Helen reached Velvet and tried to cradle her in her arms, but Dr. Franzen swooped down and grabbed Helen by the throat. “You!” he snarled. “All this is because of you! Nothing will stop me from killing you now, as blood price for my beloved!” He stepped back and pointed his black cane at her, but Helen commanded the Seal and she fell from his grasp. “You will never hurt me again,” she said quietly. “Your time is over. It’s you who will die.”
Then Dr. Franzen really seemed to go berserk. He snatched up his stick, howling, “It is the end!” He pointed it into the air, and a shower of green flames erupted, touching the ceiling and shooting everywhere. The whole room was catching fire now. Flames licked at the roof and windows, the air filled with bitter, choking smoke, and people were crying for help. I stood clutching Evie’s hand and looking around desperately for Cal. So it was going to end like this. It was the end.
Dr. Franzen’s voice boomed out again. “You will all die, as payment!” He staggered away, laughing insanely and lunging out wildly at anyone who was near him. “Burn!” he shouted. “Let it all burn! This is the hour of your death—and mine!”
His voice seemed to echo loudly above the pandemonium. “The hour of my death…the hour of my death…”
Velvet stirred weakly in Helen’s arms and opened her eyes. “The hour of my death,” she murmured. “Agnes…remember Agnes…”
At that moment I was almost too frightened to think or act, but Helen looked up, and her eyes were clear and unafraid. “Agnes!” she called. “This is the final reckoning! At the hour of Velvet’s death we remember you! Come to our aid. By Crown and Seal and Talisman we call to you, our secret sister!”
The next moment Agnes stood in front us—not a vision or a shadow or a memory, but a real living girl, with long, dark red curls and gray eyes like the far-off sea, just as she had been when Wyldcliffe was her home and she had reached out to grasp the mysteries of life for the first time.
“I have answered your summons. Lend me the Talisman, Evie, and let us make this night into a lasting memorial to Lady Agnes Templeton and her sisters!” Evie tore the necklace from her throat and gave it to Agnes, who kissed the sparkling crystal. In the middle of all the chaos and agony, a white light seemed to spill out from Agnes and her Talisman that shielded us from the heat and smoke.
Dr. Franzen was stumbling crazily about the room, starting to choke on the thickening smoke. “I curse this place!” he was screaming. “I curse the Abbey and this valley of Wyldcliffe! A thousand years of fear and darkness, anger and hatred, will be born this night!”
“No! I won’t let you harm my home!” Agnes called, holding the Talisman high above her head. She closed her eyes and began to murmur to the unseen powers. “Spirit of the sacred flame, I have served you faithfully. Hear me now! Let this sorcerer’s curses crumble into dust. Let the fire of life burn brightly for good, and not evil. Scour this place with healing flames, so that the dead return to their graves and trouble us no more! Bright tongues of power, do not touch the innocents of Wyldcliffe! Come to me now…and now…and now…”
As Agnes stood there, clothed in purity and strength, a high sweet song echoed above the noise and fever of the fire, like a cooling balm. The darting tongues of flame that had threatened to destroy Wyldcliffe began to shoot like bright arrows toward Agnes, answering her call. Dr. Franzen lunged crazily from side to side like an injured animal and then collapsed. And all the time Agnes remained true and steady, as she held the Talisman above her head and it absorbed the flames, withstanding their heat and anger and containing them in its pure crystal heart. At last the fire was swallowed up by the glittering jewel. Stillness and silence seemed to descend upon Wyldcliffe like a prayer.
The Dead had departed. The doors of the ballroom stood open. Josh and Cal stumbled over to us, thankful and exhausted. I held on to Cal as though I could never let him go again, as all around us the Wyldcliffe students got to their feet, shaking and bewildered. Their nightmare was almost over. The sound of injured girls crying filled the air as friends huddled together and tried to comfort one another.
I looked around. Dr. Franzen was sprawled under one of the long windows. He was dead. Near him, the Dark Sisters stood in shock, slowly pulling off their robes and staring at one another in dismay as though waking from some dreadful dream. I saw Miss Dalrymple’s body lying twisted in the debris. Part of the roof had collapsed and as it began to rain, plumes of steam rose up from the blackened timbers. I saw Miss Clarke and Miss Hetherington emerge from the trance they had been in, dazed and bruised but determined to shepherd the girls to safety. They seem to have no memory of what had happened.
“The fire is under control. Everyone assemble in the drive for roll call,” Miss Hetherington called out shakily. “Miss Clarke, can you go to the Master’s office and telephone the emergency services? Caroline dear, don’t panic, it’s just a cut, you’re safe…come on, girls, on your feet, let’s get out of here. The doctor will soon be here. There’s been a dreadful accident, but it’s over now….”
She swept past and didn’t seem to see us. We were hidden by Agnes’s light and power. It was over for the Wyldcliffe students. A fire had broken out in the school, but by some miracle they had all escaped. That was all they would remember. Life would go on. But for us, for Velvet, it was different. She lay in Helen’s arms, her skin white as a lily and her lips red as blood, and there was death in her eyes. No doctor could help her now.
Agnes turned to us. “My time here is finished. I have done as you asked, and the prophecy is fulfilled. Wyldcliffe and its people have been saved from their great danger. The fire is tamed. The coven is broken. There will be no Bondsouls at Wyldcliffe. The curse is broken. And now I shall never walk on this earth again.”
“You can’t leave us now! We love you, Agnes. Stay with us,” Evie begged.
Agnes shook her head and took Evie’s hand. “My sister—my daughter—I can’t. This is the end. Our paths crossed so that you could save Sebastian, and I could save Wyldcliffe. We have done what we needed to do. I have been torn for so long between this world and the next, but now, if you love me, you will let me go.”
“But—it’s not over yet!” Evie sobbed. “We still need you.”
“You are all mistresses of your own powers and destinies. You don’t need me anymore.”
“And what about Velvet?”
“She is your sister of fire now,” Agnes said. “The three of you must help her, and Josh and Cal too. They are part of our Mystic Way now. So you see, you aren’t alone. You have each other. You have the Crown and the Seal. And the Talisman I bequeath to you, Evie, for all time. Use it well, in memory of me.”
She put her arms around Evie, and they clung to each other for a second. And then Agnes was gone, like the passing of a star, and the light around us was dimmed. But we weren’t alone. We had each other, and one last task was facing us. Velvet was slipping away, and we had to bring her back from the brink of death.
Thirty-three
THE WITNESS OF EVELYN JOHNSON
Agnes’s passing left a sweet, tender pain in my heart, but I knew she was right. We had to continue without her and use our gifts one more time, for Velvet.
“Evie,” Helen said quickly, “give the Talisman to Velvet. She needs the strength of fire and the cleansing of water. And Sarah, give her the Crown. She needs the renewal of life from the everlasting Tree.”
We did as she asked, arraying Velvet in our tokens, the Keys to our powers. And then Helen cast the Seal into the air, spinning like a coin, and called out, “I call upon the servants of the Seal. I believe in them!”
The Seal was opening into a wide golden circle, crossed by two curved shapes, like swords, no…like wings…and Velvet was still breathing, but she moaned faintly and her eyes closed…. Everything slowed, and I thought my heart had stopped. The Seal was blazing like the sun, and at the heart of its brilliance, I saw a creature of light with wings of fire; as graceful as a dancer; as strong as a mother
; as beautiful as an angel….
The vision passed. The Seal shrank and returned to Helen’s hand, a small, insignificant brooch. But standing in front of us was a woman, a radiant being. Then she veiled her beauty and took on another form: thin and spare, with harsh features and keen dark eyes.
“Miss Scratton!”
Sarah and I rushed to her, but she held up her hands for silence. “That was the name you called me by and how you knew me, but that life is finished for me now.” And as she spoke her face changed again. A slim woman of about forty, with cropped blond hair and an expressive face like an artist, stood before us. Only the gleam in her eyes was the same. She smiled at our astonishment. “This is my new life on this earth. For now, these are the robes I wear, and they will do as well as any others. You may still call me Miss Scratton, if you wish. It is permitted for me to walk with you again, until the dawn breaks.” She turned to Helen and said softly, “You have called me for a purpose. Are you ready for this final task?”
Helen nodded. “Yes. I’m ready. Velvet is the one who matters now. She’s desperately ill.”
Miss Scratton sighed. “Dr. Franzen was indeed, as he claimed, a sorcerer of some ability. He has cast an ancient spell on her. Even as we speak Velvet’s life force is dwindling.”
“What can we do?” asked Helen.
“Bring her to the ruins.”
Cal and Josh lifted Velvet between them, and Miss Scratton led us out of the building and onto the grounds. At the front of the school there were still little knots of students and staff milling about. Ambulances and fire crew and police cars added to the sense of unreality as people were taken away for treatment or gave eyewitness accounts about what had happened. But we weren’t part of all that. We slipped unnoticed to the back of the school, past the terrace and down to the lake and the deserted ruins. As we stepped under the crumbling archways of the old chapel, all the distant noise and activity was suddenly cut off, as though we had stepped into a different world.
The boys laid Velvet gently on the green mound of the altar. The scars caused by the Preistess’s unholy entry into that sacred place had healed. Velvet seemed to be peacefully asleep as the boys stepped back. Miss Scratton looked grave. “Velvet has wandered far into the darkness. We have one short hour in which to help her. If she dies, the Priestess will have gained a great victory from this night. She and Dr. Franzen have already claimed another innocent life—Mr. Brooke. And we should mourn even for Rowena Dalrymple and the rest of her fallen sisters. They weren’t born as they died. They were all innocent once.”
I looked up in distress. “Mr. Brooke—I didn’t realize.”
Miss Scratton nodded slightly. “He was braver than you knew. John Brooke was Celia Hartle’s brother, and had long suspected her evil ways, even though it pained him to acknowledge them. He was a faithful friend to Wyldcliffe. When she was alive, he did what he could to restrain her, though she scorned him. It amused her to keep him here and flaunt her power over his weakness. He tried to help, but she was too strong for him in the end.”
“Velvet mustn’t die!” Helen said with surprising vehemence. “Otherwise that’s what people will say about us. ‘Oh, they tried to help, but Celia Hartle was too strong in the end.’ I’m so sorry about poor Mr. Brooke, but Velvet mustn’t pay the same price. She’s not ready. And she pretended all this time to be so hard and uncaring, but she was just lost. Tonight she showed that she has a valiant heart. Velvet should live to know that we’re thankful for what she did for us, and that she’s our sister now. And another thing—” Helen took a deep breath. “She needs to know that her mother loves her, underneath all the petty quarrels and jealousy they allowed to grow up between them. They must have the chance to find each other again. Velvet’s mother has lost one daughter already; we can’t let her lose Velvet too. I was frightened of Velvet at first, but I see now that she’s a dark rose, beautiful and wild, and she deserves to blossom. She deserves to live.”
“And how can we give her the life she deserves, now that she hovers on the brink of death?” Miss Scratton asked quietly, looking at each of us in turn. I felt uneasy. I had willingly given one day of my life’s span to Sebastian so that he could have one more day on earth, and I had given again for Laura, but another day, or even many days, wouldn’t be enough to return Velvet to the dance of life.
There was silence. Josh glanced at me questioningly. Cal moved protectively to Sarah. Helen stood alone.
“I will give it,” she said in a low trembling voice. “I will give my life force to Velvet, and I will follow Agnes and Sebastian through the gates of death.”
“Helen—”
“Please don’t try to stop me. I was willing to give up my entire existence for my mother, who didn’t even deserve the sacrifice. I am happy, truly happy, to give this much smaller gift to Velvet, who does deserve a second chance. I feel so much love inside me, and I need to give it to someone. So let it be for a sister—for Velvet.”
“But we could find another way to help Velvet! Don’t throw your life away like this!” Sarah cried.
“I’m not throwing anything away. I’m putting aside a long and weary task. Darling Sarah, I never really saw a future on this earth for me. I never hoped for a career, or children or any of the things that life promises. My hopes and dreams were different. I was always the odd one out. So I shan’t really be giving up so much, you see,” she said bravely, though her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, so sorry to say good-bye to all of you, more than I can ever say. But it’s only for a short while. We will meet again, in the light where Agnes dwells. So I will move on and trust in the Great Creator to lead me home.”
“What about the Seal?” said Miss Scratton. “Aren’t you turning your back on it?”
Helen shook her head. “I’m sorry. I know this means I cannot serve the Seal as I might have done. But I think saving one innocent life is more important than anything else.”
“In saying that, it shows that you truly belong to the Seal and all it represents,” Miss Scratton replied gently. She took Helen’s hands in her own, as a mother might have done, and looked searchingly into her face. “And so you will leave your friends at the gates of death and travel on? You will miss them, I know, until all paths meet once more. Is there anyone else you will miss, Helen?”
“Tony—my father—I don’t want him to grieve. He was kind, but there was too wide a gulf between us. It was too late, that’s all. I don’t want him to be sad about me.”
“To him and to the wide world it will be as if you never lived, if that is your wish. Only we who stand here will keep your memory alive. The Guardians can give you this grace.”
“Yes, please. That’s what I want.”
“Oh, Helen, are you sure about this?” I said, trying not to cry. “How will we manage without you?”
She came over and hugged us in turn and I felt her strength filling me, like the breath of a lioness. “You have each other,” she whispered. “Never forget that. And thank you…thank you for letting me share this with you. But it’s time for me to go. Good-bye, my sisters.” She reached into her pocket and took out a battered notebook and gave it to me. “Read this one day,” she said. “Read it, and remember me.”
She turned to Miss Scratton. “I’m ready. Show me what to do.”
“In one moment. All shall be fulfilled. But finally, Helen, is there anyone else you need to say good-bye to?”
Helen didn’t reply, but Sarah exclaimed, “What about that boy—the musician? What about Lynton? I thought he was going to be the one to love you!” She was in tears. “And you said there was one you loved best—did you mean him? You can’t give that up, not yet, before you’ve even given it a chance. There must be another way!”
Helen shrugged, with a touch of her old secrecy. “There isn’t anything else we can do for Velvet. It’s too late. But if this is the right thing to do, if it’s my destiny, then I believe that Lynton—well, he’ll understand. I can’t explain.”
“Perhaps you don’t need to,” Miss Scratton said softly.
There was a rustling noise, like leaves in the first winds of spring. A golden light spread all around us, as sweet and clear as honey. Rapturous singing filled the air, and we were surrounded by a great company of radiant beings, beautiful and powerful, with arching wings and keen swords by their sides. And at their breasts they wore the sign of the Great Seal.
“You are not marked for death, but for everlasting life, Helen,” Miss Scratton said joyfully. “Your sacrifice to heal Velvet is accepted—on one condition. You will give her your life force so that she can live on this earth a happy, mortal life. But your soul shall not pass into death. You will live on, and fulfill the gift that was offered to your mother. You will become as she should have been, and the sorrow of her failures will be wiped away. Helen, yours is a strange and beautiful destiny, if you will accept it. The Order of the Seal stands before you: the Guardians, sent by the Great Creator to make crooked paths straight, to protect the innocent and bring a message of hope into the weary world. You have only to say yes, and they are ready to welcome you. And there is one whom you have long known, and he is here.”
One of the angel creatures stepped forward. I felt dazzled by his presence, but then the glory fell away from him, and his shape changed many times. Now he seemed like a young child, and now like the old gardener who tended the school grounds, and now like a teenage boy with merry eyes and a wide grin.