Hollow Earth by John Barrowman, Carole E. Barrowman

studio.
    ‘Indeed,’ said the twins’ grandfather. ‘But they deserve a little freedom to play as well. They’ve been cooped up in this place for too long. I’m sure Auchinmurn will survive whatever they have planned.’
    ‘It’s not Auchinmurn I’m worried about,’ said Simon. ‘There’s something going on in London. Since Sandie fled with the twins, I hear the split among the Guardians is growing. The twins’ continued freedom is fuelling Sir Charles’s anger that he lost the vote to bind them. He’s been having a lot of meetings at the Royal Academy recently.’
    ‘Wren will always monitor the twins’ abilities, you know that,’ said Renard. ‘Fortunately, the majority on the Council are intelligent enough to see the value of education over Sir Charles’s medieval approach.’
    Simon nodded, checking that his watch was indeed tracking the children. Three tiny blue dots illuminated a map on the watch face.
    ‘Still, it pays to be watchful,’ continued Renard, retrieving his newspaper from the kitchen table and heading for the terrace. ‘I don’t trust Wren to leave them alone, despite the Council’s vote. I don’t think he’ll do anything while they are on the island with me, but still I’m pleased that you have activated a GPS program in the children’s watches. You can monitor them from your unit when they’re too far out of my psychic reach.’
    ‘I’ve heard more, Renard,’ said Simon, following. ‘The rumours about Malcolm and the Hollow Earth Society have surfaced again.’
    Renard set his paper down on a wrought-iron table outside, running his fingers through his thick hair. For a second, Simon had a sense that the older man had made a decision and was about to say something to him – but then Mara headed out of her studio towards the kitchen, interrupting the moment.
    ‘Renard, there’s a reason you trust me with your intelligence gathering,’ Simon said, as Mara approached. ‘I’m good at it. The rumours have resurfaced because of the twins’ exceptional powers. If they can animate themselves in and out of a piece of art, then Duncan Fox and his original Hollow Earth Society were on to something after all. Hollow Earth may well be “real and eternal”, as Fox prophesied. You must admit the twins are transforming at a rate that’s truly unprecedented. Soon they might be able to do things that even we’ve only imagined possible.’
    ‘Keep listening and keep me informed,’ said Renard. ‘I know you’re the best. But also know this. As long as I’m around, Malcolm is not a threat to the twins. You need to trust me on that.’
    Simon shook his head, not happy with Renard’s response.
    ‘Okay. How about this?’ Renard placed his hand gently on Simon’s shoulder. ‘After the twins turn thirteen, I’ll tell them as much as I know about what might be in their future, including the rumours about their father and Hollow Earth. Deal?’
    ‘Deal,’ said Simon, reluctantly.
    Renard was keeping something back. But there was nothing Simon could do about it.
    Matt led the way out of the Abbey grounds, with Zach in the middle and Em bringing up the rear. When they reached the wrought-iron gates, Matt dodged his bike into the cover of trees.
    ‘Are you ready?’ he signed to Zach.
    ‘Sure,’ Zach signed in reply. ‘My dad’s really clever, but he’s not very good at keeping secrets.’
    Zach pulled his laptop from his backpack. His fingers flew across the keyboard. Over the last few years, Zach’s technological abilities had been evolving just as fast as the twins’ imaginative powers. He could design a code for anything, his mind intuitively wired to the infinite possibilities of programming code. Matt and Em watched in awe as lines of code scrolled across his screen.
    Do you need us to do anything, Zach?
    Not yet, Em.
    After a few minutes, Zach signed that he was ready to upload the software patch he had created. Balancing the laptop on his bike saddle, he