Anna Peregrine--A Map of Days

Chapter Fifteen

We got back to the Acre through a Manhattan loop that connected to the Panloopticon. It would have saved us from days of driving if we had known of it.
As soon as we got home, I holed myself up in the shared bedroom that I had with my mother. I have never felt so much tension in one room in my whole life. I was scared that even if I coughed, my mother would explode in anger. Even though it was nice to be in my own bed again, I didn't get a good night sleep.
Jacob was confined to a bed due to his injuries. Whatever Leo and his men did was awful to him. I guess because they accuse Abe and his friends of abducting someone special to Leo, and he was taking it out on Jacob.
All of us who made the trip visited him the next morning, Enoch telling us how he woke up to find himself dressed in doll clothes in Frankie's room. He quickly got out of them and ran off.
"We think he woke up when me and Anna tackled Frankie. She let go of us all, and that much broken her hold on Enoch, too," Emma said.
"She's quite powerful, to be able to influence people remotely that way. I'll have to include her in my new book, Who's Who in Peculiar America," Millard said.
"I can control people remotely, too. Provided they're dead," Enoch said.
"It's too bad, you would have made a cute couple," Jacob said.
Enoch leaned over his bed and flicked a bruise on my friend's arm, making him yelp.
"I'm guessing Miss Peregrine hasn't spoken to you guys yet?" Jacob asked.
"She's still too angry," I said. "I've never seen her like this."
"Me neither. Not even the time my brother sank the Cairnholm ferry with all of us aboard," Bronwyn said.
"What if they excommunicate us from peculiardom?" Emma asked.
"You can't be excommunicated from peculiardom. Can you?" Enoch asked.
"Yeah . . . but you would have to be like my uncles to have that done to you. We aren't like them," I said.
"This whole thing was such an awful idea," Bronwyn said.
"We were doing fine until you got shot with that sleep ark, or whatever it was," Enoch said.
"So it's my fault?"
"We never would've gotten stuck in Frankie's loop-trap if we hadn't had to go looking for a hospital!"
"It's nobody's fault. We just had some bad luck," Jacob said.
"If it weren't that, something else would've gotten us," Emma said. "I'm amazed we made it as far as we did, considering the vastness of our ignorance. We were fools to think we could do a mission in America with so little preparation and training. There was only one Abe Portman."
That had to sting Jacob.
"His partner thought we were prepared. He gave us the mission," Jacob said.
"And I would very much like to know why," a voice came from the doorway.
We turned to see my mother against the jamb, holding an unlit pipe. How long had she been listening to us?
I quickly grew tense as she walked into the room, "I don't suppose you children know how much trouble you've caused."t
"You must have been very worried," Millard said
She turned her head sharply towards him, "I was, yes, but not only about you people. We have been engaged for some months–even before the hollowgast menace subsided–in an effort to negotiate peace between the American clans. Your actions have thrown those efforts into dire jeopardy."
"We didn't know," I said. "Because of your negligence to even tell me. You Ymbrynes were busy with the reconstruction effort."
"It was top-secret Ymbryne business that even you are too young and naive to understand. It would never have occured to me that I would need to caution my own daughter and wards against striking out on their own into dangerous and poorly charted territory–not only without my permission, but without even telling me–in order to conduct some ill-conceived rescue mission assigned to you by an unknown and utterly untrustworthy source . . . ," her tone rose shrilly, and she rubbed a knuckle into her eye. "Excuse me. I haven't slept in days."
She took a match from her dress's pocket and lifted her foot before and struck it against her sole before lighting the pipe. She took a few puffs, and I knew we were in deep trouble for that.
"The other Ymbrynes and I worked around the clock to negotiate at your release from Leo Burnam's Five Boroughs clan. It's quite a complex thing when the very people who are trying to broker a peace treaty are accused of committing high crimes. America is badly divided. Here's the gist of it, which I share now only because I want to impress upon you how difficult you've made things. There are three major factions: the Five Boroughs clan, whose influence extends through most of the East Coast; the Invisible Hand, with power concentrated in Detroit; and the Californios in the West, with Los Angeles as its capital. Texas and the South are autonomous, semi-lawless zones, which have resisted efforts to centralise control in any one loop, an unfortunate situation that has only worsened societal rifts. But tensions among the big three are the primary concern. They have long-standing boundary disputes, old grudges, and the like, but for a hundred years the threat of hollowgast attacks seriously reduced their mobility and prevented occasional skirmishes from escalating into war. Now that the hollows are mostly gone, however, the skirmishes are worsening."
"In other words, we couldn't have picked a worse time to go blundering in," Millard said.
"You could not have. Especially given the delicate work we Ymbrynes have taken on."
"I get why the situation is delicate. I just don't understand why trying to help one peculiar in need was such a terrible thing," I said.
"It wouldn't have been, in Europe. But in America it's a serious offence."
"But my grandfather spent his whole career finding and helping uncontacted peculiars,0 Jacob said.
"Years ago!" Mum shouted. "Conventions change, Mr. Portman! Laws are rewritten! And if you had simply asked me, or any Ymbryne, we would have told you that the Americans are territorial, and what was an act of heroism twenty-five years ago is now considered a capital offence."
"Okay, but you wouldn't tell me that?!" I shouted.
"Not now, Miss Bentham," Mum growled.
Holy shit. She was no longer on a first name basis with me as usual, and she didn't even call me Miss Peregrine. It was Miss Bentham. I was so fucked.
"But why?" Jacob asked.
"Because the most valuable resource in peculiardom is us. Peculiars. If two loops are in conflict with each other, they need as many peculiars in their ranks as they can find–to be fighters, bone-menders, runners, invisible spies, and so on. An army. But peculiars have a very limited population from which to recruit. And thanks to the evil hunger of the hollows, new peculiars were hard to find for a very long time. They got snapped up–quite literally. Starved of new blood, peculiar populations grew older and became loop-bound. An army that can't stray far from its loop for fear of ageing forward isn't very effective. So there is really nothing more valuable in peculiardom than a never-contacted peculiar. Especially a powerfully talented one."
"Why didn't H tell us that?" Jacob asked. "He must've known helping Noor would make the local clans angry."
"I'd like to ask him that same question. And several more, as well."
"I'm sure his motives were virtuous. She was being hunted by some very nasty people," Millard said.
"Helping her might've been virtuous. Involving my wards in the matter was not."
"We're so sorry," Emma said. "I hope you can believe that."
Mum ignored her, along with the others' attempts to apologise. She went over to the window and blew a cloud of smoke towards the street below us, "We were making progress in our peace talks, but this episode has seriously damaged the clans' trust in us. The neutral party cannot be suspected of having any agenda other than peace. It's a bad setback."
"Do you think they'll go to war?" Millard asked. "Because of us?"
"We may yet have an opportunity to mend things. But the clans are quite far apart on a number of key issues. They must agree on territorial boundaries, elect a peacekeeping council . . . these are no small matters, and the stakes are considerable. If war should break out between them, it would be a disaster not only for America peculiars, but for all of us. War is a germ that can rarely be contained. It would surely spread."
Well shit.
"Worse than any of that," Mum said as she turned back to us, with a sigh. "Worse than the clans not trusting us, is that I feel I can no longer trust you."
"Don't say that, miss, don't say that," Bronwyn pleaded.
"I think I'm perhaps more disappointed in you, Miss Bruntley. This sort of behaviour isn't so surprising from Miss Bloom or Mr O'Connor. But you have always been so loyal and kind."
"I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"You'll start by working on the kitchen cleanup crew here in the Acre for one month."
"Yes, yes, of course," Bronwyn said eagerly.
"Miss Bloom, I'm reassigning you to the Smoking Street garbage incinerator. Mr. O'Connor, you'll be sweeping chimneys. Mr. Nullings–"
"Miss Peregrine?" Jacob said.
She stopped. We all looked at him in disbelief.
"What is it?" she asked.
"What about Noor?"
"What about her?"
"We just . . . left her there."
"I'm aware of what happened. And if it had been possible to bring her back to the Acre with us, I would have done it. But it took all the leverage I had to secure your release. To then insist upon taking her, too, would have made it seem as if it were her we'd wanted all along. That we really were after their uncontacted peculiars. And that would have derailed the peace talks."
"Leo's crazy and dangerous. I know it would look bad. So maybe there's a way we can sneak her out, so they wouldn't know it was us . . . ," I stopped Jacob from talking by shooting him daggers with my eyes and shaking my head.
My mum was about to lose it.
"Mr. Portman, if that girl's in danger, it's your fault. I cannot believe, after all I just told you, that you're still insisting we attempt to remove her from that loop. I simply can't believe it."
"I know it's my fault, and I admit that–"
"Partially mine as well. It was my idea to bring her to the Acre," I said, saving Jacob's ass. I was already in so much trouble, what more could hurt? "But you should've seen the people who were after her; they had helicopters and tactical gear."
"Obviously, that was one of the other clans," Mum said.
"I don't think it was. Leo's gang didn't know who they were–"
"Mr. Portman," Mum said, interrupting him.
"There's something special about her, something important, I have this feeling–"
"Mr. Portman!"
"Jacob, desist," Millard said.
"I just don't think H would've sent us after her if she weren't important, you know? He's not an idiot," Jacob said.
"Mr. Portman, she is none of your concern!" Mum yelled in a way I've never heard her yell before. She started to tremble with anger. "Sometimes imperfect situations must be tolerated in order to achieve a greater good. The safety of one cannot outweigh the safety of thousands."
"Well, that sucks."
Bronwyn gasped. My jaw completely dropped. No one, but me, and that was even rare, ever talked to my mother that way.
Mum took a step towards his bed and leaned over to him, "Yes, Mr. Portman, it sucks. But deciding between choices that suck is precisely why being a leader can suck. Which is precisely the reason we don't, and will never, involve children in high-level leadership decisions."
"Miss Peregrine?" Emma said.
Mum turned to her sharply, "What is it, Miss Bloom?"
"We aren't children anymore."
"Yes, you are. You have proven that today. Miss Bentham."
"Yes?" I asked quietly.
"Meeting Room. Now."

I have never seen so many Ymbrynes angry before in my whole life. I've never seen so many Ymbrynes angry at me.
When I entered the room, all eyes were on me. I went right to my seat and sat down.
"Anna, do you know why you're here?" Miss Avocet said.
"I think so."
"Why are you here?"
"To be removed from the council and to be demoted."
She nodded as two papers were presented to me by my mother. Miss Avocet started talking as my mum got me a pen, "When you went unannounced, going against the council, we all started talking about removing you. When you helped the uncontacted peculiar, and you fell into the hands of the clans, that earned you your removal and demotion."
A pen was placed in front of me. I looked at the papers before looking at Miss Avocet, "Am I allowed to speak? In my defence?"
"Yes."
I sighed, looking at the other Ymbrynes, "I know you are all angry with me, and I somewhat understand. However, in my defence, when it comes to Noor, I was only trying to help her. Because of your negligence to tell me about the clans, I had no idea who they were. At the end of the day, all I wanted was to bring Noor here to the Acre, and take care of her. I guess to make her my first ward. I didn't realise all the politics behind it. So, I am sorry, and I understand the wanting to remove me from the Council, but not the demotion. I think I deserve one more chance as a Ymbryne."
The room was silent. Miss Glassbill spoke up, "I think she's right."
Miss Thrush nodded. I bit my lip as some of the Ymbrynes looked at each other, starting to think the same thing. Isabel was looking at Mum who kept moving her eyes between me and Miss Avocet. Miss Wren had a smile on her face. I was starting to get happy.
"She has a point. I mean, she's still a teenager technically," Miss Babax said.
"What do you think, Alma?" Miss Avocet asked.
Mum bit her lip, "As angry as I am with her, she is my daughter, and it's my job to forgive her, eventually. But she has a point. Perhaps we should give her another chance as a Ymbryne, but not as a council member."
I nodded.
"Then it is decided. Anna Marie Peregrine, you will only be removed from the council. Your status as a Ymbryne will always be under watch," Miss Avocet said.
"I'm alright with that," I said with a small smile.
I looked down at the removal document and signed it. I looked at the plaque on the table with my initials. It was placed in the table, and can easily be taken out.
"May I have my plaque once its removed?" I asked.
"Yes, I was going to ask you if you wanted it. Also, because you are still a Ymbryne, you may still have your office," Miss Avocet said.
I smiled, "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Don't make me regret this."
"I won't."
She nodded, "You're dismissed."
"Thank you," I said before leaving the room.
"Shall we move on to the clans?" I heard Isabel ask.
"Yes. I just hope our young peregrine doesn't fail us," Miss Avocet said as the door closed behind me.
I knew I wouldn't.

END OF BOOK FOUR