‘It has been,’ Lucinda said, ‘such a pleasure to speak with you. I hope we can do it again soon.’
Uncertain of when she’d see her again, and not wanting her to leave, Allie spontaneously reached up to hug her.
‘Thank you, Grandmother.’ It was the first time she’d said the word to Lucinda; it felt strange but good. ‘I’m so glad I know you now.’
Lucinda’s arms had tightened around her shoulders – her perfume smelled of exotic flowers.
‘And I you, Allie.’
She didn’t know how she would begin to explain all she’d learned to the others. But they needed to know some of it, at least. They had to understand how serious things were.
First, though, she had to find them.
She knew the others had planned to meet in one of the library’s study carrels, so she tried there first. But when she tapped on the door, with its carvings of acorns and leaves, a senior student she vaguely recognised threw it open with an impatient look.
‘What do you want?’ he snapped, peering at her through expensive glasses. His hair stood on end, as if he’d been raking his fingers through it repeatedly. The desk behind him was so thick with papers, some had slid on to the floor in an unruly heap.
‘Sorry…’ Allie jumped back so quickly she nearly tripped. ‘I was looking for someone else.’
Muttering to himself about ‘junior idiots’, he closed the door without another civil word.
After that, she’d tried the common room, the great hall; even the dark and echoing top floor of the classroom wing.
There was no sign of them.
Finally – her mind teeming with new information and thoughts, with Orion and Lucinda, Jules and Carter – Allie settled down in a heavy leather chair in the crowded common room to wait. Everyone always looked there first. They would find her.
Filled with boisterous students playing games, chatting and studying, the big room was typically noisy. Next to her, a group of six younger students played a raucous game of poker, which seemed to involve rampant accusations of cheating and assertions of doubt about each other’s parentage. But the sound washed over Allie virtually unnoticed.
Curling up in the deep leather chair, she waited. But it was ages before Zoe shot through the door, like a sparrow swooping from the eaves.
Her quick gaze alighted on Allie, who leaped to her feet. Zoe looked relieved.
‘No one knew where you were. Sylvain and Rachel are losing it. Come on.’ She shot down the wide hall with easy speed and Allie hurried after her, fumbling to shove her unread book into her bag.
When she looked up, Zoe was leading her across the building’s grand entrance hall to the front door. For the first time she noticed the younger girl’s jacket and hat.
‘You’re outside?’ she said, surprise making her voice rise.
‘Yeah.’ Zoe wrestled with the complex ancient iron lock. ‘It’s so freaking cold, Sylvain said no one would think to look there.’
The lock gave with a clang. Zoe needed both hands to open the heavy door. The winter air hit them like a fist.
‘See what I mean?’ Zoe said, hopping up and down. ‘Cold.’
‘Exhilarating,’ Allie said dryly. She wondered how long she’d last out there without a coat but she didn’t want to take the time to run all the way upstairs for hers.
‘Like an ice cube in your face,’ Zoe agreed, heading down the front steps and across the muddy lawn.
It was a clear evening; silvery-white stars spread like frost across the black sky as they turned right on to a footpath.
Pulling the sleeves of her jumper down over her icy fingers, Allie ran faster as they entered the forest.
Ahead of them, the top of the summer house rose through the trees like a ghost, its sharply peaked roof seemed to float above the pines until they rounded a bend and could see the rest of the building.
Allie knew it was made of a fanciful mosaic of coloured tiles, set against white stone, but in the dark the colour faded to grey. They could hear voices talking excitedly as they approached, taking the stone steps two at a time.
‘Allie’s here,’ Zoe announced, her breath emerging as a puff of white. ‘She was doing her prep.’
‘I wasn’t prepping,’ Allie objected. ‘I was… thinking. And I did look for you.’
‘We knew no one would think to look here.’ Nicole’s French-accented voice came from the shadow. Allie could see only her slim leg, clad in dark tights, dangling from the stone banister upon which she’d draped herself.
‘I thought someone might have kidnapped you.’ Rachel gave her a significant look before noticing her attire and becoming distracted. ‘Where’s your coat?’
‘Zoe forgot to mention the outside part,’ Allie said. ‘But I feel fine. The run warmed me up.’
In reality, the perspiration had already begun to chill against her skin, but she didn’t want anyone to make her go back.
‘You’re good until the hypothermia sets in,’ Rachel said.
‘Can we get serious here?’ Carter sounded exasperated. ‘I think we’ve got ten minutes before we have to get back for dinner. Allie, what did you learn from Isabelle?’
‘Actually, I wasn’t with Isabelle,’ she said. ‘I was with Lucinda Meldrum.’
At this bombshell, they all fell silent.
‘Blimey.’ Zoe sounded impressed. ‘I didn’t even know she was here.’
‘Did she say anything we need to know?’ Nicole’s leg moved as she shifted her position.
‘Loads but…’ Allie thought about all her grandmother had revealed about her family, her history, Nathaniel, Orion… She didn’t know where to start and they only had a few minutes. ‘I couldn’t even get started in the time we have. I’ll have to tell you later. Did you meet with Katie? Why are you all out here?’
She was shivering so hard now her voice shook a little; the pillar behind her was like a block of ice and she stepped away from it.
‘The meeting was… disturbing.’ As he spoke, Sylvain unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it off. Catching her gaze, he held it out for her.
The gesture reminded her so much of the night of the winter ball that, for a split second, she couldn’t move. She remembered the way he’d taken off his tuxedo jacket that night, and what had happened next.
Goosebumps traced a pattern on her arms.
Then she reached out her hand.
The jacket wasn’t long but it had weight. The warmth of Sylvain’s body and the scent of his cologne lingered in the jacket’s soft fabric. It slipped around her frozen shoulders like a hug.
‘Katie thinks about ninety students will go with Nathaniel. We’ve been talking about how to handle it.’ Rachel’s voice dragged Allie back to reality.
‘Ninety? That’s half the school!’
‘Yeah, it’s way more than we expected,’ Zoe said.
‘I’ve already spoken to my dad,’ Rachel said. ‘Even they weren’t expecting that many to go. They’re having meetings about it now.’
‘But some will stay… right?’ Allie said.
It was Carter who replied. ‘Out of the ninety, she thinks ten are willing to stand up to their parents. I mean, most of these kids aren’t Night School and they have no idea what’s really going on here.’
Allie’s heart thudded as their words sank in. Ten students. It was nothing. Half the school would be gone. Nathaniel would get his shock and awe moment.
‘Based on what her parents have told her, she believes it will happen this week,’ Sylvain said. ‘Perhaps as soon as tomorrow.’
Too soon.
‘No no no…’ Allie pressed her fingertips against her temples. ‘We’re not ready. What are we going to do?’
‘We told her our plan for those who want to stay – places to hide. Ways to avoid being found.’ Carter’s voice emerged from the dark. ‘Katie’s passing them on to those she trusts. Rachel and Raj talked about it and he knows everything we know. Did you discuss it with Lucinda?’
‘She said…’ Pulling the too-large jacket more tightly around her, Allie tried to remember exactly what her grandmother had said. ‘She said she’s working behind the scenes with the board – lobbying those who are unsure who to support. If she can get most of them to side with her, she has a chance. If more than half the board side with Nathaniel…’ Her voice trailed off. Lucinda hadn’t gone into what would happen if most of the board sided against her but the danger of that had been clear. ‘The thing is she needs time to convince them.’
She looked around the open stone structure. The others formed a rough circle around her, their breath rising in clouds. Everyone looked tired and defeated. There were so few of them. How could they stop this?
‘Time is the one thing she hasn’t got.’ With a sigh, Carter leaned back against the stone pillar behind him, staring up to where the ceiling of the summer house disappeared into a high peak, lost now, in the darkness. ‘What happens if Nathaniel moves quickly? What happens if he comes tomorrow?’
The sleeves of Sylvain’s jacket hung down below Allie’s hands. When she held up her empty hands, they slid back just far enough to reveal her fingers.
‘She also told me if students refuse to leave, Nathaniel could send the police.’ She laughed with bitter irony. ‘Isn’t it funny? The police will come if students don’t want to go, but we can’t call them if there’s a murder. It’s just like… the world’s gone crazy.’
‘Clever tyrants are never punished.’ Sylvain’s voice was so low only Allie heard him. She glanced over at him. As he leaned back against the stone balustrade he seemed tense and tired.
‘So what happens now?’ Rachel asked.
‘Now, we work on our plan.’ Carter sounded grim. ‘And get ready.’
Just before seven, they headed back to the main building for dinner. Nobody was hungry but attendance was required.
Sylvain swung into step beside Allie as they left the summer house.
‘How were things with your grandmother, really? Were you glad to see her again?’ His eyes searched hers.
‘I was,’ she said. ‘I like her, you know?’
He nodded. ‘She’s intimidating,’ he said. ‘But she is also charismatic.’
It was weird to think that Sylvain understood her grandmother better than she did. But his parents were French billionaires. Sylvain had known people like Lucinda all his life.
‘Still,’ she said, ‘it was worrying, too.’
‘Why was it worrying?’
She pulled his coat tighter around her. ‘Because I think she’s scared.’
Behind them she could hear Zoe and Carter talking quietly and she remembered her conversation with Jules. She had to tell Carter before they went inside – he needed to know.
‘I’ve got to talk to Carter for a second,’ she told Sylvain, noticing as she did so that in the light of the stars his eyes were the precise colour of his dark blue sweater. ‘I’ll see you inside?’
He inclined his head with cool politeness, his face betraying no emotion.
Allie slowed her pace until she was walking beside Zoe and Carter. She turned to the younger girl. ‘I need to talk to Carter alone for a second. Is that OK?’
Unbothered, Zoe shrugged and ran to catch up with Rachel. Allie heard her say ‘Did you finish your chemistry assignment?’ as if today were a perfectly ordinary school day.
When everyone was out of earshot, she turned to Carter, slowing her pace. ‘Have you seen Jules since this afternoon?’
He gave her an odd look. ‘No. Why?’
‘I ran into her after class…’ Allie started then she corrected herself. ‘Actually, she came to find me. She was really upset.’
Carter stopped and turned to face her. She saw that the cold had made his cheeks red.
‘About what?’
Allie’s stomach tightened as she tried to decide how to tell him.
‘She knows… she said…’ She exhaled a cloud of warm air. ‘She knows you don’t have detention. She wanted to know why you were working in the garden with… me.’
His jaw tight, Carter looked out into the darkness ahead of them. His cheeks were redder now.
‘I didn’t know what to tell her.’ Allie shoved her hands in the pockets of her skirt and looked down at her shoes. ‘She thought you were cheating on her with me.’
He didn’t look at her. ‘What did you say?’
‘I told her we weren’t, of course. That you’re my friend and you look out for me and that she needs to accept that.’
He exhaled. ‘Thank you.’
‘And, look.’ She tried to catch his gaze but he was looking past her. ‘I just wanted to say… thanks. I mean… it was hard work and… I didn’t know you… I mean, I thought you had to…’
She hated her own stumbling words. He’d got out of bed, three days a week, at five thirty in the morning to spend two hours in the freezing cold doing hard work, just so she wouldn’t be alone. Why couldn’t she think of the right thing to say?
Finally he met her eyes.
‘It’s OK. You don’t have to thank me.’ Unexpectedly, he flashed a rakish grin. ‘I just didn’t have anything better to do.’
As Allie gaped at him, trying to think of a response, he turned and loped towards the school.
In the dining hall, most of the other students had already gathered by the time Allie arrived. She paused in the doorway to take in the scene. Carter stopped with her and followed her gaze.
White linens covered tables topped with glittering candles, crystal glasses and white china plates, all bearing the Cimmeria crest. Above their heads in the cavernous room, the chandeliers glowed. A warm fire crackled in the gigantic fireplace. The room smelled of roasted meat and wood smoke.
This was Cimmeria at its very best. It seemed too beautiful – too perfect – to be destroyed.
What will it be like if Nathaniel wins? Allie wondered as her eyes swept the room. Who will be here tomorrow?
‘I’m going to sit with Jules tonight.’ Carter said.
‘Oh.’ Thrown, Allie fumbled for a reply. They’d all been sitting together every day since the group had formed but of course after everything that happened he’d need to sit with Jules. ‘I mean, great. That’s a good idea…’
She watched as he walked to the table where Jules sat with Katie and other friends. She saw Jules’ face light up when she spotted him and realised he was coming to her. Watched her leap up to wrap him in a hug. Saw his lips brush hers as he bent to whisper something in her ear…
‘Take your seats, please!’ Zelazny’s roar startled Allie so much she jumped.
She walked to where the others sat at their usual table. Sylvain’s cashmere coat was lined in expensive silk; it slipped easily from her shoulders. When she held it out to him he accepted it with a guarded look, as if he was afraid of what she might say.
But all she said was, ‘Thanks for the loan. I hope you didn’t get chilblains… or whatever you get from the cold.’
‘You’re welcome,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what chilblains are but I don’t think I have them.’
‘What are chilblains, anyway?’ Nicole asked, looking around the table. ‘People only seemed to get them in Dickens.’
‘I don’t know.’ Allie dropped into a seat next to Zoe. ‘And I don’t want to.’
Zoe, who had opened her mouth to explain chilblains, snapped it shut. ‘I know what they are,’ she said. ‘But if you don’t want to know I won’t tell you.’
‘Where’s Rachel?’ Allie said, suddenly noticing her absence.
‘Sitting with Lucas.’ Nicole gestured to a nearby table. Lucas had his arm across Rachel’s shoulders and their heads were close together.
‘And Carter is with Jules tonight.’ Looking thoughtful, Sylvain glanced over to where the two seemed to be sharing a private joke then back at Allie again. She avoided his eyes.
‘It must be date night.’ As she spoke, Nicole’s doll-like eyes studied Sylvain and Allie, missing nothing.
She thought about telling them the things she’d learned from Lucinda, what Orion really was, and why Nathaniel was doing this. But it seemed weird to tell only a few of them and leave out Rachel and Carter.
Besides, nobody seemed very interested in that stuff right now. The idea that the school could be emptied tomorrow – that Nathaniel’s plan could work – had drained the energy from them all. Everything felt futile. It was as if, instead of readying for battle, they’d begun preparing themselves for defeat.
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