Madame Duret explains that she is using the girls to channel the spirits of talented individuals from the past so that they can carry out the work they could not finish before their death. She confirms Ruth's suspicion that Emily Brontë under her pen name Ellis Bell has been contacting Sandy. Kit also realizes that Lynda must be channeling Thomas Cole, whose painting she saw in Madame Duret's office. Several days later, the girls discover that many of their letters to their friends and family have been withheld from them. Kit and Sandy also determine that if they do not leave Blackwood before Christmas vacation, the psychic bonds will become permanent and they will never be free from the harassment of the dead. In an effort to escape the school, Kit slips a letter to Blackwood's former cook and tells her to get it to Tracy Rosenblum, Kit's best friend.