The notion that girls were certainly peculiar creatures flashed to mind, but after shoving that less-than-helpful notion aside, Seth inclined his head. “It’s forgotten, but tell me this, why is my sister put out with you?”
Phoebe heaved a dramatic sigh. “She thinks I ratted her out to you and Miss Merriweather at the fair, but she might not have stayed annoyed with me if I’d have agreed to voluntarily confine myself to my house in a show of solidarity for her house confinement. I made the mistake of refusing that demand, so she’s no longer talking to me or Coraline, who definitely ratted her out. Norma Jean is still chatting madly away with Velma, though, along with Mabel and even a few of the Zambarello sisters, who’ve lent her sympathetic ears regarding her confinement plight as they’ve experienced that type of plight often.”
“Why would any of Norma Jean’s friends, yourself included, willingly stay confined to your houses when Norma Jean, and Norma Jean alone, made the decision to wander off at the fair, dragging poor Velma into her misadventure with her?”
“I’m pretty sure there was no dragging of Velma involved, but Norma Jean, if you’re unaware, is the most in-demand young lady in our year.”
Seth frowned. “Why is my sister in such demand when it seems to me as if she might be unpleasantly bossy?”
Phoebe’s nose wrinkled. “Norma Jean’s always been bossy, but she’s also very entertaining and hosts the most amusing sleepovers. Plus, given how determined she is to find success with her plays, she’ll absolutely be a famous playwright someday.”Phoebe caught his eye. “Who doesn’t want to be friends with a potential famous person?”
“Potential fame or not, I’m going to have to have a chat with her because demanding her friends voluntarily enact punishments upon themselves in order to keep her happy doesn’t speak well of my sister.”
“Just don’t tell her you heard it from me,” Phoebe said. “And you should also know that Velma’s confinement isn’t voluntary because Mrs. Chickering placed her on what Velma is deeminghouse arrest. Unlike your mother, Mrs. Chickering isn’t letting Velma lounge about the house. Instead, she’s making Velma do a long list of chores every day, such as mopping the floors, washing windows, and even scrubbing out the retiring rooms.”
“Seems as if Velma should be feeling far sorrier for herself than my sister is.”
“Exactly what I was thinking, but... since I have you all to myself, let’s not waste our time talking about your sister because I have a few questions to ask you.”
Trepidation was swift. “These aren’t going to be questions revolving around all that plotting you and your friends have decided to do, are they?”
Phoebe’s mouth gaped open for the briefest of seconds. “You know about the plotting?”
“Afraid so.”
“That’s certainly going to add a twist to things, but...” She brightened. “Since you know about the plotting, we can now involve you in the details, as well as coordinate events that’ll see you in Miss Merriweather’s company often, and events that won’t involve you escorting Miss Merriweather to the dungeon, something Coraline and I witnessed you doing just yesterday.” She gave a knowing nod of her head. “If you’re unaware, dungeons aren’t exactly conducive to promoting a romantic interlude.”
Seth refused a shudder because, even though spending timewith Annaliese was certainly something he wanted to pursue, learning that a gaggle of adolescent girls were evidently longing to plan out romantic interludes for him was enough to leave any gentleman fearing for his sanity.
“I’m not sure there’s any need for coordinated planning just yet, but—”
The rest of Seth’s sentence came to a rapid end when Phoebe gave him a swat with a fan she’d just pulled out of her sleeve, and a fan she began to wave ever so slowly in front of her face right as Riley rejoined them.
After pouring Phoebe a glass of lemon-free water, Riley handed it to her before he turned to Seth. “According to the cook, Miss Merriweather and the staff have yet to find the skunk, so she wanted me to make sure all the students and staff stay outside the castle for now.”
Seth frowned. “Sound advice since it takes quite a long time for skunk scent to dissipate. But now that you’ve returned, Riley, I’ll leave you to provide hydration to any other student in need of water because I think I should start looking for this elusive skunk as well.”
“I think there’s more than one skunk,” Phoebe said before she took a slow sip of her water, gave her lips a smack, then beamed another smile at Riley. “That hit the spot, but to return to my theory about the skunks—girls were running from several stinky rooms, something I imagine means there’s an entire family of skunks on the rampage in there.”
Seth stilled as a trace of foreboding took that moment to steal up his spine. “It would be really unusual for a surfeit of skunks, which is what a group of skunks is called, to be out and about during daylight hours, let alone deciding to make themselves at home in a building that’s occupied. But tell me this—did you see a skunk or two waddling around inside?”
Phoebe pulled her attention from Riley and shook her head. “I didn’t see a single skunk, let alone a surfeit, but I heard Velmayell something about seeing a black-and-white tail in the dining room before she ran for the door.”
“Was Velma running with Norma Jean toward that door?”
“I haven’t seen Norma Jean since before lunch, when we were both in Miss Merriweather’s calling card class. Miss Merriweather released us early because she said she had a lunch appointment.”
His sense of foreboding was immediately replaced with a sliver of satisfaction because, if he wasn’t much mistaken, Annaliese had been looking forward to their lunch quite like he’d been.
“You know, it’s odd, but I haven’t seen Norma Jean anywhere out here—or Velma, for that matter,” Phoebe said, snapping Seth from all pleasant thoughts of a luncheon with Annaliese as his sense of foreboding returned with a vengeance.
“If you’ll excuse me, Phoebe, I really need to have a word with Annaliese. But if you happen to run across Norma Jean, would you tell her I need to have a word with her as well?” Seth asked.
Leaving Phoebe saying something about how she doubted Norma Jean would listen to anything she had to say, Seth strode through the crowd of students who weren’t looking nearly as distressed anymore, coming to a halt when he caught sight of Annaliese hurrying down the front steps of the castle. She stopped once she stepped off the last step, glanced around, and settled her gaze on him. She was in motion a second later, unwrapping the scarf she’d tied around her face as Harriet scrambled along beside her, her little monkey face wrapped in a scarf as well.
“Seth,” Annaliese exclaimed once she reached him. “You’re just the gentleman I was hoping to find.”
“Because . . . ?”
