Scorched Earth: The Prequel to Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children (editing)

Chapter Two

June 30, 1930

"I think you should rest a few more days before you get on any train," said the kind lady taking care of my broken rib.

"But my grandmother is worrying. I must be on my way!" I piped. She gave me a disapproving look.

I hadn't left town at all. I was staying at some old widow's house and lied telling her I was off to see my grandmother who lived in England. She was surprised I was traveling alone, but not suspicious.

"'Ave you written her any letters? I would gladly write to her if it stops her worrying. Or we can take you to a real doctor. I'm afraid my small knowledge of medicine can't possibly be enough," she urged.

"No, no! It's quite alright!"

"But the broken rib! That must 'ave been a nasty fall you took!"

I sat up and quickly gathered my things. I told her thank you and bolted out of the door before she could stop me. I couldn't stay here any longer, my father was probably searching the entire town for me. But because I was bed ridden for two weeks in this old ladies house trying to make my rib better, I was able to go unnoticed.

I hoped to pass through town to the train station as casually as I could. I was wearing Emmett's clothes, so maybe that helped.

Fortunately, no one payed attention to me one bit as I cruised down the Main Street with my mail sack and all. Truthfully, I had no idea where the train station was and I was just wandering around aimlessly, a little scared to talk to someone just in case they'd turn me in. My mind kept drifting back to Emmett and my father. It had already been two weeks. Perhaps they thought I was dead. I wondered how my father reacted when he came home and discovered I was gone. Did he hit Emmett to punish him? Was he now locked in a room without food or water? It was all I could think about until a nice man gave me directions to the train station and I was on my way.
I arrived at the station in a little over thirty minutes. I was trying to catch the earliest train at 7:00 in hopes that I could slip out of town without anyone making a fuss, but it looked like I was already too late. The 8:00 would have to do.

I nervously stepped up to the ticket booth and set my mail sack down in front of my feet.
"I need to buy a ticket to Dublin," I called to the man behind the window. He was pointy looking, with a long face and a sharp nose. His lip curled into what looked like, a snarling dog.

"I don't give out tickets to lil beggars," he hissed.

A huge wave of fear passed through me as I felt the ticket man look at me as if he was peering straight into my soul. I asked him again.

"I would like to buy a ticket for the 8:00 train ride to Dublin please," I repeated.

"With what money? Ye aren't gettin' a ticket," he growled.

I pulled out a stack of money from the mail sack and shoved it at him through the window that I could barely see into.

"Give me a ticket!" I demanded.

Out of anger and frustration I must have accidentally used my power to push the money at him. It wasn't a lot, but probably noticeable if you were paying attention, which he was. However, he showed no response to the odd movement of the money besides a quick twitch of his eyebrow that you would've missed if you blinked.

The ticket man collected my money and observed it as if it wasn't real. He squinted at me and began counting. I attempted to give him the dirtiest look I could. He reached below the counter and pulled out a single ticket for me then crankily slid it across the counter where I reached out to grab it. He held back and kept two fingers pinned on my ticket so I couldn't grab it.