They chuck me into a small room lined with dark brick and no windows, stinking of old man and sweat. A single bulb is fitted to the wall that just about illuminates a bench underneath it. I flop on the bench and that’s when the shaking begins. Time travel? Magic? Hitler? I keep mumbling the words and phrases Miss Ever used, but they just don’t sink in. Am I dreaming? No. Even when I had the flu last year and had a really bad fever I never dreamed like this. I don’t do drugs so I can’t be hallucinating. But what about mental illness? That can make you see stuff. Shelly Watkins’ mum hasn’t been well for years, there was that time at Christmas when she ran outside in just her knickers saying worms had eaten her clothes. But I don’t think I have anything like that, I mean, surely I’d know, just a little bit, if I had those sort of problems?
It's cold in here and I wrap my arms around me, rub my skin to try and keep warm. Jenks and Turnbull had said that I had to wait in here while Miss Ever and the other Commanders work out what to do with me. It ain’t right that. I should be the only person who decides what happens to me. I’m not from this time, it’s not my war so their rules just can’t apply to me.
Suddenly, the door clanks and scrapes open, there's a scuffle, angry voices then, yes! Asher and Ed fall through the door. I briefly see Jenks' face as he slams the door behind them and the bolt clangs home.
"Sis!" Asher runs over and picks me up in the biggest, tightest hug. I cling on to him. He smells familiar, like home, and I don't want to let go. Ed follows and I reach for him too. We huddle together like this for ages. Ed’s shaking, properly shaking.
"What's going on?" He mumbles into my hair.
"Are you okay?" Asher finally lets me go, looking me up and down.
"Yeah, I mean, I think so," I answer. "Freaking out like you wouldn't believe though. You?"
"Same." Asher nods. "I was so worried, Sis. We woke up in the tunnel and you were still out for the count."
"We tried to wake you and get out of there but before we could do anything, these two blokes rocked up and they had guns!" Ed says, shaking his head. "We've been kept in a room next door, but when we realised you were here too...well, we kicked up a storm until they brought us to you."
"They were asking us all sorts," Asher says. "How we got here, who do we work for?"
"Sounds like an interrogation," I say.
"It deffo was!" Ed sits next to me on the bench and rubs his face like he’s trying to wake up. "I think they just about believe we’re not gonna kill them all. Man, what did that bitch Bridget do to us?"
"Did they tell you where we are?" I ask.
"Yep. And when," Asher replies. "I don't buy it."
"I do." They look at me in disbelief.
"You believe this crap?" Ed says.
"I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but yeah." I tell them about the conversation with Miss Ever and the meaning of Bridget’s spell, although I leave out the weird stuff about my father. I describe Grace and the magic I saw her do, the way she took care of the dying soldier. Their faces fall when I tell them Hitler not only wants to kill all the Jews, he is also wiping out all Sorcerers.
“Whew.” Asher whistles. “I wish they’d taught this in History.” He cocks an eyebrow and leans back against the wall.
“I’d have enjoyed school a lot more if they had,” I agree.
“Yeah, yeah, this ain’t relevant to our situation now is it?” Ed leaps up and starts pacing, hand scratting at his hair. “You say we have to learn a lesson so we can get out of here.” He stops, faces us with spread arms. “Well? What’s the lesson?”
Asher and I look at each other and then him with open mouths. He’s right. Just like Miss Ever said, our escape from here is entirely down to us. However, Bridget didn’t exactly lay it out for us.
"She said something about an unclean soul," Asher says. "Treading the path?"
"Do you think she meant a journey?” Ed suggests. “That we have to like, travel somewhere?"
"In a way, we already have," I say. The boys look at me, their faces full of questions that I just don’t know how to answer. At that moment, the door screeches open again and we leap up, Asher instantly moving in front of me. Jenks steps in.
"Come on," he says. "All of you. Meeting. Now."
YOU ARE READING
War Bird
Teen FictionOld feuds, new worlds, and a love that will last a lifetime... Ever since her dad mysteriously abandoned her family, life on the Clifton Estate hasn't been all that exciting for 16-year-old Marla True. Her Mum constantly works to make ends meet, whi...
