The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson [29]
“You really need another hobby,” Jazza said, opening the door to the refectory.
“I have plenty of hobbies. Anyway, the Ripper never showed any interest in kids or teenagers, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Does that make you feel better?”
“Not particularly,” Jazza said.
“Well, I tried.”
Jerome stepped aside to let me go in first. We got in line and loaded our plates. We had barely started eating when Mount Everest rumbled in with Claudia and Derek, the housemaster of Aldshot, in tow.
“They don’t look happy,” Jerome said.
He was right. There was a frazzled gloom around all three of them. They walked up to the dais in formation, Everest moving to the front, and Claudia and Derek flanking him with their arms folded across their chests, like bodyguards.
“Everyone!” he said. “Silence. I have an announcement to make.”
It took a moment for word to spread to all parts of the refectory that it was time to shut up.
“This evening,” he began, “as you all know, there is going to be a great deal of police activity in London because of the Ripper situation. Therefore, we are altering the schedule for today. All school activities after four P.M. are canceled so that teachers may return home.”
A cheer broke out.
“Settle down!” he said. “Dinner will be moved up to five P.M. so that kitchen staff can also return home before dark. All students will return to their houses after dinner and will remain there for the night. All other buildings will be off-limits and locked, including the library.”
A low groan went around the room.
“I want to convey the seriousness of this,” Everest added. “Anyone who attempts to leave school grounds faces the possibility of expulsion. Is that understood?”
He waited until he got a grumbled yes.
“I will meet with all prefects now, in my office.”
Jerome took a second to shove some extra food into his mouth before rising. At the end of our table, I saw Charlotte bounce up.
“This means I won’t have that extra hockey practice this afternoon,” I said to Jazza. “No hockey. No hockey.”
I banged my spoon on the table for emphasis, but she didn’t get excited.
“I wish I’d gone home,” Jazza said, poking at her food.
“It’s going to be great,” I said, shaking her arm. “No hockey! And I totally think my new shipment of Cheez Whiz might get here today.”
True enough. I’d told all my friends I was out, and I fully expected to find a pigeonhole full of whizzy goodness this afternoon. But not even the promise of Cheez Whiz could remove the frown from Jazza’s face.
“It’s creepy,” she said, rubbing her arms. “All of this has just made things . . . I don’t know. Everyone’s afraid. One man has made the entirety of London afraid.”
There was nothing I could do. Jazza just didn’t see the positive side of this. So I continued eating my sausages and let her have her moment. I was already thinking about the joy I’d feel in not walking to the hockey field and not standing in the goal and not getting hit with hockey balls. As a swimmer, it was a bliss she could never know.
11
THE POLICE ENCOURAGE LONDONERS TO USE EXTRA caution this evening. The public are advised to walk in pairs or groups. Avoid areas of low lighting. Most important, don’t panic—carry on your lives as normal. As they said in the Second World War, ‘Keep calm and carry on’. . . ”
So we were inside again, and like everyone else in London—and around the world, probably—we were all gathered around the television. The common room was packed to capacity. Most people had work they were doing, or they had their computers on their laps. We had hours to wait for news to report anything of interest, so newscasters were filling the time with statements like that. Keep calm and carry on. Also, stay in and hide because the Ripper is coming.
Luckily, we all had his schedule. Like an evil Santa, there was no doubt when he did his work. On the night of the Double Event, the first attack occurred