The day dragged past. All I could think about was using the Talisman. But we had to wait until nightfall, when we could get away from the other students and the prying eyes of the mistresses. The only relief to the usual routine was that it happened to be the day that the local village kids were coming to use the school’s facilities. Some were going to play tennis, others would have music lessons, and some would be allowed to use the rather chilly outdoor pool. Evie had volunteered to help with the swimming, and I had agreed to go along with her. I had wondered whether the other teachers would use Miss Scratton’s absence as an excuse to cancel her plans to open Wyldcliffe’s doors to the local people, but apparently the event was going to take place as scheduled. And so after lunch, instead of going to the science lab for our normal afternoon classes, Evie and I went down to the pool. We found the sports mistress, Miss Schofield, looking even more bad-tempered than usual, glaring at an eager but slightly apprehensive group of about a dozen ten-year-olds.

“Well, I suppose you’d better get changed. And no messing about! You’ve got two minutes exactly.”

The kids crowded into the old-fashioned wooden huts that had been built as locker rooms by the side of the pool. I rather reluctantly found myself an empty cubicle and went inside to strip off my uniform and get into my bathing suit. It was a soft, warm day, but the water in the deep marble pool still looked pretty cold. Evie was happy, though, temporarily distracted from our troubles by the lure of the water. She would have swum in any weather, but the pool was only filled in these warmer summer months. Eventually we were all ready. Most of the children were giggling and shy, but some of the bigger boys were trying to show off, pushing and butting into one another and threatening to jump in.

“Stop that!” Miss Schofield barked as she lined them up. “You will get in slowly and sensibly, and follow my instructions exactly. . . .” She obviously wasn’t in favor of the new Wyldcliffe-for-all scheme, which boosted my flagging enthusiasm. I had never liked this bullying teacher, so anything she wasn’t happy with seemed good to me.

“Ooh, it’s cold,” said a thin little girl with untidy hair, as she put her toe into the water.

“You won’t feel it once you’re in,” I said encouragingly.

“It’s gorgeous, honestly.” Evie smiled. “And it’s lovely to have you here. We’re going to have great fun.”

Miss Schofield glowered as one by one we helped the children to get in the water. There was lots of shrieking and splashing, but soon they began to enjoy themselves. Miss Schofield, although she was a snob and a bully, was an expert coach, and she took the stronger swimmers to the deep end and helped them with their technique. Evie and I stayed in the shallow end with the more timid children, playing games and trying to build up their confidence. The time raced by, and soon it was time for them to get out. “But we haven’t done any diving,” said a stocky little lad. “I can dive already.”

“Show me,” said Evie. He fearlessly threw himself headfirst into the pool and came up laughing and spluttering in a ring of bubbles. “Well done,” Evie said, laughing. “Now watch me.”

She did the most beautiful dive into the deep end and glided along the bottom of the pool with her long red hair floating behind her like dark silk. As I watched her admiringly, the light around me seemed to fade. She wasn’t coming up—she’d been down there too long—her slim body seemed suspended in the greenish water, like a frozen statue. Everything around me was dim and silent, except for the sound of my own heart beating. I watched, immobilized with fear, as Evie’s body seemed to roll over lifelessly in the water. She floated toward the surface with her arms hanging awkwardly by her sides and her eyes gazing upward, seeing nothing, like Ophelia drifting to her doom. I felt the water choking my own mouth and breath, drowning my senses, and I gave a great gasp and cried out, Evie! The next moment the sun was shining again and the vision was over. The children were clapping as Evie surfaced gracefully at the far end of the pool, her diving display over.

“That was great fun, wasn’t it?” she enthused as we got dry. “The kids are so sweet.” Then she sighed. “If only everything could be, you know, normal like this.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “If only.” I couldn’t tell her what I had seen. I couldn’t tell my best friend that I had seen a vision of her death.

The children were given a tea of buttered toast and homemade cakes in the dining hall, and then they were ready to go home. We helped them find their cardigans and jackets and sports bags; then the whole party trooped down the corridor to the black-and-white-tiled entrance hall. “Ooh, look, it’s so big! Do you sleep here? Can we come again?” Their innocence touched me. It was good to hear laughing, unself-conscious voices in that place, although when we passed Celeste in the corridor, she shrank back theatrically as though the children would infect her. “Miss Scratton, our High Mistress, says she wants you to come often,” I said, trying to compensate for Celeste’s rudeness. But the kids hadn’t noticed, and they jostled happily out of the hallway and onto the drive, where their teacher was waiting to collect them. Evie and I walked with her, then waved good-bye to the children halfway down the lane, just beyond the school gates.

“Bye!”

“See you again!”

“Thank you!”

Their voices filled the air as they walked away toward the village. The spring sunshine had cooled, and the color had faded from the day. “Better get back inside,” I said.

“Let’s just watch them a minute longer,” said Evie. Her face was glowing, and she looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her. “I’d like to have ten children, wouldn’t you?”

“Well, not all at once,” I joked feebly, feeling more and more anxious. “I really think we should go. We can’t risk anything happening before we try to contact Maria tonight.”

“I suppose so.” She turned away from where the crowd of children had now disappeared, and we walked back up the lane to the school gates. The western sky was filled with harsh light. I didn’t know why I felt so nervous, but I pulled at Evie’s arm and urged her to go more quickly. We reached the gates, where the old sign of the school’s name still spelled out its eerie message among the missing letters: BE COOL OR YOU DIE.

I heard the sound of hooves, as urgent as my heartbeat. A black horse was galloping toward us out of the light. Its rider was a tall young man wearing a heavy cloak and hood. He had long black hair and eyes the color of a summer sky and a smile full of sorrow. Evie gave a little moan as though she had been hurt, then she stumbled forward.

“Sebastian! Sebastian—oh it is, it is you!”

He bent down from his horse and gathered Evie in his arms, and for a moment they clung together. Then Sebastian pulled her onto the horse’s back. It reared up and shrieked, and Sebastian’s hood fell from his face. He no longer looked like a beautiful boy. This was not Sebastian Fairfax, neither in life nor in death. A ghastly, skeletal figure held Evie cruelly as she writhed in its grasp, trying to escape, but it was too late. The horse plunged and whinnied and galloped away over the slope that led to the moors.

“Evie, Evie!” I shouted as I ran after them, but they had already vanished.

One by one, they had been taken: Helen, Miss Scratton, and now, dearest of all to me, Evie. What were they going to do to her? Where was she being taken? The image of Evie floating in the water came back and overwhelmed me with horror. I was alone. We had been divided and crushed by the Priestess and her plots, and there was nothing I could do. I sank to the ground and cried like a lost child.

Then a voice in my head spoke. A promise cannot be broken except with a curse. I had made a promise to cherish and care for my sisters, through good and bad, hope and despair, whatever happened. I was the only one left. S for Sarah. This was my time. I had to use it.