Millard Nullings: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Part 2

Millard was jolted awake by the train stopping. He and the others made their way off of the train and along a nearby street. They walked out of the city and eventually came upon a dirt path with a large car parked on it that was just big enough to fit everybody.

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After about 25 minutes of driving along the path, they stopped at a small, worn out looking shed. Just one of the three doorhinges was still attached to the doorframe, making the door lopsided and useless. Everyone got out of the car. Miss Peregrine opened the door to shed and said it was a loop entrance. After everyone had gone into the loop, Miss Peregrine made sure everyone was accounted for, and got into a horse and cart that had been left for them. Millard missed the car that had brought them; the horse and cart was terribly bumpy and was upsetting his stomach.

After about 40 minutes of Millard not trying to throw up in the cart, and large victorian style house came up on the horizon. It was surrounded by beautiful flowers and trees and bushes. There were several children in the yard, including a young girl with curly teal-colored hair, and a pair of teenaged, ginger twins. They were sitting down on the grass. One had flowers blooming all around him, and the other was sitting in a perfectly circular patch of dead grass. They were playing patty-cake. Miss Peregrine's group walked towards the front door, passing the other peculiar children. A small, cheery-looking woman greeted them at the door.

"Hello, kids. I am Miss Bluefoot. Hello to you too, Alma. We have lots to catch up on."

She welcomed them into the house. The first room was full of large chairs and couches. A large coffee table was in the middle, littered with newspapers. Millard picked up today's. The date read November 27th, 2002. They moved on to the kitchen. A large silver sign with neat black print said

All invisible personnel must be fully clothed at all times.

Millard, who was fully clothed, wondered who the sign was for. He longed to meet another invisible peculiar that couldn't become visible. He actually thought he had, once. It was a boy a few years older than him, but could control whether or not he could be seen. It was close, but not what he had been looking for.

"Miss Bluefoot? Who else is this sign for?" He asked.

"Oh, that's for Alice Amethyst, one of the children I look after. You should meet her. I'll send Gideon to see of she's here."
She turned to one of the ginger twins they had seen outside and started to say something to him, but he was already out the door.

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They were touring a small museum-like room full of information about Miss Bluefoot's kids when Gideon walked into the room.

"Alice will be back for dinner." He said quietly.

Without another word, he walked back out. Something about him slightly disturbed Millard. They finished touring the house, and waited in the sitting room (the first room the went in) for dinner to be ready.

The large front door opened, but no one walked through. It also closed seconds later as if someone had pulled it closed, but no one was standing near it. A bell rang throughout the house, signaling dinnertime. The dinnertable was piled high with an inconceivable amount of delicious looking food. All the chairs were full, save one. Miss Bluefoot was about to give a formal welcome speech when she noticed the empty chair.

"Alice." She said, pointing to the sign.

The chair scooted back, and Millard heard footsteps leading out of the kitchen. Someone else invisible! Millard was excited for her to come back. He looked around at the children he didn't know. There was one boy who must've been at least 8 feet tall, and had a large scar leading from his left temple to the right side of his jawline. A short girl, about 12 years old, had a beautiful design imprinted on her face, and had two blood red irises in each eye. The other kids looked relatively normal.

He couldn't take his eyes off of the twins, though. They looked identical, but something was off. Fabian, the one who had the flowers blooming around him, had a healthy glow about him. He seemed like the happiest, healthiest person alive.

Gideon was the exact opposite. He had an aura about him that was terribly offsetting. His face was gaunt, and his cheeks were hollow. It seemed like he was on the brink of death. Millard must have been staring for too long, and noticed they were staring back. Fabian picked up a decorative flower that had been sitting on the table, and made it grow in spiraling directions. He set it back down and admired it. Then, Gideon picked it up and ran his finger along the stem. Wherever touched it, the flower wilted and died. He placed the dead flower back to the table's center. Millard was thoroughly freaked out. Then, he heard someone coming into the room. It was Alice. She had put on a baggy t-shirt and black jeans. She sat back down at her seat. Miss Bluefoot cleared her throat.

"Miss Amethyst. Fully clothed."

Alice sighed. She put a beanie to show where her head was, and a jacket to show where her arms and hands were.

"Miss B just wants to see where here hands are. She is quite the pickpocket." Gideon told him from across the table.

Millard spent the remainder of dinner talking to Fabian and Gideon. They were an interesting pair, and Millard enjoyed the conversation. He couldn't pluck up the courage to talk to Alice, though. Maybe after dinner he'd give it a shot.