𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐏𝐒𝐎 | ᴍɪʟʟᴀʀᴅ ɴᴜʟʟɪɴɢꜱ

𝟐𝟑] 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐈𝐓 𝐑𝐔𝐍

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ RUN RABBIT RUN!

"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?"

I fixed the dress around my knees and fumbled with the shoulders. "The closet?"

Emma shoved by me and slammed the door that I had left open. "Who let you in there?" Her hands were now a bright orange despite her hiding them behind her back.

"Horace told me to go in there to change--is it not your room?" I was beginning to feel bad for her. Especially after all that had happened today.

"My room?" She laughed coldly, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back down at where I was standing. "Of course it's not my room!"

"Then whose room is it?" To be quite frank, I was thrown off at the thought of Emma burning my face off.

"Don't go in there again." Emma turned on her heels to leave before spinning around one last time. "And for birds sake, don't tell Millard you went in there."

***

Dinner was a dizzying blur of names and faces, many of them half-remembered from photographs and my grandfather's long-ago descriptions. When Jacob and I came into the dining room, the kids, who'd been clamoring noisily for seats around the long table, froze and stared at us.

I got the feeling they didn't get a lot of dinner guests. Miss Peregrine, already seated at the head of the table, stood up and used the sudden quiet as an opportunity to introduce us.

"For those of you who haven't already had the pleasure of mecting them," she announced, "these are Abraham's grandchildren, Jacob and Calypso. They are our honored guests and have come a very long way to be here. I hope you will treat them accordingly."

Then she pointed to each person in the room and recited their names, most of which I remembered from the photos, along with some new faces. The new ones I almost completely forgot, as happens when I'm nervous.

The introductions were followed by a barrage of questions, which Miss Peregrine batted away with rapid-fire efficiency.

"Are they going to stay with us?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Where's Abe?"

"Abe is busy in America."

"Why does Jacob got Victor's trousers on?"

"Victor doesn't need them anymore, and Mr. Portman's are being washed."

"Why's Calypso wearing Eloise's dress?"

"My answer stays the same."

"What's Abe doing in America?"

At this question I saw Emma, who had been glowering in a corner, rise from her chair and stalk out of the room. The others, apparently used to her volatile moods, paid no attention.

"Nevermind what Abe's doing," Miss Peregrine snapped.

"When's he coming back?"

"Nevermind that, too. Now let's eat!"

Everyone stampeded to their seats. Thinking Jacob had found an empty chair, he went to sit and felt a fork jab his thigh.

"Excuse me!" cried Millard. But Miss Peregrine made him give it up anyway, sending him out to put on clothes.