"Shh, darling, please," I pleaded, rocking the fussy 11 month old in my arms. Lola, Tommy, and Ella were all sleeping in the abandoned house we had fled to. It was probably 2 in the morning, I guessed, judging by how tiired I felt when little Quin woke up crying.
He sounded how I felt, watery cries making even me feel like crying. I sighed as I laid him across my chest, hearing his cries slow as he rested his little head in the crook of my neck.
As I paced, I thought about our plan. We didn't have a loop, so we didn't need to worry about the com plications that could appear with that situation. We didn't have a leader, though. That was the main issue. We lost our ymbryne and half of our brothers and sisters.
Quinten, sensing my distress as babies often do, sighed dramatically into my neck. I laughed and rubbed his back. "I know, kiddo."
His head jerked up and he looked at me, mouth open in a little 'o' as if to ask me if I really did know. But, really, I didn't.
I walked Quinten back to sleep for the next hour, thinking about all the things I didn't know. I didn't know where we were going to go after this. I didn't know if Jensen was still alive. I didn't know if we had anywhere to go after this.
"What am I gonna do, Jay?" I whispered into the swirling night wind, looking up at the constellations. "I don't know how to protect these kids."
I looked down, feeling a burning in the back of my eyes. I shouldn't think about Jensen anymore, I told myself, at least not for now. Finding home would be challenging enough: thinking about the dead wouldn't help.
But it was easier said then done. The next morning as I gathered up the children and went to town.
Thankfully, I had enough money saved and on me to purchase food, diapers, and clothes for everyone (though there was only one person that needed the diapers). Wish Quin cooing on my hip and playing with my hastily braided hair, I bought a map from the man at the gas station.
"I could give you somewhere to stay, dearie," the man suggested, sliding more change than necessary across to me after buying the paper.
"Uh, no thanks," I replied, disgusted. Quinten shrieked, causing me to laugh at the cashier's red face.
"Where are we gonna go, 'Lani?" Lola asked sweetly, distributing the bags evenly between the others.
"Dunno, Lola-Rae," I replied, leading everyone to the public park, thankful that everyone was too invested in their phones to pay any mind to you.
Tommy sat by me, gladly taking Quin from my arms so I could plan our next route. "Jensen, Zay, and Yuri aren't coming back for us... are they?"
We all looked over at the boy, letting Quin bite his hand. Ella looked at me questioningly.
I swallowed. "No, Tom. I don't... They didn't get out of the house."
"Oh."
I looked down at the map, tears pricking my eyes again.
"I miss them," Tommy mumbled.
"So do I," Ella joined in, Lola repeating her words.
In that split second, I thought of Jensen. We weren't together, no, but we may as well have been. We followed each other everywhere, were reffered to as the 'couple' by the others, and practically cuddled every night when movie time came around. I thought of his smile, how his white teeth shown darkly in the night. The night of the fire, his face gleamed as much as his teeth did, tear-struck and sweaty. Then I realized: he knew what was going to happen.
"Me too." Tears dripped down my face and landed on the map with a splat.
Tommy leaned against me, tucking my arm around his body.
I marked the location of all the loops I remembered, thanking Ms. Dove tearfully that she drilled loop locations into my mind when she decided I was old enough to handle the information. When I had at least six marked on the map, I decided on the loop closest to us.
"Wales," I murmured, running my finger over the indent in the paper I made with the pen.
"Huh?" Tommy asked, looking at me.
"We're going to Wales."
Ella and Lola giddily talked while II planned our trip. Judging by how far away we were, it would take about two days to get there if we stopped for eleven hours each night, not including bathroom breaks or lunch time. I nodded, a smile making it's way across my lips.
"You guys ready?" I asked, tucking the map into my jean pocket, opening my arms for Tommy to hand me Quinten. "Thanks, Tommy."
The twelve year old only hummed. "How long until we get there?" Lola asked excitedly.
"A couple days, kiddo." I answered truthfully. I knew it wouldn't be a pleasent few days, but if the loop was still there then our weariness wouldn't matter.
"I'm gonna miss them, Kahlani," Tommy said, looking me in the eye.
I nodded, this time fueled by hope. "I will too, but we have to go. Ms. Dove wouldn't like it if we stayed here for the rest of our lives. She'd... I think she would want us to find somewhere we can be safe. And happy."
"I think so too," Lola murmured, bumping lightly into my side.
I smiled. I knew the way to the next few towns over. That should get us to a decent place to relax and check the map again.
— 🪼
"Quiet, now, children," Miss Peregrine hushed, turning off the light.
Horace settled back in his chair and relaxed.
There he stood, facing a full-body mirror in a suit shop. His suit was jet black with a dark red patterened tie. He turned, examined the back, and smiled. "I will take it!"
"Very good, man," the salesman smiled, shaking Horace's hand.
The scene changed. White flickered on the screen. Then it focused on a group of people walking up to the house. Their faces were blurred, but nothing seemed dangerous or skin-crawling. Miss Peregrine's charges watched with interest as the tallest stepped in front of the eldest and asked for the woman in charge.
Then, the scene changed again. This time, it showed Millard and Hugh playing ball with a boy that had bright red hair. He tripped and fell suddenly. This caused him to lose pace with Millard and Hugh. As the red haired boy stuggled to get up, he reached his hand out and everyone watch as the ball came flying back over to where he stood, triumphant.
The screen went black.
"Who was that?" Hugh asked, awed.
"I don't know! But his Peculiarity is really cool," Millard answered.
"Bed time, children. Off to bed, all of you." Ms. Peregrine ordered, ushering everyone up the stairs.
Emma stayed behind as everyone filed into their respective rooms. "Are you alright, Miss Peregrine?"
"Yes of course, Emma. Off to bed with you," came the headmistress's response.
