‘That was fun,’ says Jacob, pointing at things all the way back up the tunnel. From time to time a flame or a spark flies from his fingers but, more often, nothing happens at all. ‘But my mouth really hurts, like I’ve eaten a vindaloo and then drunk a glass of iced water – ow!’
‘I don’t understand,’ says Eric as we emerge from the entrance into the daylight.
‘I think I do,’ I say.
Eric turns to me. He’s got dust all over his glasses. I’m amazed he can see anything at all.
‘I think,’ I say, ‘that our powers were short-circuited by being inside the rock. They became unreliable. That’s why Jacob could set fire to things, some of the time, and you had water, some of the time.’
‘You two don’t seem very surprised by this,’ says Jacob, flashing sparks at the skip and sending the whole thing up in flames. Eric immediately douses it, and we walk on towards the vans, leaving a smouldering trail behind us.
I decide not to answer. Eric obviously does too because he changes the subject. ‘So now we know what they’re doing, but we don’t know who or why?’
‘You can’t get off it that easily – are you telling me that Snot Face here goes all watery?’
‘Sort of,’ I say.
‘And I go fiery.’ Jacob crackles, his eyes flash red and a small bush bursts into sparks. ‘Ow! That mouth thing again.’
‘Just about,’ says Eric.
‘But is that,’ says Jacob, ‘because the meteorite went into the fire and knocked the kettle over?’
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Probably.’
I can see the cogs in Jacob’s brain turning over and I wait for the next question.
‘So the meteorite landed in a mix of fire and water.’
‘Yes,’ I say.
‘Like your meteorite landed in the model village.’
‘Yes,’ I say.
‘Which is why you can shrink things.’
‘Yes.’
Jacob raises his eyebrows while he internally digests what he’s discovered. ‘OK – I’ve got that. So what are they doing down in the tunnel?’ he asks, turning his pocket full of Sherbet Frazzles into instant and marginally burned candyfloss.
‘Mining,’ says Eric. ‘They’re supposed to be scientists, but I don’t think that room full of rock looked like samples – it looked more like merchandise.’
‘So they’re selling the castle rock?’ I ask.
‘Why would anyone want it?’ asks Jacob, taking a large mouthful of the melted Sherbet Frazzles. ‘I mean, it’s just rock – isn’t it?’
I glance at Eric. I don’t think the castle rock is just rock. I think Eric’s dad is right, that the castle is built on a giant meteorite that fell millions of years ago, and that it could have massive power.
Eric brushes the dust from his arm and looks at it carefully, as if it might be full of tiny alien microbes. I wait for him to say something super intelligent, but he just says: ‘Hmmm’, and ‘I wonder.’
‘Hello there, boys,’ says a voice from between the vans. ‘What are you doing here?’
It’s the girl from the camp-out – Lily Lee.
‘I … ’ says Eric.
‘We … ’ I say.
‘Nuffin’,’ says Jacob, his jaw welded shut by the melted sugar.
‘What are you doing here?’ I ask.
‘Oh, my dad works here. He’s Professor Lee and he’s heading up the team of scientists. He’s sampling the rock.’