Gillian Shields - Betrayal

Betrayal

Gillian Shields

Betrayal

Betrayal

Betrayal

For my parents,

Pat and Bob Davison, with love

Betrayal

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and the flames will not harm you.

Isaiah 43:2

Betrayal

Contents

Epigraph

Prologue

My name is Evie Johnson. I am sixteen and a scholarship

One

The holidays were over. Outside the window of the cottage,

Two

Dad and I traveled together as far as London, where

Three

Its because I love you that I had to tell

Four

I woke suddenly from a deep dream. Someone was talking

Five

Eviemy words die, my body trembles, my heart is cursed.

Six

I was back at Wyldcliffe, and it was all about

Seven

I reached the gloomy dining hall with its rows of

Eight

Waitingwaitingwaiting

Nine

I was waiting.

Ten

So where do you want to begin? asked Helen.

Eleven

It is so dark here, Evie.

Twelve

I couldnt forget Sebastian, not for a single moment. He

Thirteen

Agnes? As I stepped closer, I realized that this girl

Fourteen

I hear the clock strike three. There is no rest

Fifteen

It was getting late. The short winter day was coming

Sixteen

I have been buried out of sight, here in this

Seventeen

The snow had thawed overnight and the country lanes had

Eighteen

Uppercliffe Farm. It was hardly more than a ruined cottage,

Nineteen

We stood in silent rows in the dining hall and

Twenty

The days raced by in a dream and the nights

Twenty-One

I am back here, in my living tomb.

Twenty-Two

Im sorry, I murmured. Im so sorry. I lifted my

Twenty-Three

Look! I waved my hand and filled the attic with

Twenty-Four

Do you grow weary of your poor friend? I saw

Twenty-Five

It was the start of another joyless week without Sebastian.

Twenty-Six

Miss Scratton, you remember that we couldnt go inside Fairfax

Twenty-Seven

I stooped to pick up the round, silvery object from

Twenty-Eight

Time was running out. The silver watch that Sebastian had

Twenty-Nine

How many more days and night can I linger here,

Thirty

Over the next few days we searched for the Book

Thirty-One

As silently as a ghost, I entered the staff common

Thirty-Two

Silence.

Thirty-Three

The next morning Helen had to shake me from sleep.

Thirty-Four

I had never seen Miss Raglan so angry.

Thirty-Five

A memory stirs in the darkness

Thirty-Six

In my dream it is snowing and I am outside

Thirty-Seven

I tried everything. Every night I tried a different charm

Thirty-Eight

The birds were beginning to call to one another as

Thirty-Nine

I am alone.

Forty

This was how it had all started, slipping down the

Forty-One

Now the house seemed full of menacing, unnamed threats. I

Forty-Two

The birds were awake and the sky was getting light.

Forty-Three

Everything on the third floor was quiet, apart from the

Forty-Four

Sebastian?

Forty-Five

We were thrown out of the whirlwind onto a barren

Forty-Six

I held the Talisman up and called out, Lord of

Forty-Seven

The storm was over. The women of the coven had

Forty-Eight

This is the day. This is now.

Forty-Nine

Little by little, I was coming back to life. All

Fifty

There were still a few weeks left before the end

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Other Books by Gillian Shields

Credits

Copyright

About the Publisher

Betrayal

Prologue

M y name is Evie Johnson. I am sixteen and a scholarship student at Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies. Yes, the famous school hidden away on the bleak moors, where the wind sighs over the hills and the heather blooms under the wide, restless sky. Everyones heard of Wyldcliffe. Everyone says how lucky I am.

What else do you want to know? Favorite subjectshistory and English. Best sportswimming. I adore Italian food, and hot chocolate, and the sound of the waves on the shore. All perfectly ordinary. Except that my boyfriend, Sebastian, is dead.

Sebastian James Fairfax. Nineteen years old, dark hair, blue eyes, a smile like an angel; poet; philosopher; my first, my only lovebeautiful, beautiful Sebastian.

When I say dead, I dont mean because of a tragic car accident or some cruel illness. I mean something so different, so off-the-scale different that you cant imagine it. Sebastian is dead, and yet Sebastian is alive. Sebastian loves me, yet Sebastian is my enemy. I am alone, but I have my friendsmy sisters.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that everything that happened to me last term was true, and that my story isnt over yet. I have to keep on, right to the end, whatever that might be. I have to believe that Sebastian wont betray me.

There are many kinds of betrayals. There are the small ones: the unkind word, the laughter behind someones back, the petty lies. And there are the betrayals that break hearts, destroy worlds, and turn the strong, sweet light of day into bitter dust.

Betrayal

One

T he holidays were over. Outside the window of the cottage, the winter dawn was cold and gray. The bare tips of the straggling rosebushes in Frankies garden were nipped by frost. Tomorrow I wouldnt wake up in this familiar room, to the cry of seagulls wheeling out over the bay. Tomorrow everything would be different. I was going back to school. I was going back to Wyldcliffe.

My suitcase was stuffed with presents that Dad had awkwardly, tenderly forced on me. I hadnt wanted anything, but he had insisted. And so, apart from my school uniform and my textbooks and gym clothes, my luggage also contained a new camera and a whole lot of expensive gear for the riding lessons he had persuaded me to take when I got back to school.

It was as though he had been trying to make up for the pain of the first Christmas without Frankie. The only mother I had ever known, Frankie had been my darling grandmother, who had looked after me since I was a baby. Now she was gone, and Dad was trying to buy me some comfort to cushion the loss. Only a year ago, Frankies death would have been overwhelming. But Wyldcliffe had changed me. I was stronger now, not simply a schoolkid anymore. Wyldcliffe had taught me about fear and danger and death.

It had taught me about love.

Frankies funeral had been a few days before Christmas, in the church on the headland, with the sound of the sea sighing below the cliffs. I didnt cry. I just felt quieter than I ever had before, cut off in a circle of silence, as though the little gathering of well-wishers and neighbors, and the vicar and the hymns and the flowers, were nothing to do with me or Frankie. She had gone, like a bird flying into the dawn, and all the rest was a soothing ritual for the people left behind. But Dad was really upset. Afterward, when everyone had drifted away murmuring clichs and condolences, he blew his nose and wiped his red eyes like the gruff soldier he pretended to be, and said, Sorry, Evie, it brought back everything about Clarayour momsorry

He was remembering my mothers funeral, fifteen years ago. I had no memory of it, of course. I was only a baby when she died. Sorry, Dad said, so sorry, and loaded me up with presents that I didnt really want. Then the days had slipped past, tender with grief, until it was time for me to return to school and leave the gulls and the cliffs and the sea behind me once again.