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

Chapter Nine

August 8, 1931
London, England

It had been a week since I left the Academy with Miss Peregrine, and I tried as hard as I could to block out the last day I was there. I was sure my best friend now hated me, and I didn't blame her. I missed all of my friends already, but I didn't regret my decision to leave.

Present day was much how we left it. The gloomy village hadn't changed, and the dark clouds reigning over the sky now darkened my thoughts as I remembered every bright sunny day inside the loop.

We had taken a train to London and rented an apartment concealed among the offices of middle class journalists and international financiers veiled by the smoke of imported cigars.

The morning after we moved in I woke up and I had grown at least three inches, and my hair grew about one. My entire body was sore and I had an awful headache. I called out to Miss Peregrine as I felt I couldn't even move without being in more pain.

"That's how it feels to age forward, and we were only in the loop for one year!" she handed me a warm cup of tea.

"Miss Bunting told us about aging forward," I said.

"And what did you learn?"

"That the average Peculiar can last three days outside a loop before they completely age forward. Except Ymbryne's, they're different," I explained.

"How are they different?"

"They age forward outside of loops normally until they reach a quarter century age. Then they start to age so slowly it's almost like they don't age at all. Most Ymbryne's can live without a loop for about three hundred years. The eldest known Ymbryne was Florence Starling, who lived for three hundred and eighty six years, and then an extra two hundred in a time loop," I presented.

"Very good! Leni Bunting always spoke of you in high regards. I see that she was not exaggerating," Miss Peregrine praised me.

She helped me out of bed and once I was dressed we walked across the street to a small cafe open for breakfast. It was convenient. Our apartment was crowded between business offices for publishers and lawyers alike. We didn't fit in really, but it was easy to go unnoticed in such a busy little square, which was exactly the point.

"Why did we leave the Academy?" I asked Miss Peregrine as we ate.

"Because there are things I want to do and I can't stay there forever. We must find others and create our own loop," Miss Peregrine clarified.

"What about me?"

"Being your Ymbryne, I am responsible for you, and I should like to think you'd accompany me anywhere  I travel," she smiled warmly at me and nothing else was said.

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After we finished breakfast we spent the day wandering around the shops of London in dire need of new clothes. Miss Peregrine didn't buy much for herself, but I needed to change out my entire wardrobe because I outgrew every single one of my loop outfits.

The shopping was fun for me being how I hadn't gone since Dublin, and during that time I was weak, scared, and frail. Miss Peregrine was more joyful now that I wasn't afraid and I weighed the proper amount.

We entered many shops filled with overpriced luxuries that we wished we could have. We saw porcelain dolls and expensive china. Book ends and clocks, which Miss Peregrine loved. Small brass horses and other desk decorations. Many lampshades with decorative patterns on them and picture frames or mirrors lining the walls. Strange light fixtures and tea cups with mismatching plates. Furniture that looked like it would get dirty if you so much as looked at it, and could only be for decoration and not for lounging. In many of these stores you could find just about anything if you looked hard enough.