For anyone just hopping into my stories, Henry was first introduced in Choices, and we saw him again in Becoming Irregular chapters 1 & 2
He found himself on the ground, face pressed uncomfortably against a mound of hard earth.
Where was he?
A faint groan escaped as he pushed himself upright, and he ignored the throbbing in his head to look around. He was in a small copse of bushes, with two stunted trees in front of him. A stream bubbled to his right, and he saw nothing but rolling hills to his left.
How had he gotten here?
"Do we have to?"
His mum chuckled. "You like traveling, Henry. What is with the grumbles?"
"I wanna go with Father."
"You know he will meet us in Reading in a couple of days."
Right. That was it. His mum had wanted to go to a school in Reading, and they were going to turn it into a holiday. Father had been planning to meet them at the end of the week, but that still did not explain why he was under a bush in the middle of nowhere.
A hand landed on his shoulder, and he barely prevented an undignified yelp from escaping as he jumped away from the window.
"What has you so tense?"
He shrugged, returning his focus to the passing countryside, but his mum frowned and sat next to him.
"Henry?"
Silence answered her.
"Henry, talk to me. I thought you were excited for a holiday?"
He had been, until Father mentioned that it was in Reading. He never wanted to go anywhere near Reading, but especially not after seeing that headline.
The trip had started peacefully enough, he remembered. He had passed the long, boring hours on the train talking to other passengers, avoiding the nasty lady in the next compartment, and watching the passing countryside. The most interesting part had been when the conductor had announced that engine difficulties would slow their approach into Reading.
"Sit down, Henry."
"But there's smoke coming out of the engine!" He kept his nose pressed to the window, watching the thick cloud billowing from the lead engine.
"If there is a problem, you will need to be in your seat. Sit. Now."
He looked back, intending to argue before he noticed his mum's tight expression. Something about this was worse than he knew. He shut his mouth and moved to his bench.
Less than ten minutes later, the train gave an awful lurch.
A wreck. The train had wrecked. That was how he had ended up in the bushes, and noise registered just as he turned to look behind him. Train tracks ran not fifty feet away, but the train itself was closer to twenty, derailed as it was. He was not the only one to be thrown from the train, and another passenger was stirring. Henry ducked behind the leaves, desperately trying to use his small size to his advantage. Something about this was wrong. How could a malfunctioning engine cause the entire train to derail? The train had been slowing.
More passengers started waking, and the air quickly filled with voices as they called out to loved ones. Henry stayed silent, concealing himself in the bush as he watched. Where was his mum?
If he had his bearings right, they had been in the middle compartment of the car closest to him, and he checked for anyone watching before he bolted across the clearing, squeezing through the broken window.
"Mum?" he whispered.
There was no answer, and the compartment was empty. He quickly grabbed the smaller bag and returned to his bushes.
Where could his mum have gone?
Looking for him, his mind supplied immediately, but that was no help. She had not found him yet, and that meant something was wrong. His mum knew everything. She would have known he was in the bushes.
She would also know what had made the train derail. Perhaps she had gone towards the engine? A thin line of trees paralleled the tracks, and he used them as cover as he slowly worked his way towards the smoking mound of metal.
"Back off, ya lout!"
The angry words came from one of two men standing near the front of the wreckage, and Henry froze, listening.
"Sorry, sir. It's just—that looks like explosives."
"It is," was the growled reply, "and you'll set them off if you're not careful. We was movin' slow enough the bundle only half detonated. Tell the engineer to get over here."
The second man sprinted away, and Henry huddled behind the closest tree. The more information he had, the faster he could find his mum. Three pairs of feet pounded closer less than a minute later.
One of the men recognized the bundle immediately, and he let out a foul oath. "I knew that wasn't just an engine problem." He swore again. "How much is there?"
"It should have destroyed the engine instead of derailing it," the first man answered. "Someone targeted us. Wasn't there a prison break last week?"
The man—Henry decided he must be the engineer—nodded, expertly disconnecting the explosives, and another man hurried toward town while the engineer and several others started checking passengers. Help would arrive soon enough, but Henry had a bigger problem.
Matthew had been imprisoned in Reading.
"That prison holds hundreds of inmates, Henry," his mum had said when he showed her the headline. "The odds of Matthew being one of those three that escaped are extremely small. They would have had to work together to break past the guards, and Matthew has never been able to work with anyone. Don't worry so."
He had not mentioned it again, but that had not stopped his fear. Despite the years since Mr. Kendrick had found him with the Irregulars, he clearly remembered those long weeks first with Matthew, then on the streets. He had not liked the idea of going to Reading when Matthew might be free, and he certainly disliked the idea of the train being targeted. Matthew's alcohol level would dictate his actions, and in the three days since the riots, he would have had plenty of time to raid several shops.
He needed to find his mum.
Still ignoring his pounding headache, he started back at their car and worked his way out. She might be hurt or trapped, he decided, and he would have to find her before he could lead another adult to help her free.
He confirmed their compartment empty, then followed the basic search pattern he vaguely remembered two of the Irregulars reviewing so long ago. He had been too little at the time—and too scared—for them to teach him, but he had been listening, and later, after he went home, he had thought it fun to play at being an Irregular. He was glad of those hours now, when it mattered, but knowing how to look meant nothing when the entire car was empty.
The realization made him pause. The entire car was empty? He looked again, finding no one in any of the neighboring compartments. The mean lady and her husband were just as absent as the nice old lady traveling alone, and his own compartment was the only one with a broken window. Where could they have gone?
"What can you tell from these prints, Johnny?"
"Two people, walking freely," was the flippant answer. "One's really tall, and the other has a limp. It's probably Mr. Holmes and the doctor."
"What about these?"
There was a slight pause. "How did you convince Mr. Holmes to let Doctor Watson drag him so far?"
George had laughed, continuing to teach the other boy about how to read tracks, but Henry focused on the compartment in front of him rather than chasing the memory.
Scuffs littered the floor, showing at least one person, probably two, if he remembered the lessons correctly, had dragged the compartment's occupants out the door. A quick check revealed every compartment had the same prints.
Someone—or three someones—had kidnapped an entire train car, and they probably had his mum. He retrieved an item from another seat then ducked back into his own compartment.
His mum's bag was still there, but there was no way he could carry both bags. He dug out the money his mum had packed as well as the two things he knew were irreplaceable and left the rest. The police might be able to find her, but he knew someone who definitely could.
He needed to get to London.
Don't forget to review! What do you think will happen? What do you think did happen? Where is Mrs. Emily? :)
Hope you enjoyed this. Thanks to MCH1987 and Guest for your reviews.