Return to Groosham Grange by Anthony Horowitz Page A

impossible. They were tied securely behind his back with some sort of rough rope. He could feel it cutting into his flesh and it was as much as he could do to wiggle his fingers. He pushed himself farther up against the wall, using the heel of his shoe against the rough flagstones. “Just give me a few seconds,” he said. He shut his eyes again and whispered the first few words of a spell that would bring a minor Persian demon to his assistance.
    “Forget it,” Vincent cut in, and David stopped in surprise. The other boy had hardly ever talked to him. Usually they did their best to avoid each other. But now it seemed that they were on the same side. Even so, Vincent sounded tired and defeated. “If you’re trying some magic, it won’t work,” he said. “I’ve already tried.”
    “Look at the door,” Jill said.
    David twisted his head around uncomfortably. There was a shape painted on the closed door. It looked like an eye with a wavy line through it.
    “It’s the eye of Horus,” Vincent said. “It creates a magical barrier. It means—”
    “—it means we can’t use our powers,” David concluded. He nodded. “I know.”
    Gritting his teeth, he seesawed his wrists together, trying to loosen the rope. It cost him a few inches of skin and gave him little in return. His hands had rotated and his palms could meet. He might have been able to pick up something if there was anything in the tower to pick up. But that was all.
    He gave up. “Who did this?” he asked.
    Vincent shook his head. “I don’t know. I never saw them.”
    “Me neither,” Jill added. “I was following Vincent like you said. But just before the prize-giving started, I decided to take a quick look in here. Someone must have been waiting. I didn’t see anything.”
    “Neither did I,” David muttered gloomily.
    “Why were you following me?” Vincent asked.
    Jill jerked her head in David’s direction. She was unable to keep a sour tone out of her voice. “He thought you were going to steal the Grail.”
    Vincent nodded briefly. “That figures,” he muttered.
    “I knew someone was going to steal the Grail,” David said. He was blushing again. He had been wrong from the start, horribly wrong, and his mistake could end up killing all of them. He thought back now, remembering everything that had happened. And the words poured out. “I was set up that night in the heads’ study. I wasn’t trying to steal the exam. And I did know what thanatomania means. Somebody stole part of my answer. And what about the waxworks? Okay—maybe it wasn’t you who sent them after me, but I wasn’t making it up. Somebody stole the statuette so that you could win.” David realized he wasn’t making much sense. He slumped back into silence.
    “Is that why you were against me from the start?” Vincent asked.
    “I wasn’t . . .”
    “You never gave me a chance.”
    David knew it was true. He wasn’t blushing because he had been wrong but because he had been cruel and stupid. He had thought the worst of Vincent for the simple reason that he didn’t like him, and he didn’t like him because the two of them had been in competition. Vincent was right. David had never given him a chance. They had been enemies from the start.
    “How was I to know?” David muttered. “I didn’t know you—”
    “You never asked,” Vincent said. There was a pause and he went on. “I didn’t want to come here,” he said. “I didn’t have any parents. My dad left when I was a kid and my mother didn’t want to know. They put me in an institution . . . St. Elizabeth’s in Sourbridge. It was horrible. Then I got moved here.” He took a deep breath. “I thought I’d be happy at Groosham Grange, especially when I found out what was really going on. All I wanted was to be one of you, to be accepted. I didn’t even care about the Unholy Grail.”
    “I’m sorry . . .” David had never felt more ashamed.
    “I did try to be friends with you, but everything I