Secret of Light (20 page)

“Oh, I'm sure she must have approved it,” said Mrs. Follett.

“You don't know for sure?” asked Darrell, puzzled.

“Well, I wouldn't have heard from the ministry without Professor Tooth's approval, but I haven't spoken to her about it personally yet, no,” said Mrs. Follett. “I've been so busy getting ready for this fair. But the paperwork must be on my desk somewhere.”

As the girls walked away, Darrell could hear Mrs. Follett happily directing students to don plastic bibs before they bobbed. Darrell checked her watch. Twelve o'clock. It was time to meet Brodie. She whistled for Delaney and followed Kate behind the school.

Darrell gazed along the beach from her perch in the old arbutus tree. “I don't see anybody down there.”

“Yeah. I guess the coast is clear.” Brodie grinned.

“Ha ha. You're a funny guy,” Kate said nervously. “I just want to get this over with and you're making jokes.”

Darrell climbed down the tree. “I really want to spend some time talking to Leonardo again. I mean, I want to give him his book back, but...”

“But you want to find out what he knows about time,” interrupted Kate.

“And time machines,” added Darrell, smiling a little.

“Don't worry, Darrell. This is going to be a piece of cake,” said Brodie, walking down the path to the beach. “If we've planned this right, you can get the notebook back to Leonardo and we'll be back practically before we've left.”

Darrell watched Kate wiping her hands nervously on her costume. “You guys don't have to come,” she said. “I can handle this by myself.”

Kate shook her head. “No. You went alone before and you got lost.” She took a deep breath. “I can do this. We're your friends, Darrell. We'll go together.”

They rounded the last turn and walked out onto the beach.

They hadn't said much on the trip along the deserted beach, and Darrell was lost in her thoughts. What if too much time had passed? Her studies had shown her that after years away, Leonardo had returned to his beloved
Firenze
. But what if Leonardo was no longer in Florence, or worse, if they arrived after his death?

The fence now surrounding the lighthouse seemed designed more to keep debris in than people out, and they easily pushed through a gap in one side. The concrete foundation of the new light standard had been poured and the wooden framing for the rest of the structure was in place.

“I'm going to go up first,” said Kate, her voice unsteady. “Less time to change my mind.” She ducked under the chain and climbed the stairs two at a time, easily stepping over the broken riser as she made her way up to the lantern room. “The door's closed,” she said in a puzzled voice.

“C'mon, Darrell, let's get this over with,” said Brodie. He had followed Kate up and stood on the stair below her. “Remember the broken step.”

Darrell stopped on the landing and eyed the broken step, speculation swirling her thoughts.

“There's a broken step on the stairs in Verrocchio's stable,” she said. “And there was a broken rung on that ladder.”

As Brodie reached a hand to help Darrell up the stairs, Delaney squeezed ahead and stood at the top beside Kate. He growled low in his throat.

“Did you close this when you were here?” Kate put her hand on the heavy knob, but the door swung out of her grasp. Light flooded into the twisting stairwell from the lantern room above.

“Now, this is interesting,” said Conrad, looking down at them from the doorway. He held a wide-barrelled gun loosely in one hand and the end of a rope in the other. “Are you snooping around here again, Gimpy?” He laughed derisively. “I can't believe it. It would almost be worth staying at this stupid school to watch you getting into trouble for breaking into this lighthouse again.”

Darrell eyed the gun warily. “What're you doing with the gun, Conrad? And what do you mean staying at the school? Mrs. Follett told me you were getting transferred.”

Conrad laughed, a short, sharp sound without humour. “Follett's such a sucker. She believes anything she hears over the phone.”

“So, you're not going to another school?”

“Are you kidding? I am never going back to school. I needed somewhere to stay for a while. This place was as good as any. Food's good, anyway. But now I'm outta here. One of my dad's friends is meeting me here
this afternoon, and I won't have to put up with this stupid school or you jokers any longer.”

Darrell eyed the steps. She could be down the stairs and out on the beach calling for help in a couple of seconds.

Brodie beat her to it. He started for the stairs. “Let's get out of here.”

“Don't even think about it.” Conrad gestured with the gun.

Brodie rolled his eyes. “You idiot! Quit acting like you're such a tough guy. That's not a pistol, it's a flare gun. Shoot it off in here and we all get burned, including you.”

“I know it shoots flares, Sun, that's what I use it for. But if I shoot the dog, I'm not too worried about getting burned.”

Brodie stopped on the step above the broken riser.

“Now get up here — all of you,” Conrad snarled. “I'm going to lock the door to this room and catch my boat. By the time someone figures out where you are, I'll be long gone.” He threw a piece of old rope at Kate. “Tie up that dog. I hate dogs.”

Kate ignored the rope lying across her feet. Conrad reached down and grabbed Kate by the collar of her shirt. His eyes bored into Darrell's. “If you don't get up here right now, I'm going to shoot your dog on the count of three.”

Darrell looked up and saw Kate close her eyes and clutch Delaney's collar. Darrell grabbed Brodie's hand, clenched her teeth, and stepped over the broken stair. The sound of a gunshot was swallowed by the roar of the wind that whirled them away.

“This is really bad, Darrell. What are we going to do?”

Darrell looked down at Conrad's face, pale and unconscious on the straw. She swirled the peppermint around in her mouth and tried to think, but her head was still spinning from the journey. “We've only got a few minutes before he wakes up,” she whispered.

“Stupid idiot. Now he's going to find out
everything
. And he threatened to hurt Delaney, too.” Kate looked as though she would like to kick the prone figure on the stable floor.

“Tie him up.”

Darrell and Kate looked at Brodie, pulling himself onto his hands and knees. “Well, first give me one of those mints and then tie him up,” Brodie corrected. He rubbed his eyes with one hand. Kate gave him a mint, and he got to his feet with a grimace.

Brodie pulled a piece of rough rope tangled around one of Kate's feet. Some of the colour returned to his face and he grinned a little.

“We'll use the rope Connie supplied, shall we?”

Conrad stirred. He rolled over on the straw and began to retch.

“Grab his hands, Kate.”

“I don't know how to tie someone up.” Kate looked frantic. She pulled one of Conrad's hands behind his back, but he yanked his hand back, rolled over, and was sick in the straw.

“Ugh!” Darrell grabbed Conrad by the back of his coat and helped Kate slide him away from the
mess. “Brodie's right, Kate. This is the only thing we can do for now.” After a few moments of struggle, Conrad lay on his side in the straw, his hands tied behind his back.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked blearily. “Oh man — my head is killing me.” He retched again.

“Better give him a mint, Kate,” Brodie said.

“Ewww. No way. Besides, he wanted to hurt Delaney. I say we let him get over the nausea on his own.”

Darrell took a mint from Kate's hand. “I don't know why I'm doing this,” she said, and popped it in Conrad's mouth, “considering how you've managed to wreck everything.”

Keeping well away from Conrad's mess on the straw, she turned to Brodie and Kate. “Okay. I know this changes everything, but I just have to see if I can find Leonardo. I can at least try to get his book back to him.”

Kate looked anxious. “Are you going to try to talk to him about,” she glanced at Conrad, “about the you-know-what?”

Darrell shrugged. “I don't know if I can even find Leonardo, and now you can't come with me in case
he
gets loose.” She glared at Conrad. “It's probably safer for you to wait out here in the stable. You can watch this idiot to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble, and I'll get back as fast as I can.”

“What's going to happen when we go back to Eagle Glen?” Kate sounded worried. “Conrad will tell, for sure.”

Conrad's eyes darted from Darrell to Kate to Brodie and his mouth was clamped shut.

“And who is going to believe him?” Brodie's voice came out of the shadows. “He's already decided he's leaving the school. There's no one for him to tell.”

In a sudden motion, Conrad kicked his legs and pushed himself along the floor toward the stable door. Brodie jumped beside him in a second and put a hand on his shoulder. Conrad strained his neck and his teeth clicked dangerously close to Brodie's fingers.

Kate shrieked. “Watch out, Brodie, he's trying to bite you.” She ran over and sat on Conrad's legs.

“Get off!” He tried to swing his head forward to knock against her, but she used his momentum, flipped him onto his side, and wrapped her arms securely around his ankles. “This reminds me of something,” she said, and flashed a brief smile. Darrell, remembering the events of the previous summer, smiled back, but her smile was strained.

“See what I mean?” She clutched the notebook. “I'll be back as soon as I can.”

Brodie stuck his face into Conrad's. “Settle down for a minute and I'll tell you what's going on.” He turned to Darrell. “Go find Leonardo. We'll be fine here.”

Conrad bucked his legs, but Kate managed to hold on. “And be quick, okay?” she pleaded.

Darrell nodded and hobbled across the uneven dirt floor. “Quick as I can without my walking stick,” she called and swung open the stable door. Delaney slipped out the door to lead the way.

The cold hit her with the force of a blow, and she struggled for a moment to close the stable door in the face of the stiff breeze. Darrell walked carefully along the
icy garden path, mentally kicking herself for not thinking that there might be a change in the weather. Delaney's paws left black prints where his feet melted the frost. The air smelled of snow. A church bell rang in the distance, and suddenly it was like the cold air itself was vibrating as bells rang out all over the city, marking the noon hour.

Darrell tucked her hands into her long sleeves and hurried up the lane. Now that she knew the way, it didn't take long to find Leonardo's studio. The familiar marble lion still guarded the front, but she followed Delaney around back to the kitchen door.

She stepped into the kitchen and was surprised to find it empty and cold. Even the large wood-fired oven lay unlit and loaded with ashes. A single oil lamp glowed, and Darrell picked it up by the handle.

Delaney padded through the arched doorway and down the darkened hall.

“Wait for me, boy,” Darrell whispered. This place was creepy when it was empty.
I'm just going to drop the book in the studio and head back to the stable.

Delaney nosed a door open, and Darrell could see a wash of light flow into the hall. She swallowed and stepped into the room.

Two old men sat near a shuttered window, a single lamp on the table beside them. Both turned as Darrell entered the room. “Are you here to light the fire?” demanded one of the men.

Darrell held out the book. “I'm here to return something I — I found,” she said in a low voice.

“Bring it here then,
bambina
.”

Darrell stepped closer and gasped. “Cristofo!”

The old man laughed, and the other joined him, their voices creaking together in merriment. “You
do
look at bit like Cristofo, Giovanni,” said the second old man, when he had regained enough breath to speak. “This is what age has brought us. We have become our grandfathers.”

Darrell turned and gazed into the eyes of Leonardo.

For the first time, he looked like the portraits she had seen of him in her research at the library. His beard was long and mingled with hair both grey and white. His hands resting on the table were still large, but were knotted with arthritis. Still smiling, he turned back to his friend. “Who is this young thing who knows your old grandfather?”

Giovanni shrugged. “Has Placida sent you to light the fires? It's about time — we will freeze in here before long.”

Darrell nodded. It
was
very cold in the room. “I've come to bring you this,” she said, moving aside a stack of half-painted canvasses and laying the notebook on the table. “And I can't stay long, but I will light the fire. It's too cold to sit here without one.” She walked over to the fireplace, limping a little, and knelt to pile up wood and coal.

“She walks on a wooden leg,” remarked Giovanni conversationally. “Why does that seem important?” He shook his head. “It seems I can remember nothing these days.”

Leonardo tapped the table with a gnarled finger. “
I
remember a little girl who walked on a wooden leg long ago,” he said quietly. “I wonder what became of her? I
seem to recall she vanished like a dream — blown away like a wisp on the wind.”

Darrell smiled to herself as she finished laying the fire. Using the stub of a candle she lit from the lamp, she soon had the tinder alight. She stood and walked back to the old men as warmth spread behind her and began to fill the room.

Giovanni was leafing through the notebook. He looked up at Darrell sharply, his blue eyes gleaming in the light of the fire.