A Witch In Winter (17 page)

‘Really? How? How is it different? Come on, if you’re so big on the bare facts, what was her maiden name?’

‘Anna …’ His voice was warning.

‘When did you get married? Were you even married at all?’

‘Anna, stop this.’

‘Is she alive or dead?’ I pursued relentlessly. The sight of Dad’s face tore at me but I had no sympathy to spare today and pressed on with an almost malicious delight in his pain. ‘What happened? Come on, what happened? What
happened
?’

He stood for a moment, his face wrung with desperation. It was almost as if he
wanted
to speak but just couldn’t. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Then he turned to leave, slamming the door behind him.

I didn’t see him again that night, and at breakfast we discussed progress on the bathroom and pretended that nothing had happened. It was all very English. But Dad hadn’t forgotten, I could see that, from the wariness in his eyes and the way he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t watching.

My tiredness and the row with Dad had taken my mind off Seth for one night, but on Sunday I had nothing else to worry about, except some stupid essay I hadn’t finished, and I spent a sleepless night, dreading seeing Seth in Maths the next morning. What would he say? Would we still sit together or would he find some way of getting out of it? The way he’d looked last night I wouldn’t have put it past him to change his name to the opposite end of the alphabet by deed-poll, or drop the A-level altogether, if that was what it took to avoid me.

I needn’t have worried. When I turned up, my mouth sour with too much coffee and too little breakfast, his seat was empty. It was empty in History too, and again the next day. I moved from class to class like an automaton, shunning conversation, sitting by myself at breaks, sleepwalking through the days, then tossing and turning at night.

First June, then Liz tried to talk to me, but my curt replies to their questions and my cold, closed face soon had them returning, baffled, to their crowd, shrugging their shoulders at my odd mood. No one tried again after that.

There’d been a coolness between us since the sleepover at my house anyway. Maybe it was embarrassment over what had happened. Maybe it was mystification or resentment at the way Seth had fallen at my feet. Whatever – they were still perfectly pleasant, but I got the sense that they’d let me do the running for a while, and while things had still been so complicated with Seth I’d let it slide, promising myself that I’d make it up to t kke , ahem afterwards, when things were sorted out. Now, my reserve seemed to be the last straw, and I was left alone.

They weren’t the only people withdrawing from me. More and more I found myself alone in lessons. Sometimes the motive was obvious – all Caroline’s friends avoided me studiously, which ruled out half the girls. But the reason behind the boys’ aversion was more mysterious. Very often there was a seat free beside me and some boy would hasten over, only to think better of it and back away. Once I was even talking to some guy in the dinner line when his friend walked up and nudged him. He seemed to recall something he’d forgotten and with a muffled, ‘Oh,’ made poor excuses and melted away. I tried not to care – but it was impossible not to feel hurt. Invisibility, I could have coped with. I didn’t mind being overlooked, in fact there would have been a sort of restfulness to it, compared to all the whispering and gossip over what had happened with Seth and Caroline. But being shunned was harder to cope with. In vain I tried to think what I might be doing wrong. But the only answers were things I couldn’t change: Caroline, Seth, me.

Luckily the fatwa didn’t seem to affect Emmaline, and on Thursday she sought me out at lunch.

‘What the hell is going on?’ she demanded with her usual lack of tact, banging her tray down next to mine in the canteen.

‘What do you mean?’ I said, dully.

‘Well, where’s Seth?’

‘How should I know?’ I countered, but I said it with less than complete conviction. Emmaline put her hands on her hips.

‘Oh pur-lease, Anna. You go out in his boat, a freak storm blows up, then he disappears for a week? And this is all supposed to be nothing to do with you?’

‘Oh for crying out loud! Does everyone know everything in this bloody village?’

‘More or less, yes. So come clean and fess up. His mum’s giving out some rubbish about him being suddenly called away to visit an ill relative. Who apparently has no name, isn’t on the phone, and doesn’t require Seth’s mother’s presence. Forgive me for being a little sceptical.’ She raised one narrow eyebrow and I caved.

‘OK, I’ll tell you, but not here. After school, OK?’

‘OK,’ she agreed. ‘We’ll meet at the south gate, shall we?’

That afternoon we met at the gate and walked slowly up the hill. After the rush of students had passed us I told her in a low voice everything that had happened. I included everything, even Seth’s grandfather’s parting remark. The only thing I left out was what Seth had told me about his fight in the bar. I felt that was his secret, not mine.

‘So he knows.’ Emmaline’s face was set in lines I could not ks I this read. I nodded.

‘Well you’ve got balls, Anna. I’ll give you that.’

There was a long silence. I wasn’t sure how to respond to this and eventually said, ‘Er, thanks. What do you think I should do now?’

‘Do?’ She shrugged. ‘What can you do? Nothing. Sit tight and hope to hell he doesn’t spill the beans.’

‘Spill the beans? What, tell someone you mean? Why would he?’

‘More to the point, why wouldn’t he? He doesn’t owe you anything. And he’s bloody angry, by the sound of it.’

‘But who’d believe him? Everyone would think he was mad.’

‘Not everyone.’

‘Oh come on!’

‘I wouldn’t think he was mad, would I? If he came to me.’

‘But you’re a w— you know.’

‘Exactly.’

‘What – you mean other people, other people like us, they might disapprove?’

She gave a tight nod.

‘But why?’ I asked. ‘What’s it to them?’

‘A lot, Anna. Remember how angry Mum was about the storm demon and stuff? It’s not in our interests to have people blundering about, telling our secrets.’

A chill ran through me.

‘What might happen?’ I asked in a small voice. Emmaline took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder.

‘Look, we shouldn’t be talking like this in public. Can you come over to mine?’

‘Yes, of course,’ I said, really worried now.

‘OK, let’s go. I’ll explain when we get there.’

Maya was busy in the shop and only waved as we made our way up the back stairs to the flat. I sat hunched on a stool in the kitchen while Emmaline put on the kettle and stuffed some scones into the toaster. Then she sat down opposite me at the kitchen table, unpacking her school bag. She didn’t seem in a hurry to get back to the topic of Seth, so at last, when we’d both had tea and buttered scones, I said, ‘So, what were you going to tell me, out on the street?’

Emmaline swallowed an k sw

‘Look, please don’t repeat any of this, OK? Mum didn’t want to tell you – she said we weren’t necessarily the best judges and that you had to make up your own mind when the time came. I think she knows something – or perhaps Sienna’s seen something in the future, I don’t know. Whatever it is, they’re not telling me. But I think if you’re going to have a run in with the Ealdwitan you deserve to know as much as possible in advance.’

‘The Ee-ald what?’ I stumbled. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard the word, but somehow I’d never caught it properly, they seemed to skip over it, almost uneasily.

‘The Ealdwitan.’ Emmaline had lowered her voice, though surely it was impossible anyone would overhear us up here. ‘They’re kind of like … a council. They set laws and ensure they’re not broken, and they band together against foreign forces if necessary.’

‘Like a government?’ I said, confused. ‘Or like police, do you mean?’

‘Not like either, really,’ Emmaline said slowly. ‘And yet … I suppose they do have an element of both those things. Imagine the House of Lords, crossed with the Skull and Bones – does that makes any sense?’

‘Not really. What kind of council? Who elects them?’

‘No one. The key posts are supposed to be hereditary – drawn from four or five of the key Families and the rest are appointed. Oh—’ she gave an exclamation of annoyance, ‘I’m not explaining this very well. Look, to understand you need to know a bit about our society – it’s very clannish, and there are a handful of Families who wield a lot of power. Most people have links to one or other of them and they run the Ealdwitan between them. The council seats go to Family heads, and the boring administrative positions are appointed to people who show the right “qualities” – you get tapped on the shoulder at university and invited off for an interview at some secret, backstreet address in London.’

‘If it’s so secret, how do you know all this?’ I asked. Emmaline shrugged.

‘Everyone knows about the Ealdwitan, to some extent. It’s in their interests to make their power talked about – just not the specifics. There are rumours – there are supposed to be members of the Ealdwitan in the Cabinet and the House of Lords, and at least two of the Law Lords are apparently Ealdwitan members. Some of the Oxbridge colleges are allegedly bristling with them. But most of what I know comes from Abe – he got in trouble with them a while back and found himself on the sharp end of their supposed justice.’

‘What happened?’

Emmaline shook her head.

‘It’s not fair for me to tell you – you’ll have to ask Abe yourself some time.’

‘So …’ I was staggeri k waed.ng under the weight of all this new information, desperately trying to process it. ‘So where do I come into all this?’

‘One of their major tenets is secrecy, and not interfering with the outwith … Non-magical people,’ she added, seeing my blank look. ‘The edict is supposed to protect us from being persecuted, and them from exploitation.’

‘OK,’ I said slowly, ‘that seems fair enough. I can see that you could do a lot of harm to someone if you had power and they didn’t.’

‘Yes,’ said Emmaline patiently, ‘it does seem fair enough, as laws go, but you broke it with your spell on Seth.’

‘Oh.’ Coldness stirred in the pit of my stomach.

‘And like most of the Ealdwitan’s laws, they’re mainly concerned about the ones protecting their own cushy nests. So as long as you don’t make too many ripples, you’re fine. You could, for example, quite easily get away with a discreet little love potion and even if they found out, you’d be unlikely to get anything more than a telling off. But what will be harder for them to swallow is what you did next.’

‘You mean – I told him?’

‘Precisely. Anything that rocks the boat is deeply unpopular. And if you
seriously
rock the boat, you’re up the creek without a paddle.’

‘So … how would they know? That I told him, I mean?’

‘They won’t. Unless Seth passes on your little nugget of info to someone who passes it back to them. That’s why you’re in his hands now. That’s why you’d better hope he keeps his pretty mouth shut.’

I swore and Emmaline raised that sardonic eyebrow again.

‘Nice language, Anna.’

‘Sorry, sorry.’

‘Oh for Pete’s sake, I’m joking! I’m not the boss of you. You can turn the air blue for all I care. You’ve got reason enough.’

‘But I didn’t know!’ I said. ‘Surely they’ll realize I didn’t do it deliberately. Why didn’t Simon say something when he suggested telling Seth?’

‘Well he didn’t exactly
suggest
it, did he, Anna? He said he’d had an idea but it wasn’t practical because it was too dangerous, if you remember.’

Now she said it, I did remember. But I’d been so focussed on the idea of freeing Seth …

‘In fact, if I recall correctly, Mum actually
vetoed
it, and specifically mentioned the Ealdwitan as one of the reasons she thought it was a dreadful idea. I think the word “apeshit” was ban kitterdied about.’

‘Oh help.’ I put my head in my hands. I felt like banging my forehead on the wooden table. ‘I’ve really screwed up again, haven’t I?’

‘Mmm, well, I wouldn’t say you’re exactly wrong there.’ Then she saw my distraught expression and softened a little. ‘Look on the bright side, you’ve mainly dropped yourself in it this time. At least you haven’t dragged anyone else down with you.’

‘Huh, thanks,’ I said. Oddly enough though, it
was
a comfort. If the Ealdwitan were after anyone over this, it would be me. And, after all, I deserved it.

‘Anna.’ Emmaline put her hand on my arm. ‘Look, don’t worry too much. I shouldn’t have been so dramatic. Seth’s not likely to tell anyone, is he? And anyway, I’ll be the first to admit – I’m a bit biassed over the Ealdwitan. I think Abe’s opinion of them has probably rubbed off on me. They’re not out to get you – not really. They’re just not very nice people to cross, even by accident.’

I couldn’t think of anything to reply. I could only hope that Seth was even nicer than I thought he was, and even more forgiving.