She found the override for the cameras and made those overlooking the main entrance point in the opposite direction, then pressed the button that opened the gate. She grabbed her bag, ran full pelt through the front gate and pulled it shut behind her.
She had done it. She was out!
Soon the guards would find the wristband by the large hole, assume she had discarded it during the escape and search for her in the wrong direction. It would take them hours to realize they had been tricked. By that time, Holly should have reached Dirk.
She headed through the dense undergrowth, deep into the forest in the direction of the caves where Dirk said he was hiding out, but it was dark and it was difficult to stick to a straight line. She stumbled over twisted roots and slipped on clayey ground.
After several hours, it began to rain. Moisture seeped through the fabric of her trainers, dampening her feet. An unforgiving wind cut through the trees, making her shiver. She tried to hum a tune in her head to lighten her spirits but her teeth were chattering too violently. She was freezing. Her nose felt like it was made of ice and she could no longer feel her toes at all.
Holly was scared. Leafless branches hung down like giant claws, catching and scratching her face. Unseen animals scurried away as she disturbed them. Strange sounds filled the air. The trees rustled and creaked. She never knew a forest could make so much noise.
She stopped and listened. She could hear voices. At first she thought it was her imagination, but they grew nearer. Holly pushed herself into the shadow of a giant oak tree and kept still. Two raspy female voices were arguing.
“If the manuman has served his purpose, why can’t we schmunch him?”
“Because Vainclaw says so. It’s all part of the plan, Salix.”
Holly struggled to see who was speaking.
“But what is this plan of his, Acer? I want action. Remember the old days when we used to terrofear entire villages for fun?”
“It’s not like that any more. We can’t let the manumans know of our existence until we know we can win the war, that’s what Vainclaw says. They have weapons that would kill you in an second.”
Now Holly could make out two dragons. They were thinner than Dirk and looked like two leafless trees skulking through the forest, getting closer to where she was hiding. Their heads were like twisted tree branches, with dark rough bark and cold green eyes. Thin lines of dirty brown smoke curled from their nostrils. One of them snapped its jaws at the other, causing the other to do the same. They were so close now that Holly could see rows of jagged moss-stained teeth.
“Well, I preferred it the old way. I can’t bear all this schnooking around.”
“Shh!” urged the other. “I can hear something breathing.”
Holly held her breath. The Tree Dragon stared into the shadow. It was looking directly at her. She had nowhere to run so she shut her eyes tight, pushing herself against the tree, desperately trying not to move a muscle.
She could feel the dragon’s hot, sulphurous breath against her cheek. Holly felt sick with fear.
“There’s no one there, Salix. No manuman would be this far into the forest so late,” said Acer.
“You never know with them. They get everywhere.”
The voices moved on. Holly opened her eyes. The dragons were walking away, swinging their heads to and fro as they moved, their long tails twisting behind them.
“You shouldn’t be so scared of the pathetic creatures. We’re Kinghorns. Let’s schumch the old manuman.”
The last thing Holly heard Salix say was, “You stidiotical fool. You want to end up being banished?”
With the dragons gone, Holly stepped out of the shadow and tried to get her bearings. She was utterly lost, cold, wet and completely terrified. It took all her strength to hold back her tears. Holly sniffed and wiped her eyes but the emotion was too strong. She dropped her head into her hands.
“I thought you didn’t cry for real,” said a familiar voice.
She turned to see two yellow eyes. It was Dirk. She threw her arms around his neck and now it was tears of relief that streamed down her face.
“Dirk!” she exclaimed. “I was so frightened.”
Dirk brushed the girl’s cheek gently. “You don’t need to be scared now,” he said kindly before adding, “Come on, get on – they’re getting away.”
With Holly on his back, Dirk spread his wings and took after the two Tree Dragons, being careful to avoid being seen. Holly noticed that his wounds had completely healed over.
“Why aren’t you at school?” he asked.
“There’s a boy in my year, Callum Thackley. He’s the Prime Minister’s son and he was kidnapped last year and I think it was these Tree Dragons because he talks about creatures that look like trees. Then during band rehearsal—”
“You’re in a band?” interrupted Dirk.
“It was an escape plan,” replied Holly. “Anyway, so these men in dark glasses barged in, saying they were from the government and there to take him to a photo call, but Callum screamed and yelled that they were coming for him. Why would he scream if that’s all it was?”
Dirk looked doubtfully at Holly. It sounded ludicrous, but he had learned to trust her and he knew these Tree Dragons were up to something. Besides, the Prime Minister’s son was exactly the sort of person he would expect the Kinghorns to target.
“Quiet now, we’re getting near,” he said.
In the early morning light, Holly could see five Tree Dragons prowling around a clearing in the forest, heads bowed low. She tightened her grip around Dirk’s neck.
Dirk landed silently behind a large fallen tree trunk. Cautiously raising his head, he spotted a metallic glint in the middle of the clearing.
“What is it?” said Acer. “Why are we doing things we don’t comprestand?”
“Strush up, Acer,” said Betula. “Vainclaw toldered us to guard it. That’s all you need to know.”
“What for, Betula? We don’t even know what it is.” Acer broke the circle and approached the silver case in the centre of the clearing.
“It’s the professor’s case,” whispered Dirk to Holly.
The other Tree Dragons turned to face Acer and hissed at her.
“Stay away from it,” said Tilia.
“Yeah, Acer, don’t be stidiotical,” said Salix.
“It’s some kind of manuman schmunching machine. We should master it ourselves.” Acer sniffed the case.
“She’s right,” said Buxus. “Why wait for Vainclaw to come and steal all the glory?”
“Vainclaw is our master,” asserted Betula. “He will lead us to victory against the manumans.”
Acer reached out her claws and tapped around the side of the case.
“You’ll break it,” said Tilia.
Acer’s claw must have found a button because the case slowly opened, revealing a computer screen set into the top. It flickered to life and the computer made a loud beep, causing the five dragons to jump back, allowing Dirk and Holly to see the screen and read what it said.
A red handprint appeared on the screen under the words and the voice counted down the seconds.
“What does it mean?” asked Buxus.
“I don’t know,” said Acer. “Shall I touch it?”
“If you don’t stop, I’ll tell Vainclaw,” said Betula.
“If you do, I’ll schmunch you,” snarled Acer, reaching a claw to the screen and touching the handprint, which disappeared. The machine stopped counting down and said:
After a few seconds a red cross flashed on screen along with the words:
As automatically as it had opened, the lid closed again.
“You’ve broken it,” said Tilia.
“I’ll try again,” said Acer, attempting to stop the lid from closing, but as she did so she screamed, suddenly pulling her claw away again.
“What happened?” asked Buxus.
“It bit me,” said Acer.
The lid closed. Betula stepped forwards. “From
now on, I’m looking after this.” She went to grab it in her mouth, but then screeched and jumped back.
Dirk noticed the spark that flew from the case.
“It’s giving off electric shocks,” he whispered to Holly.
“You stidiotical fool,” said Salix. “We’ll all end up in Euphorbia Falls for this.”
“I’m not scared of the Dragnet,” said Acer.
“Well, I am. We’ll be banished to the Inner Core. That new Dragnet captain is arresting hundreds of suspected Kinghorns.”
“Vainclaw said we shouldn’t worry about the Dragnet,” said Betula. “Now, get back into guarding position. Enough of this. That includes you, Acer. You’ve done enough damage for one day. You better hope you haven’t broken it.”
The Tree Dragons resumed their circling motion, swinging their heads from side to side.
“I’ve seen enough,” said Dirk, turning and crawling away. Once he was out of sight of the Tree Dragons, he leaped into the air, taking Holly up through the trees, bursting out of the dappled shadows into the full sunshine above the forest.
Holly allowed herself a small squeal of excitement. Flying over the trees was even better than jumping over rooftops. It was brilliant to be back with Dirk. Clinging on to his back, she felt safe and special. She thought of Petal Moses, who got everything she ever wanted but even she didn’t have a dragon for a friend.
“I’ve missed you,” said Holly.
“You too, kiddo,” admitted Dirk.
“How’s Willow?”
“She’s fine. Mrs Klingerflim’s looking after her while I’m away.”
“Is that safe? She thought Willow was a dog last time she saw her.”
“That would explain why she keeps throwing sticks for her and trying to train her to fetch the paper.”
Holly laughed. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“That silver case is some kind of weapon. I want to know what it does.” Dirk glided through the air down towards the black-and-white cottage in the middle of the forest. He landed quietly behind the stone wall and ducked down. “This is where they’ve been keeping the professor.”
Holly climbed off his back and they approached a window.
“It’s empty,” Dirk said as he looked in. He quickly moved to the front of the building and ducked through the door.
Holly followed him in and shut the door behind them.
She glanced around at the tatty furniture, which was coated in a thin layer of grime. “What a dump.”
“Quick, I’ll check this room, you look in the bedroom,” said Dirk, lifting up the worn cushions of the mouse-eaten armchair. “We shouldn’t stay here too long.”
“What are we looking for?” asked Holly.
“Clues.”
Holly found the bedroom through a door on the right. It was small and dingy, with a tiny window. She sat down on the bed and picked up a newspaper with yesterday’s date on it. Seeing the picture on the front she shouted, “Dirk, come and look at this!”
“What is it?” Dirk’s head appeared around the doorframe.
“I guess I was wrong about Callum,” she replied, holding up the paper. It was a photo of the Prime Minister and his family outside 10 Downing Street. His other two grown-up sons were smiling. Callum stood in front of his father, glaring fearfully at the camera. “The men who took Callum must have been for real,” said Holly.
“Let me see that.” The room was so small that Holly had to stand on the bed so Dirk could get in as well.
“I’m not sure this room was designed for a drag—” She stopped mid-sentence, interrupted by the sound of a car engine. Holly and Dirk looked at each other as the engine cut out and doors opened.
“Well, professor, as usual it has been truly gratifying indulging in such weighty discourse. Once again, apologies for my colleague’s windy interruptions,” said the voice of the crook Arthur.
“Yeah, sorry about that. The fish pie I ’ad last night keeps disagreein’ with me gut,” said Reg.
“When can I go home?” asked the professor.
The front door opened.
“Mr G has requested that you remain here for the time being in case your services are required.”
“But I’ve reprogrammed the machine now. There’s nothing more I can do.”
“You could put the kettle on,” said Reg. “I’m parched.”
“Quick, through the window,” whispered Dirk, urgently lifting Holly up, pushing the window open with his tail and shoving her through it.
“But they’ll see you,” protested Holly. “Even if you blend, they’ll walk straight into you in such a small room,” said Holly.
Dirk placed her down on the ground and said, “Don’t worry about me, just get to the woods as fast as you can, wait five minutes, then come back, but make sure you get out of earshot.”
“What are you doing?” said Holly. “They’ll see you.”
“Don’t argue, just run.”
She jumped over the stone wall and ran into the woods as Dirk had told her, but before she got far she slowed down. She could hear music. Her feet felt like lead, unable or unwilling to take her any further from the sound. It was beautiful, an ancient hymn sung in a forgotten language. It was like nothing she had ever heard and yet it was as if it was coming from inside her, the harmonies and melody being produced by her own breathing. All she wanted was to hear the music, to get lost in it, to be the music.
Dirk found Holly standing on one leg, the other angled out in front of her, frozen mid-stride. Her arms were outstretched, her lips curled into a smile, her eyes open with a faraway look as though remembering a happy but distant memory.
“Rats of the wild frontier,” he cursed.
He zipped around her, lifted his paw to her face and said, “Sorry, Holly,” and slapped her hard on the cheek.
Holly toppled to the side, waking from her stupor. “What did you do that for?” she said, regaining her balance.
“Sorry, kiddo. The only way out of the trance is a jolt to the head. I tried to go as easy on you as I could.”
“What happened to me?”
“You heard Dragonsong.”
“Yes,” said Holly, the light returning to her eyes. “It was beautiful. Like… Like… Like no music I’ve ever heard.”
“Well, I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? It was amazing.”
“Come on, I’ll show you.”
They approached the cottage. A yellow car was parked outside. Dirk went through the front door, but Holly stopped in the doorway. In front of her were the two crooks. Reg was sitting at the table. Arthur was standing by the doorway. A man with a bald head, who she guessed was the professor, was leaning over the cooker with a box of matches in one hand and a match in the other, as though about to light the hob. All three of them wore the same vacant look on their faces, standing perfectly still, like a moment preserved in time.
“Don’t worry, I turned off the gas,” said Dirk.
“Is that what happened to me?” asked Holly.
“Yes. You heard the music right up to the point that I slapped you, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I only sang for a few seconds. It gets inside you.”
“I felt like I was making it.” Holly smiled at the memory. “Do they know we’re here?”
“They can see the world around them, but they’re not looking at it, and they’ll only listen when spoken to directly. All they care about is the Dragonsong.” Dirk turned to the professor and said, “Professor Rosenfield, I want you to stand upright and light that match.”
Instantly Rosenfield did exactly as Dirk told him.
“Wow. Can you make him do anything?”
“Yes. I could make him blow out the match or light the hob and make us all a nice cup of tea…”
“That’s brilliant.”
“Or I could make him drop it and burn down the cottage with him and these two in it.”
Holly blew the match out. “You
could make him kill?”
“Lots of good humans and dragons have died this way,” said Dirk. “Dragonsong is a gift in the right hands but a deadly weapon in the wrong. It’s been against our laws to use it as a weapon for thousands of years. I hate it. I’d never have used it at all but I had no choice, I couldn’t let them see me.”
“What do we do with them now?” asked Holly.
“We’ll send them home after we’ve extracted information from the professor. Needless to say these two idiots don’t know anything.” Dirk pointed a claw at Arthur and Reg then turned back to the professor. “Professor Rosenfield, why are you here?”
Still smiling, with a spaced-out look on his face, Rosenfield replied, “I’ve reprogrammed the QC3000.”
“That’s what it said on the screen of the silver case,” said Holly.
“What’s it for?” asked Dirk. “Is it a weapon?”
“It’s a weapon, all right.” The professor smiled dreamily.
“Have you stolen it?”
“Yes, don’t tell anyone, will you?” He spoke like a little child who had done something naughty.
“Won’t someone be looking for it then?”
“No. Hardly anyone knows about it. It’s top secret.”
“What does it do?” asked Holly.
The professor didn’t answer.
“He’ll only answer the questions or take orders from the first voice he hears.” Dirk repeated the question. “What does it do, Professor?”
“It uses sonar signals to create small but significant movements in the earth’s tectonic plates. It’s completely revolutionary, the only one in the world.”
Holly gasped. “It makes earthquakes.”
Dirk looked at her. “So you have been listening in school?”
“No, I read it somewhere. The earth is made up of tectonic plates. They’re always moving but earthquakes are caused when they suddenly shift.”
“Manmade earthquakes,” mused Dirk. “Professor, what does AOG stand for?”
School's Out! Page 7
