Shiverton Hall by Emerald Fennell

Author:Emerald Fennell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2012-11-05T05:00:00+00:00

Arthur, George and Penny sat in the empty Garnons library waiting for news. Penny’s face was blotchy from crying. George and Arthur had long given up making small talk. It was nearly six o’clock in the evening, and all of them were dreading the knock on the door in case it brought bad news. When it came, they leapt up, bracing themselves, squeezing each other’s hands.

It was Toynbee.

‘Jake is stable,’ he said as he entered, to a rush of relief. ‘But we still don’t know how grave the situation is. He’s in a coma.’

Penny gripped Arthur’s hand tighter.

‘Jake hit his head very hard, and he was in the woods all night, in freezing temperatures,’ Toynbee explained. ‘The doctors say he also has hypothermia.’

‘Will he be all right?’ Arthur whispered.

‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you any more than I already have. But Jake’s a strong lad – it’s a miracle he survived the night in this weather, and that’s got to be a good sign.’

George nodded dumbly, not trusting himself to speak.

‘How did it happen?’ Penny asked, dreading the answer.

Toynbee took off his glasses and cleaned them on his cardigan, apparently deliberating whether or not he should say. ‘It appears,’ he replied hesitantly, ‘that Jake climbed to the top of a tree –’

‘And threw himself out,’ Arthur interrupted.

‘Yes!’ Toynbee said, shaken. ‘How did you know?’

‘Just a guess,’ George said quickly.

Penny shot him a look.

‘I’m afraid that young Jake has been having a difficult time at home,’ Toynbee said sadly. ‘His housemaster should have been keeping a closer eye on him.’

‘Jake would never do something like that to himself,’ Penny said angrily.

‘Sometimes it’s difficult to see the warning signs,’ Toynbee said quietly. ‘Unless you know something that I don’t?’

Toynbee peered at them over his spectacles, and they glanced uncertainly at one another.

‘If you do know something, you’d better tell me now. I’m a more sympathetic ear than you might think,’ Toynbee continued, failing to completely mask the urgency in his voice.

‘We don’t know anything, sir,’ George muttered.

Toynbee looked as though he didn’t quite believe them, but decided not to push the matter. ‘All right,’ he said with a sigh.

‘When can we see Jake?’ Penny asked.

‘His mother is with him at the moment. I expect you’ll be able to see him soon. Hopefully in a couple of weeks he’ll be as right as rain,’ Toynbee answered, forcing a smile.

Toynbee turned to leave and shut the door softly behind him. Once his receding footsteps could no longer be heard, Penny turned on George angrily.

‘Why wouldn’t you tell him?’ she cried. ‘This is serious, George. The teachers need to know that it’s not safe here. We need to tell them about the friends.’

‘What? And get carted off to the loony bin like Tristan?’ George said defensively. ‘No thanks! We have to be here at Shiverton if we’re to have any chance of putting an end to this.’

‘Arthur, you tell him!’ Penny implored.

Arthur looked nervously between his two friends and sighed. ‘George is right – they won’t believe us.

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