Morphers, p.16
Morphers, page 16
‘No!’ Dan winced. ‘It’s locked!’
He could hear the army now getting closer as they pushed open the door downstairs.
Then right in front of Sam’s eyes, Dan closed his eyes and morphed into a crow. Sam gasped with admiration as he watched Dan fly out of a nearby open window. He crossed his fingers that a window in the gallery room was opened and that Dan could morph back just as quickly.
Sam waited, his heart beating super fast as he heard Bell’s army coming up the stairs.
Then the door opened and Dan grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled him in, closing the door behind him and locking it.
‘You did it,’ Sam said, and stumbled into the room.
Dan brushed himself down of dust and cobwebs. ‘The windows were locked, but there’s an old chimney in here,’ he said, with a nod to the corner.
‘Good job. Quick, Bell’s coming,’ Sam followed Dan into the closet. He closed the door and moved past Dan to open the false wall. Once opened, they made their way into the small area and once they were in, Sam dropped the bolt into the floor; the one he originally levied to find the paintings. Then, they waited, hidden.
‘Is that the only lock in here?’ Dan whispered, looking at the flimsy bolt between them and Jonathan Bell and his arm.
‘Afraid so. You don’t usually lock the inside of a closet,’ Sam reminded him.
They squatted in the dark, the sound of their breathing was all that could be heard. They heard Bell and his friends storm into the room.
‘Not here,’ they heard a voice yell.
Sam saw the silhouette of shoes under the closet door. He held the bolt tight. Someone tried the closet’s external door, opened it and entered.
They won’t see the false wall at first glance. I didn’t see it until I was a cat, Sam thought.
‘Nothing here,’ a voice said.
A voice in the distance responded; they recognised it as Bell’s voice. ‘Come out, come out wherever you are.’
They could hear his voice change in tone as he looked behind curtains and under tables. They heard him order his troops. ‘Next room,’
Sam and Dan listened as the footsteps retreated, but they waited, not moving yet. Sam continued to hold the bolt in place so it could not be pushed open from the other side. They waited, just in case it was a trick and someone remained behind in the room. And Sam was right; the doorknob moved again. Sam held it tight.
He heard someone mutter outside and move away.
Sam smiled. That’s what I would have done, he thought.
Again, the room outside was silent. Sam relaxed his grip on the handle.
‘I’m going to morph,’ Sam said, ‘and check out if we are in the clear. We’ve got to get to the science lab and create the reversal potion ASAP.’
‘Good idea, go for it,’ Dan agreed.
‘I’ll meow twice as a sign to let me back in,’ Sam said. ‘Wait here until then.’
Dan nodded. ‘Good luck.’
Sam closed his eyes, ignoring Dan and tried to morph; he thought of cream and mice, but not together – yuk. The next thing he knew, Sam was a cat. He exited through the narrow opening that Dan offered and turned to see Dan closing the closet door behind him.
Even as a cat, Sam knew Dan was freaking out. He had to admit he was too. It was weird that his biggest drama yesterday was getting egg and lettuce sandwiches again for lunch, now he was trying to make a potion to bring back the missing teachers and run from Bell and his gang. He just hoped they could get the reversal potion made and it worked. He hoped they could save the day!
*****
Sam could smell them before he saw them – his acute sense of smell as a cat was fourteen times better than a human’s ability to smell.
Then, alarmed, Sam smelled something much, much worse! The hairs on his back stood up as he arched, ready to hiss and run. Sam glanced to his right. Phew, false alarm, he thought he saw a dog but no, the coast was clear again.
Bell and his army were ahead of him. He followed their scent, sidling against the walls and following from a distance. He watched Bell move out of the gallery area and then he made his way to the library. Bell, realizing Sam and Dan weren’t in the library, slammed the door in frustration. His army stood around waiting for instruction.
‘Where the hell are they?’ Bell spat out in frustration and kicked the door.
‘They could have left the building,’ one of Bell’s army suggested.
‘Forget them,’ Soldier two said. ‘Let’s eat.’
‘Are you kidding? Forget them!’ Bell exclaimed. ‘This is war. But yeah, I guess we’ve got to eat to keep up our strength.’
Everyone in the group brightened.
‘Are you going to let the others out?’ Soldier three asked.
Bell frowned at one of the taller guys in his army. Sam was impressed; he recognised the student from a grade above him. Bell was a leader if he persuaded him to join forces; even if it was for the wrong reasons.
‘Not until we come up with a strategy,’ Bell said to his followers. ‘The teachers are gone. Sam and Dan have a weapon that will give us the ultimate power. If we release the students, then soon, everyone will be calling home and parents will find out that the teachers are gone and they will send a fresh batch of teachers and we don’t need that. We will be back in class tomorrow like nothing has happened. This is our chance to rule. We can be in charge for the rest of the year!’
Sam watched as Bell worked himself up.
‘If we find that book again, we can do sport every day or whatever we like.’
His army made a loud whooping noise and play wrestled each other.
Morons, Sam thought. Even if you brainwash everyone in the school, what happens when the holidays come? When the parents call? When someone new comes to the school? Bell, you are not the sharpest knife in the drawer!
One soldier didn’t celebrate. He raised his voice. ‘But we have to feed everyone and give them water. We can’t keep them locked up in the school hall forever pretending there’s a dangerous virus about!’
‘I know that,’ Bell groaned. ‘That’s why we’ve got to find the potion book today.’
Got you, Bell! Sam was pleased. That’s where everyone was… in the school hall.
Soldier number three looked around. Sam saw him make eye contact with Soldier five and they raised their eyebrows.
Sam knew what that look meant, not all of Bell’s army was happy. There was dissension in the ranks, Sam thought, using one of his mother’s favourite sayings about her protestor friends.
‘We’ll find it today, I promise you,’ Bell said, ‘after we eat. Let’s go.’
Sam watched as the group headed to the kitchen. He dashed up the hall and back into the room. He meowed twice outside the gallery door so Dan knew the coast was clear and opened the door for him. He slipped back in and morphed back into a cat.
‘We are getting good at this,’ Dan grinned.
Sam swelled with pride. ‘I know. If we can control it, it’s a real asset.’ He filled Dan in on what he saw and heard. ‘We can safely get to the science lab now, and we should be right there for half an hour.’
Dan nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’
Sam unclipped the door again but it wouldn’t open.
‘Oh no!’ He looked at Dan.
‘Try again,’ Dan frowned.
Sam pushed a second time but the closet door wouldn’t budge.
‘We’ve been locked in!’ Sam hissed. ‘But by whom? I didn’t see anyone.’
‘Me either,’ Dan agreed speaking in a low voice. ‘Now we’re in trouble.’
Sam tried again to release the lock, but it was too late; whoever was on the other side was sealing them in by pushing on the door at the same time. He decided to take action and that did not mean morphing into a cat.
‘Stand back,’ he told Dan.
Dan looked around. There wasn’t any room to move anywhere.
‘Okay, just watch out then,’ Sam said, with a shrug. ‘I’m going to charge.’
He took a deep breath and using all his strength, Sam pushed the door open and felt the person on the other side stumble back in surprise.
Sam charged at the figure outside, knocking him over and pinning him to the floor. The figure fought back hard.
‘It’s me, Sam, you dill!’ his friend, Nick, yelled.
Sam stopped yelling, and took a good look at his captive.
‘Oh, sorry,’ he said.
‘Well get off me,’ Nick suggested.
‘Oh yeah, okay,’ Sam got up and offered his hand to Nick, pulling him up. Both of them brushed themselves down.
‘How did you figure we would be there?’ Sam asked.
Nick shrugged. ‘I wasn’t sure it was you in there, that’s why I locked it first until I could distinguish voices. The media made a big deal about the secret cupboard, I would have made that my office too. But I was guessing it wasn’t Bell in there. He wouldn’t remember that kind of detail.’
Sam grinned. Dan made his way out of the secret closet and looked relieved to see it was Nick.
‘Good to see you, Nick, aren’t you supposed to be… um… quarantined?’ Dan asked.
Sam and Dan heard voices and turned, startled; five more of Nick’s friends entered the room.
‘Hey, found them,’ Nick nodded towards Sam and the group. ‘We told the prefects we were infected, so they had to let us out.’
‘How did Bell convince them of that?’ Sam shook his head.
‘Oh, you don’t know?’ Nick looked at his friends and smiled. ‘Bell wrote a letter pretending to be the teachers. He sent it to the prefects saying that all the teachers had come down with a virus and had been taken to hospital. They told the prefects to quarantine everyone in the performance hall while the school was fumigated. They would let them know as soon as it was safe to come out.’
Nick’s friend Mason continued the story. ‘So, the prefects herded us in there and told us to wait in there until it was safe to get out.’
‘Pretty brilliant for Bell,’ Sam laughed.
‘Whatever you were told, there is no disease out here,’ Dan said.
‘We figured that when we noticed Bell and his football buddies weren’t there and then you guys were gone as well,’ Nick continued. ‘So, we sucked some red welts onto our skins and told them we were infected.’
‘They couldn’t push us out of the hall fast enough,’ Mason, one of Nick’s friends, pushed up his sleeve and revealed a few of the red welts. Mason and his friends laughed.
‘We thought you might need help,’ Nick said.
‘You bet,’ Sam assured him. He noticed Dan’s face fell. ‘Although, it’s been going smoothly,’ he added for Dan’s benefit. ‘But it would be great to have our own army against Bell’s army.’
‘So, what’s the plan?’ Nick asked.
‘Well—’ Sam glanced at Dan. ‘Dan and I need to get to the science lab, there’s something we need to do that will help bring the teachers back, I can’t tell you more at this stage, you’ll just have to trust us.’
‘Okay,’ Nick said, hesitantly.
Sam continued. ‘Someone should go break the news to the prefects that there’s no virus and hopefully the teachers will be back soon and get everyone released. The rest of you could head to the dining hall where Bells’ army is eating and give them a wake-up call or stall them so they stay away from us just for thirty minutes or so. That’s all the time we need, you’ll see.’
Nick looked at his friends and they nodded agreement. ‘Fine by us,’ Nick said.
‘We’ve got to hurry!’ Dan said.
‘Go then,’ Nick said. ‘You should have a clear run. We’ll have Bell covered.’
‘Thanks,’ Sam tapped him on the shoulder.
Dan looked at his watch.
‘What’s up?’ Sam asked him as they hurried out the door to the science lab.
‘In an hour, it will be three and a half days’ since the teacher’s disappeared or near enough. We can’t let another hour pass or they may never come back. I don’t know what that means or if they’ll be—’ Dan didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t want to say the ‘dead’ word.
‘What if we can’t bring them back?’ Sam muttered. He turned back to see Nick not far behind him. ‘Let’s try to meet in the dining hall in an hour. Get as much support as you can, Nick!’
‘Done!’ Nick assured him.
Sam clipped Dan as he raced past, ‘Let’s move!’
Chapter 34
In the science lab, Sam turned on only one row of lights; they were allowed to be in any room at any time – it was one of Siggy’s rules that the school was like home and had open access – but they still didn’t want to draw attention to themselves or what they were doing.
Sam had his customary coughing fit and cleared his throat of fur. He cupped his hands under a tap in the lab and drank until he cleared his throat.
‘I keep expecting Mr Rowe to be here, waiting to pounce on us for the formula again,’ Sam said, keeping his voice low.
‘I know,’ Dan agreed. ‘I’ve been looking over my shoulder all day.’
‘I can’t believe Jonathan Bell and his mates have locked up everyone in the school hall,’ Sam spat out.
‘I can’t believe it worked, that the prefects believed the fake letter. As soon as everyone feels hungry and thirsty, they’ll have an even bigger problem on their hands. At least they are all still here and haven’t disappeared too!’ Dan said, relieved.
‘You said it,’ Sam agreed. He looked around, ensuring they were alone and gave Dan the thumbs-up all clear. Dan pulled the book of Extraordinary Science Potions out of his pocket.
‘Let’s do it!’ Dan said, waving it at Sam. ‘I hope we have all the ingredients that are needed.’
Sam put his hands through his hair. ‘This is too freaky. But there’s a couple of guys in Bell’s army who are thinking for themselves, so he may have a fight on his hands soon, we might get a few on our side yet.’
‘We haven’t got time to make allies and build our army,’ Dan said. ‘The teachers could die. We need to make the reverse potion and do it now.’ He flicked through the pages until he came to the reverse potion for the spell Lost Teachers. He showed Sam.
Sam nodded. While there were a few teachers he wouldn’t mind getting rid of, you just didn’t know who was going to replace them, so better the devil you know, he figured.
‘I’ll get the ingredients, you start working on it,’ Sam said, looking over Dan’s shoulder and grabbing small bottles and packets of labelled chemicals from the lab’s shelves. He struggled to find a few but most were in alphabetical order.
‘So far so good,’ Sam said, grabbing the next few ingredients in the potion book.
Dan grabbed a beaker and stirred in whatever Sam gave him in the correct proportions: glycerin, sodium, agar, Potassium Permanganate, Zinc…
‘I’ve got to go to the kitchen and sick room for vegetable oil and Alka Seltzer,’ Sam said.
‘But Bell and his army are there?’ Dan looked alarmed.
‘I know, I’ll be super careful. Back A-S-A-P.’ He said, and darted out before Dan had time to respond.
Dan glanced around. It was kind of eerie being alone in the science room and he didn’t want to be captured again by Mr Rowe. He finished mixing the ingredients he had, checked the experiment and waited.
He heard footsteps coming towards the lab and held his breath. Sam burst in.
‘Worried?’ Sam smiled.
‘You bet!’
‘Got them. There were stacks of Alka Seltzer, that’s kind of weird.’
‘Yeah, not really,’ Dan said. ‘It’s to settle your stomach. I think they ordered more in when we all started taking turns at cooking.’
Dan added the last ingredient and told Sam to stand back. The mixture went a strange purple colour, made some weird sounds, and then an enormous bubble appeared and popped in the middle of the gooey mess. They both waited a few moments but nothing happened… no more bubbles, strange smells or gurgling noises.
‘Right then,’ Sam said, ‘I guess that’s it. What do we do with it now?’
Dan read on. ‘Oh great,’ he said, sarcastically.
Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Break it to me.’
‘We have to smear a bit on every teacher’s desk and that will bring them back.’
Sam looked up at the clock; it was just past eight pm.
‘Best we get started then,’ he said. ‘Pour it into two jars and we’ll split up.’
Both boys looked at the desk at the front of the science lab.
‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ Dan asked.
‘That we don’t bring Mr Rowe back?’ Sam said.
‘Yeah, but we can’t do that, can we?’ Dan asked.
‘No, I guess not,’ Sam agreed. ‘Let’s do his desk last though.’
‘Yeah, a good plan,’ Dan said. He poured the potion in two jars and screwed the lids on so they could move quickly without spilling any.
‘Let’s start in the art room and we can get a paintbrush to apply it with.’ Sam headed out the door, glancing left and then right, and headed down the hallway with Dan in pursuit, all the time hoping Nick was working ahead of them and everything was going to be back to normal sooner rather than later.
*****
Sam and Dan didn’t know what to expect at first – if smearing a bit on the desk would bring the teacher back instantly or not.
‘We’d better have a cover story,’ Dan said. ‘Otherwise, they’ll reappear and we’ll be holding a purple potion and a paintbrush.’
‘Yeah, seems lame,’ Sam agreed.
They thought about it as they hurried to the art room.
‘I’ve got nothing,’ Dan said. ‘No ideas.’
‘Me either,’ Sam agreed. ‘Let’s just do it and if a teacher appears we’ll act surprised and ask what they are doing here?’
Dan laughed. ‘Yeah, that should work. And we’ll hide the potion and say they told us to report to them immediately.’
