‘Me too.’ He held the door for her. ‘So now we can hopefully focus on all the bad, scary stuff without being distracted by the fun romantic stuff.’
His voice echoed off the cool stone walls as he stood aside to let her walk inside. As she passed him, Allie paused to run her fingers tantalisingly down his arm from his shoulder to the tips of his fingers. Goosebumps formed in their path.
‘Uh-huh,’ she said, laughing.
He tried to grab her but she danced just out of reach laughing. ‘Not in church, Carter. We’ll go to hell.’
‘Then lead me not into temptation,’ he said, following a few steps behind her.
‘Fair enough,’ she said, still just too far away from him. ‘As long as you deliver me from evil.’
‘Deal.’
She let him catch her near the pulpit and he pulled her down giggling onto a dark wooden pew beside him, his arm around her shoulders.
‘This place is amazing,’ she said, looking around, as his thumb pulled up the short sleeve of her T-shirt and stroked the warm skin underneath. ‘I’ve never seen anything like these paintings in my life.’
‘I think lots of churches used to look something like this.’ His lips were against her ear now, and she closed her eyes, feeling her body quiver. ‘But they changed.’
‘Sad for them,’ she whispered.
‘Isn’t it?’
Their kiss was more passionate this time, and after a moment he lifted Allie up onto his lap. Pulling the band from her ponytail, he ran his fingers through her hair until it fell around his face in soft waves as she leaned forward to kiss him. Turning his head, he ran his lips lightly between her ear and the corner of her mouth. Her breath came in soft gasps.
After a few minutes, though, she pushed herself away. With a regretful sigh he let her go and she slid off of his lap onto the pew beside him.
‘So much for getting that out of the way,’ she said with a wry smile.
‘I warned you about the leading and the tempting,’ he said.
She laughed. ‘How could I tempt you? I’m sweaty runner girl.’
He tugged a strand of her loose hair. ‘Tempting.’
But after a moment he sighed. ‘Right, so now we must destroy the lovely mood we’ve created and talk about what’s going on.’
All the warmth seemed to leave Allie’s body and she shivered. ‘Yes, let’s do it. You’re sure there’s nobody else here?’
‘We’re safe here,’ he said with confidence. ‘Let’s start with your file.’
She nodded. ‘It was strange. It had all the normal Allie-isn’t-very-good-at-English stuff and then a lot of weird papers that weren’t mine.’
He looked puzzled. ‘Like what?’
‘Like … my mum’s school records.’ She gave him a significant look. ‘From here.’
‘From here … as in, from Cimmeria?’ His voice rose incredulously.
‘Exactly. So, it turns out my mum wasn’t very good at science either when she was my age. Oh, and she attended Cimmeria, a school she pretended she’d never heard of until the week I came here. In fact, she knows the place so well she called Isabelle “Izzy” in a letter.’
‘Iz …?’ Carter stared at her. ‘What the hell is going on?’
‘I have no idea. But there’s more. There was also a note in my file from somebody named Lucinda to Isabelle dated a month ago. It ordered her to admit “my granddaughter” immediately, and “protect her”.’
Carter let his breath out in a low whistle. ‘I don’t suppose you have a grandmother named Lucinda?’
‘One of my grandmothers died before I was born. The other one died two years ago,’ Allie said. ‘Her name was Jane.’
‘So …’ Carter said.
‘Who’s Lucinda?’ Allie finished the thought for him. ‘Good question. There was also a note in Lucinda’s handwriting to somebody with the initial “G”, talking about how well her daughter was doing in Night School. It was very old.’
Carter pushed his hair back out of his eyes as he absorbed all of this information. ‘Allie, did your parents tell you anything that was true, ever?’
She was surprised to feel tears burning her eyes.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, forcing them back.
He squeezed her hand.
‘OK, so let’s sum this up.’ He ticked them each off with a tap on the back of her hand. ‘You’re rubbish at English. Your mum probably went to school here. Lucinda is either your grandmother or thinks she is, and your parents forgot to mention her to you – for your whole life. And whoever Lucinda is, she’s important enough that she can order Isabelle to do things.’ He seemed to be finished but then he added, ‘Oh, and Isabelle has a stupid nickname.’
Allie half-smiled up at him. ‘That’s about it, I think.’
‘So … Not much then.’
‘No,’ she said feebly. ‘Not much.’
‘OK, so let’s just leave that there for a minute, because it seems to me we’ll need time to think about how to handle all of that.’ He looked up at the old painting of the yew tree on the wall. ‘Let’s talk about the letter.’
The letter he’d found on the desk was from Nathaniel to Isabelle dated several days earlier. It had been short and angry. ‘What happened on the night of the summer ball was just a taster of what I have to offer,’ it said. ‘Give me what I deserve or I will destroy Cimmeria with my own hands.’
It listed a date and time for a ‘parley at the usual place’. The night was tomorrow, the time was midnight. But the place was never described.
‘What’s a parley?’ Allie had asked at the time, adding hopefully, ‘It’s just a couple of letters away from party.’
‘Parley – it’s a military term,’ Carter had replied, flipping the paper over. ‘It’s a meeting of enemies to talk terms.’
‘Oh,’ Allie had said. ‘So a really crap party then.’
Now, curled up on the church pew next to Carter she asked the question that had been eating away at her all day. ‘Do we both think Nathaniel killed Ruth?’
He looked serious. ‘I don’t know. He all but said as much in that letter. But the main problem I have with that is, why? Why would he do that? What does he want that Isabelle won’t give him? And why does he want it so desperately that he’d do something like that?’
She twisted a strand of hair around her finger as she stared at the yew tree on the wall. ‘I read somewhere that most people who are murdered are killed by people who know them – like their family or boyfriends.’ She dropped the strand of hair. ‘God, I wish we could have found Ruth’s file. I mean, what if Nathaniel’s, like, her evil stepdad or something?’
Carter shook his head. ‘If it was something like that, why would he be making demands to Isabelle, and acting like they have this long history, and she’s done something bad to him at some point? It doesn’t make sense to me.’
‘None of this makes sense to me,’ Allie said. ‘The thing is, there’s so much going on here that we don’t know about – there’s no way for us to figure out what’s happening here unless somebody tells us.’
Carter stared at her. ‘That’s it, Allie! We’ll get them to tell us.’
‘Um … like … how?’ she asked, dubious.
He leaned forward, his cheeks flushed with excitement. ‘Simple. Isabelle’s meeting Nathaniel tomorrow night. I’ll follow Isabelle to the meeting. Then I can listen to what they say and we can decide what to do next.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ Allie said. ‘I’ll come with you.’
He glared at her. ‘No you most certainly will not.’
‘Yes, I most certainly will.’
‘Allie …’ His eyes warned her to drop it but she ignored it.
‘Why should you go and not me? So much of this involves me and my family, and although I know more now, I still don’t understand what’s really going on.’ He tried to speak but she held up her hand. ‘This is my life, Carter. And I want to find out who’s messing it all up.’
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‘It could be dangerous.’ She could hear frustration in his voice. ‘And you could get expelled. Allie, this is not a good idea.’
‘It is dangerous,’ she said. ‘But I’m doing it. Look, there’s one thing in my file I didn’t mention. In the letter from my mother, she mentioned my brother, Christopher. And she says “what if he was taken”.’ She leaned forward intently. ‘Don’t you see, Carter? I could find out what happened to Christopher. I have to go.’
For a long moment his eyes searched her face. She could see the second when he gave in. ‘OK,’ he said, resigned. ‘I don’t like it. But I know if I don’t let you go with me, you’ll just go on your own and get in even more trouble.’
‘Thank you!’ She threw her arms around his neck.
‘But I have one condition,’ he said, holding onto her. ‘We have to do it my way. Agreed?’
‘Agreed!’ Allie said, hugging him tighter.
‘Now, how many hell points will we get if we desecrate this chapel?’ he asked, breathing in the scent of her hair.
TWENTY-FOUR
Clinging to the ledge outside the girls’ dorm rooms, Allie inched along towards the low sloping section of roof where she could make her way up and across to Carter’s room.
It was just after curfew. The night was dark and clear – perfect sneaking out weather. And she’d already made her way past the first window – now there was only Katie’s window to get by. Standing on her toes, she leaned across the window frame tentatively to peek inside.
The lights were on, but it appeared empty.
Stretching out her arm to reach the other side of the window she scuttled across.
Home free, she thought.
But as she took the next step she kicked something off the edge of the gutter – perhaps, she would think later, a roofing tile, or a stone that had rolled off the roof – and it clattered to the ground with the percussive impact of a tiny drumroll. Frozen in place, Allie couldn’t decide whether it would be better to rush the rest of the way onto the roof – risking making more noise – or to stay right where she was, as still as a corpse.
‘Who’s there?’ The demanding voice came from about three feet from her right elbow.
Allie held her breath. She wore her running clothes – dark blue stretchy trousers and a dark blue T-shirt. Together with dark rubber-soled shoes, she figured she must be practically invisible.
Think Catwoman, she told herself.
‘Jo? Is that you?’ Katie’s voice pierced the night. ‘Or is it Allie, the crazed killer? If it’s you, Allie, just so you know, I’m going straight to Jules to turn you in.’
Allie tried to breathe in time with the breeze so that the sound would disappear. After a few minutes – silence. She counted to one hundred, then raced to the sloping roof and climbed up, then hurled herself across to the boys’ side. Practice was making her faster. She slid down the slope on that side until she’d reached a drainpipe, then slid across to Carter’s room.
His window was open, the light was on, and he was standing across the room, waiting for her. She thought that his dark eyes grew lighter when he saw her.
As she climbed through the window, he walked across the room to lift her off the desk.
‘Hey,’ he whispered with that sexy half-smile that drove her crazy.
‘Hey back.’
She’d already decided not to tell him what Katie had said about turning her into Jules – she knew it wouldn’t take much incentive for Carter to insist that she stay at the school while he went out alone.
Instead, she reached up and pulled his head down towards hers.
A few minutes later, he lifted his head to look into her eyes. He stroked her cheek.
‘We need to go and follow Isabelle now and find out who the killer is.’
‘Quel drag,’ Allie said, lifting her lips for another kiss.
‘My German is terrible – what does that mean again?’ he murmured.
She laughed against his cheek. ‘It means why are you talking?’
After a minute he stepped away with a regretful sigh. ‘Let’s go do our spy thing before we forget what we’re supposed to be doing.’
Allie straightened her clothing. ‘OK. Let’s go kick some arse.’
‘Ooh, very convincing.’
‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I’ve been working on it all day.’
Carter opened the door and made sure the hall was clear before standing aside for her to pass. They slipped down the stairs, stopping on each level to listen for footsteps or voices.
At the backdoor, he again crept out first as she waited in the shadows, coming back for her when he was certain there was nobody around.
Perfectly in step, they ran around the east wing to the front of the building, following a course they’d chosen earlier that day. At the treeline they ducked down into the bracken, settling in with a clear sightline to the school building. As long as the meeting didn’t happen somewhere behind the school, they were well positioned.
‘Now,’ Carter whispered, ‘we wait.’
Above them, a full moon cast the grounds in a ghostly blue glow. In its light they could see quite clearly. So when a group of shadowy figures slipped out of the front door twenty minutes later they saw their every move.
After the figures made their way to the footpath that led to the chapel, Carter signalled her to follow, and they jogged slowly down the path, avoiding twigs that could snap underfoot and give them away. Carter ran about ten feet ahead of her, ensuring that their targets were just far enough away not to hear their footsteps.
They were nearly to the church when they heard voices. Dropping back, Carter grabbed her arm and they stopped in the shadow of the churchyard wall. Just ahead of them, the gate to the churchyard stood open and he crept through to look around, then motioned for her to follow him.
‘These theatrics, Nathaniel, are tedious.’
Isabelle’s voice. Allie could hear her clearly but could see nobody. Where was she?
Carter crossed to the yew tree, easily avoiding gravestones, rocks and other dangers, while she picked her way gingerly behind him.
‘Hurry,’ he whispered.
She frowned into the darkness. ‘I am hurrying.’
He pulled himself up onto the big low branch, then leaned down for her hand and pulled her up beside him. Using that method they climbed the ancient tree one branch at a time, until they were sitting well above the fence top. Carter sat on one branch with Allie just below him. She couldn’t actually see him without craning her head but she could still sense tension in his body. He was alert; poised.
Through the narrow and twisted branches around them, they could see the stream that ran behind the church, down to the pond. The moon helpfully illuminated the scene.
A man stood on the far bank, meadow grasses up to his knees. A large German Shepherd dog sat beside him, still as a statue. Isabelle stood directly across from him on the near bank, her arms crossed. Allie could see irritation in her posture.
Leaning forward in her high perch, Allie studied Nathaniel with fascination. Wearing dark trousers with a black, short-sleeved shirt, he was neither particularly tall nor short. He had thick, dark hair and stylish glasses. In fact, he was ordinary looking in every way. But he exuded power; more panther than lion.
Tearing her eyes away from him, she looked across at the headmistress. Her clothes were unusual for her – a simple black tunic and leggings with knee-high boots. Allie got the feeling she was trying to look tough.
‘All I want to know, Isabelle, is this.’ Nathaniel’s voice was a not unpleasant baritone, but something about it made Allie’s skin crawl. ‘Are you willing to do the right thing at last?’
Isabelle ignored the question. ‘What set this off, Nathaniel? I thought you were satisfied with our arrangement.’
The wind picked up and for a moment Allie lost their voices in the rustling of trees. When she could hear them again, Nathaniel was speaking.
‘… so I agre
ed to try to do things your way. I’ve been patient. Now it’s my turn.’
For the first time, Isabelle moved, stepping towards the river, closing the gap between them. ‘What you did the night of the ball was barbaric, Nathaniel. Why would anybody give you control of this school after that?’
‘I did what I had to do,’ he said. ‘If you had just honoured our arrangement none of that would have been necessary.’
‘What you had to do?’ Her voice rose in anger. ‘Killing one of my students in cold blood was something you had to do?’
Nathaniel arched one eyebrow. ‘One of your students was killed? I had no idea. Perhaps you should talk to your staff. Nobody was killed by me or my people.’
Allie saw Isabelle’s shoulders stiffen.
‘A student’s throat was cut from ear to ear,’ she said. ‘Are you telling me you had nothing to do with that?’
He had a predator’s grin. ‘Sounds to me like your school is a very dangerous place, headmistress. I wouldn’t want my children to go there.’
She looked at him sceptically and he held up his right hand. ‘I swear we had nothing to do with that. On my honour.’
‘Your honour …’ Isabelle’s tone was disdainful, but something in her voice told Allie she believed him.
‘Let me tell you what I think is behind all of this,’ Isabelle said. ‘I think you can see that the school is successful. That the tide is turning against you and your views. And that many of those on the board who once disagreed with me are now reconsidering their stance. But you’re so arrogant that you still want to prove that your way is better.’
‘Enough of this.’ Nathaniel stepped closer to the water, the dog stayed where it was, its eyes fixed on Isabelle. ‘Here are my terms, Isabelle. You will tell the board that you have changed your bizarre beliefs. That you realise how wrong you have been. And that you wish to turn the running of Cimmeria over to me.’
Every word dripped malice.
If Isabelle was surprised by any of this she didn’t betray it. Instead, she sounded amused. ‘Oh Nathaniel, don’t be ridiculous. You know these terms are absurd. I reject them all.’
He took a step back. ‘Then you will suffer the consequences.’