One Wednesday, nearly two weeks after the instructors first returned, Rachel was tutoring Allie in chemistry. It was late afternoon and Allie was thinking very strongly about going to the kitchen in search of a snack.
‘I think you missed part of that molecule.’ Rachel pointed at the diagram in Allie’s notebook. ‘There should be another bit. Like this.’ Sliding her textbook over, she showed Allie how the design should look. ‘Otherwise you’ll end up with, I don’t know, a badger molecule.’
Drawing the new section, Allie didn’t look up as she replied. ‘A badger molecule?’
‘You know how badgers kind of look like someone dropped some of their molecules and then accidentally added parts of something else’s molecules? That’s what I mean.’
As Allie’s molecule began to make more sense, though, a disturbed murmur swept the room. Glancing around, Allie could see no obvious problem, but some students had left their tables and now gathered in clusters, whispering. A few of them ran from the room.
‘What’s going on?’ she said, mostly to herself.
‘Someone probably broke up with someone.’ Rachel kept working. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t know before now.’
‘You still don’t actually know,’ Allie pointed out.
‘Good point,’ Rachel said, half standing. ‘So if I go and ask…’
Then she saw something that made her stop talking.
Her footsteps silent on the Persian rugs, Katie was running across the room towards them, her vivid ponytail streaming behind her. She must have run a long way – she was breathless; her milky skin even more pale than usual.
When Katie reached them, she gripped the table so hard her knuckles turned white.
‘It’s started.’
THIRTY-ONE
‘Go.’
When Katie didn’t move, Allie shoved her hard.
‘Now!’
She almost shouted the word and the girl turned and ran without looking back at her.
Adrenaline poured into Allie’s veins, setting her pulse racing as she turned to Rachel. ‘Are you ready?’
Looking scared, Rachel took off her glasses and tucked them into her skirt pocket.
‘What about our things…?’ She gestured at the table in front of them, piled with books and papers and pens, all the normal accoutrements of student life.
‘Leave them.’ Allie’s tone was gentle. She needed Rachel not to panic. ‘They’ll be here when we come back.’
If we come back, she thought.
Rachel nodded as if this all made perfect sense.
The library was almost empty now.
‘Come on, Rach.’ Allie took a step towards the door. ‘We’ve got to bail.’
Still not moving, Rachel looked around the room. ‘Lucas.’
Allie took her arm. ‘He knows where to go. You told him. He’ll be there now. You have to trust him. OK?’
Taking an unsteady breath, Rachel nodded and straightened her spine. ‘Let’s go.’
Then they ran out of the room into the suddenly empty grand hallway and up the grand staircase, to where groups of confused students had clustered.
Through the windows on the landing they got a glimpse of the row of gleaming limousines, Rolls Royces and Bentleys outside, stretching as far as they could see.
Rachel blanched. ‘There are so many.’
‘There should be ninety.’ Allie’s tone was tense as her gaze swept down the row of dark cars. ‘Come on.’
Quickening their pace they ran down the hallway. A winding stone staircase led them down to the ancient cellar. As they hurtled into the coolness of the dim, stone room they found most of the others had already arrived. Zoe, Nicole and Sylvain were clustered in a tight knot, talking in urgent whispers.
‘There you are.’ Nicole looked relieved.
‘Where’s Carter?’ Allie asked.
Silence fell. Allie had the sickening sense that something was wrong.
It was Sylvain who broke the news.
‘He’s searching for Jules.’ Sylvain held her gaze steadily. ‘Her parents were among the first to arrive.’
The floor seemed to sway under Allie’s feet; she stared at him in horrified disbelief. ‘Jules…? No, that can’t be right.’
But even as she said it she knew it was true – he’d never get that wrong.
Raking her fingers through her hair, she tried to think this through. Carter had never once mentioned which side Jules’ parents were on. He’d never said a word about it. Allie had just assumed they supported Isabelle – the alternative was unthinkable.
Poor Carter.
With that, the awful reality of it all set in. Anyone’s parents could be out there. Panic made it hard for her to think.
‘Did Jules get away?’ Allie asked, trying to steady herself. ‘Did everyone get away? Do we know?’
‘We came down here right away so we don’t know what’s happening upstairs,’ Zoe said.
Next to her, Nicole looked worried. ‘Their arrival happened so quickly.’
The students who didn’t want to go should now be scattered in hiding places all over the campus. Isabelle, who was fully involved in the plan and had arranged its finer details, was probably telling some parents right now that she had no idea where their children were.
‘Someone should go up to keep an eye on things,’ Allie said. ‘Rachel and I are safe, we could both go.’
Rachel gave a tense nod, her dark hair bouncing against her shoulders.
‘You shouldn’t go alone,’ Sylvain said. ‘I’m safe. I can go as well.’
Looking down at her nails, Nicole hesitated just a little too long.
‘I will stay down here,’ she said at last. When they all turned to stare at her she gave a delicate shrug that pretended nonchalance she clearly didn’t feel. Her dark eyes betrayed her nervousness. ‘Just in case. I think my parents are… undecided.’
Zoe tugged on Allie’s sleeve insistently. ‘I want to come with you.’
Apprehension made it hard for Allie to breathe. It was too much – Zoe was so small. She was only thirteen.
If anything happened to her…
‘Come on, Zoe.’ Allie’s tone was gentle; convincing. ‘It’s not fair to leave Nicole alone down here.’ When Zoe lifted her chin stubbornly, she tried a different tack. ‘Look, it won’t be for long. I’ll come back in a few minutes and we can switch. OK? We need to stick together.’
For a moment it looked as if Zoe might refuse, but then she relented, her shoulders drooping.
‘Sure,’ she said, jutting out her lower lip. ‘I’ll stay here and hide.’
‘All right.’ Sylvain turned to Rachel and Allie. ‘We must divide. I’ll take the boys’ dorm. Rachel, you take the girls’ dorm. Allie, you’re the main building – the library and common room – and try to find Isabelle. We’ll meet back here in twenty minutes precisely.’ He looked from one to another of them, his expression deadly serious. ‘Don’t be late. Don’t make us come and look for you.’
There were several ways into the cellar. Sylvain headed down a narrow corridor to a staircase leading to the main building. Allie and Rachel turned back to the staircase they’d come down earlier – it led straight to the girls’ dorm.
As they headed up the stairs, Nicole called after them. ‘Be careful.’
Her French-accented words echoed off the stone walls around them as they climbed.
Rachel and Allie ran all the way to the top of the dark, dusty staircase – the only sound their harsh breaths, the pounding of their feet on the uneven steps.
They emerged into the girls’ dormitory to find it a scene of utter upheaval. In the corridor girls were hugging each other and crying as male bodyguards and drivers in a variety of uniforms hurried them along with the barely controlled violence of riot police.
‘Get your things,’ one man in a black uniform barked at a twelve-year-old girl who cowered away from him, clinging to a friend’s hand, ‘or we’re leaving without them. It m
akes no difference to me.’
Tears streaming down her cheeks, the girl – about the same size and build as Zoe – let go of her friend and walked fearfully down the hall in front of him.
Left behind, her friend sobbed brokenly. Meeting Allie’s shocked gaze she held up her hands. ‘I don’t understand… what’s happening?’
‘Bloody hell,’ Allie whispered to Rachel.
The girl’s long blonde hair was tied back with a blue bow – she was skinny, with a light dusting of freckles on the bridge of her nose. She looked somehow familiar, but Allie couldn’t place where it was she’d seen her before.
Crouching down until her gaze was on the girl’s level, she took her by the shoulders, her hands gentle but firm. ‘Listen to me. Do you see that door right there?’ She pointed at the door to her own bedroom. The weeping girl nodded. ‘Go in there and do not come out until the cars are all gone. Not even if someone calls your name. Not even if it’s someone you know.’ Clearly terrified, the girl nodded. She’d stopped crying, and she stared at Allie as if she were a rescuer, descending from a helicopter to pluck her from a flooded house.
Her eyes were the same cornflower blue as Jo’s.
Allie’s throat had gone so tight she could hardly speak. Jo didn’t have a little sister – it must just be a coincidence. But the similarity was so striking…
‘What’s your name?’ she whispered.
‘Emma.’
‘Your last name.’ But Allie’s tone was too insistent and the girl began to cry again.
‘Hammond,’ she said, sobbing.
Rachel had crouched down next to her too, now. She took the girl’s hand. ‘Emma Hammond, how old are you?’
‘T-twelve,’ the girl replied.
Rachel nodded seriously as if twelve was a very good age to be. ‘Will you be OK for a little while by yourself? While we go and try to help some other girls?’
The girl nodded, although it was clear she wasn’t at all sure.
Allie had control of herself now. She wasn’t related to Jo. Her eyes were just blue.
People have blue eyes.
‘There are biscuits in the top right drawer of my desk,’ Allie said. ‘I expect you to eat them all. Now go.’
They watched as the girl ran into the bedroom. Their eyes met for a second as the door began to close and Allie again saw a resemblance to Jo that made her shudder.
Swallowing hard, she nodded at the little girl. The door latched with a sturdy click.
‘I wish those doors had locks,’ Rachel muttered.
‘Me too.’ Allie squeezed her hand.
Rachel caught her gaze. ‘You did the right thing,’ she said, answering the question Allie was afraid to ask.
‘But she’s too young,’ Allie said. ‘Too young for us to include her in our plan. Nobody under sixteen could stay without their parents’ permission, remember?’ She kicked the wall next to her with such force a feather-sized piece of plaster floated down to rest on the floor next to her foot. ‘Why don’t we have a better plan? Why are we so stupid?’
Rachel’s jaw was tight. ‘We did the best we could.’
But at that moment it felt like they’d failed.
Looking at the bizarre scene around them, Allie said, ‘Are you OK to be up here alone? This is worse than I expected.’
Some part of her expected Rachel to tell her not to go – she didn’t really want to be alone right now herself. But, to Allie’s surprise, Rachel just squared her shoulders.
‘I’ll be fine. But, Allie?’ The look on her face gave Allie an idea of what was coming next. ‘I’m not going to leave the young ones. I’m going to hide them, too.’
Allie couldn’t ever remember being more proud of her.
‘It was a crap plan, anyway,’ she said, a smile quirking up her lips.
Rachel held up her fist. ‘Stay safe.’
As Allie raised her own fist a sudden thought made her hesitate. This is the first time I’ve ever seen Rachel really behave as if she was in Night School.
Before Rachel could notice the pause, though, Allie recovered and bumped her fist with her own. ‘Always.’
Downstairs, the scene was even worse than the girls’ dorm. As students wept and struggled, and uniformed men shouted, Zelazny stood red-faced near the door bellowing, ‘Please return to your normal activities! Do not linger in the hallway. If you are collecting students, do so in an orderly fashion. School must not be disrupted!’
No one was listening.
‘There’s no need to be so grabby!’ A tall, bookish-looking boy said, wrenching his arm free from a uniformed muscle-man’s grip. ‘I’m cooperating. You can tell them I cooperated.’
Allie recognised the stressed-out boy from the study carrel – the one who’d snapped at her the other day. But now he looked young and frightened – his glasses had been knocked crooked on his face as he tried to walk with elaborate dignity, just out of the man’s reach.
‘Hey!’ Running to his side, Allie touched his shoulder and he spun round to look at her. Behind his dark-framed glasses, his eyes looked afraid. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Oh, I’m just fine,’ he said with false bravery. ‘I’m going home, though. Pete here won’t have it any other way, eh, Pete?’
The dark sarcasm in his voice was not missed by the man, who shot him a threatening look.
‘Think you’re funny? I am allowed to subdue you, boy. You do not want me to subdue you.’ With that, Pete shoved the boy so hard he took an involuntary sprawling step towards the door.
‘See?’ he said despairingly as he caught himself. ‘Everything’s just fine.’
As they walked out the door, the driver turned to look at Allie with appraising eyes – something in his gaze made her blood chill in her veins. He knew who she was.
Suddenly afraid, she ran across the entrance hall to where Zelazny had given up shouting and now muttered at a clipboard in his hand. He seemed to be ticking names off as students walked out, dragging their suitcases behind them.
‘Mr Zelazny —’ Allie began, but he cut her off without looking up.
‘Not now.’
But she was not going to be put off. Not today.
‘Mr Zelazny.’ This time she said his name with such authority the teacher looked up, his mouth open in surprise.
When she had his full attention, Allie spoke clearly, enunciating each syllable: ‘Where is Isabelle?’
For a moment he looked at her as if he’d never seen her before. As she studied him with a frown, she noticed the clipboard quivering very slightly.
Blustering, raging, fearless Zelazny was frightened. But if he was the spy… wasn’t this what he wanted?
‘Isabelle?’ she said again.
He rubbed a weary hand across his face.
‘Great hall.’ His voice was hoarse from shouting, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.
Without waiting for more information, Allie fought her way back through the noisy, frightened crowd, across the polished oak floor, past the tapestries where ladies in long, medieval gowns looked upon the chaos but passed no judgement, under the sparkling crystal chandeliers.
The door to the great hall stood open. Clad in a dark skirt and crisp, grey blouse, a silk scarf draped around her neck, Isabelle stood on the low platform she used for induction days, surrounded by a crowd of worried teachers and a handful of students.
She appeared as calm and unruffled as Zelazny had looked panicked. But Allie knew her well enough by now to know it was an act. She could see her tension in the way she held her hands, in the high set of her shoulder and the tiny lines around her eyes.
‘There is nothing more we can do right now,’ she was saying as Allie walked in. ‘We must wait for them all to go before we know how many we have left.’
The teachers grumbled, clearly not satisfied.
‘It’s not just students leaving,’ one of the science instructors said. ‘Sarah Jones is gone.’
Someone gasped and a whisper swept the r
oom. Allie had to think for a moment before realising they must be talking about the biology teacher. Rachel had mentioned her before.
‘Are you certain?’ Isabelle’s face betrayed no emotion.
‘Her room was cleared out when I stopped in on my way here.’ The woman looked shaken. ‘We were friends. I didn’t know she was one of Nathaniel’s supporters.’
Isabelle didn’t pause to comfort her. ‘Does anyone know of other teachers who are missing?’
‘I haven’t seen Darren Campbell,’ a voice called from the back, and the crowd murmured restively.
‘What about Ken Brade?’ a maths teacher asked.
But someone quickly said, ‘I saw him out front helping August Zelazny.’
A sigh swept the group like a breeze as the teacher’s loyalty was confirmed.
‘I need specifics,’ Isabelle said. ‘Will two of you volunteer to verify all the teachers who are missing?’
Allie waited as the volunteers were chosen and Isabelle stepped down from her platform. The headmistress was instantly swamped in a sea of anxious instructors but she moved through them with steady determination.
‘I don’t know,’ she kept saying. ‘We’ll discuss this at the seven o’clock meeting. I’ll have all the facts then.’
As she emerged from the crowd her steely gaze met Allie’s. Her eyebrows winged up, and she motioned her closer. ‘With me.’
As they moved out into the hallway, Isabelle took her arm, pulling her swiftly through the crowds. Two of Raj’s guards materialised as if she’d conjured them, flanking them protectively.
‘Did Jules get away?’ Allie asked urgently. ‘Did Katie?’
Isabelle turned to face her. ‘I need you go to the agreed place until this is over,’ she said. ‘I can’t protect you right now. There’s too much happening at once.’
‘I can’t just hide while this is happening.’ Even as she said the words, Allie realised how much like Zoe she sounded. ‘I have to help.’
‘You cannot help. No one can help us now.’ Just for a moment Isabelle’s guard slipped and Allie saw anguish in her eyes. Her voice sharpened. ‘Just go back to the agreed place. Raj has guards all around it. I need you there. If you see the others on the way send them back, too but do not go looking for them. Not anyone.’
Fracture ns-3 Page 25
