‘Ow!’

‘What’s the matter?’

‘I’ve banged my shin against something.’

‘I’ve found a wall,’ said Newt.

‘Ahhhhhhh!’ shouted Rowan. ‘Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod. Help! Getitoffme. Getitoffme!’

‘What? What’s the matter?’ Newt began to panic. ‘Where are you?’

‘Spider web! Ahhhh! I’ve walked into a spider web. Ohmygod!’

‘Oh, for goodness sake.’ Newt continued feeling along the wall until she found a switch. She flicked it and a single naked bulb illuminated their dank surroundings.

They were in a small brick room full of junk and storage boxes, stairs leading up to a trapdoor in the wooden ceiling. Rowan was on the dusty floor, frantically wiping at his face.

‘Relax,’ said Newt. ‘It’s gone. You’ve got it off.’

Rowan whimpered as he got to his feet. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘You know what …’ started Newt. Then she stopped and reconsidered. ‘It’s okay. Now, where are we?’

‘No idea.’ Rowan pointed to the stairs. ‘But that’s the way out.’

They climbed up and emerged at the back of their school hall. Through the darkened windows, they could see flashing lights brightening the night outside.

They sprinted out and towards where people were gathered in the car park, behind police tape that was cordoning off the school grounds.

As they approached, people started pointing and shouting. Newt’s mum ducked under the tape and ran towards her, enveloping her in a hug.

‘Where have you been?’ she blubbered. ‘We’ve been so worried. We thought you’d been caught in the tornado.’

Tornado?

All of a sudden there were people all around her. Police. Paramedics. Teachers. Parents.

As she and Rowan were checked out in the back of an ambulance, they were able to glean what had been going on. Apparently, there had been some sort of freak weather incident, a mini-tornado, dark and menacing, that had destroyed the principal’s office and a small section of school grounds.

The Darkness that passed by as we went through the doorway, thought Newt.

After they were given the medical all clear, a police officer came to take their statements.

‘We were hiding in the basement,’ said Newt, with a sideways glance at Rowan. ‘We figured that was the safest place to go with a tornado on the loose.’

No one questioned their story.