Fraud at Snowfields Page 14

  Will nodded. ‘Yes, sir, of course. I’ll talk to no one.’

  Beltorec gave a short laugh. ‘Actually there are a few people you have to talk to about this. You see, Will, we reached the conclusion that we should form a special group to investigate and deal with this problem. I’ll call a meeting. The others have to know about this.’ He stopped, looking across the room without actually seeing anything.

  Will waited. Finally he asked, ‘Yes, sir?’

  Beltorec looked at Will, coming out of his thoughts. ‘Hmm? Oh, I’ll take you to the meeting. You’ll help us with this investigation. You can try to find hints among your fellow students, as we fear there might be some students involved.’

  Will stared. ‘Me?’

  ‘Yes, you of course. You found the note and know nearly as much about this mess as we do. So you’ll be a perfect member of our group.’ He fixed Will with a chilly glare. ‘Remember, don’t talk to anyone about this! You’re to talk about anything remotely connected to this only with members of the group.’

  Will nodded. ‘Of course, sir. I will and won’t.’

  Beltorec nodded. ‘Fine then, come to my office at seven o’clock on Wednesday evening. Mrs Script will have left by then, and I’ll take you to the meeting.’ He got up. ‘I’ll see you then. And thank you for telling me, and not anyone else. You haven’t so far, have you?’ He looked intently at Will again.

  ‘No, sir,’ Will said, ‘I came straight to you.’

  Beltorec smiled. ‘That’s good. Well then, I’ll see you on Wednesday.’

  Will jumped to his feet. ‘Okay, sir, I’ll be here at seven. Thank you.’ He hurried to the door and let himself out.

  ‘Well? Have you said everything that was so important?’ Mrs Script looked at Will over the rim of her glasses, which perched perilously on the tip of her nose.

  ‘Uh, yes, thank you.’ Will raced past her.

  ‘You know, you can’t just storm in here like this. No you can’t, young man. Really!’ she called after him as he dashed through the door, nearly slamming it behind him before he had to tell her what his meeting with the vice chancellor had been about.

  Chapter 9

  It was near the end of the lesson when Mr Contractus said, ‘All right, that’s it for today. But I still have something important to tell you, so listen up all of you. Starting tomorrow you’ll have lessons in a new subject. It’ll be one of the most important ones you’ll have here. We call it Fieldworks. In this subject we’ll teach you how to apply all the others things you’re learning when you are out in the field helping with the proper delivery of the presents.’

  He definitely had the full attention of Will and the rest of the class. This was something different from boring Letters to Father Christmas!

  ‘And I advise you,’ Mr Contractus continued, ‘to work hard and do your best now, for you’ll all be deployed in the field as soon as this year’s Christmas!’ This announcement received a few exclamations of surprise from the class.

  ‘Of course you’ll be accompanied by a member of the staff, but you’ll need to know what you’re doing. In Fieldworks you’ll receive a few more theoretical instructions, but the main part will consist of practical exercises. For this we have a special area where you’ll train in a realistic environment. That’s also the reason this was your last lesson today, and why you have the rest of the day off!’

  He waited patiently for the noise from the class to die down. When he was sure they were listening again, he continued: ‘This is because you’ll need training outfits for this work, so please go to the clothing department today, all of you’—he looked around the classroom sternly—‘so they can do the fittings. They are open until five this afternoon. That’s it for now. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ He stood up from his desk and walked out of the classroom while Will and the others packed their things, talking to each other animatedly about the exciting new lessons they were going to have.

  ‘Shall we go to the fitting together?’ Will asked Annabel.

  ‘Yes, we can,’ she answered and led the way from the classroom. They had passed through the door and were walking down the corridor when Will heard someone call his name from behind.

  He turned round and saw Freddy hurrying up to them.

  ‘Hi, Freddy.’

  ‘Are you on your way to the clothing department? Can I join you?’

  ‘Of course you can,’ replied Will, then he looked at Annabel.

  She nodded. ‘Certainly. Let’s go then.’

  Freddy hurried off in front. When they had gone down several corridors he stopped so suddenly Will ran straight into him, and Annabel ran into Will.

  ‘Ouch!’

  ‘Ow!’

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘What the...’ said Will. ‘Why did you just stop like that?’

  ‘Er, sorry,’ Freddy turned around and looked at them rather embarrassed: ‘Er, do you remember the way to the clothing department?’

  Annabel laughed. ‘Oh dear. Just follow me.’ And she led the way confidently, with Will and Freddy trotting after her.

  When they reached the clothing department, they were the only ones there. Therefore, as soon as they opened the door, they were ushered in by Scissorius, the fitting goblin.

  ‘Come in, come on in, my young friends,’ he greeted them, bowing deeply and then beaming at them. ‘You are here because you need outfits for your fieldwork lessons, yes?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right,’ replied Annabel.

  Scissorius beamed at her again: ‘Excellent, Miss Winston, most excellent. We’ll begin with the lady, right gentlemen?’ He looked pointedly at Freddy and Will.

  ‘Er, sure, sure,’ said Will, somewhat taken by surprise.

  ‘Charming, just charming,’ said Scissorius, turning back to Annabel and leading her through the room. They went past rows of school clothing hanging in armoires next to the walls, past a large counter with a glass cover, under which were small accessories, and went into a separate part of the room that was divided off by a wide and thick red curtain with golden borders. Scissorius held it open for Annabel and ushered her in.

  He turned to Will and Freddy: ‘Gentlemen, this will take but a moment. Please have a seat on the sofa and help yourselves to some lemonade and biscuits.’ He graciously waved a hand at the sofa and followed Annabel behind the curtain.

  Will called a belated ‘thank you’ after him, then looked at Freddy, who just looked back, shrugged his shoulders, went over to the sofa, and plopped down on it. Will sat down beside him and looked around. It was pretty much as he remembered it from his first visit when he had just arrived at Snowfields and had been led through the school and then into this room to get his school outfit.

  Freddy was already happily crunching biscuits, so Will also helped himself to one and drank some lemonade while he wondered what to expect. He did not have to wait long before Annabel came back carrying a large bag. She looked a bit dubiously at it as she walked towards the sofa.

  ‘Right, gentlemen,’ said Scissorius, stepping from behind the curtain. ‘Who’s next?’

  Will and Freddy looked at each other, but Will said to Freddy, ‘Go on then.’

  ‘Right,’ said Freddy, then jumped to his feet and quickly walked over to Scissorius, who held the curtain aside for him.

  ‘Well?’ Will asked Annabel.

  ‘Well!’ she replied and grinned cheekily. She prodded the bag.

  ‘What did you get? Don’t stretch it out like that.’

  Annabel looked at her bag. ‘Okay. He gave me a training outfit. It’s made out of some sort of dark, elastic material. Very comfortable and very warm, even as thin as it is. You’ll see.

  ‘Okay,’ replied Will. ‘I’ll just wait and see what I get.’

  Soon the curtain opened again, and Freddy came out with a bag similar to the one Annabel had received.

  ‘Wow,’ Freddy said, visibly excited. ‘I feel like Superman in this stuff.’

  Even Sci
ssorius had to smile at this enthusiastic outburst. He waved Will forward. Will got up quickly and followed him behind the curtain.

  ‘Hello Will, welcome back,’ Scissorius said to Will’s surprise, for he had not told him his name again, and he had only been there once before.

  ‘Hello,’ he replied. There was a pause. ‘Er, I’m here for the training outfit.’

  ‘Yes, yes, of course.’ Scissorius smiled faintly. ‘You’ll find an outfit in your size, based on the clothing you’ve already got from here, on the hanger over there. Please try it on.’

  Will turned round and found a complete outfit with shirt, top, and trousers hanging there. The shirt was grey, had a fine, mesh-like structure, and was made out of some sort of modern, breathable fabric. Then there was the top; it was black with some dark-grey areas, smooth and silky to the touch, but also warm and light. The trousers were made out of the same material and colour, mostly black with patches of dark grey.

  ‘Please,’ Scissorius repeated from behind him, ‘try them on.’

  Will took off all his clothes except his underwear and put on the shirt, the top, and the trousers. As he had thought, they were very light to wear, very comfortable, and quite warm. Scissorius walked around him, mumbling under his breath, and pulled a bit here and there at the clothing until he was satisfied.

  ‘Excellent,’ he finally said. ‘A perfect fit. What do you think, young man?’

  Will moved his arms and legs, then took a few steps: ‘Er, yes. It fits very well, thank you.’

  ‘You’re welcome. Then please take the clothes off again.’

  Will removed them and put his ordinary school clothes back on.

  ‘Now we only need the shoes,’ Scissorius announced.

  Will waited.

  ‘Don’t dawdle. The shoes are right behind you,’ Scissorius told him.

  Will turned around. Under the hanger with the new outfit was a pair of trainers, also in black and dark grey, matching the clothes. He quickly removed the shoes he was wearing and put the trainers on. They also fitted perfectly. He took a few steps. The trainers were very light and comfortable, but offered a firm hold.

  ‘Well?’ Scissorius raised one eyebrow and looked at Will.

  ‘Great!’ he exclaimed. ‘Thank you very much.’

  Scissorius gave a gratified smile. ‘You’re welcome, you’re welcome. That’s my job. Now please remove the trainers again.’

  Will took off the trainers and handed them to Scissorius. He had produced a large bag from somewhere, put the clothes into it with quick, practised movements, added the trainers, and handed the pack over to Will.

  ‘There you are, sir. Enjoy the training. This way, please.’ And he stepped up to the curtain and held it open for Will.

  ‘Thank you,’ replied Will. ‘I’m sure I will.’

  Scissorius smiled faintly. ‘Goodbye, sir.’

  Will stepped back into the main room again, where Annabel and Freddy looked up. When they saw that he was ready, they emptied their glasses and got up from the sofa.

  ‘Well?’ Annabel asked and raised her eyebrows. ‘What do you think?’ She grinned at Will.

  Will had to laugh. ‘The outfit is great, it’s comfortable. And Freddy’s right, you almost feel like Superman, or, given the colours, rather like Batman. I’m just curious about what the training will be like. I’d expect it to be rather hard and strenuous, given these outfits.’

  ‘Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of too.’

  The three of them walked out of the clothing department, bags in hand, and headed back to their rooms.

  ***

  Will was excited. Today they would have their first lesson with Ethan Stunt, their teacher for the practical training, for Fieldworks. Will got up quickly, washed, and dressed. The others were up too, and in various stages of getting ready.

  Will went down into the common room. There he met Sabrina and Spencer. The three of them went together to the Ferum for breakfast. While they were eating, they talked animatedly about the coming lesson. As Will looked around, he noticed that even Richard looked rather excited, not nearly as cool and noninvolved or bored as was normally the case.

  After they had finished, Will went to the classroom together with Annabel and Freddy. They had been told to bring their new training outfits and to meet Mr Stunt in the classroom where they normally had lessons with Miss Dustfall. About a third of the class was already inside. Will looked at the clock on the wall and saw they were ten minutes early. He looked around and waited. Soon the complete class was sitting there, talking excitedly, all with the bags containing their training outfits lying on the tables in front of them, or on the floor beside their chairs.

  Finally Mr Stunt walked briskly into the classroom. He wore a training outfit just like the ones they had received the previous day. Will had to admit that the outfit looked great on him. The tight-fitting, shiny, black material enhanced his wiry figure.

  ‘Good morning, class.’ He looked around. ‘My name is Ethan Stunt. I’ll be your instructor for Fieldworks. I see you all received your training outfits. Except….’ He walked towards the back of the classroom and stopped in front of Richard’s desk. ‘Mr Loxley here. Where is your outfit, mister?’

  Richard looked up, mildly surprised. ‘Well, I’m sorry sir,’ he replied easily, ‘I didn’t think we’d need it right away. I thought we’d first get a bit of an introduction this morning. I have it in my room of course.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Stunt, and walked back towards the front of the class. Richard looked after him, his eyes narrowing. Will did not know what to think. Had Mr Stunt approved of this or not?

  Stunt continued: ‘Indeed, today I’ll give you a bit of an outline and some background on what we’ll be doing during the next few weeks.’ He pulled his wand from his suit’s snug hip holster. Then he waved it quite casually, making a complicated gesture, and pointed it towards the bare wall to the left of the blackboard. Will could see a faint shimmer of Bluerin, and then a detailed map appeared on the wall.

  ‘This’—Stunt gestured towards the wall—‘is a detailed map of our training area. What we are going to do in my lessons is put everything my colleagues have been teaching you to practical use. As you can see on the map, we have different buildings, streets, and special areas within the grounds where we’ll train the proper delivery of the presents and confront you with the different obstacles you may encounter.’

  While he was saying this, he pointed his wand here and there on the map, and a beam of Yellowrin came forth to highlight the different sections. Will was impressed: Stunt had a wand that could be filled with Bluerin and Yellowrin at the same time. He had not even known such wands existed.

  Stunt continued to explain the training grounds. There were the lifelike buildings and dwellings, streets, and gardens, and even a special training area with thick, protective screens and sand hills where they were going to practise the spells using Bluerin, without any danger to the surroundings. He showed them the changing areas and the adjoining room where they could gather for theoretical lessons. Then he taught them a spell they would need to enter the training area.

  ‘Okay,’ said Stunt, ‘it’ll all become much clearer when you see it for real. Therefore today’s lesson in here is finished. I’ve told you all I can for now. You’ve got half an hour, then we’ll meet in the briefing room next to the training area. All in your training outfits, please. Dismissed.’

  Will and the others got up. He took his bag with his training outfit, and turned to Annabel next to him. ‘What are you going to do in the meantime?’

  ‘Not a lot, I guess. Half an hour isn’t much time, especially if we have to go to the training area and get changed. It would be best if we went there directly.’

  ‘Yeah, you’re probably right,’ Will had to admit. ‘Let’s go then.’

  Will and Annabel went through the school towards the training area. They had never been in that part of the building before. Finally they reached a corridor that ended
in a huge, double-winged door that was as wide as the corridor. It was easy to see that something special was behind it: a fine, red line ran around the frame of the door, and above it was a large sign: ‘DANGER—Training Area’. The letters were slowly flashing in a dull, red light.

  Will looked at Annabel and grinned a bit nervously. ‘Looks rather impressive, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Annabel. ‘It doesn’t look very inviting. I wouldn’t even think about going in there if we hadn’t explicitly been told to.’ She stood in front of the door and pointed her wand at it. Then she performed the spell Mr Stunt had taught them. It was not a complicated one, but Stunt had told them it was necessary to prevent illegitimate access. The red line around the frame disappeared and was replaced by a blue one. And the warning sign was also replaced. It now had blue letters and read ‘Access Cleared’. Then a face appeared in the rectangle of smooth wood in the middle of the door.

  ‘Halt! Who goes there? Declare yourselves!’ the face sharply demanded of them.

  ‘Er, Annabel Winston and Will Burns,’ Will answered quickly.

  The face eyed them up and down. Finally it nodded curtly.

  ‘Good. Sir, madam, I was told to grant you access. Please come through.’

  The doors swung open, and Will and Annabel walked through. Behind them the doors closed automatically. They were now standing in a short corridor that again ended in a large, double-winged door, also with a sign on it: ‘NO ENTRY—Service Entrance’. In the middle of the door was a solid bronze lock. Will and Annabel looked around. To the left was an ordinary door with a sign—‘Boys’; to their right was a door with another sign: ‘Girls’.

  Will said, ‘Those must be the changing rooms. Best we go in there and get changed then. First one out waits on the other side?’

  ‘Yes,’ Annabel agreed, and walked over towards the girls’ changing room.

  Will went over to the door of the changing room for the boys. He tried to open it, but it was locked—it would not open. He looked around. Then he noticed the rectangular area of smooth wood in the middle of the door, and carefully touched it. Promptly a wooden face started to emerge.