"Miss Peregrine is the best headmistress in the world!" Claire screamed loudly while tears were streaming down her face. She crossed her arms and let herself drop to the ground as to prevent the man who had his hand wrapped around her upper arm from dragging her away. Of course this was in vain. The man's face turned red in anger. Then his eyes fell on the twins.
"And what about you two? Why are you wearing these ridiculous costumes! Immediately take it off, this is unbelievably disrespectful!" He roared and when they did not make any effort to take off their masks he stormed over dragging Claire behind him through the sand.
"NO!" Emma and Olive screamed. Of course he didn't listen. He let go of Claire and was just about to rip the masks off their faces when Enoch could wind out of his capturer's strong grip. With all the strength he possessed he pulled the man who was just about to get transfixed by the twins backwards.
"Don't!" He roared. Everybody looked at them in surprise. "They don't like it" He added a bit calmer.
"Alright" The man said in his bewilderment and took a step back. 'Thank the bird' Enoch thought. The last thing they needed right now was a transfixed man. There would surely be a witch hunt if those men found out that things about them were not as they were supposed to be. Enoch just hoped that the men would stay oblivious to the quiet buzzing from the bee's in Hugh's stomach and about the flying set of clothes-wait, where was Millard? Without attracting any attention Enoch looked around. Ten. There were only ten of them. Where was Millard? Most likely he had managed to slip out of his clothes and was now completely invisible to everyone around him. Enoch did not know what he hoped more for: that Millard had stayed with Miss Peregrine or that he was with them coming up with a clever plan to get rid of their capturers.
"We have to go, the ferry will depart in half an hour!" One of the men said. The others nodded and some grunted in approval. They started to drag them towards the small town.
"Hey, wait!" Enoch shouted and tried to rip free from the tight grip around his upper arm. But it was in vain, the man was almost one head taller than him and a lot stronger. "What are you going to do to us?"
"You will take the first ferry to the mainland. You will be escorted from there to a new home for you" The man who was dragging Olive and Horace behind him said calmly.
"You cannot to that" Little Claire wined. The tears started to fall from her eyes again.
"Claire, everything is going to be fine, I promise!" Enoch called to her.
"This is just for your best" Another man said before spitting on the ground. "And the best for us. Then we will finally be rid of you"
Back in the cave:
Millard stumbled back through the entrance of the cave. He had followed the others for a bit to find out where they were brought to and the situation was more dire than he had first imagined. They were transported to the mainland! For a moment he had considered to attack the men but even if they would have won, the island was like a prison to them. They could not hide from the townsfolk forever. At some point they would be found. And leaving the island with the ferry would also draw unwelcome attention on them.
He quickly rushed to where Miss Peregrine had dropped to the floor. But she was gone.
"Damn! Where is she?!" Millard cursed loudly when something warm touched his leg. He made a big jump to one side and let out quite a girly scream.
"Miss P! You almost gave me a heart attack!" He said breathing out audibly. The bird looked at him in a way that Millard could only describe as amused. Apart from her disheveled appearance she had luckily suffered no further injuries.
Millard kneeled down in the floor and picked up the bird. "Miss P, they want to bring them to the mainland. What are we going to do?"