Ashford surprised Alfie with a conspiratorial wink. Alfie was very pleased with this rule. He hardly saw his dad when he was wrapped up in his inventions and was very afraid that he would soon fall into his old behaviour, despite no longer needing to work several jobs. He smiled gratefully at the curious butler.
On Saturday, Ashford seemed to be making up for his initial slightly resentful attitude by conjuring fantastic dishes out of thin air. Wonderful smells drifted through the castle all day and set Alfie’s stomach constantly rumbling. Alfie thought his aunt seemed a little put out when she turned up to find that she wasn’t needed in the kitchen.
That evening, dozens of guests began to gather outside the castle long before the party was even due to start. When the clock in the Great Hall struck six o’clock, Alfie helped Ashford swing open the castle’s heavy oak doors and lower the drawbridge. Aunt Grace’s best friend, Gertie Entwhistle, was first across, carrying a huge cake dripping with chocolate. The crowd flooded over the drawbridge after her, murmuring with excitement.
“Welcome to Hexbridge Castle,” announced Ashford with a small bow. “May I introduce your host, Master Alfie Bloom.”
Everyone shook hands with Alfie and his dad as they streamed past, eager to see the inside of the castle for the first time.
Quite a few of the children at the party were pupils at Wyrmwald House, the school that Alfie was due to start in September with his cousins. They were all very excited to meet him and clamoured for his attention, asking questions about the castle. Alfie felt uncomfortable at first – he wasn’t used to being the centre of attention. He had been known as the boy whose mum died at his last school and it had left him very lonely. He began to feel a lot better as he answered their questions. No one pitied or avoided him here. In Hexbridge he was known only as the boy who had inherited a castle.
He liked everyone Robin and Madeleine introduced him to very much – particularly the twin’s neighbour, Jimmy Feeney, and Madeleine’s best friend, Holly Okoye. He spent quite a while showing them around and even let them see one of the secret passages he had found. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not, but there was a sense of joy in the air, as though the castle was happy at having so much noise and laughter in its halls.
“Don’t look now, Alfie,” said Holly suddenly, “but Murkle and Snitch have caught your dad.”
Alfie turned to see his dad standing between two very stern-looking women.
“Whoa, who are they?”
“You haven’t heard?” exploded Jimmy. “Rob and Mads should have warned you by now. You don’t want to go to Wyrmwald without knowing a thing or three about Murkle and Snitch!”
“We wanted to let him settle in first,” said Robin. Alfie noticed him nudge Jimmy with his elbow.
“What’s so bad about them?” he asked, eyeing the women nervously.
“They’ve been joint headmistresses at Wyrmwald House for years,” replied Robin. “They even taught Mum and Dad. They’re sisters and are supposed to be a bit strict, but Jimmy always exaggerates.”
“Pah! You wait till September, then you’ll see if I’m exaggerating or not! My brothers and sisters are always being put in detention for nothing.”
“Nothing? Really?” laughed Robin. Jimmy ignored him and continued. “Did you hear what they did to Charlie Belcher last year? My sister Sinéad saw it all, didn’t you?” The tall dark-haired girl next to Alfie nodded.
“Sure did. Snitch thought she saw Charlie stealing someone’s desert, so they forced him to make himself sick and then made him run around the playing field for the whole afternoon.”
“That can’t be true,” said Alfie.
“I didn’t steal it,” said a voice. The crowd of children parted to reveal the red-faced Charlie Belcher. “I swopped Ben Carter a trading card for it, but they wouldn’t believe me.”
“What did your parents do? You did tell them?”
“As soon as I got home. They went straight to the school to complain. When they came back, they were acting funny and grounded me for telling lies.”
“Same thing happened when my Ma went down there after they confiscated my brother Cormac’s new red trainers,” said Jimmy. “She was fuming when she left, but she came back all weird and told Cormac off for losing them.”
Alfie smiled politely at his new friend’s exaggerations. Still, he decided that he would have to be very careful not to get on the wrong side of his new head teachers.
“I’m not afraid of them,” said a smartly suited boy in a haughty voice. “My father would have them sacked if they tried anything on me.”
“Oh, shut it, Edward,” said Jimmy. “You wouldn’t dare mess with them. You cried your eyes out last week when Mrs Sneesby confiscated your spud gun.” Some of the others laughed loudly. Edward went bright red.
“I wasn’t crying! I had hay fever.” He stomped off before Jimmy could accuse him of lying. Alfie watched him join his equally haughty-looking parents. Edward’s mother was prodding a sausage roll as though it was a large slug that had slithered on to her plate.
“That’s Lord and Lady Snoddington,” said Robin as Alfie noticed Edward’s dad glaring around at the castle as though it had just insulted him. “They own Hexbridge Hall, the big manor house outside the village. Edward’s always bragging about living in the biggest house for miles.”
“Not any more,” snorted Madeleine. “Bet he hates you, Alfie!”
From the way Edward was scowling at him, Alfie was sure she was right.
“Alfie!” called his dad, beckoning frantically from across the room. “Come and meet your new head teachers.”
Alfie groaned and headed over.
“Good luck,” whispered Holly.
“Alfie, this is Miss Evelyn Murkle and Miss Edwina Snitch.” Alfie could understand why his dad seemed a bundle of nerves as he made the introductions. Although their appearance was very different, each of the women looked as mean and malicious as the other. Miss Murkle was short and round with red cheeks and wild frizzy hair. Miss Snitch was tall, pale and wore her dark hair scraped back into a tight bun. Her nose was sharp, her fingernails were very sharp but Alfie soon realized that the sharpest thing about her was her voice.
“A pleasure to meet you, young man.” Her voice set his teeth on edge like nails scraping down a blackboard.
“A pleasure indeed,” added Miss Murkle with a grimace that clearly stated it wasn’t a pleasure at all. He shuffled back a little to try to put his dad between him and the two intimidating women.
“Your headmistresses have been asking all kinds of questions about the castle,” said his dad. “Why don’t you give them a guided tour? You can ask about your new school.”
“That will be unnecessary,” the sisters answered at exactly the same time. Alfie thought Miss Snitch looked thoroughly disgusted at the idea of spending time with him. “Now if you would excuse us.” They turned and strode away, each in perfect time with the other. Alfie heard his dad give a huge sigh of relief.
“Ahem!” Alfie turned to see Lord and Lady Snoddington and a sulky Edward. Ashford was standing in front of them. Lord Snoddington prodded the butler in the back and snapped, “Go on, man, get on with it!”
Alfie thought he saw a sudden sharpness in Ashford’s face. It passed as quickly as it had appeared and the butler adopted a charming smile. “Sirs,” he announced, “Lord Tarquin and Lady Lucretia Snoddington would have me make their presence known to you.”
Alfie gazed wistfully over at his friends and tried to remain polite as Lord and Lady Snoddington rambled on about their heritage and quizzed his dad on the Blooms’ lack of it. They seemed determined to find out how they had inherited the castle. Alfie decided not to mention Orin Hopcraft and got around their questions by telling them that it used to belong to a distant relative.
Eventually, conversation turned to what Lord Snoddington refe
rred to as gentlemanly pursuits.
“So, Alfred, have you ever been fox hunting? It’s a fine sport. Young Edward has been riding alongside me since his eighth birthday. How would you like to come on the next hunt?”
Edward managed to look even sulkier.
“No thank you, Lord Snoddington.” said Alfie. “Isn’t it illegal? Besides, I like foxes. Me and Mum used to leave food out for one that visited our garden.”
“Why on earth would you encourage a fox into your garden?” Lady Snoddington’s spindly eyebrows looked as though they were going to disappear into her hair. “They’re vermin! Disease-ridden vermin!”
“I think you’ll find that foxes are very intelligent creatures,” said a woman with sparkling green eyes and vivid red hair. Alfie liked the way she wore it rolled back from her face like an old-fashioned film star.
“Pffht! I guessed you’d be of that ilk,” exclaimed Lord Snoddington. He feigned a glance at an invisible watch and announced, “Goodness, is that the time? Thank you for inviting us into your humble home, young Alfred. Our chauffeur is waiting. Wouldn’t do to leave the Bentley in view of all and sundry.”
“Bloody tree-huggers,” Alfie heard him mutter as they left.
“I’d like to assure you that there are some relatively normal people in the village,” said the red-haired woman with a grin. She held out her hand. “Hazel Reynard. I teach English and history at Wyrmwald House.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Reynard,” said Alfie’s dad. Alfie followed his dad’s lead and shook the teacher’s hand a little clumsily.
“Miss Murkle and Miss Snitch might not have wanted the grand tour, but I’d love to see the library if Alfie doesn’t mind showing me around instead?”
At that moment a slightly worse-for-wear Gertie Entwhistle dragged Alfie’s dad away to judge whether her beetroot-and-chocolate cake or Mrs Arbuckle’s lemon meringue pie was nicer.
The twins joined them as Alfie led the way upstairs. Nearing the library, he was surprised to hear voices coming from inside. Miss Reynard put her finger to her lips and they crept towards the door to listen. It sounded as though furniture was being moved and drawers opened and closed.
“There must be something round here that can tell us where it is and how to open it,” said an irritated voice.
“Of course there is – you’re not looking hard enough,” snapped someone else.
“Do you think there’s a key?”
“That’s why we’re looking, to find out! Now stop wasting time and keep a lookout. Brats are swarming over this place like ants, and that Merryweather woman seems to be there every time I turn around.”
Footsteps approached the door. Miss Reynard quickly flung it open and breezed into the room as though in mid sentence. “… and that is the gruesome reason it is called a portcullis. Oh, hello, Miss Murkle. Sorry, did the door hit you? Miss Snitch, how lovely to see you at a social event. Have you met our host and his cousins? They’ll be attending Wyrmwald in September.”
Alfie was growing more and more impressed with Miss Reynard. Murkle rubbed her bruised nose and glared. Snitch’s voice cut through the silence.
“Yes, we have met the boy. I’m afraid we got rather lost and noticed several children running amok in here. We sent them packing and are making sure they haven’t damaged anything.”
Miss Reynard smiled. “I’m sure Alfie is very grateful.”
“Er, yes, thank you so much,” said Alfie, taking his cue and earning a glare from Snitch that nearly knocked him over.
“Well, everything seems to be in order, so we’ll be going.” Miss Snitch cast one final sharp glance at Alfie as she left the room. Murkle waddled after her as Robin whispered in Miss Reynard’s ear.
“Miss Murkle, I think you forgot something,” she called, pointing at something the headmistress was trying to conceal under her cardigan.
“My mistake,” spluttered Murkle. “It was on the floor when we came in. I, um, wasn’t sure where to put it.” She grudgingly handed over a roll of paper. Alfie watched them march away down the hallway and wondered what they had really been up to.
“What did you take from Miss Murkle?” he asked, when he was sure that they had gone.
“They appear to be plans of the castle.” Miss Reynard rolled them out carefully on to the table. “I wonder what they were looking for?”
“Whatever it was, it sounds as if they didn’t find it,” said Alfie.
“That’s true, but it could be a reason to be careful around them. Murkle and Snitch are not the sort of people you want to take an interest in you.”
Alfie was surprised to hear her refer to the head teachers by their last names alone.
“Now that’s enough about them.” She smiled. “Let’s see what treasures this room holds.”
She browsed the books with great delight before admiring the library itself.
“Do you know the symbolism behind that?” she asked, pointing at an ornate painted carving above the fireplace. It was of three women around an old-fashioned spinning wheel. Alfie shook his head.
“Those are the Fates, three mythological sisters. The Greeks believed that they mapped out our lives at birth and decided how good or fortunate someone would be. Clotho, the youngest, is spinning the thread of life. She decides how happy a life will be. Her sister, Lachesis, is measuring it to decide how long the person will live. The oldest woman is Atropos. She cuts the thread when it is time to die.”
Alfie stared, transfixed by the sisters as Miss Reynard spoke.
“The Greek philosopher Philostratus said that if the Fates decreed someone would win a race at the Olympic Games, then they would win even with a broken leg. If a man was destined to become a great archer, he would never miss his target even if he lost his eyesight.”
Madeleine looked thoughtful. “So if I was destined to fail my exams, there’s no way I could ever pass, no matter how hard I work?” she said with a smile. “It would be pointless trying, really.”
“Hmm … well, as we can’t talk to these ladies, there’s no way of knowing if you are destined to fail maths,” said Miss Reynard, “so don’t even think of not studying.”
Alfie shot a last look at the Fates and gave an involuntary shiver as he headed back to the party. The thought of an entire lifetime mapped out and unchangeable was terrifying.
Alfie’s dad spent a lot of time in his workshop over the next few weeks. Alfie noticed how much happier he seemed being free to work on his devices every day, but couldn’t help feeling a little sad they weren’t spending as much time together as they had since the letter from Muninn and Bone. At least Ashford was enforcing the rule that he ate regular meals with Alfie in the Great Hall, and he was even starting to put on weight. Alfie had insisted that the butler eat his evening meal with them, and they clustered around one end of the huge table each evening. Ashford had warmed up considerably. But while he seemed incredibly interested in every aspect of their lives, he answered very little about himself.
“I’m far too boring a subject for dinner conversation,” he announced when Alfie asked where he was from. “You’d fall asleep in your mashed potatoes. Now, tell me all about your last school. What were your favourite subjects?”
One day a little parcel covered in stamps arrived from Amy, who was still touring Asia with her gran. It contained a wooden beaded bracelet and a tiny waistcoat. The letter informed him that the bracelet was from a temple in Beijing and the waistcoat was a gift for Galileo from a cat café they had visited in Hong Kong. It cost him more than a few scratches to wrestle Galileo into the waistcoat so that he could take a picture for Amy – the cat did not seem at all impressed with his gift. Amy had also enclosed some photos of their travels. His favourite was of her clambering over gigantic tree roots that sprawled over a temple she had visited in Thailand. At the bottom she had written, I think this is what Gran
meant when she said she wants me to discover my roots. He laughed as he stuck the picture on his wardrobe door. He wished Amy wasn’t away for the whole summer, as he was dying to talk to her about the castle and his dad’s revelations.
After dreading a long boring summer alone in the city, Alfie found himself with barely a free minute in Hexbridge. He spent as much time at the farm as the castle, where Uncle Herb set him to work with the twins. His days were filled with stacking hay bales, collecting eggs and fixing fences.
One sunny afternoon in August, as Alfie and his cousins took a break from painting the cattle shed, a hunting horn blasted out from the forest. It was followed by dogs barking as they crashed through the undergrowth. Robin jumped to his feet. “It’s the Snoddingtons and their friends. They’re starting one of their hunts.”
“Oh, the poor fox!” Madeleine shouted down from the tree she was sitting in. “I hope it bites old Snoddy on the backside and gives him rabies.”
Alfie kept an eye out for the fox over the rest of the afternoon, hoping it would run on to the farm so they could hide it. Sadly it didn’t. When the horn sounded again and the dogs started yelping Alfie assumed that the fox had met a gruesome end. He finished painting in gloomy silence.
Dinner time brought a wonderful surprise. The Merryweathers’ neighbour Dermot Feeney and his son Jimmy came by with a tale to tell. In-between fits of laughter, Dermot told how the fox had led the entire company straight through his fields just as he was spraying manure. Alfie couldn’t control his glee as he heard about the moment the riders in their spotless red jackets and white britches found themselves sprayed with stinking manure. Everyone was in stitches as Jimmy impersonated Lord Snoddington spitting manure and calling to the others to retreat.
“Stop, stop!” shrieked Aunt Grace, tears streaming down her face. “My cheeks are hurting!”
When Alfie got back to the castle that evening, he could barely keep his eyes open. Although it was only half past seven, his dad insisted that he have a bath and go straight to bed. Galileo had already taken up his usual spot at the end of the bed by the time Alfie turned out the lights.
Alfie Bloom and the Secrets of Hexbridge Castle Page 6
