The children visited Violet in the library almost every night after their initial meeting. The determined woman was working her way through a book teaching the basics of the piano, she practiced on an old instrument which had been discovered on an exploration of the library wing and the children came to listen enthusiastically. Ruby would keep watch for Grimm or Bank using her special sight but it was almost as if the evil witch had forgotten about poor Violet locked away on her own in the cavernous room. The young woman would have been quite content if she could forget about poor Mr Bromley. Grimm had refused to give Violet any news of her former employer and Ruby was limited in what she could see of him.
Both George and Ruby turned eleven, Violet had learned to play happy birthday to you on the piano and she played it to them six times, they were so excited by the sound of it.
The summer came around again. On a particularly warm and pleasant day in June a tall and gangly older boy with a large floppy fringe called Angus approached George as he was queuing for food. Today's lunch was grey slop. It had taken Angus a long time to find a moment to speak to George when Ruby was not nearby and he took his opportunity.
"George," Angus whispered so as not to draw attention from the evil dinner ladies who patrolled the hall. George turned and grinned, he liked Angus.
"I need your help." Asked the floppy haired boy. "Ruby's help actually, if you could convince her?" Angus shifted from one foot to the other flicking his long fringe out of his eyes as he spoke. "I've got a plan to escape from the castle. I need her to find me some time when the teachers are not around so that I can explain it to the others."
George felt his heart begin to race, this might be the opportunity he had been waiting for! Escape at last from this dreadful place. A fat red faced dinner lady turned her head to look at George, her chins wobbled with the motion and her piggy eyes twinkled. Angus shrank back against the wall and pretended to look away but George could see his eyes shielded beneath the thick hair of his dark fringe. George nodded and Angus' shiny hair shook as he nodded back. That afternoon George enlisted Ruby's help. He knew Angus had asked him to be the mediator because Ruby would not say no to George. She wasn't very tolerant of the other children but she had very rarely refused a request from her best friend.
Two evenings later it had been arranged. All of the children sat in a circle crossed legged inside the dorm, excitement crackled in the air as they wondered what was happening and why they had been summoned. Some of the smaller ones were a little apprehensive in case the teachers came along but the strange Ruby girl stood in the corner keeping watch. Her creepy eyes had turned white which scared the children almost as much as the teachers did.
Angus smiled, held up his hand and began to whisper. "If anyone wishes to talk they have to raise their hand and wait to be chosen, when you put down your hand it means you have finished. If we all talk at the same time the teachers will hear, only one person at a time. Ruby will warn us if anyone is coming." The strange girl nodded as everyone's eyes focused on her. "If anyone does not understand raise their hand." Everyone's hands remained by their sides. "Ok," Angus flipped his fringe. " I will start by explaining that I have a plan to escape from the castle."
The children's eyes popped from their sockets. Some of the younger ones clasped their mouths with excitement so as not to speak. "I am planning to steal the key to the large gates."
George watched as everyone's shoulders slumped in unison, the atmosphere in the room deflated. There was no way anyone could get that key. Miss Grimm wore it around her neck and the evil old witch slept with her good eye open. It was hopeless. Angus carried on seemingly unaffected by the reaction of the others.
"I will steal the key on Miss Grimm's birthday." Angus' grin became wider and he paused for dramatic effect. He was enjoying the spotlight.
The emotional roller coaster continued inside the room. The children could barely contain their excitement as they tried to stay still and keep silent. The ancient old hag's birthday was fast approaching and the children all knew that on her anniversary Miss Grimm and the rest of the adults went a bit mad. Consistently on this special date they would raid the wine cellar and stay up until the early hours of the morning. They would drink, talk and listen to awful music, dancing terribly and smashing things as they stumbled the waltz or attempted a jive. Once the cellar was dry the teachers would all go back to their rooms and crash out, often leaving the children to sleep in until midday. Even Grimm let her guard down on this special night. It was perfect!
Angus ran through the rest of his plan. After the party while the old bag of bones lay unconscious Angus would sneak into her room and take the key. This year the timing was extra specially perfect; he informed the others with a huge grin and another flick of his floppy fringe. Mr McClary, the school caretaker, was away on holiday for a week. Angus had overheard him discussing it with Miss Grimm whilst he was taking out the rubbish. A chore he had been given to do for being too happy and smiling too much. Mr McClary lived in a cottage at the edge of the school grounds just outside the gates, partially hidden by the twisted trees. It was rumoured that he had a huge black dog which prowled the woods outside the gates and the children had often heard it howl in the dead of the night. With Mr McClary and his dog gone for the week there was nobody to worry about discovering them once they had cleared the gates.
A strange wail from the corner of the room interrupted Angus' flow. Everyone turned to look at Ruby. "Don't go, it will end in failure. The beast will get you." Everyone gaped, even George. Ruby's eyes returned to normal.
Angus burst into laughter. "Wooooooooo spooky." He joked. The other children joined in with the laughter, quieter and more nervously then Angus though.
Ruby was just about to retaliate and give the little idiots a piece of her mind when her eyes glazed over again, "Bank is coming." She warned. The children ran to their bunks without another word.
When the morning bell sounded the next day George jumped up and peered down to his best friends bunk. She lay twirling a piece of jet black hair absently. "What exactly did you see Ruby?" He asked. The small pale girl shook her head. "The vision's not clear but I see a huge black beast with terrifying sharp teeth."
George nodded sadly. "Then we have to get Angus to stop."
Ruby shrugged. "I tried to and the idiot just laughed in my face." George smiled his megawatt smile. "Then we have to try harder."
Ruby sighed, it was a waste of time but she would do it for George. At least that way he wouldn't feel so bad when Angus the dimwit got himself killed. That evening the duo managed to get the floppy haired boy to join them in the library. When Violet saw that they had brought another child with them she was not impressed.
"No!" She whispered, and George was genuinely scared as her face turned red with anger. "You cannot have this other child up here. It is not safe. I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. If you don't go now I will have to report you to the other teachers. I can't believe you broke my trust."
George took the young woman to one side exploring her face with his eyes, his hands pressed together until she stopped ranting. "Violet we are so sorry but we had to talk to Angus up here. It's the only safe place in the castle. He is going to try to escape but Ruby has seen him fail in one of her future visions, we have to persuade him not to go through with it but he wont listen to us."
The young Librarian looked at Angus, she could see that he was not far off being thirteen. "Where are they sending you Angus?" She asked her tone switching to become instantly tender.
Angus looked up at her through his fringe and blushed, "The pit's Miss." He replied.
"You poor child," She whispered. The sadness in Violet's voice told George all he needed to know about the pits. Looking from one child to the other Violet seemed to make a decision. "Ok then Children stay up here for a while. I have some books to put away but please be gone by midnight. Ruby keep your eyes switched on yes?" Ruby nodded and Violet left the room pausing to kiss poor Angus on the cheek. "Good luck and I hope everything works out for you." She whispered, but Angus couldn't answer. He was blushing to the tips of his ears. His cheeks burning like fire.
That evening Ruby and George tried hard to persuade Angus not to go through with his escape plan, but he refused to listen. Instead he told them about his life before Slaven. Angus had been born in Glasgow. He had only lived there for four years and couldn't remember much about his family. Amongst the faded images in his mind were little details of each of his family members. His father had been very jolly and thin, his mother had cuddled him a lot and sung him rhymes in the sweetest voice, his twin sisters were two chubby little angels who had giggled happily. His sisters had been the first to die, his mother shortly after, she lost the will to live after she lost her little rays of light. Angus could remember seeing his father cry for the first time ever and did not know what to do to make him smile again. The poor little child lost his whole family, they had been wiped out by a plague that had killed a large part of the Scottish cities population. The only other memory Angus could recall was when they had buried the bodies, the grave had been the deepest darkest hole Angus had ever seen. The small boy who was only four years old watched on in horror as strange men lowered his family into the gaping blackness.
"One of them called the grave a plague pit," he told George and Ruby. "I can't go down the pit." Angus said, shaking his head. "I think it would be worse than anything else."
One by one Angus' group of followers dwindled, deciding against escape in light of Ruby's premonition, until only Angus remained as the solo escapee. The evening of Grimm's birthday party came. The children listened while it got into full swing. George and a few of the others crept out of the dorm and took up positions at the top of the stairs, tucked securely inside the shadows, they waited. George's eyes were just beginning to close when the music stopped. The last of the adults finally took themselves off to bed. Miss Bank was the last to leave. She turned off all of the lights and staggered across the hall. The ground shook beneath her as she stumbled, making the children's teeth rattle inside their skulls. There was silence, the midnight explorers descended the stairs and tiptoed down the hallway. When George told Ruby he was going to help Angus with the first part of his plan she had said that he was a fool following an idiot. She had also told him that he was on his own. He was fairly confident however that she had checked ahead to make sure everything was ok. He was also pretty sure that he had glimpsed her familiar slender shape following behind them in the shadows just in case. Four of the boys, including George, kept watch while Angus climbed the steps that led to the tower. He could hear Grimm snoring loudly from up above. Angus crept to the side of her bed. His heart pounded as he reached forward with his fingers until they touched the edge of the key. Before he could move another inch skeletal digits clasped around his hand, crushing it with unexpected strength. The old hag sat up, her patch had slipped and Angus could not tear his eyes away from the revolting milky white oozing eye. Breath caught in each of the four boys throats, except Angus. He was trying not to gag as Grim began to shout and the full force of her disgusting breath hit him in the face.
"He must not discover it! The ring will free the beast." She ranted insanely.
Just as Angus was about to lose his dinner the old woman lay back down. She released the young boy's hand and began stroking a dragon carving next to her bed.
There was a sigh and this time Angus managed to get the chain from around her scrawny neck. They descended the stairs in silence, congratulating Angus with hearty slaps to his back. "Angus," George had to try one last time.
"Wait one more day?" he begged. Angus shook his head. " Then wait until the sun comes up? It will be safer in the daylight."
Angus laughed and mock punched his friend on the arm. "I have to go now, before anyone wakes up. Every minute I stay here leaves me closer to getting caught."
George stepped back and held up his hands in defeat. "Be careful then." He was sure that this would be the last time he would see Angus alive.
Angus flicked his hair out of his eyes so that he could see the younger boy properly. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me George?" He asked. George smiled and nodded. Ruby had never been wrong before. If they were going to leave they would do it together, he couldn't leave her behind for anyone. "Ok," said Angus, looking disappointed and he turned his back on them and ran towards the gate. The young boy slid the big old key into the lock of the gate at the perimeter gate, it was stiff and took all of his strength to turn. He pushed the big heavy thing open and then turned back towards the castle. Looking up to the fifth floor where he knew the others would be crammed in together trying to peek through the crack in the wall. He gave them an exaggerated wave that he hoped they would see and shut the gate behind him.
The orphans let out a cheer as their hero disappeared, all except Ruby who lay silently on top of her bunk.
Angus knew that he had to turn right to reach the footpath and eventually the road. He set off carefully but within two minutes had already tripped over the exposed and twisted tree roots countless times. They were thick and heavy and seemed to lie almost everywhere along the ground. The moon was big and bright tonight but the light it cast failed to reach him underneath the heavy canopy of trees. Angus stopped for a moment and leaned against the rough bark of a gnarled old tree trunk. An owl hooted from above. The young boy reached out to the side. His hand found the cold brick of the perimeter wall. Running his fingers along it he used it to guide him towards the footpath and his progress improved dramatically. After about half an hours laboured walk into the woods the surrounding gloom became a little lighter. There was a clearing up ahead and Angus could see the footpath. It started about one hundred meters or so in front of where he stood. To his left the young boy noticed the entrance to a small cave. Angus' heart pounded with excitement. Flicking his hair out of his eyes again for the thousandth time this evening the young boy stumbled over a huge root, this time he landed with a considerable thud which resulted in him knocking all the air from his lungs. As he lay still for a moment to regain his composure a black shadow moved across the entrance of the cave, the small boy watched in horror as two orange eyes trained themselves upon him. The large black shadow threw its head backwards releasing a long and solitary howl. The blood froze inside the small boy's veins, paralysing him to the spot with fear. Once the howling ended a low growl commenced and hackles raised along the creatures back. Angus looked up towards the path, towards freedom. He started to crawl forwards trying not to make a sound, trying not to excite the huge creature's prey drive. The black wolf watched with interest. Angus pressed his palms into the floor and began a count down inside his head. "One," The beast stopped growling and flattened its ears backwards. "two," Angus took a deep breath in and tensed every muscle in his body. The creature bent its back legs ready to spring. "three," In the blink of an eye the young boy pushed up with his hands and scrambled to his feet. The wolf leapt into the air with a murderous growl. "four," Angus dug his toes into the mud and pushed himself forward through the air. The wolf closed the distance between them in less than a second, its sharp teeth cracked together deafeningly as it snapped them shut in the space where the boy had stood just seconds before. "five," The wolf crashed head first into a huge metal gate attached to the perimeter wall, denting in the side with a tremendous force after completely misjudging the space between them. It dropped to the floor dazed.
Angus ran with the primeval speed of the hunted.
Amazingly his feet stayed steady and adrenaline powered him to the end of the clearing. He could see the path. He could see the moon. He thundered into the empty space there were hills in the distance and a road at the brow. He was a good distance from the wood when his energy finally flagged. Angus came to a halt, the young boy bent over double, resting his hands against his knees and drew deep long breaths. His heart was bursting in his chest. The young boy turned around, fear prickling at his skin, he expected to see the monstrous black beast making its murderous way towards him, it was not there. Angus strained his eyes upon the dark trees and the black spaces in-between. Watching intensively for his savage pursuer but there was nothing. Instinct held him in this position, it felt unnatural to turn his back to the woods but that was what he had to do. He began the count inside his head anew. "six," Angus spun on his heel propelling himself forwards towards the path. "seven," his feet slipped as the gravel gave way beneath his feet but he stayed upright and pushed again up the steep hill. "eight," The young teens hands began to pump as the incline increased he was now halfway up the path. "nine," he turned his body as the path curved round towards the wood one last time. "ten," A large black shadow burst through the canopy of trees snarling as it tore through them, its paws knocked Angus from his feet onto the ground. "eleven," pain tore through the young boy as the beast grabbed his leg in its massive jaws ripping flesh from bone as it pulled him back into the darkness of the trees. "twelve," the young boy screamed a blood curdling sound of fear and pain. "thirteen," Silence.
Half an hour after Angus left, the orphans who had decided to stay behind were simultaneously celebrating his victory while regretting their decision not to go with him, when they were interrupted by a horrendous howl. The children looked from one to the other for a moment in shock, and then an ear splitting scream tore through the air. The howling stopped but the terrible screaming got louder and louder. The small party of children, including George, peered around the door of the attic, they saw poor Angus being carried in on a stretcher by Bank and one of the other teachers.
"HELP ME, HELP ME!" screamed the poor boy, a large wound could be seen through his torn trousers which were covered in blood.
The children went back to the dorm and lay silently in their bunks until the screaming stopped. It seemed like a lifetime. Angus was taken away.
The following morning the children were told that Angus had been attacked by a stray dog whilst trying to escape from Slaven. George looked at Ruby, and then at the sad faces of the others. The wounded boy had apparently been taken to the hospital to have stitches. A month later the children were told that the matron from the hospital had taken Angus on as a porter, apparently he was now working there and would not be returning to Slaven.
No one believed a word of it.