The Autumn Palace (20 page)

Even though she'd been the one to say he had to leave, it hurt to see him walk away. Her textbooks beckoned.

At school the next morning, Ondine tried not to look at the teacher. All that eavesdropping made her feel guilty. Could she look Ms Kyryl in the eye without giving away what she knew?

They sang the national anthem, sounding like a well-rehearsed choir.

For once, things were going Ondine's way. Andreas was sick and Ms Kyryl allowed her to sit with Hetty again.

‘Hetty, your voice is amazing this morning,' Ondine whispered as they took their seats. ‘Are you having extra lessons or something?'

Hetty blushed and her cheeks turned into little apples. ‘No, I'm not, but thank you for the compliment.'

‘Seriously, you should audition for Brugel's Best.'
⁸⁴

A naughty look crossed Hetty's face. ‘My parents would die! They want me to become a financial advisor.'

‘A what?'

‘An accountant.'

‘Oh!' Ondine felt slightly sorry for Hetty. She had such a chirpy, bubbly way about her. Ondine couldn't see her sitting behind a desk crunching numbers all day.

‘Girls, please,' Ms Kyryl said. ‘Don't make me split you up again. Open your history books to chapter eleven.'

Ms Kyryl told them off three more times for talking before they finished history. Then it was time to rehearse the Harvest Pageant. It was so nice chatting with Hetty again, Ondine forgot to hate her Cabbage role and began to enjoy herself.

After school Ondine grabbed a mortadella sandwich
from the kitchen and dashed off to wait for Hamish and Old Col by the crepe myrtle trees. She had about five minutes before Anathea would start wondering where she was. The chill wind bit at her ears and blew the last of the leaves away – the trees were bare now except for their nobbly little seed pods, and Ondine felt cold and exposed.

‘Ondine, how lovely to see you here,' Old Col said as she approached. She said it loudly enough that if anyone else heard or saw them, it would look like a chance encounter. Old Col had come dressed for this early taste of winter, wearing a faux-fur hat and muff.

For a moment Ondine wondered where Hamish could be. To her deep disappointment, Shambles the ferret poked his head out from inside the muff. The wind whipped at his head, parting the fur to reveal fragile skin beneath.

‘It's right freezing, so it is, and me winter coat hasnae come in yet,' he said.

A little ping of panic shot through Ondine. ‘Hamish, why aren't you being you?' The last time they'd met here, he'd been his beguiling self, all
lopsided grin and mischievous eyes. Now he just looked like a bundle of trouble. And not the fun sort she might enjoy either.

‘Sorry, lass, havetae work,' Shambles said, with a ferrety grimace.

Another little ping went off in Ondine's chest.

Old Col coughed and looked about. ‘We can't stay long, we're due at afternoon tea presently. Ondine, do you have any news?'

Ondine stopped gazing at her sweetheart-stuck-as-a-ferret and turned to Old Col. The cool wind had added some rosy colour to her cheeks, and she looked much recovered from the worming medicine. Ondine could have sworn her great aunt was enjoying herself. Getting paid to attend afternoon teas, early dinners and late soirées – who wouldn't love it? Meanwhile, she was working too hard and studying late and generally feeling as if life wasn't fair.

‘The Infanta is cracked like a dropped egg. And Vincent's a total pain in the rear.'

Shambles laughed. ‘No change there, then. Although, now ye mention him, he has nae given up
me secret, so mebbe he's not all bad.'

‘That'll be the day,' Ondine said.

Old Col's face became stern. ‘Don't speak too loudly, my dear. You never know who is listening. But well done on moving through the ranks, I'm sure you'll learn a great deal from Anathea. Hamish told me your teacher is giving you a hard time. You'll have to work extra hard there.'

‘Yes, Col. What little spare time I have will be spent studying.' A fresh blast of wind ripped through the trees and Shambles burrowed back inside the muff.

Right now Ondine needed Hamish to be himself. The wind whipped her dark hair around and stung her eyes. She looked away and wiped her face. It was the cold wind making her eyes water, nothing more.

‘I have to go,' she said sadly. ‘Anathea wants trout for supper again.'

Col tilted her head in thought. ‘Interesting that she should have a taste for it. I wonder if this is her way of defying the Duke?'

‘Do I get a kiss?' Shambles stuck his head out from the muff.

‘Of course.' Ondine gave a sniff as she remembered how very much she adored kissing Hamish. Today all she could give him was a peck on the top of his furry head. She turned and ran towards the lake before the tears of frustration burst free.

 

83
   During plagues in Brugel's middle ages, morticians would haul a wagon through town calling, ‘Bring out your dead.' Passed-out drunks were sometimes mistaken for corpses and flung on the wagons. They would sober up rapidly and give up drink. Hence the phrase, ‘on the wagon'
.

84
   A television talent program where many contestants receive their first honest criticism. It's often so emotionally crippling it sends them back to school so they can get a proper education and do something they might actually be good at
.

T
hings did not improve for Ondine. Every morning she rose extra early to fix the Infanta's breakfast. Which, to her continued horror, Anathea shared with the dog. Then she made it to class and did her best to concentrate, then it was back to the Infanta and her bizarre demands for the rest of the afternoon. At the weekend it was laundry in the afternoons. At the end of each day, she had about an hour to cram in homework before she staggered off to bed and it all started again the next morning. There just weren't the hours in the day to study properly, so although she did her best, it wasn't good enough.

Which meant she caved in and accepted Shambles's stolen notes containing answers to her exams.

On this particular morning, classes had finished,
but Ms Kyryl asked Ondine to go into her office. Ondine wasn't thinking particularly psychic thoughts, but she knew it couldn't be a good thing to have to stay behind. When she yawned, it only made things worse.

‘Ondine, please sit.'

Tightness gripped her belly. Ms Kyryl wasn't even twisting her mouth in thought – did that mean she'd already made her mind up?

Shambles scurried out from under the teacher's desk and Ms Kyryl frowned.

‘I'm so sorry,' Ondine said. ‘Ha–Shambles, come here, please.' She patted her knee and noticed her hand was trembling. Questions flooded her. What was he doing here? Had he broken his cover? To her relief, Shambles climbed up to her shoulder and gave her a scratchy wet kiss just below her ear.

Schh-makkk!

When would she see Hamish again, properly, with meltathon kisses and swoonworthy cuddles?

Ms Kyryl said, ‘I'll get to the point. I'm not sure how you're doing it, but your marks are phenomenal. You can't be copying from Hetty because most of the
time you're sitting across the class from her. I doubt Andreas is any help.'

The good grades should have been welcome news, except the teacher looked puzzled and unhappy. A nasty weight pulled at Ondine's shoulders and it wasn't because of Shambles sitting there.

‘Can you tell me how you're doing it?'

It called for stalling tactics. ‘Um, doing what?'

‘Doing so well. When you first came here, you had trouble settling in and your work was well below the class average. When I asked you questions, your answers were generally off the mark. Now your test results are leading the pack. What's going on?'

Swallow
. ‘I'm studying really hard. That's why I'm so tired.'

Ms Kyryl looked unimpressed. ‘Is there something you want to tell me?'

Double swallow
. Shambles gave her another kiss. Ondine didn't know what to say.

Mr Kyryl gave up waiting. ‘OK, let's try another way. In all my years of teaching, I have never seen a student improve so much in such a short space of time.
I am good, but not that good. Which leads me to one conclusion. You are getting help.'

A very small truck poured concrete into the pit of Ondine's stomach. She wasn't proud of having cheated, in fact, she was downright ashamed, but she'd done it because she loved Hamish so much she'd do anything to stay with him.

Ms Kyryl folded and unfolded her hands. ‘Can you please tell me how you are getting help and who is giving it to you?'

Ondine looked at her blankly, because her brain had gone so very blank. If Shambles tried to help with a suggestion, Ms Kyryl would hear the ferret talking, and then Ondine would have a whole heap more explaining to do.

‘Fine, I'll spell it out.' Ms Kyryl rubbed a spot on the bridge of her nose. ‘I take cheating very seriously. I am on the verge of making a recommendation to the Duke that you leave the palechia school and return to your parents in Venzelemma. Do you have anything to say that might make me change my mind?'

Mercury's wings!
Dry mouth, check. Tight tummy,
check. Strange hazy wobbly feeling through her limbs. Checkeroony.

‘I . . .' Ondine's pride shrivelled as she tried to think her way out of this mess. All she could come up with was the one excuse she really, really didn't want to use. But it was the only one that had any chance of working.

‘The reason I'm doing so well . . . is because I'm psychic.'

‘You're
what
?' Ms Kyryl burst out laughing. ‘Now I've heard everything.'

‘But it's true. I spent my summer holidays getting better at it.' Or at least getting better at telling whopping great fibs.

‘Oh, really?' Ms Kyryl wiped her eyes, as if the very idea could make her cry with laughter.

Zoing!
An idea popped into Ondine's head. ‘I can prove it. I can talk to animals. I can talk to Shambles right here. And I can help you talk to him as well. Give me your hands and I'll show you.' A surge of confidence came over her. So long as Shambles played his part, they'd bluff their way out of this mess.

‘I suppose you're going to put me in a trance?' Ms Kyryl asked, one eyebrow darting up with suspicion.

‘No, not needed.' Tell the truth, she had thought of doing just that. For about a tenth of a second. She'd never tried – just observed trances at Psychic Summercamp. They'd looked a bit fake, too. Something in the back of her mind told Ondine her best chance of convincing Ms Kyryl of her psychic abilities was to play things very straight.

Shambles crawled on to the table and stood up on his back legs. He looked at Ms Kyryl, then back at Ondine.

Ms Kyryl's mouth did that side-twisty thing, indicating she was deep in thought.

‘Hold my hand, Ms Kyryl, then you'll be able to hear Shambles through me.'

The teacher's cool hand clasped Ondine's and the game was on. It had to be utterly convincing and completely accurate. Her future at the school and at the palechia – and therefore her time with Hamish – depended on it.

‘Ms Kyryl, this is Shambles. He is my animal guide
to the spirit world.' Oh, how easily the false words came to her tongue!

Ms Kyryl twisted her mouth in a ‘humour me' kind of way. Shambles stepped forward and put his paw on the back of Ms Kyryl's hand.

‘It is lovely to meet you, Dionysia,' Shambles said. He spoke with barely a trace of his Scottish accent. He sounded so formal, so believable. So clever!

Ms Kyryl blinked and looked from Shambles to Ondine. Slowly, she shook her head and looked at the little ferret. A Greek curse slipped from her lips.

‘
Yassou
to you as well!' Shambles said.
⁸⁵

Ms Kyryl looked daggers at Ondine. ‘This is some kind of trick.'

‘No, nothing of the sort. Ms Kyryl, I am sorry to upset you, but this is completely real. Even I find it hard to take sometimes. I know I professed my love for science to you. Now I'm asking you to believe in magic. But . . . do you not think it's entirely possible for science and magic to co-exist?'

Shambles gently rubbed his paw on Ms Kyryl's turning-white knuckle. ‘You can use this to tell the bairns all about irony. Aye, it's a good one.'

Panic burrowed in when Ondine heard Shambles's accent slip.

‘Ms Kyryl, what would you like to know?' Ondine asked, keen to keep things moving.

The teacher drew a long, slow, breath, shaking her head. Ondine felt a bit sorry for her. This whole talking-animal caper was a lot to dump on someone.

Ms Kyryl exhaled. ‘You're the psychic one, why don't you tell me?'

‘OK.' It would have been easier with a bit of a hint, just so she knew where to start. As they were holding hands, Ondine figured she may as well start with them. She turned over her teacher's palms to look at the lines.