V: The Ravenous Dog and Mysterious Occurrences
Tom was so late to assembly and regarded as exceptional due to his headache that he did not have to do the initiation song. The first half of the day was filled with activities and events to introduce the new students to Sudbury. In the enormous pentagonal courtyard on the west side of the school there was at one side a table showing the school’s societies, followed to the left by sports, which was followed to the left by academic competitions. To the right of the societies were tables for school rules, the history of Sudbury, and academic information. At the other side of the pentagon, where stood the door for entering back into the school, was a middle-aged man with a stern, authoritative look upon his face. He had long straight dark brown hair that hung down from his head. He was guarding the double doors into the school.
Tom and Peter were at the societies table, when Tom, seeing the man, asked Peter, “Who is that?”
Peter looked vaguely at the man and said, “That is just Mr. Lutid, the hall man. I think he is from Australia because he has a very low Australian accent.”
“He controls the hallways?” asked Tom.
“More than that, he controls the entire school, but under Baldeye’s orders. The two of them are inseparable. Baldeye’s the master, Lutid his ravenous dog.”
“What kind of things does he do?” asked Tom questioningly.
“Oh, one time this person tried to throw his papers into a rubbish bin, but missed, having them scatter across the hallway floor. Two seconds later after traveling fifty yards, Lutid took the boy and smashed him against the lockers, turned him upside down and growled at him for exactly three minutes.”
“Why three?”
“It is Lutid’s standard three, for we must be to our next class within four minutes after the bell has rung for our previous class.”
“What happened after that?”
“The boy had 30 seconds to get to his class on the second floor, a whopping 20 yards.”
“Did he make it?”
“What do you think Tom? Not him. I didn’t tell you this was Fat Marvin. He weighed nearly a ton.”
“Then what happened?”
“Lutid was on him in a second. He said, ‘Looks like you are late to class sausage boy. I am going to help you lose a few pounds today and forever!’ My goodness, when he came back to class everyone could see the sweat pouring down all over him from his punishment.”
“What was it?”
“Running up the four staircases, then down them, and then to do a push-up as he reached the end of each staircase, comprising eight altogether. He had to do that ten times, but that’s not all. He had to do that ten times before school, before lunch, and after school, resulting in thirty times a day, for two weeks.”
“Did he survive?” asked Tom astonished by the punishment given.
“Yeah, he is in grade 12 now, that is him over there,” pointed Peter to a very thin and tall boy with black curls in his hair wearing a prefect’s uniform. “Like Lutid said, he would lose the weight then and forever.”
“I guess they don’t call him Fat Marvin anymore,” said Tom sarcastically.
“Definitely not,” laughed Peter.
“I don’t know,” said Tom in an unsure tone.
“What? I know I felt the same way when I heard the story, but it is true.”
“It is not that,” said Tom. “It’s this school, there is something strange about it.”
“How do you mean, Tom?”
“I don’t know, but I think we should just be on our guard. Has anything changed this year from before?”
“Well, yeah, the smell of lanolin.”
“Lanolin?”
“Yeah, it is so strong, I didn’t smell it the other years. Also, there was no exchange day. Perhaps that was because that chap died last year.”
“Who?” asked Tom concerned. “I never heard about that.”
“Martin Carter. He died mysteriously in the school’s dorm one evening. It was as if he was scared to death, well, at least that is what Detective Grant said.”
“How do know what he said?”
“Oh, his son, James, told everybody, especially since James was friends with Martin. They were both lodged in the dorm. If James had not told his father anything, they probably would have brushed it over, placed his body in a safe place, in order to save the school from publicity. However, upon finding the body, the entire affair was hushed up anyway.
“Martin, James and a few other boys would wander through the halls at night, undetected by the sleeping monitor Mr. Yarton. They would wander through the library, recite books to each other, and sometimes even disturb items in the janitor’s closet. This caused the janitor, Mr. Ryanstead, to have continuous arguments with Mr. Yarton about his monitoring duties. Mr. Ryanstead, on the day of Martin’s death, said that if one more thing was to be disturbed, he would properly punish the boy himself, since everyone else was too incompetent to do so.
“That evening Martin went out of his room and went to James, saying that he heard an unusual sound in the hallway. James did not want to go, but seeing Martin’s persistence, he decided to. They walked through the corridors, when suddenly around the portion of hall next to the rose garden; Martin began to run like a mad man. James tried to stop him, but he couldn’t. He looked around the corner to the hall where Reilly A. Pete’s picture stands, but could not see Martin, only a set of red eyes. James, scared of this display, quickly ran back to the hostel, awakening Mr. Yarton. Despite knowing the punishment he would receive, James pleaded with Mr. Yarton to help him find Martin. Mr. Yarton left the head of hostel, Tom Perdon, in charge, as he and James left to find Martin. As they searched, they heard strange sounds upon the air, such as a scratching noise, rough breathing, and murmurs, something common on some nights at Sudbury. Many feel that the school is possessed, or built upon the blood of so many Americans, that hellish creatures embody the school’s spirit, arising only at night to reap their vengeance upon others.”
Trying to maintain his composure, Tom said, “Peter, this is nice to know, but let’s keep to the facts.”
“Anyway, Sudbury, as you can see, is a very large school. So, when they finally reached the area of the janitor’s closet, they were too late to help Martin. Also, to add to the mystery, Martin was locked in the closet, but the only keys to that door were in the possession of Mr. Lutid and Mr. Baldeye. Ooo,” said Peter obviously distracted. Looking at a table filled with various confections, Peter said, “Look at that cake.”
Upon observation, Tom said, “Peter, that’s not cake, it’s a ship with lights.”
“It would make a delicious cake though. Anyway, Mr. Lutid and Mr. Baldeye were accounted for that evening; therefore there was no evidence to convict them of such a crime. Then came forward the cook, Mrs. Purplinick, who said she saw the janitor, Mr. Ryanstead, that evening. She said that as she was leaving to her car after working in the school kitchen, she saw Mr. Ryanstead sneaking into the school as if he did not want anyone to detect his presence. She also said she saw him having an argument with Martin earlier in the day because Martin was always hiding in the janitorial closet. Following him, Mrs. Purplinick saw Mr. Ryanstead, in anger, open up Mr. Baldeye’s office and retrieve the key to the closet. While Martin was unsuspectingly in the closet, Mr. Ryanstead locked the door as a punishment. Mrs. Purplinick thought nothing of it at the time because it was a rule with some school individuals to do this to the students if they were continually misbehaving, as written in Section 65, Paragraph 12 of the disclaimer we all signed to get into the school.” Tom gave Peter a look of surprise and wondered what ignorant horrors his parents had signed him up for. “However, when Mr. Phillips opened the door, after he was called to help the evening in question by Mr. Yarton and James, Martin had died of fright. However, the case is still to occur. That happened in April. There is one worry though.”
“What is that?”
“Mr. Ryanst
ead was the kindest man I’ve ever met. He wouldn’t even hurt a fly, literally. Martin must have surely hit his soft spot.”
“Perhaps…. How did Mrs. Purplinick become the school nurse?”
“Mrs. Purplinick? You must be joking! She died in a car crash in June. That is why it is taking such a while for the case to come into formulation.” Tom looked slightly pale from what Peter had said, “Tom, what is the matter?”
“If Mrs. Purplinick is dead, then who was that nurse that gave me this medication?” asked Tom as he showed Peter the tablets.
“Tom, are you all right? The nurse is Mrs. Besly, who has been at her post for six years already. Perhaps it was from those head pains you had at assembly.”
“No, Peter, the tablets prove that. How could I have them in my possession if it were merely head pains. Even Miss Fairdy saw her. There is something wrong, let’s go to the nurse’s office to check it out.”
“We are not allowed to,” said Peter. “Lutid’s on the prowl; he will not let you pass without a legitimate reason.”
Thinking, Tom said, “My head pain, I will pretend that it is returning when we come close enough to him, then he will have to let us pass.”
“I do not know, Tom.”
“Let’s try at least.”
Peter shrugged as Tom began to place his hands upon the right temple of his skull, as he had done before when the pain began at assembly. Peter seemed to be purely frighted. Whether or not it was for Tom’s care or Lutid’s possible wrath it was genuine. They walked over to Lutid who glared at them. Seeing a space in the right side of the door, Peter began to walk in that direction holding Tom by his right arm, but Lutid placed his arm across the space.
“Where do you think you’re going?” asked Lutid in his usual deep, Australian, authoritative voice. Suddenly, everyone in the courtyard became quiet. Even the birds stopped twittering and various creatures appeared from their burrows astounded by the quietness that was evoked.
Peter, slightly shaken, was able to find his voice and say, “This is the boy from this morning at assembly. His head is hurting again.”
Pointing to Tom, Lutid began to smile and said to the others, “If I had my way, and that boy didn’t die last school year, he would be the one locked up in the closet. I bet then his headaches would be at an end. Or, perhaps the knowledge of pass events makes this boy feel that he can do whatever he wants, and I am unable to do anything about it. If this is the case, then he should be made an example of like all of the others here who feel the same way. Perhaps a few bruises here and there will help him with his head problems. Yes, I think that he is faking this just so he can make me look like a donkey’s rear. Believe me, no one has permission to do that, absolutely no one.”
“Lutid,” said a harsh voice from behind. Looking back, Lutid quickly moved out of the way. Out of the shadows came into view Mr. Baldeye. “Lutid, let the boy pass, we don’t want another accident this year. This time, not all the saints in the heavens could prevent the scandal from being leaked out to the entire city.” To the others in the courtyard, Baldeye said, “Everyone, return back to your activities and enjoy yourselves.” Baldeye gestured to Lutid, causing Lutid to follow him down the hallway, out of sight.
Seeing that they were gone, Peter and Tom went to the nurse’s office. However, the result was unexpected. The office was different with its highly glossed white floor, bright lights, thin registrar booklet for the new school year, and a younger nurse.
“Good morning young sirs,” said Mrs. Besly, “how may I help you?”
“I had a headache this morning,” said Tom. “I need some medication to help with it.”
“Did you do anything beforehand that could have precipitated it?” asked Mrs. Besly.
“No, it happened suddenly.”
“All right then, here,” said Mrs. Besly handing to Tom some aspirin, “these should help for now. If it persists, please set up an appointment with your physician.”
“Thank you,” said Tom after he had taken the aspirin. As Mrs. Besly was writing the first patient in the registrar, Tom asked as he took the pills from previously out of his pocket, “Mrs. Besly, I found these pills in the hallway this morning, do you know what they could be?”
Looking to the pills, Mrs. Besly looked perplexed, but she retrieved from her bureau a book on various medications. Searching, she soon found what she was looking for. Looking to Tom with a stern look upon her face, she said, “You say that you found them?”
“Yes,” said Tom with a straight face.
“Well, these are coated PMA, paramethoxyamphetamine, tablets,” said Mrs. Besly as she took off the coating from the tablets. “If taken, in such a high dosage as this by one who is not experienced with them, that person feels at first hallucinations, and it can result in that person’s death, even with one tablet. Are you telling the truth that they are not yours?”
“Yes,” said Tom. “They are not mine.”
“In case you know of someone who is taking these, please remind them that drugs are not good under any circumstances, only those prescribed by one’s physician. This is because a physician is trained in such medications and has a thorough understanding of them. It is good that the person who had these was smart enough not to take them, even though they do look like standard issue pain relievers, despite their larger size.”
Tom looked out the window and said, “Yes, very lucky.” He suddenly felt a dread of what was to come from those strange and indistinguishable forces around him.