Effie hadn’t left. She wouldn’t leave.

Ruby couldn’t understand it.

Though the cold continued to bite into both girls’ skin, they remained in the cemetery, Effie kneeling by Mina’s grave as Ruby stood beside her, shivering. Effie hardly seemed to feel the cold, but then, she had the coat. Ruby had nothing at all.

“Are you sure this is Mina’s?” Effie asked after about a minute.

“Her name’s right there.”

“A name is there,” Effie said. “It is a name that could be Mina’s, but it could belong to any Mina at all. It might not be our Mina.”

Our Mina. The tenderness in those words was encouraging, and Ruby smiled. It was all she could do not to reach forward and grab Effie’s hands in delight.

(It really was all she could do. She had to wrap her arms around her middle to keep from lunging forward and embracing her friend.)

“And even if it is our Mina --” (That phrase again! Could Effie know just how much hope it gave her?) “How would we know this is her grave? We can’t be certain, Rue -- Ruby.”

Ruby flinched at the nickname but tried not to let it reach her too much. She had more important things to do than go to pieces. That could come later. Surely she could keep her mind together for now. She had to believe it possible. If it wasn’t --

“I’m sure,” she said, before any part of her mind could try to betray her. “I’m entirely positive. Mina brought me here herself.”

Effie looked skeptical, but she still didn’t leave. She sat perfectly still, looking up at Ruby, hands folded on her lap. If Ruby had intended for this to be a test, if she had been cruel enough to try testing Effie’s friendship, then all would have gone well. Effie would have passed perfectly, and Ruby would now know that she had a true friend in her company.

But she hadn’t planned to test her friend, and certainly not their friendship. It was only after the fact that the notion came to her, and once it settled in her mind, it gave her as much comfort as a warm blanket would have. She scarcely felt the cold, even as she settled on the ground beside Effie and took her hands.

“You do believe me, don’t you? You know I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“You wouldn’t lie,” Effie said, though she sounded cautious, as though she felt there was something she had to hold back. “I know you well enough for that.” She took a deep breath, then asked, “Would you tell me how she showed it to you?”

Ruby wanted nothing more. “It was late at night,” she said. “I was having trouble sleeping, and I heard someone calling me. I didn’t know who it was at first, but I knew I couldn’t just lie in bed and ignore the voice. I was compelled to rise and follow, wherever it might lead. You must have been sound asleep, for I wasn’t careful enough to keep quiet as I got out of bed and left the room. I made as much noise as I do in the morning, but you didn’t stir one bit. You might have been under some sort of enchantment. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mina could do that, if she had wanted to show this to me and me alone.

“I didn’t know it was Mina at first, of course. I only knew it was someone familiar, though I couldn’t place the voice. I couldn’t find whoever it was, either. They kept teasing me as I tried to follow, calling out my name but always being just ahead of where I could see them. It was dark, and I had forgotten to get a candle. I had to keep stumbling forward, and I almost fell down the stairs and broke my neck.

“Don’t look so alarmed. Mina wouldn’t have hurt me. If she wanted to, I’m sure ghosts have better weapons at their disposal than darkness and stairs.

“Not that I knew it was Mina, of course. I only knew that whoever was calling me wouldn’t hurt me. I don’t know how I knew. It was… a sense, I suppose. A great sense of trust that I felt. I couldn’t have properly explained it then, nor can I now. I only know -- oh, Effie, do listen! I’ll finish the tale.

“The voice led me outside, and down to the graveyard. It was cloudy, but there was just enough moonlight shining between the clouds that I could find my way. Only then did I see there was no one ahead of me, but the voice called me all the same, until I came here, to this grave. Then it bade me stop.

“So you see? It could only have been Mina. Only she would lead me to a grave with a name that could be hers, and this can only be her grave. You do believe me, don’t you?”

Effie was silent for a long while, and then she got to her feet and reached for Ruby’s hands.

“Tell me you believe me,” Ruby said.

“I’ll tell you when we’re back inside and you’re wrapped up in a blanket, with a hot cup of tea in you. Two cups, if I can manage it.”

“You could tell me out here, can’t you?”

Ruby had meant for that to be a demand. She had wanted to sound firm and unyielding, but instead she sounded like a petulant child. A shiver ran through her body, and the sight of that must have been enough for Effie, who bent and hauled Ruby to her feet, wrapping an arm tightly around her.

“We’re going in,” Effie said, and they started back up the path to the school.

Through some miracle, no one spotted or stopped them. Once they made it inside, Ruby had decided it was no miracle at all but Mina, but she refrained from saying so for fear Effie really would think her mad. Perhaps she was. After all, just before going in, she had smelled the sea.

And just after going in, Effie had leaned close to her and whispered, “I do believe you, Ruby.” Those words were enough warmth to make up for a full day out in the cold, and she tried to smile to show her gratitude.

The smile very quickly turned into tears. Even so, she rested her head on Effie’s shoulder. She wouldn’t trade that reassurance for anything.

Effie brought her to bed and laid her down, covering her up with the blanket before kissing her forehead. “I can’t tell if you’re too cold or too warm,” she said, frowning. “I ought to --”

“Don’t send for Dr. Lorimer,” Ruby said quickly, struggling to sit up. She made it halfway before the blankets proved too much for her and she fell back again. “He’ll only send me to a madhouse. If you -- if you care about me at all, Effie, don’t send for him.”

She’d almost asked Effie not to out of love, but she couldn’t trust that word any longer, and she didn’t know if Effie would trust it coming from her lips.

Effie’s frown deepened. “I’ll get some tea,” she said finally, “but I don’t like this, Ruby. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“It’ll be all right,” Ruby said, settling back against the pillows again. “If we are lost, we’ll be lost together.”