Miss Mabel's School for Girls (29 page)

“As I was saying before we were interrupted, the High Priest could not attend this Esbat. He is sick at home today. Please do an invocation and blessing for healing on his behalf. Melinda from the Eastern Coven will address us first. Have the problems arising from the flood last month been resolved?”

On the other side of the room, a middle-aged woman with faded red hair and a concerned expression stood.

“Yes, Your Highness. The support team of builders from the Network rebuilt the bridges and restored supplies to our farmers. Thank you for your assistance.”

“I’m glad it was sufficient.”

Melinda sat down.

“Mr. Crabtree from Tillan’s Cove Coven,” the High Priestess said without missing a beat

I started to outline the events as the people in the room spoke, trying to commit their faces to my memory. It didn’t take long to realize that most of the people were Coven leaders, here to present their communities’ issues to the Network. Their assistants sat off to the side, and I imagined Leda there one day, with her pale face and high opinions.

There were people who never spoke at all. They lingered in the shadowy background with no particular purpose. Most of them looked to be in their thirties, but a few were middle aged. It wasn’t until I counted ten of them that I realized they made up the Council of Leaders. Like Miss Mabel, they hid their true ages. Papa had told me stories regarding several of the Council Members, many of whom were at least ninety. I wondered about the High Priestess. Why didn’t she hide her true age? Or did she?

One by one, the Coven leaders stood and reported their business. Unemployment in one Coven. Disappearance of a farmer and his family in another. Notice of a run away school boy. Parents dissatisfied with the education system. A deception spell gone awry. There were at least forty covens in the Network, but not all were represented tonight.

The High Priestess called on Miss Mabel. Instead of standing as the others did, she remained in her seat with a subtle gleam of defiance.

“The Eastern Letum Wood Coven has no issues to report,” Miss Mabel stated in a business-like tone. “I met with the lower leaders prior to coming. They voiced no concerns.”

The High Priestess’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, but she accepted it with a nod.

“Very well. Bickers Mill Coven . . .”

•••

Darkness surrounded the school by the time I returned. The warm light of candles dancing in the windows illuminated the school, defying a black band of vapor that shielded Letum Wood.

“Thank you, Augustus,” I said in a weary voice as I exited the carriage. “Have a good night.”

He nodded and drove off, his eyes a bit bloodshot from his time at the pub if his jovial singing on the road home gave any indication. The carriage evaporated into the fog with the slow plod of the horse, leaving me alone. I stayed there, breathing in the night until the chill seeped through my clothes and forced me inside.

I slipped through the hall, absorbed with thoughts of my grandmother. An eagerness like I’d never known gripped me. I wanted the curse removed tonight, this moment. Yesterday, even. Better to spare her as much pain as I could.

Despite the thrill of exultant joy hovering under my skin, a heavy exhaustion weighed down my legs when I started up the spiral staircase. I slowed down. It was late. The grandfather clock gonged below, announcing eleven o’clock. A new black rug ran the length of the stairs, as did bunches of black ribbon wreaths the students must have made for a celebration. Samhain must be coming up soon.

Every floor I passed was quiet, the sounds of life reduced to subtle creaks and the quiet shuffles of last-minute bedtime rituals. I envied them and didn’t know why. Maybe it was because I wished to be asleep, my fatigued eyes drooping and weary.

Not yet.
Grandmother awaited.

A single light illuminated the space underneath Miss Mabel’s door. I held my breath and stood on the landing, listening. The shuffle of two voices came from her private bedroom. A giggle, then a rakish growl.

The throaty tones of a man’s voice.

I quickly cast a concealment spell, intrigued. It fell over me in an icy rush. My body blended in with the background, becoming nothing more than floorboards and stone. As long as I stayed motionless, no one would see me. If I moved, they’d see ripples in the air, like heat waves. Once the spell was complete, I crept forward, pressing my back against the wall. It wasn’t long before Miss Mabel’s dulcet words met my ears. 

“Oh, how you make me laugh!”

The same low growl repeated, followed by a chiding reprimand.

“Stop that,” she said. “I don’t want you drawing attention up here. Bianca will return any minute now. We can’t afford discovery, can we?”

Fabric rustled. My heart thudded in my chest, drumming out a frightened rhythm. Who was the man?

“Then tell me about the Esbat,” the unknown voice said. “Did I miss anything important?”

I didn’t know his voice. He must be a Coven leader if he had missed the Esbat.

“Nothing but the same old complaints. Mildred looked horrid in her dress. I don’t know how you put up with her every day.”

The puzzle pieces of this unknown mystery man began moving together like the slow movement of a clock.

Tick

“I try not to see her every day,” he said in a wry drawl. “Did your Assistant earn the mark?” 

The eagerness in his voice sent a chill through my body.

“Of course.” Miss Mabel’s voice purred. “As if you ever doubted my judgment, Briton.”

Tock.

The High Priest. Miss Mabel was having an affair with the High Priest. My nails gripped the chinks in between stones in the wall, anchoring me, reminding me that I wasn’t imagining things. 

“Did she really pass?” he asked.

Miss Mabel moved slightly, and her voice became easier to hear. She let out a long sigh, as if she savored every molecule of air.

“Yes, and that’s not the most exciting thing,” she said.

“What is?”

“She transported.”

My blood ran cold, like little spears of ice attacking from the inside, paralyzing every muscle in my body. She knew. I didn’t know how she’d discovered it, but she knew.

“A sixteen-year-old?”

Miss Mabel made a noise low in her throat.

“I don’t believe it,” he said.

“Believe it. I watched her. It’s how she avoided the Guardians at the very beginning, just as I thought. It was a last minute adjustment to my plan but a good one.”

The sound of pacing footsteps jolted me. I slid to the floor, my knees too weak to hold my body upright. This was not good. Not good at all. This evening was changing from bad to nightmare on a course I couldn’t stop. I’d never felt so helpless in my life.

Reckless. My desperation tonight made me reckless. Leda’s words haunted me.

Do you ever think before you act?

No, clearly I didn’t, and now I’d pay.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” he said.

“It proves she’s got courage, like I thought. Talent, too. She thinks quick on her feet. Her homework is atrocious, but her magic is strong. That’s what really counts.”

A silence fell that twisted my insides to shreds. 

“She’s capable yes, but will she have enough power?” he asked.

“I think so. I think she has a great deal more power than she lets on,” Miss Mabel said in a voice I had to strain to hear. “Or knows about yet.”

“How do you know she’s strong enough for the task?”

“We’ll find out soon,” she said.

“What are you planning?”

“Nothing too extraordinary. I’m just going to test her a little, see if she can handle it.” An innocent tone, as if she spoke of summertime or flowers. My chest rose and fell in desperate gasps, making me lightheaded. I bowed my head into my knees and screwed my eyes shut, forcing my breathing to slow. 

“Wonderful,” he said. I could tell he meant it. “How?”

“I’m going to see how much control she has over her power when she experiences intense emotions. Once we turn those on, the power doesn’t turn off.”

“Ah,” he said. “Pain?”

“No,” she scoffed. “Something infinitely stronger.”

I could hear the smile in his voice. “You’re going to make her angry.”

“Yes,” she giggled. “Very angry.”

I pressed my fingertips to my lips to prevent them from emitting a horrified cry. The High Priest’s heavier steps followed. When I heard their voices again they were hushed, as if they spoke from an embrace. I could hear the individual words no more.

The sound of footsteps came from the spiral stairs, startling me. I shot to my feet, stumbling towards my bedroom with an out-of-my-mind pulse of fear. I had to get out of there, away from the suffocating evil of their words, away from the risk of getting caught.

Somehow in my hurry my foot caught on the loop of my bag. I bobbled, bouncing back and forth, trying to recover, but it only wrapped my ankles tighter together. My arms flailed as I reached for wall to no avail. I shot forward, landing with a leaden thud, the floorboards skimming my face and chin.

The sound rang out through the attic, freezing time. The air was completely still. I held my breath.

Miss Mabel’s door creaked open, spilling a shaft of light onto my body.

Wasted

M
y lungs burned. Tears stung my eyes from the fall, threatening to drip onto the floor. I didn’t risk looking at the rest of my body to make sure the spell held.

“Sorry to bother you this late, Mabel. I finished the paperwork for the third-years’ Network Mark applications. They want only your signature.”

It took all my control not to move when Miss Scarlett entered the attic, announcing herself with her inflexible voice. Her quiet footsteps were almost silent, as if she hovered just above the ground and only made the motions of walking to make it look real. My already sinking luck took on more water.

In only a few steps Miss Scarlett would trip over me.

Miss Mabel took another step forward. I felt the floorboard beneath my right foot shift from her weight.

“Did you fall, Scarlett?”

Her slow words and low tone made my heart plummet. Why hadn’t I just minded my own business and gone to bed? Instead, I was seconds away from discovery, sprawled on the floor like a rug.

“Yes,” Miss Scarlett stopped moving towards me. Her feet were so close it made my eyes cross. “I tripped on the stairs on my way up.”

I blinked. Had Miss Scarlett just lied?

There had been a noise that caught my attention before I fell, but the idea of Miss Scarlett tripping on a stair seemed ludicrous. I’d never seen her stiff, upright spine bend.

“I see,” Miss Mabel murmured with another step into the hallway. The floorboard groaned in protest as she stepped to the left of my foot. I didn’t need to see her face to know her eyes flickered around the room. The air felt so unfriendly I could almost smell her unease. “Are you sure? It seemed much closer than that.”

“Quite sure,” she said in a clipped tone, readjusting her shoulders as if fixing her dress would rebuff her embarrassment at being human like the rest of us. “It’s getting late. Here are the papers. I trust you’ll send them once you’re done. Please excuse me. There are a few first-years just below you that I heard giggling. I would like to remind them of the rules before they go to bed.”

I wondered if adhering the rules lent comfort to her ruffled pride.

Several scrolls tied in a bundle floated from Miss Scarlett’s hands. Another stretch of silence that seemed like an eternity. My heart would give me away, surely. Couldn’t they hear it slam against the floor?

“Good night, Scarlett,” Miss Mabel finally said.

Miss Scarlett was already on her way down the stairs but stopped to ask over her shoulder, “Did Bianca pass the Esbat mark?”

No, no, no!
I wanted to scream. Any mention of me would make Miss Mabel suspicious over my delayed return.

“Yes,” Miss Mabel drawled. She hadn’t moved an inch. My lungs burned again. “She passed. She should have been home by now.”

Miss Scarlett nodded once.

“Good night, Mabel.”

She started down the stairs. Even after the last sign of her presence had faded, Miss Mabel remained, waiting. Finally, when I wasn’t sure I could stand it any longer, she shuffled backwards. The light from the doorway slowly gathered together, narrowing into a thin stream that evaporated into black.

Had I imagined it, or did Miss Scarlett’s eyes meet mine when she walked down the stairs?

Exhausted, I pressed my cheek to the cold floor, let out a deep breath, and closed my eyes.

•••

The night lasted several eternities, dragging every minute as if it were a heavy club. I willed morning to come. Maybe the light would shine, illuminating the blackest shadows, the midnight gargoyles that I could feel breathing down my neck in the darkness. When I slept, it was for moments, filled with dreams of the High Priest, Miss Mabel, and the High Priestess all standing over me, telling me my birthday came the next day.