Amanda Lester, Detective Box Set

by Paula Berinstein

  “Faulty logic,” said Darktower. Amanda had practically forgotten he was there. Now she wanted to kiss him, although the thought of actually doing it made her sick.

  “How’s that, Professor?” said Simon.

  “Taffeta is hiding in the castle with Hugh, both of them need to be arrested, therefore someone would have to go there and get them. Whether it was us, the Punitori, or the police, chances were that someone would be hurt, if not killed.”

  Amanda couldn’t argue with his logic. Clive and Simon, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to find fault with it. They were obviously feeling guilty and had gone into self-punishment mode.

  “That’s okay as far as it goes,” said Clive. “But that’s true for every battle. We should have evaluated the risks more carefully. I should have learned more from that dog showing up when we were trying to use the acoustic levitator in the trove.”

  Simon elbowed him. “Shut up,” he said. The teachers didn’t know that the two boys and Amanda had breached the new gates that protected Legatum on the lake side during the spring. They could still get in trouble for that.

  “Oops, sorry,” said Clive.

  “You couldn’t have prevented Professor Ducey’s injury,” said Binnie, ignoring Clive’s gaffe. She didn’t know about the gates either, but either she didn’t care or his remark hadn’t registered. “And you don’t deserve to be in prison, Simon. We need you.”

  Simon thought a moment and then said, “I suppose you do, don’t you? Well, then, that’s settled.”

  Amanda couldn’t believe he could shift from one extreme to the other so quickly. On the other hand, Binnie had made a good point, and Simon could obviously see her logic. Clive, not so much.

  “No, I think that’s wrong,” he said.

  “What is?” said Binnie.

  “We are valuable,” he said, even though she hadn’t explicitly included him in her argument. “But if you exempt people from punishment because of that, then justice is different depending on who you are. That isn’t right.”

  “Good point,” said Simon.

  “Yes, it is,” said Darktower. “But you’ve fallen into a logical fallacy.”

  “What’s that?” said Simon.

  “You didn’t commit a crime,” said Darktower. “There’s no reason for you to be in jail.”

  “He’s got a point,” said Binnie cheerfully.

  “That’s right,” said Simon. “Even if we are responsible for Professor Ducey being shot—”

  “Which you aren’t,” said Amanda.”

  “We didn’t commit a crime. Therefore we don’t have to go to jail.”

  “Well, then, that’s settled,” said Simon. “Right, Clive?”

  “I guess so,” said Clive. “But I still feel guilty.”

  “You’d better get over it,” said Binnie. “Like I said, we need you.”

  30

  It’s a Wrap

  By the next morning there was still no word from Nick. Amanda was alternating between anger at his having betrayed her yet again and worry that he had been harmed by the machine’s effects. Finally she got so upset that she decided she had to go back to the castle and look for him. She probably wouldn’t find anything but she had to try, so she convinced Professor Scribbish to drive her.

  When they arrived at the castle they looked everywhere, but there was no sign of Nick. The place was a soggy mess, and Amanda was worried that his body might be underwater somewhere. They even drove around the area and searched along the roads where the ditches had overflowed, but they found nothing—nothing on the surface anyway.

  At last they decided to return to the castle. Maybe Nick had gone inside for some reason. Or perhaps Taffeta had come back and they would find her there. They crept close and crossed the bridge. The water was so high that it slopped over the walkway and they made a splushing sound as they crossed the moat, or lake, as it was now. When they entered, they could see that the water had made its way there too. And then they saw him lying on his side right in the middle of it.

  “Nick!” Amanda screamed. “OMG, OMG!”

  He was in terrible shape. He had been hit in the head and was all purple, with blood matting his hair. His face was swollen up like a balloon and he was shivering. Amanda could hear him cough and wondered if he had got pneumonia. If they didn’t get him to a doctor right away he might die! Together she and Professor Scribbish helped him to the car—he could barely walk and it took forever until the teacher lifted him up and slung him over his shoulder—and started back toward Legatum.

  “‘Manda,” Nick croaked. He was lying in the backseat with her next to him, holding him to warm him. He was shaking so much she felt as if she were in one of those magic fingers beds you sometimes find in motels, and he was burning up. “You came.”

  “Ssh, don’t talk,” she said, her anger gone but her worry exploding through the roof. “We’re taking you to Dr. Wing.”

  “Whoozat?” he said, barely able to get the words out.

  “Never mind. Just rest.”

  “She hit me,” said Nick.

  “Taffeta hit you?” said Professor Scribbish, looking at Nick in the mirror. “I’ll bet she’s still there. We should have looked.”

  “Gone,” said Nick.

  “How do you know?” said Amanda. “Wait, no. You can tell us later. Just be quiet now.”

  “Uh oh,” said Professor Scribbish.

  “What?” said Amanda.

  “My wipers are all shredded. I can’t see and I don’t have a spare pair.”

  “What are we going to do?” said Amanda.

  “Drive really, really slowly,” said Professor Scribbish.

  “Oh dear, oh dear,” said Amanda, feeling Nick’s wrist. She whispered, “He isn’t doing well. His pulse—”

  “I’m doing the best I can,” said Professor Scribbish. “But I can call Professor Sidebotham and have someone meet us.”

  “Yes, please,” she said.

  “You do it,” he said. “Otherwise we’ll have to stop.”

  “Good idea.” Amanda phoned Professor Sidebotham and explained the situation. The acting headmaster said she’d send someone immediately and to keep to the established route.

  In about half an hour, Amanda saw Professor Darktower’s SUV/UTE coming toward them. “There he is,” she said, and Professor Scribbish flashed his lights. Both cars pulled over, and a sodden and shivering Nick was transferred to the larger vehicle.

  “Here ya go,” said Professor Darktower, producing a pair of windshield wipers. “I’ve never seen anything like this rain. Dragon’s Tooth Bridge just washed away.”

  “Thanks,” said Professor Scribbish. “We need to go back and stay put now. Taffeta will have to wait.”

  “We’ll get her,” said Darktower.

  “She killed my mum,” moaned Nick.

  “As I said,” said Darktower.

  “Hugh?” said Nick.

  “All went according to plan,” said Amanda. “Everything’s going to be fine.” At least she hoped so.

  They could have phoned Salty or another EMT and got Nick to the nearest hospital, but they couldn’t risk him going to a public place. But when Holmes found out they had taken him inside Legatum, he was furious. It was one thing to make a deal with the devil, he said, but to invite him inside your stronghold, well, that was quite another.

  “You don’t need to hover over him,” he told Amanda.

  “I’m not hovering,” she protested.

  “You’re hovering. And you shouldn’t have let Hugh go.”

  “I couldn’t see another way. Could you?”

  “I’m sure we could have come up with something.”

  “There wasn’t time.”

  “I just hope we haven’t made the worst mistake of our lives.”

  Amanda reached for Holmes’s hand. She appreciated his saying “we” instead of you. It meant he wasn’t blaming her. “Me too.” When she touched him he flinched and held his hand rigid. She squeezed it e
ver so slightly. He swallowed and relaxed just a tiny bit. “I’m sorry,” she said. She wanted to hedge and say something like, “But I’m doing the best I can,” but she knew that was an excuse. She was truly sorry, and not just because circumstances were forcing her to do things that hurt Holmes. She was sorry for loving Nick, because she was pretty sure she did, and she really, really didn’t want to.

  In the excitement, Amanda had completely forgotten about Thrillkill and the others. With all this flooding, if they were in the tunnels they were in even more danger than before. But surely the wretches weren’t that dumb. They’d know the tunnels were treacherous and take refuge somewhere else. Where? It was time to face Professor Kindseth and get him to do something, whether he liked it or not.

  “You must think I’m heartless,” he said when Amanda and Ivy confronted him.

  “Yes, we do,” said Ivy. “We thought you were a good guy.”

  “Ivy!” said Amanda. “You can’t say that.”

  “Yes I can,” said Ivy. “My sister is out there with some crazies. For all we know she’s dead. How can you live with yourself, Professor?”

  “I can’t,” he said. “I’ve been a coward and I want to crawl into a hole.”

  “How are you going to feel if my sister and Professor Thrillkill and Gordon and Amanda’s cousins die? Huh, huh, how about that?”

  “I get it,” said Professor Kindseth looking thoroughly miserable. “I’m not a bad person, Miss Halpin, really I’m not. I’m just weak.”

  “Pish tosh,” said Ivy, using one of Fern’s expressions. “I thought you were a detective. Detectives don’t make excuses.”

  “You’re absolutely right. This stops now.”

  “Good,” said Ivy. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to get a message to Charlotte. Just as soon as I think of something I can offer her.”

  “How about ‘You get to save lives and not go to jail’?” said Amanda sarcastically.

  “That makes sense, of course,” said Professor Kindseth, “but I have a better idea.”

  “You can’t offer her a plea bargain,” said Amanda, reverting to the legal knowledge she’d gained from watching her father.

  “No, of course not,” said Professor Kindseth. “I’m going to resign. She left me because I lied to her. She’s jealous of Legatum, if you can believe that. I will tell her I’ve left and there’s no point taking out her anger on the school. If she wants to hurt me, she should do it directly.”

  “Not much of a gesture,” said Ivy. “You’ll be fired anyway when Professor Sidebotham finds out you’ve breached security.”

  “Yes, I have, and I’m ready to take my punishment. I’ve ruined my career. I will have to find something else to do.”

  This got to Amanda. As angry as she was with the man, she didn’t want his life ruined.

  “I’m very sorry, Professor,” she said. “Perhaps you can become a cinematographer now, as you’ve always wanted.”

  “Not if Darius Plover has anything to say about it,” he said. “Speaking of which, where’s he got to? Did he go back to Hollywood when they shut down the dig?”

  “We don’t know,” said Amanda. “We’re a little worried about him.”

  “Because you haven’t heard from him? I shouldn’t worry about that. You know how Hollywood types are.” He smiled ever so slightly. “I hope Professor Tumble didn’t hear that.”

  “Professor Tumble doesn’t hear anything,” said Ivy. “She’s hard of hearing.”

  “Is that what you think?” said the teacher. Amanda looked at him quizzically and Ivy frowned. “Let me tell you something about Glassina Tumble. That woman is as sharp as one of Professor Thrillkill’s icicles. Don’t let her fool you.”

  “So her supposed deafness is just a disguise?” said Ivy.

  “You betcha,” said Professor Kindseth. “Things around here aren’t always what they seem, you know.”

  “Yes, we know,” said Ivy. “Don’t we, Amanda?”

  “We sure do,” said Amanda. “We’re learning that more every day.”

  “Well, then, back to the matter at hand,” said the teacher. Since I don’t know where Charlotte is, I’ll get her to come to me.”

  “How will you do that, Professor?” said Ivy.

  “I’ll do something very public that will get her attention. A flamboyant bit of public art. When she sees that she’ll know I’m looking for her. I guess you’ve gathered that she’s an artist.”

  “Yes, a very weird one,” said Amanda, thinking of the pictures on the tunnel walls. “But what if she doesn’t see the art? How can you count on her just happening by—oh, I get it. She won’t. She’ll hear about it.”

  “But how will she know it has anything to do with you?” said Ivy.

  “Trust me, she will,” said Professor Kindseth.

  “Even if she knows you had something to do with it, she could still ignore you,” said Amanda. “She’ll figure you want the hostages released, and why should she?”

  “She won’t think that,” said the teacher. “I’m going to send her a specific message.”

  “Oh, you mean writing on the art,” said Ivy.

  “No,” he said. “Symbolism.”

  “In artistic language?” said Amanda.

  “Exactly. I will offer her the chance to hurt me further. That is what she wants, and that is what I will give her.”

  “It sounds terrible,” said Ivy.

  “It is,” he said. “I never should have got mixed up with her in the first place.”

  Amanda gulped. In a way Professor Kindseth’s association with Charlotte was like hers with Nick. She never should have got mixed up with him either. On the other hand, doing a background check on every person you might become friends with seemed paranoid. She wondered what such a check would turn up on her friends, or even herself. She didn’t want to know.

  “Be that as it may,” Professor Kindseth continued. “I’m in the situation now and I have to act—quickly.” He took out his phone and punched. “Julia, Ken.” He had called Professor Browning. “I’m in a bit of a pickle.” Pause. “Yes, as a matter of fact you can. Can you meet me in my office? Yes, now. Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize.” Pause. “Thirty minutes? Great. See you then.”

  “Professor Browning is going to help you,” said Ivy.

  “She might,” said Professor Kindseth. “I’m not sure what she’s going to think when I explain.”

  Amanda shifted in her seat. “I’m sure she’ll want to get Fern and Gordon and the rest back as soon as possible. She’ll do it.”

  Then the teacher pressed another icon. “Miss Kapoor?” Amanda just about fell off her chair. Why was he calling Amphora? “Yes, it’s Professor Kindseth.” Pause. “Actually no, everything is not all right.” Pause. “I wouldn’t panic just yet.” Pause. No, please stay calm. It will be fine.” He looked at Amanda and shook his head. She made a face. “Can you please meet me in my office?” Pause. “No, you’re not in trouble.” Pause. “Great. See you in a moment.”

  “She’s a lot of work, isn’t she?” said Amanda.

  “Amanda!” said Ivy. “Fifty p.”

  “Oh, sorry,” said Amanda. “I forgot.”

  “Sorry, girls, gotta run,” said Professor Kindseth. “I will make this right. I promise you.”

  After the girls had left Professor Kindseth’s office Amanda said, “Boy, from one extreme to the other.”

  “Professor Kindseth, you mean?” said Ivy.

  “Yes. First he’s all weepy and then he’s super detective. Do you think we’ll all end up like that?”

  “To be honest, I think some of us will,” Ivy said. Amanda gasped. “I can hear you, Amanda. You’re freaking out. Don’t. It won’t be you or me.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “We’re strong. Sure, we’ll have setbacks, but we’ll always be okay.”

  “I don’t know. Look at Thrillkill and his icicles. That’s pretty weird.”

  “I
didn’t say we won’t be quirky,” said Ivy. “I just mean that we’ll come out okay in the end.”

  “Sometimes I think that,” said Amanda. “But sometimes I don’t. Well, you will.”

  “And so will you,” said Ivy.

  “I hope so.” Amanda didn’t want to ask if she thought Fern would be okay. Ivy was resilient, but she was still worried about her sister and her dad, and neither was out of the woods yet.

  “He did a very bad thing,” said Ivy. “I still can’t believe it.”

  “Me either,” said Amanda. Then she thought of Professor Also, and how hard she’d become, or perhaps she always had been and Amanda hadn’t seen it. “This place does things to you, Ivy. Poor Professor Ducey.”

  “I know,” said Ivy. “He’s my favorite teacher.”

  “How can these bad guys keep winning?” said Amanda. “We’re better than they are.”

  “That’s exactly the problem,” said Ivy.

  Both Professor Browning and Amphora agreed to help Professor Kindseth with his art project, Professor Browning sadly and Amphora enthusiastically. Now that she was in her element, Amphora wouldn’t shut up about the whole thing and ended up bickering with Simon even more than usual. Ivy made a fortune in fines and decided that at the first opportunity she would open a bank account and earn some interest on her loot.

  Professor Kindseth had decided that they would make a huge installation out of white fabric by fashioning it into billowing shapes and hanging it from trees near Penrith. A project like that would pose a challenge at the best of times, but with the constant rain it would be a nightmare. Still, Amphora was so excited that she didn’t care how difficult it was or how wet she got.

  Getting hold of that much fabric was a project in its own right. The fabric store in Windermere didn’t have enough white anything, and they had to run around to stores all over the Lake District. Then, because they had odd sizes of material from all those shops, they had to figure out how to put it all together in the right shapes and configurations. That took a day in itself, with two entire classrooms and three sewing machines devoted to the task. When the whole thing was done, the material was so heavy that they had to get a forklift in to move it and load it into a truck. As if that weren’t bad enough, the forklift driver managed to tear some of it, and they had to repair it right in the truck, using one of Professor Tumble’s portable sewing machines and a very long extension cord. By this time, Amphora’s enthusiasm had worn off and she was in a foul mood, which wasn’t helped by her sticking herself with a needle at least three times and bleeding all over the fabric, then having to run off for a stain stick to remove the spots. But in the end, they got all the fabric together and the truck took it and them and Amanda and Ivy and Simon, who still didn’t know what to make of Professor Kindseth’s perfidy, to Penrith.