“You willneverlet me live that down.”
“It was practically the first thing you said to me after ‘how do you do’!”
Ella elbowed her. “You laughed, if I recall.”
She had indeed. That was when she knew they would hit it off.
She and Ella got along in precisely the way she’d always thought she would with her sister, but so far had not been able to manage. Perhaps the thirteen years between her and Lydia explained why they were a step off from each other, like square dancers listening to different callers. But probably not. Ella was twenty-three, closer to Lydia’s age than her own.
Ella leaned against the counter, the mischievous twist of her lips giving way to a sigh. “Would your parents have sent you to college, do you think? If ...”
As frank as she usually was, Ella let the rest go unsaid.If they hadn’t died.
Beatrix tipped the vegetables into the sink, the potatoes hitting with a hardthunk-thunk-thunk. She didn’t have to guess at the answer. Uncertainty might have been better.
“I’d thought they would send me—my mother told me women were capable of anything, and my father would always smile and nod when she said it.” She shrugged. “But his ledgers showed they never would have been able to afford it. Even before he fell apart.”
“And yet you’re managing.”
“Well, the boarders’ rent helps. And I started saving for it before Lydia went to grade school. You can see what Ihaven’tbeen spending money on,” she added, sweeping an arm around a kitchen that at minimum needed a new refrigerator, stove and floor, the story of the house in miniature. “On an absolutely related note, Evelyn Becker just informed me she’s moving out tomorrow. She took what I assume is a nicer room on Main Street.”
“I know.” Ella grinned in what Beatrix thought a rather unfeeling manner until she added, “She’s trading places with me so I can move in here. Sorry, I thought she was going to let me tell you before she gave you her notice.”
“Oh, Ella! You can’t give up your room—it’s closer to school, and it really is nicer …”
“I’d rather be here. With friends.”
Beatrix dried her hands on her apron and gave Ella a hug. “Thank you.”
“Now we can go tromping to work together. And it should be easier for me to help with the conference, so send Lydia my way if she’s putting too much of the load on you. You know she does,” Ella murmured.
Beatrix didn’t disagree. But it felt disloyal to say so out loud. It felt disloyal, even, to say nothing.
“She really needed the conference and election to be next year—then she’d be done with college,” she said, reaching for a justification as she chopped the potatoes. “And with all these problems cropping up …”
Ella shot her a dark look. “You know what I think about that.”
“Theycouldall be coincidences.”
“Maybe. Or we have a spy in our ranks.”
The idea made her as queasy as when Ella had first suggested it. Who could it be?
“I’m just saying we should be careful,” Ella added, putting up a hand. “I know Lydia can pull it off.”
Oh, to have the same level of confidence. True, Lydia could galvanize the troops. The last three years ofHazelhurst graduates rushed home to breathe new life into their local League chapters, thanks to her.
But so far those alumnae accounted for twenty of the ninety-six state presidents and vice presidents. Adding in Lydia and Rosemarie, twenty-two. Far outnumbered by the old guard, who thought women’s place in society was perfectly appropriate as it was and who didn’t see the battle against wizards as a way to press for equal rights.
She glanced at Ella. “Lydia needs to change a lot of minds.”
“She’ll get her chance at the conference.” Ella patted her on the shoulder. “Scoot over, and I’ll peel the carrots.”
CHAPTER 8
Aburning sensation pulled Peter from a sound sleep, and it took a moment before he was awake enough to realize why a coin-sized part of his collarbone hurt. Then he launched out of bed, disentangling himself from the sheets, and pulled a pair of pants at random from his suitcase while trying to keep the suddenly-hot locket on the chain around his neck from touching skin.
Someone was casting spells in Ellicott Mills.
