Night School: Legacy

As soon as dinner ended, Carter disappeared. When he turned up in the common room twenty minutes later, he looked pale. Allie was on a sofa pretending to read The Great Gatsby as somebody pounded on the piano, each note sending a shard of glass into her tired head.

‘Allie.’ His jaw was tight. ‘Can I have a word?’

Frowning, she looked up at him. He didn’t sound right and, when she met his eyes, she saw anger there. Fear uncurled near her heart.

Has he found out about Christopher?

She followed him into the hallway. His muscles tense, he took quick, jerky steps, shoving open the door of the great hall. When they walked into the vast dark room he didn’t turn on the light. His eyes glittered in the faint ambient glow from the windows.

‘Did you tell Isabelle about what Gabe said to me?’

Her heart seemed to stop. Swallowing hard, she nodded. ‘I didn’t want to, Carter, but I had to.’ She took a panicked step towards him. ‘Not to get you into trouble but just in case the information was useful to the work she and Raj Patel are doing.’ Her words sounded weak and pathetic to her own ears.

‘Bloody hell, Allie.’ He walked a few steps away then turned back to face her. ‘Why didn’t you at least warn me? Now I look like a … I don’t know. Liar? Murderer?’

Aghast, she shook her head with fierce insistence. ‘No, Carter. Isabelle would never think that. They’re just surprised you didn’t mention it – they know you’re not …’

‘Do they?’ He crossed his arms. ‘Thanks to you I think they’re not so certain of that any more.’

Her shoulders slumped and the pounding in her head grew exponentially louder. She’d messed this up, too. Why couldn’t she do anything right?

‘I’m so sorry, Carter. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. I just didn’t know what else to do.’ She tried to read his expression to see how much trouble he was in. ‘What are they going to do to you?’

‘Nothing,’ he muttered. ‘I mean not really. Isabelle was angry. And she told me she was disappointed in me. That I should know better. The usual. But you’re right. I don’t think she suspects me of anything.’

The tightness in her chest eased – he wasn’t in real trouble. ‘I’m sorry, Carter. It’s all my fault. I did the wrong thing. I know it sounds stupid but I was trying to help.’

And I trusted my instincts. Always an idiotic thing to do.

‘Damn it, Allie.’ He seemed to be calming down now and he walked back towards her. ‘Just be careful, OK? You can do a lot of damage trying to help.’

She nodded miserably. ‘Do you believe me, though? That I didn’t mean to get you in trouble?’

‘Of course I believe you.’ The question seemed to puzzle him and he pulled her into a rough hug. ‘You wouldn’t lie to me.’


After that, the throbbing in her head was making it hard to think, so Allie escaped to her room. When the door closed behind her, she glanced at the clock.

Eight-thirty. If she was going to be any use to Sylvain tonight she needed to get some rest. Setting her alarm for eleven-thirty she lay down on the bed.

But the moment her eyes closed, last night’s events played out for her like a film. She’d stayed in Sylvain’s room for hours while they plotted out what they would do tonight. It had been odd to feel so comfortable, curled up across from him on the bed, wearing his pyjamas, as he sketched out for her on a piece of paper her precise route for tonight. But the longer they talked the more relaxed she felt.

She didn’t realise she’d fallen asleep. Just, one minute she was awake and Sylvain was sketching the forest on to the map and talking about footpaths and the next minute she was sitting in the dining room, and Gabe was staring at her through the window.

The room was completely empty aside from her, Sylvain and Carter. Turning to Carter, Allie grabbed his arm, pointing at Gabe.

‘There! He’s right there!’

But he couldn’t see him, and he shook his head, a worried look on his face. ‘What are you talking about, Allie? There’s no one there.’

When she looked back to the window, Gabe wasn’t there any more. Instead, he was inside the dining room.

Walking towards them.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she spun to face Sylvain, her nails digging into his arm. ‘Can’t you see Gabe? He’s right there.’

‘Of course I can see him, Allie,’ Sylvain said calmly. ‘He’s standing right next to you.’

She didn’t know if her own scream woke her or Sylvain, who held her by the shoulders, shaking her. ‘Wake up, Allie.’

‘Sylvain?’ Her eyes scanned the room wildly. ‘Where am …?’ Then she remembered and her speeding heart slowed. ‘I fell asleep.’

The overhead light was off, although the desk lamp still cast a soft circle of light. At some point he’d put the papers away and covered her with a blanket.