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“Very well,” Headmistress Nightworthy said quietly. “You may, of course, remove Nancy from Nocturne Academy at any time.”
Clearly this was not the answer Winifred Rattcliff had been expecting to hear. She had threatened to remove her daughter from the school, hoping to exert pressure and instead Headmistress Nightworthy had been perfectly willing to let Nancy go.
“You…I…I don’t believe this!” she sputtered. She pointed at me. “Megan Latimer has broken our most sacred law! Aren’t you going to punish her at all?”
“Indeed I am.” Mistress Nightworthy turned those piercing blue eyes on me and I felt my stomach twist into knots. “Miss Latimer,” she said to me, “You will forgo half of your weekend privileges this weekend. You may leave on Friday afternoon with the other students after the last bell has rung and remain at liberty Saturday during the day. But you will return to Nocturne Academy no later than midnight Saturday night and you will not be allowed to leave the castle on Sunday.”
“What?” Nancy’s mother nearly shrieked. “You’re docking her weekend privileges one day? For breaking the Edict, that’s all the punishment she gets? I can’t believe this!”
Headmistress Nightworthy frowned at her.
“Do I need to remind you, Winifred, that I am the Headmistress here? The Board of Trustees has given me complete discretion to deal with any wrongdoing in the way that I see fit. As I see it, Miss Latimer was only trying to protect herself from what she deemed—and rightly so—to be a dangerous situation. She is new to our world and she didn’t understand the implications of her actions. However,” she added, turning her piercing stare on me, “She knows now. And I trust we will not have any more trouble of this nature in the future. Correct, Miss Latimer?”
“No.” I swallowed hard. “No, Headmistress, you won’t.”
“Thank you. Then see to it that you are back here by midnight Saturday night. Now, you may be dismissed to go to your last period.” She glanced at the grandfather clock ticking quietly against one wall. “I think you should just make it if you hurry. If you are late, simply tell Mrs. Hornsby you were with me and she will excuse you.”
“Thank you, Headmistress,” I said. And when the black door opened for me of its own accord, I walked quickly through it, feeling that I had just had a very narrow escape indeed.
46
As I stepped out of the Headmistress’s office and the black door closed behind me, I saw the long dark hallway had been truncated to a journey of a few steps. I was sure I would find myself back out in the main corridor in no time and though I saw students scurrying by as though the bell had just chimed, I was certain I could make it to Home Ec in time.
But just as I was about to walk out, the black door opened again and Winifred Rattcliff stormed right past me. She didn’t seem to see me, maybe because I was standing a little to one side in the shadowy corridor. Or maybe she was just blinded by fury. Her face was still as dark as her dress and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.
I let her pass and stayed prudently in the shadows, deciding I could wait to get to Home Ec until after the angry senior witch had a generous head-start on me. I certainly didn’t want to run into her again in her present mood—or ever, if I could help it. She might try some other—stronger—spell on me, especially when she knew the Headmistress wasn’t watching.
The inside of my cheek stung where I had bitten myself but I considered it a small price to pay to keep the truth spell at bay. If she’d been able to make me talk, I might have blurted out not just Griffin’s name, but the fact that I had been doing Blood-magic. I wasn’t sure how Headmistress Nightworthy would take that particular news on top of the revelation that I had broken the Edict and I didn’t want to find out.
As I watched her storm out into the main corridor, I couldn’t help feeling like Winifred Rattcliff had had it in for me from the start. She had tried to get access to my memories and when that had failed, she had attempted to force me to tell what she wanted to know. Then she’d tried to have me kicked out of Nocturne Academy and the entire magical world, like I was trash she wanted to throw away!
She was as much a bully as her daughter and I didn’t believe for a moment she’d been friends with my mom, just as I was never going to be friends with Nancy.
As though thinking of her had called the leader of the Weird Sisters to me, I saw Nancy herself passing by in the hall at that very moment. Her mother saw her too because she snaked out a hand and grabbed her by the arm.
