Wenclair - a New Term at Nevermore

Chapter 54

Enid was not in the dormitory, and usually that would not be a cause for concern, but today, a different story was told in the state the room was left in. A mess was inevitable with a disorganised werewolf for a roommate - however, what was alarming was the stepladder left standing next to a leaf of pink-tinted plastic that hung half-stuck onto one of the panes; Enid was messy but not one to leave a task unfinished once begun in earnest. Having just opened the door, Wednesday dropped her bag by her bed and closed the door behind her, now on a mission to find Enid.

Firstly she tried Yoko's dormitory. She and Divina were sitting and chatting over the Outcast History prep, and denied that they had seen Enid. Unfortunately there was no time to ensure the trustworthiness of their statements with torture, and nor for Xavier, who was standing in the hallway reading a leaflet, and also repudiated the idea of having seen Enid. Ajax and Kent, having been in the quad since lessons finished, reported they had not seen her either.

Becoming desperate, Wednesday ruled out other possibilities and concluded that Enid had either been kidnapped, made an emergency trip to Jericho, or injured herself. Realistically the third was the most likely, given the state of the dormitory, but Wednesday had been unwilling to believe it; still, a visit to the infirmary was requisite before Jericho became the object of her suspicion.

Lo and behold, there was Enid, sitting on a chair by the side wearing a temporary sling. Despite the January chill her blue and green hoodie was bundled up on the chair next to her and she was clad only in a unicorn-patterned t-shirt and shorts that were coated with scraps and clippings of sticky colourful plastic, corroborating the story that the dormitory told.

"Hey Wednesday! Haha. Remember last week at dinner when Yoko said I shouldn't be left alone?"

"You are unbelievable. Have you not the wherewithal to wait for me before engaging in dangerous activities?"

"Wait... I didn't realise you cared." The tone was half teasing, and half genuine, but Wednesday decided to side with the idea that Enid was joking in order to keep her composure.

"I didn't realise I can't trust you in your own presence. What happened?"

"I fell off the stepladder on my hand. I was putting up spring colours on the window - on my half."

Wednesday mused for a second. "You have probably fractured your scaphoid. Are you not cold? It is two hundred and seventy seven degrees outside." For a brief second Enid was confused but clearly ignored the perceived mismeasurement as a quirk of Wednesday's being. Little was she to know that Wednesday kept temperatures in Kelvin for scientific purposes, and in order to equally disconcert the American and European students at Nevermore. "Would you like me to fetch a coat?"

"Oh, no thanks! I'm going to the hospital in ten minutes to get an X-ray and stuff."

The nurse popped out from a side room and quickly appraised Wednesday. "What are you here for?", she asked grumpily. Enid leaped to cover for Wednesday.

"I was - I was just asking my friend to, um, fetch my phone." An awkward false laugh forced itself out of her mouth. "Make sure you're back soon!", she said, waving a colourful-nailed hand in goodbye, and Wednesday left the room losing no momentum in sweeping up to their room and locating the buzzing little metal mystery. 

Just as Wednesday arrived back at the infirmary, Enid was leaving with the nurse, hoodie draped over her shoulders. The phone was handed over along with, presumably, the expectation that their conversation would continue via text, and as Enid left the academy in the school minibus on her way to Jericho Hospital, Wednesday returned to Ophelia Hall to finish colouring the window.