“I just want a chance to prove to them that I’m worth taking a second look, that’s all,” Adam said, stepping forward. “And I know I can help you guys.”
Ariana took a deep breath. “Okay. You say Martin Tsang is the one with the key to the archives. How do you know that
?”
“Tsang is like the right-hand man of Dr. Tomassen,” Adam said. “The head of the history department. The two of us are always there together, working on special projects for the teachers, filing, cleaning out old tests and stuff, but he never misses a chance to remind me that he’s more important than I am. One day we were talking and he started showing off about how much Tomassen trusts him. How he entrusted him with the biggest secret in the entire school.”
“He told you about the archives?” Tahira said dubiously.
“Not exactly, but I know that’s what he was talking about. What else could it be?” Adam said, lifting his shoulders. “And then, one night, when we were working late, Tomassen came and pulled Martin out. I was sick of his ego trip crap, so I followed them, and I saw Tomassen give him something. I heard him say that one current student is granted this honor each year—that he had to protect whatever it was, just in case anything happens to Tomassen. It must’ve been a key to the archives.”
Ariana was breathless. This was it. It had to be.
“What’s Martin keeping there?” Adam asked. He blushed sheepishly. “I missed that part.”
Tahira clenched her jaw and looked away. Ariana was just debating whether to tell him, when Jasper beat her to it.
“They took our headstones,” he said. “We’re going to get them back.”
“Jasper!” Landon admonished, his cheeks flushed with anger.
“We still don’t know where the archives are,” Kaitlynn pointed out, ignoring Landon.
“Follow Tsang,” Adam said, his posture straightening. “I’d bet money that he hangs out at the archives every chance he gets. I’m sure it makes him feel all special, the fact that he’s the only one with a key. And he’d definitely be there if he was keeping something of Stone and Grave’s there.”
“So follow Tsang . . . find the stones,” Jasper said, looking at Ariana.
Ariana grinned at him. “It’s time for a stakeout.”
FELLOW SCHEMER
Ariana tugged her black wool hat down over her ears as she knelt in the dirt next to Jasper. The two of them were huddled behind a large rock, about fifty yards away from the back door of Pryce Hall. Behind the tree to her right were Tahira and Landon, and crouched behind another rock were Kaitlynn and Adam, all of them dressed in head-to-toe black. The debate over whether to include Adam had raged for an hour before Jasper had suggested a vote and Tahira and Landon had been outnumbered. Ariana knew it was a risk, but she agreed with Adam. He hadn’t deserved to be thrown out so offhandedly. And it was too late anyway. He already knew what was going on. Besides, without him, they wouldn’t have even gotten as far as they had.
“Are we sure this is where the archives are?” Ariana whispered.
“Adam and I took shifts watching Martin Tsang all day,” Jasper replied, tugging a pair of high-tech binoculars from his waistband. Ariana had no idea where he’d gotten them, and she decided she didn’t care. She was just glad he had them. “He went in through this door three different times, and Adam saw a couple of Fellows come out right before lunch. Then after lunch I saw two others go in. That’s why we think there might be more than one of them guarding the stones. It’s like they’re taking shifts.”
He lifted the binoculars to his eyes and adjusted the knobs. “Yes. We have movement,” he said, handing over the binocs. “Check the westernmost window.”
Ariana stared him down. “You can just say right or left.”
He smirked, his blond bangs sticking out from beneath the hem of his black hat. “Left.”
Ariana rolled her eyes and checked the window. Linen blinds were pulled securely over the windows to discourage prying eyes, but the lights were on inside, and sure enough, Ariana could see the shadows of two or more people moving around behind them.
“Okay. Are you ready to do this?” Ariana asked.
Jasper lifted his stuffed backpack onto his shoulders. “Say the word, General Covington.”
Ariana stifled a laugh and stood up. “Everyone,” she whisper-shouted. “We’re going in!”
Tentatively, Landon, Tahira, Adam, and Kaitlynn slipped out of their hiding places, each toting a large bag, some empty for carrying back the headstones, others full of the creative weaponry needed for Jasper’s plan. The six of them crouched and ran, two by two, across the open grass between the tree line and the back of Pryce Hall.
“Get down!” Jasper whispered as they reached the outer wall.
Ariana hit the ground, her back up against the cold brick wall, the branches of the decorative shrubbery around the building scratching at her knees. Tahira and Landon ended up on one side of the metal door, Ariana, Jasper, Kaitlynn, and Adam on the other. For a few moments, no one moved a muscle. Ariana’s heart pounded in her throat and in her temples. If the Fellows realized they were here before they wanted the Fellows to know, their plan was done for. And the headstones might be done for too. All of this was being done to impress the Stone and Grave membership, but they would not be impressed if the taps frightened the Fellows into destroying the stones prematurely.
“Okay. Is everyone clear on their assignments?” Ariana whispered.