Night School

‘What do you think it sounded like?’ Jo asked.

Allie shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Something with teeth.’ ‘A bear?’ Jo suggested impishly. ‘A dragon? A wookie?’

‘Jo, seriously!’ Allie was frustrated. ‘What happened last night was real. Gabe and Sylvain took it seriously. They didn’t seem to think we were being silly. They were … well, not scared, but like, really nervous. Now I feel like everyone’s trying to make us think we were hysterical. Or like it was some big joke. But I think there was something out there.’

Jo made a soothing gesture with her hands.

‘Look, Allie, something definitely happened, but it was dark, and I don’t think anybody knows whether or not it was really dangerous. We could have just scared ourselves. Gabe says some people went out last night looking for whatever it was, but they didn’t find anything.’ She smiled. ‘I can tell you it’s pretty unusual. It’s not like we usually get attacked by wild growly things. So don’t get too freaked out.’

Allie wasn’t convinced but she didn’t want to appear obsessed, so she nodded reluctantly.

‘You’re right. I’m sure you’re right.’

‘Right, so. Back to what to do tonight,’ Jo said. ‘If not Trivial Pursuit … backgammon? Something else? Monopoly? Noughts and crosses?’

Allie tried to summon interest in board games for Jo, but she found them dull at the best of times.

‘Have you ever played chess?’ Jo asked, finally.

Allie’s expression must have given her away because Jo’s face took on a determined focus.

‘Seriously? That’s outrageous. Well, I’m about to take care of that right now.’

Jumping off the sofa, she knelt beside the table in front of them and pulled a shoebox-sized wooden box from underneath it. From it she began to pull out glossy pieces. Setting the black pieces on her side, she handed Allie a white knight.

Allie held it up and made a neighing sound. Jo gave her a withering look.

‘Pony,’ Allie said weakly.

‘Get serious, Allie. So you hate board games. Fine. Chess is not a board game. Chess is only sort of a game, because really chess is war.’

When Allie made a face Jo added firmly, ‘So chess is exciting.’ She pointed at the piece Allie still held. ‘That is not a pony. That is a knight that kills.’ Pointing at a square she said: ‘Put it there.’

Trying to look serious, Allie placed the knight where she was told but, shooting Jo a rebellious glance she murmured ‘good horsey’ under her breath.

Jo ignored her and picked up a pawn.

‘These are your foot soldiers. They have the least freedom and the least power, but because they’re willing to sacrifice themselves for their betters you can’t win without them.’

She set down the little round-headed piece and pulled out a piece shaped like a castle tower.

‘This is your rook – the king’s fortress. It is the only piece on the board that can legally take the king’s place at any time. Its role is to confuse the enemy. It goes here.’

Setting it down she picked up two more pieces. In her right hand she held a piece shaped vaguely like a minaret. ‘The bishop. Slick and dangerous, he has huge power. I think of him as the queen’s bit of rough.’ Now she waved the tall, regal piece in her left hand. ‘The king. Almost always weaker than you’d think – all the pieces protect him but he almost never helps anyone else, because if he does he could die.’

Allie cupped her chin in her hand. ‘This is like Shakespeare, only … lamer.’

Now Jo picked up a slender, crowned white piece and handed it to her. ‘The queen. She’s a complete bitch. But if you want to win, you have got to work with her.’

‘Great,’ Allie said. ‘What happens next? And at what point do I begin kicking your arse?’

Jo handed her the white pieces. ‘If you practise and work hard? Maybe by your twenty-seventh birthday. I’ve been playing chess since I was five. Set yours out the way I’ve done mine, then I’ll beat you for the first time.’

Allie arranged her pieces as a mirror image of Jo’s.

‘So, tell me a bit about your friends,’ she said, picking up the queen. ‘Lisa and Lucas seem nice, but Ruth and Phil I couldn’t really tell …’

Jo nodded. ‘I think you’ll really like Lisa – she was my first friend at Cimmeria. Ruth’s cool but she’s kind of, I don’t know, intense, I guess. So you have to be in the mood to deal with her. Phil’s OK – he tells terrible jokes when he loosens up. But he’s kind of shy around new people.’

At that moment, Ruth ran into the room, breathless, her clothes soaked and her wet hair dropping beads of water.

‘Jo.’

She stood in front of them, panting, her hands clutching her sides as if she’d run very quickly. Water puddled on the floor at her feet.

Allie froze, the queen still in her hand. Jo seemed speechless, but Ruth didn’t wait to be asked.

‘It’s Gabe.’





EIGHT