“I’ll wait to see if Leo responds,” said Alison. Ceri looked like she was going to object. “Just for a couple of hours until you’ve had some rest. I’ll wake you if anything happens.”
“Promise you’ll wake me,” she said. “It would be nice to get a little rest. I imagine it’s going to be a long day in the library trying to figure this out.”
Oh Gods, the library. There was a disaster in there to be addressed before any research could be done at all.
“I promise I’ll wake you,” said Alison.
Ceri hobbled away, clearly inches from falling asleep where she stood.
“What do you think?” Alison asked Idris once Ceri was gone.
“I think he’s in a great deal of danger, wherever he is.” He read some of Leo’s description of his surroundings over Alison’s shoulder.
“The same place but with no people,” said Alison. “That does sound like the vine world. We were at the waterfalls near Weldan House. I had never been there before, but it was exactly the same when I visited after. The only people who were there were Keir and me and our neighbor who had gone in by mistake. But we were acting out a specific scene, a memory. It was almost impossible to break free from it. It doesn’t seem like that’s happening to Leo.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” said Idris. “He mentions some differences. The statue and the fence. We should ask the dean if he remembers when the statue was broken.”
“Or ask Groundskeeper Tomasar about the fence.”
“Good luck with that. He always seems to be in a rage whenever I see him.”
“Oh, I think he’s just grumpy. He has a very cute dog. Even Willow is a fan.”
They sat and watched the empty page after Ceri’s reply for a couple of minutes.
“You don’t have to wait up,” said Idris. “It’s my sister’s…whatever he is to her. I can keep an eye on it. If I had taken more time to teach him about the curses, we might not be in this mess.”
Alison had thought Idris had been a bit hard on Leo, but that didn’t make this his fault. “I don’t think Leo is the type who would have listened even if you’d warned him of the danger. Some lessons you have to learn for yourself. I’ll wait up. I’m awake now anyway, and I don’t think I can bring myself to get back on that floor.”
Idris stretched as he got up. “Tell me about it. I’ll admit that I’m curious about Leo’s research. My own magic can’t bemaintained when I’m asleep, and I’ve spent years researching why that is when clearly many curses endure across lifetimes. I’d give anything for the ability to turn those awful sheets into a bed that would last the night.”
“I’d offer to help, but I’m afraid we’ll need my powers for the library tomorrow,” said Alison.
Idris groaned as he walked away.
Alison was glad she didn’t have a sibling.
Chapter Twenty-Three
THE AFTERMATH
Ceri
Ceri awoke to the sound of chairs scraping on the floor. It seemed she had slept longer than she had intended, longer than most of the others, many of whom were already at the tables eating a cold breakfast.
The ‘lectrics were still out, then. Ceri looked around the room and spotted Alison at a table. Alison saw her walking over and shook her head.
“Nothing yet,” said Alison, handing Ceri back the journal.
“Don’t worry,” said Rinka. “Idris filled me in. I’m sure he’ll start writing again soon.”
Ceri wasn’t so certain, but there seemed to be little else she could do for him at the moment. She helped the others clear away bedsheets and rearrange the room until Dean Whittaker rapped his hand on the head table to get everyone’s attention.
“I’ve just received a pigeon from town saying the worst of the storm has passed, but we should expect more rain in the next day or so. So far, there appears to be minimal damage to the school. Some broken windows here and in town, some downed trees in the forest, some flooding down in the Quadrangle dormitories. We’ll be keeping our Quad friends here for a time while we clean up.” He nodded to a table of older students, wholooked less than pleased with the news they’d be staying with the freshers for a while longer.
“Unfortunately, our largest problem at the moment, other than the lack of ‘lectric power, is the bridge. The second bridge nearer to High House survived unscathed, but the first bridge has been washed out.”
There were quite a few groans and whispers at that news. There was only one road into High House: how were they meant to get into town?
