Bolvanger:
Mia hugged Aster close to her chest like a protective teddy bear.
"I'm so scared," she whimpered quietly.
"If you had just listened to your dad and to me in the first place, we wouldn't be here," he criticised.
"I know. I'm so sorry Aster. If we don't get out of this mess..."
"Don't say it," he interrupted. "Please don't," he nuzzled my cheeks. "Help will come soon. Your dad, Lyra and the Gyptians will come and they will rescue us,"
"I just hope they get here on time," she prayed.
Sister Clara took them into a restaurant where they saw numbers of girls and boys sitting at tables eating food or queuing up. Mia attracted their attention as she walked by. As she did, she saw Roger sitting at the table. He stared at her. He tried to say something, but Mia stared a little hard warning him not to. He managed to keep quiet.
Recognising his new friend, Aster turned into a ferret and scurried over to Saecillia greeting her. "Hi Saecillia,"
"Hey Aster. How did you get here?"
"It's bit of a long story. Mia and I came to the North with Lyra and Pan. They're on their way here with Mia's dad and some Gyptians. Oh and Lyra and Pan too! We're going to get out of here,"
"Lyra and Pan? They're with them?"
"Yes. And they coming here as quick as they can. They've been so worried about you and Roger,"
"Thanks for letting me know. It's so good to see you again,"
"It's good to see you again as well. Mia's keeping her true name secret so you and Roger have to pretend you don't us,"
"Okay,"
Once the message was clear, Aster scurried back to his human where Mia was sitting alone with a trap of food.
"I've told Saecilia that Lyra and Pan are on their way,"
"Good. For the time being we need to find a way to break out,"
"We can't get into trouble," he whispered.
Mia had to remain hopeful "We won't,"
There was a sudden bang and we turned to see the door open, revealing the same short-haired woman with the fox daemon. "Bridget McGinn!" she called.
All eyes turned to a girl with long brown hair and glasses sitting opposite my table.
"Could you come with me please?"
"I haven't finished my dinner yet,'
"Don't make a fuss. Come on,"
Slowly Bridget rose from her seat and walked away following the doctor with the nurses behind her. Mia gulped, wishing she could scream out to her to not follow those nurses so they could not cut her beloved daemon away. But it would be no use.
Aster nuzzled my fingers, and she stroked his head. She vowed they would never be separated.
It felt like forever hiking through metres and metres of snow. To Lyra, it felt like they were getting closer and closer to Bolvanger every league, but she still felt like we weren't getting there quick enough. She could not bear for Roger or Mia to be stuck there any longer.
Lee hadn't spoken a single word since we left. For almost three hours, he kept working every second to heave that balloon along, desperate to get to his daughter. Lyra cast a guilty glance at him. This was exactly why he didn't want to be a part of this at first.
"You okay Lyra?" her infant-hood nurse asked.
She sighed. "Lee didn't want to become a part of this because he was afraid that Mia would be put in danger. And now she's in the most horrible place in the world,"
"Hey...this isn't your fault," she consoled. "You couldn't have known what was going to happen. You had no idea that the camp was going to be infiltrated,"
"Yeah but...if I hadn't have dragged them into this in the first place, she wouldn't be there. If she gets her daemon cut away..." she broke her speaking.
Maggie clasped my shoulder. "Lyra...I know how much you've grown close to Mia. You're not going to lose another friend. Not on my watch,"
"I just hope that we won't be too late. I hope she finds Roger there. And I hope he's okay too,"
"I'm sure he will. We're nearly two days away from Bolvanger. We'll get there,"
She swallowed her guilt. She had to remain hopeful.
"Why don't you go talk to Lee? Give him some comfort,"
"He's not goanna waste his time talking to someone who put his daughter in danger. And he's too busy focusing getting to Bolvanger as soon as possible,"
"Come on Lyra," she said. "Don't think for one second that he blames you for Mia's capture. Go and talk to him,"
After lunch, Mia was called to follow Sister Clara to be 'inspected'.
"What are we going to do?" Aster whispered in my ear.
"We have to find a way out of here somehow," she whispered. "We can't trust that dad, Lyra and the Gyptians will make it here on time. If Billy Costa can find a way out… so can we,"
They were taken to a room where one doctor constantly kept taking pictures of me with flashes. She kept blinking my eyes.
"Doctor...what happens to the children that leave this place?" she asked.
"They go to a place for more grown-up children,"
She wanted to scoff but no sound came out.
He looked at me cautiously. "There's nothing to be concerned for. Nobody gets hurt. Now could you hold still please?"
Reluctantly she obeyed. But before another flash could be emitted from the camera, there were a sudden beep!
"Oh for god's sake!" the doctor cursed. "Can we not get this fixed?"
Sister Clara pulled the gate to the picture cell open. "Please proceed to the nearest available exit," she directed Mia. She guided her to a wardrobe room where numbers of girls were picking out coats and hats. Clara took her to a wardrobe with a spare coat and hat and she zipped her up. She followed everyone else outside until we were out in the open. Doctors were calling out children's names one by one. She lined up behind everyone else. She realised she was next to Roger.
"Milly Surrey!" a voice called.
"Here miss!" she cried out.
"'Milly'?" Roger's voice emitted next to me.
"I thought it would be best to keep my real name secret," she whispered.
"What are you doing here Mia?"
"My dad and I were hired by the Gyptians to help rescue you and the others. Lyra's with them,"
Roger's face brightened. "Is she safe?"
"She's safe. She's desperate to rescue you. Do you know what happens to the children who get taken away?"
"No. My friend Billy was taken away and... he hasn't come back. I'm really worried about him,"
Mia's heart sank being reminded of that poor Billy. How am I going to tell Roger? They must have been really close friends.
"Roger...we need to find a way to get out of here,"
"But how?"
"There's always a way out. We need to if the Gyptians are to succeed in rescuing us,"
"But what if we get caught? Those who get caught breaking rules don't survive long,"
Mia struggled to think of something. She looked at what she was standing on. Snow. "I've got a plan," she whispered. she knelt and picked up a fistful of snow. I threw it.
"Ow!" a kid screamed.
Roger looked at me, a little surprised.
"Oops," she remarked with a smug.
"What are you doing?" Roger whispered.
"Giving us a distraction,"
She picked up another one and threw it.
"Ow!" a girl screamed.
"Order!" Sister Clara at the front scream. "Or there will be consequences,"
Roger joined in and hit another girl. A snowball fight broke out and soon the doctors' faces were smothered by balls of snow, giving the two friends to run away out of the crowd without being seen. They dashed into the corridors.
Another chapter done. Hope you all are enjoying it. Please let me know what you all think and feel free to send over any ideas.