Thin Ice (MPHfPC Fanfic)

Chapter Six:

Note: Just so you know, this chapter has a swear word in it. Read at your own risk.

A few minutes later, I decided I had had enough of that parlor room I had been sitting in for the last hours and in a sudden burst of confidence I had stepped out the room only to run into something. No- not someTHING, someONE.

"Millard!" I exclaimed. He had disrobed and had been eavesdropping. "How much did you hear?"

"Well," Millard said curtly. "I heard enough. The whole damn thing is full of the bloody wights and hollows!"

It was clear he was upset, and he rushed away in a trail of divots.

I stood there, biting my lip again. 

What would happen now? Millard would surely tell everyone.

The only thing I could think to do was to tell Miss Peregrine that Millard knew, so I headed up the stairs. I knocked and entered her office. She had been pacing, papers strewn about her desk, and who knows what else she'd been doing.

"Well?" She wrung her hands. She obviously knew I had some terrible news.

"Millard was eavesdropping." I said. "He heard everything."

Miss Peregrine sighed and told me to round up everyone and bring them into the parlor. "There is much to discuss."

. . .

Once everyone was all together, Miss Peregrine called for Millard. He reluctantly stepped forward, invisible except for pants and a jacket. I was surprised to see him wearing anything at all.

Everyone seemed to be expecting some sort of scolding sentence, but all Miss Peregrine simply asked the same question I had.

"How much did you hear?"

I half-expected Millard to give her the same answer he'd given me, but all he did was sigh and say, "All of it right from when we find out Caul had been pretending to be you."

"Does everyone know?" I think she had known the answer, because she didn't look surprised when Millard said yes. She just looked tired.

"Children, I'd like you all to savor your life now, because I have no way of shielding you from danger any longer. Any attempt at making things better could make our situation worse. We must tread carefully. Don't diverge from the path that has already been laid out for us. And don-" Then little Olive interrupted Miss Peregrine, running up to her and wrapping her small arms around Miss Peregrine's legs.

"Don't leave, Miss Peregrine!" Her small voice sat in the air for a millisecond until the echoes of it were no longer echoes, but separate voices, pleading for their beloved ymbryne to avoid separation.

The headmistress looked shocked at first, as if surprised that everyone cared for her safety more than their own trials that lay ahead. Then she recollected herself, scooping Olive into her arms.

"Children. Listen to me. The more we mess with the line of events, the worse everything could get. We could cause the destruction off millions of people."

"But Miss P!" Emma said excitedly. "The situation could also get better! We could storm the wight's base and stop your brothers before they even get to the Library of Souls! Think of everything else, too!"

"I am, dear. But you have to think of the consequences, too."

"But what are the consequences of just sitting here and doing nothing?" Emma argued. "You'd be taken and we'd be locked in the basement, and who knows what else!"

"What do you propose we do for the next step, then?" Miss Peregrine asked with one eyebrow raised.

"We'd- We'd get packed and head out of this loop! We'd have to say goodbye to the house, but then we might be able to get it back later..." You could practically see the gears working in Emma's head. "Get the peculiars from Miss Wren's loop and storm Devil's Acre!"

I noticed Jake standing in the back of the room, looking torn. Then he said, "In the story, I stay with the peculiars, and my parents would rather have their minds erased than know their real son."

My heart stopped, just for a second. What would he do? The entire room seemed to hold its breath.

"And these stories seem to be correct so far, and it seems like you need me, so I'm staying."

Everyone cheered and Miss Peregrine called for silence.

"Don't even try to stop us, Miss P," Hugh said, a stray bee buzzing around his head. "We know what we want to do."

"I wasn't going to," Miss Peregrine said, smiling sadly. "I've come to accept you want this. I'm not going to try to reason with you, but I will be overseeing and inspecting what you pack. And Emma, I expect you to make this plan of yours more detailed, as to-" And for the third time today, Miss Peregrine was interrupted and everyone cheered, whooped, thanked Miss P, and ran off to pack.

Soon it was only me and Miss Peregrine left in the room. I expected her to make some sort of statement, or something around there, but no. All she did was smile in a proud sort of way and asked me if I wanted to come. And I thought of the life I had had in the present and I knew I wouldn't miss it at all.

"Well, then, pack a bag, Miss Perine," She said when I told her so. "And be ready to fight for your life."

A glint of blue caught my eye coming from the door frame and I turned to see Horace peeking in, smiling a big, dopey grin, like he'd heard the best news of his life. He was staring at me and when I met eye-contact with him, he blushed and his head disappeared, his footsteps thudding down the hallway.

My, what beautiful eyes.