said. ‚The room’s on a slant and all the balls roll the wrong way.‛
Then they went upstairs, where the boys had their study-bedrooms. Each one contained a bed, an armchair, a television (‚It shows only the programs Dr. Grief wants you to see,‛ James said), a bureau, and a desk. A second door led into a small bathroom with a toilet and shower.
None of the rooms was locked.
‚We’re not allowed to lock them,‛ James explained. ‚We’re all stuck here with nowhere to go, so nobody bothers to steal anything. I heard that Hugo Vries—the boy in the library—used to steal anything he could get his hands on. He was arrested for shoplifting in Amsterdam.‛
‚But not anymore?‛
‚He’s another success story. He’s flying home next week. His father owns diamond mines.
Why bother shoplifting when you can afford to buy the whole shop?‛
Alex’s study was at the end of the corridor, with views over the ski jump. His suitcases had already been carried up and were waiting for him on the bed. Everything felt very bare, but according to James, the study-bedrooms were the only part of the school the boys were allowed to decorate themselves. They could choose their own bedspreads and cover the walls with their own posters.
‚They say it’s important that you express yourself,‛ James said. ‚If you haven’t brought anything with you, Miss Stomach-bag will take you into Grenoble.‛
‚Stomach-bag?‛
‚Mrs. Stellenbosch. That’s my name for her.‛
‚What do the other boys call her?‛
‚They call her Mrs. Stellenbosch.‛ James sighed. ‚I’m telling you—this is a deeply weird place, Alex. I’ve been to a lot of schools because I’ve been thrown out of a lot of schools. But this one is the pits. I’ve been here for six weeks now and I’ve hardly had any lessons. They have music evenings and discussion evenings and they try to get me to read. But otherwise, I’ve been left on my own.‛
‚They want you to assimilate,‛ Alex said, remembering what Dr. Grief had said.
‚That’s their word for it. But this place … they may call it a school, but it’s more like being in prison. You’ve seen the guards. ‛
‚I thought they were here to protect us.‛
‚If you think that, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought. Think about it! There are about thirty of them. Thirty armed guards for seven kids? That’s not protection. That’s intimidation.‛ James paused by the door. He examined Alex for a second time. ‚It would be nice to think that someone has finally arrived who I can relate to,‛ he said,
‚Maybe you can,‛ Alex said.
‚Yeah. But for how long?‛
James left, closing the door behind him.
Alex began to unpack. The bulletproof ski suit and infrared goggles were at the top of the first suitcase. It didn’t look as if he would be needing them. It wasn’t as if he even had any skis.
Then came the Discman. He remembered the instructions Smithers had given him. ‚If you’re in real trouble, just press Fast Forward three times .‛ He was almost tempted to do it now. There was something unsettling about the academy. He could feel it even now, in his room. He was like a goldfish in a bowl. Looking up, he almost expected to see a pair of huge eyes looming over him, and he knew that they would be wearing red-tinted glasses. He weighed the Discman in his hand. He couldn’t hit the panic button—yet. He had nothing to report back to MI6. There was nothing to connect the school with the deaths of the two men in New York and the Black Sea.
But if there was anything, he knew where he would find it. Why were two whole floors of the building out of bounds? It made no sense at all. Presumably the guards slept up there, but even though Dr. Grief seemed to employ a small army, that would still leave a lot of empty rooms. The third and fourth floors. If something was going on at the academy, it had to be going on up there.
A bell sounded downstairs. Alex shut his suitcase, left
Then they went upstairs, where the boys had their study-bedrooms. Each one contained a bed, an armchair, a television (‚It shows only the programs Dr. Grief wants you to see,‛ James said), a bureau, and a desk. A second door led into a small bathroom with a toilet and shower.
None of the rooms was locked.
‚We’re not allowed to lock them,‛ James explained. ‚We’re all stuck here with nowhere to go, so nobody bothers to steal anything. I heard that Hugo Vries—the boy in the library—used to steal anything he could get his hands on. He was arrested for shoplifting in Amsterdam.‛
‚But not anymore?‛
‚He’s another success story. He’s flying home next week. His father owns diamond mines.
Why bother shoplifting when you can afford to buy the whole shop?‛
Alex’s study was at the end of the corridor, with views over the ski jump. His suitcases had already been carried up and were waiting for him on the bed. Everything felt very bare, but according to James, the study-bedrooms were the only part of the school the boys were allowed to decorate themselves. They could choose their own bedspreads and cover the walls with their own posters.
‚They say it’s important that you express yourself,‛ James said. ‚If you haven’t brought anything with you, Miss Stomach-bag will take you into Grenoble.‛
‚Stomach-bag?‛
‚Mrs. Stellenbosch. That’s my name for her.‛
‚What do the other boys call her?‛
‚They call her Mrs. Stellenbosch.‛ James sighed. ‚I’m telling you—this is a deeply weird place, Alex. I’ve been to a lot of schools because I’ve been thrown out of a lot of schools. But this one is the pits. I’ve been here for six weeks now and I’ve hardly had any lessons. They have music evenings and discussion evenings and they try to get me to read. But otherwise, I’ve been left on my own.‛
‚They want you to assimilate,‛ Alex said, remembering what Dr. Grief had said.
‚That’s their word for it. But this place … they may call it a school, but it’s more like being in prison. You’ve seen the guards. ‛
‚I thought they were here to protect us.‛
‚If you think that, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought. Think about it! There are about thirty of them. Thirty armed guards for seven kids? That’s not protection. That’s intimidation.‛ James paused by the door. He examined Alex for a second time. ‚It would be nice to think that someone has finally arrived who I can relate to,‛ he said,
‚Maybe you can,‛ Alex said.
‚Yeah. But for how long?‛
James left, closing the door behind him.
Alex began to unpack. The bulletproof ski suit and infrared goggles were at the top of the first suitcase. It didn’t look as if he would be needing them. It wasn’t as if he even had any skis.
Then came the Discman. He remembered the instructions Smithers had given him. ‚If you’re in real trouble, just press Fast Forward three times .‛ He was almost tempted to do it now. There was something unsettling about the academy. He could feel it even now, in his room. He was like a goldfish in a bowl. Looking up, he almost expected to see a pair of huge eyes looming over him, and he knew that they would be wearing red-tinted glasses. He weighed the Discman in his hand. He couldn’t hit the panic button—yet. He had nothing to report back to MI6. There was nothing to connect the school with the deaths of the two men in New York and the Black Sea.
But if there was anything, he knew where he would find it. Why were two whole floors of the building out of bounds? It made no sense at all. Presumably the guards slept up there, but even though Dr. Grief seemed to employ a small army, that would still leave a lot of empty rooms. The third and fourth floors. If something was going on at the academy, it had to be going on up there.
A bell sounded downstairs. Alex shut his suitcase, left
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