Amanda Cadabra and The Strange Case of Lucy Penlowr by Holly Bell (best english novels for beginners .txt) 📕

‘I do, as a matter of fact.’ He went to his desk computer, tapped and clicked. ‘Here. Have a browse.’

Chapter 21

The Missing Piece

‘Well done, Amanda, making it through almost a whole 24 hours before the next instalment,’ Hogarth commended her, the following evening. He handed her a bowl of spotted dick and custard.

‘Thank you,’ she responded. ‘No easy task but … finally! We get to the fire.’

‘Yes, Elodie told me ….’

***

‘I had been able to gather from office chat,’ she explained, ‘that tension was building between Growan House and those names that kept coming up. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before something was going to give. In many respects, we were lucky. There were just four of us — students — staying in the house that night.’

‘Can you tell me anything about them, Elodie?’ Hogarth requested.

‘Roger — he was twelve — he was walking nearly normally. Shilpa’s skin was nearly all cleared up — she was ten — and Mimi had almost stopped coughing. She was just seven years old.’

‘So, what happened?’

‘There was a storm. No rain, though. It was also a dark moon night. It made sense that if an attack was coming, it would come then. It was also the night the boats came. On dark moons, one or two of the boats would call in, just in case anyone had to get out without notice.’

‘Get out to ...?’

‘Away to France. As I told you, I think they would take the children, and sometimes their families too, along the coast. Then back across into the UK far down the Channel beyond the Cornish border. But for me, it would be different .... Yes ... that night ... lucky.’ She looked out of the window as though drawn back to the past in thought.

‘When did you first know something was wrong that night?’ Hogarth prompted gently.

Elodie returned her attention to him.

‘I must have slept through the first of the thunder. I was woken up by — I don’t know — a feeling. I looked out of the window. I had a sense of people in the shadows. Then there was a bang then more bangs, and feet on the stairs, and shouts. I got dressed and tried to see what was going on in the passage. People were hurrying past the door. ‘Go back inside your room!’ one of the teachers yelled.

But it was getting warmer. I could hear crackles and pops. The ceiling was going brown. I checked the hall again. It was clear, so I ran into Roger’s room. I woke him.

“There’s trouble,’ I warned and threw him his clothes. He could hear the same things I did and got dressed, while I hurried into Shilpa’s and got her up, then went to Mimi. Roger joined us. By then, shots and bangs and crackles seemed to be all around us.’

‘Where were you?’

‘All in Mimi’s room. I looked out into the hall, and the stairs above were on fire. Out of the window, we saw balls of flame whizzing up past us to the upper windows. There was the sound of breaking glass. Nowhere seemed safe and there was noise coming from below, but the way up was blocked: we could only go down.’

‘What was going on?’

‘There were people shooting coloured sort of flames out of sticks — wands.’

‘Can you describe the people?’

‘I remember there was a woman in black, and a woman with long, wavy, brown hair and an older woman in black and a man, maybe two. The others were Dowrkampyers. The fight below broke into two, and the people went out of the side doors, maybe the front door, leaving the hall empty. I thought we could maybe get out through the kitchens. At least the landing was clear, so I ran down ahead, and onto the last flight of stairs. Suddenly I heard Mordren Dowrkampyer came out of his room on the landing. I turned. He was feet away from me. He didn’t see the children at first, because fire had just broken through the corner of the ceiling above to his left. He looked up at it. Then he stared right past me, below, from where we heard a sizzle and the sound of something falling on the stairs behind. I gestured to the children to go back up, but he saw them. He knew they’d seen what was going on.

‘Stop!’ he shouted, ‘You’re not going anywhere!’

Then someone fired at him and he … sort of disintegrated, and we all ran down,’ Elodie finished.

‘I led the children to the side door where I knew George kept a van key. I grabbed it, and we made a run for it. The house was collapsing, people were running, shouting, sirens. We got into the van. We were challenged but no one caught us, and I just drove over the field, through the south gate, around the lake and down onto the road to the coast.’

‘Did you all go on the boats?’ enquired Hogarth.

‘No, Shilpa knew the way to Mimi’s house, so I said to Roger,

“Can I drop you off at the shore? Find the boat — the Annalise — the skipper is Emile. Tell him, please to wait. I must take Mimi and Shilpa home.”

Roger said, “Sure. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’ll get away. Even if my parents won’t take me, my brother will.”

‘It was clear that the parents had been expecting trouble, what with the accidents and illnesses. Mimi’s mother accepted my rushed explanation.

“Right,” she said to her husband, “You’re taking that job in Edinburgh. I don’t want no more of this posh school lark. We’re good enough as we are,” and he agreed.

‘Shilpa’s father said, “I’m taking her to her aunt in