“What’s gotten into you?” Lola asked. “Since when do you want to do extra reading?”
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “I just want to help.”
“We’re supposed to do equal work on group projects,” Emmy said.
“But how are we all supposed to read the book at the same time?”
“Why don’t we just photocopy the first three chapters and we can each take one.”
“And then leave the book here?” Jack said.
Emmy nodded.
“Okay, but just the first three chapters, right?”
“What does it matter if—”
“I just don’t think we need to do extra reading. We’re supposed to learn about the Abbey, not the school.”
Lola rolled her eyes. “It takes, what, ten minutes to read a chapter?”
“No, it takes you ten minutes to read a chapter.” Jack glared at Lola. “Not all of us are speed readers with photographic memories.”
Emmy left them sniping at each other, got the chapters copied, and gave the book to the librarian. Then, she handed Jack and Lola a chapter each. “We can read them tonight during study session and talk about them after.”
As soon as study session ended, they all got together at a table near the fire.
“I can’t understand why there aren’t more books about Blacehol Abbey.” Lola glanced at Madam Boyd’s door and popped a stick of gum in her mouth. “My chapter says it was part of Blacehol Monastery, which was a really important place in the Middle Ages. It had one of the biggest art collections in Britain. Their monks were expert metalworkers, and they made amazing things out of silver and pewter.”
“My chapter talks about the monastery, too,” Emmy said. “Apparently the monks put up a huge fight when the monastery was dissolved. Eventually they were all executed for treason, but they managed to hide their entire art collection first.”
“Really?” Lola said. “Where did they hide it?”
“Beats me,” Emmy said.
Lola looked at Jack. “So, what’s your chapter about?”
Jack tapped his fingers on the table. “Mostly the same stuff as yours. Then it starts talking about the school, and there’s not much useful there.”
Emmy stared at Jack. “Um, really? ‘Cause I read it, too, and I thought there was lots of stuff we could use.”
“What are you talking about?” Lola asked.
“I flipped through his chapter when I was photocopying it, and it looked really interesting, so I copied it for myself, too.”
Jack stopped tapping. “You read my chapter? I can’t believe you—”
“So, what’d you dig up?” Lola interrupted.
“It’s about the school’s founding, and it’s got a lot of cool stuff. Listen to this.” Emmy began to read. “Of all the contributions our school has made to British society, none is greater than our noble brotherhood: the Order of Black Hollow Lane.”
CHAPTER 7
The Order of Black Hollow Lane
“What’s the Order of Black Hollow Lane?” Lola asked.
Jack cleared his throat. “I don’t think we should—”
“I think it’s some kind of secret society,” Emmy interrupted.
Lola dropped her notebook on the table. “A secret society? At Wellsworth?”
“Yeah,” Emmy said, “at least they were here when the school first started. And that weird skull thing is the symbol for the Order. They put it on things to let other Order members know when something was important. Almost like a secret handshake, but one you can actually see and leave behind.”
“That is so cool!” Lola said.
“I know! They sound kind of creepy, though. Apparently, they—”
“Let’s go for a walk!” Jack shoved his chair back so hard it tipped over.
“A walk?” Emmy looked at her watch. It was after eight thirty, and they weren’t allowed out past nine.
“Yeah, it’ll do us good after being cooped up in here all evening.”
“Have you gone mental?” Lola said. “It’s pitch black and freezing outside.”
“I just need some fresh air.”
Emmy looked at Lola and shrugged, but they both followed Jack.
The icy wind blasted them the minute Jack opened the door. Emmy hugged her sweater tight to her body.
“There,” Jack said through chattering teeth. “That’s loads better.”
Lola shook her head. “Mental. So what else did you find out, Emmy?”
“This Order was pretty creepy. They thought they needed to ‘purge the school of dissenting viewpoints,’ which I think means getting rid of anyone who doesn’t agree with them. And they had this ritual where new recruits would cut their hands open and let the blood drip down onto a human skull.”
Lola stuck out her tongue. “Blech!”
“I know, and they had to say this pledge where they promised that ‘nothing and no one’ was more important than the Order. It’s like something out of a scary movie. I don’t know what Black Hollow Lane is, though. It’s kind of a weird name.”
“It probably comes from Blacehol Abbey,” Lola said. “Blace means black in Old English, and Hol means hollow.”
“How do you know that?”
“We did a bit of Anglo-Saxon language study in humanities last year.”
Emmy raised her eyebrows. “And you remember what random words mean?”
“I told you,” Jack said, “she remembers every page of every book she’s ever read.”
“Anyways, the Anglo-Saxons often named places after things that were nearby,” Lola said. “There might have actually been some kind of lane in a black hollow at some point.”
Emmy nodded. “So, do you think we should put something about them in our report?”
“No.” Jack rubbed the goose bumps on his arms. “I think we should just forget about them.”
“But this could really make our report stand out!” Emmy said.
“You don’t understand how dangerous they are!”
Lola crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “All right, Jack. Spill it.”
Jack kicked at the icy dirt. “I don’t know what you’re—”