Home > The Secret of White Stone Gate(7)

The Secret of White Stone Gate(7)
Author: Julia Nobel

   He grabbed his schedule, and they all walked down the forest path and into the wide grass fields that led to the main building.

   “That’s the fine arts building,” Jack said as he pointed to a building nearby, “and the science building’s down there. The performance art building is way on the other side of the Hall. You can’t even see it from here.”

   They filled up their plates at the food table and sat down. Emmy saw a lot of familiar faces, especially from her soccer team. Just thinking about playing again made her feet tingle and twitch.

   Her old roommate Victoria was sitting across the Hall. Emmy had seen her in the common room the night before, but she’d ignored her. Victoria had been horrible last year, and as far as Emmy was concerned, the more they stayed away from each other, the better.

   Lola nudged her. “That’s the new head of security,” she said quietly.

   Emmy followed her gaze. A woman in a sharp suit was sitting with some of the teachers. “Do you know anything about her?”

   “I’ve talked to her a couple of times,” Lola said. “She seems friendly enough. She was a colonel in the army. Apparently, she trained people in martial arts.”

   Emmy glanced at Sam, then turned toward Lola so he wouldn’t hear. “She can’t be part of you-know-what, right? ’Cause they only allow guys to join.”

   “Well, she’s got to at least know something, don’t you think? I mean, there are security cameras everywhere. She’s bound to notice people disappearing behind secret doors.”

   Emmy’s stomach twisted. She hadn’t thought of that. The idea of another Order member being able to watch her every move was pretty unnerving.

   Jack and Sam both pushed their chairs back from the table.

   “You’d better finish up,” Jack said. “First bell’s in five minutes.”

   Emmy looked at her half-eaten plate of food and pushed it away. She wasn’t hungry anymore.

   * * *

   Emmy’s first few classes seemed like they’d be a lot of work, but she didn’t feel the same kind of panic about being behind like she had the year before. Her new Latin teacher walked them through some new concepts in class, which was a welcome change from Larraby. All he did was talk with his favorite students and assign worksheets. How he’d ever ended up as the head of the department was a mystery to her.

   She didn’t have any classes with Jack or Lola until humanities.

   “Budge up, will you?” Lola said as she slid onto a bench next to Emmy. “I told Jack I’d save space for him and Sam.”

   Emmy squeezed against the end of the bench and pretended to be more interested in her pencil than she was with the fact that Sam would be sitting with them again.

   Sam and Jack slipped into the classroom right before Barlowe closed the door.

   “Cutting it close, gentlemen,” Barlowe said as he trotted down the stairs toward the stage.

   “This classroom is wild,” Sam whispered as he and Jack sat down.

   He was right. Emmy was used to it by now, but on her first day, the rounded benches that looked down on a sunken stage had been like walking into an Ivy League college class.

   “Welcome to another year in humanities,” Barlowe said. “I see we have a couple of new students, so let me remind everyone that at Wellsworth, we believe that classes like literature, history, and ethics should be studied together, as they are all deeply connected. This year we’ll be focusing on the English Civil War and the Restoration period. We’ll talk about how philosophical and religious changes in England contributed to the war, and how the war itself led to even more social change. As England slowly became a more tolerant society, its writers and artists became bolder political critics.”

   Jack’s eyes lit up and he raised his hand. “We talk about that a lot in art history. Art can have a huge impact on society, because it can make statements and generate debate in the most amazing ways! Even in dictatorships artists find ways to—”

   “Um, Master Barlowe?” Lola interrupted. “You should know that if you let Jack get going about art, he’ll take over the whole class.”

   Jack bit his lip, but he smiled and laughed along with everyone else.

   “We do have quite a bit to cover today, but thank you, Mr. Galt. Perhaps I could ask you to give a presentation on Restoration-period artists this term.”

   Jack’s eyes went wide. “Yes, sir.”

   Jack was still smiling by the time dinner rolled around. Emmy was thrilled that he’d had such a good first day. He’d spent most of his first three years at Wellsworth in the Order’s shadow, what with his older brothers being members and Brynn giving him such a hard time. But Malcolm and Vincent had both left school now, and Brynn seemed less and less interested in picking on him. Maybe Jack would finally be able to stand out on his own.

   Emmy, Jack, and Lola found three seats together, since Sam had a meeting with Larraby.

   “Did you warn Sam that Larraby won’t help him one jot?” Lola asked Jack as she cut into her fish pie.

   “Yeah,” Jack said, “I told him we’d help him get settled. I think he’s a bit more nervous than he’s letting on. He’s never been to a boarding school before.”

   Emmy could relate to that. Wellsworth had been so intimidating during her first few weeks. Now she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

   Lola leaned in closer. “Do you think Larraby’s got more stuff to do with you-know-what now that Jonas has gone?” Jonas had high-tailed it out of Wellsworth after Emmy had escaped from him.

   “Maybe,” Jack said. “I’m sure Jonas is still in charge. The Order isn’t just a Wellsworth thing anymore.”

   Emmy pressed her lips together. She didn’t like thinking about Order members being part of the regular world. There could be members anywhere and she’d never know. At least at Wellsworth they were almost all sixth- and seventh-year boys, apart from Brynn, and they were all part of the Latin Society. It was a lot easier to keep track of who might be involved.

   “Even if Jonas is still Brother Loyola, there’s got to be someone who runs things here,” Lola said. “Somebody’s got to lead meetings and check out recruits.”

   “I don’t care what Larraby’s doing as long as he leaves me out of it,” Emmy said. “I’m done with the Order.”

   “Me too,” Jack said.

   Lola took another bite of pie.

   “Um, Lola?” Emmy said.

   “Hmm?”

   “You’re done with them too, right?”

   “Well, obviously I can’t do much snooping around without you two,” she grumbled.

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