The House of Puzzles Read Free Page A

meet his new maths teacher. A man stepped out from
against the far wall and smiled. Where Miss Frobisher appeared ready to launch herself
up Ben Nevis at a moment’s notice, Mr Beare looked like the effort of ordering a
pint at his local pub would require a lie down and a damp cloth across the forehead.
Broad of girth and multiple of chin, he appeared to be the outcome of a science experiment
involving a middle-aged man and an excess of pork buns.
    ‘Hello everyone,’ he said, almost running out of breath from the effort. ‘I will
talk to you all in more detail about this later, but I want to let you know about
a special event that will take place during the time we’re all here at the Captain
Oates Outdoor Education Centre.’ He paused again, as much for effect as out of necessity,
and took a deep breath. ‘Every year at this camp the schools run the Triple Crown.’
    A flutter of recognition sounded from some in the room.
    ‘Some of you may have heard of it. It involves three challenges that follow the camp
motto: To strive, to seek, to find . I’m told that in the one hundred years that St
Cuthbert’s and St Hilda’s have been conducting these camps, no one has ever successfully
completed the Triple Crown. To be the first would be an extraordinary honour. I encourage
you all to participate and to participate with vigour.’ Mr Beare ended with an exhausted
wheeze and staggered back to his stool by the wall.
    Dr Crispin waited for the buzz to die down. Ruby didn’t say a word, but Gerald could
almost feel the excitement radiating from her body.
    ‘Remember,’ the headmaster said, ‘this term is the opportunity of a lifetime. Do
not squander it.’ With that, he dismissed the students into the care of their teachers.
    Gerald was happy to find that he and Sam would be sharing a cabin with four other
boys. Gerald and Sam agreed to meet up with Felicity and Ruby at teatime in the dining
hall and went to collect their packs. Gerald winced as he slung his bundle onto his
shoulder. ‘This busted collarbone is going to slow me down,’ he said to Sam. ‘Why
don’t you go ahead and grab us a bunk together?’ Sam agreed and jogged off in search
of their cabin.
    Gerald adjusted the sling on his arm and followed after him. It was only five o’clock
in the afternoon, but the Scottish night had dropped over the camp like a sodden
blanket. Gerald stepped into the starless evening and shivered at the bite in the
air. The pack dragged on his shoulder and he grimaced. The injury still hurt from
his adventure a fortnight ago on the Swedish island of Ven when he had gone head-to-head
with a mercury-addled madman who thought he was a 450-year-old Danish astronomer.
Gerald shook his head at the memory. Since inheriting a fortune from his great aunt,
his life had become somewhat complicated.
    He shouldered his pack more evenly and trudged down the path. Excited boys rushed
past him in search of their cabins. The girls were housed on the far side of the
camp, supposedly beyond the range of ‘strong emotions’. Soon Gerald found himself
alone, hauling his pack into the night. Despite the cold and the twinges of pain,
a smile spread across his face. Ahead of him was the prospect of ten whole weeks
away from normal school, and away from his bizarre life. And the chance to spend
a whole lot of time with Ruby Valentine…
    Oh yes, indeedy, on that count Dr Crispin was right. Gerald had no intention of squandering
this opportunity.
    The path ahead turned to the left, skirting a grove of trees. Gerald reached the
bend, and suddenly everything went black. A bag was dragged over his head. Rough
hands grabbed him by the collar. Before he could do or say a thing, the world’s youngest
billionaire was crash-tackled to the ground and bundled into the trees, swept from
sight as if he had ceased to exist.

Chapter 2
    White-hot pain flared in Gerald’s right shoulder. It felt like a branding iron had
seared into his flesh. His pack went