As the two climbed the stairs towards the girls’ dormitory wing, Allie glanced over to see Jo staring down, near tears.
‘What is it, Jo?’ she asked. ‘What’s going on?’
‘It’s nothing, Allie.’ Jo didn’t meet her eyes and Allie knew she wasn’t telling the truth, but she didn’t think pursuing the issue would help.
When they reached Jo’s room, Allie walked in with her, suddenly afraid to leave her alone. Something was terribly wrong. Jo sat down on the bed, kicking off her shoes in her usual way, but she was wringing her hands.
Allie leaned back against the desk. She spoke in calm tones. ‘Jo, is there anything I can do?’
‘I need to talk to Gabe,’ Jo said, then she repeated the phrase in different ways. ‘I just … I have to talk to Gabe. I need to see Gabe.’
‘But we just left Gabe,’ Allie said, puzzled.
Jo shook her head. ‘I need to talk to him alone. I’m freaking out. He’ll know what to do.’
Studying her pale face, Allie made a quick decision. ‘OK, don’t worry. I’ll go and find him. Do me a favour and just rest for a while, OK? You’re wiped out. Have you slept at all today?’
‘But I’m not tired,’ Jo said, sitting down on the bed. ‘I’m way too wired to sleep.’
‘I was too,’ Allie said. ‘But try, OK? Just lie down and I’ll stay here until you’re asleep. I’ll find Gabe, I promise.’
‘I need to talk to him.’ Jo’s voice was blurred with exhaustion, and her eyes fluttered shut, even as a tear slipped down the side of her face. Finally, she leaned back against the pillows.
‘Just rest for a second,’ Allie said softly. She stood by the open window – the breeze was still cool. ‘I’ll find Carter and get him to send Gabe back.’
‘How will you find Carter?’ Jo’s voice was drowsy.
Looking out the window at the lengthening shadows on the grass below, Allie said, ‘I can always find Carter.’
When Jo’s breathing was regular and steady, Allie quietly closed the window and shutter, then tiptoed out, closing the door behind her with a nearly silent click.
Downstairs, she found the ground floor mostly empty. All the students who had been milling around had disappeared to their rooms. She wasn’t sure where to start looking – she’d never been to the guys’ dorm, and she wasn’t even sure how to get there aside from going across the roof, which didn’t seem like a great idea right now.
At that moment she heard a slapping sound down the hallway and looked up to see Jules walking purposefully, a clipboard held against her chest. The sound came from her pink Birkenstocks hitting her heels with every step.
She remembered Jo’s words when she’d asked her if any girls were in Night School. ‘Maybe Jules …’
Allie stepped into her path. ‘Hey Jules. How’s it going?’ She used her friendliest tone, and Jules looked a bit startled.
‘Hello Allie.’ She slowed her pace but didn’t stop and Allie swung into step with her.
‘Do you know where Gabe and Carter are?’
‘Why?’ Jules asked suspiciously.
Allie attempted a friendly but exasperated approach. ‘It’s a long, crazy story, but Carter has something of mine and I really need it, and Jo thought he might be with Gabe. Do you know? Like … where they are?’
Jules studied her face.
‘No,’ she said crisply, hurrying her pace.
Cursing silently, Allie rushed after her.
‘Look, Jules. It’s super-important. I wouldn’t ask otherwise.’
Jules stopped and turned to face her. ‘They’re in a meeting in the classroom wing where you’re not allowed to go, OK? But if you hang out near the door you’ll probably catch them as they come out. On the other hand, I don’t have any idea how long they’ll be.’
By now, Allie wanted to shake her, but she was not giving up.
‘So,’ she said, dragging one toe in a straight line on the floor, ‘where are you headed right now?’
Tucking the clipboard under her arm, Jules affected exaggerated patience. ‘What’s your point, Allie?’
‘Just that, if you’re going to that meeting, could you please send Carter back here. Now? Or just tell him I’m waiting here and I need to speak with him. It’s really important.’
Looking like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard, Jules began walking again. ‘Of course, Allie. And would you like me to get you some tea and chocolate while I’m there? Because I’ve got nothing better to do today than to be your messenger girl.’
Dropping behind her, Allie raised two fingers at her back.
‘No thanks,’ she said, her voice cheerful and steady. ‘I can get my own tea.’
Jules’ voice floated back to her as she turned the corner. ‘How lovely.’
‘Thanks,’ Allie muttered when Jules was out of earshot, ‘and you have a great day, too, Jules.’
Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest and the rubber sole of one foot propped on the antique wood panelling behind her, Allie waited. After ten minutes, she slid down the wall and sat on the floor, crossing her legs. In this spot she was hidden by the baroque, marble-topped occasional table next to her, so Isabelle didn’t see her when she walked by with her dancing partner a few minutes later.
‘… she needs to know that Nathaniel is out of control.’ Her voice was icy with rage. ‘Last night was unacceptable. She’s got to do something about it. At least pick a side. My God, Matthew, people got hurt. Children got hurt. This can’t continue.’
Matthew murmured something in reply that Allie couldn’t make out.
‘Well then you will just have to go and see her personally,’ Isabelle snapped as the two walked out of earshot.
Isabelle’s words had an electrifying effect on Allie, who leaned forward to peer around the heavily carved mahogany legs of the table.
So it wasn’t a teacher or a student after all. She drew her knees up close to her body and wrapped her arms around them as a strange feeling of relief washed over her. At least the murderer wasn’t somebody she thought of as a friend.
More footsteps.
Allie leaned forward again to see Carter standing nearby, looking up and down the wide corridor.
She scrambled to her feet. ‘Carter.’
‘Allie! Has something happened? Jules said you were looking for me.’
Allie almost smiled. I can’t believe it. She did tell him.
She stepped closer and lowered her voice. ‘Is Gabe in that meeting you were just in?’
He nodded.
‘He needs to go to Jo’s room – she’s freaking out,’ Allie said.
Carter didn’t seem surprised. ‘I’ll tell him. I could see something was wrong at dinner – he didn’t want to leave her, but …’
Allie’s eyes were worried. ‘She’s being very strange, Carter. Not like herself.’
‘I told him that would happen.’ There was a pause while he seemed to come to a decision. ‘Allie, we need to talk.’
‘Sure. What’s up?’
He looked around. ‘No, I mean, in private. Can you meet me at the chapel in twenty minutes?’
She looked at him dubiously. ‘We’re not supposed to leave the building on pain of wrath-of-Isabelle and it’s after nine already.’
‘It’s the perfect time,’ he said. ‘Everybody’s in meetings or gone to their rooms for curfew. The teachers are all distracted.’
Allie thought about saying no. The last thing she needed was detention. But Carter looked so determined. She hoped that whatever he had to say would explain some of what was going on.
‘OK, but if I get expelled I’m so grassing you up.’
Even though his lips curled up in a smile, his eyes were serious. ‘Good. See you there. Give me a ten-minute head start so that I can let Gabe know about Jo. Then run fast.’
As he walked away Allie muttered under her breath: ‘Run fast? I thought you said everyone would be too busy to notice.’
&
nbsp; She paced impatiently (three hundred and ninety-one steps) while waiting for ten minutes to go by. At the eight-minute mark, she began walking towards the front door (thirty-three steps) with casual nonchalance. The entrance hall was quiet, but as her hand touched the door handle she heard voices coming down the hall.
Aside from large candle holders and tapestries there was little in this space save for one wrought-iron table draped in heavy fabric. Allie darted behind it just as Eloise and Zelazny rounded the corner.
‘Will this take long?’ Eloise was asking as their footsteps approached. She sounded irritated.
‘I hope not.’ Zelazny opened the door. ‘But it depends on what we find.’
‘Where do you want to start?’
As they walked out the door Allie heard Zelazny’s reply: ‘Where we found Ruth’s body.’
The click of the latch echoed in the empty, stone entry hall.
In her hiding place, Allie frowned. What are they looking for?
At first she thought there was no way she could get out of the building with Zelazny and Eloise now outside, but then it occurred to her that Ruth’s body had been found at the back of the building. The chapel was in the woods across the front lawn. Although she hadn’t heard all that Zelazny was saying, if they were starting at the back, she should have plenty of time to get to the shelter of the treeline before she could be seen.
To give them time to get away from the front, she counted to one hundred before opening the door. It swung silently on its hinges and she peeked outside.
Not a soul in sight.
Stepping out into the late evening light, she carefully closed the door behind her.
It was just after Isabelle’s nine o’clock curfew, and the sun was thinking about setting at the end of the long summer day. Standing on the top step, illuminated in the golden glow, Allie looked upward for a long minute as if she were trying to absorb the light into her soul. Then she darted across the lawn and hurled herself towards the forest.
Once she’d made it safely to the treeline (ninety-seven steps), she slowed a bit to catch her breath, then jogged down the path through the darkening shadows. All was silent and dim. When she reached the churchyard gate five minutes later the quiet was oppressive.
If Carter’s in there, I certainly can’t hear him. The metal clang the latch made when she opened the gate seemed to ring out in the peaceful glade.
Instinctively she headed to the yew tree where they’d sat talking on detention day. As she neared it she saw a foot clad in a dark shoe dangling down. Reaching up, she grabbed it and it was instantly retracted.
‘Hey – you made it.’ He was sitting on the same broad branch, his back against the tree trunk. As he leaned down to help her up she marvelled again at his strength – he lifted her easily into place next to him. She shifted herself back onto a smooth spot and sat facing him, her knees bent and her feet flat on the branch between them.
‘So … what’s this all about, Carter?’ she asked, cocking her head. ‘Why did you want to meet all the way out here in detention-land?’
‘Because I didn’t want to be overheard, and this is about the only place I know of where I can be a hundred per cent sure we can talk safely.’
Something in Carter’s posture looked uncomfortable. He seemed to have trouble deciding what to say and she couldn’t catch his eye.
‘It’s just …’ he said, then stopped. After a moment he tried again. ‘There are some things you need to know.’
Thank God for that, Allie thought. Some answers at last.
She didn’t wait for him to start. ‘Carter, what do you know about all of this? Why are they pretending Ruth killed herself? Her throat was … There is no way she did that to herself. And there were others there. I heard them. And Isabelle knows about them.’
Carter had started to interrupt her before she mentioned Isabelle. Now he stopped and stared at her. ‘What makes you think Isabelle knows?’
Quickly she told him about overhearing the teachers and then Isabelle talking about someone named Nathaniel, and the implication that he was involved in what had happened.
Carter raked his fingers through his hair. ‘So, they don’t think anybody at the school had anything to do with Ruth’s death but they’re going to tell everyone she killed herself.’
Allie leaned forward. ‘Why, though? Won’t the police be able to take one look at her and know it wasn’t a suicide?’
He met her gaze. ‘What police?’
She gaped at him. ‘Are you serious? You think they haven’t called the cops?’
‘Haven’t. Won’t.’
‘But … how …?’
His reply was immediate. ‘The police haven’t been here because the police have no idea what’s going on here and nobody’s going to tell them. They will never know Ruth died here. Her body will turn up in an alley somewhere and her parents, who spend most of their time in France, will tell the cops she was a runaway. And the cops will believe them because her dad’s an investment banker and her mum wears designer clothes and those kinds of people don’t lie, right?’
Allie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Are you serious? Carter, are you saying this will all be covered up?’
‘Of course it will, Allie. There’s a reason you’d never heard of Cimmeria before you came here.’ His tone was bitter. ‘Don’t you get it yet? Don’t you know where you are?’
Allie didn’t know what to say. She searched for the right words. ‘Carter, what is going on here, really?’
‘That is what I’m trying to figure out,’ he said, staring out over the churchyard. ‘Look, Cimmeria is a very unusual, tightly knit place. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody is here for a reason. Remember when we had that sort of argument, when we first met? You thought I was saying that you didn’t have a right to be here?’
Flushing at the memory of her humiliation, Allie nodded.
‘We don’t get new students here in the middle of summer term who don’t have a strong connection to the school. Like their parents are on the board. Or their whole family studied here. Something like that,’ Carter explained. ‘All I was trying to find out was which one of those you were. But you’re none of them. You don’t have any connections to the school at all.’
He met her gaze directly. ‘That just doesn’t happen.’
Clinging to the branch with her knees, Allie chewed on her thumbnail as she tried to process what he was telling her. Evening was encroaching on the summer sun, and it was getting harder to make out his features in the fading light.
‘I don’t know what to tell you,’ Allie said. ‘My parents said the police recommended Cimmeria – or at least,’ she stopped to think, ‘they sort of said that. But they were all top secret about it before we came here. They wouldn’t even tell me where the school was. I still don’t know the name of the nearest town. The whole thing was all rushed and weird and James Bond-y.’
Carter shook his head. ‘The police in London wouldn’t have recommended this school because they wouldn’t ever have heard of this school. So your parents lied to you. Now, why would they do a thing like that?’
Feeling her heart pound crazily, Allie tried to breathe normally and not panic. (Five breaths in, four breaths out.)
‘You know what, Carter?’ Her voice was tight and she swallowed hard. ‘You’re right. I really don’t know where I am.’
‘Then you need to find out,’ Carter said. ‘And you need to decide pretty fast who you’re going to trust.’
EIGHTEEN
This was all too much for Allie to handle. Shivering now, she wrapped her arms around her torso. ‘Carter, if you’re trying to scare the crap out of me? You’ve totally succeeded. So, can you stop now?’
For a long minute he said nothing, then he sighed heavily. ‘I’m sorry to dump all this on you. And I really don’t want to scare you. But I do want you to realise this is all serious.’
‘I knew this was serious the second I fell down in a puddle of Ruth?
??s blood,’ she snapped. ‘I get it, OK? I freakin’ get it. We’re in a lot of trouble. Something messed up is going on. People are dying. This school is really weird. And I don’t belong here.’
Carter slid along the branch until he was so close to her their knees touched, and pulled her into a hug. At first she tried to push him away, but he held her tight.
‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be doing this to you. I just don’t want you to get hurt,’ he said.
Taking a tremulous breath, she allowed herself to relax in his arms. The warmth of his body felt like security.
Letting her go, he leaned back far enough to see her face. ‘I was trying to freak you out, but only because I’m worried about what might happen. The thing is, I came out here today to convince you to go back home.’
Surprised, she looked up at him as he continued, fumbling now with his words. ‘I figured they’d let you go because of, like, mental stress or whatever.’
She opened her mouth to argue, but he continued before she could speak. ‘Only, I decided that I really didn’t want you to. Go, I mean. What I mean is … I really hope you’ll stay. We’ll figure out what to do.’
‘I think we’ll have to,’ Allie said simply, ‘because I haven’t got any place to go any more.’
In the darkness, Allie couldn’t see his eyes when he replied. ‘Then you’re just like me.’
Carter looked up at the sky where the last light was now fading away. ‘We better go in. It’s getting late.’
Jumping down from the branch with athletic grace, he turned and put his hands around her waist to lift her down. She held onto his shoulders as he set her on her feet. His eyes held hers for a second, then he turned towards the gate.
‘Step on it, Sheridan,’ he said, his voice rough.
‘I’m right behind you.’
As they hurried back down the wooded path the sun disappeared entirely, and with the dark came disquiet. Allie looked around as they jogged in the gloaming, trying to sense movement or danger in the forest around them. The breeze blowing through the tops of the pine trees made a mournful hum. She could tell that Carter was hyper-aware of every sound – his eyes were watchful – and she stuck close to his side, matching him stride for stride. Neither of them spoke until they reached the treeline and the school came into view. They stopped to catch their breath at the edge of the school lawn.