Mystery at Silver Spires by Ann Bryant Read Free Book Online

shock of their lives.
    â€œIt’s great that we can work outside now it’s so hot,” I said casually.
    â€œYes, but I can’t concentrate outside,” said Antonia with a sigh. “I get…distracted.”
    My heart sank when the two of them settled down at their desks in the dorm to work on their laptops, and I wondered whether to risk going up into the loft anyway. If I was totally quiet surely they wouldn’t hear me below. But how could I be quieter than a cat? We’d heard Silver easily enough. Anyway there were loads of other girls still around in the boarding house, so I knew I’d have to be patient for a bit longer. It was tempting just to tell Nicole and Antonia about Silver, but something was stopping me. I was so worried that Mrs. Pridham would get to hear about him and shoo him away for ever. No, it seemed better to keep him a secret for now. And then… And then what ?
    I couldn’t keep him a secret for ever. I’d have to tell Mrs. Pridham sometime. But not yet. For now, I just wanted to see Silver again.
    In the end I went swimming. As it was still quite early for a Sunday there was hardly anyone in the pool and I did twenty lengths without stopping, then got out. The lifeguard grinned at me as I headed for the changing room. “That was quick!”
    I turned and smiled back but didn’t say anything. Then I dried myself and got dressed quickly, getting more and more excited that I’d soon be seeing Silver. It didn’t take me a minute to dry my hair, because it’s so short. I just rubbed it hard, then walked back to Forest Ash in the sun, which was better than any hairdryer.
    In the dorm, Antonia and Nicole were shutting down their laptops and packing up, so my twenty lengths had filled the time perfectly.
    â€œOh, you’ve been swimming!” said Nicole. “Are there many in the pool?”
    I shook my head. “Only one Year Eight when I got out.”
    â€œShall we?” said Antonia, turning to Nicole.
    Nicole broke into a grin. “Good idea of yours, Bry. See you then!”
    They both grabbed their swimming things and a few seconds later they were out of the dorm. I didn’t know whether the Year Nines were in their room and neither did I know whether Matron or Miss Stevenson, our assistant housemistress, or worse, Mrs. Pridham were around, but I couldn’t wait any longer to see Silver.
    I took the tissue with the piece of chicken out of the back of my bottom drawer and eyed it sadly. It was dry and starting to go hard and curl at the edges. As I stuffed it in my pocket and grabbed the plastic tub, I told myself that a stray cat wouldn’t be fussy about what it ate. It’d be grateful for anything. I’d got my plastic water bottle so I’d be able to fill the tub once I was up there. But the most important thing was to move really carefully. If Silver was there, I didn’t want him to fly off the moment I appeared.
    I must have been walking much faster than usual along the landing, because I almost bumped into Matron, who was coming out of her room, her mobile to her ear.
    â€œAll right, Bryony?” She flashed her usual bright smile, and I gulped and nodded. “Stupid thing!” she said under her breath as she hurried past me. “Never any signal here!”
    I held my breath and rushed round the corner, then ducked into the cleaning room, closing the door behind me and feeling like a criminal. Inside it was even too dark to see where the light switch was, so I groped my way towards the staircase that led up to the loft, and once I was on the bottom stair I felt a lovely excitement come rushing in.
    Please let Silver be here , I repeated over and over in my mind as I started making those kissy sounds that people do to encourage cats to come to them. Then when I came to the top stair I changed it. “Silver,” I called in the quietest sing-song voice. I wasn’t going to risk