Free Von Gobstopper's Arcade by Alexandra Adornetto Page A

at the curator. It made Milli want to hug him. Only much later did it occur to the two children that Ms Anomali was trying to deflect attention from the snowscape display.
    ‘What’s going on?’ Milli quizzed Ernest during the lunch break.
    ‘I don’t know. I can’t explain it because I’m not sure it makes sense.’
    ‘Can you show me?’
    They made their way back to the exhibit and both scrutinised the scene behind the glass. Everything was as it had been upon first viewing. The dolls were rigidly in position and the scrawled message had disappeared. The artificial snow lay on the ground so neatly each flake might have been individually positioned.
    ‘Sorry, I don’t get it,’ Milli said finally.
    ‘It’s gone,’ Ernest replied flatly.
    ‘What’s gone?’
    Ernest rattled off the previous events in quick succession, in case they were suddenly intercepted.
    ‘There was a message before— help us —in the snow and now it’s gone. It could only have come from one of the dolls—Gwendolyn, Ithink. I’m sure it was meant for us. ’
    What happened next cemented Milli’s and Ernest’s friendship for at least the next five years. Milli didn’t roll her eyes, smirk or do anything else that remotely suggested she doubted Ernest. In fact, she responded as if his assertion was the most normal thing in the world.
    ‘So what do we do now?’
    ‘Not sure. We need to think. After all, they stumble that run fast.’
    ‘Yes,’ agreed Milli, ‘and they get clobbered that speak in riddles.’
    ‘We don’t have much time,’ Ernest said. ‘Let’s see if anything else happens.’
    ‘Not much chance of that. That curator person seems to have eyes at the back of her head.’
    ‘There’s bound to be another break at some point. We’ll have a good look around then.’
    An opportunity presented itself mid-afternoon, when the children were given time to browse the toy shops on the ground floor. Miss Macaw’s instructions were clear: they were free to wanderuntil 2:55 pm, when they were to meet at the arcade’s entrance in order to catch the bus back to St Erudite’s. Milli and Ernest slowly distanced themselves from the group and crept up to level one. The silence was eerie without the velvety commentary from the curator. They returned to the dolls in the snow and Milli even tapped lightly on the glass case.
    ‘Hello, in there. Blink if you can understand me.’
    ‘Shut up, Milli. Someone might hear us.’
    The children wandered aimlessly through the gallery, not sure of what exactly they ought to be looking for. Time seemed to stand still as they became engrossed in displays they’d been rushed past earlier. When they finally looked over the balcony to the floor below it was empty. With pounding hearts they charged down the stairs and froze in horror. The cloakroom too was empty, and the only thing in the gravel driveway was a magpie picking relentlessly at something lodged between the pebbles. The yellow school bus carrying their classmates had gone.
    ‘Don’t panic,’ said Milli. ‘They’ll be back assoon as they realise.’
    ‘Miss Macaw must have forgotten to do a head count.’
    ‘What bad luck. Should we wait here or keep looking?’ Milli asked.
    Ernest didn’t get a chance to answer because just then they heard the familiar sound of Ms Anomali’s heels tapping on the mosaic floor. It sounded exactly like twigs snapping. She was heading outside, right where they were standing.
    They hid behind some shrubbery growing against the arcade wall but it barely concealed them. Any moment now she would find them and then there would be real trouble. The last thing St Erudite’s needed was bad publicity after Von Gobstopper’s generous gift to the school. They could just see the headlines now: Errant Children Caught Trespassing! Then, just as Ms Anomali’s steps changed to a crunching as she reached the gravel, they heard a different sound. It seemed to be coming from behind the wall they had