Miss Mabel's School for Girls (42 page)
Read Miss Mabel's School for Girls Online
Authors: Katie Cross
Tags: #Young Adult, #Magic, #boarding school, #Witchcraft
Tears rose to my eyes. Papa had been with me all along as my white cat. That’s why he never answered my frantic letters.
Vague memories played back in my mind, making my heart thump. He hadn’t been alone. The calico cat at every Competition event. Her sudden reappearance after Grandmother died. The way the two cats curled around each other. Their frequent company whenever I was alone.
My nearly inaudible voice came out in a mournful whisper.
“My mother was the calico cat, wasn’t she?”
“Yes. Once Derek realized your Mactos with Miss Mabel wasn’t just a test for the mark, he left to warn me. Marie stayed to monitor the situation in case you needed help. Mabel forced her transformation at the end.”
“But how did she know?”
“Mabel has many abilities, Bianca. They cannot always be explained.”
It was a bitter pill to swallow.
“How did he get hurt before he came? If I hadn’t nursed him back to health then–”
“He got into a fight with a stray critter when he transformed in the forest to avoid any chance of being seen. Apparently fighting is a bit different when there are four legs to coordinate.”
We fell into silence again. I just wanted it all to go away, but it wouldn’t. Not ever. This grim reality was here to stay.
The High Priestess motioned off to the side with a tip of her head.
“It seems I’m not the only one waiting to talk to you. I won’t take up any more of your time. I’m not sure they’d let me anyway. Camille has been inching closer every minute. Leda seems protective of you. She hasn’t stopped glaring at me since I arrived. They will soon overtake us.”
Camille and Leda stood a few feet into the tree line, staring at me with white dresses and hair ribbons. My best friends.
“Take your time here, Bianca. We’ll wait by the carriages. You’re coming to stay at Chatham Castle, where we can keep you near your father.”
And near you, so I can murder you in your sleep at Miss Mabel’s behest.
I couldn’t look at her. My response felt choked.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
She pulled a pair of gloves out of a pocket and started sliding them over her wrinkled hands.
“This is a lot bigger than just you and me, Bianca. It has been for a while. I only kept the obvious wolves at bay when I overthrew Evelyn. Now is the time to flush them all out. It will be a painful, dangerous process. Keep that in mind.”
I thought I knew what she spoke of. Miss Mabel and Dane. The Central Network and the Western Network. Council Members she couldn’t trust. Death and war. She was telling me that it didn’t start or end with Mabel, or my mother, or me. Bigger forces were at play, forces I hadn’t yet imagined.
Forces I didn’t want to imagine.
The wind stirred up a flurry of leaves as she departed.
Camille gave an awkward curtsy to the High Priestess as she walked past, but Leda ignored her and started right towards me. They reached me at the same time, pulling me into a hug that would have knocked me over if it hadn’t also held me up. A sob filled my throat with suffocating thickness.
When they pulled back, tears swam in Camille’s large hazel eyes. For the first time since I’d met her, she had nothing to say.
“Bianca, this is my fault,” Leda said in a wavering voice. “I didn’t see–”
“No.” I grabbed her arm. “This is not your fault. I would never expect you to foresee everything. An accident–” I stumbled over the words. “Just an awful accident.”
We stared at each other. She finally nodded once, blinked several times, and looked away. Leda didn’t believe me, but she said nothing.
“I’m not going to ask if you’re doing okay,” Camille said, squeezing my arm above the elbow to avoid my bandaged hand and restoring a sense of grounding to my upside-down world. “Because I know that you’re not. I remember how it felt when my parents died. Your father told us how it happened while you were speaking to the High Priestess. A terrible accident, falling that way.”
Camille tightened her grip on my arm again, the wide-eyed look telling me in no uncertain terms that they knew the truth. They knew, and it was enough.
“Thanks,” I whispered, attempting a short-lived smile. Tears pooled in my eyes. Camille looked around, her gaze lingering on the two fresh headstones that represented nearly everything important to me.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“I’m moving to the castle.”
Camille’s eyes popped open in shock.
“Chatham Castle?”
“No,” Leda muttered. “The other one.”
“You’re going to live with the High Priestess?”
Yes, my beautiful nightmare. I wondered how they would react if they knew what I’d gotten myself into.
“For now, anyway,” I said dismissively, not wanting to get into details.
“I guess that’s where you’d live when your father is the Head of Protectors,” Leda said, glancing back at him. He stood apart from the small queue, intent in conversation with the High Priestess. “He’s a really nice guy, Bianca.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you still going to keep your grandmother’s shop open?” Camille asked. My thoughts turned back to the Tea and Spice Pantry with a twist in my stomach.
“No,” I said. “Papa talked to the lady that’s been helping my mother and gave it all to her.”
It had been a simple conversation between Papa and me, but it had closed a door. I couldn’t go back and see the deep barrels and the swatches of lavender or smell the cloves. My heart wasn’t strong enough.
“What about your curse?” Leda asked.
The real question. Winter’s cold grasp would fade into the fresh life of spring. It would give way to summer and the end of my life.
“I don’t know.” I sucked in a deep breath and looked out on Letum Wood. “Miss Mabel is still out there. I have until the middle of summer.”
“Are they going to close the school?” Camille asked.
“No.” A conversation I overheard between the High Priestess and my father ran through my head. Miss Scarlett would run the school as usual. If Miss Mabel stopped in, she’d let them know. No one would notice Miss Mabel’s absence. “It was just an accident. No reason to alarm anyone.”
Right,
their looks seemed to say.
Camille lifted my right hand.
“Your circlus is complete,” she said, glancing at me in surprise. Her voice was small, like a child’s. “You’re all done then. For real.”
A call from the road caught our attention. Augustus pulled up with the same faded horse and creaky carriage I’d taken to the Esbat. He waved for Camille and Leda.
Camille whirled back around.
“Are we ever going to see you again?” she asked, clutching my hand even tighter.
“Of course,” I said.
“She’s going to invite us to the castle.” Leda closed her eyes, then opened them. “Really soon.”
I responded with a breathy laugh.
Camille’s eyes grew watery. She threw herself against me with all her usual force and didn’t let go for a long time.
“Thanks for being my friend, Bianca,” she said into my shoulder, and I held her extra tight. “Merry part.” She whirled around without another word and ran off, her hair bouncing, her white stockings flashing. Leda and I faced each other. Her eyes were exceptionally bright today, their divergent coloring highlighted by her white-blonde hair.
“Merry part, Bianca. Go well.”
She put a kiss on the ends of her fingers and blew it to me. I smiled, and she walked away.
Once they had departed, I turned back around to face my mother’s grave. I didn’t know how long I’d been standing there when I looked up to the soft, warbling descent of white snowflakes. Papa stood at my side. He moved as silently as the snow. He wrapped a strong arm around my shoulder. I leaned into him, inhaling the musky scent of leaves and mint. For just a moment, I felt safe. I was a little girl in his arms blinking away the snowflakes on my eyelashes. There were no secrets. No fears. Just Papa.
“You ready to go home, B?”
No I wasn’t ready. There was no home, not at Chatham. If Mama wasn’t there, it would never be home. Just an intimidating, walled prison that guaranteed my proximity next to the High Priestess, when I was bound to murder her whenever Miss Mabel desired. But I couldn’t tell him that.
“Yes, Papa.”
I knelt down and picked up two twigs. They braided themselves together and blossomed into two creamy white lilies. I set them on the top of her headstone and straightened up.
It felt as if I stood on the brink of something grand and horrible, a great chasm yawning on all sides, waiting for me to take one wayward step or to stumble where I stood. No matter where I went, I faced the darkness alone. It wouldn’t be long before I met up with Miss Mabel again. We were caught up in a sick symbiotic relationship that would only end in death.
All our lives were ticking away now. The High Priestess. My father. Myself. The Central Network.
“So mote it be,” I whispered.
And then I walked away, my heart in the ground behind me.
THE END
About the Author
K
atie Cross grew up in the mountains of Idaho, where she still loves to play when she gets the chance. If she’s not writing, you can find her traveling, working as a pediatric nurse, trail running with her husband and two dogs, or curled up with a book and a cup of chai. Visit her at
www.kcrosswriting.com
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Miss Mabel's School for Girls
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