Gavin became obsessed with the hedge maze.
He couldn't go in, but he wanted to know all about it. Where had it come from? Why did it exist? And most importantly, what was at the center of the labyrinth?
He was convinced that Mystery Boy had been searching for something important, something that perhaps he had stashed in the wall of the hedge maze at one point, or something that someone else had left for him. Whether or not whatever it was he was seeking was connected with the overarching mythos of the hedge maze was yet to be determined, but for Gavin, it didn't matter. It was the hedge maze itself that caught Gavin's fancy. There was just something incredibly captivating about it... and about Mrs. Gruber's explicit instructions that no one should enter.
He asked around, but no one could tell him all that much. The closest he got was with Magda Helena Fierro, who had gone in the year before on a dare from her friend Natasha Sashimi. Unfortunately, all Magda could tell him was how tall the walls were (he knew that), and that she'd very quickly become hopelessly lost and terrified. After wandering aimlessly for an unknown amount of time, she had sat down and just cried until Mr. Unger had found her and led her out. She'd never reached the center, never saw anything other than endless pathways of gloom, with the high walls blotting out the sun.
One thing she did say, although Gavin wasn't sure how much stock to put into it, was that she had heard sounds while she'd been trapped in there. Animal sounds, yet not animals sounds. Growls and beeps. Rumbles and footfalls. She swore there had been something in there with her, but she'd never seen it. She'd just... sensed it.
With nowhere else to turn, Gavin was considering approaching Mrs. Gruber and asking about it, but the memory of her stern disapproval upon finding him there kept him from going anywhere near the woman. And he categorically ruled out actually sneaking back outside to explore it in person. He was convinced the headmistress would catch him no matter what he tried and he didn't want to invoke any more of her wrath.
Finally, Jupiter suggested he look for information in the library. He suspected she'd made the suggestion merely as a way to get him to stop bothering her about the subject, but it was a good idea, nonetheless.
A chance didn't come until late Friday afternoon. After he'd finished his classes, he made his way through the dismal corridors to the oval-shaped room to begin his search.
But where to start? He doubted there would be anything in the library about this specific hedge maze, and didn't think a book about hedge mazes in general would be very helpful. He decided to go with the history of St. Hibbard's. Maybe he could find a mention of the hedge maze if he looked hard enough.
Entering, he looked around at the few students milling about at the tables filling the middle of the first floor. A few glances were shot his way, but he couldn't tell if they were just the random glances of someone who notices another person entering a room, or if they had malice and intention behind them. How many in here had Mitchell and his goons talked to? How many believed it?
He shook his head clear. He couldn't think about that. It wasn't anything he could control, so it was best to stop being paranoid and just move forward.
He strode up to the main counter under the watchful eye of Mr. Bigglesbee, the librarian. The man peered at him through thick glasses over the top of a book held up to his face. Gavin waited a moment for him to lower the book, but Mr. Bigglesbee just kept watching him from behind the old, dusty tome. Finally, Gavin cleared his throat.
"Can I help you?" asked Mr. Bigglesbee in a weak, warbly voice.
"Uhm, yes," answered Gavin. "I'm looking for information. About St. Hibbard's. It's history. A history book about St. Hibbard's. It's past. The history of the place. You know, its-"
"If you say history one more time I'm going to throw this book at you," wheezed the old man, slowly setting the book in question onto the counter. "We have many books about the founding of the school. Second floor, East curve. Alphabetically by topic."
"You do? Great. I'll... I'll just..."
"Yes?"
"What... topic should I look under? S for St. Hibbard's? Or H for-"
"Don't say it," interrupted the librarian. "Look under S. Second floor. East curve."
"Right. Got it. Thanks." Gavin backed away and walked--but did not run--to the stairwell next to the circulation desk. He didn't bother looking back, but somehow knew the man was still watching him, and the idea made him very uneasy.
He climbed the stairs two at a time, bounded onto the second floor, and came to a skidding stop.
"Harriet?"
Harriet Grave looked up from where she sat cross-legged on the floor. She had a small pile of books around her and was thumbing her way through a large volume in her lap. She looked up and smiled. "Gavin! Hi!"
"Uhm... hi." He tried to smile, but was afraid that it came off more creepy than friendly, and so shifted his feet and tried to make conversation. "You're reading."
"I am," she said with a nod. He winced internally at how lame he had sounded but comforted himself by noting that her reply had not sounded sarcastic. "I'm doing a report on the French Revolution for European History."
"That was the one with all the guillotines, right? They chopped everyone's head off?"
"That's the one."
"Cool. I mean, not cool that they chopped people's heads off, of course. That was horrible. I just mean, cool that you're here. Doing homework. Not that homework is cool. I mean, it is necessary, I suppose. And if you're going to do it, the library is as good a place as any."
He wanted to facepalm himself.
"Right," responded Harriet, an amused look on her face. "What brings you to the library?"
"I'm looking for a book." He smiled, as if proud to have strung together a five-word sentence.
"Anything in particular?" she asked.
"What? Oh! Yes. The school. I want to learn about the history of St. Hibbard's."
She perked up. "That sounds interesting. Is it for a class, or just your own personal curiosity?"
"A class," he answered without thinking. Immediately regretting trying to lie to her, he attempted to massage his answer. "Personal. A class got me interested and now I'm just interested. For personal reasons."
He was suddenly aware of what an idiot he must be sounding like. Also, he was pretty sure his hair was a wild tangle since he hadn't brushed it in, like, ever. And there was a stain on his knee which he hoped was just dirt. He realized he should probably do some laundry if he didn't want to turn into Stanford.
"I'm at a great stopping point," said Harriet. "Want some help?"
"Totally!" he squeaked instinctively. Then he cleared his throat. "I mean, you can if you want. That would be cool. You could help me. Find a book."
"Great!" she stood quickly, and the book in her lap crashed to the floor. She froze for a moment, looking down at it, then lifted her head. "I can probably just leave these here for now, you think? I'll come back to them."
"Yeah, I think that's fine. Nobody's going to take them. Unless Mr. Bigglesbee wanders up here and reshelves them. But I don't think he can make it up the steps."
They shared a laugh then headed for the history section. Harriet knew her way around the library much better than Gavin did, so he let her lead. They reached the East Curve and found the S section. It turned out there were a ton of books on St. Hibbard's. They grabbed a few of them and sat down on the floor.
"Here," she said, handing him a book. "This looks good. The St. Hibbard's Story." He took the book from her, inwardly groaning at its immense size."Are you looking for anything in particular, or...?"
Gavin chewed his lip, thinking. How much should he bring Harriet into his confidence? It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong, but there was something about the hedge maze that made it feel like he was doing something he shouldn't be doing. Searching for knowledge that was meant to be forbidden. He shook his head. "Nothing specific. I'm interested in when the school was founded. What was here before, or did they build this place from scratch? And the grounds, like... where did they... come from?"
She furrowed her brow a moment, before shrugging and grabbing another book. "Let's see what we find."
They spent the better part of half-an-hour poring through the collection. Gavin's eyes glazed over the instant he opened The St. Hibbard's Story, but he forced himself to focus. It was difficult, but he found that if he skimmed the pages for key words or images he was able to remain on target. Unfortunately, by the time he flipped to the last page of the book and hadn't found anything, his enthusiasm was waning.
"There's nothing in here," he bemoaned, letting the heavy volume slide from his fingers to the floor.
"Nothing?" Harriet was leafing through her third book. "Well maybe that was a puff piece, although it's really large for something devoid of information."
"Yeah... well... " He quickly changed the subject. "What have you found?"
"Plenty!" She scooted closer to him and pointed at a section of the book. "This says the building was built just over 60 years ago by this famous architect. He was a pretty weird guy, but he was good at schools and other public places, I guess. He was hired by Lord Thumbledown to build the school of the future. A lot of his concepts were controversial, like the relative lack of windows and natural lighting."
"Makes it more of a dungeon than a school," joked Gavin.
Harriet smiled. "It does. But it is a school, and it was always meant to be a school."
"Wait," said Gavin. "Lord Thumbledown hired him?"
"That's what it says," she stated. "A companion to his other school."
"For the unimpressive kids," Gavin noted with a frown. Then he shook the melancholy away. "Does it say anything about the grounds?"
"The grounds? No. But..." she set the book down and picked up another. "A Pictorial History of St. Hibbard's includes... hold on, let me find it." She flipped through the pages until finally stopping and shoving the book toward Gavin. "Here. It's all I've found so far."
It was a picture of four men standing in front of shovels, posing for a picture. The school could be seen in the background. Gavin didn't recognise any of them, but then he wouldn't have expected to do so. Three of the men wore bowler hats while the fourth looked like he was actually the only one who would be using the shovels.
"I think they're breaking ground on something," she continued. "Starting work. But I'm not sure what."
Gavin took another look at the picture, at the angle and distance of the school behind the men. All at once, he knew. "This is it," he said.
"This is what?" asked Harriet. "What aren't you telling me?"
Gavin instantly bit his lip, angry at himself. He was being silly. There was no reason to keep anything from Harriet. "I think they're building the hedge maze," he said.
"The hedge maze? You mean the one Mrs. Gruber forbids anyone from going near?" Gavin nodded. "Is that what you're interested in?" He nodded again. "Why didn't you say so? It would have been a lot easier for me if I'd known what I was looking for."
"You're right. I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't just tell you. Except... well, it's forbidden. Right? I didn't want to get you in trouble or anything."
"It's forbidden to enter the maze, not to read about it." Gavin apologized again and Harriet waved him off. "Forget it. Your intentions were noble even if your actions were pointless." Gavin hid a smile. "Give me ten minutes." She shoved another book into his hands. "Read."
Gavin took the book, a thin volume entitled "A Place for the Unplaceable: Behind the Improbable Rise of St. Hibbard's Very Special Academy," and fingered through it, not really paying attention. Harriet, meanwhile, was skimming through a number of books. She'd go through one in a couple of minutes, set it aside, and grab another. Finally, she stood and grabbed another off the shelf. When that, too, failed to yield up any information, she threw it down to the floor in frustration.
"This is ridiculous. The hedge maze is a huge thing, and yet I can't find a single mention of it in any of these books!"
"Yeah," agreed Gavin, holding up A Place for the Unplaceable. "There's nothing in here."
"You'd think there'd be something. Even a random photo of it while it was being planted, or mentions of the kids like Magda who'd gotten lost in there. But there's nothing."
"Did I hear a book thrown to the floor?" asked the thin voice of Mr. Bigglesbee. Gavin and Harriet froze, stunned to find him standing in front of them. They hadn't noticed him approach. (Gavin also noted that this must mean he was perfectly able to climb the stairs.)
"I'm sorry, Mr. Bigglesbee," responded Harriet. "I shouldn't have done that. I'll put these away."
"Yes, Miss Grave, you do that." The old man turned slowly to face Gavin. "What is it, exactly, that you are looking for? You can tell me, I'm a librarian."
Gavin's first instinct was to say he was doing some sort of report, but then he stopped. If anyone would know about the hedge maze, it would be the guy tasked with protecting the collective knowledge of the school. He decided to take a chance.
"Do you know anything about the hedge maze?"
Mr. Bigglesbee's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed suspiciously. "The school's hedge maze? The one Mrs. Gruber would rather nobody ever enter? The one not mentioned in any of the official literature on the school? The one Mrs. Gruber leaves to grow wild rather than allow any of the groundskeepers to approach?"
"Uhm.. yeah. That one."
Mr. Bigglesbee smiled. "That is forbidden knowledge, young Mr. Mallard. Oh, yes. I know who you are. Our infamous sneezer. Looking for information on the hedge maze? How interesting. Perhaps I should inform Mrs. Gruber of your interest?"
"No! I mean, it's not an interest, really. Just a curiosity. And if there's nothing, then there's nothing."
"Oh, there are many things," stated Mr. Bigglesbee cryptically. "But if someone as astute as Miss Grave here has been unable to find them, then they probably are not in the regular collection."
It took Gavin and Harriet a moment to understand what the man was saying. Finally, Harriet gave a tiny gasp. "There's another collection?" she asked.
"No," he answered, crushing their hopes and dreams. "However, there is an attic."
"An attic?" prompted Gavin, hoping for more.
"It is locked, of course. And I possess the only key to the attic door. I keep it on me at all times, day and night, to ensure that no overly-inquisitive children such as yourselves make any inappropriate attempts to gain access." He zeroed in on Gavin. "Your sneezing affair threw the entire school into a tizzy, didn't it, Mr. Mallard?"
"Uhm..." Gavin was a bit thrown by the sudden change of subject. "I guess..."
"Mrs. Gruber was particularly peeved." He smiled. "It was marvelous." He turned and headed back toward the stairs. "The library will be closing soon, you would do best to vacate the premises. I may even force everyone out early as I feel the need for a powerful nap coming on."
"You're just going to close the library early and go home?" asked Gavin.
"Home?" answered Mr. Bigglesbee. "This IS my home."
Gavin and Harriet watched, confused, as the wizened old man made his way down the steps and back to his circulation desk. Once there, he grabbed a hand bell and rang it back and forth a few times, signalling the end of the day.
"What was that all about?" asked Harriet.
"I'm not sure," admitted Gavin. "But I think...."
"What?"
"I think Mr. Bigglesbee wants us to steal his key and break into the attic."