Mystery at Silver Spires (5 page)

“Don't forget to look out for a girl with really short dark reddy-brown hair,” Sasha reminded us.

Her mum had phoned a few days before to say that a girl called Hannah Chadwick, who was the daughter of someone she worked with, would be coming on the introductory day. Sasha could remember Hannah from Year Four at primary, but then they'd lost touch, because Hannah and her family had moved a few miles away and Hannah had started at a different school.

“She was really nice actually,” Sasha had told us. “Very shy, though.”

“They look so young,” said Izzy, when we'd just passed a group of girls quietly walking along with a member of staff.

“And…scared…” added Nicole. “Like
I
was.” She did a dramatic shudder as though she wouldn't want to go back to those days.

“Me too,” I said, to make her feel better.

Then the others all nodded in agreement. “Yes, same here.”

“It didn't take long to get used to it, though, did it?” said Emily.

“That's the magic of Silver Spires!” said Antonia, her eyes sparkling.

That night I dreamed I was walking with Mum and she was carrying our old cat Lana in a baby sling. It was a weird dream but a happy one. Dad said that when I was a baby Mum had walked for miles with me on her front in a sling, so my dream was just a bit mixed up, that's all. I woke up with the clearest picture of Mum's face in my mind. She was very dark like me and had short hair like me, too, and didn't wear make-up. I remember her wearing jeans and T-shirts a lot. At least I think I'm remembering and not just thinking of the photos I've seen.

I smiled to myself in the dark, because I like the thought that there might be a gene that I've inherited from Mum that makes you love walking. Then my thoughts turned to all the new girls who'd been around during the day. We hadn't come across Hannah at all, and in the end we'd asked Mrs. Pridham if she was actually there. She'd told us that Hannah was ill and would have to come on her own another day. Poor thing, I thought, turning over and closing my eyes.

Then I froze, because I heard something from the attic. Only this time it wasn't footsteps, or scrabbling or rubbing or dragging – and it didn't sound anything like a squirrel! It was a cry. Like a baby. My hand shot to my mouth as though I'd made the sound myself. How could it be a baby? Unless it was…the ghost of a baby?

I don't know how I ever got myself back to sleep that night, but I must have done somehow. The next day when I woke up I felt so tired. I obviously looked it too, because Emily kept on asking me if I was all right.

In the end I told her what I'd heard. “But don't tell the others, whatever you do. They'd be terrified.”

“But…a
baby
, Bry? Are you sure you didn't imagine it?”

I shook my head. “One hundred per cent. Something was crying up there, and I want to go back and find out what's going on, Ems. I can't stand mysteries.”

“I'll come with you,” she said straight away.

I nodded, feeling relieved. I was actually quite anxious about going on my own.

So we decided we'd go as soon as she got back from riding.

I've never known time pass as slowly as it did that Saturday. It was another beautiful hot day but I couldn't enjoy the sun, because my mind was on the attic and what we might find up there.

I met Emily from the minibus when she got back from riding. She didn't even bother to get changed. We just went straight along the third-floor landing to the cleaning room, and were relieved that there was no one around again. I wasn't so worried about getting caught this time, because I was careful to shut the door to the cleaning room behind us.

Emily was just as surprised as I'd been to see how big the attic was. “Do you think we'd be in trouble if anyone knew we were up here?” she said in a whisper, staring around.

I nodded.

“But we've never exactly been
told
it's out of bounds, have we?”

“No, but…”

Emily frowned, then pointed to the far end of the loft. “What's round there?”

“I'm not sure. That's where the squirrel came from though.” I took a couple of steps towards it.

“You ought to be careful, Bry. I've heard squirrels can scratch and bite and really hurt you.”

I didn't care. In fact I was still really hoping we'd see the squirrel. I couldn't forget that little cry though, and squirrels just don't cry. What else was I about to find? My mouth felt dry as I tiptoed forwards, centimetre by centimetre, with the quietest footsteps, while Emily hung back.

“Can you see anything, Bry?”

I only just heard her whisper from behind me as I turned the corner, and then I gasped but quickly stifled it. Sitting in front of me, upright and stiff, ears pricked, was a thin waif of a cat. It had a whitish streak running down its nose and dark eyes which met mine for a second, before it fled past me to the open window like a silver arrow. A cat, I couldn't believe it. So it wasn't a squirrel after all!

“A cat!” said Emily. “Phew!” She let out her breath. “Mystery solved! Let's go before we get caught.”

I don't know why but I felt a stab of disappointment that Emily was taking it so casually. To me it was a shock. I'd never expected a cat. A cat was completely different from a squirrel. My mind was spinning. “Don't you wonder what it's doing up here? I mean, why does it keep coming back?”

Emily shrugged. “Cats get into the weirdest places.”

“I suppose they do,” I answered thoughtfully, remembering the first time we'd found Fellini sitting in a spare washing-up bowl we kept on top of the freezer. He looked so funny. But he obviously liked it there because he kept coming back.

I wanted to get back to talking about the cat we'd just found though. “It looked really thin, didn't it?”

“It's probably a stray,” Emily said, turning to go. “Come on, Bry. Remember we're not supposed to be up here.”

I bent down and touched the hollowed-out place where the cat had been sitting. It still felt warm and I was really sorry that I'd frightened it away twice now. “It must have been cosy on this pile of dust sheets, mustn't it?”

But Emily was heading for the stairs. “We'd better report it to Mrs. Pridham, Bry. Come on.”

“No, let's not,” I said, hurrying after her. “Mrs. P wouldn't want a stray cat at Forest Ash. She'd only get rid of it. Let's see it one more time, properly, before we tell her. Maybe we can help it.”

A part of me felt completely detached from the rest of me. It was like I was listening to myself saying these things and wondering why. But the part that was actually saying them thought it was completely natural. Maybe my dream about Lana had affected me more than I'd thought it had.
Something
certainly had, because for some reason I really cared about the cat. I couldn't just dismiss it out of hand. It seemed important that we made sure it could manage all right, especially if it was a stray with no one to feed it, and nowhere to snuggle down at night.

“Where does it get its food, do you think, Ems?”

“Hunting mice and birds… And it probably goes further afield than Silver Spires. I guess it looks for scraps that people have thrown out with their rubbish…” Emily suddenly turned round to face me, a finger on her lips, to tell me we should stop talking now. Then just as I'd done before, she looked right and left before risking coming out of the cleaning room onto the landing.

I waited till we were in our dorm and Emily was getting changed out of her riding gear before I mentioned the cat again. “But don't you feel sorry for it, Ems?”

She shrugged but didn't answer my question and I guessed that any cats she might have come across on the farm were probably really independent, so she wouldn't have felt any attachment to them.

“Ems,” I said carefully, “let's not tell the others just yet, otherwise they'll all want to go up and see it, and I don't want to frighten it away for good. Let's not tell…Mrs. Pridham either for now.”

Emily put her arm round me. “You're so sweet, Bry,” she said. “Don't worry, I won't mention it to anyone.” Then she looked suddenly serious. “But even if it doesn't get frightened away for good, it'll only run away every time you go up there. I mean, you won't be able to have it as a pet or anything. It's wild, Bry.”

I sighed as I realized that although I hadn't admitted it, even to myself, I really did wish I could look after it…and, yes, maybe even keep it.

“Come on, let's go and see what's happening in the garden, yeah?”

I followed her downstairs and out of Silver Spires, and as she chatted away about the hack she'd just been on through the woods, I couldn't help my mind drifting back to the cat. In a way it reminded me of Lana, only it was more silvery and miles thinner. It was nothing like Fellini. Fellini is black and white and stalks about grandly as though he owns the world. This cat seemed quite the opposite. Frightened and fleeting. I wished I could calm it down so it wouldn't run away all the time, poor thing.

I wanted to give it a name, but I couldn't think of anything original, so I decided to be totally unoriginal and name it after its colour.
Silver
. Yes, that would be fine, just until I came up with something better. And I made another decision too. Despite what Emily had said, I decided I would try and smuggle some food out from supper, and take it up to Silver as soon as possible. That might tempt him to stay, and make him a bit less wild and afraid too. But maybe I'd wait till the next day, because I wasn't sure if I could risk going up there twice in one day. Who knew what would happen if I got caught?

Waking up the next morning, Silver was the first thing to come into my mind. The previous evening, at supper, I'd managed to slip a piece of chicken into a tissue and put it in my pocket without anyone noticing. And while I'd been lying in bed I'd had the good idea of emptying a plastic tub that I usually keep my shower stuff in and filling it with water. Silver was probably really thirsty in this boiling weather. I couldn't wait to give him his little meal.

Walking back from a lovely big Sunday breakfast, it was obvious that today was going to be another hot day. Good, that meant a high chance of all the Forest Ash girls being outside soaking up the sun.

“I wish I didn't have to work when it's so beautiful,” said Antonia, slowing down as though the very thought of studying made her feel tired.

“Let's get it over with right now,” Nicole said decisively, “then we can do whatever we want for the rest of the day. What's everyone else doing?” she asked, looking directly at me for some reason.

“Er…not a lot…”

“Weeding,” Emily announced with a firm nod of her head. “In fact I'm going to get my old trainers and cut-offs on right now.” She broke into a jog, then called back over her shoulder, “Feel free to help me!”

“Sorry. Iz and I are going sculling again!” Sasha called back.

I couldn't help feeling pleased that at least two of them would be out of the way. I just hoped that Nicole and Antonia weren't planning on working in the dorm, because that would mean I wouldn't be able to go up and see Silver, as they'd hear my footsteps above them and get the shock of their lives.

“It's great that we can work outside now it's so hot,” I said casually.

“Yes, but I can't concentrate outside,” said Antonia with a sigh. “I get…distracted.”

My heart sank when the two of them settled down at their desks in the dorm to work on their laptops, and I wondered whether to risk going up into the loft anyway. If I was totally quiet surely they wouldn't hear me below. But how could I be quieter than a cat? We'd heard Silver easily enough. Anyway there were loads of other girls still around in the boarding house, so I knew I'd have to be patient for a bit longer. It was tempting just to tell Nicole and Antonia about Silver, but something was stopping me. I was so worried that Mrs. Pridham would get to hear about him and shoo him away for ever. No, it seemed better to keep him a secret for now. And then… And then
what
?

I couldn't keep him a secret for ever. I'd
have
to tell Mrs. Pridham sometime. But not yet. For now, I just wanted to see Silver again.

In the end I went swimming. As it was still quite early for a Sunday there was hardly anyone in the pool and I did twenty lengths without stopping, then got out. The lifeguard grinned at me as I headed for the changing room. “That was quick!”

I turned and smiled back but didn't say anything. Then I dried myself and got dressed quickly, getting more and more excited that I'd soon be seeing Silver. It didn't take me a minute to dry my hair, because it's so short. I just rubbed it hard, then walked back to Forest Ash in the sun, which was better than any hairdryer.

In the dorm, Antonia and Nicole were shutting down their laptops and packing up, so my twenty lengths had filled the time perfectly.

“Oh, you've been swimming!” said Nicole. “Are there many in the pool?”

I shook my head. “Only one Year Eight when I got out.”

“Shall we?” said Antonia, turning to Nicole.

Nicole broke into a grin. “Good idea of yours, Bry. See you then!”

They both grabbed their swimming things and a few seconds later they were out of the dorm. I didn't know whether the Year Nines were in their room and neither did I know whether Matron or Miss Stevenson, our assistant housemistress, or worse, Mrs. Pridham were around, but I couldn't wait any longer to see Silver.

I took the tissue with the piece of chicken out of the back of my bottom drawer and eyed it sadly. It was dry and starting to go hard and curl at the edges. As I stuffed it in my pocket and grabbed the plastic tub, I told myself that a stray cat wouldn't be fussy about what it ate. It'd be grateful for anything. I'd got my plastic water bottle so I'd be able to fill the tub once I was up there. But the most important thing was to move really carefully. If Silver was there, I didn't want him to fly off the moment I appeared.