The next day, in the post, Alistair received a letter. It was labeled like this:

The letter is printed below:

Prince’s Cross School wish to inform you that you have been selected to join the Prince’s Cross National Protection Club. This club operates with British Intelligence and, if you accept, will be cracking difficult codes and doing puzzles. We also offer a large range of school courses, of which every member of our club must complete at least 2 a year. Please find attached a parental consent slip & information sheet, and this year’s class list.

Yours Sincerely,

Alistair was delighted to see that William’s name was on the list. There was also another school for girls called Princess’s Cross School. There were only two people on the Princess’s Cross list and they were named Roberta Rufus and Helen Highwater. The Prince’s Cross School had a much larger class of 16.