Malice by Gabriell Lord Page A

to meet—especially near water,’ said Repro.
    â€˜Plenty of that around here,’ said Ryan. ‘Actually, we’ve been thinking all this time that it came from someone in the city, but maybe it’s a threat from somebody here who knows about the Perdita file and this house. It might be just another attempt to frighten us away. There are only four days left until the deadline—surely if it was something dangerous, we’d know by now.’
    â€˜It all started with this,’ I said, picking up the Perdita file.
    Repro flicked through it. ‘And what’s this?’ he asked, noticing the envelope stuck at the back and taking out the paper with the strange drawing.
    â€˜We don’t know,’ I said. ‘We all thought it looked a bit like a ghost,’ I pointed out the strange shapes. ‘But now I’m inclined to think it’s just a scribble.’
    Repro peered more closely at the old piece of paper, scrutinising it thoroughly.
    â€˜Mmm,’ he muttered. ‘It reminds me of something. Something I saw a magician do. If you look closely, you can see fold lines in the paper—I don’t mean all the wrinkled, crumpled bits—I mean these straight lines here, where it’s been folded and unfolded a lot.’ With a few deft movements, Repro folded the paper a couple of times and something happened. The lines now connected up, creating one shape.

    â€˜That’s amazing!’ I said. ‘Now it looks more like a piece of coral, with branches on it. Somebody wanted to hide this drawing,’ I said. ‘Why?’
    Another one of Perdita’s secrets was staring us in the face, taunting us.
    â€˜Coral, you said?’ said Repro, with the beginning of a grin. ‘Did I ever tell you that I lived in some speleological structures for a while?’
    â€˜Some
whats?
’ Ryan asked.
    â€˜He means caves,’ said Boges, puncturing Repro’s overblown language.
    â€˜Yes, well,’ I said, ‘you’ve lived in some very unusual places. But why are you telling us this now?’
    â€˜There must be caves around here, that’s why. This reminds me of a cave system.’
    â€˜The sea caves!’ I cried. ‘That’s what it is! It’s a diagram of the layout of the caves!’
    Boges grabbed the diagram from Repro. ‘Yes! The caves that Curly is looking for! And he doesn’t know the way in—but we do!’
    The thrill of discovery bubbled through my veins. We’d unlocked another of Perdita’s secrets.
    â€˜And look,’ Boges added, ‘we were looking at it upside down before. That’s not an M—it’s a W.’
    â€˜Windraker!’ I yelled. ‘Is that where the Windraker is lying? That’s what Curly and his boss want! But we’re going to get there first!’ I was jumping out of my skin with excitement. I couldn’t wait to start exploring the cave system.
    â€˜I doubt it, Winter,’ Boges said, shaking his head. ‘No ship could fit in through the narrow entry to the caves.’
    â€˜Hang on! What’s a Windraker?’ asked Repro, looking bewildered. ‘Have I missed something?’
    We quickly filled Repro in on everything we’d heard about the shipwreck that lay somewhere in Deception Bay.
    â€˜Whatever is hidden in the caves,’ Boges said, ‘it must be very important. Otherwise why would someone hide it with that fancy folding paper trick? And whatever it is, it’s hidden right at the very back of the furthest and biggest cave.’
    Sea caves system
    1:26 pm
    One by one, the three of us squeezed through the narrow cleft hidden by the overhang of the cliff, carrying our gear. Repro had chosen to stay behind, allegedly to guard Perdita from any further intruders.
    Boges had helped Ryan make waterproof lights by sealing our torches in tall airtight jam jars with ropes attached to them.
    â€˜They’ll float,