The Serpent in the Glass (The Tale of Thomas Farrell) (12 page)

It wasn’t until after dinner, on his third attempt, that Thomas found the Headmaster’s office occupied, though not by the Headmaster but by Miss McGritch.

‘Yes?’ she asked, seeing Thomas in the open doorway.

Thomas cringed under her austere gaze. ‘Erm — I wanted to speak to the Headmaster.’

‘He’s very busy. Perhaps I can help?’

‘No, I really need to see him.’ Thomas screwed his hand up. Sweat covered the inside of his palm.

Miss McGritch’s voice grew more stern. ‘Mr Trevelyan doesn’t have time to see pupils whenever they please. You’ll need to make an appointment and —’

‘It’s all right, Miss McGritch,’ the Headmaster interrupted. Thomas turned to see the Headmaster standing in the corridor holding a tray upon which sat a steaming bowl of chocolate pudding. ‘I’m sure I can spare a few minutes over dessert.’

The Housekeeper nodded as Mr Trevelyan showed Thomas into the office. ‘Yes, Headmaster, of course.’

Miss McGritch left, glancing back disapprovingly at Thomas before she closed the door.

‘You must excuse Miss McGritch.’ Mr Trevelyan sat down at his desk and had Thomas pull up a chair. ‘She’s very good at what she does, but a tad over-protective at times.’

Thomas nodded.

‘I do like chocolate pudding with custard, don’t you?’ Mr Trevelyan eyed the pudding excitedly. ‘I was lucky to get some. There seems to be rather less puddings left over since the new school year started.’

Thomas had only just had some himself. Penders had had two helpings.

‘Now,’ Mr Trevelyan began, ‘you’ve come to ask more about your father?’

Thomas’s eyes widened. ‘How did you know?’

‘Well, it’s only natural you’d want to know as much as possible, Thomas. Alas, there isn’t much more I can tell you, but sometimes questions must be asked even when we don’t have the answers.’

Thomas nodded. ‘You said my father died in battle soon after he put me up for adoption? Do you know where he died? What war it was?’

The Headmaster sighed. ‘Thomas, the representative of your father’s estate has sealed all information about your father.’

Thomas didn’t understand. ‘But why? He’s my father.’

The Headmaster spread his hands out on the desk. ‘I think the representative feels it would be wise to wait until you’re a little older.’

Thomas looked about the room, frustration filling his mind. ‘Can I see this ‘representative’?’

Mr Trevelyan frowned. ‘I’m afraid that person has requested complete anonymity. I must respect that. Although I didn’t know your father, I knew
of
him. He was a good person from every account, Thomas. I think he would’ve supported the representative’s decision.’

Thomas slumped in his seat. Would he ever find out more about his father? ‘Can I at least visit his grave?’

Mr Trevelyan nodded. ‘I hope to take you to it one day, but it isn’t easy to get to.’ The Headmaster stood and Thomas did likewise. ‘Deep down inside us all is a yearning to know who we are and from whence we’ve come, Thomas. We can seek for many things in life, but without that knowledge all seems empty.’ Mr Trevelyan picked up his spoon and scooped some of the pudding into his mouth. ‘Ah, just right. You see, Thomas, some things are better when we wait for the right moment, or else we might burn our tongue, so to speak.’ He put a hand on Thomas’s shoulder. ‘Truth has a way of bubbling to the surface sooner or later, Thomas. Just be patient, and you’ll find your answers.’

— CHAPTER EIGHT —

The Tower with No Door

Penders stood in the playing field behind the Manor. He eyed a large grey cloud in the otherwise clear summer sky that had decided to position itself right between the sun and the hill atop which Darkledun Manor stood. ‘I hope we don’t have to do anything too hard. I’m still digesting my food.’

Thomas stood next to him. Like Penders, he wore a long-sleeved T-shirt, a pair of shorts, and socks that came up almost to his knee. Thomas hoped the same as Penders, though thankfully he hadn’t eaten anywhere near as much as his friend during break.

‘It is doing hard things, Mr Penderghast, that strengthens the sinews and the will,’ a deep, harsh voice sounded behind them.

Thomas and Penders looked around to see Mr Gallowglas standing there, his black tracksuit a complete contrast to their own white P.E. kits. Thomas hadn’t heard him approach. The teacher’s hard, grey eyes cast a stony gaze over them before he moved off toward the centre of the field, ordering all the boys to follow. Thomas noticed that Mr Gallowglas walked with a slight limp.

Penders let out a sigh of relief. ‘Now there’s a friendly man.’

Thomas nodded. Had it been Mr Gallowglas he’d heard walking away from his room on his first night at the Manor? Perhaps the teachers checked the students before they switched the corridor lights off? His thoughts were interrupted as he saw Jessica coming across the field, talking to Merideah and two other girls. They all wore the prescribed kit for girls: white socks, white tops, white trainers and knee-length pleated skirts of the same colour. Thomas raised a hand to get Jessica’s attention just as Mr Gallowglas barked an order for silence. Next to the teacher stood a short woman looking very uncomfortable in a tight navy tracksuit. It was several moments before Thomas realized the woman was the Housekeeper, Miss McGritch. She carried a net bag full of small red balls over her shoulder.

‘As I’m sure you’ll have seen from your timetable,’ Mr Gallowglas began, his steady grey eyes sweeping between the boys and girls, ‘Physical Education, unlike most lessons, lasts two hours. This denotes its great importance. Remember that.’

Penders gave Thomas a pained look.

‘You will all be expected,’ Mr Gallowglas continued, ‘to have a clean kit at the beginning of each lesson — no exceptions. Is that clear?’

Everyone nodded, afraid to do otherwise.

Mr Gallowglas folded his arms. ‘Good. Now let’s get some exercise!’

Everyone had to complete three laps of the field as a warm-up exercise. Mr Gallowglass led the way and, despite his limp, managed to finish a half field ahead of Treice, the fastest student. After that, the children were lined up and put through various exercises, all of which Thomas thoroughly disliked and Penders utterly despised.

‘Sinews and will!’ Thomas said to Penders as they were half way through their squats. Penders screwed up his sweating face in disgust. Treice seemed to be having some difficulty with the exercise due to his height and the length of his legs. Thomas had another worry. He hadn’t wanted to leave the Glass in the changing rooms as there were (despite the name) no locks on the lockers, so he’d removed it from the marble bag and stuffed it into the small pocket in his shorts. Now it was rubbing against his thigh. His skin would be red raw if he continued the squats much longer. Luckily, before the pain became unbearable, the exercise ended as Mr Gallowglas bellowed the next set of instructions.

‘Right, I want you in pairs, boys with boys and girls with girls.’

The children were quick to act, eager to pair up with their best friend or, in the case of the boys, avoid the company of Guth Roach. The latter eventually ended up with a rather nervous-looking Reginald Quaint.

‘Miss Luard, you go with Miss McGritch,’ Mr Gallowglas said on seeing Demelza standing alone. She seemed quite unfazed at being left out by the other six girls.

The Housekeeper handed out a red ball to each pair and directed them to spread out across the field. Thomas and Penders, paired up together, made their way to the edge of the field, not far from the changing rooms.

‘Listen!’ Mr Gallowglass barked. Thomas wondered if the teacher had ever served in the army. His voice carried across the whole field. He instructed them to throw the ball to each other and to learn how to aim and catch effectively. Mr Gallowglas gave them two rules: not to stand less than ten yards apart, and not to lose the ball. It seemed simple enough.

Thomas threw the ball to Penders, who managed with a surprised look on his face to catch it first time. Penders, pleased with himself, threw it back a little harder than he intended and the ball flew straight over Thomas’s head. Penders shrugged innocently and Thomas turned to go fetch it. The ball came to a stop as a large foot came firmly down upon it. Guth Roach picked up the ball, looked at it, and then looked at Thomas standing with hands out ready to receive it. Guth leant back and threw the ball with a speed that shocked Thomas. Guth nodded, a big grin upon his broad features, as he watched the ball fly over Thomas’s head, over Penders’ head and then sail toward the Manor. Thomas turned to see the red projectile hurtling toward the roof of the Manor, but it disappeared into the trees before it reached the building.

‘Oh dear, silly me!’ Guth said with absolutely no sincerity in his voice as Thomas turned back to look at him. Reginald had come up behind Guth and now looked at Thomas and Penders with an expression halfway between pain and apology. Guth turned and gave Reginald a heavy slap on the back, almost knocking the boy over. ‘Come on, time to play catch again!’ he said as a very reluctant Reginald followed.

Thomas and Penders looked at each other. For a moment Thomas considered telling Guth to go and find the ball himself, but he didn’t think it would achieve anything, except perhaps getting punched on the nose or pushed to the floor.

Penders’ expression was one of both shock and confusion as Thomas approached him. ‘Why’d he do that for?’

Thomas shrugged. ‘Best go find it I guess.’

Penders glanced from the trees back to the field. ‘Gallowglas isn’t gonna like it if he finds out we’ve gone wandering off.’

Thomas looked back over his shoulder. Reginald was wringing his hands in pain, with the ball at his feet, as Guth looked on laughing. Mr Gallowglas and Miss McGritch were on the far side of the field and not looking in their direction. ‘Well, we’re going to get told off for losing the ball anyway, so we might as well try and find it. Besides, they won’t see us once we’re in those trees.’

Thomas and Penders were soon out of sight and tramping through the thin outcrop of trees that grew in the shadow of the west side of the Manor.

‘I don’t know how we’re gonna find it,’ Penders muttered.

Thomas led Penders on about another twenty feet before he replied. ‘I think it was somewhere near here. Let’s split up.’

Penders, somewhat reluctantly by the look on his face, started rummaging around in some nearby bushes. Thomas scanned the ground, moving away from Penders toward an area thick with tree roots.

‘Ouch!’ Thomas said as he landed on his side. He glared at the gnarly old root that had tripped him.

‘You all right?’ Penders asked, looking up from behind a clump of tall nettles in which he’d been searching with a fallen branch.

‘Yes, just landed on the Glass,’ Thomas replied as he fiddled around in his pocket for the item. He pulled it out. ‘Well, it’s not broken, but my hip feels like it is!’

‘What you carrying it about for?’ Penders asked.

‘I guess I just didn’t like the idea of leaving it where someone might find it,’ Thomas explained as he got up and rubbed his side. He checked and saw a mark developing that was most certainly going to develop into a nasty bruise. As he went to put the Glass back in his pocket — the other pocket this time — he thought he saw a glimmer of light come from within, as if it had momentarily caught a brilliant ray of sunshine. But Thomas stood in the shade of the trees.

He held it up. It looked quite normal. Maybe he’d imagined it, or some strong beam of sunlight had momentarily penetrated the branches above. Shrugging, he went to put the Glass back in his pocket, but as he did so it glimmered again. He moved the Glass about and found the glowing seemed to increase as he held it out toward the root-strewn path that led further into the trees. He took a few steps back from the path and the glow faded, then a few steps down the path and the light came into the orb again.

‘Penders! Look at this!’ Thomas called.

Penders abandoned his stick to the bushes and came running over. He saw the Glass immediately and looked at Thomas. ‘I never knew it could do that.’

‘Nor did I,’ said Thomas. ‘The glow’s getting stronger the further I go this way,’ Thomas explained, as he stepped cautiously along the ground so as to avoid tripping over the roots again. Penders followed, curiosity written all over his face.

The trees ended and they found themselves facing the wall of the tower. Thomas moved right up to the wall and the Glass glowed brightly. Thomas thought it must be as bright as a candle now.

‘Craters!’ Penders said. ‘Wonder what it means?’

‘Maybe there’s something in the tower that’s making it glow?’ Thomas suggested.

‘Maybe,’ Penders replied.

‘It won’t take long to check. You go that way, and I’ll go this way. First one to find the door, shout.’ Thomas moved off to the left.

The tower soon came to an end as it merged with the side of the Manor. There was no door this way. Thomas walked back and met Penders coming the other way.

‘Did you find anything?’ Thomas asked.

‘Yeah,’ Penders replied holding up a small, red ball. ‘Roach threw it further than we thought. I hope he never throws stones at me or I’ll be full of holes!’

Thomas smiled. ‘Any sign of a door?’

Penders shook his head. ‘Not so much as a window, I’m afraid. I thought you must’ve found it.’

‘No.’ Thomas looked up at the tower. ‘Strange that, a tower with no door.’

‘Yeah,’ agreed Penders, ‘but we need to get back before Gallowglas notices we’ve gone.’

They rushed back to the field, Thomas stuffing the Glass into his pocket just before they emerged from the trees. Thomas felt a flood of relief as he saw no sign that anyone had missed them.

As everyone walked back to the changing rooms, Thomas looked down at his dirt-stained clothes. Everyone had to do their own washing at Darkledun Manor. Thomas wondered why on earth the colour white had been chosen for a P.E. kit. It was probably Gallowglas’s doing. He just wanted to make things as difficult as possible.

‘I don’t think I’m gonna like Physical Education — indoors or outdoors. Gallowglas is a bit too demanding for my liking, and if that’s not enough we have Guth Roach to bother us as well,’ Penders moaned, as he traipsed beside Thomas.