Class Trip II by Bebe Faas Rice

Tagline: Pack your bag…

Back tagline: …for a date with death.

Summary: Hallie and her friends are lost, stranded in Holyoake—a small town deep in the mountains. A town isolated from the rest of the world. A town that time has forgotten.
At first, Hallie is charmed by Holyoake’s odd customs and old-fashioned ways. The townspeople are warm and friendly, and they’re eager to make Hallie and her friends feel right at home. They want to make sure that Hallie and her friends stay in Holyoake. Forever.

First impressions: Class Trip is my top rated book I’ve covered so far on the blog, so I’m very much looking forward to the sequel. It’s a completely different plot so likely has no connection to the original, but I’m not bothered by that. I really enjoyed Bebe Faas Rice’s writing the first time around so I’m sure this will be just as good! The cover art was created by Tim Jacobus too, who I’m sure you know did most of the Goosebumps artwork! This cover is simple, but has just enough mystery to draw you in. This is gonna be a long book, so let’s get into it.

Recap

Hallie – Our kind-hearted heroine who senses something weird about Holyoake.
Becky – The best friend who’s exactly what Holyoake needs.
Adam – Becky’s boyfriend who’s dodgy van leaves them stranded.
Simon – A Holyoake teenager who’s not as hospitable as the rest of the locals.
Mrs. Grigsby/Aunt Phoebe – Simon’s aunt who kindly allows the teen strangers to temporarily move in.
Reverend Thoreson – Holyoake’s mysterious vicar.
Norman, Elder Sidlaw, Brother William – Other residents of Holyoake who are worth a mention.

The book begins in the Place of Worship, presumably in the town of Holyoake, where the townspeople have gathered. Before them 12 white-robed elders sit on throne-like chairs around a dais, and a 13th man, their leader who we don’t yet know the name of, stands in front of them, addressing the crowd. The crops have failed and there’s been ‘”no live births among the women of the village,”‘ which can only mean one thing – The Goddess is no longer pleased by their straw burnings and animal offerings and is punishing them. It’s been 10 years since their last human sacrifice, and The Goddess demands a Fire Maiden to be sacrificed at the next Beltane [Of course it has to be a woman, am I right?!].

The crowd isn’t pleased with the news, but a bitter-faced woman steps forward to remind everyone that she proudly handed over her beautiful, flame-haired daughter to The Goddess 10 years ago – ‘”Is no one here willing to do the same for the good of our people?”‘ [No bitch!] Apparently no-one is, but someone suggests The Goddess might show some mercy and send them a sacrifice from The Outside:

The bitter-faced woman laughs. “What cowards you all are! Do you think someone from The Outside will wander in here, like a fly to a spiderweb?”
The leader, who has been listening thoughtfully, says, “Someone from The Outside? Yes, why not? We will send out a few of our best men to find the perfect sacrifice and lure her to the village. And then…”

[I’m getting ‘Midsommar’ and 2021 ‘Wrong Turn’ vibes] Our main story now begins, on a Friday as our protagonist, Hallie Anderson, her best friend Becky [Who doesn’t get a last name] and Becky’s boyfriend Adam French, are driving to Harrington College in Adam’s van. The college is holding a Shakespeare Festival, where drama clubs from around the state will be competing by acting out a scene from one of the playwright’s works. Hallie’s grateful that Becky invited her to travel with her and Adam, because if Hallie rode on the school bus with the rest of their peers, she would have been stuck with Craig, who just dumped her for the class flirt [Read: slut], Kimberlee Beasley [Yuck, not the double E!!].

Anyway, Hallie’s in the backseat and reckons they’ve taken a wrong turn because she can’t find the last two roads they’ve turned onto on the map [Why would Adam take these roads then? Weird. Is Hallie not giving him instructions?]. They’ve been driving for six hours on what’s supposed to be a four-hour trip, and they’ve found themselves in a remote, mountainous part of the state. They van sounds like it’s struggling and they haven’t seen any sign of civilisation for quite a while, which further adds to Hallie’s anxiety.

They eventually pull over so Becky and Adam can take a look at the map, and everyone quickly agrees they’re lost. Adam insists they’re bound to find a gas station or town if they just follow the road, and then they can get directions and call the college to explain why they’re not there yet, and Hallie silently wishes she could find someone like Adam instead of the ‘sexy sleazoid types’ she’s attracted to, and I’m praying this isn’t going to turn into a love triangle. Please, no.

A Model T Ford appears [I looked it up, this is a very old car produced from 1908-1927] and Adam basically has an orgasm over how cool it is before flagging it down. A middle-aged man with a receding hairline steps out and although he seems perfectly normal, Hallie feels uneasy just looking at him. Becky goes to join Adam as he asks for directions, and the man does a double take when she approaches. Becky’s the kind of gal who makes people look twice, possibly because of her long, thick, red hair that Hallie likens to the red of a blazing fire, ‘with all its shades and striations of color.’ [I think the Holyoakers have found their new Fire Maiden!]

Hallie also makes her way over to the others and notices the odd, smoky odour wafting from the man; it’s less unpleasant than tobacco smoke, like some kind of incense or something. The man instructs them to follow the road, and eventually they’ll come to Holyoake. He’s sure they’ll be able to find help there, but the people tend to keep to themselves so he doesn’t know much about the town [I call bullshit].

Hallie notes that he has a weird, old-fashioned sort of accent and when he turns his gaze to her, she again feels like there’s something off about him. She introduces herself and offers her hand anyway, and when he extends his own, Hallie sees a quick glimpse of a tattoo on his wrist under his cuff, which I’m sure will be important later [Even though we’re not told what the tattoo is]. The trio thanks the stranger and climbs back in the van, and Hallie continues to watch him through the window as they drive off – instead of getting into his own car, he just stares after them, particularly at Becky, with a smile on his face [Creepy creepy!].

The van struggles more and more as the trio continues up the mountain, and they’re all relieved when they make it down the other side. Twilight begins to set in as the trio find themselves in a valley surrounded by mountains, and the road is flanked by trees. The road finally dead-ends into a dirt road running in both directions, and a quaint little sign points to the right as it announces Holyoake’s population of 400 [I would definitely have bad vibes if I was one of these three. But honestly, I wouldn’t be in the situation because it wouldn’t take me six hours to realise I was lost].

The gang follows the sign and eventually comes to a clearing at the edge of a small, picturesque village (town is much too modern a word to describe it, according to Hallie), with early colonial-style houses and old-fashioned gas lamps lining the Village Green. Becky, who just loves old-fashioned things and often feels out of place in the 20th century [Girl you’re in the ’90s, that’s way better!], is super excited about this pre-Revolutionary village [Maybe she’ll become a willing Fire Maiden!].

Then the van conks out, so they have to push it into the village, coming to a stop at a building that seems half country store, half gas station, ‘with assorted wares displayed in the window and antiquated-looking gas pumps out front.’ Two middle-aged women in shapeless, unfashionable dresses exit the store carrying baskets of groceries, and they both look shocked when they spot Becky and her blazing red hair, a similar reaction to the man on the road. Becky’s too entranced by the town to notice, but Hallie wonders why everyone is such a stare bear around here.

The women, who have the same accent as the man on the road, ask if there’s something wrong with their machine and offer to fetch Norman, who runs this store/gas station and knows everything ‘”about machines and all those modern things.'” Norman eventually comes out of the store wearing baggy overalls that look like ‘something out of Great Depression,’ [It’s called fashion, sweaty xx] and he also takes notice of Becky, but doesn’t gawk at her for as long as the others all have.

After checking under the hood, Norman gives them bad news – he won’t be able to get this machine fixed until tomorrow evening at the earliest, and maybe not even then [I think I call bullshit again!]! The teens are devastated because that means they’ve lost their whole weekend [And the chance to perform at the Shakespeare Festival, which sounds like fun, I guess], and Hallie notices that Norman doesn’t look the least bit sympathetic. In fact, he’s got a half-smile on his face, like he’s secretly pleased about something… [I wonder how this story would play out if the van wasn’t coincidentally having issues right now?]

The teens ask if they can use Norman’s phone to call the college to let their drama teacher know what’s going on, but Norman shifts uncomfortably and tells them the phone lines are down due to an electrical storm yesterday [How convenient…] and might take a few days to get fixed [Is Beltane within the next few days?]. Apparently it happens a lot to the phone lines, but it isn’t usually a problem for the villagers because ‘”None of us need to call The Outside very often,”‘ which Hallie thinks is a weird way to refer to  other towns.

Hallie’s pretty sure she heard a phone ringing within the shop before Norman came out, but he dismisses it as her probably hearing his kitchen timer because he’d been preparing some food. Hallie also notices now that he looks strikingly similar to the man on the road, but doesn’t say anything because surely that guy would have said something if he was from Holyoake [You’re being very trusting, Hallie!].

As Becky continues to be in awe of the Holyoake, Adam and Hallie think up some other ways to get a message to the college, but Norman shoots them down each time – he’s never heard of a telegraph machine and there’s no buses to or from here, and very few people have vehicles because everything is within walking distance. It’s a pretty self-sufficient village, you see, sort of like a commune. The people have lived here for a long, long time and they think of themselves as one big family because ‘”most of us are related by blood.”‘ [Do I smell incest?] 

Norman also explains that everyone is super busy preparing for the Beltane festival on Sunday [There we go!], but agrees to get the town librarian, Netty Talbot, to send a message out on their behalf, since she’s planning on going to  The Outside to pick up some more books for the school library. He advises that she’ll probably be in whatever town she goes to all day tomorrow, so the teens probably wouldn’t want to go with her [That’s one way to keep them there, I guess], and Becky writes down a phone number and message for Norman to pass on to Netty.

Before he does that, though,  he wants to secure a place for the teens to stay tonight, and heads on over to Phoebe Grigsby’s place, an old spinster who lives in a big house with only her nephew and will be glad to help out. The teens wait by the van, and Becky starts gushing about Norman’s hospitality and how special Holyoake is [I’m sure her attitude will change when she learns she’s their new Fire Maiden!], while Hallie notices the edges of the curtains in some of the nearby houses move slightly, as if people are stealthily looking out at them [Trust your damn git, Hallie! You’re ignoring so many red flags here!].

Across the Green, the teens can see what looks like a bunch of people moving around in Mrs. Grigsby’s living room before someone abruptly walks and closes the curtains. When Norman finally returns to take them over, Becky wonders if they’ll be crowding Mrs. Grigsby, since it looked like she had a lot of guests already. Norman seems puzzled and insists there was no-one there but himself, Mrs. Grigsby, and her nephew Simon, who he sourly explains ‘”has a way of filling up a room.”‘ [Ooh, why do we hate Simon? 👀].

Mrs. Grigsby is a plump, motherly woman who looks just like everyone else they’ve seen in town – everyone has blue eyes of the same shape, and they’ve all got the same type of accent [The man from the road is very obviously from here too, so I don’t know why Hallie hasn’t put two and two together that he lied about his knowledge of Holyoake]. Simon appears and Hallie has to do a double take because this guy is gorgeous! Tall, dark, handsome and a little hostile [A Point Horror gal’s weakness!], he doesn’t fit in with the rest of the villagers they’ve seen, and there’s also something dangerous about him [Was he originally an Outsider, maybe?]. Our main trio is lead upstairs to their rooms, Hallie and Becky sharing one and Adam in another, and Becky continues to froth over how great this place is. She also thinks Simon’s a cutie, and can tell Hallie’s into him despite her denial [Yeah, it’s very obvious hahaha].

During dinner later, Mrs. Grigsby is very complimentary towards the girls; Hallie’s black hair and grey eyes really are a beautiful contrast to Becky’s flaming hair and blue eyes. Neither appearance is something Holyoakers see often, since ‘”we all resemble our Saxon ancestors,”‘ except for Simon, of course, and it becomes clear that he’s the black sheep of the community:

“Now and then one of our people marries someone with more exotic bloodlines, however,” she said, “and we get someone like Simon. His mother was an Outsider and of Spanish descent.”
Although she obviously had tried to sound warm and loving when she said that, it came off as just the opposite. As a condemnation of both Simon and his mother.

[Wow, not Holyoakers looking down on non-incestuous, interrational relationships  👀 ] After dinner, Becky absolutely insists on hearing all about Holyoake, so Hallie and Adam are forced to endure the boredom too. We learn that the original Holyoakers first lived together on a remote island off the coast of England and had very old beliefs and religious practices [Like human sacrifice?], which forced them to flee. Simon confirms they were persecuted for their religious beliefs and ‘”Holyoake is a real pillar of righteousness when it comes to religious tolerance, isn’t it, Aunt Phoebe?”‘ Ever the observer, Hallie doesn’t miss the glance that passes between the two relatives, hers a silent, angry warning and his a defiant sneer [Drama!].

Hallie can’t stand the tension so decides to turn in for the night, quickly followed by Adam, but Becky opts to stay up a little longer and learn more about Holyoake. Hallie falls asleep straight away, but wakes up some time later when Becky stumbles into the room, knocking into the bureau. Hallie asks if she’s OK, and Becky’s voice is slurred as she explains she just got really tired all of a sudden after talking with Mrs. Grigsby over some herb tea [Becky’s been drugged!!!]. She quickly falls asleep but Hallie’s wide awake now. She’s seen Becky tired before, but never like this; it’s almost like she’s under the influence of alcohol… or drugs [Hallie is seeing all these red flags, which is good, but it seems like she’s not as worried as she should be. Although I guess it’s not like she can do anything about it anyway, because they’re literally stuck here. But like, I feel like even Becky should be somewhat concerned that he became intensely tired after a cup of tea from a stranger…].

Hallie can’t sleep and through the window, she notices movement across the Green by the church. Someone in a white robe opens the big double doors, and through what looks like torchlight inside, Hallie glimpses others dressed in white moving about before the doors shut. Hallie decides it has to have been candlelight, not torches, although I’m really not sure why it matters… Either way, it’s very eerie, and Hallie assumes it’s some sort of religious candlelight service. Curiosity gets the better of her so she sneaks out of the house, greeted by a tuneless, monotone chant floating across the Green from the church [Ooky spooky!].

She decides not to interrupt when she reaches the church and just listens at the door instead, realising the chant is some sort of litany – a man calls out a word, and the congregation repeats it back to him. It sounds like they’re saying ‘Goddess’, but Hallie thinks the word might actually be ‘goodness,’ but sounds weird because of villagers’ funny accent. All the windows are shuttered, so she can’t see in, but it doesn’t matter anyway because someone suddenly grabs her [!!!!].

It’s just Simon, who grips her arm tightly and demands to know why she’s snooping around. He’s as hostile as ever and warns that if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll go back to bed and mind her own business, so Hallie scurries back to bed, angry and humiliated by his words.

The next morning after breakfast, Adam goes to visit Norman to check on the van while Hallie and a pale-looking, puffy-eyed Becky take a stroll around the village, watching the people prepare for the Beltane festival. As usual, everyone stares at Becky and her flaming hair, which continues to unnerve Hallie. Out on the Green, they’re greeted by one of the 12 village elders, Joshua Sidlaw, who’s been tasked by the town’s Reverend to give the girls a tour of the place.

We get some more details about Holyoake, like the 300-year-old sacred oak tree that was planted using a seed from the old village, which is a huge deal around here. In the centre of the Green, a group of people is setting up for the large bonfire to be held on Sunday, and it’s not just wood they’ll be burning, but animal bones too! Becky is disgusted by this, so Elder Sidlaw explains this tradition from the old days – ‘”The bones of animal—and human—sacrifices were burned, and the ashes were then spread over the fields to ensure plentiful and healthy crops.”‘

Elder Sidlaw assures the girls it’s harmless and they now sacrifice a straw dummy instead of an actual maiden [Not this year, though!], and Becky can’t think of a worse way to die [Well, honey, you’ve got a big storm comin’!]. Elder Sidlaw is needed elsewhere now and heads off, while Becky returns to Mrs. Grigsby’s place to learn all about the wonders of herbs, since the woman is a herbalist.

Hallie continues on alone and comes across some pale, sick-looking children playing on the grass, realising with a start that they’re the first kids she’s seen in the village. Then she spots a familiar face half hidden in the shadows of the church – the man who’d given them directions on the road! A confused Hallie wonders if he lied about knowing much about Holyoake [Obviously], especially because he looks like the other villagers, and she offers a wave when he glances her way. Instead of waving back, though, his face fills with horror and he quickly runs off ‘like a cockroach scuttling down a drain.’ [Hahaha]

Hallie wants to check out the church, so she lets herself inside and is immediately overcome with a sense of dread. It’s not like any other church she’s seen, with rows of backless oak benches, and torches lining the walls [And she still seems bothered by the use of torches instead of candles lol? I guess it is kind of weird in modern times, but like, she knows this is an old-fashioned town, so what’s the issue?]. In the front of the room is a table surrounded by thronelike chairs, and a 13th one that’s more regal than the others. There’s a large baptismal font nearby and Hallie is chilled when she notices the rust-coloured stain inside the bowl – could it be blood?!

A middle-aged man with white hair and silvery-grey eyes and dressed in all black suddenly appears, startling Hallie, and he explains that the Place of Worship isn’t open to strangers. He introduces himself as Reverend Arthur Thoreson and apologises for scaring her, but only certain people are allowed in here! As he quickly leads her out of the building, Hallie notices a flame tattoo on his wrist.

Hallie makes her way to Norman’s store/garage to check on the status of the van, but it’s unfortunately it’s worse than they first thought. Norman’s currently replacing a hose because the old one is riddled with holes, which Hallie doesn’t remember seeing when her and Adam checked under the hood out on the road yesterday [I wonder if Holyoake plans on sacrificing Hallie and Adam too. Surely the villagers aren’t planning on letting them live after what they’re going to do to Becky]. The fuel pump also needs replacing, even though the guy Adam bought the van off had said it was brand new, and it’ll take a few days for the new one to arrive, which means they could be stuck here until Tuesday!

Before Hallie leaves, Adam takes her to a shed behind the garage to show her Norman’s pride and joy, a super old fire engine that carries its own water! Adam is frothing over it because apparently old school water tankers are super cool, and explains that Norman is also the fire chief of the village. Hallie wonders why Norman didn’t offer to drive them to the next town himself yesterday so they could get to a phone, but Adam insists the water tanker is like his baby and he probably doesn’t even drive it, reminding Hallie that he sent Miss Netty anyway.

As Hallie arrives back at Mrs. Grigsby’s house, she’s relieved to hear a phone ringing. Hurrying inside, she finds Simon  telling someone on the other end ‘”I’ll be there,”‘ before hanging up, and asks if it’d be OK for her to make a call. Simon explains that it was the repairman on the phone and the lines are still down [So why did the phone ring?], but Hallie doesn’t believe him and places the receiver to her ear. There’s a brief dial tone before the line goes dead, and then Simon shows her the repairman outside, who’s up on the telephone pole with some tools. Hallie, however, can’t help but wonder if he’s fixing the line or disconnecting it… [So did he call the house from the telephone pole? Is that a thing you can do? That’s cool]

A short time later, the 12 elders and Simon are gathered in a private room, where Reverend Thoreson is accosting Elder Sidlaw for not keeping a closer eye on Hallie and allowing her to snoop around in the church [For some reason Bebe Faas Rice has decided to make these little sidebars with the elders in present tense when Hallie’s parts are past tense. Very weird]. The Reverend’s also mad at Brother William, who’s been sent upstairs already to stay out of sight, which is what he already should have been doing since he’s the one who sent the teens here from the road [You had one job, Brother William!].

Elder Sidlaw isn’t bothered that Hallie might be turning into a Suspicious Susie, since the phone lines are disconnected now and it’s not like she can leave without being caught. Speaking of the phone lines, Simon angrily pipes up now, questioning why Reverend Thoreson even called him a few minutes ago, since they’d all agreed not to use the phones while the Hallie, Becky and Adam are here. The other elders shudder with horror at Simon’s rudeness but the vicar quickly restores order by putting him back in his place – Simon he would have died a long time ago if not for Reverend Thoreson, and ‘”in return you owe me unquestioning loyalty and obedience.”‘

Simon apologises and gives an update on Becky, who will be putty in Aunt Phoebe’s hands from now on after being introduced to her most potent teat this morning. Elder Sidlaw is as curious as I am about what will happen to Hallie and Adam, but while they both would have been real assets to the community, they won’t be sticking around in Holyoake:

“We can’t risk keeping them around after the festival. The first time an Outsider passes through the village, they will be all over him, spilling out secrets.”
“You mean…?” Simon asks.
“Yes,” replies the vicar. “And you know what happens to those who betray Holyoake, don’t you, Simon? They are disposed of, permanently.”
He tips his head and regards Simon silently for a moment. “And this time I think it’s appropriate that you do the disposing.”

Back at the house, Becky and Mrs. Grigsby are still in the herb room so Hallie plucks a book from the shelf and settles down on the sofa in the living room. The reader’s choice is an ancient-looking one titled ‘Herbs for Amulets and Enchantments’ and Hallie can’t believe her all the weird things you can do with herbs. Simon suddenly appears, snatching the book from her hands before marching it back to the shelf as he scolds her for being a Snoopy Sally again.

There’s a lot of that annoying ‘enemies but secretly into each other’ back and forth about when she’s leaving [Honestly, just get a room, you two], and Simon even offers to escort her up a road that goes over the mountain if she’s so keen to leave [Foreshadowing?!]! Hallie thinks he isn’t serious and is just being a dick [He’s trying to save you, girl!], but he stalks off before she can think of a retort [Gotta be quicker, Hallie!].

Later that afternoon, Hallie and Adam take a walk while Becky continues her quality time with Mrs. Grigsby in the herb room. Becky had seemed really zoned out during lunch which worries Adam, especially because she’s spending all her time with their hostess. Hallie is somehow less worried despite how suspicious she is of the village, because herbs are right up Becky’s alley and she’s the only one enjoying her time here [Hallie, listen to yourself right now! You can’t be this stupid].

After Adam confesses to being scared of Norman, who’d acted really weird when Adam was with him work on the van, Hallie confides her own fears about the town. She mentions the whole church incident this morning and the fact it was lit by torches [The lighting in the church is literally the least of your problems Hallie, omfg], the lack of children besides the sickly looking ones, how Holyoakers have willingly cut themselves off from society, and how she saw the guy from the road behind the church, etc. This last point in particular makes Adam worry, because ‘”maybe he doesn’t want you to know he’s from here, because you might figure out he set us up.”‘ [Now you’re getting it!]

Hallie and Adam end up wandering into a graveyard behind the church, full of old, barely decipherable slate and stone tombstones. Towards the very back, enclosed by neatly pruned hedges, is a section of uniform white marble headstones that are much better taken care of. Upon closer inspection, Hallie and Adam realise these headstones are way too close together for anyone to be buried beneath them – they’re actually memorial markers, each dedicated to a young woman aged 16-18. Each girl died on the same date on different years; May 1, which is Beltane! And not only that, but the most recent one is only 10 years old!

Hallie notices that the headstones all have the same engraved picture of crossed bones surrounded by flames. It’s a bonefire [Not a typo, that’s what they’re calling it], an image they both recognise – Adam saw it tattooed on Norman’s wrist, and Hallie’s sure it’s the same tattoo Reverend Thoreson had [I’m assuming Brother William also had it, but we didn’t get a description of his tattoo when Hallie saw it on the road]. Simon suddenly appears to tell them dinner will be a little early tonight because Aunt Phoebe has an emergency meeting at the church. Before he departs, Hallie notices the same bonefire tattoo on his wrist…

A short while later, Simon meets with Reverend Thoreson to report what Hallie and Adam did this afternoon, but denies they saw the Fire Maiden memorials while in the graveyard [What a sweetheart]. Simon confirms that he’s prepared to dispose of Hallie, and we learn someone else will be getting rid of Adam, because he could be a lot stronger than Simon. Reverend Thoreson also wants Simon to know what an honour it is to be bestowed this task:

“This is your chance, Simon, to make up for past offenses against The Goddess. Offenses you inherited in your tainted bloodline.”
Simon’s jaw tightens slightly, and a muscle in his cheek twitches, but the vicar doesn’t notice.
“Yes, my boy. If you do this job well, you can, at last, truly be one of us—a loyal son of The Goddess.”
“You can depend on me to do the right thing,” Simon replies.

When Hallie and Adam return to Mrs. Grigsby’s, they find Becky ‘staring at the living room wall, distant and wide-eyed.’ They try to talk to her, but she only gives them vacant, one-syllable replies, and then Mrs. Grigsby appears takes Becky into the kitchen, since she apparently wanted to watch dinner be prepared [Poor girl is so drugged up!]

Hallie and Adam are getting more and more worried [Finally], sparking another conversation about the suspicious behaviour of the Holyoakers. They finally discuss the possibility that Norman is lying about the van being in such bad shape. After all, the hose and fuel pump seemed perfectly fine the last time they’d checked under the hood on the road [Yes, keep this momentum, guys! You’re figuring it out!].

If Norman lied about that, could he also have lied about getting Miss Netty to send a message to their teacher? And why are the phone lines still down? But then what reason do the villagers have to keep the teens here [To sacrifice Becky, obviously! Why is it taking so long for them to fkn realise?]? Adam also takes this opportunity to reveal he’s seen the bonefire tattoo again, this time on Mrs. Grigsby’s wrist [!!!!].

Becky is even more zombie-like and monotonous during dinner, and when the meal’s over, Mrs. Grigsby encourages her new puppet to tell the others the amazing news:

When Becky spoke, her smile was vacant and her voice flat and emotionless. “I’ve been picked to be the May Queen at the Beltane festival.”
Mrs. Grigsby smiled broadly. “Isn’t that wonderful, children?”
Hallie stared at Becky in dismay. Nothing, she thought, is as scary as Becky is right now. She’s like a puppet.

Mrs. Grigsby explains that the May Queen presides over all the festivities, and Becky was unanimously voted in at a special festival committee meeting this morning after the original girl got sick [We all know there was no original May Queen, you old hag!]

When Mrs. Grigsby heads to the kitchen to do the dishes, Hallie and Adam are finally alone with Becky and ask her why she’s acting so weird. Monotone Becky denies that anything is wrong and quickly heads to the kitchen to help Mrs. Grigsby, who she’s now calling Aunt Phoebe [Oop]. Adam wonders if Becky’s been Stepford Wived and replaced with a robot, but Hallie quickly determines there must be something in those pesky herb teas Mrs. Grigsby keeps feeding her.

Hallie also realises how dumb they’ve been to constantly leave Becky alone with Mrs. Grigsby [Yeah, it’s pretty fkn dumb when it’s so obvious she’s been drugging her], so she fetches her from the kitchen and drags her upstairs to bed. Hallie has to help her get changed, and that’s when she notices a bronze amulet with an engraving that matches the tattoos of the villagers [!!!!]. Becky doesn’t seem to remember who gave it to her and soon she’s off to sleep.

Through the window, Hallie notices a flicker of light across the green and realises the villagers are having another church meeting, wondering if what they’re doing in there has anything to do with Becky. She scurries off to Adam’s room and they decide to head on over to the church to snoop. As they’re heading out the front door, though, Simon’s there, having been tasked to keep an eye on the three teens while the adults are at the meeting. He doesn’t look like his usual hostile self though, and instead seems anxious and scared.

Taking them back upstairs to Adam’s room, Simon explains that the villagers’ religion is a primitive form of paganism and they all still believe in human sacrifice. Unsurprisingly to everyone except Hallie and Adam, Becky’s the lucky gal this year, set to be burned at the stake atop the bonefire. Hallie and Adam are idiots and refuse to believe what he’s saying [Despite it 100% making perfect sense after everything they’ve experienced in Holyoake], so Simon continues to explain that the lines are down on purpose, Norman lied about the van and sending Miss Netty to get word to their teacher, and that they were sent to Holyoake by Brother William on purpose.

Becky is the perfect Fire Maiden, since hair the colour of flame is the main requirement, and everyone believes The Goddess personally sent Becky to them to sacrifice, which explains why everyone is such a stare bear around here. Simon has a plan to get them out of here, but they’ll have to go by foot, over the mountain. There’s no other way, since Norman scrapped the insides of Adam’s van and the few cars in Holyoake are owned by the elders and kept under lock and key.

Hallie’s suspicious that Simon’s setting them up just like everyone else in Holyoake has, prompting him to reveal why he’s not like the other villagers. His Outsider mother and Holyoake-born father had begun to disapprove of the village’s ways, and after the last Fire Maiden sacrifice 10 years ago, they decided to take Simon and flee over the mountain, the same route he’ll be taking Hallie and her friends tonight. Unfortunately for Simon’s parents, Aunt Phoebe betrayed them, and they were stoned to death by their friends and neighbours as traitors of Holyoake [Oof, horrible way to go!].

Simon also would have been executed if Reverend Thoreson hadn’t stepped in and forced Aunt Phoebe to raise him, deciding Simon could still be brought back into the fold. Everyone in Holyoake holds his parents alleged treachery against him, though, and when our heroes wandered into town, it was time for Simon to prove his loyalty to the village. Simon’s never intended to let Becky die, but he just didn’t know how to help and had to keep up his loyal facade. He also confesses that he’s supposed to kill Hallie, while one of the elders will murder Adam, tomorrow afternoon, right after the festival – ‘”After Becky’s been burned at the stake.”‘

Simon’s given their escape a lot of thought and quickly sketches a map and path for them to take, explaining things step by step. It’ll lead them to another town, where they can alert the police to Holyoake. Unfortunately, he won’t be going with them, since he needs to keep the villagers convinced he was eager to fulfil his duties. He’s never tried to escape himself because he’d probably be handed straight back over to his aunt because he’s under 18, but he plans on spilling the beans to authorities as soon as help arrives.

Aunt Phoebe will be home soon, so he instructs them to go to bed and pretend to be asleep. Simon will suggest his aunt go check on them to confirm they’re all accounted for then slink off to bed himself, which will give him an alibi when they turn up missing. Aunt Phoebe will likely go to bed too, so the best time to for the trio to set off is after midnight. Grateful for the cute boy’s help, Hallie takes his hand and thanks him for everything, vowing to never forget him [Just kiss already].

Mrs. Grigsby does her bed check and goes to bed, as anticipated, and as soon as it hits midnight, Hallie rouses Becky and gets her dressed. Keeping her quiet proves difficult, thought, but Hallie manages to convince her Aunt Phoebe is unwell and can’t be disturbed. Along with Adam, they sneak out of the house and keep to the shadows of the trees and hedges that border the road out of town, as instructed by Simon.

Shortly after passing Norman’s store, however, they spot a barricade up ahead in the centre of the road guarded by two men with shotguns. [Oop]. The trio quickly duck behind a tree and realise they’ll have to head into the woods a lot sooner than planned, but keep as close to the road as possible until they reach the spot Simon marked. Before they can enact the new plan, though, one of the guards lights his pipe, allowing the trio to see his face:

“Oh, look!” Becky said in the clear, high-pitched robot’s voice Hallie had come to hate. “It’s Mrs. Grigsby’s friend, that nice Elder Sidlaw. I wonder what he’s doing out there on the road.”
Before either Hallie or Adam could breath grab her, Becky had stepped out from behind the cover of the trees.
“Good evening, Elder Sidlaw!” she called pleasantly, and waved to him.

[God damn it, Becky!] The other guard is Brother William, who turns on the headlights of his Model T Ford, parked beside the barricade. Then the two men approach the teens, shotguns raised, and Adam quickly drags the girls into the woods so they can haul ass out of there. The guards don’t follow, though, and after hearing three shotgun blasts from the road, Adam realises they’re signalling to the other villagers that something’s wrong.

As per Simon’s instructions, they need to find a stream, which will lead them further along the escape route, but unfortunately they have no idea where they currently are. Becky, still in her hypnotic state, can somehow hear running water, and Hallie convinces her to lead them to it, wondering if whatever Mrs. Grigsby has been feeding her has made her hearing supersensitive [I feel like Faas Rice just couldn’t think of an organic way to get them to the stream here because this is so random hahaha]. They follow the water upstream, hopeful that they’ve got a huge head start since the villagers won’t know they know about the path over the mountain [Oh, won’t they?].

The stream leads them to a road they’ll have to cross to continue on their way, and although they wait to make sure the coast is clear, as soon as their on the road ‘what looked like half the people of Holyoake stepped out of the woods and surrounded Adam, Hallie and Becky.’  [These poor kids cannot catch a break!]

Reverend Thoreson had guessed their plan after spotting their footprints by the stream, and while a few villagers were following them quietly in the woods, the rest of them were waiting here to give them a warm welcome [How nice!]. Mrs. Grigsby and Simon don’t seem to be here, and Hallie wonders if he’d been caught out. Elder Sidlaw and Brother William step forward and seize Becky, and she actually protests that she wants to stay with her friends as they steer her through the crowd [Are the drugs wearing off?]. Adam also tries to break through the crowd to save her, but he’s quickly subdued by two more villagers who tie his legs and arms together.

To calm Becky down, Reverend Thoreson explains they’re only taking her to Mrs. Grigsby, who’s very hurt ‘”because you ran away without even saying good-bye.”‘ Soon, Sister Evans, the bitter-faced woman from the beginning who sacrificed her daughter as the last Fire Maiden, arrives in an old vehicle to take Becky away, and Hallie begs the vicar not to take Becky to the church, remembering the blood-stained font inside. Reverend Thoreson corrects that they call it the Place of Worship, and they only do minor sacrifices there, like animals [Oh, well that’s fine then].

Becky promises not to tell a soul about Holyoake if they just let her and her friends go, which gets a laugh from the crowd. The vicar calmly explains that through their poor harvests and sickly offspring of late, The Goddess has made it clear she requires a human sacrifice. Hallie tries to convince them that it’s more likely because they’ve been farming the same soil for the last 300 years and the closest thing they have to a doctor is Mrs. Grigsby and her herbs. The vicar disagrees, informing her that the last time they had these troubles, the sacrifice of Sister Evans’ daughter caused harvests to become plentiful and healthy children to be born again [Oooh, maybe The Goddess is real!].

The vicar’s sick of Hallie’s babbling now and she’s lead away by Norman, who drives her and Adam back to Holyoake. They’re taken to the cellar of Mrs. Grigsby’s house, which seems to double as a crude prison, and locked in a dark room to await their deaths. Hallie unties Adam, who blames himself for getting them all into this mess, but Hallie reassures him no-one is to blame and it’s something that just happened. He’s one of the nicest people Hallie knows, and assuming they can’t find a way out of this mess, there’s no way she’ll let him die blaming himself for everything [Hallie’s such a doll!].

There’s still a few hours before dawn, so there’s still time to think of an escape plan. The thick, heavy door’s bolted from the outside so that’s not an option, and they have no luck removing the bars off the old window high up on the wall  Eventually, just before dawn, Simon appears at the window, explaining Aunt Phoebe made him stay by her side when the guns went off, and then he’d been summoned by the vicar when the trio were returned to Holyoake. Never fear, though, because Simon’s got a plan [Well your plan wasn’t that much help earlier, Simon!]!

Hallie’s so happy to see him that she could kiss him [Do it!], but Simon quickly explains the 411. Right now, Aunt Phoebe, Reverend Thoreson and the elders are guarding poor, doped up Becky at the Place of Worship, where they’ll stay until about an hour before the festival starts. There’s only one guy guarding Hallie and Adam, and he’s in the kitchen; when the time is right, Adam plans on knocking him out with one of his aunt’s teas, tying him up and switching his place with Hallie and Adam in the prison.

Since everyone wears costumes for Beltane, they should be able to move about freely once Simon can find costumes for them, which is the tricky part. Thank God Hallie and Adam have their costumes for the Shakespeare Festival, because with masks on, they’ll fit right in with everyone else [I find that hard to believe, but okeh].

Then they can head into the Place of Worship, where Aunt Phoebe will be the only person watching over Becky since everyone believes Hallie and Adam are locked up, and they’ll overpower her and steal Becky. Norman’s the only person in the village allowed to keep his own car keys because he apparently needs to use his truck all the time, and it’ll be parked on the Green because the villagers plan to load all the ashes from the bonefire into the truck to scatter over the fields to fertilise the crops. Luckily for our heroes, Norman usually keeps the key in the ignition, so they can use the truck as their getaway car. By the time everyone gets the keys to the other vehicles and are ready to give chase, Hallie and co will be miles away. And Simon will be coming with them, because everyone will know he helped the prisoners [There’s hope for Himon yet! Or should that be Sallie?]

The festival starts at 10am, but everyone will be out on the Green an hour earlier for last-minute preparations. That’ll be the optimal time to carry out the new plan because Aunt Phoebe will be alone with Becky. Simon then hands them a flashlight and asks Hallie to come closer to the window. She obeys, and he gives her a kiss through the bars ‘”for luck,”‘ [Cute!] then disappears as quickly as he came. Meanwhile, Adam’s shining the flashlight all over the cellar and makes a grim discovery:

He trained the light on the wall. “No wonder Simon’s parents decided to run away. The village must have locked up the Fire Maidens—or at least the unwilling ones–down here. Maybe Aunt Phoebe hadn’t gotten clever with her herbs yet.”
His hand suddenly began to tremble, and Hallie had to hold it steady in order to see what was on the wall.
A name—and something else—was scratched unevenly into one of the flat stones:

DEBORAH EVANS
MAY 1, 1985
FORGET ME NOT

[Poor Deborah ☹️] It’s almost 10am by the time Simon’s able to frees the captives, thanks to Aunt Phoebe dropping by to change into her costume and the guard in the kitchen wanting a coffee instead of tea. Hallie and Adam quickly change into the costumes and Simons hands them a mask each that conceals their whole faces. Then they each sneak out the back door and individually make their way over to the Place of Worship. Norman’s truck isn’t on the green, so Simon heads off to do some investigating while Hallie and Adam continue to act casual. Adam has a feeling that something’s gonna go wrong and sure enough, Simon returns with news that Norman’s currently preparing the fields for the ashes later and won’t be back until just after the ceremony [Uh oh!].

A storm’s a-brewing by the looks of the sky, but instead of cancelling Beltane, the ceremony is sped up, and two costumed men start blaring trumpets in front of the church. A nervous Adam complains ‘”We’ll need a tank to get Becky out of here now!”‘ which gives Hallie a bright idea [The water tank? I thought that’s what they were referring to when they were talking about Norman’s truck! I don’t think it was ever mentioned he had his own vehicle before that…].

The crowd gets giddy as the elders disappear into the church and lead out Becky, who can barely even walk at this point. While everyone’s distracted by the procession, Hallie, Adam and Simon sneak all the way over to Norman’s store and break into the shed where the fire truck sits, full of gas and water to fulfil it’s duties. There’s no keys anywhere, but Adam’s able to hot-wire it, and Hallie’s the designated driver despite having never driven a gearshift vehicle before. Instead of manning one of the hoses while one of the boys drive [Which seriously would be the best decision, right?], Adam gives her an extremely quick crash course, and then they’re on their way!

Reverend Thoreson is just finishing up tying Becky to the stake as our heroes reach the Green, accompanied by some thunder and lightning for dramatic effect. Thee crowd scatters as the fire truck hurtles towards them, and realising he must act now, Reverend Thoreson signals the elders to throw their lit torches onto the bonefire, which catches hold rapidly. Becky’s pretty much unconscious by this point, and Adam and Simon extinguish the fire with the hoses, before knocking the vicar off his feet with the high-pressure water. Simon then turns the hose on the locals, holding them back while Adam unties Becky and plops her into the passenger seat.

Adam retrieves his fire hose and climbs back onto the truck with Simon, and Hallie speeds across the Green as the boys continue to blast water at their pursuers, including Reverend Thoreson who goes down for a second time. A bolt of lightning hits the holy oak tree, ‘cleaving its trunk and striking with deadly force those who huddled for shelter beneath its outspread branches.’ It quickly bursts into flames and the wind scatters the fire throughout the village.

Our heroes reach the road leading out of Holyoake and leave the evil village burning behind them as Becky begins to stir. She’s somehow out of her drugged stupor and has no idea wtf is going on right now, and the book ends with her warning Hallie that she might get a ticket since she doesn’t know how to drive a gearshift:

Hallie began to laugh hysterically.
Behind them, the red glow lit up the sky.
The town of Holyoake had just become its own burnt sacrifice.

Final thoughts

Another great book from Bebe Faas Rice! I definitely miss the slasher aspect of the original and can’t help but wonder what it would have been like if there were more teens for Holyoake to axe one by one, but that’s just being picky and truthfully, I wasn’t really that bothered about the lack of deaths. The plot was suspenseful and moved along nicely, although I feel like Hallie and Adam were willingly ignoring a lot of red flags and could have realised something was up a lot sooner.

One tiny little complaint I do have is that it could have been somewhat shorter. I feel like there was a lot of filler here we didn’t need, but I like I said in my first impressions, I enjoy Bebe Faas Rice’s writing so it didn’t feel like a drag to read at all. I also think it should have been given it’s own individual title rather than being a sequel, since there’s really no connection between the books the class trip aspect here quickly took a backseat to Holyoake.

There’s a lot less mystery here than in the first book, but Class Trip II for sure holds its own and I can see myself reading it again in the future. Certainly worth adding to your collection.

400 Holyoake locals with sinister motives out of 503!