Wakestone Hall chapter sampler

in the street outside, making the coloured glass in the window above the front door glow and sparkle. ‘Not this way,’ whispered Ottilie, clutching Stella’s arm. ‘No,’ agreed Stella. No Girl Shall Traverse the Main Staircase under Any Circumstances. This was the first rule Stella had learned at Wakestone Hall. She had broken it within ten minutes of arriving, and she had spent her first evening at school writing it out fifty times as neatly as she could while trying not to cry. The girls turned and went along the winding passageway that led to the back stairs. The cat mewed again. ‘He’s hungry,’ whispered Ottilie. ‘Perhaps we can find him something to eat.’ ‘We might find something in the kitchen,’ said Stella, as they made their way down the back stairs. ‘There might be leftovers from dinner. There was that fish pie. And that jam pudding.’ ‘That fish pie was utterly horrible,’ whispered Agapanthus crossly. ‘It was full of spiky bones, and it tasted like mouldy socks. We can’t give that to the poor cat. Of course not. And that jam pudding looked just like the flabby leg of a dead man. I hid my

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