come especially for him.
Gwenda Davis had her eyes fixed on the sports center where, according to Rex McKenna, the entire school would be having lunch. The petrol tanker was now facing away from the football field. As Matt watched, it left the road, plowed through a bush, and began to roll across the play-ing fields on the other side of the road.
Matt saw the tires cutting up the turf. The tanker had to be doing seventy or eighty miles an hour. Its engine was roaring. Gwenda had her foot clamped down on the accelerator, and the steep slope of the hill was adding to her speed.
Some of the other boys had seen it, too. Faces turned. Hands pointed. There could be no doubt what was about to happen.
The tanker smashed into the wall of the sports center and continued right through it. Its window smashed and Gwenda was killed instantly, thrown into the brickwork even as it shattered all around her. With its engine screaming, the tanker continued, disappearing from sight, swallowed up by the building. There was a moment's pause. Then it exploded. A fireball erupted into the sky, hurling hundreds of tiles in every direction. It rose up, higher and higher, carrying with it a huge fist of black smoke that threatened to punch out the very clouds. Matt put a hand up to protect his face. Even at this distance, he could feel the fantastic heat of the thousands of gallons of petrol as they ignited. Flames splashed out of the wrecked building, falling crazily onto the grass, the trees, the road, Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star the edges of the main school, setting everything alight. It was like a war zone. The entire place seemed to be on fire.
Matt knew that he had cheated death by minutes. And if the whole school had been in the sports center, if they had been queuing up for lunch as they should have been, hundreds of children would have died.
The headmaster was thinking the same thing. "My God!" he croaked. "If we had been in there . . . !"
"He knew!" Mr. O'Shaughnessy let go of Matt and backed away.
"He knew before it happened," he whispered. "Freeman knew."
The headmaster looked at him, his eyes wide.
Matt hesitated. He didn't want to stay here a minute longer. In the distance, he could already hear sirens.
He walked away. Six hundred and fifty boys stepped out of his way, forming a corridor to allow him to pass. Among them, Matt saw Gavin Taylor. For just a brief instant, their eyes met. The other boy was crying. Matt didn't know why.
Nobody said anything as he passed between them. Matt no longer cared what they thought of him.
One thing was certain: He would never see any of them again.
Chapter 5 The Diary
"You don't have to do this," Richard said.
It was the first time he had spoken since the train had pulled out of Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star York on its way to London. Matt was sitting opposite him, his head buried in a book that he had bought at the station. The book was meant to be funny but Matt couldn't even bring himself to smile. For the last hour he had been skipping from paragraph to paragraph but the story simply wouldn't let him in.
"Matt. . . ?" Richard began again.
Matt snapped the book shut. “You saw what happened at Forrest Hill," he said. "It was Gwenda! She'd come to kill me and she'd have killed everyone else in the school if I hadn't warned them."
"But you did warn them. You saved their lives."
“Yes. And they all came running up to thank me for it." Matt stared out the window, taking in the rushing country-side. Raindrops crawled slowly across the glass, moving from left to right. "I can't go back," he said. "They don't want me there. And I've got nowhere else to go. Miss Ash-wood was right. Raven's Gate wasn't the end of it. I don't think it is ever going to end."
Two days had passed since the destruction of the school. The blazing petrol had spread from the gymnasium to the old buildings, and by the time the fire brigade had arrived, there hadn't been
Gwenda Davis had her eyes fixed on the sports center where, according to Rex McKenna, the entire school would be having lunch. The petrol tanker was now facing away from the football field. As Matt watched, it left the road, plowed through a bush, and began to roll across the play-ing fields on the other side of the road.
Matt saw the tires cutting up the turf. The tanker had to be doing seventy or eighty miles an hour. Its engine was roaring. Gwenda had her foot clamped down on the accelerator, and the steep slope of the hill was adding to her speed.
Some of the other boys had seen it, too. Faces turned. Hands pointed. There could be no doubt what was about to happen.
The tanker smashed into the wall of the sports center and continued right through it. Its window smashed and Gwenda was killed instantly, thrown into the brickwork even as it shattered all around her. With its engine screaming, the tanker continued, disappearing from sight, swallowed up by the building. There was a moment's pause. Then it exploded. A fireball erupted into the sky, hurling hundreds of tiles in every direction. It rose up, higher and higher, carrying with it a huge fist of black smoke that threatened to punch out the very clouds. Matt put a hand up to protect his face. Even at this distance, he could feel the fantastic heat of the thousands of gallons of petrol as they ignited. Flames splashed out of the wrecked building, falling crazily onto the grass, the trees, the road, Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star the edges of the main school, setting everything alight. It was like a war zone. The entire place seemed to be on fire.
Matt knew that he had cheated death by minutes. And if the whole school had been in the sports center, if they had been queuing up for lunch as they should have been, hundreds of children would have died.
The headmaster was thinking the same thing. "My God!" he croaked. "If we had been in there . . . !"
"He knew!" Mr. O'Shaughnessy let go of Matt and backed away.
"He knew before it happened," he whispered. "Freeman knew."
The headmaster looked at him, his eyes wide.
Matt hesitated. He didn't want to stay here a minute longer. In the distance, he could already hear sirens.
He walked away. Six hundred and fifty boys stepped out of his way, forming a corridor to allow him to pass. Among them, Matt saw Gavin Taylor. For just a brief instant, their eyes met. The other boy was crying. Matt didn't know why.
Nobody said anything as he passed between them. Matt no longer cared what they thought of him.
One thing was certain: He would never see any of them again.
Chapter 5 The Diary
"You don't have to do this," Richard said.
It was the first time he had spoken since the train had pulled out of Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star York on its way to London. Matt was sitting opposite him, his head buried in a book that he had bought at the station. The book was meant to be funny but Matt couldn't even bring himself to smile. For the last hour he had been skipping from paragraph to paragraph but the story simply wouldn't let him in.
"Matt. . . ?" Richard began again.
Matt snapped the book shut. “You saw what happened at Forrest Hill," he said. "It was Gwenda! She'd come to kill me and she'd have killed everyone else in the school if I hadn't warned them."
"But you did warn them. You saved their lives."
“Yes. And they all came running up to thank me for it." Matt stared out the window, taking in the rushing country-side. Raindrops crawled slowly across the glass, moving from left to right. "I can't go back," he said. "They don't want me there. And I've got nowhere else to go. Miss Ash-wood was right. Raven's Gate wasn't the end of it. I don't think it is ever going to end."
Two days had passed since the destruction of the school. The blazing petrol had spread from the gymnasium to the old buildings, and by the time the fire brigade had arrived, there hadn't been
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