‘Be careful!’ Ivy flung one arm over her head, using the other to push Petra to safety a few paces down the path. ‘Well, this has been fun,’ she said, coming to a stop. ‘But let’s go back now.’
Petra brandished the envelope, now crumpled and dirty from their narrow escapes. ‘Absolutely not. I have to get this to Etan! You go back. You don’t have to come with me.’ She turned and continued down the path.
Ivy huffed. This girl was getting on her last nerve! But even though Ivy wanted to strangle her, she couldn’t let Petra bumble through this deadly obstacle course alone. She trotted after her friend, careful to watch where she stepped. Petra was taking ‘boy crazy’ to a brand new level. Ivy wondered if she would do the same for Brendan. Probably . . . but I definitely wouldn’t admit that to him!
She caught up with Petra, who looked at her in surprise, then smiled.
‘OK, I’ll admit it,’ she said, ‘I’m glad you’re here.’
They started up a gradual incline. The tree limbs groaned in the wind and Ivy held Petra’s hand to keep her from freaking out. Suddenly, there was a sharp twang, and Ivy shoved Petra sideways, out of the path. She was just about to dive out of the way herself when a snapping rope coiled round her ankles, lifting her feet out from under her and dragging her high up into the trees. The blood rushed to her head. She’d been caught!
‘Help me,’ she whispered, but Petra was frozen.
Ivy listened. A bat darted through the air, skimming past their noses. Then slow, confident footsteps crunched towards them. She knew who it was even before she heard the figure speak.
‘Well, well,’ said Miss Avisrova, as she approached Petra.
‘S-s-sorry,’ said Petra, bowing her head. ‘I-I-I don’t know what I was thinking.’
Ivy stared down at the severe parting in Miss Avisrova’s hair. Their teacher curled her fingers around the back of Petra’s neck. ‘You will accompany me back to the girls’ dormitory immediately.’ She started to guide Petra down the path.
Petra looked upwards. ‘Miss, there’s someone else up –’
Avisrova cut her off and repeated herself, more forcefully this time. ‘You will accompany me back to the girls’ dormitory. Immediately.’
‘But –’
‘But nothing,’ Avisrova snapped. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about. Honestly. A girl on her own in the Gauntlet at night . . . No girl from this academy could possibly make it through the Gauntlet.’
Petra’s mouth worked, but no words came out. Ivy couldn’t believe it. Avisrova had to know that someone else was in the forest. She was a vampire, with vampire senses, and she had caught Petra red-handed. No, Miss Avisrova was choosing to let Ivy dangle alone in the Gauntlet.
Petra glanced back anxiously at Ivy, as she was led away. She shrugged and Ivy’s chest heaved with fury. Her eyes narrowed. Ivy knew Avisrova wanted her to call for help, but too bad. That evil teacher was going to be sorely disappointed, because no way was Ivy Vega giving her that satisfaction.
No girl can make it through the Gauntlet, huh? Ivy’s blood boiled. Was that what Avisrova thought? Well, apparently Miss Avisrova did not know the first thing about Ivy.
As soon as her teacher was out of sight and earshot, Ivy began swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Her muscles strained and the cord around her ankles cut into her skin. It took a few minutes, but finally she got enough momentum and grabbed hold of the rope.
Take this, Avisrova. Ivy’s arms trembled as she held herself right side up. She ripped into the rope with her teeth, gnawing at the threads with her newly grown fangs until she heard a snap. Moments later, she landed on the ground with a loud kerthump.
She lay on her back, waiting for agonising pain to shoot up one of her limbs, but . . . nothing. Tentatively, she felt the ground beneath her and lifted up a fistful of soft, brown leaves. She sat up and looked around her. Woah! How lucky am I? Ivy had landed in a pile of foliage that had broken her fall. The leaves were gathered in a neat circle, almost as though someone had arranged them there.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ivy noticed Petra’s envelope. It was half covered in dirt. She picked it up and dusted it off. Whatever it was, Petra must have worked pretty hard on it to go to this much trouble just to make a delivery. That meant she would definitely want it back.
Ivy checked to make sure nothing had fallen out of her own pockets while she’d been dangling by her feet. She was about to follow Petra and Avisrova out of the woods when she paused and looked back over her shoulder. She could only imagine the hidden grass snakes, the hairy spiders and, of course, the tripwires which lay in the forest beyond. She remembered the story about the girl whose hair turned white on entering the Gauntlet. What had she seen? But another thought wormed its way up Ivy’s brain . . . Could I complete the obstacle course? That would prove a point to Avisrova and to the entire school. Ivy shouldn’t let silly ghost stories put her off! If one student was able to emerge on the other side of the Gauntlet, Wallachia Academy might drag itself into the twenty-first century. Maybe.
‘I mean, the whole Gauntlet thing is ridiculous,’ Ivy said out loud, trying to talk herself into being brave. ‘I need to show this school how stuffy and old-fashioned things like this are – and prove that it doesn’t even work!’ If a girl like Ivy could get across . . . perhaps the school would give up on keeping the boys and girls apart and Petra might even get to talk to – instead of stare at – her beloved Etan.