by M S C Barnes
back questioningly at him. There was a shimmering around the gargantuan bulk and it drew a sharp, hacking breath before shuffling backwards and passing through the open classroom door, which slammed shut.
“You children should be in the playground by now!” Mr Duir’s voice reached them from the other end of the corridor. Startled, Seb turned.
“Run along, Master Thomas.” The Head watched as Seb and his friends trotted down the corridor and out of the exit.
As Seb and Zach joined their line in the Year Nine playground Seb saw the freckle-faced boy standing on his own by the tree stumps. He nudged Zach.
“Come on.”
Zach saw the solitary figure and tugged Seb’s elbow. “Do you really think that’s such a good idea?”
Seb ignored him and strode across the playground to where the boy, nose restored to its normal colour, was standing, gazing at the trees beyond the fence.
“I, um, wanted to say sorry for making you jump earlier,” Seb mumbled.
The boy flinched and spun around.
“Well done Seb, you did it again!” Zach laughed and moved to the other side of the boy.
He was about four inches shorter than the pair of them and now looked like a rabbit cornered between two Rottweilers.
Seb smiled nervously and offered a handshake. “Seb Thomas.”
Sensing his hesitation the freckled boy seemed to grow in confidence. He tentatively took Seb’s outstretched hand. “I know. Everybody knows.”
Seb was disappointed to have his fears confirmed. “That bad?” he said.
Zach chuckled.
The boy seemed confused. “Why is that bad? You’re famous! Everyone knows who you are. Everyone is talking about what Seb Thomas will do next. At least they notice you.”
Seb suddenly saw his own life from a different perspective and the small lad’s view of life. He was tiny, shrew-like, not the best-looking of boys with a scruffy mane of mousey-brown hair. Seb remembered now where he had seen him; it was in the cafeteria at lunchtime on the first and the second day, sitting by himself at a table in the courtyard. The cafeteria was always rammed and sometimes students had to sit under the covered patio area in the cold and the wind. Seb had been lucky on both days – as he and Zach had approached, other pupils vacated their seats so as not to be associated with them. But Seb had noticed this boy outside, eating his sandwiches alone, nose in a book.
He smiled, suddenly feeling sorry for him. “Well, yes, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s a bit extreme if you have to be pooed on and look like you’ve peed your pants to get noticed.”
The boy smiled back, his little grey eyes twinkling. “I’m Aiden.”
“Aiden Lord!” Zach said with a click of his fingers. “You’re in our class.”
“Yes!” the boy beamed, happy he had been recognised.
“Well, I really am sorry for making you jump. What were you doing hiding behind the tree anyway?” Seb asked.
“I wasn’t hiding. I found something and was putting it in my bag.”
“Oh? Treasure?” Zach commented helpfully.
“Well, sort of. Do you want to see?” The boy undid his rucksack and pulled out his homework diary, removing something from between the pages. And now it was Seb’s turn to jump. He stepped back, taking a sharp breath.
Aiden held the object up in the sun. A beam of light glinted off something on the surface of it. He was holding up an oak leaf in the centre of which was that design – one central stalk with two horizontal lines connecting it at right angles. Only these lines were silver. The sun caught the silver and its beams were reflected around the playground as a gentle breeze played with the leaf.
“Wow!” Zach’s voice boomed, drawing curious glances from the students nearest them in the playground.
Seb pushed Aiden’s arm down quickly to hide the object.
“Yeah, I thought Wow too when I found it.” Aiden smiled at Zach.
“Can I have a hold?” Zach grabbed at the leaf.
“Mm, okay.” Aiden moved his arm towards Zach but Seb grabbed it by the wrist, careful not to touch the leaf.
“No, the whistle’s about to blow; put it away or everyone will want a hold and then it might get broken.”
Zach looked upset but Aiden nodded.
“How about we meet at break time and go somewhere quiet, like the library, and we can look at it then?” Seb suggested.
Aiden seemed ecstatic to have the option of actually meeting up with someone at break time. “Oh, that’d be good,” he nodded.
Zach frowned, knowing he would have to wait.
The Leaf
When the bell went for break, Zach stuffed his books into his bag as fast as possible and was on Aiden’s shoulder in seconds. Aiden was thrilled and looked to make sure Seb was coming to join them.
They made their way to the Old School block and Aiden led them to the library. Zach followed him into the room as though joined at the hip, desperate to be the first to examine the leaf.
As Seb stepped across the threshold he heard a wheezing chuckle. From the direction of the huge stained-glass window that dominated the room, opposite the door, a large silhouette lumbered towards them. Aiden and Zach walked past it without acknowledging its existence. Seb hesitated. A door slammed. Both he and the hulking figure were startled and turned towards the sound. To Seb’s right, standing in front of an ornate, vaulted, wooden door, in a recess between two tall bookshelves, was Mr Duir. A shimmer of sparkling dust motes danced in the space around him.
Zach and Aiden were already huddled on the seat beneath the magnificent window, which bore a stained glass depiction of an oak tree. They were both focused on Aiden’s bag as he opened it, and didn’t seem to notice The Head’s presence.
“You need to choose with care the places you go, Master Thomas,” Mr Duir said quietly and Seb thought he looked slightly concerned. Then, seizing the large silver doorknob, he opened the arched door behind him, passed through and closed it gently.
Seb turned back to the ogre figure and was confused to find it had gone.
The room was crowded with old shelving units, crammed with old-looking books, which squatted in rows creating dark, dimly lit and uninviting aisles. On the far wall at the end of each aisle was a sconce that looked as antiquated as the books and did little to illuminate the narrow spaces between the shelves but provided sufficient light for Seb to satisfy himself the ogre was not there.
Mystified, he joined Aiden and Zach, his heart still racing. “Who is that? Is he the librarian?” he asked.
Zach and Aiden looked at him vacantly.
“Who?” Zach said, looking around the room.
“The ogre man. We’ve seen him three times now and he’s so creepy.”
“What?” Zach looked totally puzzled.
Aiden sat silently, not sure he was included in the conversation.
“Oh come on, Zach, stop kidding around. He gives me the creeps with the wheezing and cackling— ” Seb’s mind was still on Mr Duir’s words and he was completely confused at Zach and Aiden blanking the whole incident but he instantly forgot all that as Aiden pulled out the leaf.
The network of lines at the centre caught the light streaming through the window and shot fine beams around the room. Aiden lowered it into the shade, laying it across both his palms, and held it towards Zach and Seb.
“So you found it just lying beneath the tree?” Seb asked.
“Actually no, it was hanging from a branch. It was glinting in the sun and the sparkling caught my eye. I went to see what was shining, the leaf fell and I caught it. That’s supposed to be lucky you know, to catch a falling leaf. It looked so amazingly beautiful. I didn’t want to be late so I had just put it in my bag when you jumped out on me.”
Seb decided now was the time. “I have something to show you both too, but I need you to swear you won’t tell anyone else!”
Aiden and Zach weren’t listening; they were too captivated by the leaf.
A riotous noise rose outside and the door flew open. Scarlet, Nat, Abi and Alex burst in, giggling. They stopped when they saw the boys.
“What on earth are you doing here?” Scarlet demanded.
Nat smiled and her eyes sparkled as she gazed at Seb. Abi and Alex stood in the doorway looking mildly annoyed.
“We come here at break time, Seb. Why are you here?” Scarlet stopped when she saw the glint of silver in Aiden’s hand. “What have you got there?”
Aiden looked to Seb for guidance and Zach boomed, “Treasure – not for the eyes of mortal women!”
Abi and Alex giggled.
Losing interest, Scarlet snapped, “Nothing you stupid boys think is treasure could possibly interest us mortal women, foolish Zach!” She turned to the other girls. “Come on, break time’s nearly over anyway.”
Bustling them out of the door, she glanced back and mouthed to Seb, Show me later.
He nodded and the girls were gone.
Seb, realising time was short, made a quick decision. He pulled off his glove and thrust his left palm in front of Zach and Aiden, hovering it above the leaf. The boys gasped in unison and Zach grabbed Seb’s arm.
“Oh my g— Seb, when did that happen?”
“I was trying to tell you! On Thursday night my birthmark changed! It’s been like this ever since. I couldn’t believe it when I saw that leaf, Aiden, and get this, what’s really weird is, on my desk in the History room is the same thing – an oak leaf with this exact pattern in the middle!”
Zach’s mouth hung open. “Can I touch it?” His fingers crept towards the birthmark.
“Yes, it doesn’t hurt.” Seb nodded.
Zach moved his fingers onto the