Chapter 7

After Midnight

After midnight, Buffy slowly turned the handle of her bedroom door. The once creaking door swung smoothly and noiselessly open, thanks to the small amount of margarine she'd pilfered from the kitchen and rubbed into the hinges earlier that day.

She stepped out onto the landing, her eyes on Tom's room. No light showed from under his door, and Buffy suspected he'd studied himself into unconsciousness. The guy always had his nose in one of his precious schoolbooks, books that he wouldn't let her take even a peek at.

With a soft huff of annoyance, Buffy turned away from his door and into the direction of the stairway. The curtains on the landing window had been pulled back and moonlight streamed through the panes. Pulling her bedroom door closed behind her, and keeping a cautious eye on Tom's door, Buffy set off along the hall. She made sure to stay close by the wall and well away from the creaking floorboards that she'd made a note of earlier. The boy's dark coloured clothing she wore (borrowed from the linen store), helped her blend in amongst the shadows.

When she reached the stairs, she paused by the window to look out onto the street. Without the light of the moon and stars, the street would have been in total darkness. All across London the street lights were switched off and every house had blackout curtains pulled tightly across the windows so as not to give away their position to enemy bombers. The street itself was deserted. No cars drove slowly along with their shuttered headlights, and no late night wanderers or revellers staggered home from the pubs or private parties.

Buffy looked anxiously up at the sky. It was a clear night. The smog that often hung over London had been blown away by a strong south-westerly wind earlier that day and it being a warm evening meant fewer coal fires had been lit.

Buffy hoped the clear skies wouldn't mean the Germans would bomb London. If she was out on the streets and heard air-raid siren, she'd no idea what she was supposed to do or where to go. Mrs Cole had told her that the designated air-raid shelter for the orphanage was its cellar. If there was a raid tonight and she didn't turn up in the cellar, someone would look for her and realize she'd snuck out. Mrs Cole had told her that she didn't tolerate shenanigans. Buffy wasn't totally sure what shenanigans were but assumed sneaking out in the middle of the night would be frowned upon.

There was a small creak as if a floorboard moved underfoot, and Buffy spun around, scanning the corridor behind her. It was empty. She looked over at Tom's door, but it was in darkness. Straining her ears, Buffy listened trying to catch the slightest sound. Above her head, something in the ceiling scratched at one of the boards and her lip curled in distaste. Mice or maybe even a rat. While sitting in her room in the dark she'd heard a lot of scratching going. The whole place was probably overrun with vermin.

She gave herself a little shake. Standing here, thinking about Luftwaffe attacks, worrying about being caught, and mice having a party upstairs was wasting time. Time better spent at the hospital sitting with her Mom. Making as little noise as possible, Buffy sneaked down the stairs and out into the hall at the bottom. There she turned right, heading to the rear of the building and the kitchen area. There was a door there that led out into a garden and play area.

Once in the kitchen, she carefully eased the bolts back on the door and turned the key in the lock. There was a loud click as the lock mechanism opened, and she winced. The kitchen was quiet apart from the clock ticking away above the kitchen counter and a whirring coming from a huge refrigerator that sat in the corner. Was anyone awake to hear the odd click? She didn't wait to see. Instead, she opened the door, slid out into the cool night air, and closed the door behind her.

Earlier on that day, while Tom had been pushing an ancient mower over the patch of grass Mrs Cole called 'the rear lawn', Buffy had explored the yard. She'd walked the perimeter, checking the surrounding wall and looking for an escape route. She'd caught Tom watching her, but after she'd called out, "Aren't those bunnies cute?" he'd gone back to his mowing and ignored her.

Now, aware that someone might look out of their window and see her, she instinctively kept to the shadows. She followed first the wall of the orphanage, then the line of outbuildings, and then the rows and rows of wooden rabbit hutches. When she reached the last tier of cages, some instinct made her stop and look behind her. Her gaze went straight to the windows on her floor of the building. Was that a face at the window? But she'd blinked and it had gone.

"It's nothing," Buffy told herself. "A trick of the light and my imagination going into over-drive."

In one of the cages, a large white rabbit yawned, stretched, and then thumped on the floor with a hind leg. More rabbits came to the front, staring over, their noses twitching. Buffy ignored them, moving past the cages to a row of storage bins used for storing rabbit bedding and waste. She grabbed one of the larger and heavier ones, carrying it over to the fence and placing it on a level section of ground. Then she cautiously climbed on top of the container. It rocked slightly but held her weight. All she needed to do was spring and scrabble up onto the wall and then lower herself into the alley on the other side.

She tensed and sprang upward. Completely surprising herself when she overreached herself and landed with both feet on top of the wall. A grin of delight appeared on her face. That had been so easy! Except now, she felt exposed standing on top of the wall in the middle of the night. She crouched down and lowered herself into the alleyway.

"Whoops!" When she'd planned this outing she'd forgotten something important. How was she going to get back in? Could she jump that high? Something told her that it wouldn't be a problem. Could normal people jump that high? Buffy had a feeling that she wasn't exactly normal, not that she'd ever admit it. That would have you in a padded cell and lots of therapy sessions.

"I've gotta stay Secret-Identity girl." She frowned, knowing the nickname was hers. Why? Putting the confusing thought to one side, she turned away from the wall and ran down the alley, heading for the hospital.

Taking back alleys, small cut-throughs, and diving into doorways to avoid the few people who lurked in the streets, Buffy ran through the night. Every so often, she'd stop, peer at her map, and look around her. Then she'd scowl because the British had removed signposts to confuse the enemy. Eventually, after backtracking a couple of times, she spotted the hospital.

Looking for a way in, Buffy skirted past the main entrance heading for the back of the building to where the service entrances were located. None of the doors were open, but up on the first floor someone had left a window open. All she needed to do was reach it, and since there was a drainpipe not far from it, she didn't think it would be a problem.

"I'm like Spiderman with my spider climbing abilities and my Spidey senses," she chuckled and then stopped laughing to wonder who Spiderman was? In her mind's eye, she could see a familiar dark-haired boy hiding behind a comic and laughing at her for not knowing.

Xander! His name was Xander Harris. She'd remembered! She could even remember the place in the school corridor where they'd first met. On her first day at the new school she'd dropped her purse and he'd come over to help her. Xander was a schoolfriend of hers from Hemery.

Except... another part of her said that was wrong. She'd never been friends with a boy called Xander at Hemery High. Buffy rubbed her forehead. Sometimes it felt as if she'd a whole bunch of memories that she wasn't supposed to have and the more she tried making sense of them, the more confused she became.

The sound of an ambulance pulling into the front of the hospital from the street dragged her from her thoughts. She hadn't time for this. She needed to see her Mom.

Holding onto the drainpipe, Buffy jumped and clung on. Her feet found toeholds on the metal clasps that held the pipe to the wall enabling her to climb up. She climbed, stopping when her head was level with the window. The ledge was a good few feet away, she needed to climb higher and then stretch her foot across. She began to climb and...

Two men, hospital porters, emerged from the doorway below her. Buffy held the pipe and pressed herself against the wall, hardly daring to breathe. If they looked up they'd spot her.

She heard a guffaw of laughter and the scratch and flare of a struck match. The smell of cigarette smoke drifted up to her.

"Bob needs to be careful selling those. If they catch him trading black market goods..."

"Who do you think is supplying him?" More laughter and the sound of footsteps moving off.

Buffy watched them heading towards a single-storey building. She needed to get into the building before they came back. She twisted her body, swinging her right leg over the pipe and stretching out with her left hand to grasp the edge of the window aperture. A jiggle and a push-off and her left foot was on the ledge. She'd made it. Holding the edge of the window, Buffy took her remaining foot off the drainpipe and placed it on the window ledge. Then she crouched down, looking into the dark, and thankfully empty, consulting room before sliding in through the window.

Her Mom's room was on the third floor, two floors higher and at the back of the hospital - unless they'd moved her. Buffy hoped they hadn't. Otherwise, she'd be trailing all over the hospital trying to find her. She wasn't supposed to be here, so it wasn't as if she could stop and ask someone.

She'd gotten all the way to the third floor without meeting anyone and was halfway down the corridor when, up ahead, she saw someone coming from her mother's room. Buffy dived through the first door she came to. An elderly woman lay in bed, her back facing the door, and snoring loudly. Buffy quickly closed the door, leaving it open a crack to allow her to see out into the corridor.

Two men emerged from her mother's room and were walking down the corridor towards her. A prickle of unease ran along Buffy's spine and the hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end. They weren't doctors or hospital workers! What were they doing in her mother's room?

"...a waste of time," she heard the older one of the two say quietly, "...remembers nothing about the accident."

A younger man, keeping his voice as low as his friend's replied, "...whatever it was he hit her with is still affecting her. Did you see how she couldn't keep awake? The healers should see her at St Mungo's."

"They won't treat her, Moody. You know that," replied the older man. "Ministry rules. They've put the incident down as a bomb left over from a Muggle bombing and since Mrs Summers is a Muggle..."

"The Ministry and St Mungo's should make exceptions!" snapped the younger one. He'd drawn level with the doorway and Buffy leaned back in case he spotted her. She caught a glimpse of sandy hair, a round and ruddy face, and a long brown overcoat and trilby. His friend was on the opposite side of him, almost hidden from sight. She had the impression that he was taller and wore a similar style of clothing. As soon as they'd passed the door, Buffy put her eye to the crack, watching, and listening to their conversation.

"I think her daughter is going to be a bust too," the younger one's words drifted back to her. "Complete amnesia according to the doctors. Can't remember a thing. Might as well have been obliviated. At this rate, we'll never find out why Von Kendrick followed them and then went onto the attack."

As they rounded the corner at the bottom of the corridor, Buffy only heard a single word of the older one's muffled reply. It sounded like 'grinwall'.

Leaving the room and dashed up the corridor to her Mom's room. Inside, a sliver of light came through a chink in the curtains, giving Buffy just enough light to by. Her mother lay unharmed and sleeping peacefully. Relieved, Buffy dropped into the chair at the side of the bed and thought over what she'd heard.

Who was Von Kendrick? Why had he followed her and her Mom? What did he want? What had he done to her Mom? Why did Moody think her Mom was better off at another hospital? What was a Muggle, and what was a grinwall?

Buffy reached over and took Joyce's hand. She felt frightened, confused, and badly needed her Mom. What if this man found out they were alive and came back? She'd no idea what he looked like, he could be anyone. If only she could remember.

The last thing she recalled was boarding the liner that brought them to England. It had been a beautiful sunny day. She remembered walking up the gangplank feeling sick with apprehension and the sound of the waves lapping at the dockside. What happened afterwards? She'd no recollection of arriving in England, no memory of booking into the hotel, and no memory of the fateful shopping trip. It was all a blank. With her free hand, Buffy absent-mindedly touched the Gringott's key that hung around her neck.

Joyce's eyes fluttered open, staring into the darkness. "Buffy? Is that you, honey?"

Buffy swallowed, there was a lump in her throat and tears prickled her eyes. Her Mom's voice sounded weaker than the last time she'd spoken with her. She couldn't cry in front of her. She needed to be strong for both of them.

Leaning forward, so the light fell on her and mother could see her better, she replied, "I'm right here, Mom."

Joyce smiled, squeezing her hand in response.

Should she ask about the men who'd been in here? Buffy slipped from the chair and knelt on the floor next to the bed. Still holding her mom's hand, she used her other to stroke her Mom's forehead.

"Mom, who's Von Kendrick?"

Joyce gave a small shake of her head. "I don't know. They asked me... I don't... remember."

"Mom? What's grinwall?"

Joyce's eyes widened. Suddenly, Buffy's hand was gripped tightly. "Keep away from him, Buffy. You've not to go near Gellert Grindelwald!"

"It's a he?" Gellert Grindelwald was a man? "Who is he?"

"He's..." Joyce sounded very tired as if she'd exhausted herself. "Please...stay... away... from him..." her voice trailed away, as her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep again.

Keeping hold of her Mom's hand, Buffy eased herself off the floor and back into the chair. Gellert Grindelwald and Von Kendrick. She wouldn't forget those names. Those men she'd seen coming out of here, were they plain-clothes policemen? They'd mentioned the Ministry. Was that the British War Ministry? She'd seen the papers, they'd said a bomb had gone off and blown a section off the building. If that was so, what was special about Von Kendrick? Was he a German spy?

It sounded as if Moody and his partner were going to question her. What would she tell them? What could she tell them? Would they reveal to her what was going on? She needed to know who this Von Kendrick and Grindelwald were. If those men had hurt her Mom, she wanted to know why.

…...

A/N Thank you to those who have encouraged my writing with a review!