It was a subdued cottage of wretched girls when Miss Grant finally left. Although only five young ladies were involved in the illicit cocoa preparation, the lady principal had seen fit to punish the entire house. No one in Willow Cottage would be attending the Halloween Masquerade Ball. No one, that is, except for Concordia, whom Miss Grant still needed as chaperone.
Concordia sighed. She would have preferred to stay here with the girls on Halloween, and at least make the time a little more agreeable, with stories around the fire and goodies from Ruby’s kitchen. They could be reckless girls, to be sure, but they didn’t deserve such a penalty.
The front door bell rang.
Now who could that be? Since Ruby and the girls were still occupied with cleaning up, Concordia answered it.
It was El
