The Curse in the Candlelight

by Sophie Cleverly

  “Promise,” I said firmly.

  I lay in bed later that night, listening to the last of the torrential rain dying down outside and telling myself that we had done the right thing. It would have been stupid to go racing off looking for Muriel.

  So why did I have this feeling that something was terribly wrong?

  I couldn’t stop seeing Ebony that night in the cemetery, reliving the look on her face. Not to mention how she’d nearly thrown those chemicals on Muriel before I’d bravely thwarted her. She was cruel.

  Curse or no curse, I couldn’t shake off the idea that Ebony could have done something awful, and that I was just letting her get away with it.

  I clenched my fists tightly round my bedsheets.

  “Scarlet?” I heard Ivy’s voice whisper. “Do you really think …”

  “… that they’ll find her?” My twin didn’t have to finish her sentence for me to know what she was asking.

  “Yes,” I said firmly. “Yes, I do.”

  They didn’t find her.

  Morning came. The clanging bell, the frantic pulling-on of uniforms, tugging the brush through our hair. We raced down to breakfast only to find Ariadne alone, staring into her bowl with a face the colour of the porridge she was eating. We asked her about Muriel and she just shook her head sadly.

  Well, I couldn’t just leave it at that. I marched up to the nearest teacher, who happened to be Madame Zelda. She was at the side of the dining hall, near our table, attempting to tie her silver hair into a bun and poking her incense sticks through it.

  “Miss? Is there any word about Muriel Witherspoon?” I asked.

  She looked up at me and I thought she seemed faintly embarrassed. She dropped the incense stick and stood up straight. Everything about Madame Zelda was long and slender. “I’m afraid not, Miss Scarlet. We are still hard at work trying to find her.”

  I bit my tongue. “Are you sure you’ve looked everywhere?”

  Madame Zelda folded her arms. “We have turned Rookwood inside out, but that is not for you to be worrying about, hmm?”

  I didn’t understand what she meant. “What should I be worrying about then, Miss?”

  She reached out and spun me round, pointing me in the direction of the Richmond table. “Your breakfast. Go along now. We will continue searching for your friend.”

  “Hmmph.” I marched back to our table. When I glanced over my shoulder, Madame Zelda was fiddling with her hair again.

  “Does she know anything?” Ariadne asked hopefully.

  “As much as us,” I said. “Which is to say, not a bit.”

  As the day passed, I kept thinking about Muriel. I looked everywhere for a glimpse of her blonde hair, or for that silly hat she sometimes wore. I wondered if Mrs Knight had told her parents yet.

  After lunch, I was walking towards our next lesson when I saw a hint of blonde hair as someone went through a classroom door. I ran after the girl and grabbed her by the arm, and she whirled round …

  It was Rose.

  “Oh! Rose! I’m so sorry, I thought you were … someone else,” I panted.

  Rose looked a little horrified, but her expression soon melted into a relieved smile.

  “We’re looking for the new girl, Muriel Witherspoon. Have you seen her?”

  Rose just stared at me a little blankly. “She’s blonde like you, but, um …” I sized Rose up and realised how stupid I’d been. “A lot taller.”

  Ivy finally appeared in the doorway. “What are you playing at?”

  “Sorry, sorry,” I said. “I’ve got Muriel on the brain. Anyway, Rose?”

  Rose shook her head. “I haven’t seen her,” she said quietly. “Not even in the stables.” She said it as though you might expect everyone to hang around in the stables.

  “That’s all right,” I said, leaning on the teacher’s desk. “We’ll just keep looking.”

  And I did keep looking. I looked for Muriel, but I also kept an eye on Ebony. I hoped she would betray herself somehow. But all she did was wear this smug smile that I just wished I could wipe off her face. She glided around the school as if she owned the place. And every time she passed me, I could swear I felt the air get colder.

  By the evening, Ariadne was in even more of a state than she had been before.

  “It’s my fault,” she kept saying as she peered under the door of each lavatory cubicle, just in case.

  A group of other girls were in there, jostling for the sinks as usual. Several of them were staring at Ariadne, as if she’d just grown antlers.

  “How can it possibly be your fault?” I replied.

  Ariadne dodged an angry-looking girl who had just exited a cubicle. “I should have looked harder for her. I should have gone out in the rain. What if she’s unconscious in a ditch somewhere? I should have—” She stopped, gulping down her words.

  “Whatever happens,” Ivy said, putting her hand on our friend’s shoulder, “it isn’t your fault.”

  “But it’s almost certainly Ebony’s fault,” I growled. “That smug witch.”

  At the mention of her name, a hush rippled out through the crowd, until everyone was silent and staring at me.

  I looked around. “What?” My voice echoed off the bathroom tiles.

  A first year looked up at me with wide eyes. “You shouldn’t talk about her like that. She might hear you.”

  “Yes,” said another, a dark-haired girl who was nervously tugging on her tie. “Didn’t you hear? She put a curse on that girl. I heard she ripped her soul from her body and sent her to he—”

  “THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH, THANK YOU!” I said, clapping my hands over Ariadne’s ears. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

  Saturday came and I dragged myself out of bed reluctantly. It would be nice to sleep in, but then you’d miss breakfast. I yawned and stretched, and only then did the problem of Missing Muriel flash into my mind.

  Ivy was standing at the window, staring outside.

  “What is it?” I asked. All I could see from where I was standing were grey skies and the leaves of the trees that were turning a crisp orange at the edges.

  “Look,” she said.

  I went over and squeezed in beside her to get a better look. I could see Rookwood’s long drive snaking away from us.

  “Down there!” Ivy pointed.

  There was a group of teachers and pupils standing at the front of the school, leaning over something. There seemed to be quite a commotion going on. “What the—”

  “We need to go and see what’s going on.” There was fear in my twin’s eyes. And I didn’t blame her. The cold feeling that spread through my bones whenever Ebony passed had returned, like icicles melting under my skin. Something was wrong.

  We dressed as quickly as we could and then raced down the stairs, heading for the foyer. The enormous front doors of Rookwood were wide open, a crowd had gathered at the bottom of the steps. As I reached the doors, I saw Ariadne there, trying to push her way in. She was standing on tiptoes and craning her neck. The desperation was pouring off her.

  “Ariadne!” I called. “What’s happening?”

  She turned, her face panicked and pale. “They’ve found Muriel!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  IVY

  hen Ariadne spoke those words, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Scarlet and I ran down the school steps, and each one sent a shock through me. I imagined the worst outcomes in my head, over and over again. The seconds felt like hours.

  “Hold on,” Scarlet said. She grabbed my arm, and Ariadne’s too, and began doing what she did best – pushing her way through the crowd.

  We made it a good way through before encountering a significant roadblock, in the form of Miss Bowler.

  “STAND BACK!” she roared. “EVERYBODY STAND BACK!”

  The blast of her voice nearly knocked me over, but Scarlet pulled us sideways and suddenly we had a clear view of what was going on.

  There was Muriel, lying at the bottom of the steps. Her e
yes were closed. Her hair was tangled and snagged, her clothes torn as if by claws.

  And that wasn’t the worst of it.

  There was a wound on her head, bright red and ugly.

  I couldn’t breathe. I pressed my hand to my chest. I couldn’t breathe …

  “Is she dead?” I heard Penny ask, somewhere to the left of us.

  “I SAID, STAND BACK!” Miss Bowler repeated, waving her arms, pushing people away. “GIVE THE GIRL SOME AIR!”

  I was in such a state of shock that I thought for a moment that Miss Bowler was talking about me.

  But then Muriel’s eyelids fluttered, and she moaned and curled up on her side.

  We all exhaled in relief. Ariadne collapsed against me.

  “Miss Winchester!” Miss Bowler boomed in the direction of Penny. “You can make yourself useful and fetch the nurse, quick sharp!”

  Penny wrinkled her freckled nose, but she did as she was told and disappeared from the throng.

  Mrs Knight was kneeling over Muriel. “Are you all right, Miss Witherspoon?” she asked.

  “Quite a question, given the circumstances,” Scarlet whispered. I elbowed her. This was no time for jokes.

  Muriel blinked slowly and then sat up in a painful, jerky manner, as if she were a puppet and someone had just tugged on her strings. Her blank eyes gazed at nothing. “Miss Witherspoon?” she repeated in a low voice.

  “That’s you, gal,” Miss Bowler said, prodding her in the shoulder.

  The puzzled expression didn’t leave Muriel’s face. “I don’t … Where am I?”

  There were gasps from the crowd. “Oh gosh, oh no,” I heard Ariadne say under her breath beside me. Had Muriel lost her memory?

  “We’re at Rookwood School, my dear.” Mrs Knight pushed her glasses higher up her nose. “Do you remember what happened? Are you hurt?”

  Still Muriel’s eyes didn’t focus. “Hurt …?” She reached a hand up to her temple and brought it back down again. There was blood on her fingers. “Oh my …” she wobbled perilously, and would have collapsed on to the ground if Miss Bowler hadn’t caught her.

  “That’s it!” Miss Bowler snapped. “I’m taking her to Gladys myself!”

  We watched as the large teacher picked up the tall girl to take her to the school nurse. It was certainly a sight to behold.

  “OUT OF THE WAY! DON’T YOU ALL HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE?” Miss Bowler boomed as she shouldered her way through the crowd and pounded up the steps.

  “I have to go with her!” Ariadne said. And before we could stop her, she was running back into the school.

  Eventually, the crowd outside the front doors was persuaded to head in for breakfast. The dining hall was always a hive of gossip, but that morning the buzzing was even louder than usual. And Ebony sat in the middle of it, like the queen bee.

  “Are you happy with yourself now?” Scarlet asked her as we passed.

  Her gang of girls all stood up quickly, surrounding her. Ebony didn’t so much as move a muscle. “Very happy, thank you,” she said. “Why?”

  “You know what you’ve done,” my twin said. If she hadn’t been holding a tray full of breakfast, I probably would have tried to hold her back. “I don’t know how you’ve done it, but you have. Somehow. This ends now, you hear?”

  Ebony leant forward slightly, a twinkle in her eye. “I don’t know what it is you believe I’ve done. But what makes you think I won’t do it again?”

  We reached our seats in a daze. Scarlet wouldn’t stop glaring at Ebony. I wasn’t sure that was helpful. And anyway, was Ebony really responsible for what had happened to Muriel? Even Muriel hadn’t been able to give an explanation. We didn’t know yet that she hadn’t just gone for a walk and hit her head somehow.

  Ariadne appeared just as we were finishing our porridge. I wasn’t surprised to hear that she hadn’t been allowed into the nurse’s office with Muriel.

  “They said she’s too fragile,” Ariadne sighed. “I had to wait outside the door for ages. But they told me a little bit, although I think they were just trying to make me go away. They said that she remembers who she is now, but that she doesn’t remember what’s happened to her at all. And, well …”

  Ariadne’s lips pursed and she didn’t look as though she wanted to continue.

  “What?” Scarlet asked.

  Our friend paused for a few more moments before the words eventually spilt out all in one go. “They said that they found her in the graveyard. And that she doesn’t remember anything since around Wednesday at midnight.”

  Scarlet clapped her hands over her mouth.

  I nearly choked on my breakfast. “Are you sure?”

  “That’s what they said.” Ariadne bit her lip.

  I couldn’t believe it. Surely Ebony’s curse couldn’t really have done anything to Muriel?

  My twin’s face went white as milk, and as her mirror image, I was fairly sure mine was doing the same. Suddenly I couldn’t face eating another mouthful.

  Scarlet slammed her hands on the table and leant forward. “Do you know what this means? Maybe the curse was real!” she hissed.

  Ariadne gulped. But I was determined to use logic. We had to keep our heads. Whenever things seemed supernatural, there was usually a rational explanation. But whatever that explanation was, I felt certain that Ebony was at the heart of it. “Or maybe Ebony wants everyone to think it’s real. So she somehow hurt Muriel to convince us.”

  Ariadne summoned the strength to speak again. “Either way, we need to stop Ebony!”

  This time, I had to agree. “You’re right.”

  “I think we really need to investigate what she’s up to,” Scarlet said, with another choice glare in Ebony’s direction.

  Ariadne nodded quickly, desperately. “We need to—”

  She was interrupted by Mrs Knight striding into the room, looking unusually authoritarian.

  She clapped her hands. “Girls! Quiet!”

  It was very rare that everyone had to be silent in the dining hall, so the silence took some time to grow. It spread over the room until eventually the final dregs of gossip were squashed and everyone was staring over at the doors.

  “Right,” she said, raising her voice as loud as it would go. “I’m sorry to report there has been an incident with one of our students, which I’m sure many of you have heard about already. Please be reassured that she will be fine.”

  There was a small flurry of quiet muttering, and I thought that at least some of the other girls looked disappointed. Rookwood loved nothing more than a good drama.

  “But I have been informed that bullying has been taking place, and that this incident may be linked.” She said “bullying” as if it were a dirty word.

  “Snitches,” I heard Penny whisper. Scarlet rolled her eyes.

  “Girls, we will not tolerate bullying in this school!” Mrs Knight hit her fist into her palm. “We cannot have anyone else getting hurt!” Her voice seemed strong, but I detected an air of desperation. The events of last year flashed through my mind, when Mrs Knight had tried so hard to deny what was going on, and to salvage Rookwood’s reputation. If news of what had happened to Muriel got out among the parents, then all of her work would be undone.

  As I sat there listening to Mrs Knight while she made her thoughts on bullying very clear – “Does she just have her eyes shut when you’re around?” Scarlet whispered to Penny – and told us all to be kind and positive and to dare to dream of a brighter day, I nodded along. But it was her final words that really made me sit up and listen.

  She took a deep breath. “So, girls, if this continues, I will have no choice. If I see anyone involved in a confrontation. They will be expelled. I am serious! No more trouble!”

  And I swear, her gaze landed right on us.

  I looked at Ariadne across the table. And I thought for a second that I could read her mind.

  Please. We have to stop Ebony. Whatever it takes.

  Chapter Nineteen

  SCARLET
<
br />   ersonally, I thought it was a bit late for Mrs Knight to take a stand against bullying. You couldn’t stop bullying at Rookwood any more than you could stop a steam train with missing brakes on a downhill track. There was always bullying.

  But I believed her when she said that she was going to start expelling people. I hardly dared to hope that Ebony would be the one to be caught in the act (or Penny, even if she seemed to be keeping herself to herself these days). Knowing our luck, it would be us three that got the blame for anything that happened.

  Ebony, though, needed to be stopped more than ever. She’d threatened to hurt Muriel, and now she actually had. Whether Muriel had been a bully herself or not didn’t matter. If we didn’t do something about Ebony, the steam train was going to have a fiery crash and there were going to be casualties.

  Since it was the weekend, we were able to go back to our room after breakfast, while Ariadne returned to the sick bay to see if there was any update on Muriel. Ivy was strangely quiet, but my mind was whirring and I assumed it was because hers was too.

  I had a quick glance out of the window before I lay back on my bed. The sun was out again, though the sky was still grey and a mist was hanging over the grounds. I couldn’t see the chapel or the graveyard.

  The inside of my brain felt the same way, like a fog had descended over it, but there was an idea in there that I was slowly pulling out. Eventually, enough of it had formed that I had to say something.

  “Ivy?”

  My twin looked up from the book she was reading.

  “I have an idea. But I don’t think you’ll like it.”

  She squinted at me dubiously. “Oh, really?”

  “I think we should—” I started.

  “If it’s going to get us into trouble, then the answer’s no.”

  “Just shut up and listen for a moment!” I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “It’ll be the opposite, hopefully. Right. So, we could confront Ebony. We could try and get in her way. But it’ll probably end in a fight and all of us will be expelled.”

  “That was my worry,” Ivy said with a sigh.