Mystery at Silver Spires (8 page)

The feeling still hadn't left me four days later.

I suppose I should have counted myself lucky that Mr. Monk obviously didn't spot the tub, and it looked like he'd forgotten about the catch too, because it still wasn't fixed. Every time I went up I took a little plastic bag with some fresh food and left it tucked right round the corner so there was no way Mr. Monk would find it. The food was never touched, though. The first time I looked at the water I got excited because it definitely seemed as if some had gone. But Nicole said it would have evaporated because of the heat in the loft. I could tell she and the others were a bit sad not to have ever met Silver, but no one actually said anything directly about it. They probably didn't want to add to my depression.

On Sunday we woke up to a very grey and overcast day. By lunchtime it was pouring down. We all felt good though, because we spent the morning catching up on the work we'd missed through lazing about in the sun so often over the last couple of weeks. Mrs. Pridham asked me whether we'd heard any more noises from above and I said no, nothing at all, but she frowned and said “Hmm, that's a bit of a puzzle because the Year Nines say they've definitely heard something – not at night-time, but during the day.”

I felt guilty then, because although I wasn't exactly lying to Mrs. Pridham, it still felt like a lie. And I was sorry for scaring the Year Nines too. I made a decision at that moment. I would just go up to the loft one more time to see if Silver was there and if he wasn't, I would try and forget about him. When I told Emily she seemed relieved.

“Bryony's only going to check the loft one last time,” she told the others at lunchtime.

Everyone nodded and started telling me how sensible that was, and how I'd soon forget about Silver, and I realized they'd all been getting anxious about the number of times I'd risked going up there.

As it happened there was no opportunity to go up for the rest of that day, because there were so many people in Forest Ash on our floor. One of the Year Nines was ill and had a constant stream of visitors all afternoon and evening.

So it wasn't till morning break on Monday that I finally managed to sneak along to the cleaning room and whizz upstairs. I couldn't even wait till lunchtime, because this turned out to be the day that Sasha's old school friend, Hannah, was coming for her introductory day. Mrs. Pridham knew about the connection between Hannah and Sasha and thought it would be nice for Hannah if we six showed her our dorm after lunch.

“I think she's going to feel rather lost being the only one having her introductory day today,” she said, “and I'm sure she'd love to see a dorm and spend some time with you girls.”

Emily and I had exchanged a look when Mrs. P said that, because we were thinking that, if Hannah was with us, I wouldn't be able to go and see if Silver was there, which was why I'd finished up rushing over to Forest Ash during morning break.

The first thing I noticed was that the mousetrap had gone. And after that I realized that the window had been fixed and was closed tight, which explained why it was hotter than usual.

So that was definitely it then. Silver couldn't come back now and I may as well get used to the idea. I'd got into the habit of taking off my shoes and creeping as soundlessly as possible, but this time, although I took my shoes off, I didn't make any real effort to tread carefully. I just walked across the loft, waiting for the disappointment to hit me.

“Silver…” It came out in a half-hearted voice. I didn't even know why I was bothering.

But then my heart skipped a beat, because there he was, lying on his side on the pile of dust sheets, and I so wanted to bend down and pick him up and cuddle him and stroke him, but I knew I mustn't do anything to scare him.

“Oh Silver! You're here!” I said in a cracked voice, feeling my throat hurt because I was so happy.

He blinked at me slowly and didn't move at all. I did, though. I went straight to the window and opened it. I didn't want Silver to be trapped in the loft, and in this boiling hot atmosphere he might suffocate or something if he didn't have a bit of air.

“There!” I said quietly. “That's better, isn't it!”

Still he didn't move a muscle. And neither did I, because I was confused. There was something different about him. What was it? It wasn't his face. Was it his body? Maybe he'd finally started to put some weight on with all the food I'd been giving him. I bent down and stroked him gently and he started purring straight away. I noticed he'd eaten the food from yesterday and drunk all the water too, so I quickly poured more into the tub and unwrapped today's food package, then went back to stroking him. He slowly stretched and rolled onto his back. And that's when I noticed definite teats on his chest, and gasped. Silver wasn't a
he
at all, but a
she
!

“Ems, I think I've discovered something. Only I need you to check.”

My friends were waiting for me at the top of the little side lane that leads down to the humanities block where we were about to have history.

“What?” they all wanted to know.

“Was he there?” asked Nicole, looking excited.

I nodded. “Only I think…
think
…that
he
is a
she
!”

It took a moment for my words to sink in, then Sasha asked how I could tell. “I don't know much about cats,” she said, blushing a bit, “but is it kind of…obvious?”

“The thing is,” I said, in my usual straightforward way, because I never feel embarrassed about things like this, “I think she's got teats.”

Emily had set off towards the humanities block, following Nicole and Antonia, but she stopped suddenly and turned to face me when I said that. “Teats aren't usually that obvious on cats actually, Bryony, unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh come on, Ems! What?” I was getting exasperated.

“I'll come and look at her after school,” she promised.

I nodded. “Thanks, Ems. And…there's something else…”

“What?”

“Mr. Monk's fixed the catch so I opened the window, because I didn't want Silver to be trapped. Also it's boiling hot in there. She'd roast with the window shut.”

“What if Mr. Monk notices the window is open?” asked Izzy as we went into the humanities block.

“I don't think he'll go up there now he's fixed the catch and taken the mousetrap away,” I replied.

“No, I mean, what if he sees it from outside?”

A little alarm bell rang somewhere deep inside me, but I ignored it as soon as I realized Mr. Monk would have to be round the side of the building looking right up to the roof to even notice the window.

We were about to troop into our history class when Mrs. Pridham came into the block with Hannah and smiled round at us.

“Oh good, I've caught you just in time. This is Hannah, girls, and she'll be joining us at Silver Spires next year.”

“Hi!” said Sasha warmly. “I really like your hair! You look so different with it short!”

Hannah thanked her and gave us all a nervous half-smile. I didn't think I'd ever seen anyone look so anxious.

“We're on a bit of a Silver Spires tour at the moment,” went on Mrs. Pridham in an over-the-top cheerful voice that she didn't often use. I thought she was probably trying to make up for Hannah's quietness. “But there's a lot to take in, isn't there?”

Hannah nodded, but didn't say anything. She must have been really shy. She was wearing light-coloured cut-off trousers, a very plain brown and white top and soft brown shoes that were the nearest thing you can get to trainers without actually being trainers. I don't usually notice what people are wearing but I did this time, because I was remembering how I'd struggled to decide what to wear this time last year for my own introductory day. Anna had thought I should wear a skirt but, as I never ever wear skirts normally, and the only one I'd got in my wardrobe made me look about seven and a half, I'd been dead against that. I'd wanted to wear jeans and trainers, and in the end we'd compromised on cut-offs and some shoes that were almost trainers.

The main thing you noticed about Hannah, though, was definitely her hair. It was even shorter than mine, and a lovely dark coppery colour, whereas mine's almost black. I wondered whether she was a tomboy, like me, and was feeling out of her depth, because there were so many girls with long hair around the place, and everyone seemed so loud and confident. I knew that feeling and I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.

“Okay, girls,” Mrs. Pridham was saying, still in her over-the-top bright voice, “I know you have to go into your next lesson now, but I'll bring Hannah along to the dining hall at about ten to one, and then she can sit at your table, okay?”

“Yes, fine!” said Sasha straight away. She smiled at Hannah. “We'll look after you, don't worry.”

Mrs. Pridham beamed. “Great! And you'll bring her over to Forest Ash after lunch and show her round?”

“Yes, of course!” said Sasha.

“Do you want some water, Hannah?” asked Izzy, grabbing a tumbler.

“Yes please,” said Hannah. She was so polite, even with Sasha.

Mrs. Pridham had brought her along to the dining hall, as she'd said she would, at ten to one on the dot. My friends and I were all in the lunch queue, and we'd asked Hannah what she wanted, because there was a choice of chicken or sausage salad, or you could have pizza and chips, or pizza and salad, and you could choose plain sliced bread or you could have a roll.

“I'll just have what you're having,” said Hannah in her quiet voice.

“We're all having different things,” said Emily.

“Have the chicken salad!” said Sasha. “It's delicious.”

So that's what Hannah did but I noticed she didn't eat very much. I guessed she was too nervous. Between the six of us we asked her lots of questions and learned that she lived in a village called Rivers Mead that was about fifteen miles from where Sasha lives. She had two much older brothers, one at uni and one who was going to uni next year. She liked reading, writing poetry and stories and listening to music, and she'd never been to a boarding school before. By the time we got on to pudding she was definitely more relaxed, because she and Sasha had been discussing their old teachers at primary school, and she'd actually laughed when Sasha told us all that for the whole of Year One she'd thought her teacher, Miss Isworth, was called Mrs. Worth.

“Are you nervous about coming here?” Emily asked when she'd just helped herself to seconds of the pudding.

Hannah just nodded.

“You do get used to it quite quickly,” I told her. “I missed my family like mad at first, but then I met all my lovely friends, and just kind of got into a routine.”

“And the food's really good here,” Emily changed the conversation dramatically. “Like this yummy rhubarb and honey tart! Made with home-grown rhubarb!” she added proudly.

Hannah smiled at that and we talked about the garden a bit until we'd all finished eating.

Back at Forest Ash, Mrs. Pridham asked Hannah if she'd enjoyed her lunch, then told her she was looking forward to having a nice cup of tea and a chat with her after she'd visited Emerald, so upstairs we all trooped.

Hannah seemed to love looking round our dorm. Sasha and Antonia were talking through every single little detail about where we kept things and what happened at night-time. But my mind was wandering back to Silver, and my ears were pricked up for any sounds that might be coming from above.

It was when Sasha was looking out of the window and talking about the ash trees in the distance that Hannah suddenly said, “What was that?”

Her face was very still and I could tell she was listening.

My heart raced as Emily glanced at me, and Sasha said, “I didn't hear anything.”

“There it is again!” Hannah was looking up at the ceiling. She must have had amazing hearing because, like Sasha, I hadn't heard a sound. Then suddenly she tensed up, crossing her arms in front of her and making them white where her fingers were digging in. “Forest Ash doesn't have a ghost, does it?”

“No, of course not,” I said quickly.

“You're not keeping it from me to stop me worrying, are you?”

“No, there's definitely no ghost, Hannah, honestly,” Sasha assured her.

“But I'm sure I heard something.” She suddenly stopped and looked up to the ceiling again. “Wh-what is it if it's not a ghost?”

Her eyes were glistening by then and Sasha gave her a hug. “It's all right, Hannah.”

“I know I'm being stupid,” she gulped. “I've got myself in a state. I just don't think I'll be very good at living away from home. I must be the only girl in the world who's so pathetic.”

“You're not pathetic!” said Nicole.