Classes were naturally cancelled for the rest of the day as the school went into full gossip mode, theorising the possible reason behind an attack from a giant groundhog. It was a testament to the assumed powers of students from Lord Thumbledown's that there wasn't much of a question as to HOW this had happened. Everyone assumed that some kid over there had an unknown ability that allowed him or her to either create really large creatures, or take a regular-sized animal and grow it big. Then that portal girl had obviously opened a new portal into St. Hibbard's and they'd shoved the monster through.
No. How was not the question. The question was why. What did it gain them? Why were they attacking St. Hibbard's in the first place?
"I thought we'd decided that they were after something," observed Jud, leaning back against the Aurelia Limpit tree. He'd only just awoken from his ability-induced slumber and was still a bit groggy.
"That's what we thought," reasoned Jupiter. "But if that's true, then what good did the giant groundhog do? How does letting loose a beast like that help them get whatever it is they're looking for?"
"Maybe they trained the creature to fetch whatever it is they want," suggested Harriet. After a quick check, it had been determined that the only damage Harriet had sustained had been to her shirt, which was ruined. She'd changed and was otherwise unharmed.
"Then why did it run off with you?" asked Jud.
Harriet shrugged. "They didn't train it very well."
"They could have used it as a diversion," suggested Gavin, his mind elsewhere.
"Ooo," commented Jupiter. "I hadn't thought of that. If so, it was a really good one. All of the teachers got involved. They could easily have teleported in or opened a portal or whatever and taken what they wanted. But that begs the question: what do they want? And did they get it?"
Gavin had no idea what the Thumbledown students wanted, but he had a sneaking suspicion as to where it was located--the hedge maze. He ached to head off and look for it himself, but wasn't sure how to ditch his friends. He'd considered enlisting them in his scheme of taking advantage of Mrs. Gruber's absence to explore the legendary labyrinth, but had decided against it. No need for them to get into trouble, too.
"Maybe if they got what they wanted, they'll stop attacking us," suggested Harriet.
"Or maybe they're just attacking us because they're jerks and they can," said Jud.
"I'll bet they want something we found in that library attic," said Jupiter. "It makes sense, when you think about it. That's where all the Thumbledown stuff is stored."
Learning that St. Hibbard's had once been the site of the School of Heroics had lent credence to the idea that the Lord Thumbledown students wanted something. Possibly something from the very beginning of their school.
"Why don't they just portal themselves into the attic, then?" asked Harriet. "Nobody would even know."
"They don't know where everything is being stored," said Jupiter. "That's what these attacks are--chances to explore parts of the school when attention is elsewhere. I'll bet they sent some spies over here during the Hide and Seek game!"
They continued theorising for a time, but Gavin tuned out. He had to get into that hedge maze. And there wouldn't be a better time. The longer he waited, the likelier that Mrs. Gruber would return and catch him. It was time to make his move.
"You still with us, Gavin?" Harriet's voice captured Gavin's attention, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"What? Yes. I'm sorry. Actually no. I mean..."
She smiled. "Today's adventure took a lot out of you, didn't it?" she asked. "I heard you were the one who gained access to the tunnel."
"If by gain access you mean feel through the earth. Then yeah, that was me."
She giggled. "My hero."
Her smile proved infectious and Gavin broke out in one as well. "Just doing my job, Ma'am," he tipped an invisible hat to her, like he was an old Hollywood detective. She laughed again, and he marvelled at how soft and pleasant her laugh was. It wasn't a donkey call or a high-pitched siren. Just a nice, pleasing-to-the-ear laugh that fit her perfectly.
"And on that note," he said, tearing his mind away from Harriet's laugh, "I need to get back to my room. I have homework."
"Homework?" asked Jud. "On a day like today?"
"Yeah," lied Gavin, feeling a bit lame. "Just some school stuff. I'll catch you guys at dinner!"
He turned and hurried away before they could change his mind. The truth was, he wanted to stay. He'd been enjoying himself, hanging out with his friends. With Harriet. But the need to explore the hedge maze was stronger, and his window of opportunity was closing.
He hurried toward the front door of the school, then, once he was in the shadow of the building, he cut left and skirted around the corner until he stood on the side, looking out over the field toward the grove of trees and the maze which lay beyond. He took another look to the left and right, but didn't see anyone, and so broke into a run to cross the open space of the field as quickly as possible and make it to the shelter of the grove.
Once there, he peered out at the hedge maze. It stood before him in all its glory--walls towering above him. The ivy was bright green and thick, a formidable barrier. Looking around, he didn't see Mrs. Gruber, or the strange boy from the last time he'd been here. There was nobody about. He left the trees and hurried along the outer wall of the maze until he reached the entrance.
Standing there, staring down the path, he was overcome for a moment by a primal fear. Kids had gotten lost in there. Heard things. Seen things. This was no ordinary maze. Although in truth, at the moment it looked anything but spooky. He took one final look back to see if anyone was coming out to stop him. When that look came up empty, he steeled his nerves and entered the maze.
All was quiet. It was as if not even the birds dared venture into this place. The walls rose well over his head, blocking out most of the sun. The end result helped the place look and feel as if it belonged here, in the darkness of St. Hibbard's. Every few steps he would stop and listen, but he heard nothing. If there was something in here, it hadn't found him yet.
The path hit a sharp turn to the right, followed by another turn to the left. So far, so good. He hadn't even come to an intersection. At the moment, the way out was open and clear. He took a few more steps and stopped to listen.
And heard something.
It wasn't any sort of animal sound. More like something moving through the ivy. As if travelling through the walls. It was just a rustle, but it made Gavin's hair stand on end. Soon enough, however, the sound stopped and silence was again the order of the day. Gavin waited a moment more, then continued on his way, determined not to let a faint sound like that chase him away.
He came to his first intersection as the path ended in a T. He took the right-hand fork, which snaked around for a bit before coming to a four-way intersection. Here he had to be careful. The more turns he took, the easier it would be to miss one on the way back and get lost. He certainly wouldn't be able to tell where he was by looking at the walls, as they all looked identical.
He decided to ignore the left and right passages and just keep moving. It would be the easiest to remember if he just pushed forward whenever he had the chance.
Another pause was followed by another explosion of sound in the maze walls. This time, the sound seemed more frantic, as if someone was in a hurry. He considered calling out to see if anybody was there, but realized how dumb that would be. If there was someone here, they wouldn't just announce their presence. He swallowed down the small fear building in the pit of his stomach and trudged on.
Another four-way intersection was followed by another T. Now he'd passed through four intersections. He wondered how many he'd need to go through before reaching the center of the maze. And, of course, he wondered what he'd find. What did Mrs. Gruber have in here that she was so desperate to keep hidden?
The path turned to the left and Gavin walked into a wall of ivy. It was a dead end. He wasn't worried about finding a dead end, it had been natural to assume he would. So he turned around and headed back to the T-intersection to try the other direction.
When he instead came to a four-way intersection, he paused, confused. Hadn't this been a T? Or maybe he hadn't noticed the fourth passage? It seemed unlikely, but he chose to assume that to be the case.
The alternatives were distinctly unpleasant.
He turned left at the four-way, which was the opposite of the right he'd taken when he'd come to what he'd thought had been a T. The path curved in a semi-circle and then came to a dead end. Now Gavin was confused. He retraced his steps but came to a T-junction far earlier than he would have expected. His heart racing, he hurried down the center of the T, hoping against hope...
Another dead end.
He turned around and ran back to the intersection, only to find a small open space with a fountain in the center. It wasn't the center of the maze, just a respite, but he definitely hadn't seen it before.
Which is when he had to admit that he was hopelessly lost.