‘Check,’ he murmured, arching one eyebrow.
Allie glared at the board but couldn’t find a way out. ‘Balls.’
‘What if our parents try to pull us out?’ Zoe asked.
They all fell silent.
‘That guy dragged Caroline to the car,’ Rachel said. ‘Are they going to do that to half the people in this room?’
‘What can we do, though?’ Allie asked.
Sylvain picked up a discarded chess piece. Holding the white knight in his hand, he looked at it thoughtfully for a moment. Then he held it up.
‘We can warn them.’
Sylvain’s statement caused an instant outcry. How could they do that? If they did, wouldn’t everyone know what they’d been up to? How should they say they found this information out in the first place? Besides, it wasn’t like they could send everyone an anonymous email. If they spread the word, the instructors would find out what they were up to and put a stop to it.
It was Rachel who’d found the solution.
‘Never underestimate the power of gossip,’ she said simply.
They all looked at her with blank incomprehension.
‘I do not understand?’ Nicole looked around for an explanation.
It was Carter who figured it out first. ‘Oh you are awfully clever, Rachel,’ he said, as understanding spread slowly across his face. ‘Tell the gossips and they’ll tell the world.’
‘Exactly,’ Rachel said. ‘We tell five of the biggest gossips in the school what Nathaniel’s doing, and that their parents might be coming for them next.’ She looked at them expectantly but they still didn’t get it. She rolled her eyes. ‘They’ll tell everyone else… Come on, you lot! It’s better than Facebook. Everyone will know what’s happening by sunset and it won’t be traceable.’
As they absorbed this information, the others exchanged looks.
‘And what happens then?’ Nicole asked the question that was in all their minds.
‘Then they can make a choice,’ Sylvain said. ‘What happens after that is up to them.’
‘What could they do, though, really?’ Carter asked. ‘Run away?’
‘They could run away,’ Allie said. ‘Or they could fight back.’
EIGHTEEN
T
he next morning, Allie was up and out in the frigid walled garden by six. It was the first real day of pretending everything was normal when nothing was. Her stomach was tight with nervousness and excitement – today they would put their plan into action.
She’d nearly forgotten about detention amid all the excitement, but as they all split up to their respective dorms the night before Carter had called after her, ‘See you in the garden, bright and early…’
Allie had stopped in her tracks, staring at him in disbelief.
‘Seriously? Do you think Isabelle actually expects us to stick to detention with all this going on?’ She swung her arm around in an irritated gesture.
‘Uh… yes?’ He shot her a look that said he thought she was being dense on purpose. ‘You have indefinite detention. Indefinite. She will not be happy if we just decide not to show up because of the apocalypse we haven’t been told about.’
‘Fine.’ Allie stomped up the stairs after the other girls. ‘Because I have nothing better to do.’
‘I’m busy too, you know,’ he’d called after her but she hadn’t looked back.
Clutching a torch, she slipped through the open garden gate. The weather had warmed slightly, and the frozen earth had thawed into a soupy mud. Her head filled with thoughts of spies and Nathaniel, she sloshed through it in search of Mr Ellison.
She found him setting up at the edge of the orchard, whistling tunelessly to himself as he worked.
‘My best worker is the earliest one,’ he said cheerfully. ‘How are you today?’
‘Fine.’ She stood up straight, trying to look fine.
‘That’s good,’ he said. He carried a massive armload of equipment out of an open shed. ‘Makes an improvement. Feel good and others around you will feel good by association.’
Allie didn’t notice she’d wrinkled her nose in disbelief until he waved a finger at her. ‘It’s true. Try it if you don’t believe me. You’ll see.’
‘OK…’ Her tone was doubtful.
‘You’re going to be working in the berry section today.’ He handed her a rake and clippers. ‘Getting the bushes ready for spring. Follow me and I’ll show you what to do.’
They headed back across the dark garden.
‘Where’s Carter?’ Allie asked, jumping over a muddy hillock.
Mr Ellison’s brow lowered. ‘Late is all I know.’
‘Oh.’
The gardener was demonstrating how to tell the leafless blueberry branches from the blackberries when the sound of fast heavy footsteps made them both turn.
Before Allie realised what Mr Ellison was doing, he’d moved in front of her wielding a heavy iron hoe in his right hand as lightly as she might hold a pen.