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

Chapter Fifteen

           

March 12, 1934

"She's not back yet. I'm worried," I muttered to myself as we stood waiting at the docks. "Go fly over there and check to see what's going on," I nudged Thomas.

"No thank you! She told us to wait at the tea shop down the street but it was your idea to sneak away when Nanny America was buying tea bags! Besides, I don't have extra clothes to change into," he argued.

"But she said it wouldn't take longer than twenty minutes!" I shook his arm and pointed out to the lake.

"Did you really expect it to take twenty minutes?" he sarcastically asked.

"No, I don't know what I expected. But all she 'ad to do was check if the house was empty or not," I sighed. "I think we should go," I tugged on his arm again but he resisted and shook his head.

"Just hive her a bit more time," he ordered.

"No! Something is holding her up! It's been almost an hour!" I said and yanked on the chain of my pocketwatch before whipping it out and revealing the smooth white face.

"Put that away!" he took his hands and shoved my pocketwatch back into my waistcoat.

"She's scared," I whispered.

"No she's not, she's an Ymbryne," Thomas hissed back.

"Is Miss Kestrel ever scared?"

"That's not what we're talking about!" he shouted, making some heads turn in our direction.

"Stop drawing attention to us," I scolded him.

"Too late," Thomas sang and pointed down the dock. I glanced in the direction he was pointing and saw Joanne striding down toward us. Her heels clicked loudly on the wood boards and she was angrily puffing out smoke from her pipe.

"Look what you've done!" Thomas crowed and jabbed his finger in the direction Joanne was coming from.

"Don't blame me!" I shoved him to the side and began crawling away from our hiding place behind the lake bushes. Thomas quickly followed and we sprinted down the dock in an attempt to flee.

"Children!" I heard Joanne shriek from behind us.

"She's old, she can't catch us!" I huffed as we fell into an unoccupied row boat stranded near the dock.

"Go, go, go! Row!" Thomas scrambled around me and reached for the oar.

"Hurry before she throws something!" Thomas screeched as I saw Joanne reach for a rock.

"I'm trying!" I fought him for the other oar as we desperately tried to row away. It was quite exhausting and after a while I let my telekinesis take over because my arms were too small and weak.

After about twenty minutes the lake shore disappeared and we were enveloped tightly into a thick fog.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," I told Thomas who was leaning over the edge of the boat.

"Either this or getting beaten to death by that crazy lady. She's insane! Why do you even keep her around?"

"We can't and you know that. Miss Wren needs her."

"I don't see why, and neither does Mum," Thomas muttered. I turned around to face him.

"She guarded Miss Sparrow's loop for thirty years, she's our best chance of finding her and we're closer than we ever 'ave been this past year."

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes and we kept rowing.

It was silent for the next ten minutes and the fog was so thick I could barely see my hands in front of me.