As the Pentangles delegation had arrived a little later than they had planned, they were provided rooms to stay the night. The competition would be held the next day instead. After dinner, after having bade Dimity to take charge, the four of them retired to Ada's office where the first chess game was held. The sisters didn't hover over Hecate anxiously, nor did they loom over Pippa to intimidate, they observed from a distance with the cats. Agatha played with Pendell and a piece of string, Morgana sat sedately on Ada's lap, accepting scratches and a biscuit, repaid with an occasional head butt. Morgana had taken her time to warm up to Ada but anyone her mistress trusted, she would decide to trust.

'Are you crazy?' Hecate hissed.

'Trust me, she's overconfident. She'll slip up' said Agatha.

'I think you should have discussed it with Hecate before you volunteered her' said Ada.

'If you lose, it'll be one pink dress once in your life' said Agatha. 'We can impose a no maglet rule for the next few days so nobody can take pictures. Do you want to beat the smug off her face or not?'

Hecate didn't give too much away. She frowned over the pieces even when she was winning, which she did, by a narrow margin. Pippa looked confident enough and accepted her defeat graciously.

'Well, it's good to know that you kept up your chess skills, Hecate' she said teasingly. 'Who have you been playing with all this time?'

'Miss Drill.'

'Might have to challenge her to a duel after this.'

If you have time thought Agatha. She wasn't fooled. Pippa wanted to win. Unfortunately for her, so did Agatha.

The next day dawned nice and early with promise but petered out to a disappointing stalemate. Ada was secretly relieved, she felt like there was too much pressure with that and the chess victory rashly promised by Agatha. She was anxious for Hecate who seemed more drawn and even quieter than usual.

That evening she lost spectacularly to Pippa who executed a swift move that Hecate should have seen coming. Hecate closed her eyes in dismay as Pippa whooped, looked up and stiffly acknowledged her defeat. Ada congratulated her with no hint of sarcasm, Agatha with a hint of sarcasm and they spent the rest of the evening with calming cups of chamomile tea. Agatha hated chamomile tea. Tasted like cat piss. She exchanged it for an Earl Grey. Ada stroked her wife's hand under the table to soothe her. She knew it would be on Hecate's mind that night. Pippa got under her skin like nobody else had.

'Don't worry, doughnuts will be off the menu soon' murmured Agatha as she passed Hecate on the way out. Hecate blinked in surprise. She never knew where she was with Agatha.

Later that night, Agatha knocked on the other headmistress's door.

'Just wanted to check, you have everything you need?'

Pippa was surprised not to see Miss Hardbroom standing there but she invited Agatha in.

'Everything here is wonderful. Miss Cackle is so welcoming.'

But that's not who you want to be welcomed by thought Agatha.

'I suspect we're a little too old fashioned for you' she teased as she sat next to Pippa on the bed. Pippa smiled.

'Well, when you get used to modernity, there's no going back is there? I mean, you must understand. You're a woman of the world, surely?'

Pippa was correct in surmising that Agatha had lived a more colourful life than her sister. She had observed the sleek brown pinstripe dress and court heels that Agatha sported, the way she walked, so different from her twin.

'Well, I certainly like the option. And for myself, I do use more modern conveniences from time to time. But don't get Ada wrong. She does take notice of modernity. She flirts with it from time to time. She occasionally opens up the arena to try something new for the sake of the school. There have been mixed results. She's cautious, with good reason. It's difficult to balance out the school according to current society and maintain longevity. Ultimately Cackles is grounded in tradition with opportunity for modern influence. But it doesn't do to go all out. We need to maintain its reputation.'

Pippa was impressed. Gave her points for eloquence. She could see what Agatha meant.

'Does Hecate agree with this?'

'To a reasonable amount.'

Pippa snorted and made a face.

'Hecate's been rigid since the day she was born. I was forever trying to soften her up at school.'

Aha. Now to get to the good bit.

'So what is the deal between you two? It couldn't have been chess and cheese strings that kept your friendship going.'

'You know that Pentangles used to be a primary school?'

Agatha nodded.

'Well while my aunt was applying to extend it to become a secondary school, I was sent to Amulets for a year. Except that one year turned into three years and I ended up finishing up my compulsory education there. Hecate was a loner, head buried in her books. I started talking to her in the library one day and invited her to join my group. I thought it would be fun.'

'But the rest of the group didn't?'

Pippa frowned.

'It was that Belladonna Bindweed. She was never keen on Hecate. Made fun of her a bit too much.'

'When was the last time you saw Hecate?'

Pippa shrugged carelessly.

'The last day of school. She was miffed with me because we didn't dance at the graduation ball like I said I would. I meant to, I just didn't get round to it. Bella thought it was funny.'

Agatha understood. Hecate had been hungry for crumbs at the popular table and had realised too late that she'd been strung along.

'What was she like? I can't imagine she was exactly the same as she is now.'

'Well. Kind of.'

'That doesn't sound like fun' said Agatha idly, tracing the pattern of the cover with her finger. Near Pippa's knee.

'She could be such hard work. Much of the time we'd laugh at something and she'd stand there disapprovingly. But sometimes she joined in on the pranks and it was glorious.'

Pippa waxed lyrical about the practical jokes they'd convinced Hecate to take part in and Agatha had to admit that swapping salt and sugar on the teacher's table or hiding the chanting teacher's glasses while they wasted time leaving the room searching for it and then replacing it at different moments of the lesson, sounded fun. She'd been a bit more of a dare devil in her time but appreciated it when Hecate showed a modicum of a sense of humour. Being with Ada had wrung it out of her a little more.

'So, were you hoping that she was at the door tonight? Reminiscing about old times?' Asked Agatha bluntly.

'Well.'

Pippa looked a little shy.

'You can tell me.'

'She's been so abrupt with me. But she's hard to pin down.'

Not if you're the right person thought Agatha disdainfully. Hecate didn't seem to fancy being pinned down by Pippa. Maybe once upon a time she had. But it had been decades since and she seemed in no hurry to get under her.

'She trembled when I touched her arm' said Pippa triumphantly.

'She gets cold easily' offered Agatha. 'She wears thermals.'

If she thought Pippa would be put off by the thought of Hecate in long johns and a long sleeve vest, it didn't work. It was a lie but she wasn't to know that.

'I was hoping to get her alone, see if I can make her speak to me. See if my touch still makes her shiver.'

Yes and wouldn't you like that thought Agatha, watching her narrowly. Perhaps Pippa was going through a dry patch in the bedroom and wanted to reignite her teenage ego using Hecate. Agatha had done many morally ambiguous things in her time. She'd lied, stole and cheated her way through some aspects of her life. But there were a few things she wouldn't do and being involved with a married person was one of them. Pippa was obviously unaware of it as Agatha expected. Nobody commented on it.

'I wouldn't have thought she was your type.'

'I don't really have a type' said Pippa absentmindedly, tracing the pattern of the duvet with a manicured finger, unconsciously imitating Agatha.

'What about her attracts you? Is it the challenge?'

'Wow is she a challenge' Pippa acknowledged. 'Sometimes I'd get her to warm to me and then the next day she'd be back to being old chilly knickers.'

Agatha laughed vulgarly. She thought that she might have bullied Hecate Hardbroom if they had been at school together. Probably would have bewitched her quill or something. But she would have been bored very quickly and moved onto her next prank. Pippa had been too concerned with being popular, that was her problem. Always wanted to be liked and be the pageant girl of sociability.

'Tried to get there did you?'

Pippa looked coy.

'Not asuch. But Bella said she had a crush on me. So I thought I'd test the theory. She kept shying away from me every time I thought I'd got to her. Once I distracted her in chanting and she ruined her chant because I ran my fingers down her cheek. It was quite cute actually how flustered she got.'

Got to work on your technique Agatha thought. The bulldozer approach. Agatha knew, she used to do the same a long time ago. She learned that it didn't work with most people and had adjusted accordingly. But she wasn't going to give tips to Pippa Pentangle.

'Still think you'll get along?'

'Well, she's still so old fashioned' said Pippa with a light laugh. 'She needs to let down her hair a little. She rarely did even back then.'

'Well of course she is. But she's not got to where she is by being contemporary, has she? She's risen up the ranks here.'

'I thought maybe she'd loosen up, unwind a bit' said Pippa wistfully. Agatha tried to restrain her exasperation. If there had ever been a hope of anything, that ship had now sailed. She was far too old to be longingly recounting a teenage pash. She changed the subject.

'So what were you really going to say in the office? About Hecate not staying on to be the headmistress?'

'What do you mean?'

Pippa looked the picture of innocence. She was convincing enough and no doubt took in a lot of people that way but Agatha wasn't fooled. She'd picked up on the hesitation in the conversation. Pippa had spoken without thinking and then had to cover it up with an even more unwise assumption.

'You meant something else.'

'Well. Now that I know that Ada has a twin, I would have thought that you would have been the deputy.'

'We came to an arrangement' said Agatha smoothly. The terms of it would not be revealed to anyone unconcerned with the matter. Only the Grand Wizard, Ada and Hecate knew that Agatha had been warned with expulsion from the magical community forever if she put one foot out of line. Agatha had resented it enormously to begin with but she'd do anything if it meant not losing her magic. She was threatened with even worse, to be forcibly stripped of her magic but have to continue teaching at Cackles without it. Living without her magic would make her a desperate woman so she towed the line. She had no choice but to comply. It had been a rocky first year but she'd finally accepted that any misbehaviour would end in the most dire of consequences for her so she stuck to teasing all of the teachers and cutting down students who were too big for their boots. Last Halloween, she and Dimity had bewitched the pumpkins to sing when Hecate walked past them. Being serenaded by a barbershop quartet of pumpkins had alarmed Hecate to no end and they'd sniggered together watching her hurry by. Ada thought it was a charming idea but told them to spare Hecate next time, she would prefer being serenaded to instead.

Agatha entertained Pippa with tales of what she and Dimity got up to, omitting any background information that might hint as to why Agatha was demoted. Pippa was a good audience, if a little hammy in reaction. Agatha thought she'd been around children for too long. She made it a point not to spend her weekends at the castle unless she had to, a welcome freedom she had by not being in charge.

They spent another couple of hours getting to know each other. By the time Agatha had left, Pippa no longer thought of how pretty Hecate would look in her bed. She had been turned upside down and sideways and altogether dangerously distracted.