The Beast of Seabourne (45 page)

Ellie, teeth bared from the effort and hair wild about her face, looked up at Oz.

“You sure?” she hissed.

Oz nodded. “It's done.”

Ellie stood and prodded the thing with the bone. It didn't move. With Oz pushing and Ellie pulling, they dragged it back so Oz could crawl out of his hiding place. From below, he heard Ruff's anxious voice.

“Oz?Ellie? Are you…?”

“Yeah,” Oz yelled back. “We're fine. We're both fine, thanks to Ellie.” He looked across at her. “That was a pretty cool idea, trapping him like that.”

“Don't sound so surprised,” Ellie said with feeling.

Oz said nothing.

“Oh, I know what you're thinking. You're surprised that I didn't want to just brain it. At least, that's what he said down there.” She nodded towards Ruff. “Well, I don't always do the first thing that comes into my head, you know.”

“Okay,” Oz said slowly.

From below, Ruff piped up, “Makes a change, that's all I said—”

“Shut up, Ruff,” Ellie and Oz said together.

“So, where is it now?” Ruff asked.

“Out cold,” Oz said and then added hurriedly, “all thanks to Ellie's plan.”

They heard a triumphant “Yesss!” from the darkness below.

Suddenly, Oz felt his legs start to shake, and a wave of exhaustion overtook him. He sat heavily on a boulder, both hands trembling on his knees while Soph showed herself again.

“It is merely the after-effect of the adrenaline, Oz,” she said to him. “It will pass quickly.”

Oz looked up at her and nodded. “Okay,” he said croakily to Ellie, “so, how did you manage to get the ring up?”

“Ah—” Ellie said as if she was about to launch into a long explanation.

“Never mind ‘Ah,'” Ruff yelled up from below, “can someone get me out of here? Only, dead people and me, we never really get on.”

“You heard Soph. The ossuary's just a tribute to the dead, Ruff,” Oz said, correcting him. The ring felt smooth and hard in his hands. “It's nothing to be worried about—”

“Who said anything about an ossuary?” wailed Ruff. “I mean this dead person lying next to me down here. Hamish buzzard McClelland.”

Oz was too flabbergasted to speak, so it was Soph who provided the explanation as she glowed once more. “I have consulted historical meteorological records and, considering the peculiar geological structure of this chasm, I can confirm that on the day Hamish McClelland disappeared, there was a storm. Approximately six centimetres of rain fell over a period of fifty minutes. I surmise that McClelland was hiding in here but probably failed to realise how quickly this chamber would flood. According to my calculations, with that rate of rainfall, it would take six minutes. The entrance would be a torrent in three.”

“But why did he hide in here? He knew about caves; he must have known the risks.”

“I don't think he was worrying about the weather, Ellie,” Oz said.

“Oh, my God,” Ellie said.

“He hid the ring and hid himself down there from someone, or something, that was after him,” Oz said, unable to resist the urge to slip the ring onto his finger again.

“Something like the Beast, you mean?” Ruff whispered.

Oz shrugged.

“And then the rains came,” Ellie said quietly, “and he was trapped.”

All three of them struggled for anything to say. The long seconds of silence that followed said it for them.

“But how did you get the ring up from down there?” Oz asked, bringing them back to the present.

“Ruff found some rope on McClelland's backpack,” Ellie explained. “He tied the ring on and I yanked it up.”

“Brilliant.” Oz grinned.

“When you two have finished slapping each other on the back, maybe we can try getting me out of here?” Ruff said, and though Oz couldn't see him, it sounded like he was talking through gritted teeth.

The rope had carabiners attached to it and was made of strong nylon. Oz looped one end around a great rock, and he and Ellie hoisted Ruff to the upper level, where he stood, looking apprehensively towards where the Beast lay.

“Have you noticed that the shimmery thing has gone from around it?” Ruff said.

“Yeah, you're right,” Oz said.

“That is because I have deprogrammed the neuroware,” Soph explained.

“Does anyone have even the slightest clue what that actually means?” Ruff asked with a sigh.

Soph did the honours herself. “This person has been programmed to believe he or she is a wild animal. Just as Richard Worthy had been. In Worthy's case, I believe it was accidental contact with that which you all call the shell, whereas in this case I believe it was deliberate.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because of the nature of the attacks. This auramal did not attack Ellie, and attacked Ruff only because they had fallen together. The target in this case was Oz, and its goal was the destruction of that target.”

Oz frowned, and Ellie and Ruff exchanged glances. Along moment's silence was pierced only by the echoing drip of water off the walls.

“Then we ought to see who it is,” Oz said.

“You mean actually touch it?” Ruff asked, throwing Oz a glance that couldn't have been more loaded with distaste if they'd asked him to eat elephant dung.

“How else, you gonk?” Ellie snapped.

Ruff gave her a fretful look.

“We really ought to,” Oz said, moving towards the Beast.

“Unconsciousness will last for several more minutes,” Soph said.

“See,” Ellie hissed at Ruff.

Oz knelt and rolled the Beast over. Up close, the grotesqueness of the mask was much more evident. It had obviously been glued together from bits of real animals. They looked like a fox's ears on a badger's skull and a weasel's nose. The matted fur was, in fact, a woollen jumpsuit, painted with a broad white stripe on the back to match the white watch cap on its head. It was also clear that the claws on its arms had been sharpened with great care.

“Someone's gone to a lot of trouble with this get-up,” Oz muttered. He didn't really want to touch any part of this thing, but he knew he had to. Ellie knelt next to him and reached for the mask while Oz grabbed hold of the clawed hands, just in case it woke up.

“Ready?” She undid the buckle of the straps under the Beast's chin that held the mask in place. Quickly, she yanked it off and let out a horrified gasp. What was revealed was a very human face. Red from exertion, hair plastered and clinging to the head from sweat, the eyes shut firmly in unconsciousness. Oz stared at it in dumb surprise. It was Ruff who finally whispered, “Wow. The Beast of Seabourne looks just like Niko Piotrowski.”

It was several seconds before anyone spoke. The shock of seeing Niko dressed in his murderous garb seemed finally to have tipped the balance in what had been a very weird twenty-four hours. A dull anger was growing inside Oz. He clenched and unclenched his fists. Someone had done this to Niko, and Oz read the exact same realisation in the others' faces.

“Doesn't look so good, does he?” Ruff observed.

“We'd better think about getting him back to camp,” Ellie said finally.

“Yeah.I mean, no point hanging about here. We got what we came for,” Oz said.

“And more,” Ellie added darkly.

“But Niko,” protested Ruff. “I mean, he's the last person…”

“Probably why they chose him,” Oz muttered. “Come on, give us a hand.” Oz looked up at Ruff. “He won't bite.”

“You sure about that?” Ruff said, with a wary glance.

Together, Oz and Ruff managed to lift Niko between them, but even as they manhandled the groggy boy through the narrow passage, light bulbs began popping in Oz's head.

“Niko's the real victim in all of this,” he said, as suddenly it all made a mad kind of sense.

The others paused to look at him, and they leaned Niko against the damp stone wall.

“This all stinks of artefact technology, and it's been a set-up right from the word go.” Oz blew out air and shook his head. “How could I have I been so stupid? The idea for Niko's transducer thingy? Sabotaging our water cycle project? It's got Heeps and Gerber written all over it.”

“What's that got to do with him dressing up like a maniac raccoon?” Ruff said.

Oz had the ceramic ring on his finger linking him to Soph, and she answered Ruff's question instantly.

“I believe his costume is more typical of a honey badger, Ruff.”

“Honey badger?”

Soph explained. “Known as one of nature's most vicious predators, it has a liking for honey but is carnivorous, with specialised claws for disembowelling its prey.”

Ruff stared at her, blinking. “Now she tells us.”

“Okay,” Ellie said. “But why did he attack Skinner and Pheeps?”

“Because Niko thought he was attacking me. Don't you see?” Oz said.

“Umm, no, not really,” Ruff said.

Oz was shaking his head. It was a plan of such intricate construction, he was hardly able to believe it himself.

“Go back to visiting Mr Eldred. The JG Telecom van and the boy that looked like a bear? Remember what the woman said to it.'Can you smell his stink?' They weren't trying to attack me; they just wanted my scent so that they could program it into Niko the honey badger's head.”

Now both Ellie and Ruff were staring at Oz with deep frowns on their foreheads, as if the words he was saying etched lines of incredulity there as he spoke.

“So, Skinner had your scent…because of the hat,” Ellie said.

“Exactly.” It was all there now. He could see it all developing like a photograph in front of his eyes. “Heeps used the word ‘accident' when he talked about Phillipa being attacked in the hall. It was weird at the time, but now…” He snorted out a disbelieving laugh. “He said
accident
because the Beast ‘accidentally' attacked the wrong person. I'd left my hoody under a stool by the drum kit. I bet Pheeps picked it up. Probably wanted to hide it or something stupid like that, just to annoy me. Then Niko turns up as the Beast.

They were expecting me to be there. I'm the drummer; I have the most kit to set up. But I was late.” He shook his head. “I thought Pheeps had torn the hoody to pieces, but it must have been Niko, trying to get at her under the stage.”

“But what about last night?” Ellie said. “Why did Niko attack my tent?”

“Last night you borrowed
my
rugby shirt, remember?”

“Oh, sugar,” Ellie said before glancing at the unconscious boy. “Poor old Niko.”

“Exactly. If they had to choose someone to get at me, why not the slightly weird foreign kid? Like I said, it stinks.”

Ruff turned to Niko. “Well, he's okay now. Let's get him outside into some fresh air.”

They grabbed Niko and hauled him up and out onto the side of the mountain, where a glorious dawn greeted them. An orange sun had risen, and after the dimness of the cave, they all squinted while their eyes adjusted to the brightness.

“What now?” Ruff asked. “Don't fancy carrying him all the way back.”

“You heard what Soph said,” Ellie reminded them. “He'll be coming round soon. Why don't we wait a few minutes?”

They perched precariously on the slope, Niko wedged between the two boys as they pondered how best to get him down.

Ellie saw the figure first. She pointed to the escarpment above them and cried out. “There's someone up there; look.”

A solitary figure stood silhouetted against the ochre sky.

“Hey,” yelled Ellie, “over here.”

The figure turned, waved back, and hurried towards them. The terrain was clearly easier to navigate on the higher ground.

“Think it's a search party?” Ruff asked as they watched it approach.

“Ellie Messenger, is that you?” The figure's voice came to them with crystal clarity through the frozen air.

“It's Skelton,” Ruff said in a surprised whisper.

A few moments later, the science teacher stood above them, a bloody gauze protruding from under his woolly hat where the gash on his temple still oozed, relief and confusion in equal measure in his face.

“Well, well. Ellie, Rufus, and Oscar. And is that Niko you have with you?”

“Yes, sir,” Ellie said.

“But how? What on earth are you doing here?”

“We, uhh…sort of followed you,” Ruff mumbled. “We saw you leave the campsite last night and…”

Skelton frowned. “You shouldn't have done that. Miss Arkwright will be worried sick.”

It was exactly what Oz would expect Skelton to say. There were going to be tough questions to answer.

“But lucky we did, sir,” Ellie said, trying to sugar the pill. “You were unconscious when we found you.”

The science teacher pressed his fingers to the gauze under his hat and laughed. “So you were the good Samaritans that wrapped me up, eh?”

“Yes, sir,” Ellie said.

“Well, thank you for that. But it still doesn't explain what you're doing up here.”

Ruff and Ellie sent Oz a couple of desperate glances. If they were hoping to find inspiration in Oz's expression, they were disappointed. Ruff had half-turned so that Skelton could neither see nor hear him as he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “Let's say we followed Niko's trail again after wrapping him up in the blanket,” Ruff said. “It's sort of true. Unless you want to tell him all about Soph?”

Oz looked at him but didn't answer immediately. Telling Skelton about Soph was the last thing he wanted to do, and Ruff knew that. But Oz was only half-listening. His brain was too busy putting two and two together and coming up with a number that simply did not compute.

“How come you're up here, sir?” Oz asked.

“Me? Oh, I've been wandering around for an hour or more, hopelessly lost. I was trying to get my bearings and made for higher ground. Now that it's light, I'm sure we can find our way back. I suggest we get the lot of you up these last few metres. The going is much easier up here.” Skelton unslung his backpack and took out a slender nylon rope, which he threw down to them.