Allie knew she needed to say something but her mind wouldn’t seem to function.
‘I… uh…’ she stuttered, ‘just… I was… looking for Isabelle.’
The librarian’s eyes darted from Allie to the hallway beyond her as if she was concerned about being seen.
Up close, Allie noticed her cheeks were flushed and breathless. Her dark hair had begun escaping from the clips that held it, as if she’d been exercising or running.
Confusion and a dawning sense of suspicion made Allie’s stomach tighten. She wrapped her arms around her torso.
Composing herself, Eloise lifted her chin in an imperious imitation of Isabelle’s natural hauteur. ‘She’s away. Can I help you with something?’
Yeah, Allie thought darkly, you could tell me what the hell you were just doing in Isabelle’s office when she’s not here.
But she didn’t say that.
‘No… no, I just need to talk to her,’ she said instead, trying to sound casual. ‘Do you, like, know when she’ll be back?’
‘She went to London for a meeting after her last class.’ Eloise glanced at her watch. ‘She won’t be back until late tonight.’ She studied Allie narrowly. ‘Are you sure there’s nothing I can help you with?’
‘No thanks.’ Allie took a quick step back, banging her head on the tilted underside of the staircase above them. ‘Ouch.’ Never taking her eyes off Eloise, she rubbed her head with one hand. ‘I uh… guess I’ll just come back. You know. Tomorrow.’
Forcing herself to move with deliberate steadiness, she crossed the hall and gathered her books as if nothing was wrong.
The whole time she was conscious of Eloise watching her every move.
ELEVEN
T
hat night Allie made her way down the basement corridor towards Training Room One with slow, heavy steps. She felt weighed down, as if something tugged at her, holding her back.
All she wanted was to tell someone everything, but when she tried explaining it in her head it sounded crazy.
Hey. So anyway, I thought I saw Gabe outside last night but I didn’t, and Eloise is breaking into Isabelle’s office when she’s not there and by the way I’m totally sane. Don’t you worry about a thing. Got a B on my history essay.
Nicole and Zoe were already in Training Room One when she arrived, warming up near the back. She hurried over to them but barely had a chance to say hello before Eloise walked up looking perfectly normal.
‘How are you feeling today,’ the instructor asked with solicitous concern. ‘Any soreness in your knee?’
‘A little.’ Allie couldn’t bring herself to meet Eloise’s gaze.
‘We’ll take it easy today. But if it handled yesterday’s workout that’s great news.’ Eloise’s smile appeared genuinely enthusiastic. ‘You’re making progress.’
As she went through her warm-up routine, Allie kept an eye on her but she seemed utterly normal – laughing at Nicole’s jokes and keeping a close eye on Allie.
If she was the spy who thought she’d just been found out, she was hiding it very well.
This all left Allie conflicted. Maybe Eloise had a perfectly good explanation. It could probably all be explained if she could just talk to Isabelle – but the headmistress had still not returned.
After a brief warm-up, Zelazny stepped into the middle of the room. ‘We will begin tonight with a four-mile competitive run.’
Zoe, who loved running, gave a small hop of excitement.
‘About time,’ she chirped to herself.
Allie, who was feeling particularly non-competitive, wasn’t quite sure how this would work. On competitive runs the last student in was punished, usually with short-term detention or additional exercise. The punishment was mild but the humiliation was intense.
As soon as Zelazny stopped talking, though, Eloise pulled the girls aside. ‘I’m sorry, Zoe,’ she said, smiling at the younger girl, ‘but you’re going to have to take it slow. Allie can’t go fast and she certainly can’t run four miles.’
‘Rats,’ Zoe muttered.
As the other students poured out of the room, Eloise gave them strict instructions that Allie could only do a walk-run combination and go no more than two miles.
‘If you want to run further,’ she told Zoe and Nicole, ‘bring Allie back here first. Under no circumstances are you to leave her unprotected outside.’
Her use of the word ‘unprotected’ took Allie aback – it was the first time she’d realised Zoe and Nicole were essentially her bodyguards. But it made sense. She’d been given two partners instead of one, both of them known for their speed. In addition, Nicole – a senior member of Night School – was highly skilled in defence tactics and martial arts.
The other students were long gone by now, the training room was empty.
They were hurrying for the door when Eloise called out, ‘And, Allie?’ When Allie stopped to look back at her, the instructor’s expression held a warning. ‘Be careful.’
As she hurried to join Zoe and Nicole in the hallway Allie’s mind teemed with doubt. No matter how she tried she simply couldn’t square the way Eloise had acted earlier with the way she was now. It was as if she were two different people.
‘She’s nice, Eloise,’ Nicole said. Allie shot her a surprised look – it was as if she could hear her internal monologue. ‘She looks out for us in a way other teachers don’t.’
‘Mmm…’
‘I think someone like Zelazny would throw you to the wolves, and Jerry would push you too hard, but Eloise is more compassionate,’ Nicole continued as Zoe shot ahead of them.
‘Do you trust her?’ Only when she heard her own voice did Allie realise she’d asked the question aloud. She could have kicked herself.
Nicole cast her a curious look. ‘Of course. Don’t you?’
They followed Zoe up a staircase to a door leading out into the dark night.
Yes, Allie thought. Say yes.
‘I don’t know,’ she said instead, ‘any more. Who to trust, I mean. I used to…’
They walked up a short staircase to an open door; as the icy February air hit her, Allie let her voice trail off.
If she’d expected Nicole to be shocked at the suggestion Eloise might not be trustworthy she was disappointed. The French girl merely shrugged.
‘You’ve been through so much, I’d be surprised if you trusted anyone now.’
Then she pointed to where Zoe waited in the distance, hopping up and down like an enraged elf.
‘Should we run? It would make her happy.’
Her accent changed ‘happy’ to ‘’appy’ and, in spite of everything, Allie found herself smiling.
‘Yeah, if we don’t run I think she’ll explode.’
‘That would be terrible,’ Nicole said cheerfully. ‘Because she’s so young and Zelazny would make us clean up the mess.’
They took off at a slow jog. Zoe stayed ahead of them – zooming forward out of sight, waiting until they’d nearly caught up, then doing it all again. The other students were far ahead of them; they were all alone.
The night was clear and, for a while, the bright moon lit the path ahead. When they moved into the forest, though, it was harder to see where they were going. They hadn’t gone far when Allie stumbled over a root, jarring her knee.
Swearing, she stumbled around for a minute clutching her knee.
‘Have you wankered it?’ Zoe asked, running back to her at top speed.
‘Zoe!’ Allie said, mildly scandalised. ‘When did you become a professional swearer?’
‘I’ve been practising,’ Zoe explained. ‘Lucas is teaching me.’
‘How bad is it?’ Nicole asked, drawing them back to the subject at hand.
Tentatively, Allie put her weight on her knee, wincing in anticipation of agony.
It held.
‘Actually… I’m good,’ she said. ‘Let’s keep going.’
With a hop Zoe zipped ahead again, but Nicole eyed Allie’s leg critically.
‘Le
t’s walk for a few minutes,’ she said. ‘See how it does.’
Nicole’s patience made Allie feel strangely humble. She felt as if she had to acknowledge it.
‘Thanks for… you know,’ she said, ‘doing this, I guess. Going slow with me. You could be running off with the others.’
The cold had made Nicole’s cheeks and nose red; with her pale skin and dark hair, she looked like Snow White in the cartoons. If Snow White was badass and dressed like a Ninja.
‘Oh don’t worry,’ Nicole said. ‘I like this much better than the usual thing. So you are saving me from something I despise.’
This was not the reply Allie had expected. ‘Really? I thought you liked Night School.’
‘Joining Night School was not my idea. My parents insisted.’ Seeing Allie’s expression, she gave an eloquent shrug. ‘It’s fine – I don’t mean that I truly despise it, I suppose. Sometimes it can be fun but –’ she made a rueful gesture – ‘there are other things I’d rather be doing.’
Allie considered that for a while as they walked. ‘You never thought of saying no to your parents?’
Nicole’s reply was instant. ‘Never. It means too much to my mother. You see, I’m the first girl in my family to be accepted. My mother wasn’t chosen for Night School when she was at Cimmeria so…’ She shrugged. ‘I think I am living her dream.’
Allie, who knew all about lost parental dreams, gave a bitter chuckle. ‘I think I’m living my mum’s nightmare… Maybe we’re in the same boat for different reasons.’
For a while they walked in companionable silence – Allie’s knee felt better now but Nicole showed no inclination to run again and that was fine with Allie. Eloise had said to take it easy. The woods around them were quiet in that deep, winter’s night way – even the wind didn’t blow through the branches. The only sound was the crunch of their footsteps on the cold ground.
She stole a surreptitious glance at Nicole, who seemed lost in worried thoughts of her own.
Maybe she can be trusted. Maybe she would know what to do.
She worked to summon her courage then, clearing her throat to break the silence, she said, ‘Uh… Nicole… can I ask you a question?’
The French girl turned to her enquiringly but at that precise second Zoe shot down the path towards them again. This time, though, something about her pace wasn’t right – she was moving too fast. As if she was running from something.
Everything slowed. Allie reached for Nicole’s arm to warn her but she’d already begun to run towards Zoe. Stumbling, Allie followed.
Too out of breath to speak clearly, the younger girl pointed into the darkness off the path.
‘The chapel,’ she gasped. ‘Someone… in… there.’
The moment the words left her mouth, the cold earth seemed to take Allie’s feet in an icy grip, tight as iron. She stood frozen, watching as if from far away, as Nicole moved closer to Zoe, asking her questions.
She recognised the look on Zoe’s face – she’d seen it before. Zoe was afraid.
It was happening again.
‘What exactly did you see?’ Nicole’s rational voice jolted Allie into action. She finally moved, joining the other two in a tight circle under the trees.
Zoe’s face was taut, but she was trained for this.
‘The door’s open,’ she said. ‘The candles are lit.’
The hairs on the back of Allie’s neck rose. There was no reason for anyone to be in that chapel. Every night it was closed before sunset. Students weren’t allowed to visit it after that. Security guards would have been checking it every two hours.
So why is it standing open?
It made no sense. She could see the others knew that, too.
‘Did you see anyone?’ Allie asked, her voice taut.
Zoe shook her head.
‘Are you sure, Zoe?’ Nicole asked.
Exasperated, Zoe held out her hands. ‘You have to see it for yourself. It’s… weird.’
Nicole bit her bottom lip. ‘I don’t like this. We should take Allie back.’
She and Zoe both turned to look at her as if she were a problem they had to solve. Heat rose to Allie’s face. They couldn’t do that. This could be their chance. What if it was Gabe or the spy? They could get him right now.
‘I’ll be fine,’ she insisted. ‘I can keep up.’
‘You can’t run,’ Zoe pointed out.
‘Yes I can.’ Allie’s voice was defensive. ‘I just ran a few minutes ago.’
‘Not fast,’ Nicole said.
She was right. But Allie was not about to walk away from this. Although she had the uneasy realisation that if they wanted to they could make her go back.
‘Come on, Nicole,’ she pleaded. ‘We have to do this.’
The French girl shook her head. ‘It’s too dangerous.’
‘There are three of us and we’re all trained for this,’ Allie pointed out. ‘What if Jo’s killer is down there? We could take him. I know we could. But if we don’t go now he’ll get away while we’re off running for help. We can’t blow this chance, Nicole. He could kill someone else tonight. Please.’ Her eyes pleaded for them to understand. ‘Let’s do this.’
Nicole and Zoe exchanged a long look. Zoe looked dubious but it was clear the decision would be made by Nicole, the most senior member of the group.
‘OK,’ she said finally, although worry creased her forehead. ‘But we work together and we take no crazy chances. Agreed?’
She spoke to both of them but her eyes were on Allie.
Allie didn’t blink. ‘Agreed.’
Zoe led the way, Allie and Nicole followed, running side by side. When the path narrowed, Allie dropped behind but stayed hard on the French girl’s heels. The run was tiring but she got the feeling they were holding themselves back for her.
Their quiet footsteps, thudding almost in unison, seemed deafening to Allie. The night had grown colder and their breath puffed out in small clouds, illuminated by the moon in the brief seconds before they disappeared.
The churchyard wall appeared first and they flattened themselves against it looking for any sign of movement. But the path that ran alongside it was empty. Soon they were on the move again.
They were close to the stream now. It was swollen from recent rains and the sound of its rushing water disguised any noise they made. They could move faster here – take more chances.
When they reached it, the old churchyard gate hung half open, as if it had been shoved recklessly.
Allie’s breaths shortened.
Turning to catch her eye, Zoe pointed twice at the gate in a jerky motion. The girls gathered around it – Nicole on one side, Allie and Zoe on the other.
Inside, the old gravestones and tombs jostled with the bare trees for space; a low mist covered the ground. To one side, an ancient yew tree towered above the stone wall. Instinctively, Allie’s gaze moved to its long, lower branches where she and Carter had often met when they were first becoming friends.
The gnarled branches were empty now.
Everything was just as Zoe described it. The little chapel’s heavy, arched door gaped open. Inside, candlelight flickered and jumped, moving with a life of its own.
Zoe darted across the churchyard. Moving smooth and straight as an arrow, she stuck to the grass, where her steps were soundless. In seconds she’d disappeared in the shadows. After a moment, though, her hand appeared against the grey stone church wall, waving them in.
Catching Allie’s eye, Nicole tilted her head, signalling her to go first.
Taking a deep breath as if she were about to dive into a pool, Allie ducked low and scuttled across the churchyard. The grass was slippery beneath the thick soles of her shoes. The world was muffled – all she could hear was her own breathing, which deafened her.
It seemed to take for ever to reach the church but it mustn’t have, because as she slid into the shadows next to Zoe the younger girl merely nodded her approval before turning to the gate and making the same gestu
re again.
Nicole was at their side in seconds. She looked at Zoe enquiringly.
Zoe pointed at the door but Nicole shook her head.
The window then.
Moving as one unit, they stepped carefully down the wall to a stained-glass window. During the day, it filled the little one-room building with multicoloured light. But now the light was moving the other way.
Straightening, Zoe tried to see into the window but she wasn’t tall enough. The window ledge was at least six inches above her head. She dropped down, shaking her head. Nicole tried next, but she was only a little taller than Zoe.
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