Lady of the Snakes

Chapter 10, part 2

Simon poked his head in. "How is she?"

"She's got a fever." Ralph motioned. "Jack's getting water."

"Here it is." Jack was carrying a two shells full of water. Roger, behind him, was holding two more. "We should switch off."

Ralph wanted to shout No! Absolutely not! But the voice hissed, And you say that you have no feelings for her. Liar! "Fine." Ralph grudgingly said. "I'll stay here tonight, and you can take the morning."

Jack looked at Nora, shivering with fever, and said, "Fine."

.......

After everything went dark, Nora had the sensation of falling through a long, dark hole. She hit the ground with a thump, and looked up to find herself in her old London flat, with the dingy walls and the old table and bed. Her father was standing in front of Bess and Madoc-"Maddie?" She tried to call his name. He didn't look at her. None of them did. "Maddie!" Her father was shouting. It was incomprehensible, but she could understand one thing: he was angry. Nora had seen him like this so many times, she could predict every movement-and now he was raising his fist.

"No! Don't hurt them, please don't hurt them! Don't touch them!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs, yet none of them could hear her. She was seeing, she realized, the night Madoc had died all over again. And-there, he was falling. And he wasn't getting up. "Madoc! Madoc!" Nora needed it to be different this time.

Then she was falling again, and this time she was landing next to the sturdy stone wall between her aunt's house and the military school. Clambering up it, she found that instead of rows of marching boys, there was one solitary boy with red hair and an instructor.

She remembered this scene as well. The boy was looking at the instructor with defiance, and the instructor was looking at him in near apoplexy.

"Merridew, one more insubordination and you will be expelled. Do you hear me? Expelled!" The instructor brought his face close to the boy's, who stood there with a stoic expression on his face.

"You've run away, you've stolen things, and today you refused to salute!" The instructor was fuming, the boy's lack of response only served to make him angrier. "Don't you have any respect for the rules, boy?"

The boy made no response. But, glancing in Nora's direction, he briefly winked, and a flicker of a grin passed over his face.

The instructor whirled around. Quickly, Nora jumped down from the wall. She could hear him continuing to shout, but she no longer wished to hear his tirade.

Merridew, Merridew! The boy was Jack! She wondered how she hadn't remembered him before, or vice versa. But, she thought, she'd only seen him for a minute.

Without noticing, she had begun to fall again. This time, the fall felt longer, and it was with some relief she hit the ground again.

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Sorry about the delay. School, etc. made it hard for me to update. I'll try to add more to the story as much as possible, probably once every two weeks.

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