The Revenant Read Online Free PDF

my underarms, but as Fannie boldly stared at me, I took a deep breath and gathered my courage.
    “I’ve not seen or heard a single thing. I do not believe in ghosts, Miss Bell. And I will not tolerate you, or anyone else, speaking of them in my presence again.”
    Fannie Bell frowned mightily but said nothing.
    “Now,” I said, my voice pitched a little too high, “if you all will turn to page eleven of your readers, we will review the elements of proper elocution.”
    The remainder of that class was a terrible bore, but at least there were no more interruptions. The instant the bell rang, the girls leapt from their desks and pushed their way out the door in a most unladylike fashion. Should this be allowed? Was it regular? I wasn’t certain. I did know I needed to be stricter in the future … and much less of a ditherer.
    It wasn’t until the sophomores walked in that I finally remembered the cloak of authority. No wonder I’d been such a ninny with the seniors! I was playing me instead of a teacher. I turned my back to the class under the guise of arranging papers, but in truth I took a moment to meditate upon Miss Kirtley. When I turned around, I hadn’t merely stepped into her cloak—I’d stepped right into her pointy little body.
    I played Miss Kirtley to the hilt with the rest of my classes—so cold and stern that they gave me no problems. Perhaps it was because they were younger. Perhaps it was because these groups didn’t have a Fannie Bell to pollute the atmosphere. Whatever the reason, I was grateful.
    The day’s labors concluded with the afternoon constitutional—an hour-long walk around the grounds of the school. The girls lined up, two by two, and marched forward as though part of a military drill. I fell in with Olivia Adair, glad to have sympathetic company for the first time that day.
    “Did Miss Kirtley come to your rescue this morning?” she asked with a grin.
    “I forgot her during my first class, but she performed very well afterward. Tomorrow I must call upon her if I’m to impress my authority upon the seniors.” I looked about to make sure Miss Crenshaw was nowhere near. “In fact, Miss Adair, I must ask you about something that occurred with the seniors today.”
    She smiled. “Please call me Olivia—the students are too distracted to hear us now.”
    “Oh, and you must call me Willie.” Her friendly charm had so disarmed me that it came out before I could think. “Willemina is my middle name,” I said quickly when she raised her eyebrows. “I’ve always despised the name Angeline. My dear papa called me Willie, and I should like for you to do the same.”
    “Of course, Willie. What is it you wish to ask?”
    I lowered my voice. “Fannie Bell told me something very curious. She said my room belongs to a dead girl.”
    Olivia looked down, her shoulders drooping. “Ah, she speaks of Ella Blackstone.”
    “She drowned?”
    “She did, and it was devastating. She shared a room with Lucy Sharp, whom you know from the senior class, along with two other girls. Lucy would not stay in the room afterward. In fact, each of the remaining girls made it clear that she did not wish to sleep in that room any longer.”
    “A drowning death is very sad, but why avoid the room? It’s not as though she died there. ”
    Olivia looked away for a moment. “Many of the girls believe poor Ella was murdered by her beau, who then ran away.”
    “Murdered? How intriguing!” I sobered at Olivia’s dark expression. “I mean, how dreadful. Simply horrible, of course. But I still don’t see how this concerns the room I was given.”
    “Some believe her spirit cannot rest because of the violence done to her. They think she haunts the school—that she haunts your room.”
    I snorted. “They said something like that in class. You can’t possibly believe in such things as ghosts!”
    Olivia’s face was stony. “I prefer the word revenant. ”
    “What?”
    “It’s an old word my