Blethingwood Hall Written and performed by Stephanie Poppins Chapter 11 William Darlington knew it would be at least eleven o'clock before he got to sleep,
But he had long since made his peace with that.
Ever since he was sent to the bowels of the administration block that summer,
His dreams had taken a sinister turn.
And that fear never really went away.
He had not told Adam or Penny much of what had happened,
Of course,
But suffice to say being a happy-go-lucky eleven-year-old at Blethingwood Hall was inadvisable.
He was twelve now,
Though,
And this time they would all be together,
He reasoned.
And that would make it a lot easier if they all got caught.
As it happened,
Getting out of the dormitory was not as difficult as he thought it would be.
The Lower East slept like babies,
And there were no prefects chosen yet.
So,
Sidling his way round to the back,
Indestructible in his new balaclava,
William breathed a sigh of relief as he caught sight of Adam and Penny shaking their heads when they saw him.
What are you wearing that for?
Said Adam.
But William just laughed.
The way he saw it,
The staff were safely tucked up in the clock tower,
So why not have a bit of fun?
They reached the top of the grand staircase in seconds,
Then dropped to the floor.
Crawling down to the lobby,
They slid from column to column,
Until at last they were outside the Dragon's office.
There was not a sound to be heard.
All was dark.
Penny felt a little nervous,
But placed her ear against the Dragon's door nevertheless.
And after what felt like an age,
She gave her brothers the thumbs up.
Slowly,
Carefully,
Adam turned the handle and crawled in.
Close behind him,
William wasn't half as restrained.
As soon as the door clicked shut behind them,
He ripped off his mask and ran around,
Touching everything.
Stop messing around,
Spat Adam.
But William wanted to get his revenge.
I mean it,
Will.
I've got what we need.
Look,
It's over there.
Let's go,
Said Adam,
Stuffing the middle page of the Echo into his pyjama pocket.
Then he scanned the room.
What would be invisible to the others,
He could easily spot.
Stand still.
His younger brother was putting him off,
But William was far from finished.
Look at this,
Ad.
William held up a silver frame.
In it,
A young woman stood next to a handsome young man.
They were smiling,
United in joy.
It's the dragon when she was younger,
Said William.
I'm sure of it.
But Adam begged to differ.
No,
That's not her.
She never smiled in her life and actually meant it.
It's got to be her sister or something.
Now,
Come on.
I'm telling you,
That's her.
William rushed back to the door.
Penny,
Penny.
At his call,
A torrent of panic ran over Penny's scalp.
Don't touch anything.
She'll know we've been here,
She said as she joined him inside the office.
It's a bit late for that now,
Said Adam.
He's touched everything.
But look at this pen.
It's the dragon and her boyfriend.
I'm sure of it,
Said William.
Adam had had enough.
There's a place for everything and everything in its place,
The dragon says.
So put it back exactly where you found it or she'll know we've been here.
Hurry up,
Penny added.
Let's go.
But competition between Adam and William was longstanding.
As far back as they could remember,
In fact.
And William was ready for a challenge.
Sitting in pride of place on the dragon's desk was a cut glass inkwell.
William lifted up its finial and dangled it over the dragon's chair.
Just enough to blacken her day,
He laughed,
As the inky liquid pattered down upon the pristine leather hide.
All right,
Then you win,
Hissed Adam.
You're an idiot,
William.
Come on,
Let's go.
But one act of sabotage was not enough.
Just the paperclips and I'm out of here,
William laughed.
He opened a heavy desk drawer and turned the long line of east-facing paperclips 90 degrees to the south.
Then he closed it as carefully as he could and declared,
She won't know what's hit her.
Penny couldn't help but admire William's recklessness.
But this was short-lived,
As without warning,
The light from the pale moon beaming in through the window suddenly disappeared,
As two huge wings cloaked the room in darkness.
Get back,
Hissed Adam.
And the Darlingtons darted behind the desk,
Certain the bird had seen them.
Then,
As if things couldn't get any worse,
Penny heard the dragon's swish,
Swish,
Swish of her silk taffeta skirt making its way across the lobby.
She's coming!
The dragon's coming!
Penny dropped down next to William and placed her hand on his arm.
It was such a small gesture and yet the two of them felt instantly calm.
Adam,
Meanwhile,
Shuffled back to try and find a better hiding place.
Tuck yourselves in tight,
You two,
He said.
She's coming in here,
That's for sure.
And moving further into the recess behind the desk,
His sock caught on a brass ring that was set into the floor.
Quick,
He hissed,
As a cupboard opened up behind him.
Without a second to lose,
He dragged William and Penny into the small space.
It's okay,
Will,
It won't be for long,
Said Penny,
As the panel clicked back into place.
And not a moment too soon,
For Aunty Margaret was now in the room with them.
She sat down heavily into her favourite armchair and looked around.
With Persian rugs,
Louis XIV armchairs and exquisitely carved furniture,
The front parlour at Blethingwood Hall was the one room reflected her true status and significance.
She checked the line of coloured bottles on the top shelf,
Then made her way to the huge sash windows,
Dressed in wine-coloured velvet with heavy tassels that fringed her view.
They were a work of art.
And there as always stood her favourite.
With a blood-red waistcoat,
White claws and deep blue beard,
This veridor was waiting patiently,
As he always did at this time of night.
The dragon opened the window.
You have something for me?
She asked.
Her fingers ran down the long white streak on his beak,
And plucking a vial from deep within his feathers,
The veridor replied,
The Viscount sends his regards.
The Darlingtons were shocked.
They hadn't considered a veridor might be able to talk.
Adam watched the dragon release the cork of the bottle and drink the blood-red liquid within.
Then she closed the sash and placed the bottle alongside the others.
Through the slit in the wood,
He could just see William's black ink seeping across the back of her skirt.
But such pleasure was short-lived,
For the dragon was now staring at the photo frame that William had touched,
With a face like thunder.
And there was Albert,
Just in time,
Holding something soft in his arms.
I've found him in a portico,
Em.
He's dead by the looks of it.
It was a lifeless rabbit.
I've told you not to call me that,
The dragon spat.
What's the matter with you?
Get that vermin out of here and stay out of my room in future.
I haven't been in your room,
Said Alfred,
With an innocent persistence to his voice.
All at once,
William felt very guilty.
Don't lie to me,
Albert,
Snapped the dragon,
Pointing to the picture frame.
But Albert was insistent.
It wasn't me.
This seemed to only make the dragon more angry.
You're a liar.
And while I think of it,
Why did you cover for Adam Darlington last night?
He knows you're stupid,
Just like everybody else does.
Do you seriously think any of those defects would want anything to do with the likes of you?
Now get out.
Then taking one last look around,
The dragon switched off the light and made her way to bed.
