Anna Peregrine--A Map of Days

Chapter Four

We returned to Jacob's house a few hours later to find the others not there waiting for us. Mum started panicking, and I had to take on the role of therapist.

"Mum, I'm sure they're fine. They probably got caught up talking to Sharon or someone at Myron's house," I assured her.

"I told them to go straight to Jacob's house!" she said, turning to me as she paced the kitchen.

"They're fine, I'm sure!" I said as we went outside.

Not that long later, my friends came straight through the shed, all of them perfectly fine.

"Twenty-two minutes forty seconds is how late you are," Mum said with her arms crossed.

"But, miss, we didn't mean to--"

"We tried a shortcut but got lost," Emma interrupted Claire.

After making it very clear that she was disappointed in all of them, Mum assumed bird form and flew to Jacob's roof, perching there.

"What just happened?" Jacob asked.

"That's what she does when she needs to be alone," I answered, crossing to them. "She must be really upset. A family trait it appears."

"Because we were twenty-two minutes late?"

"She's under a lot of pressure," Bronwyn said.

"And she's taking it out on us. It isn't fair," Hugh said.

"I think there are a lot of peculiars who don't want to listen to the Ymbrynes right now, but Miss P has always been able to count on us listening. So when we muck something up, even a wee little bit . . ."

"Well, she can stuff it up her hindfeathers!" Enoch said too loudly, interrupting Olive.

Bronwyn clamped a hand over his mouth, and soon the two of them were on the ground rumbling.

"Stop it, stop it!", Olive said as me, Emma, and Jacob pulled them apart, getting thrown onto the ground ourselves."

"This is so stupid," Emma said. "No more fighting amongst ourselves."

"Truce?" Bronwyn said.

* * * * *

We went back inside the house, and Jacob turned on the TV. He kept flipping through the channels as I went upstairs to the master bedroom.

I grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and a few towels from the linen closet before going to the bathroom to shower.

After a half hour I was out of the bathroom with a new braid in my hair, going down my back. I went back into the bedroom, pulling out a journal I had brought with me, starting to look over things having to do with the reconstruction effort of peculiardom.

When I was bored with that, I decided to go find Jacob. I went into the hall and found him coming out of his room.

"I was just coming to find you," I said.

"And I was coming to find you. I need your help.", he said, holding a photograph in his hand.

"What do you need?"

"Cover for me. Just for an hour or two. I need to go back to the Acre."

"Why? For what?"

"There's no time to explain. When I get back."

"I'm coming, too.", I said, going to go to my room to grab shoes.

"I need to do this alone."

I looked back at him with a sigh, "This better be good."