“I know,” said Rinka soothingly.
“We should split up,” said Alison. “There are a few places they might have gone. The lab, the library, the dorms.”
“You don’t have to help—the dorms?” asked Idris.
Alison looked to the others for moral support but found none. “Er, she might have left something there…”
Idris rolled his eyes. He wasn’t that stupid. “I’m betting on my office. It’s where all those damned ‘enchanted objects’ of his are.”
“Did you lock it?” asked Rinka.
“Of course I locked it,” said Idris. “But I learned to pick that kind of lock when I was eight.”
“The prince picks locks?” asked Rinka, intrigued by something she had let to learn about him.
“How else are you meant to find all the secrets hiding in the castle? Look, if Leo wanted to get in, he could have. And if mysister was with him? Well, all the more likely. Come on. Let’s go track down those idiots before they get themselves killed.”
“We’ll take the library,” said Alison. Keir nodded at her that it was a good idea. “We can go to the dorms afterwards, taking the long way through the halls.”
“We’ll head to the lab,” said Lady Sibba.
“You can’t go out there,” said Rinka. “It’s too dangerous to go outside.”
“I have a greater ability to withstand lightning than most, just like Leo,” said Lady Sibba.
“Lightning maybe, but not a cyclone,” said Weyland. “There’s a long-talker in the lab. We can call them.”
“There’s one on each floor in the dorms if you wanted to check there while we check the library,” said Alison.
Willow chose this moment to join the group, the new setting having been thoroughly inspected and the other pets having been greeted and assessed.
“What’s going on? Who’s missing?” she asked.
“Ceri and Leo,” said Alison. “We’re about to go find them.”
“There are a lot of smells here, but I don’t think Leo has been here recently at all. Ceri went this way,” said Willow, her nose close to the ground. “If we had more time, we might enlist that Barney. He’s cleverer than I gave him credit for, and he has one hell of a nose on him.”
Idris and Rinka were already making their way to the door.
“Willow, you don’t have to come. It might be dangerous,” said Alison.
“For you, maybe. I’d like to see the storm try. Cats always land on their feet.” Willow stretched defiantly and continued on the trail.
“Where are you all going?” asked Dean Whittaker. “The guards are out there searching for Princess Ceridwen. One ofthem said she was heading back to the dorm for…personal reasons.”
“Classic Ceri lie,” said Idris. “We think we know where she may have gone. We won’t be long.” He moved through the doorway without waiting to hear Dean Whittaker’s response.
Alison shot a look of apology at the Dean.
“Wait!” called Dean Whittaker. “Take these at least. In case we lose the ‘lectrics.” He handed them each a candle and a match.
Rinka, Idris, and Willow parted from the group at the first turn, heading upstairs to his office—apparently Ceri’s first thought as well, from the trail—as the rest of them continued down the corridor towards the library and the dorms.
Outside, they could hear the battering of the rain against the windows and the howl of the wind.
“It’s picking up,” said Lady Sibba. “The Rock gets storms like this every year. I never thought I’d see one here. We need to hurry. If the ‘lectrics go out, we won’t be able to call the lab.”
They picked up the pace, practically running through the empty corridors. Lightning flashed through the unboarded windows, much closer this time. Finally, they reached the turn for the library.
