Night School: Legacy

Glancing over at her he arched one eyebrow.

‘Marshmallowy stick thing, please.’

From the stack on the ground behind him, he pulled a whip-like length of freshly cut twig. Someone passed a bag of marshmallows over.

Bottles of wine and champagne made the rounds as well. Some people had plastic cups; others swigged directly from the bottle. When one was handed to Jo, Allie held her breath. But to her relief Jo waved it away.

‘I’m like a saint now,’ she told the person who’d tried to give it to her. ‘Haven’t you heard? St Jo of Not Drinking.’

Allie passed on the wine as well. After what had happened at the summer ball she wasn’t interested in losing control.

Jo stabbed another fluffy marshmallow on to the end of the stick.

‘They’re so good but I can only eat three,’ she said pleasantly. ‘And then I want to vom.’

Someone threw more wood on the fire and it flared brightly, casting the woods around them into darkness. Its heat seemed to curl soft woolly tendrils around them. Leaning back, Allie looked up at the ruined castle tower that loomed over them, its crenellated roof like jagged teeth and tiny archers’ window slits like eyes.

‘I wonder if there’s any truth to it,’ she murmured, thinking aloud.

Jo looked over at her enquiringly. Allie could just make out the blue of her eyes in the firelight.

‘The story of the lady being murdered, I mean,’ Allie said. ‘I wonder if it really happened.’

Jo held her marshmallow just above the dancing flames. ‘My brother said he saw her ghost when he was at school here.’

Allie leaned back doubtfully. ‘He was just trying to scare you.’

Looking uncomfortable, Jo shrugged. ‘Maybe. But I don’t think so. Tom isn’t scared of anything, but whatever he saw that night, it did seem to scare him.’

Other students were listening to their conversation now.

‘What exactly did he see?’ Lucas stood next to her, a champagne bottle in one hand.

‘He said he and some friends were up here for the winter bonfire – just like we are now – only they were actually in the tower. At midnight, they heard footsteps above their heads. He said the wood floor creaked clearly with every step. Only there are no wood floors, no floors at all. Just empty space.’

The group had fallen silent now. Allie swallowed hard.

‘So they all decided to get the hell out, you know?’ Jo continued. ‘They took off running. But just before they went down the hill they looked back and they could see her.’

‘See what?’ somebody asked.

‘A woman in a long grey dress standing and watching them go.’ She pointed at the top of the tower. ‘Right up there.’

There was a collective exhalation, like a long sigh. Someone giggled nervously.

‘He probably imagined it,’ Katie said, pouring champagne into a plastic cup.

‘Maybe, but … Oh, bugger!’ Jo’s marshmallow was on fire and she blew on it fiercely, but by the time the fire went out it was a blackened lump. She scraped it into the flames. ‘He never came up here again.’

Lucas took a swig from the bottle before passing it to a friend. ‘I’ve been up here plenty of times and I’ve never seen …’

At that moment a log in the fire popped so loudly it sounded like a gunshot and they all jumped. Several girls screamed then dissolved into giggles.

‘I do not like ghost stories.’ Nicole sounded disapproving. ‘It disturbs the dead when we speak of them. It’s dangerous. They should be left in peace.’

‘Do you believe in ghosts then?’ Lucas asked.

‘Of course!’ She seemed to find the question absurd. ‘I am from Paris. The city is full of spirits. It would be arrogant to say something doesn’t exist simply because you don’t understand it. I don’t understand how the television works and yet I still admit that it’s there.’

A murmur swept through the group as they considered her logic.

‘This conversation is a total buzz killer,’ Katie said. ‘Let’s play a game.’

A burst of derisive laughter followed. ‘What should we play?’ somebody asked. ‘Snakes and ladders?’

‘How about Truth or Dare?’ she replied without missing a beat. ‘I haven’t played it in ages.’

‘That is a risky game.’ Nicole leaned back against Sylvain.

Allie noticed how his arm rested with familiar ease around her narrow waist. But when her eyes drifted to his face she saw he was looking at her. Something dangerous fluttered inside her.

When she tuned into the conversation, Katie had taken command. She stood up on a fallen stone so everyone could hear her. Her hair was the same colour as the flames behind her.