Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus

by Paula Berinstein

  “I can and I am,” said Holmes. Amanda couldn’t tell for sure, but she thought Ivy had winced.

  “That’s not what this is supposed to be about,” said Clive.

  “It’s germane,” said Holmes.

  “How?” said Gordon, surprising everyone. Normally he’d be the first in line to watch someone embarrass themselves.

  “I want to know if he’s lying to her,” said Holmes. “If he is, we can’t believe anything she tells us.”

  “I don’t see why the questions should center around Amanda,” said Ivy. “Sorry, Scapulus, but you need to keep your feelings out of this.”

  “Yeah, sorry, man,” said Clive.

  “This isn’t about my feelings,” said Holmes stubbornly.

  “Yes,” said Nick.

  Everyone stared. In all the fuss they’d forgotten he was still there.

  “Yes what?” said Holmes impatiently.

  “Yes I’m in love with Amanda,” said Nick.

  Amanda thought she’d die. Holmes certainly looked like he was about to. But then Nick said, “But she doesn’t love me. She’s in love with you.”

  She couldn’t believe it. How could he have said that? She’d just told him she did love him. Was he lying or did he not believe her?

  Holmes went from miserable to triumphant in half a second. He was obviously trying to suppress a smile, but Amanda could see it at the corners of his mouth. Then things got worse. He regarded her with something resembling possession, marched over, and wrapped her in his arms. Then, right in front of everyone, he kissed her passionately.

  Amanda had no idea how to respond. She tried to look at Nick but she couldn’t see him from her position. She made a halfhearted attempt to pull away, but Holmes was insistent and she gave in. She’d have to deal with the consequences later.

  Gordon started to clap, then Clive. Nigel yipped. Ivy and Simon sat there looking uncomfortable. But when Amphora came into the room and saw what was happening she screamed, “I knew it!” and ran out again.

  When Holmes finally let Amanda go she glanced at Nick again. He looked ill, whether from the spider bite or the kiss she couldn’t tell. She felt sick herself. Once again her poor judgment had got her into a mess, and this time she had no idea how she was going to get out of it.

  11

  THE MOMENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

  After the spider incident Amanda needed to be alone. She excused herself and made her way into the tunnels beneath the school. They were so extensive you could always find solitude there, although once the wretches moved in it would be more difficult.

  She stole beyond the formal basements where the décor gremlins kept their props until she found herself in a remote cul de sac. She leaned against a wall and breathed.

  “What a fine mess you’ve gotten us into,” she thought, mentally paraphrasing the classic Laurel and Hardy line. Now Holmes thought their relationship was going to forge ahead and if she rejected him it would be a disaster. She still wasn’t sure whether Nick believed what she’d said in their little conference. If he had, he had indeed beaten the spiders. If not, she’d probably blown her last chance with him.

  Beaten the spiders. Was it possible to do that? If Nick had managed it, what were the implications? Perhaps their venom wasn’t the miracle Earful had made it out to be. If that was the case, then Waltz getting hold of them might not be so bad.

  How easy would it be to resist them? Was Nick unique or could anyone with a strong will do it? Holmes and Simon hadn’t managed, although presumably they hadn’t tried. Both had confessed something extremely personal, but perhaps they weren’t embarrassed enough to put up a fight.

  While she was contemplating these questions, she heard footsteps. Had someone followed her? She hoped it wasn’t Holmes. She had no idea what she’d say to him now. She did love him, but not as she had before, and not the way he wanted. She was so in love with Nick she couldn’t see straight. She’d never felt that way about him.

  The footsteps slowed and someone came into view. Tall, dark hair . . . Nick! As soon as he saw her he stopped dead and a look of utter joy swept over him. He ran to her and without a word tenderly took her face in his hands and kissed her, hard. Her heart leapt and she kissed back with all the fury of her pent-up love.

  He was trembling and she could feel the love coming off him as if it were a physical thing. He entwined his fingers in her hair and pulled her closer. There was something about the way he was holding her that made her feel as if her heart would break. Simon had been right: Nick was her true love. She could feel it in his touch.

  She mirrored him, slipping her fingers through his long, thick hair and clasping his neck. He breathed deeply and wrapped his arms around her. He was so big and strong and she loved the heft of him. She kissed him as if her life depended on it, which only made him kiss harder.

  “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hold you like this,” he murmured into her hair, and kissed every inch of it. No one had ever spoken to her like that. She went so weak in the knees she thought she’d fall.

  Finally, after what seemed like hours and no time at all, he began to kiss her more softly and caress her face, his fingers and lips saying what he hadn’t yet voiced. Then he pulled back and looked into her eyes.

  “I am so in love with you,” he whispered. “But I don’t understand how you could love someone like me.”

  How could she not love him? He was the strongest person she’d ever known. No matter what life threw at him he met it with courage, ingenuity, and strength. Whatever he’d been in the past he was no longer—he’d simply willed his old life away. Whatever he’d done, whatever pain he’d caused her, she forgave a million times over. This was the Nick Muffet she’d known back in those early days, and she loved him more than life.

  “I have no choice,” she breathed. “I am yours and you are mine.”

  He kissed her again and again. There was so much and nothing to say. All the problems, Holmes, her mother, Blixus, her stepfather, the Bible just melted away.

  Finally Nick whispered in her ear, “They’ll be looking for us.” He pulled back and looked at her, eyes alight. He grinned. “Whoa, your lips are pretty red.”

  She smiled tenderly and put a finger to his mouth. “Yours too.”

  He kissed it and brought it to his cheek. “Holmes will be furious.”

  For once she didn’t mind him mentioning his rival. “I guess we’ll have to wait before we go back then.”

  “But—say, do you smell something?”

  Amanda sniffed. “Some kind of animal has been in here.” She looked around but couldn’t see anything.

  “Nigel?”

  “No, he doesn’t smell. Only when he gets wet.”

  “A badger?”

  She laughed. “How could a badger get in here? It’s too big to get through the cracks.”

  They separated and smelled the air. Nothing. “Let’s see if we can see anything,” she said.

  Nick took her hand and they carefully edged out of the cul de sac. She loved the way his hands felt, big and strong and warm. They crept along the tunnels in the opposite direction from the way they’d come. Suddenly she thought she saw something on the ground. A smudge.

  “Is that a footprint?”

  “Where?”

  She pointed to a faint image. “That’s the weirdest looking footprint I’ve ever seen. It looks like toes and a thumb.”

  Nick laughed. “Yes, it surely does. And that’s because there’s been a monkey in here.”

  Amanda peered closely. “Oh no.”

  “Does someone have a pet monkey?”

  “Nope,” she said. “It’s just that . . . well, I have kind of a checkered history with monkeys.” And then she told him about the capuchin monkey that had peed on her on the train to London.

  Nick could barely control his laughter. “It isn’t funny,” she said, slapping him on the shoulder. “How would you like it if a monkey peed on you?”

  �
�I’m not laughing at you. I was just thinking that I’d kiss you even if you were drenched in monkey pee.”

  From that moment on, Amanda didn’t hate monkeys anymore. She threw her arms around him and kissed him again.

  When that round of kissing was over she said, “How could a monkey get in here? Thrillkill has had this place checked over and over. There’s practically no way a spider could get inside.”

  “Let’s keep looking.”

  After that they found many more monkey prints and lots of what looked like monkey hair.

  “Something’s happened in here,” she said. “I’m going to check with the guard. Maybe the surveillance picked up something.”

  “Surveillance?” said Nick. “You mean they’re watching us right now?”

  “They’re watching a lot of the tunnels, but they can’t see everything,” she said. “They watch the entrances and selected areas.”

  Nick bent his head to hers and kissed her. “Good. You’re all mine then.”

  When Amanda returned to the surface Holmes waylaid her. She wasn’t able to get one word out before he pulled her into an empty classroom and practically dove at her, covering her mouth with his and holding her tight.

  “Oh, how I love you,” he whispered. “You are so beautiful. Your hair, your eyes, your smile—”

  “Scapulus—”

  He pulled back and grasped her hand, stroking it with his thumb. “I was so wrong, Amanda. All this time I’ve wasted. I thought you loved him. What an idiot I’ve been.”

  She opened her mouth to finally tell him the truth but he placed his fingers over her lips. “Shh. I want to tell you something. Please.” He smiled. “If I can ever stop kissing you.”

  He took her hand again and kissed it.

  “That first day in Professor Sidebotham’s class. Do you remember?”

  Amanda nodded. It had been a disaster of a morning. She’d disrupted the class, insulted Holmes, and embarrassed herself. She’d hoped never to think of it again.

  “You said I was a dork.”

  “Scapulus, I’m so—”

  “Let me finish. I was a dork. I can still be a dork. But no one ever says that to my face because my ancestor is the great Sherlock. People have always treated me with kid gloves. You didn’t. You are so irreverent. You were hilarious. I fell in love with you instantly.”

  “Oh, Scapulus—”

  “I know you found me annoying. I can be a real thorn. I was brought up to feel this great sense of responsibility. ‘You must live up to the Holmes name,’” he boomed. “I had to be perfect. I’m so tired of being perfect.”

  Amanda had never realized that being a Holmes could be a burden. Why hadn’t it ever occurred to her that he might have problems much like her own? Of course it hadn’t—because she’d been so caught up in herself and her parents’ obsession, fighting them, fighting all the time. Fighting Holmes, fighting Lestrade, fighting enemies that didn’t exist. He wasn’t the one who’d been an idiot. She was, and she felt ashamed.

  He gazed into her eyes. “You make me myself, Amanda. You break through all that conditioning, all those shoulds, and let the real me emerge. I worship you for that.”

  He pushed her hair out of her face and stroked her cheek. “You are my soul. I am lost in you—your eyes, your heart, your love.”

  He slipped his hand into her hair and pulled her close. Then he kissed her so tenderly she thought she’d shatter.

  “I don’t know how I ever could have believed you loved a criminal like that,” he murmured. “It’s so clear to me now. I saw how much he loved you and got it all backwards. It was never that you loved him. It was always him loving you. What a fool I’ve been.”

  He smiled and kissed her again, deeply this time. She didn’t dare pull away—not at a moment like this.

  “Tell me you love me. Like you did in the hospital. You have no idea how that made me feel. I loved you so much I thought I would burst. I still do.”

  He looked at her almost pleadingly. She couldn’t hurt him. Not here, not now. She looked into those liquid brown eyes and said, “I love you, Scapulus.”

  He kissed her again.

  Oh, what an idiot. Now what was she going to do? Why had she told him she loved him? Now it would be a thousand times worse when she told him the truth. The other truth, that is. She did love him. She just wasn’t going to be with him. She was going to be with Nick forever and ever.

  How would she tell him? When would she tell him? It would have to be soon. She’d just have to blurt it out, all at once, like ripping off a Band-Aid. And then it would be awful. He wouldn’t scream—that wasn’t Holmes. He would destroy her at low volume with a gasp, then a look, and then—and then—with recrimination and accusation and worst of all, pain. He would hurt her with his agony, his misery, his sense of betrayal. And who would weep? Not him. It would be her, Amanda—Amanda the tease, Amanda the false, Amanda the girl who preferred a criminal to the steadfast boy whose only crime had been to love her.

  As she pictured his face and those eyes that shone with love for only her, she knew she could not do it. And then she remembered that Holmes was tracking Nick’s every movement, and hoped against hope he hadn’t seen them in the tunnels.

  12

  THOSE WRETCHED SECRETS

  Merlin the guard didn’t find any sign that the tunnels had been breached. That meant someone at the school had let monkeys in and somehow avoided—or tampered with—the surveillance equipment.

  When Amanda told Ivy, Simon, and Clive about what she’d seen they agreed that as improbable as it sounded, the only possible conclusion was that a bunch of monkeys had stolen Legatum’s secrets.

  “That’s crazy,” said Ivy. “Who would bring a monkey in to steal a secret?”

  “A monkey trainer?” said Simon, giving Ivy a funny look. Now that he’d confessed his love for her, he seemed to be alternating between displaying it ostentatiously and pretending he’d never said anything.

  “King Kong,” said Clive.

  “Good one,” said Amanda, who always appreciated film references.

  “Are any of the cameras broken?” said Ivy.

  “Merlin said no,” said Amanda.

  “Could the monkeys be invisible? You know, using Earful’s technology,” said Ivy.

  “That would require an awful lot of peacock feathers,” said Simon.

  “Maybe someone tampered with the video records,” said Clive.

  “Now you’re talking,” said Simon. “And the chances are good that that person was authorized and knew how to open the compartments. Let’s not forget that in some sections you need keys and in others you need that scent to open the odor-controlled locks.”

  “Let’s back up a minute,” said Amanda. “Who at the school would do something like this? And why”

  “Another mole,” said Clive.

  “Not again,” said Ivy. “I don’t think I could bear—” Another awkward moment with Nick again. Every time the subject of his past came up, people squirmed. Even, on occasion, Simon. Amanda was used to it but still didn’t like it. Ivy took a deep breath and continued. “One of the new teachers?”

  Please not my mom, please not my mom, thought Amanda. If Banting Waltz was brainwashing Lila, who knew what she might do? She didn’t want to say anything though. Let the investigation take its course and with luck lead in some other direction.

  “We need to tell Thrillkill,” said Clive.

  Thrillkill was baffled. “You’re telling me monkeys stole our secrets?” he said when the kids had gathered in his office.

  “That’s what the evidence indicates,” said Amanda.

  “How odd,” said Thrillkill. “It does look as if we’ve got ourselves another mole. We’re going to need to administer lie detector tests.”

  Not the spiders, Amanda thought. Thrillkill didn’t know about those and she hoped no one would tell him. Their powers weren’t even proven yet. Not if Nick could beat them.

  “To the whole schoo
l?” said Ivy.

  “I’m afraid so,” said Thrillkill. “Students too.”

  That meant Nick, of course. Amanda was sure that someone—probably many someones—believed Nick was the culprit. And so they did. Some of them even made rude remarks about her for hanging around with him.

  But the tests didn’t incriminate Nick. They exonerated everyone, even Lila. This time Amanda didn’t even stop to consider whether Nick had beat the lie detector. She knew he hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “Someone is lying,” said Simon.

  “Not necessarily,” said Ivy. “Maybe Thrillkill missed someone.”

  “He tested the whole faculty, all the students, and everyone on the staff,” said Clive. “Even the gardeners.”

  “What about visitors?” said Amanda.

  “You mean like Despina?” said Ivy.

  “She hasn’t been here for a while,” said Amanda. Then she remembered. “Oh no!”

  “What?” said the others.

  “Never mind,” said Amanda.

  “You have to tell us, Amanda,” said Ivy.

  Amanda couldn’t bear the thought of it, but she knew she had to say it.

  “Eustace,” she said in a tiny voice. “He’s been here more than once.”

  The air seemed to go out of the room when Amanda suggested that Eustace might be the one who’d stolen the secrets, for that’s exactly what she’d done. Not that she wanted to. She knew the aspiring detective could never do something like that, but he was the only visitor who hadn’t been accounted for. Thrillkill summoned him and put him to the test.

  The fact that Eustace stumbled and got a weird reading did not help the situation one bit. When that occurred Thrillkill grilled him even harder, until after a couple of hours Eustace looked as if he had been through the wars. Professor McTavish, who was an expert on lie detectors, claimed that the results were inconclusive, but it was obvious that everyone thought the young man was guilty.