He expected to hear the chatter and squeals of the academy girls, but it was eerily quiet. Ben strained his ears to listen. A cold shiver ran down his spine when the silence was broken by the low, gruff whispers of men.
Ben froze in horror as something white, wet and round rolled to a standstill just inside the storeroom door and stared up at him.
Ben sat glued to the spot not daring to move a muscle until he heard the men shuffle back out of the classroom. Then he waited in the shadows some more until he was sure he was alone.
Ben felt dizzy. What was Pickering up to? Who were those men? He couldn’t think. It had all happened so fast.
One thing was certain.
He needed help.
He needed a genius.
He needed King Coo.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ben stood at the edge of the wood and shouted into the trees.
This was an emergency!
‘You made me jump!’ Ben yelped. ‘HOW do you get around SO fast?’
‘I can hear you coming a mile off.’ Coo grinned. ‘You’re about as stealthy as a moose on stilts. Wearing clogs. And a hat with bells on. Are you OK? You look frazzled,’ she added. ‘Let’s get you a drink, and you can tell me what’s going on.’
All the way to the tree house, Ben gabbled about everything that had happened. He barely stopped to take a breath as it all spilled out. Coo grabbed his elbow, sat him by the fire and put a mug of ginger beer in his hand, and all the while Ben chattered on. He told Coo everything, from the first time he saw Pickering at assembly, right up to the horrible moment of the eye staring up at him in the storeroom.
‘So, let me get this straight,’ she said when Ben had finished talking and was sitting breathless on the edge of his seat. ‘You think this Pickering is the boss of the Midnight Mob?’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Ben. ‘It was definitely Pickering, and the men definitely sounded dodgy. They’re planning something, for tonight! And, blimey, what about the girls? They might be in danger! We have to do something!’
‘Have you got any proof?’ said Coo, leaning forward, twiddling her beard thoughtfully.
‘No, nothing,’ sighed Ben. ‘But I saw the gold coin! I’m sure I did. It must have been stolen from the Viking Museum that was in the news. It was big and old-looking.’
‘Hmmmm.’ Coo frowned, deep in thought. ‘That reminds me of something … Hold on!’ she said.
She crossed to Herbert’s beanbag, where he lay snoozing, and heaved him to one side.
She rummaged through a small pile of bottle caps, foil sweet wrappers and other bits and bobs.
‘I KNEW it!’ she said triumphantly, standing up and flicking something across the room to Ben.
It flashed in the light and landed with a heavy thump on Ben’s lap – it was a FAT GOLD COIN.
‘What … wait … how …?’ Ben spluttered. The coin gleamed as he turned it over in his hands.
‘It’s Herbert,’ said Coo. ‘He loves shiny things. He finds all sorts when he’s out digging. He came back this morning looking especially pleased with himself.’
Herbert trotted over and bumped against Coo’s legs affectionately.
‘I only got a glimpse of it, but I should have guessed you’d found something good, eh fella?’ she said, giving his smiling chops a loving scratch.
Coo grinned and clapped her hands together. ‘This is going to be so much fun!’ she said, grabbing a spear and hoisting her bag on to her shoulder.
Coo took the coin from Ben and held it under Herbert’s velvety nose.
‘Now, I know that most of the time Herb looks like a hairy pillow with a leg at each corner, but he’s actually a really good tracker. If he can show us where he got this, it might give us some answers.’
Herb snuffled the coin for a moment. Then he tipped his head to the open door, sniffed the breeze, and shot off like a cuddly rocket.
Running as fast as they could, they followed Herbert along the broad branches and high walk-ways that wound through the treetops.
They whooshed down slides to the mossy forest floor and ran on after Herbert as he crashed through tall ferns and thick undergrowth. Every now and then he would pause to sniff the air, before dashing off in a fresh direction. Ben had never been this far from the tree house before. It was dark and damp. The wet leaves squelched beneath his feet and the tall thin trees cut out the faint autumn light as they neared the edge of the woods.
Suddenly, the ground dipped steeply and Ben and Coo found themselves following Herb into a narrow ravine. The rocky walls were slimy, with dark green moss and twisted tree roots.
They paused for breath when they reached the far end. Ben looked up and froze.
CHAPTER NINE
They were standing in front of a gloomy, dripping cave, the rocky edges black and sharp like enormous rotten teeth.
‘You’re not scared of the dark are you, Pole?’ said Coo, rummaging around in her bag.
‘No!’ said Ben, a little too quickly. ‘Well, only dark dark,’ he admitted. ‘I’m fine with light dark.’
‘Ha! You’re brilliant, Ben! Bonkers!’ said Coo. ‘Well, don’t worry. We can use one of these,’ she added, pulling out a glowing jar of fireflies and tying it to the tip of her spear.
The faint light of Coo’s firefly lantern skipped and flittered across the glistening walls and ceiling
