And so the vast garden was filled with the sound of children's laughter, echoing through the grounds, as they chased, teased and giggled in their respective groups.
Sitting on the porch of the manor house Enoch, Emma and Olive observed the commotion from the sidelines. Dutifully keeping a watchful eye over their younger siblings.
Whenever Miss Peregrine left the confines of the loop she would place her youngest charges in their hands. Expecting that they would be kept safe and sound. Due to their peculiarities that was easier said than done if all the children were kept in the same place. Resulting in all the children spending their time outside due to the sunny weather.
Sweeping his gaze through the hoard of children happily running across the lush, green grass Enoch allowed a small smile to break free across his face, relishing in the feeling of a job well done. Without a doubt, Miss Peregrine would be happy when she would return home to find all children assembled without a scratch in front of her when she returned. On that note, it wouldn't hurt for them to wear clean clothes. I'll have to send them to their rooms soon. Miss Peregrine will without a doubt return in a matter of minutes. She's late as it is, her outings usually never last this long. He thought to himself.
Speaking of Miss Peregrine, as he lifted his gaze towards the shy he could just make out a black dot that was swiftly albeit wobbly making her way towards them. Standing up, he shielded his eyes against the setting sun and was just able to make out the shape of their bellowed ymbryne. Whose usually graceful flight was filled with ups and downs. Slowly he started to run, picking up speed as he went, towards her as he realized that something was dreadfully wrong. With horror, he gazed upon the sky, not even hearing the screams that emitted from his siblings, as Miss Peregrine started to change into her human form well above the tree line.
Her lithe form was spiralling with an alarming speed towards the hard ground, falling so fast in fact, that Enoch barely had time to catch her before she hit the hard floor below.
Miss Peregrines face was etched into a mask of pain as she laid in Enochs' arms. She could hear the other children moving closer and quietly calling her name, and her heart broke at the fear and worry that she heard in those young voices. Gathering her strength she forced her eyes to open only to gaze right into Enochs', his eyes mirroring the worry of the other children around her. Looking around she forced a smile to grace her features, trying to quell the worry of her children. Despite how strained the smile was it accomplished the intended job as the children started to calm down.
Olive, always seeking to help others, was the first to break the silence, that settled over the garden.
"Miss Peregrine, what happened... are you all right?"
Her voice, while slightly shaky reflected the feelings of others.
"I'm...", her voice broke with the strain she put herself under in order to speak, "...well. Slightly battled and bruised but fine."
There was no way in hell that she was about to tell the children that she was bitting her leap in order to not scream from the overbearing pain. Now that the silence was broken, other children came forward with questions, which were just pouring out of their mouths. Most of them being about her wellbeing and the situation at hand. Turning her head back towards Enoch who stayed silent through the short exchange, she blindly reached for his hand.
Seeing his mothers silent plea, he placed his hand in hers and was surprised when she placed it on her abdomen. Until his surprise morphed into horror as he realised that her whole abdominal area was damp. Breaking their eye contact he slowly lowered his gaze to her abdomen, only to notice that the clothing there was a darker shade than his mothers' usual blue tone. Slightly turning his palm upwards he noticed that his hand was covered in blood. Quickly placing his palm back against the previous spot, he first gazed into his mothers' pain-filled eyes and then around the gathered crowd, understanding her silent request for discretion. Luckily only Emma and Olive noticed the blood staining his hands and the ground beneath their mother.
Understanding the situation they slowly started to shepherd the younger children into the house. Not paying any heed to their complaints, knowing that Miss Peregrine would not want them to see her like this. The woman was the epitome of proper, and anything less than perfection irritated her to no end. To her, showing her charges weakness, would be to fail in her role as a mentor and protector, not being able to shield them from the worry and the fear.
Miss Peregrine watched as the group made its way into the house slowly but surely. Closing her eyes she tried to block her mind from the pain that was trumping along the length of her body, its origin coming from the abdominal area. As Enoch stood up she could not prevent the strangled groan that came out of her mouth as her wounds stretched.
Looking down in his arms he could see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Her pain filled groan stopping him from moving towards the house in fear of making her wounds worse. Even the idea of causing his caretaker any kind of pain made him lightheaded and queasy. But he could see that she needed medical attention and as so he swallowed the bile that rose to his mouth and started to steadily walk back towards the house. The doors were left open in order to give them an easy excess to the house. Walking into the foyer he turned towards the stair and made his way up to Miss Peregrines room at the end of the long hallway where Emma and Olive were already waiting.
Olive and Emma watched as Enoch placed Miss Peregrine, whose eyes were still tightly shut, on the queen sized bed. They had already brought a bowl with warm water and bandages into the room prior to the arrival of the pair.
Slowly opening her eyes Alma could see the oldest of her charges standing around the bed. They all wore the same expressions of helplessness and despair on their young faces.
"Children...", was the only thing he could get out of her mouth before a coughing fit shook her lithe frame. At once three pairs of hands came to help her. One lifting her up, one trying to still her shaking frame and one offering her a glass of water. While all that helped her it didn't prevent her from feeling ashamed that she placed such a burden on them. She so desperately wanted to tell them to leave the room, to join their younger sibling and that she would take care of her wounds on her own but the words refused to leave her mouth. Leaving her crying in equal part pain and shame at her weakness.
Every tear that slid down their mother's chek broke their hearts piece by piece. The usually composed woman was breaking down in their arms, and they were unable to do anything except hold her close as fatigue set in and she slowly drifted off to sleep.
"We need to help her. Maybe she doesn't like it but it's our only option.", Emma said, still watching the older women's tear-stained cheek.
"What are we to do?", asked Enoch, his eyes trained on his adoptive mothers' abdomen, "None of us has any idea how to take care of wounds such as this. Miss Peregrine is always the one that helps us when we get hurt?"
The clothes covering Miss Peregrine were noticeably damper than before, the white duvet sporting dark spots blood.
For the first time since entering the room Emmas voice steadily rang through the air, "Does it matter if we never took care of wounds such as this? We still have to try if we don't want her to bleed out. We watched Miss Peregrine take care of such wounds often enough that we know approximately what we have to do."
The other two occupants of the room shook slightly at the idea of Miss Peregrine diyingon their watch. As they looked up at Olive they saw that she wasn't fairing much better, but was still stubbornly making her way towards the bandages and warm water, her hands shaking ever so slightly. Swallowing their fears the stood up and joined Olive. The thought of what they were about to do sickened and terrified them, but the idea of Miss Peregrine dying was even worse. Swallowing their discomfort they quietly began to work. The only thought in their minds the image of Miss Peregrine standing amongst them, happy and healthy.