Read Online Immortal by Gillian Shields - Free Book Online Page A

were first married. Clara wanted to see the old farm where her family had once lived. We walked for miles over the moors without meeting another soul, I remember, though perhaps it has changed since then. I can’t tell you how pleased I am that you have been lucky enough to get a scholarship to Wyldcliffe. It is such a weight off my mind to know that you are being looked after so well.
I return overseas tomorrow. It will be good to get back to my men and the job we have to do, but I will be thinking of you every day. I saw Frankie at the nursing home this morning; I’m afraid there’s no change. She didn’t really know me. But never forget how much she loves you. And so do I, my chicken.
Be brave, study hard, and make your old dad proud.
    I fought the lump that came into my throat. I didn’t feel brave at all. A crow screeched overhead. I glanced up. The ruins and the moors and the threatening sky seemed so incredibly lonely and desolate. What do you think of Wyldcliffe? Actually, Dad, I’m beginning to hate the place…. But I would never tell him that. I had to deal with it, as Helen had said.
    Blowing my nose, I jumped up, then noticed with horror that the other girls had disappeared from the terrace. They must have all gone inside for the next class. I raced over the damp grass and slipped into the building through one of the side doors. There was no one around. I searched my pockets for the schedule and map I had been carrying everywhere.
    It was gone. I couldn’t find it. I would be late, I would get into trouble again, and Dad would find out….
    Math. That was it—I was sure we had math next with Miss Raglan, the gray-haired teacher who had been so annoyed with me. And I remembered that the math room was at the front of the building, in one of the grand old rooms near the library. All I had to do was to get to the marble staircase and I would be nearly there. I had to be quick, though. Miss Raglan would be just the kind of mistress to dish out a demerit if I turned up late.
    I tore along the deserted corridors. Everyone was in class but me. The whole house seemed still and hushed. At last I reached the right place. Yes, this was it, thank goodness. I opened the door.
    But it wasn’t Miss Raglan’s room. It wasn’t even a classroom. It was some kind of jumbled parlor stuffed with heavy furniture and vases and gold-framed pictures. A skinny young girl with a smudged face and a black dress was sweeping the fireplace. I slammed the door shut and looked around wildly. Suddenly I didn’t recognize the ornate paintings on the walls of the corridor, or the red carpet on the floor. Now I was completely lost.
    Okay, okay, I thought, just make your way to Miss Scratton’s room; you must remember how to get there. Just explain to her that you couldn’t find your way and ask for another map.
    Before I could move, I heard a soft noise behind me. Then I saw her again, the girl in white, walking away from me down the corridor. She held a bundle of rainbow-colored silks in her hands. Without thinking I followed her down the corridor, as if in a dream, and all the time I could hear the swish-swish-swish of her long skirt.
    “Hi, stop!” I tried to shout. She paused and turned, looking over her shoulder with a puzzled frown. The ground under my feet seemed to collapse, and the colors of the silks in her hand swirled into a strange kaleidoscope, as if the whole world had started to spin. I saw her pale face in the streaming shadows; then it turned into the dreadful dead stare of poor drowned Laura. I began to struggle for breath as the darkness came over me once again. I was falling and no one could save me, no one except a dark-haired boy laughing under the stars. I felt his cool breath on my cheek; I saw the fierce blue of his eyes; I heard his voice: I saved your life…. We’ll meet again. The fading scar on my hand throbbed faintly, like a pulse. I cried out, “Where are you? Who are you?” But he just laughed and