Fraud at Snowfields Read online

  Once they were there, jobs came in immediately, and they were kept busy hurrying here and there, gathering up presents from all over the place and putting them under the right Christmas trees. Fortunately nothing else out of the ordinary happened, especially not another double black. The work went on the whole day, until in the evening their shift ended and they were relieved by the next team, which was going to continue throughout the night. Soon they were flying back towards Snowfields. To Will the return journey seemed much longer, but then he guessed this was just because he was tired, and in the morning there had been the excitement of going into the field for the first time. Finally Contractus landed the sleigh smoothly on the lawn behind the school.

  He turned round to Will and Annabel. ‘That was great work. Thank you very much, both of you.’ He jumped off the sleigh. ‘You know, we have a fine tradition here at Snowfields. You see the stall over there?’

  They both looked where he was pointing. Next to the wall of the school, Will could see a wooden stall with Christmas decorations, fir branches, pretty red baubles, and thousands of small lights.

  ‘Let’s go over and see what they’ve got there,’ Contractus said. He smiled and led the way.

  Once there, Will could see Mr Worker and Miss Itaway behind the counter. They greeted Will and Annabel cheerfully and handed them steaming mugs.

  ‘Merry Christmas to you.’ Miss Itaway smiled at them.

  Contractus took a mug and lifted it up to his face. ‘Ah.’ He sighed deeply as he breathed in the steam and the aroma. He turned to Will and Annabel. ‘This is our famous Christmas tea. It’s only made on this special day, and you only get it after your shift. Mr Worker here has a keen eye on that.’

  Mr Worker heard this and gave Contractus a sly wink.

  ‘Go on, try it,’ Contractus encouraged them.

  Will tasted the tea carefully, as it was still steaming. It was delicious, with lots of Christmas aromas. Will could especially taste cinnamon and a hint of marzipan.

  ‘It’s good,’ he told Contractus. But Contractus just watched them. So Will felt forced to add something: ‘Very good, with cinnamon.’

  Contractus nodded, but still kept on watching them intently. Confused, Will took another sip. And his eyes widened in surprise. He looked at Contractus in amazement. ‘But now…it tastes like baked apple.’ He took another sip. ‘And now it tastes like orange.’ He stared at his mug, but could not see any change in its contents; there was still the same brownish-looking liquid in it.

  Contractus laughed. ‘Good, eh?’ he said. ‘That is our great Christmas tea! With every sip it tastes different. But it always tastes like Christmas.’ And he took a sip himself. ‘Ah…. Simply delicious.’

  Again Will looked at his mug in amazement, and took another sip. It was the best tea he had ever tasted.

  Chapter 13

  Will had been thinking hard during the last hours. He had tried to figure out who could be behind the fraud, behind the forgery. Richard was certainly part of it—he had proven that when he had stolen the parcel at Cloudy’s distribution hub. But he could only be a small cog in the wheel, as he had only come to the school recently, together with Will.

  No, to pull off a fraud like this, there had to be persons on the higher levels involved, maybe even from the highest level—the directors, for example. They could most easily access the Bluerin. Will thought and thought about this. Finally he reached the most surprising but also most likely conclusion. When he considered the means, the necessary structures, and the logistics needed for such a fraud, everything pointed to only one possible solution. But this solution unfortunately also meant he could talk to no one about his suspicion, because if the person he was thinking about was really the head of everything, Will could trust no one, for he could not know who else might be involved.

  Therefore he was now on his way to verify his conclusion in the only way he could think of: he would confront the person he suspected of being behind all this. He was on his way to Beltorec! Why Beltorec? He had all the means at his disposal. He could easily acquire the necessary personnel. He had most extensive connections with all departments. He could force students to do the dirty work by threatening their school careers. But then Richard, for one, probably had not needed much threatening. He had most likely been all too ready to go along. And then Will remembered the strange scene he and his friends had observed when they first visited the village—Richard and Michelle talking to the goblin holding the box of Bluerin, Beltorec’s sudden angry appearance and rough treatment of the two students. So Richard had been tied to Beltorec and Bluerin right from the start. Will realised this made his theory all the more likely.

  Will finally went around the last corner and was standing in front of the door to Beltorec’s office. Taking a deep breath and trembling slightly, he finally opened the door. Interestingly, Crown did not react at all; the smooth square in the wood of the door remained that way. Will went inside the anteroom. It was empty—fortunately no Mrs Script he had to fight his way past—and so he walked straight towards the next door. Before he had even reached it, the door to Beltorec’s office opened. Will went inside warily. Beltorec was sitting at his desk, smiling enigmatically.

  ‘Ah, hello Will. I thought it might be you. Not a good idea to come here on your own, you know. But here you are, so time for you to meet my friends. Say hello to them, Will.’

  Beltorec gestured towards the wall next to the door. Will turned his head—and was shocked. Beltorec had done the unthinkable, the ultimate forbidden! There, lined up neatly against the wall of the ornate office, were six huge figures, each with a slight blue glimmer. Beltorec had created Bluerorcs! Evil, mindless creatures made totally out of Bluerin—no life, no feelings, no conscience. And no restrictions. And invincible!

  Will had learned about Bluerorcs in one of his lessons. However, since no one alive had ever actually seen one, they were sometimes regarded as myths, as nightmares to scare people with. It was believed that no one had the knowledge to create such a horror anymore, and even if they did it would be far too dangerous to call them into existence. Strangely enough, at the time Will had not made the connection between the mythical Bluerorcs and his dream so long ago—the dream he had had before he even knew anything about Snowfields or Bluerin. Only when he saw them standing before him right now did he feel a first flicker of fear.

  ‘But…why?’ he asked finally in a low voice.

  ‘You mean why I did this? Why I created my dear friends here? Or why I forged the money?’ Beltorec curled his lips in disdain.

  Part of Will’s mind shuddered at the look.

  ‘Y-y...Yes, well, all of them really. You are headmaster here. You are one of the directors. What more could you want?’

  Beltorec’s countenance darkened. ‘What more could I want?’ His voice got louder. ‘What more could I want?’ He jumped to his feet. ‘Being headmaster of a scruffy old school, always bothered by stupid students who think they are oh so clever? Being cut off from the world, being confined to this tiny village with nowhere to go?’ His voice grew still louder. ‘And you ask me what more I could want?’

  Will ducked. ‘Well…sir…you’ve achieved so much here, I would think. But if you don’t like it here, why didn’t you just leave to live somewhere else?’ He was genuinely surprised.

  ‘Why didn’t I just leave?’ Beltorec screamed madly. ‘Because I’ve been stuck here the last fifty years, you idiot! How could I live in the normal world after such a long time? What job could I do? I’d just go to a firm and say, “Hello, I’m really experienced, and I can do a great job at your firm.” And when they ask me about my references, I’d just tell them, “Oh, you know, I’ve worked with the White Christmas Organisation, which you have never heard about, and I’ve been headmaster of a school nobody knows exists, and, yes, in a place that’s hidden and nobody has ever heard of. But I’m really good at it, right, just the best!”’

  Will backed up until he was right against the wall. �
�Okay, yes sir, I can see the problem now.’

  ‘Ooooh, he can see the problem now, can he? Fancy that.’ Beltorec pointed a trembling finger at Will. ‘You know nothing!’ he said slowly. Then his voice suddenly became very soft when he saw Will moving. ‘Get him, my beauties. Go, my Bluerorcs, chase him down!’ he purred at them.

  Will, who had expected this the moment he had seen the Bluerorcs, inched towards the door. The moment Beltorec called them, the Bluerorcs started glowing blue and came to life. They opened their eyes, which were piercing blue, and started moving their limbs as if trying to get a feel for them. Will bolted through the door, running as fast as he could. Beltorec’s mad laughter followed him.

  ‘Run, Will, run! Give my friends a good chase. But don’t you worry, they’ll get you without doubt.’

  Will raced onwards, and Beltorec’s voice became fainter and fainter as he kept up his mad ravings, until Will could hear him no more.

  But what he unfortunately could hear most clearly were the Bluerorcs lumbering after him, crashing and smashing through everything that was in their way, not even bothering to open the doors he had slammed shut behind him. They just crashed through the hard wood without missing a step. Will ran on, taking turns at random. He started to breathe more heavily. And still the Bluerorcs were behind him, though they were a bit slower than he was, and so he was able to put a bit of distance between him and them. But they followed him unerringly. He slammed another door shut, ignoring the loud and angry protest of the door guardians:

  ‘Oi, what do you think you are doing!’

  ‘Alert! Berserker on the loose!’

  ‘Who was’t? Who was’t?’

  ‘OUCH! You idiot!’

  ‘Who do you think you are? You daft or what?’

  ‘What the…?’

  They screamed after him. He ignored them, racing onwards, starting to panic because he had lost all sense of direction. Suddenly he felt a presence beside him and he nearly jumped out of his skin as something touched his shoulder. They had got him! But his legs kept pumping and dragged him onwards. Then he only felt the pressure of a reassuring hand. ‘Will. It’s me. Calm down.’

  Will knew this voice! He quickly glanced to his side and saw Conrad jogging next to him.

  ‘What can I do? ’ cried Will. ‘Where can I hide? I can’t last much longer with those things behind me.’

  ‘This way,’ said Conrad confidently. The security agent pushed Will down a couple of corridors and through a door.

  ‘He’ll help you and I’ll try to divert the Bluerorcs.’

  And he was gone.

  Another figure stood in the doorway as Will came stumbling through it.

  Will looked up. It was Contractus! He pushed Will to the side of the door. ‘Was that Conrad? Good agent that one. You’re lucky he was assigned to you. Watching over you even here in Snowfields. Not all the field agents would do that. Now, quick! Stand next to the wall on the other side. And take this!’

  Contractus quickly shoved a brown bag into Will’s hands.

  Will looked at it and ripped it open. ‘What is it?’

  There were small, glass globes in the bag. They glittered bright blue, and Will could see small amounts of Bluerin in them.

  ‘Bluerin?’ he asked incredulously.

  ‘Yeah, the only thing that is supposedly able to stop Bluerorcs! Of course nobody has much experience with them, especially nowadays. Their last known appearance was around three hundred years ago. Luckily I read a bit about them once, and the only thing that was ever tried successfully against them is pure Bluerin!’

  ‘But…how?’ Will asked. ‘That’s what they’re made of.’

  ‘Well, don’t ask me. Let’s just hope it works. Perhaps it disturbs their structure or something. Now is not the time to question this. Here they come!’ Contractus stood next to the other side of the door, opposite Will. ‘Just throw the globes at them. The glass is thin and should break as soon as it hits them.’

  Contractus pulled open his own bag and took a globe in his hand, gripping it firmly. Will took out a globe too, noting absently that it felt slightly warm. The crashing noises of the Bluerorcs were really close by now. They should be here any second. Then the door in front of them burst with a crash. Will ducked to avoid the flying splinters.

  The first Bluerorc came crashing through the remains of the door and slowed when it saw Contractus and Will standing there. It swayed from side to side for a moment, as if wondering who to attack first. Then another one crashed into its back, but could not get through the door.

  ‘Now!’ shouted Contractus.

  Will threw the globe at the first Bluerorc. It hit it at the same time that Contractus’s globe hit on the other side. The Bluerorc stopped dead in its tracks.

  ‘It works!’ shouted Will. ‘It really works!’

  ‘Yes, it looks as if it does. But let’s move away a bit, just in case,’ Contractus replied.

  They moved away from the Bluerorc, their backs to the walls. It was still not moving.

  ‘Should we throw another one?’ Will asked breathlessly.

  ‘No, we should wait and see what happens. And there are still more of them.’

  On cue the Bluerorc in front of them was pushed aside as the next one made its way into the room. This one went straight for Will.

  ‘Throw!’ Contractus shouted, and Will hurled a globe at the new Bluerorc. Contractus threw one from the other side. This Bluerorc also stopped dead in its tracks.

  ‘Let’s move on a bit,’ said Contractus.

  They edged along the walls towards the next door, still watching the Bluerorcs.

  ‘It seems to freeze them,’ said Will. Indeed the Bluerorcs seemed frozen in the positions they had been in when the globes hit them. Other Bluerorcs bumped into them from behind, trying to get through the door. They pushed harder until finally the two frozen Bluerorcs fell forwards. Two more Bluerorcs stepped mindlessly over them, not caring whether they trampled on their fellows.

  Contractus and Will were ready. They threw another load of globes, which hit the Bluerorcs. These two also froze right away. But they again were immediately pushed over by the Bluerorcs following them. Will and Contractus threw globes at them. And again the Bluerorcs stopped.

  ‘How many are there, do you know?’ asked Contractus. ‘I don’t have many globes left.’

  ‘There were six in Beltorec’s office when I left. I haven’t seen any others.’

  ‘That’s good! Then we’ve got them all for now,’ answered Contractus, relaxing visibly.

  ‘What will happen to them? Are they just going to stay frozen like that? Will Beltorec be able to bring them back to life?’ asked Will, eyeing the frozen Bluerorcs.

  ‘I have no idea,’ replied Contractus. ‘The book in which I read about this didn’t say anything about what would happen to them after you throw the globes at them. But I’d expect that since he was able to create them, Beltorec will surely be able to revive them. He is, after all, very knowledgeable and very able. He knows a lot about Bluerin, and even some quite exotic spells. Nevertheless it’s amazing that he was able to create the Bluerorcs—and six of them at that! So I guess no one suspected how much he really knows and what he’s capable of. But let’s get away from here while we can. It’s not safe. We can ponder these questions later.’

  They moved away from the Bluerorcs quickly and went to the door on the other side of the room.

  ‘Where are we?’ asked Will as they hurried through. ‘I don’t recognise these rooms. I just ran away without looking where I was going.’

  ‘We’re at the back of the school. These rooms aren’t regularly used for students, but are sometimes used as offices or as project rooms—whatever the need is.’

  ‘I see.’

  They hastened through other rooms, and down several corridors and stairs without encountering anyone, or anything for that matter. They also heard nothing out of the ordinary, especially no crashing caused by Bluerorcs chasing them.<
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  ‘Will Beltorec have already found out about what we’ve done to his Bluerorcs?’ asked Will.

  ‘Probably not. I’d guess we would have heard that,’ Beltorec replied dryly.

  They went down another corridor and round a corner.

  ‘Ah, I recognise this one. Over there is one of our classrooms,’ said Will.

  ‘Fine. Hurry up!’

  They took several turns, until Will again did not have the faintest idea where they were. Then Contractus led him down several flights of small stairs, and the corridors became barer. They were seldom used, judging by the puffs of dust that rose as Will and Contractus hurried along. Then the walls turned to rough stone, and the air became cold and musty. They still hurried on, through ancient passages, up and down worn stairs, and through rusty, creaking doors until Contractus led him up some stairs again and through doors that were in far better repair.

  ‘Hey, I recognise this! I’ve been here before!’ Will said. Then he clamped his mouth shut and coughed in embarrassment. They were in the forbidden house where the secret meetings about the investigation into the forgery had been. How could Contractus know about this? And now Will had told him that he was involved!

  Contractus barked a short laugh as he saw Will’s panic-stricken face. ‘No need to worry, lad. I know about the meetings and the committee investigating the forgery. Just remember the situation at Cloudy’s distribution hub—I knew about the forgery then!’ He winked at Will. ‘Though I’m not headmaster or somebody important in Snowfields, I still know my way around. I know the right people. So I know pretty much what’s going on, if only indirectly. And I care for Snowfields! This is my life, my dream!’ His face hardened. ‘And I won’t let it be destroyed by a self-centred bastard.’