Richard, Poppy and I put our ears against the sides we’d allocated ourselves and determined the speed—slow, medium or fast. Then, one by one, we coordinated our speed with the person opposite.
“Nothing’s happening.” Duncan shook his head. “Now what do we do? We need to think, people. Try something else, quick!”
Ignoring him, Ruth stood back. “Just wait and see if anything happens. If anyone touches the box, I’ll bite their fingers off.”
Something whirred inside the box. Six triangular sections pushed upwards from the box. Each section contained a wooden metronome, ticking away at different speeds.
I raised my head to the clock. Six and a half minutes left to go.
A green light blinked just under the clock.
We’d done it. And way under time.
The tick of the metronomes echoed around the room now. Then, all of a sudden, the six of them went dead. There was just the sound of all of us panting and sighing in relief.
“Hey, what the—？” Richard reached in and picked up one of the metronomes. There were red, yellow and blue wires extending from the metronome to a small box that was marked explosive. He looked at the next. It was the same. “So, what would have happened if we didn’t figure this out, huh? Was the whole shebang going to go kaboom?”
“I doubt they’d want to ruin this lovely box,” said Ruth, inspecting the wires. “It’s just a gag.”
The door opened, and the four mentors entered.
“You did it! I knew you would.” Sister Rose clapped her hands together.
“I’m pleased to tell you my team managed to complete the test in five and a half minutes,” Duncan said, beaming.
“Indeed. Well done,” Brother Sage told us. “We’ll escort you to the library so that the other teams can complete this challenge, too. We have some wine waiting for you. It’ll help you get back to sleep after your excitement.”
We headed in the direction of the library, whooping through the hallways.
Ahead in the dark haze, a figure stood half hidden beside a statue.
“There’s someone there!” I pointed. “I thought I saw him in the hall earlier.”
“What in the blazes?” Ruth muttered angrily. “No one else is supposed to be out of their dormitory but us. Someone’s spying on us.”
“I think it’s one of the monks.” Saul squinted from behind his glasses.
“Well, why is he hiding?” Ruth marched forward. “What are you doing there?”
The person—a man—fled. He wore a long black gown with a symbol that I couldn’t see clearly on the back.
“They’re a silent order,” said Richard with a yawn. “They don’t talk. And more to the point, who can blame him for trying to avoid talking to you?”
Richard shrugged as Ruth whirled around and shot him a scathing look. It was true that they were a silent order, which would explain the monk’s reticence to interact with us. I wondered if they saw many strangers at all from year to year. Still, I wished they’d speak. I was finding it creepy as hell seeing them in random dark corners around the monastery.
When we reached the library, Richard was the first to drop into one of the plush chairs. He grabbed one of two bottles of wine from a small table in front of him and swallowed a mouthful.
“Strange the mentors allow alcoholics access to wine,” commented Duncan, eyeing Richard.
Richard raised the bottle to Duncan. “Cheers. And I’m not an alcoholic.”
“Well . . . I am.” Duncan perched on the edge of a chair. “I’m pinning my hopes on this treatment changing my wife’s mind about leaving me.”
“Maybe they expect you to learn moderation.” Poppy shrugged. “‘Cos you can’t get away from alcohol, no matter where you go. And there’s only two bottles here. Well, only one bottle now that Richard claimed one all for himself.”
“Still, it leaves me struggling more than the rest of you.” Duncan sank back in the chair, looking miserable.
“This is supposed to be a celebration.” Poppy poured herself a drink and raised her glass, clinking it against Richard’s bottle. “But no one looks happy.”
“I’m happy we got through it,” I said quietly. “But it’s the thought of five more challenges ahead that are like that one. Okay, so we had six or so minutes to spare, but six minutes can pass in the blink of an eye. We got lucky.”
I expected Duncan to pipe up with something about teamwork, but he didn’t.