Page 50 of School Spirits
We didn’t say anything else the whole way home, both of us lost in our own thoughts.
Back in my room, I searched the mirror, but Torin was still gone. I didn’t know if that was good or bad.
I shucked my clothes, got my pajamas on, and spent the next few hours on my computer searching for anything to do with Mary Evans and ghost summoning. Mom was right: this is what Brannicks do. We hunt monsters, we save people, we keep our eyes on the ball. I had let myself get too distracted with Dex and Romy andMacbethessays.… It was time to solve this case and get out of Ideal. Time to let Mom get back on a case, too, rather than just following some possibly creepy dudes at the Waffle Hut.
When Mom knocked on my door and called, “Lights out,” I knew what my next step would be.
I closed the laptop and got into bed, thinking I was too keyed up to sleep. But I must have dozed off at some point, because the next think I knew, Torin was there, whispering, “Isolde.”
I sat up, afraid that I was in another one of my Torin-created dreams. But no, there he was, standing in my mirror. “Torin?” My voice was thick with sleep.
“If your lad is up to mischief, he wasn’t indulging tonight,” Torin said, and I was shocked by the wave of relief that flooded through me. “Nothing supernatural about him except just how many hours he can play video games,” Torin added, giving a massive yawn.
“Good,” I told him. “And thanks.”
In the glass, he seemed to be sitting in my desk chair, leaning back with his arms folded behind his head. “Is that it, then? Are we done?”
I rolled back over in bed, looking out my window. “No,” I said softly. “We’re just beginning.”
CHAPTER 23
“Okay, so if everyone will just look at their handout, we can get started.”
Romy, Dex, and Anderson watched me with varying degree of “WTF?” stamped on their faces as I stood at the front of the portable classroom, dry-erase marker clutched in my hand. I’d called an emergency meeting of PMS that morning before class, so we didn’t have much time before the bell rang. The sooner I got them on board with this idea, the sooner we could stop Mary.
“When did you have time to make handouts?” Dex finally asked.
“That’s not important. The important part is highlighted halfway down on page two.”
There was a rustling of papers as they all flipped to that section. “This…this says ‘On Witches, Ghosts, and Summonings.’” Anderson stared at me with wide dark eyes. “Summonings? Are we dealing with, like, exorcist-level stuff here?”
“Not exactly.” I turned back to the whiteboard and began writing. “Okay, so Mary Evans’s ghost was summoned by a witch. I’m not sure why, but that doesn’t matter so much right now. The main thing is to find outwhoraised her.”
Behind me, I heard Dex say, “Um, Professor Brannick, I have questions. And they are legion.”
“I’ll take questions at the end.”
“I was joking,” Dex murmured, but I was on a roll. “So, ghost summoning is not that hard if you know where to do it. And there are two places where a witch could’ve summoned Mary Evans. One, the place where she’s buried, and two, the place where she died.”
I turned to face the other members of PMS. “Now we know where Mary is buried, and according to the legend, she died in the cave where she used to meet her teacher. If you’ll flip to page three, you’ll see I’ve attached a map of where I think this cave probably is. Tomorrow night, we’re going to split up and go to those places. Dex and Anderson, you take the grave, me and Romy will take the cave.” I paused. “Hey, that rhymes. Anyway, once we figure out who raised Mary’s ghost, we can figure out why, and we can stop it. And now I’ll take questions.”
Three hands went up.
I called on Dex first. “Um, yes. We have this friend, Izzy Brannick? She’s about your height, has your color hair, and she is a normal, sane-type person. And you, Crazy Lady, seem to have replaced her. Can we have Izzy back now please?”
Rolling my eyes, I pointed at Romy. “Next.”
“Actually, I kind of want you to answer Dex’s question. Seriously, Izzy. What is going on with you?”
“Just trying to be a…a productive member of PMS. So are we all agreed? Friday night, the boys deal with the cemetery, the girls handle the cave.”
“Um,” Anderson said, flicking his hair out of his eyes, “I, uh, was wondering if I could be paired up with Romy instead. No offense, Dex, it’s just…”
Dex held up a hand. “None taken.” Then he gave an exaggerated leer. “I’d much rather spelunk with Izzy, anyway.”
I knew that spelunking meant exploring caves, but I glared at Dex like he’d said something inappropriate.
“Now see, there’s the Izzy I know,” he teased, and I suddenly found myself smiling back. Ugh. I was clearly losing it.
