*What are you doing here, Richard?' Mason wanted to know. *What's happened to Kate? Who's got her?'

Holmes shook his head.

*Who the hell are you?' Coulson wanted to know.

*My name's Richard Holmes. I'm a teacher here.'

*Who put the note through my door?' Mason interrupted, pushing in front of Coulson.

*I don't know,' Holmes insisted. *Probably the same person who sent me mine. The same person who's got Kate.'

*Was it one of the kids?' Mason went on, growing increasingly agitated.

*I said I don't know,' Holmes told him.*Just like I don't know what's happening with Kate. Someone left me a note: that's why I'm here.'

*I want some fucking answers,' snapped Mason.

*So do I, Peter,' Holmes hissed. *But you've got to come with me now. There isn't much time.'

Mason looked at Coulson then both of them followed the older man towards the library exit, hurrying to keep pace with him despite his bulk.

*Do you want to tell me what the fuck is going on here?' Coulson rasped, grabbing Mason's arm.

*I don't know,' the teacher told him, tugging free. He increased his pace and caught up with Holmes. *Where are we going?'

*To the chapel,' Holmes told him. *If I'm right, the only way into the tunnels is through an entrance beneath the altar. I'm sure that's where they're being held.'

Mason's head was spinning.

*Tunnels?' he murmured.

*I told you, there's a network of tunnels running under the school that have been there for centuries,' Holmes informed him. *By the look of the brickwork in that picture, Usher's down there somewhere.'

*And Kate too?' Mason enquired.

Holmes could only nod.

*So Usher isn't missing? He never disappeared?' Mason went on. *He's being held somewhere too? Who the hell by?'

*If I had to guess, I'd say Latham's group. This might even be some kind of revenge for his expulsion.'

*This is insane,' Mason snapped. *Why don't we just call the police?'

*There isn't time,' Holmes insisted, speeding up. *Even now we might still be too late.'

Mason grabbed the older man's arm and tugged hard to stop his progress.

*What do you mean too late?' he rasped. *What do you think they're going to do, kill them?'

Holmes didn't answer.

The trio continued hurriedly through the school, moving as quickly and soundlessly as they could. When they reached the corridor that led to the chapel Holmes leaned against the wall, sucking in laboured breaths. He pressed one hand to his chest, his face pale.

*Are you all right?' Mason asked, seeing the obvious distress that the other teacher was in.

*You two go ahead,' Holmes urged. *I'll catch up. I need to get my breath.'

*But how are we going to find Usher and Kate?' Mason demanded.

*Once you get below ground there's only one way you can go,' Holmes informed him. *Keep walking until you find them. Go, I'll catch up.'

Mason glanced at Coulson who nodded.

They left Holmes slumped against the cold stone wall, still sucking in air and Mason pushed the chapel door open, relieved when it didn't creak.Their footsteps echoed as they hurried across the cold stone floor, Mason glancing around at the ornately carved stalls and pews and at the pulpit that towered ahead of them. Coulson looked at the stained-glass windows that bore so many figures, all, it seemed, gazing intently at him as he followed Mason down the central aisle of the chapel.

Three stone steps led up to the chancel and a few paces beyond it the altar. Mason inspected the heavy woven cloth that covered the altar, pulling at it as if it were a tablecloth.

*What are you doing?' Coulson whispered, lowering his voice in a gesture of almost unconscious deference.

*Holmes said the entrance to the tunnels was behind the altar,' Mason reminded his companion.*There's nothing behind it but stone wall, it has to be underneath.'

He stepped back, inspecting the flagstones around the altar, prodding each one with the toe of his shoe.

The third one tilted slightly as he put pressure on it.

*Here,' he said, dropping to his knees. *Help me get this up.'

Coulson hesitated a moment then joined the teacher who had managed to slide his fingertips beneath the large slab of stone and was lifting it, surprised at how easily it came free.

*Slide it your way,' Mason hissed and they both put all their efforts into shifting the slab sideways. *Hold it for a minute,' the teacher instructed, reaching for the torch he'd put down.

As Coulson took the strain, Mason flicked the torch on and shone the powerful beam into the gap under the flagstone that the men had opened. He played the light over the area beneath and caught sight of something glistening below.

*There's steps down there, Holmes was right,' he murmured.

Coulson grunted and pushed the slab the remaining foot or so to expose the hole completely. There was a loud, echoing thud as the stone was laid down and both men stood up, looking towards the door of the chapel in case their intrusion had been heard by other ears. Satisfied that they were still undiscovered, they knelt down beside the entrance once more.

*It must have led to a priest hole or something like that,' Mason mused. *Some kind of escape route for the priests here hundreds of years ago. Either that or it leads down to the crypts.'

*Are we going down?' Coulson wanted to know.

Mason hesitated a moment, aware of a powerful smell that was rising from the freshly opened hole. Finally he nodded.

*After you,' Coulson said, cryptically.

He watched as Mason edged his way through the hole, stepping carefully on the stone stairs beneath, careful to avoid the slippery parts of the stonework.

*What about the other guy?' Coulson said, looking towards the chapel door.

*He said he'd follow us,' Mason reminded his companion.

Coulson merely nodded and followed Mason down into the enveloping gloom, switching on his torch as he went. The twin beams cut through the darkness.

*Jesus,' Coulson coughed.*It smells like something died down here.'

Mason said nothing but merely continued his descent towards the bottom of the stone steps. He reached the final one and waited for Coulson to join him.

Both men found themselves in a narrow tunnel, the floor of which was wet and, Mason noticed, in places was merely wet earth.The tunnel stretched away in front of them, so long that their torch beams couldn't pick out the end of it.They both looked briefly at each other then Mason strode off, leading the way. Exactly what he was leading the way to he had no idea.

76.

The two men guessed that they must have walked at least two hundred yards along the stone corridor before they came to the end.

It opened out into a T shape with identical walkways leading to both the left and the right. Mason paused, unsure of which direction to take.

The smell that had assailed their nostrils from the time they entered the underground tunnels was stronger now and Coulson coughed. The sound reverberated through the subterranean passages.

*Which way?' he urged.

Mason swallowed hard.

*This way,' he indicated, taking the left-hand path.

*How can you be sure?'

*I can't. What do you want to do, split up? Take the chance we don't find each other again down here? We don't know how far these tunnels go.'

Coulson considered the options then nodded, following the teacher as he stepped to the left and began walking once more, the torchlight cutting through the gloom ahead of them.

*What is that smell?' Coulson remarked, again wincing at the intensity of the odour.

*We're twenty or thirty feet underground,' Mason reminded him. *It could be anything. Rotting vegetation. Dead animals. How the hell do I know?'

*Whatever it is it's getting worse.'

Mason aimed his torch at the wall of the tunnel nearest to him and noticed that there was something dark stuck to it. He reached out and pulled gently at the matter, rolling it between his fingers.

*Silk,' he said, quietly. *From a jacket or sweater. Someone has been down here.'

*How can you be sure?' Coulson snapped.

*I can't but what's your explanation?' Mason challenged.

Coulson also inspected the material, dropping it to the floor of the tunnel. He stepped ahead of Mason, playing his own torch over the ground they walked on.

There were several shallow puddles ahead and, somewhere beyond the reach of the torch beam, he could hear something dripping.A steady rhythmic plop of liquid into liquid. He increased his pace slightly and Mason had to hurry to keep up with him.

The tunnel turned slightly to the right and they followed it. There were several large metal grilles in the walls and ceiling and Mason wondered if they were part of some kind of ventilation system. He tried to work out which part of the school they were now beneath. The kitchens possibly? However, in such impenetrable gloom, he wasn't sure of his bearings. He wasn't even certain that they were still beneath the school by now.

The two men moved on, treading through deep puddles as they did so, both of them cursing under their breath as freezing water lapped against their ankles. And still, the fetid stench filled their nostrils and throats.

*Stop,' Mason said, suddenly freezing where he stood.

Coulson looked quizzically at him and was about to say something when he too heard it.

A low moan echoed through the tunnels. It was unmistakably human in origin.

Mason swallowed hard.

*Come on,' he said, quietly.

The moan was followed, seconds later, by another sound. A guttural, mucoid rasping that filled the tunnels and bounced off the dripping stonework like a warning.

*What the fuck was that?' Coulson said, breathlessly.

Mason could only shake his head.

Coulson stopped dead, shining his torch back in the direction from which they'd come.

There was only silence now.

Mason walked ahead, moving his torch slowly from side to side, the beam now picking out another junction ahead.

*Which way?' he murmured aloud.

*Right,' Coulson offered.*And no, I don't know if that's the way we're supposed to go. I just want to get out of here.'

*We came down here to find Kate and I'm not leaving until I find her,' Mason told him.

*Then we'd better fucking find her and quick.'

77.

*It's getting narrower,' Mason exclaimed, aware that the tunnel walls were now much closer together. He reached up with his free hand and found that he could touch the roof of the stone corridor easily too. He pulled at the wet brickwork, slightly alarmed when a large portion of it came free. It fell to the ground with a loud thud.

*We'll have to go back,' Coulson urged, glancing behind him, the light from his torch swallowed up by the subterranean blackness.