From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(10)

I stopped. "Shrink yourself! You mean…your real body changed too, not just your dream self?"

She lifted one shoulder. "It's a strange magic."

"Indeed."

"I tried to speak to you in my dream," she went on as we headed up to the uppermost level. "But you couldn't hear me. So I went in search of the White Rabbit instead. He's a guide, of sorts." I gave her a blank look and she sighed. "Never mind."

We met Sir Geoffrey coming down the stairs, an exultant look on his ghostly face. He grinned at me. "We did it, Mistress Holloway! We forced the French to retreat."

I wouldn't dampen his good mood with the truth. "We did, Sir Geoffrey." To Alice, I said, "Sir Geoffrey is the resident ghost here."

She sidled closer to me. "You can see him?" she asked in hushed tones.

I nodded. "As can Meredith. Come, we must find her. She's been very brave throughout this ordeal."

"She has," Sir Geoffrey said with a firm nod. "I ought to warn you, that woman is walking back. She'll be here any moment."

"Mrs. Denk! I almost forgot about her."

"Girls!" came her distinctive shriek from the doorway below. "Girls!" She clapped her hands, the sound echoing around the walls. "To me! Now!"

"How are we going to explain this to her?" Alice whispered.

"I don't particularly care right now," I said. "We need to check on everyone first."

We headed up the stairs instead of down and found all the teachers and students in the old medieval kitchen, cowering in and around the enormous fireplace.

"Charlie!" Meredith sprang up and rushed to me. She threw her arms around me and squeezed so hard my ribs hurt. "Charlie, Alice, thank goodness you're both all right. We've been so worried."

"Is anyone hurt?" I asked.

"No injuries," she reported, stepping back. "Everyone's in here."

"Thank God," Alice murmured, passing her hand over her eyes. "Thank God."

They crowded around us, hugging and crying as we explained the danger was over, the soldiers all gone, and Mrs. Denk had returned and demanded our presence. No one rushed out to greet her, not even the teachers.

"What happened?" asked one of the senior teachers. "Where did all those soldiers come from? And what did they want with you, Alice?"

"I, er, that is…" Alice bit her lip and shrugged. "It's complicated."

"Her family is the violent, rambunctious sort," I answered for her. "They came to collect her but she didn't want to leave the school. She explained as much to them and they left." I doubted my explanation convinced more than the most gullible. It certainly didn't convince the girls I'd pegged as having supernatural powers. Like me, they'd seen enough strange phenomena in their lifetimes to know that inexplicable things happened from time to time. They alone would get a fuller account later. It was time we wayward girls got to know one another better.

"There you are!" Mrs. Denk stood in the kitchen doorway. She bore no signs of concern or confusion. Her face was as devoid of expression as always. "Why are you all in here, cowering as if your lives were in danger?"

Several women exchanged glances. I inched behind Alice, hoping Mrs. Denk wouldn't single me out and send me back to the dungeon.

"Our lives were in danger," one of the teachers said tentatively.

"Nonsense. It was all a show, put on by the villagers. Village idiots, I should say," she muttered. "I'm going to have a stern word with them about frightening my girls and staff like that." She stepped aside and clasped her hands. "Classes are canceled for today. There is much cleaning up to do. Alice, for goodness sake, put on some clothes. When you're decent, come to my office. We'll discuss your punishment for fraternizing with the villagers."

"I don't understand," Alice muttered.

Mrs. Denk's nostrils flared. "Don't pretend innocence. It was you they asked for. Who did you upset to cause all this?"

"I…I'm not sure." Alice glanced at me. "I've never met anyone from the village. Indeed, don't blame them. These events came about because of my family. They're quite dramatic when they want to be, and they have wanted me to come home for some time."

"And you refused?"

"Alice loves it here," I said. "She tells me she has learned so much under your tutelage. Haven't you Alice?"

"Oh yes. I simply adore French and deportment classes. I can see a grand future awaits me now, where before…well, I was very wayward. My mother despaired of me."

Mrs. Denk's lips flattened. "I'm sure she did." She flicked her hand to hurry Alice on her way.

Alice left with a sigh of relief. It would seem she had escaped punishment, for now. I tried to follow her, but Mrs. Denk stepped in my way, blocking me. I braced myself for a fight. If she tried to send me back into the dungeon, I would employ every fighting skill Lincoln had taught me. If I went back down there, I risked never coming out again.

"I see you were released," she said, her tone wintry.

"I managed to escape during the chaos."

The lines above her lips deepened. "I won't ask for the name of your accomplice, but I will require your apology and a promise of good behavior."