" - what's the deal with Miss Hawk and her kids?" Jake asked curiously, standing in the doorway of the room.
Emma jumped, her lips tugging downwards as she turned to face him. Her entire face seemed hard, furious, and even her large blue eyes seemed to fill with fire as she looked at him with the kind of loathing he imagined she'd feel for the hollow that killed Victor, or Barron himself. He was, for a moment, taken aback, and resigned himself to staring at the periwinkle blue comforter on her bed, and the suitcase being packed atop it. Meanwhile, her eyes softened when she took in the nervous fidgeting of his right hand and the slight tap of his right foot on the creaky floorboards beneath him, and she sighed to herself. He reminded her so forcefully of his grandfather, Abe, that she found she couldn't be angry with him, and treated him the way she'd treated Abe.
She turned back to packing. "Miss Hawk is a friend of Miss Peregrine's we used to visit when we were small," she replied after a long, tense pause. "Her children are dear friends of ours. You can understand that it's nerve-wracking, the idea that they're dead or injured."
Jake swallowed. "It seemed like something more than that," he said hesitantly. "I mean - Enoch looked - he looked like he cared about it, and Olive was shaking when she left. I don't want to pry, but it seems like there's something more going on, at least with those two. I've never seen Enoch like that."
"Enoch has a side of him that rarely anyone gets to see," Emma replied bitterly, returning to her wardrobe for a pink dress and a pair of white slippers. "One of the other children - her name is Theodora, but he calls her Theo - she's one of the very few people who gets to see the Enoch that cares about anything or anyone other than himself. He denies that he likes her constantly, calls her annoying and stupid to her face, but she sticks around, because she knows him better than anyone else."
"And what about Olive?" asked Jake cautiously. "She looked like she was about to cry."
"His name is Lucas, but he's Luke to all of us," she said. "He's Olive's other half. They finish each others' sentences and everything. Enoch and Olive hang out together to fill the void when we don't get to see Miss Hawk and her children."
Jake nodded in acceptance, but he didn't quite understand. Since his arrival, Enoch had been bitter, harsh and loathed him for no reason that Jake could think of. Olive had been distant even when she defended him from Enoch, and dinner had been tense with her dark gaze on the side of his head. He couldn't think of Enoch actually liking someone, let alone being inseparable with them - and Olive was far too cool and calm to be someones other half. But perhaps it was because he was new - because they didn't know or understand him, and he in time would get to know them better.
"Why would they be hurt? Miss Avocet said they're powerful - "
" - even the most skilled warriors die in battle," Emma snapped scathingly, shoving her suitcase shut with a loud bang.
He stared at her.
Emma sighed, before her tense shoulders slumped. "I think it's time we help the other children pack," she said firmly, not looking at him. "And Jake?"
He paused and looked at her, nodding inquisitively.
"It would be in your best interests if you didn't talk to Olive or Enoch, or Bronwyn, now that I think about it, about Miss Hawk. They won't be as understanding as I am."