do a quick examination, and send people on their way, telling them to thank their lucky stars that it wasn’t Dust Sickness.
Lucy felt another cough coming in her chest, but she took a gulp of well water, wiped the mud off her brow, and rose, thinking, This might kill me. But it sure as hell isn’t going to kill me before all of this ends.
The defense spell consumed us all day and all night. And by the time Olivia, Cassandra, Asa, and I had finished writing it, the sun had set and we followed the light of the torches back home. We walked in silence, none of us talking about the spell that filled us with dread, the spell we’d tried for what seemed like ages to avoid. But it loomed in our thoughts anyway. And how could it not when the spell required such sacrifice? Now all there was was to tell the others. To see what they said.
The rest of the girls were already eating dinner (corn bread and beans) and Mowse was trying to explain to Rosa about the difference between a kingdom and a phylum, but when we came in, everyone turned to us as though they could tell the weight of the news we had to bear.
“Um, can I talk to everybody for a second?” I said, and the room grew even quieter than it already was. I gulped and continued. “We created a spell today, a last-ditch spell that can protect the city from the Dust Soldiers if the cavalry lines are broken. It can be cast by any one of us, no matter if we have magic or not.”
“That’s great,” said Judith, looking to each of us in turn. “So why doesn’t it feel great?”
“There’s one problem,” I said. “If we cast it, there’s no way all of us will get out alive.”
The girls went quiet, their faces emptied of the humor that had been there only moments before. I continued.
“Unlike Dust Dome, it can’t be cast with the caster in the middle of it. It’s designed for keeping things out… and we couldn’t figure out a way to make it accept the caster after it had been cast, or for the caster to cast the spell from inside the range it’s meant to cover.”
“What does that mean?” Zo asked, leaning forward in her chair.
“Someone has to remain outside the gates in order to cast it,” I said. “And once it’s cast, the caster will be stuck outside with the Dust Soldiers, unable to get back in.”
“So dead, basically,” said Zo, her voice loud in the quiet kitchen.
“There was no way around it,” Cassandra said, even her airy-fairy voice serious and flat as a stone. “It won’t work unless someone agrees to be left behind.”
“Well, who’s it going to be?” Judith asked. “We gonna draw lots or something?”
“There’s no use deciding now, since there’s no telling where any of us is going to end up in the battle,” I said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out seven black stones, each with a smear of Asa’s blood on it. “These are for each of you. This means that, if it comes down to it—and I hope it won’t—any one of us can close the spell over the city. All you have to do is place it at the gates and say ‘Pulvarem spiritum.’”
“Pulvarem spiritum,” they repeated quietly. Each girl looked at the stone for a moment, then put it in her pocket, hoping to never have to bring it out again.
“There’s no guarantee we’ll use the spell,” I told them. “Hopefully the cavalry and artillery will be enough.”
Susanah nodded. “They will. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure of it.”
The kitchen went quiet again, and I knew we were all pushing the spell to the back of our minds, hoping that it would not surface again. I saw Olivia put her arms around Rosa and kiss her forehead. I took my plate and ate quietly, my brain aching from the long day of spell writing.
“Mowse, what’s that on your hand?” Zo asked.
“I dunno,” said Mowse, showing a bright red bump on the back of her hand. “But it doesn’t hurt or anything. Three other kids at school have it.”
“Looks like you gave it to me already,” Judith said, raising her own hand, where a similar red bump was already forming.
“And Rosa,” said Olivia, taking Rosa’s hand into her own. “This better not be ringworm, Mowse.”