knew way back then in 1913 about the Ormond Singularity. He was doing what we’re doing! Trying to gather information and work it out.’
‘And what Dad was doing nearly a century later,’ I added. ‘He’d also stumbled upon some incredible information that he didn’t want to put down in writing. He was going to tell me all about it as soon as he got home. But by then he was too sick to tell me anything. Anything other than the cryptic messages in his drawings.’
‘Sounds like we could be talking late 1700s,’said Boges, staring at the words he’d typed up, ‘if Piers Ormond’s great-grandfather was involved.’
Boges looked up from his laptop, his round eyes wide with excitement. ‘We are dead-set getting closer to cracking the Dangerous Mystery of the Ormonds. This is awesome!’
‘It would be more awesome,’ I said, kicking myself, ‘if I could remember the name of that solicitor. His firm could still be holding valuable information about my family and the Ormond Singularity.’
Boges gathered up the letters and carefully refolded them, squeezing the old envelope to make room to put them back in. Suddenly he frowned. ‘What’s this? There’s something else in here.’
He tipped the envelope and shook it. A fine piece of paper fluttered out. I picked it up gently. ‘It’s an incomplete family tree,’ I said, smoothing it down on the floor in front of us, ‘in connection with the Ormond Singularity—I’m guessing that’s what the initials “O. S.” stand for.’
‘So much of it’s faded,’ said Boges, ‘but it looks like someone was tracing the firstborn sons down a particular branch of the Ormond family line. The Ormond Singularity seems to affect the firstborn sons.’
‘You can say that again,’ I muttered, thinking of the 365-day countdown, and the warning Millicent had given me about the deadly secret. ‘My great-aunt,’ I told Boges, ‘said it had beenthe death of all of the Ormonds who had tried to unravel it. She said it should remain a secret.’
My friend suddenly looked nervous. We both knew that if we kept adding to the family tree, my dad’s name would have been circled next, and then beneath that, mine. Would I die like my dad? That was the question I think we were both asking ourselves.
‘So Ferdinand,’ said Boges.
‘My great-grandfather,’ I added.
‘Was next in line.’
‘Next in line,’ I said, ‘to be cursed by the Ormond Singularity.’
‘That’s one way of looking at it. So after Ferdinand came your grandfather, and then your dad.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘He was the firstborn male of that generation.
‘And then comes you. So the Ormond Singularity , whatever it is, will affect you.’
‘I hope by “affect” you don’t mean “kill”. There have been a lot of people trying to make that happen. But the Ormond Singularity affects other people too, not just the firstborns in the family. What about that poor, crazy guy? He said the Ormond Singularity was killing him as well.’
‘I think we have to remember that just knowing about the Ormond Singularity is dangerous.That’s why your dad warned you not to say anything.’
As Boges was laughing at a photo someone posted on my blog—a couple of girls wearing ‘Cal is innocent’ T-shirts—he noticed another one of the private messages from Winter.
‘“Love, Little Bird”?’ he asked me, reading the name she’d signed off with. ‘What is that about?’
‘I think her parents used to call her that,’ I said. ‘It’s engraved on the back of her locket.’
‘She’s playing you like a fish on a hook.’
I thought of the last time I was at her flat, the way she had confided in me. ‘She’s given us a lot of help, Boges. Without her, we wouldn’t have the Jewel, and we wouldn’t have known about the writing inside it either.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Boges, unconvinced. ‘It just seems like she only offers something when you’re losing faith in her. The minute it
‘And what Dad was doing nearly a century later,’ I added. ‘He’d also stumbled upon some incredible information that he didn’t want to put down in writing. He was going to tell me all about it as soon as he got home. But by then he was too sick to tell me anything. Anything other than the cryptic messages in his drawings.’
‘Sounds like we could be talking late 1700s,’said Boges, staring at the words he’d typed up, ‘if Piers Ormond’s great-grandfather was involved.’
Boges looked up from his laptop, his round eyes wide with excitement. ‘We are dead-set getting closer to cracking the Dangerous Mystery of the Ormonds. This is awesome!’
‘It would be more awesome,’ I said, kicking myself, ‘if I could remember the name of that solicitor. His firm could still be holding valuable information about my family and the Ormond Singularity.’
Boges gathered up the letters and carefully refolded them, squeezing the old envelope to make room to put them back in. Suddenly he frowned. ‘What’s this? There’s something else in here.’
He tipped the envelope and shook it. A fine piece of paper fluttered out. I picked it up gently. ‘It’s an incomplete family tree,’ I said, smoothing it down on the floor in front of us, ‘in connection with the Ormond Singularity—I’m guessing that’s what the initials “O. S.” stand for.’
‘So much of it’s faded,’ said Boges, ‘but it looks like someone was tracing the firstborn sons down a particular branch of the Ormond family line. The Ormond Singularity seems to affect the firstborn sons.’
‘You can say that again,’ I muttered, thinking of the 365-day countdown, and the warning Millicent had given me about the deadly secret. ‘My great-aunt,’ I told Boges, ‘said it had beenthe death of all of the Ormonds who had tried to unravel it. She said it should remain a secret.’
My friend suddenly looked nervous. We both knew that if we kept adding to the family tree, my dad’s name would have been circled next, and then beneath that, mine. Would I die like my dad? That was the question I think we were both asking ourselves.
‘So Ferdinand,’ said Boges.
‘My great-grandfather,’ I added.
‘Was next in line.’
‘Next in line,’ I said, ‘to be cursed by the Ormond Singularity.’
‘That’s one way of looking at it. So after Ferdinand came your grandfather, and then your dad.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘He was the firstborn male of that generation.
‘And then comes you. So the Ormond Singularity , whatever it is, will affect you.’
‘I hope by “affect” you don’t mean “kill”. There have been a lot of people trying to make that happen. But the Ormond Singularity affects other people too, not just the firstborns in the family. What about that poor, crazy guy? He said the Ormond Singularity was killing him as well.’
‘I think we have to remember that just knowing about the Ormond Singularity is dangerous.That’s why your dad warned you not to say anything.’
As Boges was laughing at a photo someone posted on my blog—a couple of girls wearing ‘Cal is innocent’ T-shirts—he noticed another one of the private messages from Winter.
‘“Love, Little Bird”?’ he asked me, reading the name she’d signed off with. ‘What is that about?’
‘I think her parents used to call her that,’ I said. ‘It’s engraved on the back of her locket.’
‘She’s playing you like a fish on a hook.’
I thought of the last time I was at her flat, the way she had confided in me. ‘She’s given us a lot of help, Boges. Without her, we wouldn’t have the Jewel, and we wouldn’t have known about the writing inside it either.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Boges, unconvinced. ‘It just seems like she only offers something when you’re losing faith in her. The minute it
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