Chapter 3

Four uneventful months passed, then one night Hazel was woken by Fiver tossing and turning in his sleep. "No, no! Run, Hazel, run!" Fiver muttered.

Hazel quickly got out of bed and over to his brother. "I'm alright, Fiver. Wake up! Wake up, Fiver, everything is fine!" He shook his brother lightly, trying to wake him.

Fiver suddenly shot bolt upright, screaming, "No!"

"What happened?"

"What was that?"

"Did someone die?"

All around them boys were starting to stir, woken by Fiver's dream. Then one of them caught sight of Fiver, and said, "Oh, it's just that weird kid."

"That all?"said another.

"Tell him not to shout so loud next time, some of us are trying to sleep."

"Save your visions for daylight, would you? We don't want to hear it."

Gradually the boys all went back to sleep. Dandelion and Acorn looked over at Hazel, silently asking if they could help, but when he shook his head at them, they settled down to sleep as well.

Hazel held his trembling brother, who hadn't spoken a word since he had woken up. When Fiver had stopped trembling so badly, Hazel asked quietly, "Are you alright, Fiver?"

Fiver shook his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head again, and clutched Hazel tighter.

"You're safe now. You know that, don't you?" Hazel asked, looking down at his little brother's head.

Fiver hesitated, then nodded his head. His grip on Hazel didn't loosen.

Hazel sighed. "Squish over. I'm getting in."

Fiver let go just long enough for Hazel to get into the bed, then gripped his brother tightly again. Hazel rubbed his back, whispering reassurances. Gradually, Fiver slipped into sleep. Hazel stayed awake just long enough to remind himself to talk to Fiver about his dream in the morning, then fell asleep himself.

The next morning, Hazel pulled Fiver aside after breakfast. "Fiver, can you talk about your dream now?"

Fiver nodded, then took a deep breath, and shakily released it. "It wasn't just a dream. It was a dream like I had on that night, a dream of the future. It was about here, Sandleford Orphanage. Something is going to happen here, something bad. We have to leave, now, before it's too late."

Hazel drew back. "Leave? Fiver, we can't leave. Where would we go? We're just kids!"

"But Hazel, we have to leave!" Fiver grabbed on to his brother's arm. "We have to leave, now! Something bad is going to happen, something terrible, and we're all going to die! We have to leave, get out of here, with as many as will come with us!"

Seeing his brother's expression, Hazel relented. "Alright. You've never been wrong before, so I'll trust you now." Seeing that Fiver had calmed down, he continued, "Do you know what is going to happen, or when?"

Fiver shook his head. "Just that something terrible is going to happen, soon. We need to leave as soon as we can."

"Alright." Hazel ran his hands through his hair, trying to decide what to do. He trusted Fiver's visions. If he said something was going to happen it was. The question was, what should he do about it? He was just a kid, how could he get an entire orphanage to evacuate? That gave him an idea. "Fiver, do you think Mr Sandleford could help?"

"I don't know. I just know we need to leave, as soon as we can."

"Well, the best way to do that is to tell Mr Sandleford. Maybe then he will tell everyone else, and we can all escape." Even as Hazel said it, he knew how unlikely it was. Still, he had to try.

"Okay, Hazel." Fiver looked trustingly up at his brother."Should we go see him now?"

"Yeah, okay. We've got to be quick though, before we have to go to chores."

The brothers made their way upstairs, through the shadowed halls, to Mr Sandleford's office. Outside his office, Hazel was about to knock, when he was stopped by a hand on his arm. Turning sharply, Hazel saw a burly teenager with his hair standing straight up. "Hi, Bigwig. We need to talk to Mr Sandleford."

"He's busy now, you'll have to talk to him later." Bigwig scowled at them. All the Owsla took turns standing at Mr Sandleford's door to make sure he wouldn't be disturbed, and it didn't look like Bigwig appreciated them coming on his watch.

"It's really important, Bigwig. You know I wouldn't come if it wasn't," Hazel said firmly. He kept an arm around Fiver, wanting him to stay close by. The delay had made him start to look nervous again, and Hazel didn't want him to try running off on his own.

Bigwig's scowl relaxed a bit. "I know, Hazel. I'll check if he can talk, but Mr Sandleford is really busy. He can't just be disturbed by anyone who comes along." With one final look at Hazel's steadfast expression, he opened the door and slipped inside, leaving the door open just a crack. From inside, Hazel and Fiver could hear snippets of conversation.

"-came to talk - important -"

"-busy -"

"-Hazel - brother - sees things"

"-talk - get them-"

Bigwig came to the door and opened it fully. "He'll see you."

Hazel and Fiver came inside and stood in front of Mr Sandleford's big desk. Bigwig came in behind them and stood at the door.

"Sit down, sit down," Mr Sandleford said, gesturing at the chairs in front of his desk.

They sat down.

"You're Olive?"

"Hazel."

"Yes, and your friend-"

"Brother."

Mr Sandleford fixed him with an look, then said, "Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Hazel resisted the urge to squirm. "My brother, Fiver, he saw something terrible happening."

"Did he? Does he need to talk to the police?"

"No, he didn't see it like that, he saw it in a dream."

"A dream?" Mr Sandleford leant back in his chair. "Boys, I'm not sure what you expect me to do here. I'm afraid that I can't keep away your nightmares, as much as I might like to be able to."

"No, that's not what I meant." Hazel paused for a moment, trying to find a way to explain. "My brother has dreams of the future. He dreamt that something bad was about to happen here, to Sandleford Orphanage."

"And what would you like me to do about that?"

"Well, we were thinking you could get everyone to evacuate."

"Ah." Mr Sandleford steepled his hands in front of him. "Well boys, I'm sure that you feel you have here a very compelling reason to evacuate, but I'm afraid I'm not sure it would be worth the time and cost needed. Perhaps this was just a bad dream, and not a vision of the future? At any rate, I'm afraid I can't spare any more time for you right now. How about you get back to your chores, and if this is still bothering you in a few days, come talk to me again then. Bigwig, perhaps you could stay behind for a few moments. Boys, you can go."

Hazel stood up, disappointed. "Yes, Mr Sandleford. We're sorry for wasting your time." He walked out of the room, Fiver in tow.

As soon as the door was shut, Fiver burst out, "But we don't have a few days, Hazel! We need to leave now!"

"We can't leave right now, Fiver," Hazel told his brother. "Don't you think they'll notice the two of us walking off like that? And you said we should bring others with us as well. We can leave tonight, but no sooner."

Fiver nodded, calmer, but still tense. "Okay, and then we'll be gone? Away?"

"Yes, we'll be away."

The door opened and Bigwig came out, shaking his head. Catching sight of Hazl and Fiver still standing in the hallway, he asked, "Hazel, is Fiver really that sure we need to leave?"

Hazel nodded. "Yes, he wants us to leave as soon as possible."

"Well, then count me in,"Bigwig said grimly. "If he says it, I believe him. Besides, there's no point staying here anymore."

"Why not?" Hazel asked. "Won't the Owsla need you?"

"As of right now, I'm no longer an Owsla member." For a moment Bigwig looked crushed, then he rallied. "I quit after hearing what he said to you. Besides, it will be an adventure." He looked straight at Fiver. "I remember what happened with the tree. If you could see that, I believe you could see whatever is going to happen."

"This place is dangerous," Fiver said quietly. "Anyone who leaves will be safer."

Hazel smiled. "Then we'll gather as many as we can. Bigwig, can you ask the older kids, see who might come? Fiver and I will ask as many as we can of the rest. Just don't let Holly or the Sandlefords find out, or they'll try and stop us."

Bigwig nodded. "Right. When are we going to leave?"

"How about ten tonight?" Hazel suggested. "An hour after lights out, no one should be awake."

"Alright. See you then."

Hazel and Fiver waved goodbye as they made their way outside to start their chores. Fiver seemed a bit calmer, now that they were definitely going to leave. "Who else will come?"he asked.

"Dandelion, Acorn and Blackberry probably would. I don't know who else. Any ideas?"

"I think Pipkin might." Hazel looked at his brother quizzically. Seeing the look, Fiver explained, "He hasn't been here very long, even less than us, and the other kids tease him for being so small."

"Okay, then we'll ask him too." Hazel frowned worriedly. "I hope Bigwig doesn't try asking any Owsla. They might be his friends, but I don't think they'll want to leave, and they'd probably tell Holly our plans. If Holly finds out, we'll all be in trouble."