Gran is silent.
‘Mrs Ashworth. You are the Half Code’s guardian and it is your responsibility to ensure that the Notifications are followed. You have failed to ensure the Half Code remained in certified areas and you have failed to inform the Council of meetings between the Half Code and the White Witches Kieran, Niall, Connor and Annalise O’Brien.’
‘My grandmother doesn’t know about anything. And I had no intention of meeting Kieran, Niall and Connor. They attacked me.’
‘Our understanding is that you attacked them,’ the Council Leader replies.
‘One attacking three. Yeah, right.’
‘And Annalise? Did you intend to meet her?’
I go back to staring.
‘Did you intend to meet Annalise? Or attack her? Or something else?’
I want to kill her with my stare.
The Council Leader turns back to Gran. ‘Mrs Ashworth, why did you ignore the Notifications?’
‘I didn’t ignore them. I followed them.’ Gran’s voice is shaky and small.
‘No. You did not follow them. You have failed to control the Half Code. Or perhaps you knew of his trips to unauthorized places and decided not to inform the Council of these infringements?’
‘I followed the Notifications,’ Gran repeats quietly.
The Council Leader sighs and nods to Annalise’s uncle, who pulls out a piece of parchment from under the desk. He reads out times and dates of when I left home, where I went and when I returned. Every trip to Wales.
I feel sick. I was so sure that I had not been followed. But there is no mention of the trip to see Mary. Her instructions worked, but clearly my disappearance aroused suspicion.
‘Do you deny that you made these trips outside authorized areas?’ the Council Leader asks.
I don’t want to admit anything still, but denying it seems pointless now. ‘My gran didn’t know what I was doing. I told her I was going to the woods, where I am authorized to be.’
The woman says, ‘So you admit you failed to comply with the Notifications. You lied to the Council. You deceived your own grandmother, a pure White Witch.’
Annalise’s uncle says, ‘Yes, it is clear that he has tried to deceive us all. But it is Mrs Ashworth’s responsibility to ensure compliance with the Notifications. And –’ he pauses now to look at the Council Leader who inclines her head slightly – ‘as Mrs Ashworth has clearly failed to do that, we will have to appoint someone who can.’
At that moment a huge woman steps forward from the far corner of the room. I had noticed her before but I thought she was a guard. She comes to stand to the left of the table. Despite her size she moves with grace and though she stands straight, almost to attention, she has a poise that is strange, as if she’s a cross between a dancer and a soldier.
The Council Leader produces another parchment from beneath the table saying, ‘We agreed a new Resolution yesterday.’ She reads slowly:
Notification of the Resolution of the Council of White Witches of England, Scotland and Wales
All Half Codes (W 0.5/B 0.5) are to be educated and supervised at all times only by those White Witches who have the approval of the Council.
‘He is educated under my supervision. I am a White Witch. I am teaching him well.’ Gran’s voice is timid. It is almost as if she is talking to herself.
The Council Leader says, ‘Mrs Ashworth, it is clear that you have failed to comply with at least two of the Notifications of the Council. Punishments have been considered.’
Considered? What does that mean? What would they do to her?
‘But the Council agrees that we are not here to punish White Witches. We are here to assist and protect them.’
The Council Leader starts reading from the parchment she holds. Annalise’s uncle is looking bored and studying his fingernails; the woman in the grey suit is looking at the Council Leader.
I can’t dodge past the guards behind me, but there is a door in the far wall through which the Council members enter the room.
The Council Leader reads on, but my attention is not on her. ‘… and we realize that the task … too onerous. The new Notification … relieve you of the burden … the education and development of a Half Code … not to be taken lightly … monitored and controlled.’
I run for the far door, leaping on to the table between the Council Leader and the woman in grey. I jump from the table to shouts from the guards and the Council Leader reaches a hand out too late to grab my leg. It is five or six strides to the door and I’m clear of them all. Then the noise hits me.
A high-pitched whirring sound fills my head so suddenly that I’m unable to do anything but clamp my hands over my ears and scream. The pain is excruciating. I am on my knees, staring at the door, unable to move. I scream for the noise to stop, but it carries on to blackness.