Instantly, the corridors wentfrom empty to overflowing as girls ran and staff members hurried and the redlights continued to pulse off and on.

A shelf of trophies spun around,sending the plaques and ribbons commemorating winners in the annualhand-to-hand combat and team code-breaking competitions to the hiddencompartment behind the wall, leaving a row of awards from swim meets and debatecontests in its place.

Above us, in the upper storyof the foyer, three gold-and-burgundy LearnHer Skills, Honor Her Sword, and Keep Her Secrets bannersrolled miraculously up and were replaced by handmade posters supporting someonenamed Emily for student council president.

Buckingham dragged Bex and meup the sweeping staircase as a flock of newbies ran down, screeching at the topof their lungs. I remembered what those sirens had sounded like the first timeI'd heard them. It was no wonder the girlswere acting like it was the end of theworld. Buckingham yelled, "Girls!" and silenced them. "FollowMadame Dabney. She's going to take you to the stables for the afternoon. Andladies"—she snapped at a pair ofdark-haired twins who seemed to be especially frantic—"composure!"

And then Buckingham whirledand raced up the staircase to the second-story landing, where Mr. Mosckowitzand Mr. Smith were trying to wheel a statue of Eleanor Everett (the GallagherGirl who had once disabled a bomb in the White House with her teeth) into abroom closet. We swept through the Hall of History, where Gillian's sword slidsmoothly into the vault beneath its case like Excalibur returning to the Ladyof the Lake, and was replaced by a bust of a man with enormous ears who wassupposedly the school's first headmaster.