Mystery at Silver Spires Read Free

to forget the noises that had scared her so badly the night before. Maybe it was the heat of the day that seemed to have wrapped everything and everyone up and left us in a strange, sleepy daze. I certainly didn’t think the noise would come again that night.
    So when it did come, about five minutes later, my eyes flew open and my heart pounded. There was definitely something – or someone – moving around above our dorm. A muffled scuffle, then a smooth, soft tread, and a kind of rubbing. I told myself to calm down and remember the tiny mouse at home that had sounded like something so much bigger. I really worked hard on hanging on to this memory as I lay there, my ears straining for every sound. But in my heart I knew that, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that this was the same sound, really it was completely different. It just wasn’t as scratchy.
    â€œWhat’s up, Bry?” Emily was propping herself up on her elbow, looking at me carefully. “Have you had a bad dream? Are you okay?”
    I was glad it was Emily and not Izzy who’d woken up. I didn’t have to try and be brave with Ems. She’s so down to earth, it was a comfort to have her near me. “It’s that noise again. It’s not like a mouse, Ems. Listen…”
    We kept our eyes on each other and didn’t move a muscle and after only a few seconds we both heard the noise. Emily’s eyes widened, then narrowed in concentration.
    â€œActually,” she said, thoughtfully, “I’m pretty sure it’s a bird. Poor thing. I hope it’s not stuck in there. We ought to tell Mrs. Pridham tomorrow.”
    Emily was right. And I guessed Mrs. Pridham would ask the caretaker to take a look. “I expect Mr. Monk will go up and release it,” I said, nodding.
    â€œRelease what?” came Nicole’s sleepy voice from across the dorm.
    â€œWe think it’s a bird in the attic,” I quickly told her.
    The others didn’t wake up fortunately and Emily flopped back down. “See you in the morning, Bry. It’ll probably have gone by then, whatever it is… Night.”
    â€œNight,” I replied in a whisper.
    It seemed no time at all before Emily’s deep breathing told me she was asleep. But I just lay there and kept listening. How could Emily be so sure it was a bird? Birds just don’t sound like that. Wouldn’t their claws make scratchy noises?
    There wasn’t a breath of air in the dorm and yet I found myself shivering as the darkness gathered.

Chapter Two

    At breakfast the following morning I whispered to Emily not to tell Izzy about the noises in the night. “I don’t want her to be scared again.”
    It was another hot, bright day and there was a lovely, happy atmosphere around Silver Spires. Everyone really likes Saturdays here because, once lessons are over at the end of the morning, you know you’ve got the rest of the weekend free from classrooms. Emily nearly always goes riding on Saturday afternoons and Sasha goes sculling. Sometimes there are organized activities, which are great, but at other times you really don’t want to do much, and today felt like one of those days.
    As soon as Emily and Sasha had gone, I went to e-mail Dad and Anna, then I joined the others, who were lying on the lawn. I usually love reading and I’d got a really good book out of the library, so I was looking forward to enjoying it in the sun. The other three were sunbathing and chatting as I tried to get into my book, but somehow I just couldn’t concentrate. It wasn’t their chatter that was breaking my concentration. It was my own thoughts. I kept remembering the noise we’d heard in the night, and thinking about what Emily had said. Perhaps she was right and it was just a bird?
    In fact she probably was right, I just wished I knew for certain. I found myself reading the same page of my book over and over again, because every