Sarah was uncharacteristically quiet as we took the succession of boats back to the hotel. I’d assumed she was taking in the scenery, but nevertheless felt some unease when her mood didn’t change. Usually, in a new situation like this, I would have been bombarded with questions and observations. Right now, it was all silence.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I eventually asked, as the Kernow Belle left the wide expanse of the Carrick Roads and entered the narrow inlet of the River Fal on the final leg of our journey. The reduced sound of its slowing engine making conversation all the easier. “It isn’t Cyrus Flimwell, is it?”
“Oh God no, Jack,” she whispered, still looking into the distance. “It’s the children, I’ve never… I…” Her voice trailed off completely, words apparently failing her.
“Never what. Sarah?”
“They frighten me. Where did you find all these children?”
“The Granville Institute has scouts that check with as many schools as possible, all around the country. Exceptionally bright kids are identified and invited to the academy. Families from any walk of life, all expenses paid. But,” I then asked, looking at her troubled expression, “why would they frighten you?”
“I can’t put my finger on it, they just do,” Sarah answered (‘they just do’ being the phrase she often used when unable to explain her intuition). “I mean, we came across a group sitting around a table in the library practicing some sort of telepathy.”
“Practicing telepathy, how?”
“With playing cards, guessing what card had been drawn from a deck when it was placed face down. And they seemed to be getting it right most of the time. Made the hairs on my arms stand right up.”
“Kids’ card games, Sarah,” I said. “That’s all, and these kids just play them a bit differently. What else about the children bothered you?”
“They seemed old beyond their years. I spoke to one boy who knew far more than I do about pre-Christian Levantine cultures, and I have a doctorate.”
“I know that, Sarah.”
“Of course you do, darling, but this boy not only knew much more than me but had also memorised books that I normally only recommend as reading for the post-graduate course.” I raised an eyebrow. “No, there was no question that he knew the books by heart, and according to Velinda Flimwell, he’d even memorised the Bible. Both testaments, word perfect for heaven’s sake, and he was just seventeen.”
“What was his name?”
“One of the other kids referred to him as ‘Spider’.”
“Ah yes, I know the lad you mean. Tall and very skinny? Black hair, longish?”
“Yes, that’s him, Jack.”
“His real name’s Simon Founds I think.”
“Why Spider then?”
“Not sure, but nobody ever calls him Simon, not even the teachers. Bit of a natural leader to the others kids he is. In fact, if the academy was the type of school to appoint a head boy, it might have been Spider.”
“I’m sure, but he also correctly guessed my name, Sarah Sangster. Told me he would guess it and then did. I mean, how could he know that?”
“Might have seen you arriving with me, noticed you wear a wedding ring and, as he knows who I am, guessed the name Sangster. And Velinda must have called you Sarah within his earshot.”
“No, I’m quite sure she didn’t. Oh, I wonder?” She pulled back her sleeve and touched a metal band around her wrist. “This bracelet has Sarah etched onto it.”
“Yes, but in Hebrew script.”
“The boy must have read it.”
“And instantly translated it,” I said, half laughing before stopping myself in the face of Sarah’s unease. “Very observant of young Spider and, as you say, a little bit frightening.”
“But some of the other kids, Jack, they look through you. It’s almost as if they are seeing things that we can’t.”
“The kids at the academy are odd in many ways, Sarah,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulders. “And as a result of their intellect they often suffer, just like children with other aberrations. That’s one reason the institute wanted to open the academy. To give these children a safe place, somewhere they can grow up in peace.”
“I do hope they are safe,” said Sarah, shivering despite the late afternoon sunshine.
“Let’s forget about the institute and the academy for now,” I said, as the boat rounded the point opposite the Watersmeet. “You don’t leave for Chester until Monday morning, so we’ve got tonight and the whole of tomorrow to ourselves.”
I leaned over and kissed her.
“Phew,” she said pulling back. “It’s the afternoon and I can still smell those kippers. Not sure I can spend an evening all alone with you as well, Jack Sangster. Not without a gas mask.”