Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter sixty-eight. house of speculation

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            Once we reach the grate at the end of the secret tunnel, Fabian bends down to search for a way to open it with his torch. "Bingo," he tells us, hitting something on the wall. Right before our eyes, the grate opens up, sliding out like a doorway. Awesome. "Let's go. Come on, the mosaic's up here."

            I crawl through the passageway into Frobisher Library, glancing back to see what it actually is. It's a bookcase, of course. He already did this once, but I guess since it was tried and true he decided to make a second bookcase passageway. Well, the man doesn't deviate much. Except for that seventh reflector...

            "That tunnel's a health and safety nightmare," Amber states matter-of-factly. Fabian heads up the stairs to get the mosaic. "If it wasn't a secret, I'd complain. I have allergies, you know."

            I purse my lips, setting my hand on her shoulder. "There aren't any raspberries in the tunnel."

            "More than just raspberries."

            Fabian comes back down the stairs without a reflector. "It's not there."

            "Well, spread out," Nina orders. "It's got to be here somewhere."

            "Okay, you three take upstairs," Fabian tells me, Patricia, and Alfie. I nod, heading toward the stairs with them.

            Alfie says, "Remind me what this mosaic looks like again?"

            "Osiris. Green," I answer, "mosaic-y."

            "And kind of tacky," Amber remarks.

            I stand on my toes to see if Jasper maybe moved it to the top of a bookcase, running my hand along the tops and finding nothing but dust. If it was up here earlier when Joy showed Fabian, then where exactly could Jasper have moved it?

            On the ground floor, Nina exclaims, "Guys, I've got it!"

            She's opened up a drawer in Jasper's desk. The rest of us crowd around it, finding that the mosaic that used to be in the entrance hall of Anubis House is in there. He must be repairing it because some of the pieces are a plain solid white color, definitely not what should be in a mosaic. But right there in the middle is a piece with our falcon on it.

            "Four reflectors out of seven," Fabian states. He grabs a small scalpel and starts carefully cutting it out so we can take it with us.

            "Careful," Nina advises. "Easy does it."

            "Yeah, 'cause we wouldn't want to break it," Amber remarks plainly, "what with it being so very, very pretty."

            Fabian professionally cuts our next reflector out of the mosaic and holds it up for us to see. Three left to find. "We got it."

            "Can we go now?" Amber questions. "It's like being surrounded by homework."