group and barked, “Howard, Angela, you come with me. We’re going to collect some pillows and blankets from the east wing dormitories and the linen closet so that the younger children can get some sleep. Oh, goodness, it’s well past their bed-times as it is!” Madam Scargill swept out of the room with Howard and Angela hot on her heels.

Madam Dimbleby turned back to Ian and Theo and said, “Let’s get to bolting those shutters and securing the doors.”

While all the other orphans hurried up to the west tower, Madam Dimbleby, Ian, and Theo ran about the keep, securing the shutters and latching all the windows, then checked the bolts on the two remaining doors, one at the kitchen and the other off the headmistresses’ study to the right of the front stairs. They all met back in the sitting room just as Madam Scargill was disappearing up the west tower steps, her arms loaded with pillows and blankets. “Our turn,” said Madam Dimbleby as she waved the children ahead toward the door. Ian heard her give another warning to Carl to scuttle upstairs at the first sign of trouble; then, as they reached the door to the tower, Theo suddenly stopped in her tracks and let out a loud gasp. “Oh, no!” she said.

“What is it?” Madam Dimbleby asked.

Theo turned to the headmistress, her eyes wide in alarm. “The laundry room! Madam, that door’s always unlocked!”

Ian’s heart felt like it skipped several beats. The laundry room was down in the cellar, and the door leading in from the outside was never bolted. But worse still was that although it was a sturdy door, it was easy for even the smallest of the children to push open. All the beast had to do to enter the keep was find the stairway at the back of the building, make its way down the steps, and push against the door.

Madam Dimbleby’s face drained of color, but she tried to sound calm. “Right,” she said, swallowing hard before attempting a rather forced smile when she realized that Ian and Theo were waiting for her to give them some direction. “You two hurry on upstairs. I’ll go to the cellar, bolt the door, and be back up in a jiffy.”

“I’ll come with you,” Ian said firmly. He could see the fear all over Madam Dimbleby’s face, and he didn’t want her to have to go down into the cellar alone.

“Thank you, Ian,” she said with a faint smile, “but it’s not safe. You should go up with the rest of the children.”

“But, Madam,” Ian persisted, “remember how tricky that latch can be? I really think you might need help with it.” The latch was indeed difficult to secure, but more important, Ian had noticed how badly Madam’s hands were shaking and his heart went out to her.

Madam seemed to catch Ian’s subtle glance toward her trembling hands, and she quickly tried to cover them by smoothing out her skirt. “Very well, Master Wigby,” she said after a pause to compose herself. “Theo, up you go. Ian, come along.”

Ian gave Theo a pat on her shoulder as she stood in the doorway of the tower staircase. “I’ll be right up,” he said reassuringly, but her frightened eyes bothered him.

“Hurry!” she whispered, and he left her and trotted after the headmistress.

The pair walked quickly through the kitchen to the door leading to the cellar but Madam Dimbleby hesitated ever so slightly before opening it. “If there’s any nasty business down there,” she said in a deadly serious tone, “I want you to get out of the cellar as fast as you can, and throw the lock behind you whether I’m with you or not.”

Ian’s eyes widened and he was about to protest when she leaned her face close to his and said, “I’m not joking, Ian. You must promise me this or you’ll not come down with me.”

He frowned but finally nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” he said to her, even though he had no intention of leaving her behind, promise or no promise.

Madam Dimbleby seemed satisfied and she took a deep breath before opening the door a crack, then put her ear close and listened. Ian also strained his ears, but no sound came from the cellar.

Madam Dimbleby took another big breath and pulled the door open wide before reaching for the light switch and turning it on. A dim glow illuminated the stairwell, casting the space into an eerie gloom. Cautiously, the headmistress stepped onto the