The Aftermath
Chapter Twenty-Three
THE AFTERMATH
Ceri
C eri awoke to the sound of chairs scraping on the floor. It seemed she had slept longer than she had intended, longer than most of the others, many of whom were already at the tables eating a cold breakfast.
The ‘lectrics were still out, then. Ceri looked around the room and spotted Alison at a table. Alison saw her walking over and shook her head.
“Nothing yet,” said Alison, handing Ceri back the journal.
“Don’t worry,” said Rinka. “Idris filled me in. I’m sure he’ll start writing again soon.”
Ceri wasn’t so certain, but there seemed to be little else she could do for him at the moment. She helped the others clear away bedsheets and rearrange the room until Dean Whittaker rapped his hand on the head table to get everyone’s attention.
“I’ve just received a pigeon from town saying the worst of the storm has passed, but we should expect more rain in the next day or so. So far, there appears to be minimal damage to the school. Some broken windows here and in town, some downed trees in the forest, some flooding down in the Quadrangle dormitories. We’ll be keeping our Quad friends here for a time while we clean up.” He nodded to a table of older students, who looked less than pleased with the news they’d be staying with the freshers for a while longer.
“Unfortunately, our largest problem at the moment, other than the lack of ‘lectric power, is the bridge. The second bridge nearer to High House survived unscathed, but the first bridge has been washed out.”
There were quite a few groans and whispers at that news. There was only one road into High House: how were they meant to get into town?
The flagball team was in an uproar. “What about flagball?” Harry Charlton yelled out.
Ceri rolled her eyes.
“Quiet, please,” said Dean Whittaker. The room slowly calmed. It was funny how the dean, who often seemed unassuming and in over his head, could still command respect when he needed to.
“I’m told the engineers are already on site to prepare for the construction of a temporary replacement, but it won’t be able to accommodate carriage or motor carriage traffic. The flagball team and anyone else that needs to get into town should be able to take a carriage from the other side once the temporary bridge is installed.”
“What about the schoolhouse?” whispered Lady Sibba from a few seats down. “I should have left before the storm arrived. Those kids need me.”
Weyland squeezed her hand. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to get out of here as soon as we can. If they can get the long-talkers back up, we can call Gwenla and ask her to send a letter to Duncan.”
“I could take you,” whispered Ceri. “I can get you into town. I can fly, remember?”
“Could you? Even if you could just get us over the river so we can walk the rest of the way, that would be a massive help, princess,” said Lady Sibba.
She was right. Ceri could do something no one else in the room could: she could fly. King Derkomai would not have approved of the princess using her dragon form in that way. For Ceri’s father, the purpose of becoming the dragon was defense and intimidation. It was to be used to display power to keep the people in line.
But Ceri could help. There was an opportunity here to do what she’d set out to do if she took it. She rose to her feet nervously. Dean Whittaker waited for her to speak.
“I can fly,” she said weakly.
“What?” someone called from across the room.
Ceri lifted her head higher. She wasn’t standing in the shadow of her father or even her brother anymore. She could make her own decisions about what she wanted to do. And she wanted to help.
“I can fly,” she said, her voice carrying across the room. “I can help bring things and people back and forth from town until the bridge is rebuilt.”
“Flagball’s back, boys! Woo!” yelled Harry.
“Flagball comes after anything needed to help in the emergency,” said Ceri. She couldn’t help herself.
“Oohoo,” said Harry. “They said you were spicy. Your wings, your rules, your highness. We’re at your command.”
“Yes, thank you for the generous offer, your highness,” said Dean Whittaker. “I’m happy to put anyone willing to help to good use. We must all come together. High House has stood here for centuries, and we’ll do what it takes to preserve it.”
“Father would have hated that,” said Idris as Ceri sat back down. He was brimming with pride.
“Why didn’t Dean Whittaker mention Leo?” Ceri asked him.
“We told him what we knew. There’s still going to be a search in a bit before the dean releases everyone back to the dorms; Alison and Keir think there’s a chance we’ll find his sleeping body somewhere around.”
Ceri didn’t like thinking of Leo as a “body.” She checked the journal again, but the last lines were in her handwriting.
She lowered her voice so that only Idris could hear her. “I need him to be safe, Idris.”
“I know,” he said. He put his arm around her shoulder, and Ceri sighed, relaxing into his embrace.
It was good to have Idris back, even if he could be a royal pain in the arse.
The dean was true to his word on putting people to work: the flagball team was enlisted to help Groundskeeper Tomasar and the servants remove the boards from the dining hall windows and clear up the shattered glass; students from Professor Marin’s classes helped set up the solar prototype and several other test devices in the courtyard to recharge the power-savers; and most of Idris’s friends, Ceri included, spent the day cleaning up the library, with Ceri breaking from her task every few minutes to check the journal.
The library was still a disaster by the time they arrived to help, but many of the books had flown their way back onto the shelves themselves.
“Very good, thank you,” said Ms. Redclaw as she reached over her wheeled chair to collect a book that seemed to be trying to climb up the sides. “The books like to help at times, but they aren’t as meticulous about the order they go in as I’d like. If you wouldn’t mind checking the shelves where it looks like they’ve replaced themselves…”
“Of course,” said Alison, turning a book around that had hopped into the shelf spine first. She had collected a stack of books on a nearby table that might help in their search for a way to bring Leo back. Ceri couldn’t wait until they could go through them.
With everyone helping, it only took a couple of hours to straighten the library back out. Ms. Redclaw was incredibly grateful, which made Ceri feel a bit guilty because it was at least somewhat her fault that the library was in the condition it was in.
After the library was sorted out, and with no further news from Leo, Rinka asked Groundskeeper Tomasar if they could borrow his dog for the search.
“If he’s here, Barney’ll find him,” he said, giving him a treat. “He needs something to scent. Do you have anything of his?”
Ceri offered Barney a long sniff of the journal.
Willow the cat took a sniff as well. “It’s good to refresh my nose. It’s not quite as keen as Barney’s here, I’ll admit. I’m convinced he could speak—”
“Woof!” said Barney.
“—if he wanted to, but every time I try, he does that.”
“Keep trying,” said Rinka, bending to pet her. “Alison told me that Dinah has two words now.”
“Isn’t she just so clever? I do miss her.”
Ceri followed Rinka and Groundskeeper Tomasar, who followed Willow, who followed Barney, out into the courtyard where Ceri had seen Leo last.
“He’s got the scent, at least,” said Rinka.
Groundskeeper Tomasar frowned at the browned grass spreading out from the center of the lightning strike.
“Better the turf than the tree, I suppose,” he said, tugging his thumbs on the straps of his overalls. “Ol’ Norminster lives to see another day. She’ll outlive us all.”
The yew had lost a limb or two but seemed otherwise unaffected by the storm. It had undoubtedly seen many more like it in its thousands of years.
The storm had succeeded in one thing: sweeping any last remains of the summer firmly away. The air it left behind was much colder, and the leaves on the trees up the mountain were noticeably more yellow, with some red and orange coming through.
Ceri wondered if it was autumn where Leo was.
She checked the journal again (still nothing) and followed the animals as they led to the dormitory door on the other side of the courtyard.
“In here?” asked Tomasar. Barney barked excitedly in reply, his fluffy brown tail wagging.
He was pretty cute, Ceri admitted. She’d never had a pet—King Derkomai felt they were unclean—but she’d admired her Aunt Chloe’s various pets from afar. Perhaps when this was all over, she’d get herself a dog. Or a cat, although they seemed less like pets and more like friends.
Not that she minded the idea of making more friends, either.
Ceri smiled a little at the thought. Maybe there was something to what Leo had said about being too hard on herself.
Ceri realized as they moved through the dorm that they were on her hall. The dog stopped in front of her room, asking to be let in.
“Do you know it?” asked Tomasar.
“This is my room,” said Ceri.
She unlocked the door. Ana was inside remaking their beds.
“Oh, hello, puppy!” Ana cried, running over to Barney. She swept her pink hair out of her face and let him lick her cheek. “Who’s this? Who’s a good boy?”
“This is Barney,” said Willow.
“Hello, Barney!” said Ana.
“Leo’s trail led us here,” said Rinka. “Willow, was it recent?”
Rinka shot a glance at Ceri, who blushed. She was asking if Leo had been here before, and he had. But there had been nothing scandalous going on. He had simply walked her back a couple of times when they were in the laboratory late at night.
Of course, those nights also corresponded to some of the folded pages in Ceri’s pocket, which perhaps wasn’t a coincidence.
“It’s recent, but it’s odd. I lost it several times on the way. I believe Barney, but I can’t smell anything in this room.”
Barney had run into the bathroom. He was barking at the sink.
“There’s nothing here, buddy,” said Tomasar, “but good effort.” He gave him a treat. “And a little bit of cheese for you too,” he said to Willow.
They checked in the bathtub, under the beds, and in the wardrobe. Leo wasn’t small enough to hide anywhere else.
Nothing. And nothing in the journal.
“It was a good idea, though,” said Ceri. “Thanks for trying.”
“Anytime, your highness,” said Tomasar, tipping his cap to Ceri. “C’mon, Barn. We’ll come back if you find anything else.”
“I think I’m going to get changed while I’m here,” said Ceri. “It’s getting cold out there, and I’ve still got to make a few flights this afternoon.”
“We’ll be in the library,” said Rinka. “Did you want me to keep an eye on the journal for you while you’re flying?”
“Please,” said Ceri. She hated to hand it over, but she couldn’t bear the thought of missing him while she was in the air.
Ceri closed the door to the bathroom and leaned over the sink to collect her thoughts.
Where could Leo have gone? Ceri thought through all the stories from last night: the whispers, the fire, the blood, the hands that choked Idris. Could the hands have gotten to him? Or the fire? There was no one where he was to save him.
Could he have died in some other world with no one around and no way of them ever knowing?
Ceri wiped the tears from her eyes and splashed water on her face. If something had happened to him, there was nothing she could do, but she wouldn’t give up hope yet.
When Ceri looked into the looking glass, she screamed.
It was Leo.
He was there behind her in the looking glass.
She turned to look, but he was gone. And when she turned back around to check the looking glass again, she saw only her own reflection.
“What’s wrong?” asked Ana. “Are you okay in there?”
“I saw him,” said Ceri. “He was there in the glass. Just behind me.”
Ana looked skeptical. “Are you sure? I don’t see how anyone could have gotten in here. We checked, remember?” She started checking again, just in case.
“I don’t think he’s here, not in this world. But I think he’s here in his. Maybe Barney could smell him somehow.”
Ceri looked away from the looking glass and looked back.
Nothing.
She ran to her bed and checked the journal again.
Nothing.
She grabbed the clothes she’d planned to change into and brought them into the bathroom.
Ana shut the bathroom door to give Ceri some privacy.
Ceri slowly undressed in front of the looking glass. If he was here, surely he’d have to respond to this particular action.
She stripped down to her undergarments. “They’re Gallic,” she said, teasing the strap of her brassiere.
Oh, dear. She’d gone insane.
She felt like a fool doing a provocative dance for no one into her looking glass.
Ceri redressed, putting on her warmer stockings and jumper. “I’m going to have to fly around in my school uniform again,” she muttered to the looking glass. “And that’s not half as absurd as talking to a damn mirror.”
As Ceri left the bathroom, she swore she saw another glimpse of him smirking in the looking glass.
But by the time she’d turned back to check, there was nothing there.
Ceri flew across the roaring river at least a dozen times, sometimes carrying supplies (‘lectrical equipment, medicine, and several heavy buckets of anchors for the upcoming installation of the temporary bridge) and sometimes carrying people, who were generally terrified by the experience.
The last of the people to leave for the day were Weyland and Lady Sibba. Weyland was so large Ceri nearly dropped him into the rushing waters; he looked thoroughly shaken as Ceri deposited him on the other side. Lady Sibba, on the other hand, was one of the few passengers of the day that had enjoyed the ride.
“I would do that again,” called Lady Sibba over the rushing water. The rest of the group had come out to say their goodbyes. “If you’d have me, of course, Ceri.”
Ceri, still in her dragon form, knelt forward and bowed.
Lady Sibba squealed with delight.
“I hope you find him soon,” said Lady Sibba. “I’m sorry we can’t stay.”
“We’ll send a pigeon when we get to Gwenla,” said Weyland.
Weyland and Lady Sibba were taking with them the latest schematics for the prototype and the power-saver. They still weren’t perfect, but they were close enough to begin production. Hopefully, once the ‘lectrics were restored to High House, they could finish the testing.
Although it would be difficult without Leo.
“Good luck!” said Lady Sibba as they were on their way.
Ceri took off for the final flight over the river for the evening. She soared high up into the air, taking in the damage.
There was a path of destruction through the woods that looked as though a giant had rolled down the mountain, toppling every tree in its path. It had narrowly avoided High House—they’d gotten lucky. A force strong enough to fell that many trees would have done a lot of damage to the school.
The town below had been lucky too, apart from the slowly receding waters of the river.
The breeze up high was cool and dry as Ceri flew, the last of the rain finally having moved on. It was such a beautiful afternoon, she considered making a few laps around the mountain. Maybe she’d stop at the observatory and—
“Ceri! Ceri, it’s Leo. He’s writing!”
The pinprick that was Rinka was shouting far below.
Ceri dove.
She changed back the moment she hit the ground and grabbed the journal from Rinka’s outstretched hands.
“I’m never going to get used to that,” said Rinka.
Ceri didn’t hear her. She was reading.
Saturday? Day 6? of Autumn Term
Apologies for my absence. I hope you weren’t too worried.
I believe I’m still in some trouble, but I have an idea. Let me start with how I got here…