‘Oh my God!’ I shrieked. ‘That’s disgusting! You can’t put lice in that guy’s hair!’

Father Dominic looked up from his drawer.

‘Why ever not? It will serve our purposes exactly. Keep him out of harm’s way long enough for you and I to talk some sense into Miss Chambers, and—’

‘You can’t put lice in that guy’s hair,’ I said again, more vehemently than was, perhaps, necessary. I don’t know why I was so against the idea, except that . . . well, he had such nice hair. I’d gotten a pretty close look at it when we’d been sprawled on the ground together. It was curly, soft-looking hair, the kind of hair I could picture myself running my fingers through. The thought of bugs crawling around in it turned my stomach. How did that kid’s rhyme go?

You gazed into my eyes
What could I do but linger?
I ran my hands all through your hair
And a cootie bit my finger.

‘Aw, jeez,’ I said, sitting down on top of the desk. ‘Hold the lice, will you? Let me deal with Heather. You say you’ve been talking to her for how long, now? A week?’

‘Since the New Year,’ Father Dominic said. ‘Yes. That’s when she first showed up here. I can see now she’s just been waiting for Bryce.’

‘Right. Well, let me take care of it. Maybe she just needs a little dose of girl talk.’

‘I don’t know.’ Father Dominic regarded me a little dubiously. ‘I really feel that you have a bit of a propensity towards . . . well, towards the physical. The role of a mediator is supposed to be a non-violent one, Susannah. You are supposed to be someone who helps troubled spirits, not hurts them.’

‘Hello? Were you out there just now? You think I was just supposed to stand there and talk that beam into not crushing that guy’s skull?’

‘Of course not. I’m just saying that if you tried a little compassion—’

‘Hey. I have plenty of compassion, Father. My heart bleeds for this girl, it really does. But this is my school. Got it? Mine. Not hers, not any more. She made her decision, and now she’s got to stick with it. And I’m not letting her take Bryce – or anyone else – down with her.’

‘Well.’ Father Dominic looked sceptical. ‘Well, if you’re sure . . .’

‘Oh, I’m sure.’ I hopped off his desk. ‘Just leave it to me, all right?’

Father Dominic said, ‘All right.’ But he said it kind of faintly, I noticed. I had to get him to write me a hall pass so I could get back to class without getting busted by one of the nuns. I was waiting for one of them – a pinch-faced novice – to finish scrutinizing this pass before she’d let me go on down the corridor when a side door marked NURSE opened, and out stepped Bryce with a hall pass of his own.