Demon Storm Read Free Page B

appearing beneath Ben. Mr Magill yelled at her to get Nurse.
    Mr Magill struggled to hold Sam, to stop her arms thrashing about, to calm her down. Ben backed across the gallery, his foot sending the paint pot clattering away. Then he turned and ran downthe stairs. Sam’s screams echoed after him.
    The gallery door was closed. Ben grabbed the handle, turned and pushed in one movement. But the door didn’t move. Bolted. He was trapped, and he could still hear Sam screaming and couldn’t get to her.
    He hammered on the door and yelled, but he knew no one would hear him over the sound of his sister. So he hurried back up to the gallery.
    Nurse was standing over Sam. She only worked some days at the home. Other days she was at other homes or schools. But luckily today … She turned away and Ben could see the syringe she put into her bag before turning back to Sam.
    The screams were subsiding. Sam seemed calmer, but she was still breathing heavily. Whimpering. Her eyes blinking rapidly as her body fought against the sedative.
    Below him, Ben could see Mr Magill and the man in the dark suit talking quietly. He caught just a few words and phrases:
    ‘… most extreme I’ve seen … definitely right to call me here …’
    ‘She can’t be moved, not tonight,’ Mr Magill replied.
    ‘Tomorrow, then …’
    Ben didn’t hear any more. But he saw that MissHaining was standing close to Mr Magill and the man. Was she listening too?
    Ben was more concerned about Sam. She seemed to be groggy, leaning against the nurse, who was beside her on the bench. The nurse was talking quietly to Sam and soothing her.
    ‘Help me get the poor girl to her room,’ Nurse called.
    Mr Magill went to help. Slowly, everyone else left the hall as well. It took a while for Ben to realise that the man in the suit had gone. So had Gemma. And the box.
    He waited until the hall was empty, then climbed carefully over the gallery rail. It wobbled a bit, but he hoped it would take his weight. Heart thumping, he lowered himself until he was hanging by his hands from the gallery floor. How far was the drop now? A metre? More than that – two metres?
    His arms were tiring, though, and he didn’t have any choice. He let go.
    The floor slammed into his feet and Ben fell. He tried to roll, but he just jarred his wrist and bruised his side. He got painfully to his feet and limped from the hall.
    ***
    ‘Ah, Ben. I was just coming to find you.’
    Ben bumped into Mr Magill as he was on his way to the girls’ block. ‘I want to see Sam,’ he said. ‘How is she? What happened?’
    ‘Calmly,’ Mr Magill said, putting a hand on Ben’s shoulder. ‘She’s OK. Had a bit of a turn, as I expect the others told you. But she’s going to be all right now. Nurse Muir has given her something to help her sleep.’
    ‘I want to see her,’ Ben repeated.
    ‘Maybe later. What she needs now is rest. She’ll be fine by the morning. She won’t wake until then, and Nurse will keep an eye on her.’
    ‘What happened? Who was that man? What did he do?’
    ‘Oh, it was nothing to do with that,’ Mr Magill said quickly. ‘How could it be? No one else was taken ill. Just one of those things.’ He was leading Ben back to the main house as he spoke. ‘She’ll be fine soon. Really. The doctor is going to call and check on her. You can see her tomorrow, all right?’
    Ben didn’t answer. It wasn’t all right. But he wasn’t allowed in the girls’ block and there’d be people still fussing round Sam or checking on her. He’d go over later.
    For now he went back to the junior boys’ socialroom, where he found Charlie Kleb and Big Jim sitting pale-faced.
    ‘How’s Sam?’ Big Jim asked Ben as soon as he came in.
    ‘Mr Magill says she’s fine. Sleeping.’
    ‘Talk about fits,’ Charlie said. ‘What got into her, do you think? You should have heard her scream.’
    ‘It was the box,’ Big Jim said quietly. ‘When the man opened the box and tilted it so we could see