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I raise my head, taking in a deep steadying breath, and then look back over the scene. Classmates have their arms around each other, crying, teachers are standing around in shock. Then there’s Kat, between us and the scene of travesty, staring at me solemnly, and beyond her is Sisters Sophie and Margaret. Sister Margaret is chanting something up to the sky.
Sister Sophie is staring right at me with a look in her eyes that I can’t quite decipher.
But it feels like a warning.
Chapter 16
Kat
The entire campus has been upended. Classes have been canceled. Everyone has been shuttered away in these little pockets of grief and shock. The church bells of the cathedral ring and ring and ring until I can’t stand it anymore, and I’m on my bed, covering my ears.
Sister Margaret has been going around to the dorms and letting students know that there will be an assembly in the cathedral at nine this evening for all of us to mourn and discuss what happened to Lotte.
But I can’t spend my day stumbling around in a daze, and I can’t find empty solace in the arms of others who don’t care for me. I saw someone die in front of me for the second time, and though it wasn’t my father, though it wasn’t someone I loved more than anything else, it was still traumatic to witness. To see that poor girl on top of the roof and know, know that no matter what we did, she would jump and we wouldn’t reach her in time.
A few hours after the incident, after I’ve been in my room unsure of what to do next, I hear my name being called outside my window, so softly it takes me a moment to realize it, and when I get up, I see both Crane and Brom outside, two tall dark figures in the mist. They both gesture in the direction of the stable and start walking toward it.
I quickly grab my coat and put it on before hurrying out of my room and out into the quiet, foggy afternoon.
Crane and Brom are at the stable by the time I catch up to them.
“What are you two doing?” I ask as they both head to the tack room.
“We’re going to Sleepy Hollow,” Crane says as he brings Gunpowder’s saddle and bridle off the wall. “And you’re coming with us.”
“Sleepy Hollow? Why?” I follow him to the horse’s stall.
“To see the constable,” Crane explains, his eyes turning dark. “A girl just died before our eyes, and I have a feeling the school is in no hurry to tell the rest of the world about it. We need to beat them to it, before the Sisters have a chance to either lie or sweep it under the rug. Her family deserves to be notified.”
“You think they would do that?” I ask. “Hide her death?”
Brom snorts from over in Daredevil’s stall, and I hear the slap of the tack going on the horse. “It’s awfully convenient that the student’s memories are wiped clean once they leave the school,” he says. “Who would be able to talk about it, except us?”
I think about that as Crane quickly finishes tacking Gunpowder and leads him out of the stall. Gunpowder’s ears are flicking back and forth, picking up on our tumultuous energy, so I try to give him a few soothing pats to let him know everything is okay. It doesn’t work. He doesn’t believe it, probably because I don’t either.
“Well, if we’re going into town, I might as well drop by the house and get Snowdrop,” I say as Crane leads Gunpowder out of the stall. “That way I don’t have to keep sharing a horse with you.”
Crane gives me an incredulous look as he holds the reins. “You have a problem sharing a horse with me?”
“You ride a little slow for my liking,” I say with a smirk. “Perhaps you better ride with Brom, and I’ll take Gunpowder. Show the old horse a thing or two.”
“He is not riding with me,” Brom says, quickly mounting Daredevil.
“Are you sure, Brom?” Crane asks. “I promise to be gentle.”
“That will be the day,” Brom says under his breath, gathering the reins and circling his black stallion around us.
“Fine. Up you go,” Crane says to me, grabbing me by the waist and lifting me up on Gunpowder’s back. The strength this man possess always catches me off guard because I’m definitely not a light and dainty girl.
He swings up after me, and I’m settled snugly against him, his arms on either side of me while he holds the reins. There’s no place where I feel as safe and, despite the circumstances, I immediately relax.
“See, this isn’t so bad, is it?” his rich voice murmurs into my ear.
But, though Crane sounds like his normal self, there’s something off in his tone.
