Free Betrayal by Gillian Shields

come and get it. But where would be really safe?”
    I had already decided. There was only one place it could be.
    “Uppercliffe. No one will find it there.”
    “Okay. When?”
    Fortunately it was Sunday. We would be allowed out that afternoon.
    “We’ll go today, as soon as we can,” I said.
    Celeste turned over lazily in her bed and opened her wide, innocent eyes. “Go where?”
    I ignored her. The sooner the Talisman was buried out of sight, the safer it would be.

Sixteen
    FROM THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF S EBASTIAN J AMES F AIRFAX
    I have been buried out of sight, here in this narrow, lightless place. But now, at last, I will get out. I will be free.
    I saw you.
    Perhaps it was an hour since, or a lifetime ago. I can no longer reckon such things. But I saw you, Evie. I touched you. I felt alive again. You always made me feel alive.
    Life, breath, strength—all because of you.
    I was waiting for you in the chamber in the Abbey that had once belonged to Agnes, though all was bare and altered. It was sunset. The earth was alive with fire and ice. Fire and water.
    Agnes and Evie.
    Agnes was like my sister, but you are my whole world.
    I waited for you. I heard your footsteps and the next moment you were in my arms. If I close my eyes, I can still recall the softness of your skin and the scent of your hair—I can feel the flutter of your heart, the sigh of your breath…
    Oh, God! How can I stand to be away from you for one single moment when I have so little time left?
    Seeing you has given me strength.
    I will reach you again, and not just in my mind. It was a dream, and yet not a dream. Now I need to make it a reality. You have awoken me, and I no longer feel so drained of life.
    I will get out of here.
    Evie, I will come to you, I will find a way.
    A light shines on my face. The darkness has receded slightly. The frost in me is thawing, and all because of you.

Seventeen
    T he snow had thawed overnight and the country lanes had turned into mud-spattered slush. Most of the girls in my class complained about wet feet and cold fingers during the long morning walk to the village church and back, but I had other things on my mind.
    Sarah and I were going to ride to Uppercliffe Farm that afternoon, and before our visit to the farm, I was going to have the first of the riding lessons that Dad had arranged. To be truthful, I wasn’t crazy about being on horseback again. Horses are unpredictable, aren’t they? It’s dangerous…. I had tried to shrug off Harriet’s silly comments, but my stomach had begun to flutter with nerves. Although I could sit on a pony and jog over the moors, I didn’t really know how to ride properly. I hoped the teacher wouldn’texpect me to gallop, or jump, or do anything fancy. I wasn’t afraid of swimming in the roughest seas, but I hadn’t been brought up around horses and I would never be entirely comfortable with them.
    After lunch, I went up to the dorm to change, pulling on the smooth new jodhpurs and shiny riding boots that Dad had given me at Christmas. I felt for my necklace under my sweatshirt.
    “Agnes?” I hesitated. “Agnes, tell me, am I doing the right thing? Should I take it to Uppercliffe?” The thin curtains around my bed stirred, as though blown by a breeze from the moors, and I heard the echo of a sigh. Then there was silence, except for the urgent beating of my heart.
    Sarah would be waiting. I had to go.
    I swung out of the dorm and clattered down the marble steps and reached the second floor, where the staff quarters were. Miss Scratton was locking the door to one of the rooms. She looked up and saw me, then beckoned me over.
    “I hear you are going out riding with Sarah? She made a request last night for you to ride over the moors together this afternoon.”
    “Um, yes…”
    “Be careful that you don’t stay out too long. It’s getting colder again, and I believe that more snow is on its way.”
    “I’m sure we’ll be fine, Miss Scratton.”
    “I