The Ring of Five by Eoin McNamee

Author:Eoin McNamee [McNamee, Eoin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Fantasy, Schools, Boys, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure, Espionage, True Crime, Fantasy & Magic, School & Education, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Spy Stories, Children: Grades 4-6, Boys & Men, Mysteries; Espionage; & Detective Stories, All Ages, Science Fiction; Fantasy; Magic, Children's Books, Men, Action & Adventure - General, Spies
ISBN: 9780375846359
Publisher: Random House of Canada
Published: 2011-04-26T04:34:25+00:00

AUTUMN

The days passed quickly. The weather was blustery, the trees in the grounds of Wilsons turned gold, and frequent gales sent great clouds of leaves blowing up and down the gardens and courtyards of the old buildings. Danny couldn’t believe how easily he had settled into the rhythm of life at Wilsons. In a way it felt as if he had never been anywhere else. The days were a routine of classes and study. At night they studied in the great hall, the ravens fluttering about in the rafters. They did not see Devoy at all, and Brunholm only rarely, muttering distractedly to himself as he passed them in the corridors. Danny thought this was odd—he had expected some form of special training for his mission. And all the while the thought of the Ring of Five gnawed at him, the knowledge that they were out there somewhere, scheming.

He had the impression that McGuinness was there in the background, not showing his face. Danny tried to be wary—there had been three attempts to kill him, after all—but sitting around a warm stove in the Roosts, eating muffins with his friends, it seemed ridiculous that someone might be plotting to take his life.

He had stopped playing chess in maths class and had taken up playing Texas hold ’em with Vandra and Dixie. Les couldn’t be tempted away from his game of bridge. Danny had his first class in ciphers with Bartley, working out very basic codes. But even that was maddeningly hard to get to grips with, when you had to listen to Bartley’s strange pronouncements.

In his second week he had his first geography lesson with Spitfire. Danny had never seen anything like her great living map of the Lower World. The rivers were real water, and the forests appeared to be real, although the trees were in miniature. Westwald was clearly visible, as was Wilsons; you could see the great inlet separating the island from the rest of the Lower World, and a sea of darkness on the other side.

“So there is water on one side of Wilsons,” Danny said slowly, “and what is this?” He pointed to the darkness.

“Don’t touch!” Spitfire warned. “That is the Darkness. An unmapped void of space and time separating the Upper World and the Lower. Few know their way through it, and even if they do, the treaty forbids all but a few like Fairman from crossing it. Wilsons is unique among islands. Water on one side, Darkness on the other. But look. Here is Westwald.”

The city of Westwald was often obscured by low cloud and smoke from its many factory chimneys, which swirled around so that it was difficult to get a proper look at the narrow streets and tall houses.

Spitfire explained that the map was kept up to date every day, with movements of forces of the Ring clearly marked, and it was increasingly obvious that Wilsons was in dire straits. As far as Danny could see, there was simply a complex

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