“So would living here without at least trying to rescue my son.” Maggie wiped a tear away at the brief thought of abandoning him to his father. “Leon tried to kill me and ourson. My baby. I can’t not try to protect him.”
“Fail spectacularly, then, Ms. Lynch.” Sondre walked to the door, opened it, and gestured for her to leave.
She paused and looked at him. “You’ll tell them about Dan, so it doesn’t make them think I ought to stay?”
“I will, Maggie. I promise I’ll tell them that I think they should let you go home.” He touched her cheek softly. “And I’ll think of you after you’re gone.”
“I’d have liked us to become friends or something,” she whispered. It was the truest thing she could say. She had no hesitation about leaving, but she thought—despite other evidence to the contrary—that Sondre was actually a nice guy.
Not a good guy, but a nice one.
As she walked out, he murmured, “Good luck at failing; I’m betting it doesn’t come easy to you.”
28Ellie
Over the next few days, Ellie had decided to make a statement about her intentions regarding Crenshaw—and she wasn’t the only one. A couple students had already started wearing robes, apparently determined they were going to stay. One older woman, Ana, had a big blue feather jabbed into her hair. They were signaling their intent—and Ellie supposed she was, too.
Her intent was not to give in to anyone who decided to make decisions for her. Not even sexy Victorian witches or prophecies.
She refused to change into whatever witch-world fashion was. She’d growled at a hob who tried to take her shirt. “Duplicate it or get me similar ones,” Ellie had demanded. “I’m not dressing like them. No robes or weird hats. I’m not staying. So… what do I pay you with? Is it on the school’s bill?”
“No charge. It’s worth it.” The hob laughed, but Ellie didn’t get the joke—or an explanation.
Today, Ellie was sporting a garish green T-shirt that announced, “Never cross a librarian. They catalogue everything.” It felt remarkably on point for her mood.
Aside from the hobs, though—who seemed unanimously lovely—and that ill-fated kiss and grope with Prospero, Ellie was far from charmed by Crenshaw.
Creating snakes was pretty cool, but I haven’t felt safe trying anything like that in the castle.
The classes were tolerable. The food was uninteresting. The other witches were intriguing. In fact, one of the students, Daniel Monahan, was in her binders.
MISSING HIKER: YOSEMITE SEARCHERS HAVE FOUND NO CLUES
SAN FRANCISCO—The search for Daniel Monahan, missing three weeks, continues this week. “Even seasoned hikers can get lost, and Mr. Monahan was a novice with poor health. We aren’t ruling out foul play, however,” one park ranger explained. “The chances of finding him decrease every day. Nature can be unforgiving.”
Monahan, an employee of a bank in Baltimore, was last seen standing alongside his backpacking gear. Several hikers saw him earlier that day. “We suggested he hire a guide.” Authorities are hoping tourists saw Monahan after this and will reach out with information to narrow the search area.
She had been surreptitiously looking in her binders and trying to find the rest of her classmates. Quickly, she had also realized Dominique was one of the women who kept to themselves on the periphery of the group.
PUBLIC ASKED FOR HELP IN LOCATING MISSING MOTHER
ALBUQUERQUE—The New Mexico Police have requested the public be on the lookout for Dominique Rodriguez,mother of three, who disappeared from her home in Angel Fire last Saturday. Ms. Rodriguez was due to pick the children up from their grandmother’s home late that afternoon. Police were called when Rodriguez’s car was found abandoned along U.S. Hwy 60.
Dominique had been quiet during the few history and rules classes they’d had, and Ellie caught herself wondering more about her than about the rules of Crenshaw. She felt weirdly guilty, though, wondering if all of the people she’d meet out and about were in her binders.
She began looking at older cases.How long had the missing been vanishing to Crenshaw?
Was Prospero one?
Ellie mostly ignored the classes themselves and spent her evenings rereading her binders, trying to match people with her news clippings. She didn’t bother with the class readings or practicing, since she wasn’t planning on staying in Crenshaw. She had no desire to learn things that would beliterallyerased from her mind as part of the siphoning process according to the chief witch.
But will they?
That question nagged the back of her mind. Prospero had failed to alter Ellie’s memories, so Ellie would probably have to pretend they had been erased. That would be much easier if she skipped learning things she didn’t need to know—and would be expected to forget—in the future.
Notactuallyforgetting Prospero… that was a more complicated topic. The Victorian witch took up much of Ellie’s thoughts. There was something about her. She felt like home, like everything Ellie had dreamed of finding in a woman. Not just the physical stuff, but her passion for protecting her home, her courage, her hints of a wicked sense of humor, her earnestness.
But she tried to erase my memories.Ellie kept looping back to that.
