The Ring of Five Read Online Free PDF

went round the wall. "Steff, he's dead, of course. Bob couldn't resist a challenge. Fell in love with Lydia Steelgate--when he wasn't dressed as a woman, of course. She had him garotted. Let me see. Dead, dead, dead, dead. Cheryl Orr--she's believed to be alive but gone mad." The photograph of Cheryl Orr showed a girl with calm gray eyes and a wide mouth with a smile lingering at the corners. Danny hoped Les was wrong about her.
    "Missing, drowned and ... dead." Les concluded his list.
    Danny wasn't sure whether Les was telling the truth or not, and he didn't have time to ask. The door opened swiftly, and Brunholm's head appeared.
    "All finished? Good. The master wants to see you,
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    Caulfield." The others looked at Danny with interest. A summons from the master was, it seemed, not something to be taken lightly.
    Brunholm took Danny by the sleeve and drew him out the door. He marched him back down the little street.
    "What is this place?" Danny asked.
    "Ravensdale?" Brunholm said. "Its origins are lost in the mists of time. It was, as you see, a village. The old books talk of a cruel place. Family turned against family. A place of shadows and whispers. Abductions and assassinations were not unknown. And of course information became of the utmost importance, so people became spies. The annals say spies from Ravensdale were much sought-after, the greatest the world has ever seen, and of course strategically placed between the Two Worlds. But they are all gone now, dispersed forever. We don't know very much about them. It is an obscure branch of lore studied by few. Only the ravens are left of that time.
    "It lay vacant for many years before we turned it into a place where the cadets can eat. They are split into different houses like the Jedburghs and the Kamirilla to encourage them to plot against each other. But usually they're too busy talking and gossiping. The ravens took a fancy to Ravensdale and built their nests here. We think it's their way of keeping an eye on the cadets. The ravens like to know everything that is going on."
    Brunholm appeared to dismiss the subject, and walked ahead rapidly. Danny thought about asking what the gibbet was for, but decided to keep his mouth shut.
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    The journey to Master Devoy's study was the strangest Danny had yet encountered in Wilsons. There were doors that swung open only with a password. There were corridors that appeared to abruptly end, only for a hidden turn to reveal itself. He and Brunholm climbed a long narrow staircase with no banister in almost pitch-blackness, and halfway up, Brunholm grabbed Danny's arm roughly.
    "'Ware there, boy," he growled. Danny looked down. Where he had been about to step, there was only a dizzying drop. His foot dislodged a piece of stone. He watched until it disappeared, and he did not hear it strike bottom. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
    "Jump over it," Brunholm said. Danny shut his eyes and jumped. To his relief he landed on solid ground. They continued to climb until, above them, Danny saw a small, plain door with a light above it.
    "There we are," Brunholm said. "Master Devoy's study."
    Danny started toward it, eager to get off the staircase, but Brunholm took his arm again.
    "Look," Brunholm said. He lit a match. Across the top of the stairs was strung a shining wire, which gleamed softly in the flame.
    "Put that there myself," Brunholm said, looking pleased. "Piano wire strung at neck level, razor-sharp. Take your head right off." He chuckled in an unpleasant way. He ducked under the wire, then rapped sharply on the door. Three knocks, followed by two, then three again. The door swung open. Brunholm pushed Danny
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    in, then stood behind him in the doorway, nodding and grinning, for all the world, Danny thought, like a dog that had fetched a stick.
    "Thank you, Marcus. Close the door, and please don't think about eavesdropping from one of the hidden entrances," a cultured voice said. Brunholm's face dropped in a way that would