The Demon Headmaster and The Prime Minister’s Brain Page 3

  Dinah had a terrible feeling that she knew what was coming. ‘Mum—’

  But Mrs Hunter went straight on talking. ‘After you’d gone, Lloyd explained all about this Junior Computer Brain Competition. We think it could be a really important chance for you. You ought to be in the final. And if you have to have an S-7 to do that—well, we’ll just have to buy you an S-7.’

  Dinah gasped. ‘But you can’t afford it! You know you can’t.’

  ‘Ah.’ Mrs Hunter suddenly looked very pleased with herself. ‘You didn’t know about this, did you?’ She put a hand into one pocket of her big, untidy cardigan and pulled out a long, heavy gold chain set with turquoises. ‘This is my nest-egg. It belonged to my grandmother. I’ve never worn it, but I knew I’d need it one day. And if I sell it, I should get enough to buy your S-7.’

  Dinah’s eyes prickled with tears. She didn’t deserve anyone to be so good to her. And she didn’t even want it any more. Not in the wild, desperate way she had wanted it downstairs. She couldn’t let Mum sell her chain for nothing.

  ‘Look—’ she began.

  Mrs Hunter put a hand over her mouth. ‘Not another word. We’re going to buy your S-7. We really want to. You just take care of this, in case you need it.’

  Reaching into the other pocket of her cardigan, she pulled out the card that Dinah had flung at them. The card from the Computer Director, with the octopus tentacles curling across it. Dinah looked down and saw the swirling patterns.

  Octopus -s-s-s-s!

  It was no good! She had to have the computer, because she had to go to the final in the Sentinel Tower. She had to, she had to, she had to …

  ‘Oh, Mum,’ she whispered, as she felt the panic starting again, ‘I’m scared.’

  ‘You funny girl.’ Mrs Hunter laughed. ‘What is there to be scared of?’

  She did not get an answer. Instead Dinah, who never showed her feelings, hugged her hard and buried her face in the big, untidy cardigan.

  4

  North Island

  Dinah looked round at the SPLAT meeting and took a deep breath. ‘I need help,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Help? You?’ Lloyd stared at her. He could never remember her asking for anything like that before.

  She wriggled awkwardly on her chair. ‘I’m sorry, but I do. It’s this competition. I feel—’

  ‘Not the competition!’ Ingrid gave a loud disgusted snort and rolled over on the floor, burying her head under a cushion. ‘I don’t want to hear anything about the creepy Computer Director and his smelly competition.’

  ‘Nor do I.’ Harvey put his fingers in his ears. ‘They’ve ruined enough of the holiday already.’

  Lloyd sighed. No one would think this was supposed to be a serious meeting! Ingrid and Harvey were behaving like three year olds; Mandy, who hated quarrelling, looked ready to burst into tears; and Dinah had turned very pale and stiff.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said in a small voice. ‘Forget it. I’m sorry I spoke.’

  ‘Of course it matters!’ spluttered Lloyd. ‘This is supposed to be a secret society, not a playgroup.’ He nodded to Ian. ‘Help me sort these two out.’

  There was a short scuffle, with grunts from Harvey and loud, dramatic shrieks from Ingrid. Two minutes later everyone was sitting very still and solemn, staring at Dinah.

  ‘Right,’ said Lloyd. ‘Now, what is it?’

  Dinah looked even stiffer and more embarrassed. ‘It’s this final. I can’t explain why—I don’t know why—but I’m scared of it. There’s something wrong, something I can’t understand. And the nearer it gets, the more nervous I feel.’

  ‘What a stupid problem!’ Ingrid said loudly, before anyone else had a chance to speak. ‘It’s obvious what you’ve got to do. Just don’t go if you don’t want to. No one can force you to.’

  Dinah shook her head, looking miserable. ‘It’s not that simple. Mum and Dad have bought me this S-7 computer just so that I can go to the final. It was really expensive. I can’t suddenly turn round and tell them I’ve changed my mind. And anyway, I haven’t changed my mind. I still want to go to the final. Every time I look at that invitation card, I feel as though I’ll die if I don’t go. But—I’m scared. I want you all to come with me.’

  For a moment there was complete silence. Then three voices burst out at once.

  ‘No one would let us—’ said Lloyd.

  ‘Why should we want to—?’ shrieked Harvey.

  ‘I’m not going near the Computer Director—’ yelled Ingrid.

  Dinah looked even more miserable, and Mandy got up and put an arm round her shoulders. ‘I think we should try and go,’ she said stoutly. ‘Dinah wouldn’t have asked us unless she felt really upset. And I bet you could make a plan if you tried, Lloyd. You could say we all want a trip to London too. If Dinah’s getting one. We could go and stay with your Auntie Alice and visit the Science Museum.’

  Lloyd was tempted. He loved organizing things. Especially huge, complicated plans. A SPLAT trip to London! That would really be something. Only—Ingrid and Harvey were still looking rebellious.

  Then, unexpectedly, Ian spoke. Until then, he had been lounging back in his chair, looking slightly superior. But now he jumped to his feet, taking them all by surprise. ‘I think we should try and go, as well. We’re being pathetic. Not like SPLAT at all. It’s supposed to be a fighting organization. Remember? The Society for the Protection of our Lives Against Them. When we started it, we were strong—the Demon Headmaster couldn’t hypnotize any of us except Dinah, and we defeated his plans. But look at us now! We’ve wasted all this morning, just bickering!’

  He glared round in disgust, and the others looked sheepish. Even Ingrid stopped pulling a sulky face and hung her head. Ian snorted.

  ‘We need something to do. We’ve got feeble! If the Demon Headmaster came back now, he’d have us all in his power in a couple of seconds.’

  He snatched the heavy, plush cloth off the table and draped it round his shoulders, so that it hung in long folds, like a teacher’s gown. Then his fair, lazy face set into stern lines, like the face of the Demon Headmaster.

  ‘Funny that you should all be so sleepy,’ he crooned. ‘Look into my eyes. Look deep, deep into my eyes.’

  Ingrid giggled. ‘Don’t be thick. You don’t look like him at all. Even you aren’t ugly enough.’

  ‘Quiet!’ snapped Ian. ‘Do not disturb the others. They want to go to sleep.’ His voice slowed, soothingly. ‘They’re so, so sleepy. They can’t lift their arms or their legs.’

  They all began to play up to him. Mandy let her head slump forward. Lloyd and Harvey flopped sideways and Ingrid gave a snore. Even Dinah relaxed.

  ‘That’s better,’ crooned Ian. ‘Much more orderly. Now, close your eyes, all of you. Sleep, sleep, sleep …’

  Obediently, they shut their eyes. Ingrid opened one again and peeped at him, but he glared so fiercely at her that she shut it quickly.

  ‘Now,’ he said, in quite a different voice, sharp and precise, ‘I will give you your instructions. Tomorrow we will plan to take over the world and run it efficiently, but today we have more important things to do. We have to solve Dinah’s problem. Everyone repeat after me—we will do our best to go to London with Dinah.’

  ‘We will do our best to go to London with Dinah,’ chorused the others.

  ‘And we will succeed,’ Ian said firmly.

  ‘And we will succeed.’

  It was not as difficult as they had expected. On the morning of 28 August, all six members of SPLAT climbed off a train in the middle of London. Feeling tired and thirsty in the dry, summer heat, they dragged their cases up the platform. Dinah had the most to carry, because she had brought her S-7 as well, but it was Ingrid who complained the loudest.

  ‘I still don’t see why we’ve got to do this. I don’t want anything to do with the Computer Director. Why can’t we really go to your Auntie Alice’s, Lloyd? And visit the Science Museum?’

  ‘We’ve told you,�
�� Lloyd said impatiently. ‘Six million times already. We’re SPLAT, and we’re going with Dinah.’ He gripped the back of Grid’s neck and pushed her up the platform and through the ticket barrier.

  ‘I still think it’s mean to trick Auntie Alice,’ muttered Harvey. But he followed the others to the telephones. They all crowded round while Lloyd made the phone call. They could not hear everything he said, but snatches of talk drifted out.

  ‘… terribly sorry, Auntie Alice … enormous bright red spots … this morning … yes, all of us … yes, all over …’

  When he came away from the phone, he did not look very happy. ‘Well, that’s done,’ he said. ‘But it was horrid. She was ever so nice and sympathetic’

  ‘Ah, but you had to do it, didn’t you?’ Ingrid said nastily. ‘So that we can be SPLAT and go with Dinah.’

  She was still in a really bad temper. When they went down the steps into the Underground station, she trailed behind, making loud, rude remarks to Harvey. And when they got to the Underground train, she persuaded him to sit up at the far end of the carriage with her, pretending not to know the others.

  ‘Oh dear.’ Mandy frowned. ‘Do you think I ought to go and talk to them?’

  ‘Whatever for?’ Ian looked amazed. ‘They’re having a lovely time. You know how Ingrid likes sulking.’

  Mandy did not seem convinced, but she settled back in her seat anyway. ‘Oh well, they’ll probably be all right when we reach North Island. That’s what the place is called, isn’t it, Dinah? An island sounds wonderful. This horrible, dusty heat is making us all crotchety. Just think how lovely it’ll be to see a beautiful river, full of water.’

  Dinah frowned. Until then she had not joined in the conversation at all. She had sat, very still and upright, on the edge of her seat, looking wooden because she was so nervous. But now she said, ‘I’ve been wondering about that. Yes, the place is called North Island. I’ve got to go to the Sentinel Tower on North Island. So there must be a river. But I can’t work out which one. We won’t be anywhere near the Thames.’

  Lloyd waved a hand. ‘Don’t worry. I bet there are millions of rivers in London.’

  ‘Perhaps this is a nice little one,’ said Mandy. ‘With reeds at the edges, and waterfalls.’

  ‘Oh sure,’ Ian said sarcastically. ‘And herons and salmon and otters. All in the middle of London.’

  Lloyd licked his lips. ‘I’ll settle for just the water. It’s so hot in this carriage.’

  They sat back, dreaming of cool, clear running water and trying to ignore the rude snorts that came from Ingrid and Harvey at the other end of the carriage.

  All at once, Dinah sat up. ‘Get ready,’ she said. ‘It’s the next stop.’

  ‘Oi!’ Ian yelled down the carriage. ‘You two ugly mugs! Get off at the next stop.’

  ‘Huh!’ Ingrid tossed her head and she and Harvey turned their backs, but at the next station they did get off, even though it was by a different door. They charged up the steps and through the ticket barrier, ahead of the others, and Lloyd could hear them muttering as they climbed the second staircase, towards the open air.

  ‘… horrible computers … putrid Computer Director …’

  ‘… spoilt the whole summer … and …’

  ‘OH!’

  They both said it together, as they reached the top of the steps. Stopping dead, they looked from side to side, staring. Quickly the other four raced up behind. Their heads were full of beautiful, refreshing pictures of grass and water and ducks.

  ‘OH!’ they all said, as they reached the top.

  Because there was no grass. Not a single duck. In fact, there was not a river in sight.

  Instead, they were standing in the middle of an enormous motorway intersection. The station looked tiny, completely surrounded by bridges and tunnels and cars. Roads looped up above them, high in the air, supported by concrete arches. Roads plunged down, vanishing into the darkness of underpasses. More roads ran round them at ground level, on every side. And the traffic sent up a steady, unbroken roar.

  For a moment, they were utterly bewildered. Then Ingrid said triumphantly, ‘You see? It’s all a load of rubbish. Well, we’re not standing about here, are we, Harvey? We’ll go and sit on that bench over there, until they all decide to be sensible and go to Auntie Alice’s after all.’

  The two of them marched off and Mandy looked distressed. ‘We’ve got to do something, or they’ll get unbearable. Haven’t you got any idea where to go, Dinah? What about the instructions in your invitation?’

  ‘Well—’ Dinah hesitated. ‘They’re a bit peculiar. They just say, Turn to the north and you will see the Sentinel Tower on North Island. That doesn’t seem much help.’

  ‘Ah.’ Ian shook his head wisely. ‘This isn’t a holiday camp you’re going to, remember. It’s a special session for Brains. I bet the rest of them could work out how to get there. They’re probably all knocking on the door now. Horrible little wizened fellows, with great bulging egg-heads. And tiny little pebbly glasses. And backs all bent from stooping over their books. And—’

  In spite of her nervousness, Dinah grinned and sloshed him. ‘Yes, but what are we going to do?’

  ‘We could try the instructions,’ Mandy said mildly. ‘It’s easy enough to work out where north is, after all. The sun’s more or less in the south at this time of day, and there’s no missing that. Not in this heat.’

  ‘Right,’ Lloyd said bossily. ‘Everyone face north.’

  They turned their backs on the sun and stared. But what they saw was just baffling. In front of them were more and more loops of motorway, arching up towards the sky and down under the ground. And apart from those, there was only one other thing to be seen. In the exact centre of the intersection rose a tall, modern tower block, high and narrow.

  It stuck up into the sky like a finger of light, reflecting the sunshine back blindingly into their eyes. Its whole surface seemed to be composed of large squares of mirror, with no sign of any windows or balconies. And it was completely isolated in the middle of the roaring traffic. Nothing else was visible. Only roads, roads, roads—and that single, dazzling pillar.

  Then, suddenly, Dinah said, ‘Oh! I’m stupid!’

  ‘She’s realized at last!’ Ian applauded. ‘Well, when you’ve finished cheering, perhaps you’ll explain things to us sub-zero morons.’

  ‘Look!’ Dinah pointed straight at the gleaming tower. ‘Don’t you see? North Island isn’t an island in a river. It’s an island in the traffic. And that’s the Sentinel Tower!’

  Lloyd and Ian and Mandy looked amazed, but, from the bench round the corner, Ingrid laughed scornfully.

  ‘Call yourself clever, Dinah Hunter? We worked that out ages ago, didn’t we, Harvey?’

  ‘What a naughty tarradiddle,’ murmured Ian. ‘Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to boast?’

  ‘But we did,’ insisted Harvey. ‘Look.’

  He pointed away to his right. Walking closer to the bench, the others found that they could see a flight of steps plunging down into a small pedestrian subway. At the top of the steps was a notice.

  TO NORTH ISLAND.

  Mandy shook her head, gently. ‘Why didn’t you say?’

  ‘Why should we?’ Ingrid shrugged. ‘We don’t want to go near the Computer Director. He’s bound to turn out to be a robot or a vampire or something.’

  ‘Well, tough luck,’ said Lloyd. ‘Because the rest of us are going there now. And I’ve got all the money. So if you don’t come with us, you’ll have to sit here and stare at the traffic. There’s nothing else to do round here.’

  He led the way down into the subway. And five pairs of feet followed him.

  5

  Into the Sentinel Tower

  It was very dusty in the subway. Dusty and dirty and dry. And the narrow passage was lit by bright white fluorescent tubes which showed up every cobweb.

  It was cold, too, and slightly musty. For the first few seconds the cold was a relief, but by th
e time they had gone a yard or two it made their skin feel clammy, as though they had walked out of the sun into a deep dungeon. And their footsteps echoed eerily ahead of them, the noise rebounding off the hard surfaces of the walls.

  ‘Do you think it’s far?’ whispered Mandy. Somehow it seemed right to whisper.

  Lloyd forced himself to answer in a normal voice. ‘It looked about two hundred yards. Going straight across from the station. But the subway isn’t quite straight, of course.’

  It curved gently, first to the left and then to the right, so that they could not see anything ahead of them except the passage. Ingrid and Harvey shuddered and walked closer to the others.

  The end came quite suddenly. The subway bent round, a little more sharply than before, and they were facing a steep flight of steps leading upwards to the open air. At the top, they could see the blinding brightness of the sun, reflected from the walls of the tower block.

  Lloyd took a deep breath and then marched up the stairs, slightly ahead of the others. They needed to be given a lead. He could feel them hesitating. He would go first.

  As he emerged from the subway, he found himself staring into his own eyes.

  For a moment it startled him so much that he could not understand the reason. Then he realized. The walls of the huge tower were not just like mirrors. They were mirrors. The whole surface, right to the top, was made of mirror panels, and he was looking into the eyes of his reflection.

  ‘Wow!’ muttered Ian, behind him. ‘What a sight.’

  ‘I think it’s stupid,’ snapped Ingrid. She pulled her cross-eyed face at the reflections and stuck out her tongue.

  Lloyd took another deep breath, ready to give orders, and immediately found himself spluttering. Here in the very centre of the intersection, the air was foul with exhaust fumes. Before he could recover, Ian had turned to Dinah.

  ‘Right, what do we do now? What do your instructions say?’

  Dinah glanced down to check. ‘It says Present yourself at the door and request admittance.’