by Z. Fraillon
By Zana Fraillon
Illustrations by Simon Swingler
Monstrum House: Locked In
published in 2010 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
85 High Street
Prahran, Victoria 3181, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia
Text copyright © 2010 Zana Fraillon
Illustration and design copyright © 2010 Hardie Grant Egmont
Design and illustrations by Simon Swingler
Typeset by Ektavo
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Author dedication:
To Mani and the Racing Snail
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
1
Jasper McPhee stared at the school principal’s car. He smiled. He had done a good job. ‘One last finishing touch,’ he said to himself as he shoved a banana skin in the car’s tailpipe. ‘Perfect.’
Jasper wished he had brought his phone. It would have been great to take a picture.
He’d found some seriously gross stuff. The car was stuffed full of half-eaten sandwiches, rotting orange peel, old nappies and other bits of rubbish. Fat, maggoty flies thudded against the windows. It had taken a long time, and about twenty bags of rubbish, but finally he had finished.
Jasper wiped his hands on his jeans and turned around.
The smile froze on his face. Oops, he thought.
His principal was standing there. His face was the darkest shade of red Jasper had ever seen it – and he had seen it get pretty red before.
He deserves it for being such a snob, thought Jasper.
Jasper was used to kids giving him a hard time about his mum’s job, but there was no way he was going to let the principal get away with it. As far as Jasper was concerned, his mum being a garbo was pretty cool. She got to drive a truck and be home in time to take his little sisters to school. Before she got the job as a rubbish collector, his mum had done shift work and it was left to Jasper to get his sisters to school. Now that they got to see more of her, everyone was happier.
Looking at the principal’s beetroot-red face, Jasper knew he was a goner. And in the first week back at school! He couldn’t explain his way out of this one. At least he didn’t have anything to lose.
‘Who needs a garbo now, sir?’ Jasper grinned, and ran for it.
‘The Monstrum House School for Troubled Children,’ said the man from the Department of Education as he handed Jasper’s mum a smart-looking flyer. She looked stunned.
‘It’s his only choice. Three schools in just over a year is not a good record,’ the man said sniffily. He straightened his suit and glanced around the shabby apartment.
Jasper had heard it all before, but this time it was worse. His mum looked at him, and he realised she’d already made the decision.
‘Mum, it’s a military school,’ Jasper pleaded, ‘and a boarding school.’
‘Basically,’ the man continued, ignoring Jasper, ‘it is this or nothing. And nothing usually leads to jail, Mrs McPhee. Monstrum House starts back next week, so Jasper will still make it for the start of the school year. Enrolment has now closed, but given the special circumstances, the principal has kindly agreed to accept Jasper.’
Jasper’s mum sat down. She sighed.
‘As I’m sure you’re aware,’ said the man, ‘the first twelve months are compulsory. After that time, students may be welcomed back into the standard school system, or they may be – er, invited – to stay on at Monstrum House.’
Jasper went cold as his mum looked at the man from the Department of Education, and sadly nodded her head.
The gravel crunched under the tyres as Jasper’s mum drove slowly up the driveway.
‘It’ll be great!’ his mum said, but Jasper didn’t believe it for a second. She had a bright smile plastered on her face, but the night before he thought he’d heard her crying.
Jasper knew he would hate Monstrum House, but here they were anyway. And there was nothing he could do about it.
As the car turned around the final bend in the driveway, Jasper felt his guts clench into a tight ball. His guts knew. His guts always knew when he was in trouble. They had twisted into knots when older, tougher kids had bullied him and his sisters at his other schools. They had jumped whenever a school principal uttered the word ‘expelled’. And they were telling him something awful now.
‘This is not good,’ Jasper muttered to himself as the Monstrum House mansion came into view.
‘It’s a great building, isn’t it?’ said his mum in a voice that was way too bright.
An old stone mansion rose up before them, its turrets reaching into the sky. Flags flew from the turrets, and the plate-glass windows twinkled in the sun. ‘It will certainly be a change from our flat, anyway,’ she said. ‘It looks like something out of a fairytale.’
Jasper didn’t reply. He knew that fairytales weren’t real. The school was impressive, but there was something mean about it too. As soon as they drove through the iron gates with the school emblem above them, Jasper felt trapped. He shuddered.
‘It won’t be so bad,’ said Jasper’s mum. ‘It may look strict, but you will get to learn all sorts of new skills. Things you would never have dreamt of. And it’s only for a year. Maybe you’ll even like it. You might decide that you want to stay longer.’
There was no chance of that. A military school was not Jasper’s idea of fun. But he supposed that was the point.
The car pulled up and Jasper looked at the mansion through the window. ‘Next birthday, I’ll be happy with a book,’ he said dryly.
His mum grinned. Jasper had almost died when he heard that his first day at Monstrum House fell on his thirteenth birthday.
‘At least the uniform’s cool,’ his mum said.
The Monstrum House School
for Troubled Children
Jasper didn’t point out that anything she thought was cool couldn’t actually be cool, but he had to admit, it was the best uniform he’d had so far.
‘Black trackie daks and a brown hoodie!’ his mum said. ‘You can’t get better than that.’ She reached over and gave him a big goodbye hug. ‘See you in a year. Your sisters and I will miss you. Make sure you write whenever you can.’
Jasper nodded and gave her the card that he had made the night before. She always had sore feet, so he’d drawn a cartoon of her on the front, relaxing with her feet in a tub of water.
‘Oh, Jasper. It’s more perfect than you know,’ she said as her eyes welled up. She was being really weird. ‘Be good, won’t you?’
Jasper forced himself to grin as he grabbed his backpack and got out of the car. He hated to see her blubbing. ‘Don’t worry, Mum, I’m always good,’ he said as he waved goodbye.
‘Trust me,’ she smiled through her tears, ‘it will be ... an adventure. Just, please, be careful,’ she said, looking him straight in the eye.
As soon as she was out of sight, Jasper let the smile fall from his face. Some adventure, he thought.
His guts clenched tight again. He wasn’t nervous. He’d changed school
s so often that he didn’t get nervous about going to a new one.
But his guts were definitely telling him something – this school was different.
2
Jasper wandered over towards the mansion where the new kids had gathered. They were all trying to act cool about this being their new home, but no-one really looked happy.
Two teachers stood with the new arrivals. The first teacher was chatting to the students. She looked normal – not like the kind of teacher Jasper expected to see at a military school. But the other teacher was dressed in a sharp military uniform with shiny buttons. He said nothing.
Jasper stood next to a girl who looked about a year younger than him. She seemed to be completely unfazed, maybe even bored. He wondered what she had done to get sent here. She didn’t look like a ‘troubled child’.
‘Maybe selling my parents’ car while they were on one of their trips overseas wasn’t such a good idea after all,’ the girl sighed to Jasper.
‘It depends,’ he replied, trying to hide his surprise. ‘Did you get much for it?’
‘Nearly forty grand,’ she said.
Jasper was impressed. ‘Forty grand? What did you spend it on?’ He couldn’t even imagine what he’d buy with that much money.
‘I gave it to a foundation for street kids. Not that my parents even know what street kids are,’ the girl replied bitterly.
That’s pretty cool, Jasper thought approvingly.
Homework books and maps of the school grounds were handed around to all the students. The girl unrolled her map straight away and stared intently at it.
‘Now,’ the first teacher announced, ‘if I read out your name, please step to my right.’
She started calling out names, and some of the kids stepped uncertainly to one side.
‘Jasper McPhee,’ she called.
It could just be a different class, he thought, but it somehow felt more foreboding than that.
The girl glanced at him uneasily. Jasper shrugged and moved to the side.
‘Saffron Dominguez,’ the teacher called out, and the girl came and stood next to Jasper.
‘Saffy,’ she corrected the teacher loudly.
The teacher paused and glanced at Saffy, but didn’t respond.
When she had finished reading out names, about half the kids were standing with Jasper and Saffy.
The teacher in military uniform stepped forward. ‘Attention!’ he yelled, completely ignoring Jasper and Saffy’s group, and addressing only the other students. ‘March!’
The students scrambled into line and were marched away.
‘They’re in for it,’ Jasper whispered to Saffy.
‘Now,’ said the first teacher to the remaining students. ‘If you would kindly follow me.’ She began walking briskly towards the mansion. ‘You are being moved to a different campus.’
Jasper stopped. ‘Do our parents know?’
The teacher faltered slightly before smiling. ‘Yes, of course. It was all in the information manual. Quickly now.’
The wooden doors to the mansion were opened and the kids were herded through the building. The cold stone floors echoed as they trudged along. Paintings of stern-looking men in military uniforms hung on the walls, staring down at them.
‘No paintings of women, then?’ Saffy said darkly, as they passed a marble staircase winding up towards yet more portraits of men in uniform.
Jasper could hear the voices of students reciting lessons as they passed by the classrooms. He wondered whether his mum really did know about them moving campus.
The worst part was, he couldn’t tell her himself. Although he could write letters home, he wasn’t allowed to see, hear or talk to his family or friends until his year was up.
‘Jasper can write to you, of course,’ the man from the Department of Education had said. ‘But unless there is an emergency, he won’t receive any news from home. It seems tough, but it is school policy and it does help protect the children from any negative outside influences.’
Jasper sighed. He supposed a new campus wasn’t that big a deal. And it had to be better than this creepy place.
Another set of doors were opened, and everyone was led outside to a large field. Jasper stopped short. There was stunned silence.
‘Are they for real?’ Saffy asked.
The biggest, coolest-looking aeroplane that Jasper had ever seen was sitting on an airstrip in the middle of a field. The plane’s silver tail was emblazoned with the Monstrum House emblem. This school was loaded! Jasper felt a small flicker of hope that this might not be such a bad birthday after all.
‘All aboard!’ the pilot called, waving to the astonished students.
‘Talk about changing campus in style!’ said Saffy.
Jasper was too shocked to answer. A school that flew the kids to their campus?
‘Better than catching a bus,’ he said, when he finally managed to find his tongue.
Jasper walked up the steps of the plane and into the cabin. He’d never been on a plane before, but this was beyond anything he had ever imagined. The seats turned into beds, and everyone had their own DVD player and games console. There was even a shower. Not that anyone was about to have a shower when there were games to be played and movies to be watched, but still, a plane with a shower!
Excited chatter filled the cabin as everyone bounced about in their seats, checking out the gadgets. Jasper pushed a button to ease his seat back a bit, and ended up flat on his back.
The School Bus...
‘Tired are we?’ Saffy grinned from the seat next to him. She looked completely at home in the fancy plane. Jasper struggled to get his seat back upright as the flight attendants came around checking everyone’s seatbelts.
The plane zoomed off down the runway. Jasper found himself gripping the armrests as the ground dropped away beneath them.
Awesome, he thought. The plane swooshed into the sky. Jasper saw trees and buildings shrink beneath him and soon there was nothing but white cloud.
The seatbelt sign dinged off and soft, tinkling music played over the speakers. Flight attendants handed around menus offering everything from milkshakes and hamburgers to sushi rolls. Jasper ordered a hot dog, a strawberry milkshake and a hot-fudge sundae.
How far away is this new campus? Jasper thought as the plane tipped slightly to the right. He tried to work out which direction they were flying in, but all he could see was endless blue sky. None of the other kids seemed bothered – a lot of them had already dozed off. But Jasper didn’t like not knowing where he was.
The music kept playing softly over the speakers. It was strange music, unlike anything Jasper had heard before. Listening to it was almost like following a bumpy path on a road that kept twisting about, circling around and around. Jasper started feeling sick.
He pulled on his headphones, but the music seeped in through them as well. Something strange was happening. Stranger even than being flown to school.
Jasper rubbed his forehead. The music was becoming more intense. His whole body felt incredibly heavy, as though he had been drenched in a wave of tiredness. He tried to force his eyes to stay open.
Saffy was already asleep in the seat next to him, and looking around, Jasper saw most of the other kids in the plane were completely out of it. Games and movies sat half-played in front of them.
Jasper refused to fall asleep. ‘Stay ... awake ...’ he urged himself. ‘Stay ...’
But all he could hear was the music.
3
Jasper woke up to a warm face washer being held against his face. A flight attendant was gently dabbing at his forehead. ‘Wakey, wakey,’ she said in a sugar-sweet drawl. ‘We’re there now. You’ve been asleep for quite a while.’
Jasper shook his head. The headache was still there, but his body was starting to feel normal again. The music had stopped.
‘How long were we flying for?’ he asked thickly.
The flight attendant just smiled and handed him a bottle of water. ‘Here
– this will make you feel much better,’ she said and patted him on the head.
Saffy was awake beside him. She didn’t look happy. ‘The music,’ she said.
Jasper knew what she meant. The same thought had crossed his mind just before he had conked out. ‘It was like some sort of ... I don’t know. Mind thingy,’ he said, rubbing his temples. ‘I couldn’t shut it out. It was horrible.’
What kind of school does this to kids? wondered Jasper. And what else are we in for?
‘Leave your bags and disembark carefully,’ a voice instructed over the intercom. There was no sign of the pilot or the flight attendants. The teacher who’d led them to the plane was nowhere to be seen.
Everyone looked around uncertainly.
‘Well, it’s no use staying on the plane,’ Saffy muttered as she got unsteadily to her feet and walked towards the doors. Jasper followed.
Wherever they were, it was freezing. Jasper pulled his hood over his head as he stepped carefully down the icy steps. He got to the bottom and looked around.
‘What the –?’ Saffy said behind him.
They looked at each other in confusion.
They were back at Monstrum House. At least, it looked like Monstrum House. The old stone mansion was the same, the turrets, the flags, the field, everything. Except that everything was covered in snow. Icicles hung from the roof of the mansion, snow mounds were piled up in front of the doors, and the trees were completely white. There were animal tracks leading across the field and Jasper could see a dark forest at the edge of the school grounds.
The Monstrum House School for
Troubled Children ... but freezing cold!
‘Do you think it snowed while we flew around?’ A boy behind Jasper asked doubtfully.
Jasper didn’t think so.
He peered at the building again. There was a difference. Although it looked the same, it felt different. The flags and windows were darker. Perhaps it was just all the ice.
Jasper thought he heard someone whispering faintly from behind him.
