Rose shakes her head. “It’s not true.”

“Harriet calls herself Hattie, doesn’t she? They’ve practically got the same name: Hati Skoll; Hattie Scott. And remember when your amazing cupcakes got thrown around? That wasn’t the Year Elevens, was it? I saw Hati stamping on your stuff in the Bucket of Blood, and I think that’s what Harriet did to your cupcakes. Rose, we can stand up to her together.” But still Rose shakes her head. “And you’ve got Mitch and Win too. They’re your real friends.”

She does a quick laugh. “So my real friends are a ninja wizard and a merwitch? Arthur, can’t you see how pathetic that sounds?”

“It’s not as pathetic as hanging out with a person like Harriet!”

Rose and I glare at each other across the cabin. Rose is barely containing her anger. Her chin is trembling and her hands are clenched. So are mine. It’s like looking into a mirror. Hati hammers on the door and the wolves howl. Sometimes I feel like Rose and I are miles apart, hardly even brother and sister, let alone twins. But right now it’s like we’re the same person.

There is a deep long growl. It’s coming from behind the door, but it fills the room. It makes the floor tremble. It rises up through my body. It makes my heart pound and sweat prickle my skin.

Rose’s shoulders sag. “Tell me how I can stand up to that, Arthur?”

“Don’t think about how you fight off a pack of wolves,” I say, “think about how you stand up to Hati. Don’t accept the way she’s treating you, Rose. Get angry. Show her you’re not scared!”

Hati is hammering on the door so hard the wood around the hinges is starting to splinter. I run over and throw my weight against it.

“But I am scared,” says Rose.

“I know, and so am I, but I know you can do it.” I desperately search for the right thing to say, the one thing that will persuade her. “Laugh, Rose, be funny. That’s something you’re good at.”

Rose reaches for the window. “Let’s run, Arthur, please!”

I want to climb out of the window with her and race away across the ice, but I can’t. “I’m sorry,” I say, and I slide back the bolt.

There is this second where Rose stares at me, unable to believe what I’ve done; then the door bursts open, knocking me to the ground.

Hati steps over me, the wolves crowding around her, then she points at Rose. “Get her!”

Chapter 50