A Witch In Winter (21 page)

‘No?’ He gave me a wicked sideways look. ‘How old would you say Sienna was then?’

‘I don’t know.’ I felt uncomfortably put on the spot. ‘Twenty-two? Twenty-three?’

‘Try thirty-five.’

‘
No!
’ I was genuinely shocked. ‘Are you joking? She can’t be.’

‘She’s a witch, she can do what she likes with the bloody wrinkles. C’mon, don’t tell me you won’t be giving your crows’ feet a little lift in ten years?’

‘How old are you then?’

‘Guess.’

‘Twelve,’ I said sulkily.

‘Very good. Just for that, Miss Cheeky, I won’t tell you. Only that I’m younger than Simon. And
much
younger than Maya.’

‘How old’s Emmaline?’

‘She’s seventeen, genius. School entry is based on your birth certificate, not your crows’ feet, in case you hadn’t noticed. It’s all cosmetic of course – if there’s one thing witchcraft can’t do, it’s make you immortal. Or raise the dead. So it’s all pretty bloody useless at the end of the day.’

There was a curious bitterness in his voice, but I felt I didn’t know him well enough to probe. He turned the car up the cliff road, and I suddenly realized I had very little time left to ask him about the Ealdwitan.

‘Look, this isn’t what I wanted to ask you. Abe, what would you do? In my shoes, I mean?’

We drove in silence for a while, then on the cliff top he pulled to one side and stopped.

‘I can’t drive and think at the same time. What would I do? Run. Run until they stopped the hunt – or they caught me.’

I felt cold.

‘Don’t say that.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I can’t run – it’s not an option.’

‘You’ve got legs haven’t you? Why not?’

‘Because.’ Lots of answers he would probably discount or think stupid. A-levels. Money. Dad. Seth. ‘Because I’m seventeen, Abe.’

‘I left home at seventeen,’ he said mildly. ‘I survived. Well, barring the fact I had to sell my virtue and some of my organs.’ Then, sudden { Thn,ly serious, ‘Look, Anna, the way I see it, they’ve got you in a cleft stick. They want you. They know where you are. In your shoes, I wouldn’t be wanting to say either yes
or
no. They aren’t very nice people to know, trust me. They make better friends than enemies, but they’re the kind of people you don’t want as either.’

‘Oh. So you don’t think they’ll let me walk away?’

‘I don’t know. I hope so, Anna. It depends what their agenda is. They may just want to know where you are, keep an eye on you. In which case they’ll probably accept a polite “no thanks” and an assurance that you’ll be a good girl. But without knowing what they want of you, I don’t know.’

‘Great,’ I said bitterly. ‘Just great. Being a witch isn’t very bloody magical so far.’

‘You want magic?’ He smiled at me in the darkening car. I shrugged. Then I shivered – the balmy June night had grown almost chilly.

‘Are you cold?’ I asked. Abe said nothing, only continued to smile. I frowned, waiting for him to say something, then I realized the car was
really
cold.

I looked around and gasped.

The most beautiful frost flowers were creeping across the windows, starting from the corners of the windscreen and spreading, fern-like, across the glass. As I sat, holding my breath, Abe painted the car with patterns so exquisite I could only sit and marvel, forgetting my cold fingers, forgetting the Ealdwitan, forgetting everything. Finally, we were in a white cave, each glass panel etched with patterns so lovely I hardly dared exhale for fear of melting them.

Then Abe let his breath go and warm air flooded through the car. Condensation formed on the glass, then little runnels of water, and within minutes the windows were clear, the car just an ordinary piece of junk again.

‘Abe,’ I whispered, ‘how did you do that? It was so beautiful.’

‘So useless, you mean.’ He smiled and turned the key in the engine. ‘We’d better get you home.’

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

M
onday morning. Double whammy. Maths – where I would probably see Seth for the first time in a week. And after that History – with Mr Brereton.

But when I got to Maths, Seth’s side of the desk was still empty. I sat down with a strange feeling of mingled relief and regret.

Mr Henderson began ticking off the register while we got out our homework, his eyes darting from student to student as he ran down the list. At last he closed the file and asked, ‘Can anyone enlighten me as to Seth Water’s whereabouts? Is he still off sick?’

‘Nope,’ said a voice from the doorway, ‘just late. Sorry, Mr Henderson.’

And Seth walked into the room.

My pulse speeded up to a sickening race as he sat down beside me. He looked thinner, paler, but it suited him. Even sick, he looked better than every other guy in the room. I watched him hungrily as Mr Henderson ran through the homework questions. Then, as Mr Henderson turned towards the board, Seth looked at me and smiled. My heart flipped over – and he leaned towards me, twined his hand in my hair, and kissed me, hard and fierce.

There was a gasp from the rest of the class and I yanked away, my cheeks flaming. Just in time, as Mr Henderson turned back to the class, frowning crossly at the interruption.

‘Is there something someone would like to share with us?’ His eyes swept the room, stopping at our desk, where he took in my furious scarlet blush and Seth’s open, grinning delight. ‘Anna, Seth? Something to contribute?’

‘Sorry, Mr Henderson, just something I wanted to give Anna.’ Seth’s grin was wide and infectious, and so good-natured that Mr Henderson just sighed and turned back to his problem.

Seth said nothing for the rest of the hour, but every bone exuded his triumph. At the end of class I turned to him furiously.

‘If you ever do that again, Seth Waters, I will do more than enchant you,’ I hissed under my breath. ‘I’ll make you regret you were ever born.’

‘Go on, don’t stop. You’re even more beautiful when you’re angry,’ he said teasingly.

‘I mean it,’ I said severely, fighting to maintain my crossness. ‘I’ll – I’ll turn you into a frog.’

‘I thought it was supposed to be the other way around.’ He grinned. ‘The kiss transforms the frog into the handsome prince. But feel free to practise, I like the way your other spells have turned out so far.’

‘Seth, please. I’m not joking. I’m not a safe person for you to be around, you know that. What happened – that night, last week – it didn’t change anything.’

‘No,’ he agreed defiantly. ‘It didn’t change anything. You can talk all you like, Anna, but we both know how you feel and how I feel. And you’re right. That’s not going to change.’

Damn him. I swung round and stalked away. The last thing I heard was his mocking voice following me down the corridor.

‘You’ve still got to see me in History …’

Oh God, Mr Brereton. For once I had more on my mind than just Seth. It should have been a relief to be worrying about somyinn="ething else, but it wasn’t.

The lesson passed in a grim blur of dread and stumbling answers, until at last the bell went with teeth-jarring abruptness. Mr Brereton dismissed the class and then added, as if as an afterthought, ‘Oh, Anna, there was something you wanted to discuss I think. The rest of you may go.’

I waited submissively by my desk as the rest of the class filed out, my stomach churning and turning, still not certain what I was going to tell him. Because in spite of what Maya, Emmaline and Abe had told me, the lure of the Ealdwitan’s offer was tempting. Knowledge. Guidance. And surely, surely with all that power,
they
would be able to put right what had gone wrong with Seth?

Wasn’t it possible that the Ealdwitan weren’t as bad as they’d been painted? I only had the Pellers’ side of the picture, and even though I liked and trusted Maya, I wasn’t naïve enough to accept her word completely without question.

But there was something about Mr Brereton’s smooth, ultra-reassuring manner that freaked me out. Why was he so eager to persuade me? What did he want? I had the strong feeling of being backed into a corner – and it brought out every ounce of stubbornness in my character.

Now he softly closed the classroom door, smiling his terrifying, cosy smile, and something inside me clicked into place. In that instant, I knew what I was going to say. I just didn’t know what would happen next.

‘There. Now we can chat, uninterrupted. Not that we don’t have ways of securing privacy from the outwith, but the simplest methods are usually the best, I find. How are you my dear? Did you enjoy the discussion today? Henry VIII is such a fascinating subject, I always think.’

The charade made me feel sick.

‘If we can’t be overheard, Mr Brereton, please, let’s drop all the pretence.’

‘Very well. My, my, like most of the young these days you are distressingly abrupt. What is your answer then, my dear?’

I swallowed. Was I about to make the second biggest mistake of my life? Of Seth’s life? I felt something biting into my palms, and realized that my hands were clenched so hard that my fingernails were cutting my skin.

‘I’m sorry, but it’s no.’ I said. Mr Brereton inclined his head and I felt compelled to add, ‘Thank you.’

He sighed.

‘Well, my dear, I won’t pretend that my friends won’t be disappointed. They have great admiration for your talents and were looking forward to helping you control and explore them. But of course we respect your decision.’

I blinked. This seemed almost too easy.

‘Really?’

‘But of course! We have no use for unwilling students.

However, in view of the somewhat, well,
unfortunate
consequences that have attended your previous experiments, my friends have a little advice.’

I waited.

‘They merely ask – or perhaps that’s too strong a word – let’s say they merely
suggest
that if you prefer to keep a lone path, that you do not interfere with the outwith, you do not practise magic upon them, and you keep secret your talents from them. We all have a responsibility to safeguard our community, and equally to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Does this seem reasonable?’

‘
More
than reasonable!’ I said with heartfelt relief. I never wanted to cast another spell on another ordinary person ever again. Seth had certainly cured me of that.

‘You absolutely undertake not to cast a spell on, or to do any magic in the presence of, an outwith then? You do understand what I mean by this term, by the way?’

Frankly, I would have promised not to cast any spell, ever again, ever. Agreeing not to interfere with ordinary people seemed like mere common sense.

‘Yes, I understand,’ I said happily. ‘Yes, I agree completely.’

‘Otherwise my friends may have to intervene,’ Mr Brereton warned.

I nodded again.

‘I quite understand. And don’t worry, I promise I’ll keep in line.’

Mr Brereton smiled.

‘Very well then, let us part friends, Miss Winterson. I wish you well upon your magical path in life. Your more prosaic academic path, however, leads you back here to my classroom tomorrow, which brings me to ask whether you have completed the abstract for your project with Seth Waters yet?’

‘No,’ I said guiltily. ‘But I will, I truly promise I will, Mr Brereton.’

‘Hmm, well I appreciate you may have had a lot on your mind.’

Was it my imagination or was there a twinkle in his eye?

‘Let us say Wednesday for the abstract?’

‘Wednesday,’ I echoed. I’d better tell Seth …

In English I joyously filled in Emmaline – my words tumbling over each other with relief.

‘It was totally, totally fine. All that worry over nothing – I don’t think they’re half as sinister as Abe made out. Honestly, he was just like: OK, it’s fine either way, just don’t enchant any more students.’

‘What did he actually
say
?’ Emmaline asked, sceptically. I repeated the conversation as accurately as I could remember. She looked dissatisfied but then Ms Wright called on her for a question and we had to turn our attention to the board. When the discussion was finished, we were able to talk again and Emmaline turned back to me.

‘A bit of a change of tone, don’t you think?’ she hissed.

‘What?’ I whispered back.

‘Over the course of the conversation. I mean, first of all it’s “we merely suggest” and then he gets around to an
absolute undertaking
not to do it under
any
circumstances. And finally it’s “my friends will have to intervene”. He kind of led you into a noose, don’t you think?’

‘Well …’ I floundered, ‘but it’s so totally reasonable …’

‘Exactly.’ There was still that strange dissatisfied look on her face. ‘It’s
entirely
reasonable. No sane person could disagree. Which is what makes me think there’s another agenda there.’