From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(8)

"Cowering in their beds."

I could hardly blame them. "Tell me what to do."

Another rainfall of arrows sprinkled onto the tower above. "The main gatehouse has fallen and the French are in the bailey. The catapults have done some terrible damage to the walls."

"So I saw," I said heavily. "Oh, Sir Geoffrey, I'm sorry."

He squared his shoulders, causing his chain mail to ripple. "I heard their commander give orders for the battering ram to be fetched. They'll be inside the keep soon."

"I can't believe it," I muttered, finally digesting what my eyes had seen moments before. Those soldiers were real. Their weapons were real. We'd been thrust into a medieval battle.

Medieval warfare was a bloody, brutal business.

Sir Geoffrey tried to touch my shoulder, but his hand went straight through. He stared at it, as if he'd forgotten he was a spirit. "You must prepare yourself and the other maidens for the worst."

"What do you think the worst will entail?"

The look he gave me was filled with bleak horror. "The French have no morals."

I swallowed. "Alice is our only hope now. I'll try to wake her."

"What can she do?" he called after me as I raced back down the narrow, curving stairs.

"I'll explain later." If it worked.

I almost propelled into Meredith, heading in the opposite direction. I caught her shoulders and steadied her. "Well?" I pressed. "Did you wake Alice?"

The huge dark pools of her eyes filled with fear and sickening horror. She shook her head. "Charlie…" Her voice trembled. "Charlie, she's gone. I can't find Alice."





Chapter 3





"What do you mean she's gone?" I shouted at Meredith. "She can't be gone! She was asleep." And if she woke, wouldn't the army disappear?

"I can't find her." Tears streamed down Meredith's face. She hugged herself, and looked as skittish as a kitten.

The thick walls of the castle blocked the sounds of the army's preparations and Sir Geoffrey's barked commands. I could no longer hear screaming. It felt as if Meredith and I were the only two people alive.

"Have you searched the castle?" I asked. "She must be somewhere."

"I performed a quick search, but not all of the school is accessible anymore. The boulders flung by the catapult damaged some of the walls, and I was too afraid to go onto the towers."

"Is anyone hurt?"

"I don't think so. Some are hiding in the dungeon, thinking that's the safest place."

If we can't leave, it may well be, but it could also act as a trap. "Well done, Meredith, but now you must help me find Alice."

"Why?"

"She's the key to this."

Her tears stopped. She blinked at me. "You're not going to hand her over to them, are you?"

"No! I can't explain it, but I think if she wakes from her dream, the army will disappear."

Her brow creased. "That's nonsensical."

"There are a great many things in this world that don't make sense, Meredith, but I've discovered that it doesn't make them any less real. Take Sir Geoffrey." I glanced back up the staircase where I'd last seen him.

"Yes," she whispered, wiping her cheeks. "You're right. We'll find her."

I gave her a quick hug. Trembles wracked her, but at least she'd stopped crying. "We'll enlist the help of as many girls as we can. Alice must be here somewhere, either sleepwalking or in a trance."

A thud from below stopped us both short. Meredith grasped my hand hard. "What was that?"

"The battering ram. They're trying to get in. We must hurry. Rally as many as you can from the dungeon. I'm going to begin my search on the towers."

"You can't go out there, Charlie!"

I squeezed her hand. "Go, Meredith. Have courage."

I ran through the grim corridor to the dayroom and drawing room beyond, up another tight flight of winding stairs to the tower. This one was near the back of the castle, a part I'd not yet seen. The spectacular view of the barren winter landscape was marred by the ring of soldiers stomping their feet in the cold. Their numbers weren't as thick as at the front, but getting past them would be impossible.

The tower sported no damage like the ones at the front of the castle and it was easier to move around, although I had to be careful not to slip. My indoor shoes weren't made for the slick conditions.

There was no sign of Alice so I returned inside. I wasn't aware of how cold it had been on the tower until I was out of the breeze. The castle couldn't be called warm by any stretch of the imagination, but my bones no longer felt frozen as they had in the dungeon. Racing hither and thither had its benefits.

Below me, the battering ram once again thumped into the thick double doors at the keep's entrance. I'd loathed the heavy iron bolt and wooden crossbar when I'd first seen them upon my arrival—they only added to my feeling of imprisonment. But now I appreciated them enormously. I wondered who'd slid them closed over the doors after Mrs. Denk left. Perhaps it was Meredith acting on Sir Geoffrey's instruction.

A sprinkling of terrified screams followed the thump. Good. It meant Meredith had convinced some of the girls to join her in searching for Alice. I would never consider her cowardly again. She may be terrified, but she was forging ahead with the task set for her despite her fears. That was a true measure of courage.