The Children of When (Complete)

Chapter 21- Fire!

Leah sighed as she climbed wearily into bed and opened the fairy handbook. She'd been dying to read it ever since Belle had found the wing slits this morning, but they'd been busy with the horses all afternoon. She flicked eagerly through the book, surprised to discover there were so many different types of fairies. She gasped when she found the page Belle had mentioned earlier, the one with the drawing of the wing slits. They did look a lot like what Belle had described seeing on her back. She closed her eyes, picturing the girl they'd seen on their first day hovering in the air, her gorgeous wings beating slowly up and down.

How awesome would that be...? She sighed and tried to imagine it was her, using her own wings to hover in the air.

The next thing she knew, Belle was shaking her and screaming something. She must have fallen asleep reading the handbook. She opened her eyes to a room filled with smoke.

"Leah, wake up, we have to get out of here now! The whole place is on fire!"

Raff stood in the doorway, holding a towel against his face and coughing.

Belle threw her a towel, pulled her own back up to her face, and headed for the door. Leah dived out of bed and followed her. The smoke in the hallway was much worse, and her eyes burned as she stumbled after them.

She could hear Raff cursing and yelling, and then he was beside her. "The door to the common room won't open! We're gonna have to go back and try the windows."

As they turned to head back to her room, the door exploded inwards, as if a giant hand had pushed it from the other side. They were thrown backwards down the corridor, the flames leaping through the doorway, eager to consume whatever lay in their path. Clinging to each other, the three friends scrambled towards Leah's room, only to find flames licking against the outside of the windows. They staggered across to Raff's room and found the same thing. The fire was all around them. They were trapped!

Leah knew she had to do something. Belle and Raff had both managed to call on their Gifts when they needed them, now it was her turn! She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to find the place she'd heard Belle and Raff describe as the source of their Gifts. She felt a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. An eerie silence surrounded her, as if she had left her body and was watching from a distance. She spoke to the fire in her mind, begging it to stop before it killed them. The flames seemed to hesitate, as if confused by her request, then reluctantly spluttered and died.

Raff grabbed both girls by the arm, and dragged them outside. They staggered past other kids sprawled on the grass coughing and babbling.

"What happened to the fire?"

"How come it just died?"

"I didn't even see any water?"

The three friends reached the lake and dropped down onto the cool grass, sucking in the fresh air, and bathing their burning eyes. Leah sat in stunned disbelief.

Had the fire really gone out because she'd asked it to?

* * *

Snuggled into one of the big comfy chairs in Madame Persimmons' office, Leah couldn't stop smiling. She had a Gift! She knew she should be more concerned with the fact that someone had tried to kill them, again, but she needed to indulge this sense of happiness and relief for a bit longer.

The door opened behind her, followed by the soft tapping of Madame Persimmons' slippers as she crossed the room and pulled out the chair behind her desk. Of course, the thudding of Dominic's boots was right behind her, as always, and he appeared in front of them to stand beside her chair. Madame Persimmons looked at the three of them huddled in the big chairs, and her frown softened into a weary smile.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to see you three again so soon." She sighed. "Leah, I believe you have something to tell us."

Leah related the story exactly as it had happened, unable to hide a small surge of pride as she told Madame Persimmons about the fire going out when she asked it to.

"Well, one thing has become painfully obvious," Madame Persimmons face looked worn, the frown returning above her weary eyes. "It's no longer safe for you to stay at the school. Tyranius must have a spy planted here. How else could he have known the first attack failed, and have organised another attempt so quickly? I also don't believe it was a coincidence that the fire was confined to only the first-year wing. Dominic and I discussed it after you left this morning, and we both agreed that sending you to the elves in the Forever Forest is the best course of action."

Leahlooked from Belle, to Raff, and back at Madame Persimmons. "You're sending usaway?" she asked in horror. "Where is this Forever Forest, and how will we evenget there? I thought you said we were safe here at the school?"