjamin. ‘Do you really think she’ll eat Rick?’
‘To be quite honest, I can’t see it, but there are plenty of other horrible things she might do.’
‘She could give him to Cuttlefur. I bet that clown will use him as a hair net.’ Wilhelm stood up. ‘Anyway, I’d better go.’
‘Where?’
‘I got given an extra thousand cleans into the bargain, just to keep me out of trouble while you leave for the school trip tomorrow morning. I think they’re worried I’ll stowaway or something.’
‘Oh.’
As Wilhelm went to the door, Benjamin stood up, unsure if he would really need to say goodbye or not. If he did succeed in finding a way out of Endinfinium through the culvert at Source Mountain, though, this might be the only chance he would get.
‘Wait.’ He ran over to Wilhelm and gave him a big hug.
‘What was that for?’
‘Just … you know, I know you’re an idiot and everything, and that practically all of the teachers hate you, and Miranda thinks you’re a bully, and you’ve got more punishment coming out of your ears than Dusty Eaves has tweed jackets, but … you’re still my friend.’
‘Well, that’s nice of you to say. You do believe me, don’t you?’
Benjamin paused.
Wilhelm pushed out of his grip. ‘Didn’t think so. Enjoy the school trip, Benjamin.’
Then, before Benjamin could think of something worthwhile in reply, something that might have been better as a final word between them, Wilhelm was gone.
19
Departure
By the following morning, the weather had turned chilly. Benjamin dragged his suitcase through the main door and stood awkwardly among the cluster of pupils waiting for the arrival of whatever transport would take them up to the Bay of Paper Dragons. There were fifteen first-years and twenty second-years, along with Ms. Ito and Professor Eaves, who were both in charge of supervision.
Miranda stood on the far side of the courtyard, talking to Cuttlefur, trying not to glare at two second-year girls who were also trying to talk to him. Miranda and Cuttlefur stood out strikingly as a pair, Benjamin thought, with her crimson red hair and his aquamarine blue. Now that Wilhelm wasn’t here and Miranda had a new friend, Benjamin realised how few friends he had made since arriving in Endinfinium. It was likely to be a lonely trip.
The sooner he found a way to get to the source of the Great Junk River, the better.
They were due back on Friday night. Judging by the maps, twenty miles lay between the Bay of Paper Dragons and Source Mountain, a significant distance without transport.
It would be so much easier with Wilhelm there. They could have just stolen whatever would take them north and then left Endinfinium together.
Another pang of guilt clenched like a fist in his stomach.
In time, his friends would forget about him. After all, he had been here only a short time, and without him around to stir up the Dark Man, they would invariably be safer.
It was better for everyone if he left. Or … or…
Died trying.
The idea had slipped into his thoughts before he could block it out. The possibility was really there. Most here had made peace with their predicament, though they all shared a common ground that Benjamin didn’t. Almost everyone he talked to had come from an unloving background and had no desire to go back home. Wilhelm had grown up in an orphanage, while Miranda was a clone, having been built and raised in a laboratory.
Too many things still mystified Benjamin about Endinfinium to ever trust it enough to want to stay, not when he had loving parents and an adoring kid brother waiting for him back in Basingstoke.
For one, there were hardly any adults. The school wasn’t exactly overflowing with pupils, but other than the teachers, he could count on one hand the number of adults he had met. He had been across the Great Junk River briefly, travelling right to the foot of the High Mountains, but he had seen no towns or villages. Where were the people? Where did they go when then graduated?
Many of the teachers had told him Endinfinium’s history went back far further than anyone realised. The nearly mindless cleaners who wandered the school were the reanimated corpses of those who had died, while the ghouls of the Haunted Forest who rose up to do the Dark Man’s bidding were the spirits of the discontented fused with reanimated objects.
No, the dead provided ample evidence that over the years, many people had grown up, lived, and died here.
But where were they now? What had happened to last year’s graduates, and those of the year before? No one ever talked about it, as if no one knew.
Benjamin wasn’t so sure he wanted to know. Already, he had seen enough terrifying things to last a lifetime. The kids who graduated, though, certainly didn’t go back to their homes in England or wherever they came from. If they did, that would be all anyone would talk about.
Maybe if I leave, I can come back and help everyone else.
Again, conflicting emotions. How many would actually want to leave? Wilhelm claimed to love Endinfinium, even though he constantly ribbed on it, so Benjamin felt like the only truly lost boy in Neverland.
A gentle laugh made him look up. Cuttlefur had just cracked a joke, and Miranda was chuckling with one hand on his shoulder. She looked so happy.
Benjamin frowned.
What was it Wilhelm claimed Cuttlefur had said? That he knew of a way for them to leave?
A tickle of unease ran down his back as he remembered Cuttlefur’s almost-imperceptible smile at their public shaming. And Wilhelm claimed Cuttlefur had looked up at Rick’s camera and waved.
He had only just shown up, and he was claiming already he knew of a way to take them both back home?
Perhaps Wilhelm was right and Cuttlefur was up to something. With Wilhelm stuck at the school, there would be no one to look after Miranda should he go looking for Source Mountain. Cuttlefur might just be a typical older kid, playing with her affections, but what if he were something else?
What if he were dangerous?
Benjamin gripped the edge of his trouser leg and squeezed as tightly as he could, trying to stop himself from screaming.
He was still struggling with indecision when some of the other kids let out a whoop, and began waving their hands in the air. A shadow fell across them, and Benjamin looked up as, to the utter horror of Ms. Ito and Professor Eaves, his old friend, Lawrence, the reanimated train, crawled over the top of the school and down the front of the main entrance.
‘Caspian, you utter cad!’ Ms. Ito hollered in her familiar piercing voice, sharp enough to cut glass. ‘Have you no respect for history?’
‘What happened to the airship?’ Professor Eaves added, giving his stomach a quick rub. ‘I don’t mind airships. That thing … I mean, just look at it.’