“But—” Megan began again but the Headmistress held up one slim white hand to stop her.
“As I said, I will do my best for you, Miss Latimer. In the meantime, I must see to Miss Rattcliff.”
She clapped her hands again and the same gerrund appeared before her. (At least, I thought he was the same one—he had the same pointy red cap, anyway.)
“Go and get Nancy Rattcliff and her two cohorts from the Home Ec classroom,” she told him. “And use the shortcut—I want to see them at once. Oh, and bring the remainder of the chocolate cake that Miss Latimer and Miss Fellows baked as well. I don’t want anyone else falling victim to the three-squared cheer up spell which has been placed on it.”
“At once, Mistress of Nocturne,” the little gerrund boomed in his deep voice. Then he took off like a shot and was gone.
13
Kaitlyn
“Miss Latimer, Miss Fellows,” Headmistress Nightworthy said, turning to us once the gerrund was sent on his mission. “I do not usually approve of disciplining one student in front of another. But in this case, I believe you have the right to see what happens to Miss Ratcliff and her friends, considering that the malfeasance they performed has affected you directly. Please stand over there.” She pointed to the far corner of the office. “And do not become involved. But you may stay and watch.”
As she finished speaking and Megan and I scooted over to where she had indicated, the gerrund returned with Nancy and the other two Weird Sisters in tow.
The two girls with her looked frightened but Nancy had her arms crossed sullenly over her chest and a look of studied indifference on her face. She sneered at me and Megan when she came into the office but didn’t say anything at all, even when the gerrund—who looked ludicrously small carrying the tall cake stand with its even taller chocolate cake—entered behind them and set the cake carefully on the Headmistress’s desk.
I was glad to see there was still only one piece missing from the dense, chocolate cylinder of cake. If anyone else in class had been stupid enough to try it, there could have been big problems.
The Headmistress didn’t waste any time.
“Miss Rattcliff,” she said, frowning at Nancy. “Did you and your fellow witches put a three-squared cheer charm on this cake that Miss Fellows and Miss Latimer made?”
Nancy didn’t bother to deny it.
“Yeah. So what?” she asked in a bored voice.
“Miss Rattcliff, a little respect if you please!” Headmistress Nightworthy’s voice crackled like a sudden bolt of lightning in the small office and despite herself, Nancy stood up taller and put her arms to her sides.
“Yes, Headmistress,” she said sullenly. “We be-spelled the cake.”
“And did you do it with the express purpose of getting Miss Latimer and Miss Fellows in trouble with your Home Economics teacher?” the Headmistress demanded, a cold, steely glint in her blue eyes.
“Why, no Headmistress!” Nancy opened her eyes very wide, clearly trying to look innocent, I thought sourly. “We just wanted to cheer up poor little Kaitlyn there.” She pointed at me and my stomach seemed to fill with acid as I stared back at her. “She always seems so sad and down in the dumps,” Nancy went on, just as though she really gave a rat’s ass how I felt. “And we thought our little spell would cheer her up. We didn’t mean to overdo it—honestly.”
Her little performance might have won an Oscar but thank goodness, it didn’t appear to fool Headmistress Nightworthy who had crossed her arms over her chest and was tapping her perfectly manicured fingernails against her upper arms as she stared coldly at Nancy.
“Miss Rattcliff,” she said flatly. “Have you heard the saying, “I wasn’t born yesterday?’ No, don’t bother—it’s a rhetorical question,” she went on before Nancy could answer. “It speaks to the presumed gullibility of the recipient of a particular claim or excuse. And let me assure you, Miss Rattcliff, at the age of five hundred and sixty-five, I was not born yesterday and I am in no way taken in by your little act.”
“But Headmistress—” Nancy began but the tall Nocturne held up a hand to stop her.
“It is my belief that you placed this extremely potent spell on Miss Latimer and Miss Fellow’s cake for the express purpose of getting them into trouble. And I further know that you insulated yourself from any repercussion on Mrs. Hornsby’s part by placing a feel-good spell on her as well, so that she would be pleased with you no matter what your magic did to her.”
Nancy’s black eyes got even wider with apparent shock and guilt. It was the first genuine expression of emotion she’d shown since she walked into the office and I saw Ms. Yasmeen nodding as her theory was proven correct.
“Don’t bother to speak, Miss Rattcliff,” the Headmistress went on calmly. “Your face tells me everything I need to know.” She leaned forward and pointed at Nancy. “I promised your mother, before she was sent away for life in prison, that I would watch over your education and never expel you from Nocturne Academy. But there are consequences other than expulsion which can make your life and the lives of your cohorts extremely unpleasant. Do I make myself clear?”
Nancy pursed her lips but apparently knew better than to smart off or lie a second time.
“Yes, Headmistress,” she said sullenly. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
By which she doubtless meant the three-squared cheer charm, though I was certain she would probably think of other ways to turn seemingly innocent magic to her own nasty ends.
“It had better not,” Headmistress Nightworthy said sharply. “But an apology
