Chapter 10

Emma joined the others. Olive had already prepared the milk and was now filling the syringe with it.

"Emma, I think you should feed him again. It's too difficult for me to empty the syringe slowly with my gloves on," she said. Emma nodded and took the syringe. "Is that the right amount, Olive?" she asked. "Yes, these are exactly 2ml. Millard said it was the right amount for a squirrel at this age." Emma nodded, she remembered that Millard had said that it was important not to overfeed squirrels because their feeling of satiety starts too late for them to stop drinking on their own.

While Emma was feeding Peanut, Fiona watched intently. "Emma, could I feed him tomorrow, please. I'd like to try it once."

"Of course, Fiona. Can you see how I do it? You hold him with your left hand and place the tip of the syringe in front of his mouth. Then you press very carefully," Emma explained.

After feeding and massaging him Emma placed Peanut back in his bed on the sofa in the conservatory.

"Ok Children, it's now half past 7. I want you all to get ready for bed and then we'll drink some hot chocolate and can watch Horace's dreams before we go to sleep," Emma decided.

The children ran away to change their clothes. Emma, Enoch and Olive prepared the cups of hot chocolate.

Claire was the first one who came back. She walked towards Emma.

"We still haven't found my doll," she whined. " I want my doll for the movie."

Emma lifted Claire and sat her on her lap. "Look, sweetheart. I know you miss your doll but she can't be far away. We just haven't seen her yet. I'm sure that she is here somewhere and enjoys her time until we find her tomorrow." Emma gave Claire a kiss on her head and put her down again.

Gradually the others came back down and took their places on the couches. Enoch and Olive served the hot chocolate while Emma switched off the light and Horace began to project his last dreams onto the screen.

The picture becomes clearer. There is the orphanage, it's a sunny day, the children are playing outside, then there are the twins, standing on the footbridge poking around in the water. The picture becomes blurry again and they can see Miss Peregrine lying on her bed, then she's standing in her room, looking out of the window. In the next scene is a squirrel lying on the ground and afterwards on a small hand. Thereupon they can see themselves, eating dinner and laughing. The picture gets dark, there is the sky, a lot of clouds, it's raining, then there's thunder and lightning. The lighting strikes, a tree somewhere in a wood is burning. Some branches fall to the ground. Suddenly the scene changes again. The children are in the parlour, it's dark and stormy outside. There are a lot of mattresses in the parlour, along with all of their blankets and cushions. Some of them are sleeping but the majority is awake. Claire is sitting next to Olive, her cheeks are tear-stained again. Fiona comes and gets Olive. Enoch takes over from her and comforts Claire. Olive and Fiona are in the kitchen, then in the conservatory. Change of scene again. Emma is upstairs running through the corridors, she looks tired. Next, Emma is downstairs, talking to Enoch...

Emma switched the light on again. The children were whispering anxiously. Some of them got scared by the scenes in Horace's dream."That's it for today," Emma said. "Thank you, Horace. Time for bed now!"

"No!" the children protested. "We don't want to go to bed yet," Bronwyn said.

"Yes, what about the reset? We're always allowed to see it," Hugh said.

"Not today!" Emma decided. " I want you to sleep now."

"But what about the thunderstorm of Horace's dream?," Claire asked worried. "It looked pretty bad," Fiona added. "Can we sleep all in the parlour, like we just saw? Please?" Bronwyn asked. "Yes, please!" All the children were begging.

"No, that's not possible, children. Please go to your rooms," Emma said. "But I'm scared in my room alone when there's a thunderstorm," Claire whined. "Me too," Fiona and Bronwyn added. "Miss P. always comes and sits with us until we're asleep."

Emma sighed. "Olive can go upstairs with you and bring you to bed. And I'm coming after the reset, too."

"That's not fair!" Millard said. "We want to see the reset as well. It's too early to go to bed."

"Ok, ok," Emma sighed again."You can have one last hot chocolate here in the parlour and can watch the reset out of the window. But afterwards you're going to bed, understood?"

Some of the children nodded, others still weren't happy with it but didn't dare say another word.

The older children gathered all the cups and went into the kitchen to refill them. "We're fine here, Emma," Olive said. "You should go upstairs and get Miss Peregrine."

"Yes, it's already 10 minutes to 9. I don't know how much time she will need to get ready. It's better you're early instead of being too late." Enoch suggested. "I'll bring a chair outside, so she can sit down."

"That's a great idea Enoch, thank you. Ok I will go. You're alright here with the younger ones?" Emma asked. Enoch and Olive nodded. "We'll be fine."

Olive finished the last cups, Enoch carried a chair outside and Emma went to get Miss Peregrine.

In the parlour the others were discussing everything. The boys were still unhappy about Emma's decision to not let them come outside and the girls were still worried about the thunderstorm and wanted to sleep together in the parlour.

In the corridor Emma passed the coat rack and grabbed Miss Peregrines coat on the way. Then she took Miss Peregrine's pocketwatch and the table clock off the side table.

She hurried upstairs and opened Miss Peregrine's door quietly. But the state of her headmistress got her alarmed. Miss Peregrine was laying on her bed, curled up in a fetal position. Emma took in her strained expression, she seemed to be in a lot of pain.

For a short moment Emma considered letting her sleep and calling another ymbryne for help but it was too late for that now. Carefully Emma went towards her ymbryne and touched her shoulder very gently. "Miss Peregrine?" Alma reacted by looking at Emma, her eyes were even glassier than before and she was shivering again. "I'm sorry to wake you but it's time for the reset," Emma explained.

"Yes, of course. Sorry, I've forgotten the time," Alma said while trying to sit up. Emma gave her a hand."You're feeling a lot worse, are you?" she guessed concerned.

" A bit...," Alma admitted, dazed. "It wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for these stomach cramps." She sighed and gathered some energy to stand up. Promptly she felt dizzy again and began to sway. Emma grabbed her arm and steadied her. "I'm sorry, Miss P. When the reset is done you can return to your bed and sleep as long as you need to."

She helped her ymbryne putting on the coat and together they went slowly down the stairs and outside. Emma had to take over most of Miss Peregrine's weight and was therefore glad that Enoch had brought out the chair. She supported her headmistress until she was sitting. Then she handed her the table clock and her pocket watch. It was 5 minutes past 9, so just 2 minutes left. Miss Peregrine leaned into the back of the chair and took a deep breath. She was so exhausted and thought she had never felt this bad before. Emma had placed her hand on her shoulder and her thumb was stroking her gently. Alma didn't like looking weak in front of her children but at least the others had stayed inside. Then it was time to reset the loop. Miss Peregrine took the pocketwatch into her right hand and started to rewind the time. For everyone else it must look like a piece of cake but only she knew how difficult it was. It takes a lot of concentration and energy. While the surroundings quickly changed Alma felt her dizziness return. Everything around her started to spin and to just because she was reversing the time. If she hadn't been sitting she would have collapsed to the ground. Finally it was dark again and then the table clock switched back to the 2nd of September and it was 7 minutes past 9 again. Emma had seen her ymbryne's condition deteriorating very fast and wanted to bring her back to her room as quickly as possible. Around them it was still raining and the storm had increased as well. Thunder and lightning weren't far away anymore. Miss Peregrine was shivering and barely responsive. Her forehead was coated with cold sweat and she looked really pale. Emma heaved her up and half carried her inside. As they entered through the kitchen, Enoch was already waiting in the corridor. He put Miss Peregrine's second arm around his neck and together they managed to bring her upstairs. They had only just entered her room as Miss Peregrine broke away and stumbled towards her bathroom clutching at everything she passed. She barely made it inside as her stomach clenched and she threw up into the toilet bowl.