‘All he’ll say is that he made a mistake that hurt a lot of people. Whatever it was, it was bad enough that he quit and never went back.’ He threw a long branch into the compost pile. ‘He’ll never forgive himself.’
The story was sobering. The idea that you could make a mistake – just one mistake – and your whole life could be ruined was frightening.
Allie’s thoughts drifted back to what was going on here right now. And she wondered if any mistakes of that magnitude were being made. She was fairly certain they were.
‘I wonder…’ she said.
‘I think…’ Carter said at the same time.
They both stopped and chuckled awkwardly.
‘Sorry.’ Carter waved a twig at her. ‘You go first.’
‘It was nothing,’ Allie said. ‘I just wonder if Eloise is OK out in that house by herself. I wonder if she’s scared.’
‘First of all she’s not by herself,’ Carter said. ‘They’d never leave her alone. She probably wishes she was by herself. And second…’ He looked at her speculatively as if trying to decide how much to say. ‘Don’t get too married to the idea of Eloise being innocent just because Nicole thinks she is.’
Allie stared at him, a rising sense of panic tightening the muscles of her throat. ‘Wait. Don’t tell me you think she’s really the spy?’
‘I don’t know if she is or isn’t. I just don’t think Nicole’s theory proves she’s innocent. And I wouldn’t assume she didn’t do it.’
‘Why not?’ Allie’s voice took on a defensive tone. ‘She couldn’t have done the chapel thing, right? I mean, not on her own.’
She hadn’t realised until he’d taken it away from her how much her belief in Eloise’s innocence mattered. She wanted that belief back.
His eyes were as bitter as dark chocolate. ‘Nobody around here is really innocent, Allie. Surely you know that by now?’
‘I should have known you’d be talking instead of working.’
Mr Ellison’s voice cut off Allie’s planned response. Looking up, she saw the gardener striding towards them, his green uniform already a bit muddy. Knowing what she now knew about him, she liked him even more somehow. There was something compelling about suffering – something uniting.
I’ll talk to Carter later, she thought. I’ll make him see that he’s wrong. It’s not Eloise. It just isn’t.
Allie endured her classes with barely controlled impatience. None of the Night School instructors showed up to teach. A variety of teachers were shuffled in from other classes to take over and the whole exercise felt slapdash and annoying.
Word had also been passed out that Night School training was temporarily suspended – no explanation was given.
That afternoon, Allie and Rachel stood on the landing of the grand staircase, pretending to chat casually. Suddenly, Rachel straightened. ‘Target sighted. Six o’clock. Battle stations.’
‘Aye aye, Captain.’ Allie followed her gaze. The vivid red of Katie’s lush mane of hair made her easy to spot as she paraded up the stairs at the centre of a group of genetically perfect friends.
‘What have you heard again?’ Allie’s voice was unnecessarily loud.
Rachel waited to answer until Katie had nearly reached them. ‘Half the kids in the school will go. And nobody knows who. It’ll be just like Caroline only times a hundred.’
‘That’s horrible.’ Allie feigned shock. ‘What can we do?’
Katie stopped walking so abruptly the girls with her had to backtrack to rejoin her, but she waved them away with an irritated flutter of her fingers.
‘Go on. I’ll catch you up.’
After a moment’s hesitation they walked on. When they were out of earshot she turned to Rachel. ‘What were you just saying, geek girl?’
Dropping the pretence, Rachel filled her in on what they knew. As she listened, Katie leaned against the wall, letting her head fall back until it thumped against the carved oak panelling.
‘So this is what they’re up to.’ She looked pale. ‘I should have guessed when Caroline left. How could I be so stupid?’
Allie frowned. ‘They? Who?’
‘My parents. Of course they have a plan. And of course it involves dragging me out of Cimmeria and ruining my life.’ Turning to Allie she said, ‘I tried to warn you something was coming. That Lucinda was losing it. But you wouldn’t listen.’
‘Wait,’ Allie said. ‘Your parents are on Nathaniel’s side?’
Katie levelled an exasperated look at her. ‘Of course. Don’t be ridiculous. Haven’t you been paying attention at all?’
Allie ignored the insult. She stepped closer to Katie, looking into her eyes. Challenging her. ‘What about you? Are you on his side?’
Her directness seemed to catch Katie off guard; she shook her head so hard her red hair swished. ‘No. Never.’
Her response was so passionate, so spontaneous. Allie had to believe her.
‘What are you going to do if they send someone for you?’ Rachel asked.
For a second, Katie didn’t reply. When she did speak, her voice sounded strained. ‘I don’t know. But they will have to kill me to get me out of here. I’m not going like Caroline.’
‘You’d really stand up to your parents like that?’ Allie asked, surprised.
Katie’s eyes glittered like chips of ice in the winter sun. ‘I loathe my parents, Allie. I’m not going anywhere with them. And that slimy creep Nathaniel can kiss my perfect arse.’
Her cut-glass accent made even obscenities sound elegant and funny. It reminded Allie painfully of Jo, and she felt that sudden sense of loss that took her by surprise at the strangest moments, like falling into a hole you couldn’t see.
Tilting her head, she studied Katie appraisingly. Maybe she’d misjudged her.
As if aware of Allie’s reconsideration of her, Katie turned her haughty gaze back to Rachel.
‘What can I do to help, geek girl? Say the word. It’s yours.’
NINETEEN
All the next day the gossips did their work with relentless efficiency. By dinner that night, there was no subject of conversation within Cimmeria Academy except the rumour that parents were pulling their children out of school.
Most of the students had known about Nathaniel already – rumours had been rife for ages about a divide among the school’s administrators – but the idea that the division could go this far caused panic.
The elegant dining hall looked the same as it always did – candles glittered on the round tables, crystal sparkled at every place setting, heavy silver cutlery gleamed in the warm glow of the heavy chandeliers – but the mood was ugly.
Once again, none of the senior staff was present. It had been so long since they’d shown up for a formal meal Allie was beginning to wonder if they were starving themselves to death out in the woods. Part of her hoped so.
Across the dining hall two red-faced boys were having a shouting argument, one pounding on a table in rage. Nearby several girls seemed near tears.
Do they even know what’s going on here? Do they realise they’re losing control?
Although they’d all expected it to happen, no students had been pulled out of school by their parents that day. This fact only made the sense of dread worse. They were all waiting for something horrible to happen.
‘What do you think he’s doing?’ Carter asked. ‘If he’s really planning to take half the school, why did he just pull one student out and then no more?’
‘Perhaps it was a warning,’ Nicole said.
‘It’s his way of telling Isabelle he’s serious – and he’s giving them a chance to give him what he wants,’ Rachel said. ‘Like blackmail.’
‘He’s wasting his time. They’ll never do that.’ Allie pushed the food around her plate with a desultory fork.