11.04: A Testing Time

Danny was bigger and stronger than Faisal, and the pool test should have been easy, throwing coloured balls into scoring nets. But whatever strategy Danny employed Faisal had him beat. Danny was completely exhausted and
still more than a hundred points off Faisal's score when the test ended.
“Well done, matey," Val told Faisal enthusiastically, as she tousled his hair. “You cut through that water like a little dolphin."
Danny resented the compliment and seethed with annoyance as he towelled off and switched his swimming shorts for his blood and puke-spattered T-shirt and combat trousers. He wondered if Faisal’s had a water related mutant ability.
Noah and Harry had been acting as lifeguards and making matters worse, he could hear laughing and joking casually with Faisal as they changed a few metres away.
Danny had been trying really hard, but although he thought he had done well on the written exam and killing the rabbit, he wasn't confident that he had done enough to pass on to proper training.
The final test was the height obstacle. Danny hadn't liked the look of the creaky wooden structure, with its narrow poles, ropes and beams, when Jamie had toured campus with him when he first arrived. He liked it even less as he stood at the base of a wobbly thirty-metre rope ladder, looking up with slanting rain hitting him face.
Noah was already halfway up the ladder with Faisal and they had left slippery clumps of mud from their boots on the rungs. Harry would accompany Danny, while Val had gone back to her office to catch up with mails and paperwork.
“Will I die if I fall?" Danny asked.
“You won't die," Harry said. "Your skin is invulnerable. But the tree branches will lash you and the rope nets are strung tight. I've known a few people hurt themselves, and one guy who got his boot caught in the netting and broke his leg. Hey, maybe you can break a bone."
Danny managed an awkward smile. "Reassuring. Best to avoid falling off then?"
“Abso-fricking-lutely," Harry said.
Danny noted there were too many Brits in this place, it was crawling with them. "Start climbing and try to remember that nothing good ever came of looking down."
As Danny made it up the ladder, Harry stayed a few rungs behind. Up above, Faisal was shuffling across a scaffold pole, aided by shouts of encouragement from Noah.
Danny's strong upper body meant he had no difficulty crossing the pole and by the time he was over they had caught up with Faisal, who had lost his nerve at
the first jump. There were trees all around the height obstacle, but they'd been cut away to make this first leap seem scarier. The two wooden boards jutted dra-
matically over open space.
“I can't," Faisal said.
“Just think about the jump Fais," Noah told him. "It's just over a metre, barely more than a step."
Faisal looked like he was going to spew again, but he took a short run-up and made it across, with a rather alarming wobble as he landed on the opposite
side.
Danny felt less scared on the obstacle than when he had been looking up at it, and this was an easy leap. The mid-section of the obstacle course comprised a zigzagging walk along narrow planks, with occasional leaps. As the course progressed, jumps grew longer and the beams narrower and more steeply angled. The final section was a pair of beams less than five centimetres wide, set half a metre apart and sloping down forty degrees.
Faisal wrapped himself around the beam and began shuffling down on his bum, but he had a mini freakout halfway across and Noah had to grab hold and
rescue him. Danny went last and copied Noah and Harry, balancing one boot on each beam and walking down in four bold steps.
“Nice," Harry said, as Danny joined him on the final platform.
There were two routes to the ground. The first was a jump through the trees on to a crash mat, but this quartet would be using a steeply angled zip wire with
a muddy pit at the far end of its landing zone. As Noah grabbed a set of padded handles and prepared to make his jump, Harry pointed at a tree and gave Danny instructions.
“The trick is to let go at precisely the right moment," Harry explained. "Too soon and you'll fall from a great height and hurt your ankles, or even break a leg. Hey, who knows you might.”
“You seem obsessed with me breaking a bone. Why’s that?”
“I have a new magical forma I want to try.”
“Magical what?”
“Forma… Never mind.”
Something dawned on Danny. “Magic and you’re called Harry.”
Harry Rutherford glowered at him. “Do not say it.”
The punch hit Danny hard in the mouth before he had finished the word wizard.
“Dummy,” laughed Faisal.
“Anyway,” continued Harry as if nothing had happened. “If you let go too late, you'll end up in the pit. And that pit may look like regular mud from here, but that's just a dry crust over absolute filth. I'm talking about horse shit, cattle slurry, rotten fruit and chicken feathers. Speaking from experience, it takes about five days' showering to completely wash the stink off of your skin."
Danny looked mildly horrified as he watched Noah speed down to the ground. He made a textbook landing five metres from the pit and rolled forward on to
his knees.
“Try not to plant your feet," Harry said, as he fitted a grab handle over the wire and helped Faisal to line up. "Fall forward like Noah did."
After he had beaten him in the pool and generally been a pain in the ass all day Danny would not have minded seeing Faisal plough into the filth. He came agonisingly close, but Noah grabbed him as he tilted towards the dirt.
Now it was Danny's turn. It looked a long way down as he reached up and grabbed the handles.
“Step off gently when you're ready," Harry said. “Let go when you see your feet a metre and a half from the ground."
“What the hell is a metre?” Danny asked.
Harry had a reputation for foul language and he was muttering under his breath right now. “Dunno,” he said, “I don’t work in ancient measures.”
It was a slow start, but once Danny got going it felt way faster than it looked. About a third of the way down the wire was anchored between two trees, after
which the incline grew steeper. Danny looked down as the ground closed in. He almost let go, but decided it was still too high. But the angle was so steep that
before he knew it the pit was almost under him. He pulled his knees up to his chest, but that only bought him a fraction of a second. The crust caught his boots, creating enough drag to rip his fingers off of the handles. He put his hands out to save himself, but his outstretched arms punched through the crust, closely followed by his entire body in a dramatic belly flop.
Beneath the crust was half a metre of brown water, while the bottom was a gloopy layer so thick Danny had to use all his strength to pull his wrists out. He got up on one knee, but he couldn't see with his eyes full of dirt.
He had pressed his mouth tight shut, but an abominable taste still filled his mouth, and the stench clinging to the inside of his nose was beyond description. Before Danny found his feet he felt something prod him in the belly.
“Grab the pole," Harry shouted.
Danny reached blindly and grabbed the shaft of a long pole. Harry gave it an almighty tug and there was a sucking sound as Danny's boots were dragged out of the mud. He managed to hold on until he reached the embankment and as he crawled up he felt a hose on the top of his head.
“Keep your mouth shut and try not to swallow," Noah advised, as he aimed the hose up high so that a torrent rained down over Danny's head. His ears were clogged, but the first thing he heard after he had dug the muck out was Faisal screaming with laughter.
“Oh God, God, God!” he howled. "That's the funniest thing I ever saw. Danny, do you realise that most of what's stuck to you came out of a cow's ass? Oh, man! I'm gonna piss myself."
You little sprat," Danny shouted. "If you don't shut your face I'm gonna punch every tooth out of your head and make '
As Danny came forward, Faisal dived behind Noah, giving the youth no
choice but to intervene.
‘Danny, calm down,’ Noah shouted.
Danny tried to get behind Noah and grab Faisal, but he pushed Danny back. He was stronger than he looked, and fast too.
‘If you start fighting you'll fail the tests for sure,’ Noah warned him.
Danny glowered for a few seconds before taking a step back, followed by a deep breath. He picked up the hose as Noah and a still laughing Faisal started walking back towards the main building.
Harry clipped him around the back of the head and got a very satisfying ‘Ow’ out of the small boy. “Give it a fu… a rest you little snot, or I’ll throw you in the crap pit myself.”
“At least it's over now," Noah said. "Hose yourself off as best you can. Then you can go back to your room and have a proper hot shower. They've got this special soap that neutralises smells. If I can find some I'll bring it up to your room."
“Try not to swallow too much until you've used some mouthwash and brushed your teeth. I'd bet that broth will turn your stomach out if you drink too
much of it."
“Thanks," Danny said, as he bent forward, hosing off strands of muddy hair. “Did Val give any hint of how well she thought I was doing?" Danny asked.
“No," Harry said. "And if she had I wouldn't be allowed to tell you. Just clean up in your room and wait for a call. Val will make her final assessment once your exam is marked and all your test results are through from Dr MacTaggart. It'll probably be a few hours."