Chapter Six – The Trip.
I rose the next day with a stretch, as the ever familiar sunlight streamed through the curtains and onto my face. I appreciated how it was far more useful than any alarm I had ever heard, as I usually slept through them. Also, with the wakeup call being sunlight, I could choose to roll over and block it out, if I wanted.
Suddenly, I remembered yesterday’s events – they weren’t just a dream! I opened my eyes and peeked at the bags on the floor, on each side of the bed. My heart leapt. But then I realised that I had to wait until tomorrow to actually go to the school. I still didn’t know how I was going to get there – I wondered if Gran would take me.
I had no idea what time it was, as usual, so I slumped downstairs to have breakfast and check the clock. It was nine in the morning. I had slept a nice, lengthy twelve hours.
Gran came in as I poured cornflakes into a bowl, after consuming a whole bowl of fruit – I was hungry!
‘Do you have all your school equipment?’ she asked. ‘I hope you didn’t make him pay for all of it.’
She said this last part with her usual stern look – reserved only for wrongdoers who she knew committed the act without even asking. This time was no exception. I shrunk under her glare.
‘Just make sure to pay Mr Berry back.’ she said with pursed lips.
She unstuck two pieces of frozen bread with her fingers and placed them in the toaster. Suddenly she lightened up.
‘He was a naughty child – always so cheeky.’ she said with a reminiscent smile.
‘Um, Gran?’ I asked, tentatively.
I noticed that she was in a good mood and was supportive of the idea of me going to Mr Berry’s school so I took the opportunity.
‘Yes, Gareth?’
‘Could I have a lift to Shindon Bus Station, please?’ I asked, holding my breath in hope and eager expectation.
‘Of course – how else were you going to get there?’
My heart skipped a beat.
‘Thanks Grandma!’
The rest of the day passed without incident but I was still really excited about the prospect of going to such a brilliant school. The more Mr Berry told me about the school –even though it wasn’t much– and the more he explained about God, the more excited I had become. I expected great things from this school – the sorts of things I found at Resource Rock, yesterday.
Well, I say without incident – virtually without incident – the post came and with it, a note which said:
Dear Gareth,
If God is willing then I shall see you tomorrow. Remember:
Shindon Bus Station.
Lost Property
Ask for rusty ring
Transport leaves at nine.
Oh, and destroy this after you read it please, I delivered it personally so that it did not fall into the wrong hands. God bless, D.B.
Hope gripped me. I wrenched open the front door and looked about. Perhaps he was still there – surely he could not have gone so quickly.
I ran to the gate and jumped over it, then ran and skidded round the corner, expecting to see Mr Berry’s car.
I deflated again. He was nowhere in sight. I knew that I’d see him tomorrow, but it seemed too long.
All thoughts of destroying the note had gone from my mind. This was evidence that I was going to a mysterious new school. I didn’t want to destroy it. In fact I read and re-read it more times than I could count that day.
That evening, I went to bed with the note still clutched in my hand; I thought it would take a while to get to sleep. I was too excited. I read the note one last time and hoped it wasn’t someone’s terrible idea of a joke. I was filled with dread suddenly but was determined that it wouldn’t defeat me. I must have more faith, I must have more faith I kept telling myself – if I couldn’t trust Mr Berry and my own Grandma, then who could I trust?
Suddenly, there was screaming and the sky was on fire – houses were being vacated and lizards ran everywhere. A stream rose up and blasted me in the face whilst dragonflies as big as dinner plates flew about and turned into red tokens. Then I was in a large shopping centre with a garden in the middle and I had to go through a maze to get to what I was looking for…
‘Gareth.’ said a voice. ‘Gareth.’
I felt a shake. I jerked awake.
‘Huh?’ I gasped.
Grandma was leaning over me. Her blue eyes were staring at me.
‘What is it?’ I asked groggily.
‘Get up, child!’ she said, impatiently, ‘You have to get ready!’
‘What time is it?’
‘Half seven.’
‘Half seven!’ I said, in shock. ‘I’ve gotta get up.’
‘Exactly, don’t rush too much though.’ she said, cautiously.
I got up and got ready as quickly as I could – having a quick shower and quick breakfast, then checking my school equipment.
‘Right, I’m ready.’ I said, straightening up at the front door.
‘Good, we’ve got an hour to get there now – it only takes half an hour.’
As we passed the city buildings, I wondered what the school building would look like – what I should expect after seeing Resource Rock. I imagined a pirate ship which set off from the sea near Shindon bus station. A mobile school. That’d be cool. Still, I suppose that it wouldn’t be very secretive – not the one that I imagined, anyway. It would have had a large, black sail with a banana on. It was yellow and the sort of eccentric symbol that I would come to expect from Mr Berry.
I wondered if he was the first head teacher that the school had, or if there had been more. Perhaps they had one dressed as a pirate beforehand and maybe another that called eagles to fetch worms for him for fishing. I laughed at the idea of a fat, old man, sitting down on the side of a riverbank with a fishing rod and a pile of worms next to him in the morning sun. He had a satisfied smile and looked eagerly for movement in the water. I had never been a fan of fishing but it made me curious how it was a hobby for others. I preferred the idea of being a more active hunter – with a spear. All of these thoughts simply reflected my excitement which charged my imagination.
At last, we arrived at Shindon bus station – the brick red walls of the office looked more welcoming than ever. I waved to Grandma, promising to contact her if there were any problems.
With my clothes, books and first aid kit in a black holdall, slung high on my back, I strode to the doors and reached the information desk.
The lady at the desk looked at me sternly. This was emphasised by her red framed, semi-circle glasses and smart, navy blue suit with her hair in a bun.
‘Which way to the lost property, please?’ I asked, timidly.
I tried to cling to the hope I had, because another part of me was saying: what if there isn’t one and this is all some kind of horrific joke? Don’t waste her time – she looks busy. Walk away.
The lady at the desk looked suspiciously at me, saying: ‘A lot of children have been asking that today – in fact, they seem to ask that every year – is this some kind of joke?’
‘No.’ I said, pulling as serious an expression as I knew how.
This was particularly difficult because her question only confirmed that it was all true – other pupils had asked for the lost property desk too!
‘So what have you lost?’ she asked, looking disapproving of my blatant excitement.
‘I’m looking for a piece of jewellery.’ I said, trying not to give away what exactly I am looking for.
‘Well, at least you aren’t looking for a blue trainer – most of the kids who have come in today have asked for one of those. I mean, how many can be lost – always the left one, too – are people suddenly just forgetting that they have a left foot?! I mean what’s going on?’ she asked, clearly agitated. Then she pointed down a long corridor to the left of her. ‘Well, the lost property desk is that way – I don’t know where all of these shoes are being stored though – they only ever seem to have a few items in that box.’
‘Thank you, Miss.’ I said, turning swiftly to walk down the corridor at a fast pace and glancing behind quickly.
‘It’s Mrs!’ she called after me, ‘Do I look unwed?!’
I jumped at the sound of her voice and walked even faster, secretly glad that I had not answered this question and nearly passing the desk that I was looking for.
‘Hello?’ came a sweet voice.
I jumped, not expecting to see anybody there.
‘Are you looking for lost property?’ she asked.
This lady looked younger and wore the same outfit.
‘Uh, yeah. I’m looking for a rusty ring, please?’
I held my breath, hoping that she wouldn’t frown in confusion, but to my relief she turned away and selected a rusty, copper ring from the box, holding it up.
‘Is this it?’ she asked, with a smile.
‘Yes! That looks like it.’ I said, relieved.
‘Would you like to follow me – I’ll lead you to the other students – they come quite early to get good seats.’ she whispered in explanation.
I suddenly realised that, logically, there would be other students here – all claiming to be looking for a rusty ring. I no longer wondered why the woman at the information desk was so agitated and angry. I no longer wondered why she thought it was a huge joke, concocted by a range of secondary school students.
‘But it’s not even quarter to nine, yet.’ I said, confused. ‘How could they be here so early?’
‘Well, most of them stay the night in nearby hotels and I can show them the way in groups.’
At this point, a nervous looking boy and a scared looking girl ran up the corridor.
Both had brown hair; short for the boy and long for the girl and the girl had brown eyes, whilst the boy had blue. It made me anxious that they were both wearing their uniform already.
‘That woman scares me!’ she squeaked to the boy, who nodded his agreement.
‘She’s always terrified me,’ said the boy. ‘ever since my family moved here.’
‘Ah, are you looking for an item, too?’ asked the lady.
‘A rusty ring.’ they said together.
‘Ah good. Follow me, please.’ she said, smiling sweetly.
The two students smiled at each other in excitement.
‘I’ve always preferred you!’ said the boy, as the girl rolled her eyes.
The lady smiled and led us through a door which led to another long, oddly windowless, dusty corridor. We walked in silence and eager expectation.
We walked to the end and turned left, going down several flights of stairs where we no longer expected windows. There was a large, safe door just ahead of us. Its steel looked cold and menacing.
The lady typed a code into a panel alongside it.
CLUNK
It clicked open.
‘I always wondered wha’ was down ‘ere!’ said the boy. ‘But I was never allowed to wander around, because of the woman at the information desk.’
The lady smiled again and swung open the door with ease.
There before us stood a sea, only with a rock ceiling – we couldn’t see the three walls around us!
‘Weird!’ said the boy as the girl gasped.
‘What is this?’ I asked, bewildered.
‘It must just be a large, indoor swimming pool or something.’ said the girl, attempting to explain it away.
‘SAND!’ yelled the boy, in excitement. ‘I love the beach!’
‘What?!’ I exclaimed, thoroughly confused. ‘Is this a dream?’
The ground was indeed covered in sand in great mounds, it was very much like a beach, minus the waves and gradually descending shoreline or any sense of a breeze.
Students were talking excitedly in groups, almost waiting for something. I half expected to see large ferries, looming through mist before us.
‘Uh, where do we go from here?’ I asked, glad to see other students.
Most were already in uniform, some with badges sewn on – but I couldn’t make out the image depicted there, though there seemed to be four types. I panicked again and wondered if I should be wearing mine too.
Suddenly, there was a great hissing sound and water splashed everywhere as several dark, blue hills rose out of the water.
I gasped and fell over in shock, the thought of uniform driven from my mind. It seems that many students reacted similarly, their reactions ranged from on the floor in shock to screams, looks of being startled and finally, to looks of annoyance. The students seemed less and less concerned as they got older – perhaps they were getting more and more used to it.
‘I wish they’d be quieter!’ said a nearby older year, with a snarl, as he removed his hands from his ears.
These hills opened up nearest to us, revealing large – what I could only call – long, brown brushes; one set jutted vertically upwards to meet another set, jutting downwards.
The older students simply strode right up and through the brushes, as if they were curtains in a doorway to be pushed aside.
The youngest students looked bewildered and stood there, stunned and I wasn’t surprised to see some of them shaking.
‘What are they?’ I asked, looking around. But the lady had gone, presumably returned to her desk.
‘Do they realise what they are doing?’ asked the girl next to me, in shock.
‘What are they doing?’ asked the boy, surprised that she knew something he didn’t.
‘Well, I don’t know how to break it to you – but they’re whales!’ she said, in a shocked yet matter-of-fact tone of voice.
‘Whales?’ I muttered.
I tilted my head in confusion at the blue hills with brushes
‘Aaarrrrgggghhhhh!’ I yelled, recognising the brushes as the entrance to the whale’s mouth and falling over. Then, hitting my head with my hand, said: ‘They are whales! No wonder Mr Berry didn’t want to tell me!’
The boy next to me shook his head in astonishment.
‘Blue Whales, to be precise.’ said the girl, again sounding far too intelligent for her age.
‘How do you know so much?’ I asked, impressed.
‘It’s a blessing.’ she said with a smile.
‘Well, if that’s how Mr Berry chooses to get us there…’ said the boy, trailing off as he jumped off the sandy step and made his way towards the nearest whale.
He seemed to have made up his mind about something.
‘Where’s he going?’ I asked, as I gazed after him, astonished.
Surely he knew that whales were dangerous and yet he was walking right into one’s mouth!
‘Into the whale,’ she said, now unconcerned and following him. ‘Don’t worry, they can’t eat us – they have no teeth and their throat is too small.’
‘Come on!’ called the boy, back to them.
I was glad to be invited – into what, I did not know though. I hoped the girl was right, and that these whales would be friendly.
‘Oh, I hope that my hair won’t get wet!’ said the girl, looking worried. ‘And I haven’t put my books into a waterproof bag!’
I saw the problem straight away; we were hardly going to stay above water level and our books would get soaked; let alone us.
‘Don’t worry,’ said a tall, brown haired boy from an older year. ‘you won’t get wet.’
She stood still for a moment, looking confused. But then she shrugged and continued through the brushes, after the boy.
I entered nervously after her.
‘Eugh!’ I yelped.
A strong smell of fish reached me and I found the pink, wet floor, which I presumed to be the whale’s tongue. I looked ahead of me and saw a small, red door, with a glass window set in. It was reinforced with steel and set into a large, seemingly cushioned – what I could only call – building. It was covered in thick rubber on the outside and seemed to take up most of the space inside the whale’s mouth. Windows were dotted here and there along the walls, and students seemed to be sat at tables inside it, looking out of these windows.
‘Uh, what’s the point in the windows?’ I asked the girl, bemused.
Her hand was just on the door handle.
‘I’ve no idea, actually.’ she said, pausing momentarily to think.
‘Hurry up, please.’ said an impatient older boy, behind me. ‘There are others to get on yet and we don’t want to keep them waiting!’
‘Sorry,’ we muttered at once.
The inside of the ‘building’ was divided into rooms, all of them being of similar size. In between the rooms were narrow corridors. The walls and floor seemed to be made of the same rubber as the outside, only painted brown. Cushions of red and purple adorned the sofas that were set into the walls and floor. Electric lighting somehow shone from lamps with red lampshades and strip lighting.
As we entered the room, we saw an older year student with a blue and white badge, already in there.
‘Oh, sorry.’ I said, feeling like I had intruded.
‘No, no, come in.’ he smiled, then noticing who was behind me, said: ‘Jack! How are yer, buddy?’
‘You two know each other?’ asked Emily, just as confused I was.
‘Yeah, yeah, he’s my cousin.’ said Jack, smiling. ‘Meet Will Flinker.’
‘Good to meet you.’ he said, shaking our hands.
‘You too.’ I said, hoping to grasp this opportunity. ‘So, do you mind if we sit here – and ask you any questions we have about the school?’
‘Uh sure.’ he said.
We shut the door and sat down together.
‘So, what would you like to know?’ he asked, politely.
‘Where is the school?’ I asked, eager to know.
‘Uh, well I can’t quite tell you that.’
‘Oh,’ I said, disappointed. ‘why not?’
‘Oh, don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I can’t tell you, now that we are in the whale – it’s that I don’t know.’
I must have looked stumped because of what he said next.
‘Nobody knows the location of the school – except the headmaster, of course. This phenomenon is so because of the secretive nature of things – our trip, for example is one such block to us finding out. We enter underground at a so called ‘bus station’ and we exit – let’s just say, in an equally secretive and hidden location. Furthermore, when you arrive you notice that either mountains or the sea, surround us – so we have little to go on, in terms of finding out our location in the world. You can’t even send letters by carrier-pidgeon or anything. They just fail. I can’t figure out why.’
At this point, a girl with purple hair opened the door.
‘Excuse me, is Emily-‘
‘Rocinda!’ said Emily, hugging her friend then leading her to a different compartment. ‘How are you? Come on, let’s take this chat elsewhere.’
As the door shut, I turned my attention back towards Will, but he appeared to be leaving too.
‘I’m afraid, that I must be off too.’ he said, picking up his suitcase and leaving. ‘I have friends to see, I’m afraid.’
‘Ah, that’s alri’ bud, see ya later!’ smiled Jack, waving. ‘Great guy, inni?’
‘Yes.’ I said, forcing a smile. ‘Shame I didn’t get to hear much about the school though.’
‘Ah, it’s ok, he’s told me most things – what did yer wanna know?’
‘Ah well, first thing’s first. My name’s Gareth Kirt.’ I said, glad to meet someone with answers and the time to tell me them.
‘Good ter meet ya, my name’s Jack. So what’s yer question?’ piped the boy.
‘Ok, well what is the aim of the school, first of all?’
‘Um, I can’t say I know – other than the usual school aim, except maybe to know God better?’
‘Oh ok,’ I said, disappointed but eager to find another question. ‘Well then, what’s the name?’
‘Ah, my cousin couldn’ actually tell me that yet – in case I blabbed by acciden’ or sumat.’
‘Hmm,’ I said, feeling even less satisfied. ‘ok then what houses will we be in – and what are they?’
‘Uh, I remember that there is one that is a horse.’ he said, scratching his head. ‘But, I can’t remember-‘
At this point, someone else came to the door and knocked, to my irritation.
‘Yes?’ I asked, flying to the door but trying to remember my manners.
Before me stood a girl with long, dark hair and bright, green eyes. Her nose and mouth appeared to be covered by some sort of shawl, wrapped tightly and giving her a mysterious quality.
‘Uh, I’m sorry.’ she said, bowing politely. ‘But, I have nowhere else to go – there is no room.’
‘Uh, fine, fine – come in.’ I said, blown away by her response.
‘Thank you.’ she said, her eyes smiling.
‘Welcome.’ I said, considering it nothing.
‘What are yer doin’?’ asked Jack, as she turned around to sort out her belongings.
‘Well, we can’t very well leave her outside now, can we?’ I said, desperately.
Jack was about to respond, but at this point she turned around.
‘Do any of you know-‘
‘ARRGH!!!’ yelled Jack, as I grabbed onto the seat beneath me, the girl fell into my lap – me noticing her freckles now - and the whale made a loud rasping sound, the ground shaking like an earthquake.
‘Oh, oh, sorry.’ she said, wincing as she removed herself and made sure to cling to her own seat. ‘It’s the whale – it’s moving.’
‘Of course!’ smiled Jack, absent-mindedly. ‘I’d forgotten about that.’
She now removed her shawl.
‘And sorry about the shawl, only it smells rather bad in the corridors.’
‘Fair enough.’ I shrugged, not minding it.
‘So, what were you talking about?’ she asked, now eyeing us with interest.
‘Uh, the school.’ I said, as I remembered.
‘What about it?’ she asked, inquisitive.
Her voice was quiet and soothing.
‘Only that Jack couldn’t quite remember much of what he was told.’
‘Oh now, that’s probably unfair.’ smiled Jack, not wanting to sound ignorant. ‘You on’y asked me a coupla questions!’
‘And, what would you like to know?’ asked the girl, turning to me and ready. ‘My parents said that I would definitely be in the House of Ibis, if it were purely about knowledge – if I may so myself. I guess I like the idea, but – and I think that the House of Lizard is about being resourceful – I think that I would prefer that house.’
I looked at her, agasp.
‘The name’s Starla.’ she laughed, noticing our gormless expressions. ‘Starla Scarlet – and don’t worry, nobody is as big a nerd as me.’
‘And, what are your names?’ she asked, looking intrigued again and noticing that we were still bewildered.
I realised that my mouth was open and hastily closed it.
‘Gareth Kirt.’ I said, offering her a hand, which she shook softly.
‘Jack Bry.’ said Jack, still with his mouth agape.
‘Well, it is nice to meet you. Now Gareth, what would you like to know?’
But, and to my great annoyance, another head appeared at the door – only this time they opened it.
‘Hey! Sorry, but there’s not much room elsewhere – and some rooms have sick in ‘em?’ said a girl with red hair.
‘Invite ‘em in.’ whispered Jack to me.
‘Uh, sure.’ I said, unsure of what to do otherwise. ‘Come in.’
‘This is my friend, Felicity.’ she said, by way of invitation.
Her friend had her blonde hair down, reaching half-way down her back. She wondered in, almost in a daydream. If it wasn’t for her friendly smile, we would have thought that she hadn’t registered us at all until she said: ‘Hello.’ in a sweet and gentle voice. She took a seat next to her friend, opposite Starla.
Starla seemed a little put out for some reason.
‘So, what were yer talkin’ abou’?’ asked the girl. ‘By the way, I’m Glitch. Glitch Callahan.’
‘Good to meet you both.’ I said, trying hard to hide my frustration and determined to ask my question before someone else interrupted.
‘Sorry to bother you, but-‘
‘Yeah, just come in!’ waved Jack, looking like he was having a great time and not thinking of the repercussions.
‘Thanks.’ said the boy with shoulderlength, brown hair and a carefree smile.
‘Great.’ I thought. ‘Well, at least there will be no more, since the room is full.’
Starla moved to sit next to me so that we could have our own private conversation, since they were springing up all over the place now anyway.
‘So,’ she said, smiling. ‘what did you want to know?’
‘I uh – I uh,’ I started.
This was no good – everytime I tried to start asking, I looked up and saw those eyes of hers, and completely forgot again.
‘Uh,’ I continued, now making sure to look away.
‘How about, I give you a range of subjects and you choose one?’ she suggested.
I was sure that her eyes were smiling, but I didn’t want to look so I just nodded.
‘Ok,’ she said. ‘house names, location-‘
‘Uh, yeah.’ I interrupted. ‘Location.’
‘Ok, well Yellowhorn –‘
‘Yellowhorn! That’s what it’s called.’ I said, relieved to be getting some answers. But now she fixed me with a piercing stare. ‘Uh, sorry.’
‘That’s ok.’ she said, sounding more and more like a teacher by the second. Now, if I didn’t look up then it was more likely to be due to fear of meeting a stern or scary look. ‘The school is surrounded by mountains and can be entered through many means –‘
‘Wait, wait, wait.’ I said, impatience overcoming fear. ‘Do you know where the school actually is? Like, in the world?’
‘No, nobody does.’ she said, through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes.
‘Actually, that’s not true-‘ started Jack, before she fixed him with an even more piercing stare.
‘Nobody except the headmaster then.’ she continued. ‘Anything else?’
‘Uh,’ I said, tentatively and unsure of the correct answer. ‘ok, how about house names?’
‘First of all, there are four houses: Ibis, Horse, Ox and Lizard.’ she said, returning to her serene smile as we inwardly sighed in relief. ‘Each house has an emblem depicting the creature-‘
‘EEEEEEKKKKK!!!’ shrieked the voice of Felicity. ‘What is that?’
‘What?’ asked Glitch, placing a hand on her arm to calm her.
‘Look.’ she said, pointing to the nearest window.
The water level was rising at a dramatic rate.
‘Uh, yeah.’ said Jack, shrinking against the back of his seat. ‘I can see your problem.’
‘Don’t worry!’ said Drew, reaching into his bag. ‘I have an umbrella!’
‘And how exactly is that going to help us?’ said Starla, coldly.
‘Well, at least – at least he’s trying to help!’ stood up Glitch, angrily. ‘You were so mean to Gareth ther’, you have to be kinder, we’re not all as knowledgeable as you, yer know!’
Starla turned away.
‘Ah no, I’ve found ponchos too!’ said Drew, smiling. ‘I bought ‘em from a boy in another compartment!’
Felicity seemed to calm down at this prospect.
‘Oh good, so we will be nice and dry still.’
‘Uh, how about our books?’ asked Jack, as if it were obvious.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Glitch to Felicity, hugging her. ‘I’m sure that it won’t come in.’
‘Uh, how?’ asked Jack, wanting some reassurance for himself and not wanting Felicity to be deluded. ‘Deluding her won’t help!’
‘ALRIGHT!’ I yelled, as the compartment quietened down. ‘Look, now is not the time to panic. Starla! You have an answer, don’t you?’
The compartment waited in silence, expectantly.
‘Uh, uh, I guess.’ she said, caught off-guard.
‘Yes, and what is that?’ I asked, coming closer and dropping my voice to a whisper.
‘The building will float, not flood.’ she whispered. ‘Mr Berry is too smart to have a weak sealant.’
‘There we go!’ I announced. ‘The building will float, not flood.’
My personal thoughts put less faith in the man that I had known, but I did suppose that God didn’t have for us to drown here inside this whale which only carried us like this due to miracles as it was.
‘Are you sure?’ asked Drew, feeling a little foolish for having bought so many waterproof ponchos.
‘I’m sure.’ said Starla, calmly.
‘Fair enough,’ said Drew, smiling. ‘that’s good enough for me!’
‘Aye, and me.’ grunted Jack, quietly.
‘Ok Felicity?’ said Glitch, reassuringly. ‘You heard that, right?’
‘Yes, I heard fine, thank you Glitch.’ she smiled, now calm. ‘I mean, it passed the top of the window a few minutes ago anyway – so we would have noticed the water if it was coming in.’
‘Ha! I guess so, Felicity.’ I smiled, surprised that she figured it out before any of us did. ‘You shoulda told us, girl! – Here we were, lookin’ silly.’
‘Speak for yerself.’ muttered Jack, teasingly loud enough for me to hear.
‘Thanks!’ I grinned, sitting back down.
‘So, tell us about Yellowhorn.’ said Glitch, looking at Starla intently.
‘What would you like to know?’ she said, laughing.
A few minutes later, the prefect opening the door found Starla talking over the supposed attributes, characteristics and abodes of the houses.
‘Excuse me?’ said the prefect.
Starla looked icily at her for interrupting.
‘Uh, uh,’ she said, forcing a smile while under her icy stare. ‘I’ve just come to say that we will be arriving shortly – b-best to get changed if you are not already.’
Since it was only myself to get changed, I followed the prefect out.
‘The bathroom is that way.’ she said, sighing. ‘Whew! My sister can be scary sometimes.’
‘Oh really? Which one?’ I asked, intrigued. ‘
‘Starla, of course! Who else? I doubt anyone else in that room could come close – especially when she has been interrupted.’ she said, with a smile. ‘Thanks for making friends with her.’
I looked her up and down, taking in her features. I’m surprised I hadn’t seen it; she had the same long, black hair, a few freckles, a similar face shape and a slender, slightly taller body. Her eyes even had the same, mysterious quality, only blue. She also belonged to Ibis, so the link should have been obvious.
‘Oh, no problem – she’s quite a fountain of knowledge, really.’
‘Yeah, as a family we joke that-‘
‘That she would be in Ibis House, if it were only about knowledge, right?’
‘Yeah! How did you know?’
‘She told us.’ I said, laughing. ‘And they’re right. It’ll be good to have her around.’
‘Good, well I should introduce myself – in case you need help handling her.’ she said with a smile, offering a hand. ‘Misty Scarlet.’
‘Gareth Kirt.’ I said, politely shaking it. ‘Good to know you.’
I was soon back from the bathroom, wondering which badge would adorn my chest soon. On the way back, I found a vending machine and suddenly realised that I had eaten since breakfast that morning, supposing that it must be at least lunchtime now.
‘Hi Jack,’ I said, as he appeared next to me. ‘what’s up?’
‘The ceiling, duh!’ he couldn’t miss this chance at a joke.
‘Ha, good one.’
‘Starla’s driving me nuts! They’re talking about girl stuff in there – it’s bad enough her talking like a know-it-all, without girl stuff having to be brought up.’
‘Bad times!’ I laughed. ‘Glad I’m missing it.’
I turned to the vending machine again.
‘Uh, do these take normal currency?’ I asked, scratching my head.
‘Yeah, what else?’ said Jack, confused.
‘Nothing.’
I wondered if it took those red coins, used at Resource Rock. I bought myself a pack of sandwiches and realised there were no drink options.
‘What are we supposed to drink?’ I said, thirsty.
‘Well, we are surrounded by water.’ laughed Jack, at the irony.
‘Hey Josie!’ I heard, from the doorway of an open compartment. ‘Get some sweets!’
I looked to see who they were yelling at and recognised her as the attempted snake-thief. She eyed me suspiciously.
‘What are you doing here?’ she said, eyes narrowed.
‘I was just about to ask you the same question.’ I said, matching her gaze with equal malice.
‘Well, you better not get in my way.’
‘Why would I?’
‘You did last time.’
‘I saved your life.’
‘I don’t care.’ she said, walking away.
‘What’s she doing here?’ I said to Jack, looking at her darkly.
‘I guess she goes to this school, too.’ said Jack, confused.
We entered the compartment again; the snippets of conversation went like this:
‘Hey Drew, what did the loser look like who sold you the poncho?’
‘A blonde haired boy - had a mischevious smirk now that I think about it.’ lamented Drew.
‘Oh, the President has a new bodyguard.’ said Starla, reading a newspaper aloud, wondering if Felicity would react.
‘Oh, that’s nice.’ she said, in her usual daydream.
Suddenly, the whale dove again.
‘EEEKKK!!!’ screamed Felicity, coming out of a daydream.
‘Whoa!’ yelled Glitch, grasping the seat.
‘Oi!’ said Drew, annoyed. ‘I hate it when that happens!’
‘Oh dear.’ said Starla, leaning back in her seat.
Jack and I simply fell into seats next to each other.
‘Yeh’d think there’d be some kind of warning.’ scowled Jack.
I looked at Starla, imploring her not to comment.
I felt grateful that nobody had thrown up yet.
After a few minutes, the morale of the group increased, and Drew was in particularly high spirits: ‘We all live in a BLUE whale, a BLUE whale, a BLUE whale!’ he sang, Jack joining in with great cheering. ‘We didn’t like the food so we sat on its TAIL! We sat on its TAIL! We sat on its TAIL!’
‘We wanted to go swimming but it was a big FAIL, it was a big FAIL, it was a big FAIL!’
A few minutes later, Will came to our compartment again to tell us that the whale had stopped now. I suddenly felt no more movement. It had indeed stopped.
Jack started up the song again: ‘We didn’t like our house so we lived in a WHALE, we lived in a WHALE, we lived in a WHALE!’
Drew joined in with the shouting with great raucous laughter.
‘Oh, SHUT up!’ said Starla, smiling but hitting Jack, then turning to me, said: ‘Well, lead the way.’ said Starla, smiling.
Sunlight poured through the blue whale’s brushes as students poured out of its mouth with bags of varying shapes and sizes slung across their backs. We left, pleased that the ride was over. At this point, I noticed a vast amount of discarded waterproof, transparent ponchos, piled up in the entrance of the whale mouth.
‘DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING INSIDE THE WHALE!’ yelled prefects, as we neared the brushes.
‘Oh man! How are we gunna move this building?!’ smirked a boy who could have been a brother of Josie by his appearance and arrogance.
‘That’s the guy who sold me the ponchos.’ said Drew, looking annoyed.
‘Hmm,’ I said, disgruntled. ‘he looks like that kind of guy.’
‘Let me at him.’ said Glitch, anger flaring.
‘No!’ I said, holding her back by her bagstrap. ‘That ain’t gunna happen. Not now – not in front of prefects. Do you want to get expelled?’
She grunted in submission, shrugging me off and storming ahead; Felicity ran to catch up – though she looked like she was gliding without a care in the world.
‘Shut it, you!’ retorted a nearby prefect, to the boy. ‘You know what we mean – leave it inside the building or take it with you. You were stupid to bring it anyway.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry!’ he said, mockingly. ‘I should have known that we wouldn’t get wet inside a whale’s mouth! It’s soooo obvious!’
‘Yeah, I mean, there were students actually selling these at the bus station – you could hardly blame us!’ said Josie, with the usual disdain.
‘Really? Then why don’t you get us some names?’ said the prefect, bearing back down at her.
‘Hmph! Come on, Seth!’ she said.
‘Just take it easy.’ said Will, calmingly to the prefect. ‘Those guys look like trouble, but then, they did just come off a whale for the first time ever – they are bound to be a little disgruntled.’
Some students took the rubber bins with them – the prefects would have stopped this, if it wasn’t for the fact that they were sorely needed.
‘What do yer call that kind of sickness?’ laughed Jack, to a cold look from Starla.
As we exited the whales, we found ourselves on a small pebble beach, in a cave lit by bright electric lighting – not sunlight after all. Following this was a short staircase to a forest with a path marked out.
‘Wow, look at this place!’ said Jack, appreciating its beauty.
‘GET YER T-SHIRTS!’ yelled one chubby older year.
‘I SURVIVED THE WHALE!’ called his chubby twin.
‘ONLY 50P A T-SHIRT! GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE CHEAP!’
‘Oh, stop that!’ said Will, looking annoyed.
They shrugged and continued once he had passed by.
‘I wonder why they are so cheap.’ I said to Jack.
‘I don’t know, but it is a brilliant idea!’ he chuckled.
Emily showed her first signs of being human in that forest, as she gazed at her surroundings: ‘Wow, look at all these autumny colours!’ she said, twirling around slowly to take it all in.
‘What?!’ I snorted.
‘What?’ she asked, confused.
‘Emily, it’s ‘autumnal’ not ‘autumny’.’ I said, trying to be gentle but not believing my ears and trying not to laugh.
‘Oh, thanks.’ she whispered. ‘Don’t tell Jack.’
I reckoned that she was just like Starla, who probably didn’t give herself a break either.
The path eventually opened up into a clearing, occupied by a small, quaint church and a graveyard.
‘How are we all going to fit in there?’ asked Jack.
‘How indeed?’ said Will, amused. ‘I take it you forgot what I said before then?’
‘The school is underground.’ said Starla, rolling her eyes.
As we walked through the graveyard, Emily and Jack pointed out a few famous headmasters – none of which I was aware of.
Suddenly, I remembered yesterday’s events – they weren’t just a dream! I opened my eyes and peeked at the bags on the floor, on each side of the bed. My heart leapt. But then I realised that I had to wait until tomorrow to actually go to the school. I still didn’t know how I was going to get there – I wondered if Gran would take me.
I had no idea what time it was, as usual, so I slumped downstairs to have breakfast and check the clock. It was nine in the morning. I had slept a nice, lengthy twelve hours.
Gran came in as I poured cornflakes into a bowl, after consuming a whole bowl of fruit – I was hungry!
‘Do you have all your school equipment?’ she asked. ‘I hope you didn’t make him pay for all of it.’
She said this last part with her usual stern look – reserved only for wrongdoers who she knew committed the act without even asking. This time was no exception. I shrunk under her glare.
‘Just make sure to pay Mr Berry back.’ she said with pursed lips.
She unstuck two pieces of frozen bread with her fingers and placed them in the toaster. Suddenly she lightened up.
‘He was a naughty child – always so cheeky.’ she said with a reminiscent smile.
‘Um, Gran?’ I asked, tentatively.
I noticed that she was in a good mood and was supportive of the idea of me going to Mr Berry’s school so I took the opportunity.
‘Yes, Gareth?’
‘Could I have a lift to Shindon Bus Station, please?’ I asked, holding my breath in hope and eager expectation.
‘Of course – how else were you going to get there?’
My heart skipped a beat.
‘Thanks Grandma!’
The rest of the day passed without incident but I was still really excited about the prospect of going to such a brilliant school. The more Mr Berry told me about the school –even though it wasn’t much– and the more he explained about God, the more excited I had become. I expected great things from this school – the sorts of things I found at Resource Rock, yesterday.
Well, I say without incident – virtually without incident – the post came and with it, a note which said:
Dear Gareth,
If God is willing then I shall see you tomorrow. Remember:
Shindon Bus Station.
Lost Property
Ask for rusty ring
Transport leaves at nine.
Oh, and destroy this after you read it please, I delivered it personally so that it did not fall into the wrong hands. God bless, D.B.
Hope gripped me. I wrenched open the front door and looked about. Perhaps he was still there – surely he could not have gone so quickly.
I ran to the gate and jumped over it, then ran and skidded round the corner, expecting to see Mr Berry’s car.
I deflated again. He was nowhere in sight. I knew that I’d see him tomorrow, but it seemed too long.
All thoughts of destroying the note had gone from my mind. This was evidence that I was going to a mysterious new school. I didn’t want to destroy it. In fact I read and re-read it more times than I could count that day.
That evening, I went to bed with the note still clutched in my hand; I thought it would take a while to get to sleep. I was too excited. I read the note one last time and hoped it wasn’t someone’s terrible idea of a joke. I was filled with dread suddenly but was determined that it wouldn’t defeat me. I must have more faith, I must have more faith I kept telling myself – if I couldn’t trust Mr Berry and my own Grandma, then who could I trust?
Suddenly, there was screaming and the sky was on fire – houses were being vacated and lizards ran everywhere. A stream rose up and blasted me in the face whilst dragonflies as big as dinner plates flew about and turned into red tokens. Then I was in a large shopping centre with a garden in the middle and I had to go through a maze to get to what I was looking for…
‘Gareth.’ said a voice. ‘Gareth.’
I felt a shake. I jerked awake.
‘Huh?’ I gasped.
Grandma was leaning over me. Her blue eyes were staring at me.
‘What is it?’ I asked groggily.
‘Get up, child!’ she said, impatiently, ‘You have to get ready!’
‘What time is it?’
‘Half seven.’
‘Half seven!’ I said, in shock. ‘I’ve gotta get up.’
‘Exactly, don’t rush too much though.’ she said, cautiously.
I got up and got ready as quickly as I could – having a quick shower and quick breakfast, then checking my school equipment.
‘Right, I’m ready.’ I said, straightening up at the front door.
‘Good, we’ve got an hour to get there now – it only takes half an hour.’
As we passed the city buildings, I wondered what the school building would look like – what I should expect after seeing Resource Rock. I imagined a pirate ship which set off from the sea near Shindon bus station. A mobile school. That’d be cool. Still, I suppose that it wouldn’t be very secretive – not the one that I imagined, anyway. It would have had a large, black sail with a banana on. It was yellow and the sort of eccentric symbol that I would come to expect from Mr Berry.
I wondered if he was the first head teacher that the school had, or if there had been more. Perhaps they had one dressed as a pirate beforehand and maybe another that called eagles to fetch worms for him for fishing. I laughed at the idea of a fat, old man, sitting down on the side of a riverbank with a fishing rod and a pile of worms next to him in the morning sun. He had a satisfied smile and looked eagerly for movement in the water. I had never been a fan of fishing but it made me curious how it was a hobby for others. I preferred the idea of being a more active hunter – with a spear. All of these thoughts simply reflected my excitement which charged my imagination.
At last, we arrived at Shindon bus station – the brick red walls of the office looked more welcoming than ever. I waved to Grandma, promising to contact her if there were any problems.
With my clothes, books and first aid kit in a black holdall, slung high on my back, I strode to the doors and reached the information desk.
The lady at the desk looked at me sternly. This was emphasised by her red framed, semi-circle glasses and smart, navy blue suit with her hair in a bun.
‘Which way to the lost property, please?’ I asked, timidly.
I tried to cling to the hope I had, because another part of me was saying: what if there isn’t one and this is all some kind of horrific joke? Don’t waste her time – she looks busy. Walk away.
The lady at the desk looked suspiciously at me, saying: ‘A lot of children have been asking that today – in fact, they seem to ask that every year – is this some kind of joke?’
‘No.’ I said, pulling as serious an expression as I knew how.
This was particularly difficult because her question only confirmed that it was all true – other pupils had asked for the lost property desk too!
‘So what have you lost?’ she asked, looking disapproving of my blatant excitement.
‘I’m looking for a piece of jewellery.’ I said, trying not to give away what exactly I am looking for.
‘Well, at least you aren’t looking for a blue trainer – most of the kids who have come in today have asked for one of those. I mean, how many can be lost – always the left one, too – are people suddenly just forgetting that they have a left foot?! I mean what’s going on?’ she asked, clearly agitated. Then she pointed down a long corridor to the left of her. ‘Well, the lost property desk is that way – I don’t know where all of these shoes are being stored though – they only ever seem to have a few items in that box.’
‘Thank you, Miss.’ I said, turning swiftly to walk down the corridor at a fast pace and glancing behind quickly.
‘It’s Mrs!’ she called after me, ‘Do I look unwed?!’
I jumped at the sound of her voice and walked even faster, secretly glad that I had not answered this question and nearly passing the desk that I was looking for.
‘Hello?’ came a sweet voice.
I jumped, not expecting to see anybody there.
‘Are you looking for lost property?’ she asked.
This lady looked younger and wore the same outfit.
‘Uh, yeah. I’m looking for a rusty ring, please?’
I held my breath, hoping that she wouldn’t frown in confusion, but to my relief she turned away and selected a rusty, copper ring from the box, holding it up.
‘Is this it?’ she asked, with a smile.
‘Yes! That looks like it.’ I said, relieved.
‘Would you like to follow me – I’ll lead you to the other students – they come quite early to get good seats.’ she whispered in explanation.
I suddenly realised that, logically, there would be other students here – all claiming to be looking for a rusty ring. I no longer wondered why the woman at the information desk was so agitated and angry. I no longer wondered why she thought it was a huge joke, concocted by a range of secondary school students.
‘But it’s not even quarter to nine, yet.’ I said, confused. ‘How could they be here so early?’
‘Well, most of them stay the night in nearby hotels and I can show them the way in groups.’
At this point, a nervous looking boy and a scared looking girl ran up the corridor.
Both had brown hair; short for the boy and long for the girl and the girl had brown eyes, whilst the boy had blue. It made me anxious that they were both wearing their uniform already.
‘That woman scares me!’ she squeaked to the boy, who nodded his agreement.
‘She’s always terrified me,’ said the boy. ‘ever since my family moved here.’
‘Ah, are you looking for an item, too?’ asked the lady.
‘A rusty ring.’ they said together.
‘Ah good. Follow me, please.’ she said, smiling sweetly.
The two students smiled at each other in excitement.
‘I’ve always preferred you!’ said the boy, as the girl rolled her eyes.
The lady smiled and led us through a door which led to another long, oddly windowless, dusty corridor. We walked in silence and eager expectation.
We walked to the end and turned left, going down several flights of stairs where we no longer expected windows. There was a large, safe door just ahead of us. Its steel looked cold and menacing.
The lady typed a code into a panel alongside it.
CLUNK
It clicked open.
‘I always wondered wha’ was down ‘ere!’ said the boy. ‘But I was never allowed to wander around, because of the woman at the information desk.’
The lady smiled again and swung open the door with ease.
There before us stood a sea, only with a rock ceiling – we couldn’t see the three walls around us!
‘Weird!’ said the boy as the girl gasped.
‘What is this?’ I asked, bewildered.
‘It must just be a large, indoor swimming pool or something.’ said the girl, attempting to explain it away.
‘SAND!’ yelled the boy, in excitement. ‘I love the beach!’
‘What?!’ I exclaimed, thoroughly confused. ‘Is this a dream?’
The ground was indeed covered in sand in great mounds, it was very much like a beach, minus the waves and gradually descending shoreline or any sense of a breeze.
Students were talking excitedly in groups, almost waiting for something. I half expected to see large ferries, looming through mist before us.
‘Uh, where do we go from here?’ I asked, glad to see other students.
Most were already in uniform, some with badges sewn on – but I couldn’t make out the image depicted there, though there seemed to be four types. I panicked again and wondered if I should be wearing mine too.
Suddenly, there was a great hissing sound and water splashed everywhere as several dark, blue hills rose out of the water.
I gasped and fell over in shock, the thought of uniform driven from my mind. It seems that many students reacted similarly, their reactions ranged from on the floor in shock to screams, looks of being startled and finally, to looks of annoyance. The students seemed less and less concerned as they got older – perhaps they were getting more and more used to it.
‘I wish they’d be quieter!’ said a nearby older year, with a snarl, as he removed his hands from his ears.
These hills opened up nearest to us, revealing large – what I could only call – long, brown brushes; one set jutted vertically upwards to meet another set, jutting downwards.
The older students simply strode right up and through the brushes, as if they were curtains in a doorway to be pushed aside.
The youngest students looked bewildered and stood there, stunned and I wasn’t surprised to see some of them shaking.
‘What are they?’ I asked, looking around. But the lady had gone, presumably returned to her desk.
‘Do they realise what they are doing?’ asked the girl next to me, in shock.
‘What are they doing?’ asked the boy, surprised that she knew something he didn’t.
‘Well, I don’t know how to break it to you – but they’re whales!’ she said, in a shocked yet matter-of-fact tone of voice.
‘Whales?’ I muttered.
I tilted my head in confusion at the blue hills with brushes
‘Aaarrrrgggghhhhh!’ I yelled, recognising the brushes as the entrance to the whale’s mouth and falling over. Then, hitting my head with my hand, said: ‘They are whales! No wonder Mr Berry didn’t want to tell me!’
The boy next to me shook his head in astonishment.
‘Blue Whales, to be precise.’ said the girl, again sounding far too intelligent for her age.
‘How do you know so much?’ I asked, impressed.
‘It’s a blessing.’ she said with a smile.
‘Well, if that’s how Mr Berry chooses to get us there…’ said the boy, trailing off as he jumped off the sandy step and made his way towards the nearest whale.
He seemed to have made up his mind about something.
‘Where’s he going?’ I asked, as I gazed after him, astonished.
Surely he knew that whales were dangerous and yet he was walking right into one’s mouth!
‘Into the whale,’ she said, now unconcerned and following him. ‘Don’t worry, they can’t eat us – they have no teeth and their throat is too small.’
‘Come on!’ called the boy, back to them.
I was glad to be invited – into what, I did not know though. I hoped the girl was right, and that these whales would be friendly.
‘Oh, I hope that my hair won’t get wet!’ said the girl, looking worried. ‘And I haven’t put my books into a waterproof bag!’
I saw the problem straight away; we were hardly going to stay above water level and our books would get soaked; let alone us.
‘Don’t worry,’ said a tall, brown haired boy from an older year. ‘you won’t get wet.’
She stood still for a moment, looking confused. But then she shrugged and continued through the brushes, after the boy.
I entered nervously after her.
‘Eugh!’ I yelped.
A strong smell of fish reached me and I found the pink, wet floor, which I presumed to be the whale’s tongue. I looked ahead of me and saw a small, red door, with a glass window set in. It was reinforced with steel and set into a large, seemingly cushioned – what I could only call – building. It was covered in thick rubber on the outside and seemed to take up most of the space inside the whale’s mouth. Windows were dotted here and there along the walls, and students seemed to be sat at tables inside it, looking out of these windows.
‘Uh, what’s the point in the windows?’ I asked the girl, bemused.
Her hand was just on the door handle.
‘I’ve no idea, actually.’ she said, pausing momentarily to think.
‘Hurry up, please.’ said an impatient older boy, behind me. ‘There are others to get on yet and we don’t want to keep them waiting!’
‘Sorry,’ we muttered at once.
The inside of the ‘building’ was divided into rooms, all of them being of similar size. In between the rooms were narrow corridors. The walls and floor seemed to be made of the same rubber as the outside, only painted brown. Cushions of red and purple adorned the sofas that were set into the walls and floor. Electric lighting somehow shone from lamps with red lampshades and strip lighting.
As we entered the room, we saw an older year student with a blue and white badge, already in there.
‘Oh, sorry.’ I said, feeling like I had intruded.
‘No, no, come in.’ he smiled, then noticing who was behind me, said: ‘Jack! How are yer, buddy?’
‘You two know each other?’ asked Emily, just as confused I was.
‘Yeah, yeah, he’s my cousin.’ said Jack, smiling. ‘Meet Will Flinker.’
‘Good to meet you.’ he said, shaking our hands.
‘You too.’ I said, hoping to grasp this opportunity. ‘So, do you mind if we sit here – and ask you any questions we have about the school?’
‘Uh sure.’ he said.
We shut the door and sat down together.
‘So, what would you like to know?’ he asked, politely.
‘Where is the school?’ I asked, eager to know.
‘Uh, well I can’t quite tell you that.’
‘Oh,’ I said, disappointed. ‘why not?’
‘Oh, don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I can’t tell you, now that we are in the whale – it’s that I don’t know.’
I must have looked stumped because of what he said next.
‘Nobody knows the location of the school – except the headmaster, of course. This phenomenon is so because of the secretive nature of things – our trip, for example is one such block to us finding out. We enter underground at a so called ‘bus station’ and we exit – let’s just say, in an equally secretive and hidden location. Furthermore, when you arrive you notice that either mountains or the sea, surround us – so we have little to go on, in terms of finding out our location in the world. You can’t even send letters by carrier-pidgeon or anything. They just fail. I can’t figure out why.’
At this point, a girl with purple hair opened the door.
‘Excuse me, is Emily-‘
‘Rocinda!’ said Emily, hugging her friend then leading her to a different compartment. ‘How are you? Come on, let’s take this chat elsewhere.’
As the door shut, I turned my attention back towards Will, but he appeared to be leaving too.
‘I’m afraid, that I must be off too.’ he said, picking up his suitcase and leaving. ‘I have friends to see, I’m afraid.’
‘Ah, that’s alri’ bud, see ya later!’ smiled Jack, waving. ‘Great guy, inni?’
‘Yes.’ I said, forcing a smile. ‘Shame I didn’t get to hear much about the school though.’
‘Ah, it’s ok, he’s told me most things – what did yer wanna know?’
‘Ah well, first thing’s first. My name’s Gareth Kirt.’ I said, glad to meet someone with answers and the time to tell me them.
‘Good ter meet ya, my name’s Jack. So what’s yer question?’ piped the boy.
‘Ok, well what is the aim of the school, first of all?’
‘Um, I can’t say I know – other than the usual school aim, except maybe to know God better?’
‘Oh ok,’ I said, disappointed but eager to find another question. ‘Well then, what’s the name?’
‘Ah, my cousin couldn’ actually tell me that yet – in case I blabbed by acciden’ or sumat.’
‘Hmm,’ I said, feeling even less satisfied. ‘ok then what houses will we be in – and what are they?’
‘Uh, I remember that there is one that is a horse.’ he said, scratching his head. ‘But, I can’t remember-‘
At this point, someone else came to the door and knocked, to my irritation.
‘Yes?’ I asked, flying to the door but trying to remember my manners.
Before me stood a girl with long, dark hair and bright, green eyes. Her nose and mouth appeared to be covered by some sort of shawl, wrapped tightly and giving her a mysterious quality.
‘Uh, I’m sorry.’ she said, bowing politely. ‘But, I have nowhere else to go – there is no room.’
‘Uh, fine, fine – come in.’ I said, blown away by her response.
‘Thank you.’ she said, her eyes smiling.
‘Welcome.’ I said, considering it nothing.
‘What are yer doin’?’ asked Jack, as she turned around to sort out her belongings.
‘Well, we can’t very well leave her outside now, can we?’ I said, desperately.
Jack was about to respond, but at this point she turned around.
‘Do any of you know-‘
‘ARRGH!!!’ yelled Jack, as I grabbed onto the seat beneath me, the girl fell into my lap – me noticing her freckles now - and the whale made a loud rasping sound, the ground shaking like an earthquake.
‘Oh, oh, sorry.’ she said, wincing as she removed herself and made sure to cling to her own seat. ‘It’s the whale – it’s moving.’
‘Of course!’ smiled Jack, absent-mindedly. ‘I’d forgotten about that.’
She now removed her shawl.
‘And sorry about the shawl, only it smells rather bad in the corridors.’
‘Fair enough.’ I shrugged, not minding it.
‘So, what were you talking about?’ she asked, now eyeing us with interest.
‘Uh, the school.’ I said, as I remembered.
‘What about it?’ she asked, inquisitive.
Her voice was quiet and soothing.
‘Only that Jack couldn’t quite remember much of what he was told.’
‘Oh now, that’s probably unfair.’ smiled Jack, not wanting to sound ignorant. ‘You on’y asked me a coupla questions!’
‘And, what would you like to know?’ asked the girl, turning to me and ready. ‘My parents said that I would definitely be in the House of Ibis, if it were purely about knowledge – if I may so myself. I guess I like the idea, but – and I think that the House of Lizard is about being resourceful – I think that I would prefer that house.’
I looked at her, agasp.
‘The name’s Starla.’ she laughed, noticing our gormless expressions. ‘Starla Scarlet – and don’t worry, nobody is as big a nerd as me.’
‘And, what are your names?’ she asked, looking intrigued again and noticing that we were still bewildered.
I realised that my mouth was open and hastily closed it.
‘Gareth Kirt.’ I said, offering her a hand, which she shook softly.
‘Jack Bry.’ said Jack, still with his mouth agape.
‘Well, it is nice to meet you. Now Gareth, what would you like to know?’
But, and to my great annoyance, another head appeared at the door – only this time they opened it.
‘Hey! Sorry, but there’s not much room elsewhere – and some rooms have sick in ‘em?’ said a girl with red hair.
‘Invite ‘em in.’ whispered Jack to me.
‘Uh, sure.’ I said, unsure of what to do otherwise. ‘Come in.’
‘This is my friend, Felicity.’ she said, by way of invitation.
Her friend had her blonde hair down, reaching half-way down her back. She wondered in, almost in a daydream. If it wasn’t for her friendly smile, we would have thought that she hadn’t registered us at all until she said: ‘Hello.’ in a sweet and gentle voice. She took a seat next to her friend, opposite Starla.
Starla seemed a little put out for some reason.
‘So, what were yer talkin’ abou’?’ asked the girl. ‘By the way, I’m Glitch. Glitch Callahan.’
‘Good to meet you both.’ I said, trying hard to hide my frustration and determined to ask my question before someone else interrupted.
‘Sorry to bother you, but-‘
‘Yeah, just come in!’ waved Jack, looking like he was having a great time and not thinking of the repercussions.
‘Thanks.’ said the boy with shoulderlength, brown hair and a carefree smile.
‘Great.’ I thought. ‘Well, at least there will be no more, since the room is full.’
Starla moved to sit next to me so that we could have our own private conversation, since they were springing up all over the place now anyway.
‘So,’ she said, smiling. ‘what did you want to know?’
‘I uh – I uh,’ I started.
This was no good – everytime I tried to start asking, I looked up and saw those eyes of hers, and completely forgot again.
‘Uh,’ I continued, now making sure to look away.
‘How about, I give you a range of subjects and you choose one?’ she suggested.
I was sure that her eyes were smiling, but I didn’t want to look so I just nodded.
‘Ok,’ she said. ‘house names, location-‘
‘Uh, yeah.’ I interrupted. ‘Location.’
‘Ok, well Yellowhorn –‘
‘Yellowhorn! That’s what it’s called.’ I said, relieved to be getting some answers. But now she fixed me with a piercing stare. ‘Uh, sorry.’
‘That’s ok.’ she said, sounding more and more like a teacher by the second. Now, if I didn’t look up then it was more likely to be due to fear of meeting a stern or scary look. ‘The school is surrounded by mountains and can be entered through many means –‘
‘Wait, wait, wait.’ I said, impatience overcoming fear. ‘Do you know where the school actually is? Like, in the world?’
‘No, nobody does.’ she said, through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes.
‘Actually, that’s not true-‘ started Jack, before she fixed him with an even more piercing stare.
‘Nobody except the headmaster then.’ she continued. ‘Anything else?’
‘Uh,’ I said, tentatively and unsure of the correct answer. ‘ok, how about house names?’
‘First of all, there are four houses: Ibis, Horse, Ox and Lizard.’ she said, returning to her serene smile as we inwardly sighed in relief. ‘Each house has an emblem depicting the creature-‘
‘EEEEEEKKKKK!!!’ shrieked the voice of Felicity. ‘What is that?’
‘What?’ asked Glitch, placing a hand on her arm to calm her.
‘Look.’ she said, pointing to the nearest window.
The water level was rising at a dramatic rate.
‘Uh, yeah.’ said Jack, shrinking against the back of his seat. ‘I can see your problem.’
‘Don’t worry!’ said Drew, reaching into his bag. ‘I have an umbrella!’
‘And how exactly is that going to help us?’ said Starla, coldly.
‘Well, at least – at least he’s trying to help!’ stood up Glitch, angrily. ‘You were so mean to Gareth ther’, you have to be kinder, we’re not all as knowledgeable as you, yer know!’
Starla turned away.
‘Ah no, I’ve found ponchos too!’ said Drew, smiling. ‘I bought ‘em from a boy in another compartment!’
Felicity seemed to calm down at this prospect.
‘Oh good, so we will be nice and dry still.’
‘Uh, how about our books?’ asked Jack, as if it were obvious.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Glitch to Felicity, hugging her. ‘I’m sure that it won’t come in.’
‘Uh, how?’ asked Jack, wanting some reassurance for himself and not wanting Felicity to be deluded. ‘Deluding her won’t help!’
‘ALRIGHT!’ I yelled, as the compartment quietened down. ‘Look, now is not the time to panic. Starla! You have an answer, don’t you?’
The compartment waited in silence, expectantly.
‘Uh, uh, I guess.’ she said, caught off-guard.
‘Yes, and what is that?’ I asked, coming closer and dropping my voice to a whisper.
‘The building will float, not flood.’ she whispered. ‘Mr Berry is too smart to have a weak sealant.’
‘There we go!’ I announced. ‘The building will float, not flood.’
My personal thoughts put less faith in the man that I had known, but I did suppose that God didn’t have for us to drown here inside this whale which only carried us like this due to miracles as it was.
‘Are you sure?’ asked Drew, feeling a little foolish for having bought so many waterproof ponchos.
‘I’m sure.’ said Starla, calmly.
‘Fair enough,’ said Drew, smiling. ‘that’s good enough for me!’
‘Aye, and me.’ grunted Jack, quietly.
‘Ok Felicity?’ said Glitch, reassuringly. ‘You heard that, right?’
‘Yes, I heard fine, thank you Glitch.’ she smiled, now calm. ‘I mean, it passed the top of the window a few minutes ago anyway – so we would have noticed the water if it was coming in.’
‘Ha! I guess so, Felicity.’ I smiled, surprised that she figured it out before any of us did. ‘You shoulda told us, girl! – Here we were, lookin’ silly.’
‘Speak for yerself.’ muttered Jack, teasingly loud enough for me to hear.
‘Thanks!’ I grinned, sitting back down.
‘So, tell us about Yellowhorn.’ said Glitch, looking at Starla intently.
‘What would you like to know?’ she said, laughing.
A few minutes later, the prefect opening the door found Starla talking over the supposed attributes, characteristics and abodes of the houses.
‘Excuse me?’ said the prefect.
Starla looked icily at her for interrupting.
‘Uh, uh,’ she said, forcing a smile while under her icy stare. ‘I’ve just come to say that we will be arriving shortly – b-best to get changed if you are not already.’
Since it was only myself to get changed, I followed the prefect out.
‘The bathroom is that way.’ she said, sighing. ‘Whew! My sister can be scary sometimes.’
‘Oh really? Which one?’ I asked, intrigued. ‘
‘Starla, of course! Who else? I doubt anyone else in that room could come close – especially when she has been interrupted.’ she said, with a smile. ‘Thanks for making friends with her.’
I looked her up and down, taking in her features. I’m surprised I hadn’t seen it; she had the same long, black hair, a few freckles, a similar face shape and a slender, slightly taller body. Her eyes even had the same, mysterious quality, only blue. She also belonged to Ibis, so the link should have been obvious.
‘Oh, no problem – she’s quite a fountain of knowledge, really.’
‘Yeah, as a family we joke that-‘
‘That she would be in Ibis House, if it were only about knowledge, right?’
‘Yeah! How did you know?’
‘She told us.’ I said, laughing. ‘And they’re right. It’ll be good to have her around.’
‘Good, well I should introduce myself – in case you need help handling her.’ she said with a smile, offering a hand. ‘Misty Scarlet.’
‘Gareth Kirt.’ I said, politely shaking it. ‘Good to know you.’
I was soon back from the bathroom, wondering which badge would adorn my chest soon. On the way back, I found a vending machine and suddenly realised that I had eaten since breakfast that morning, supposing that it must be at least lunchtime now.
‘Hi Jack,’ I said, as he appeared next to me. ‘what’s up?’
‘The ceiling, duh!’ he couldn’t miss this chance at a joke.
‘Ha, good one.’
‘Starla’s driving me nuts! They’re talking about girl stuff in there – it’s bad enough her talking like a know-it-all, without girl stuff having to be brought up.’
‘Bad times!’ I laughed. ‘Glad I’m missing it.’
I turned to the vending machine again.
‘Uh, do these take normal currency?’ I asked, scratching my head.
‘Yeah, what else?’ said Jack, confused.
‘Nothing.’
I wondered if it took those red coins, used at Resource Rock. I bought myself a pack of sandwiches and realised there were no drink options.
‘What are we supposed to drink?’ I said, thirsty.
‘Well, we are surrounded by water.’ laughed Jack, at the irony.
‘Hey Josie!’ I heard, from the doorway of an open compartment. ‘Get some sweets!’
I looked to see who they were yelling at and recognised her as the attempted snake-thief. She eyed me suspiciously.
‘What are you doing here?’ she said, eyes narrowed.
‘I was just about to ask you the same question.’ I said, matching her gaze with equal malice.
‘Well, you better not get in my way.’
‘Why would I?’
‘You did last time.’
‘I saved your life.’
‘I don’t care.’ she said, walking away.
‘What’s she doing here?’ I said to Jack, looking at her darkly.
‘I guess she goes to this school, too.’ said Jack, confused.
We entered the compartment again; the snippets of conversation went like this:
‘Hey Drew, what did the loser look like who sold you the poncho?’
‘A blonde haired boy - had a mischevious smirk now that I think about it.’ lamented Drew.
‘Oh, the President has a new bodyguard.’ said Starla, reading a newspaper aloud, wondering if Felicity would react.
‘Oh, that’s nice.’ she said, in her usual daydream.
Suddenly, the whale dove again.
‘EEEKKK!!!’ screamed Felicity, coming out of a daydream.
‘Whoa!’ yelled Glitch, grasping the seat.
‘Oi!’ said Drew, annoyed. ‘I hate it when that happens!’
‘Oh dear.’ said Starla, leaning back in her seat.
Jack and I simply fell into seats next to each other.
‘Yeh’d think there’d be some kind of warning.’ scowled Jack.
I looked at Starla, imploring her not to comment.
I felt grateful that nobody had thrown up yet.
After a few minutes, the morale of the group increased, and Drew was in particularly high spirits: ‘We all live in a BLUE whale, a BLUE whale, a BLUE whale!’ he sang, Jack joining in with great cheering. ‘We didn’t like the food so we sat on its TAIL! We sat on its TAIL! We sat on its TAIL!’
‘We wanted to go swimming but it was a big FAIL, it was a big FAIL, it was a big FAIL!’
A few minutes later, Will came to our compartment again to tell us that the whale had stopped now. I suddenly felt no more movement. It had indeed stopped.
Jack started up the song again: ‘We didn’t like our house so we lived in a WHALE, we lived in a WHALE, we lived in a WHALE!’
Drew joined in with the shouting with great raucous laughter.
‘Oh, SHUT up!’ said Starla, smiling but hitting Jack, then turning to me, said: ‘Well, lead the way.’ said Starla, smiling.
Sunlight poured through the blue whale’s brushes as students poured out of its mouth with bags of varying shapes and sizes slung across their backs. We left, pleased that the ride was over. At this point, I noticed a vast amount of discarded waterproof, transparent ponchos, piled up in the entrance of the whale mouth.
‘DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING INSIDE THE WHALE!’ yelled prefects, as we neared the brushes.
‘Oh man! How are we gunna move this building?!’ smirked a boy who could have been a brother of Josie by his appearance and arrogance.
‘That’s the guy who sold me the ponchos.’ said Drew, looking annoyed.
‘Hmm,’ I said, disgruntled. ‘he looks like that kind of guy.’
‘Let me at him.’ said Glitch, anger flaring.
‘No!’ I said, holding her back by her bagstrap. ‘That ain’t gunna happen. Not now – not in front of prefects. Do you want to get expelled?’
She grunted in submission, shrugging me off and storming ahead; Felicity ran to catch up – though she looked like she was gliding without a care in the world.
‘Shut it, you!’ retorted a nearby prefect, to the boy. ‘You know what we mean – leave it inside the building or take it with you. You were stupid to bring it anyway.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry!’ he said, mockingly. ‘I should have known that we wouldn’t get wet inside a whale’s mouth! It’s soooo obvious!’
‘Yeah, I mean, there were students actually selling these at the bus station – you could hardly blame us!’ said Josie, with the usual disdain.
‘Really? Then why don’t you get us some names?’ said the prefect, bearing back down at her.
‘Hmph! Come on, Seth!’ she said.
‘Just take it easy.’ said Will, calmingly to the prefect. ‘Those guys look like trouble, but then, they did just come off a whale for the first time ever – they are bound to be a little disgruntled.’
Some students took the rubber bins with them – the prefects would have stopped this, if it wasn’t for the fact that they were sorely needed.
‘What do yer call that kind of sickness?’ laughed Jack, to a cold look from Starla.
As we exited the whales, we found ourselves on a small pebble beach, in a cave lit by bright electric lighting – not sunlight after all. Following this was a short staircase to a forest with a path marked out.
‘Wow, look at this place!’ said Jack, appreciating its beauty.
‘GET YER T-SHIRTS!’ yelled one chubby older year.
‘I SURVIVED THE WHALE!’ called his chubby twin.
‘ONLY 50P A T-SHIRT! GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE CHEAP!’
‘Oh, stop that!’ said Will, looking annoyed.
They shrugged and continued once he had passed by.
‘I wonder why they are so cheap.’ I said to Jack.
‘I don’t know, but it is a brilliant idea!’ he chuckled.
Emily showed her first signs of being human in that forest, as she gazed at her surroundings: ‘Wow, look at all these autumny colours!’ she said, twirling around slowly to take it all in.
‘What?!’ I snorted.
‘What?’ she asked, confused.
‘Emily, it’s ‘autumnal’ not ‘autumny’.’ I said, trying to be gentle but not believing my ears and trying not to laugh.
‘Oh, thanks.’ she whispered. ‘Don’t tell Jack.’
I reckoned that she was just like Starla, who probably didn’t give herself a break either.
The path eventually opened up into a clearing, occupied by a small, quaint church and a graveyard.
‘How are we all going to fit in there?’ asked Jack.
‘How indeed?’ said Will, amused. ‘I take it you forgot what I said before then?’
‘The school is underground.’ said Starla, rolling her eyes.
As we walked through the graveyard, Emily and Jack pointed out a few famous headmasters – none of which I was aware of.
