CHAPTER 30
Thanks again to WillowTree1221, 12ScooterBear74 and marianafilhadomar for your reviews, we're officially at the start of the book! So I hope you enjoy my book/movie mash-up. I couldn't decide which I liked better so I used scenes from both!
AN: From this point forward there are several parts taken straight from the book/movie so in case it wasn't obvious I'm NOT Ransom Riggs! This ALL belongs to him I'm just borrowing some pieces. Aurora and any original plotlines are, of course, mine.
"Like anything that changes you forever, splits your life in two halves: the Before and After." { Jacob Portman, pg 8 book 1}
MILLARD P.O.V.
Miss Peregrine had called all of the children into the parlor for a meeting, which was so unlike her Millard knew that whatever she wanted to speak to them about must be urgent. He sat with Aurora on the piano bench as the other peculiars took seats on the couch and chairs. Miss Peregrine remained standing wringing her hands in front of her obviously trying to find the best way to phrase her news.
"I'm sure all of you remember Abe?" she asked seeming hesitant. Many of the children perked up at the mention of their old friend, the only one who didn't seem too happy was Emma who turned her gaze to the floor.
"Is he back?" Hugh asked excitedly, his bees buzzing around him.
"Not Abe." Miss Peregrine corrected, "His grandson, Jacob." The room grew quiet, the knowledge of Abe having a grandson threw into sharp relief just how long they'd all been in the loop. Millard peered at the calendar Miss Peregrine kept in the parlor that tracked the present day. The top read 2011, dear bird he thought, that made him 86, Aurora 83.
"I saw him arrive yesterday and need a group to go and retrieve him."
oOo oOo oOo
AURORA P.O.V.
In the end it was Emma, Olive, the twins, Claire, Bronwyn and Millard who were the group going through the loop. Aurora still had the occasional nightmare about that day and decided to stay. As they all headed for the loop Hugh spoke up.
"Bet he'll have questions, probably shouldn't tell'em too much."
"Hugh has a point." Olive agreed, "We don't want to scare him off." There was a murmur of agreement, the twins nodded their heads and Enoch scoffed.
"If he can't handle it then he shouldn't be here." He said sourly before trudging off to his room, Olive watched him go with a sad look in her eyes.
"Enoch!" Hugh called after him making the dead riser stop and turn.
"Promise." Hugh demanded, the few bees buzzing around his head seemed to stir up in the boys anger. Enoch scoffed again rolling his eyes.
"Fine." He agreed reluctantly before stuffing his hands in his pockets and storming off again.
The group continued on to the loop entrance while they all discussed what not to tell Jacob Portman. They knew they couldn't say a word about wights or hollows. Hugh also added that they shouldn't mention Victor either which made Bronwyn sniffle and Aurora hold tighter to Millard's arm. Once Hugh had gotten everyone to swear to the pact he and Fiona went their separate ways and headed for the garden where Fiona was working on a new shrub and Hugh was helping by having his bees pollinate it.
Horace and Aurora said farewell to the others when they reached the cairn. Horace wished them luck and Aurora and Millard shared a sweet kiss before he entered the tunnel with the others and was transported to the present. Aurora stared into the dark tunnel and almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Horace was looking at her with an assuring smile.
"They'll be back in a jiffy Aurora. Nothing bad will happen, trust me." He said tapping a finger to his temple. She took a deep breath and smiled back, "Thank you Horace."
oOo oOo oOo
MILLARD P.O.V.
Abe had a strange grandson.
And coming from Millard, who'd seen his fair share of strange that was saying something.
They'd found Jacob in their present day home, Millard hadn't been there since the ordeal with Victor. But any second thoughts he was having about tagging along were forgotten when poor Jacob ended up tripping and knocking himself out. Luckily they'd brought Bronwyn along and she was more than happy to help bring Jacob to the loop entrance. They'd sent Claire on ahead to let Miss Peregrine know they'd be a bit later than expected but all was well. Her original reason for sending so many of them to retrieve Jacob was in case of another hollow and the headmistress believed there was strength in numbers. Jacob seemed to come to just as Bronwyn plopped him in the grass. He groaned a bit before he noticed them and jumped up in surprise.
"You're Emma." He said sounding shocked but at the same time relived, though Millard didn't quite know why. "And, uh, the twins! Olive a-and Bronwyn." The he turned to Millard with a somewhat delirious smile, "He's Millard!"
"Mm-hmm." Millard confirmed tipping his cap before Jacob's expression became confused.
"No you're dead. All of you, you're all dead. I mean he's – he's invisible, but he's, he's still dead."
"None of us are dead." Millard corrected him but the confusion on Jacob's face became fear.
"Oh my god– am I dead?!"
"No." Emma replied now looking just as confused as Jacob had a moment ago.
"You, you called me Abe. In the house, why?"
"You looked like him, just for a moment. Before you started screaming, running away and concussing yourself."
"Wait, what's happening?"
"We're waiting until the coast is clear before we go into the loop." Emma explained as Olive ushered Jacob inside the tunnel.
"You never know who might be watching." She said cautiously.
"Wait before we, before we go into what?"
"Please Jake, Miss Peregrine's waiting. She saw you on the ferry, she sent us to get you." Emma continued as they all entered the tunnel. They'd made it to the dead end and were pulled back into the loop, Jake came with them so Miss Peregrine was right when she said he was peculiar, though Millard had noticed Emma had begun looking at the boy with suspicion. It didn't help when Jake took off like a bat out of hell.
"Damn it." Emma cursed before turning to the others, "Olive and Millard with me, the rest of you go back home we'll be along in a moment."
oOo oOo oOo
Next thing Millard knew he and Emma were hiding in a house with a passed out Jake – again. Millard made a mental note to have Aurora check his head for injuries upon their return. Apparently, finding yourself in the midst of world war two was traumatic enough to cause fainting in the light hearted, because according to Emma that's exactly what happened when she'd found Jake. He certainly inherited Abe's ability to locate trouble and had a bad run-in with the locals who thought he was a German spy. Realizing he was no longer in the present he'd lost consciousness, which was right around when Emma found him. Millard had stripped off his clothes and left them with Olive who was trying to find a means of transport they could 'borrow' to get back home. Meanwhile Emma had some ridiculous notion that the boy in front of them was a wight, which was why she had tied Jake's hands to the cooking range.
"He must be a wight. Can you imagine any relative of Abe's being so perfectly clueless?"
"Can you imagine a wight?"
"I can imagine a wight faking it." She replied as Jake groaned re-entering consciousness. "Well, look who's up!" Emma said, her voice laced with sarcasm. "That was quite the performance you gave earlier. I particularly enjoyed the fainting. I'm sure the theatre lost a fine actor when you chose to devote yourself instead to murder and cannibalism."
"Emma, please." He said picking up a cup of water and bringing it over to Jake.
"Have some water." He offered, "Can't have you dying before we get you back to the headmistress, now can we?"
Jake reached for the cup and nearly dropped it when his finger brushed Millard's hand. Meeting new people was always the hardest part in Millard's eyes. Living with Aurora and his friends, people who were used to his peculiarity, it was easy to forget he was invisible. Then someone new would come along and look around with wide eyes trying to figure out where his voice was coming from, they'd bump into him because they weren't expecting him to be standing where he was, or they'd sit on him because they didn't look first for a divot in the couch cushions. Meeting new people threw into sharp relief how abnormal Millard was, he did his best not to feel too bad about it but it did always bring him a touch of sadness.
Then there were angry voices outside and Millard moved to the window and parted the blinds an inch.
"What's happening?" Emma asked in an urgent whisper.
"They're searching the houses. We can't stay here much longer."
"Well, we can't very well go out there!" she hissed.
"I think perhaps we can. Just to be certain, though, let me consult my book." It took him only a moment to find what he was looking for, "As I suspected! We have only to wait a minute or so and then we can walk straight out the front door."
"Are you mad? We'll have every one of those knuckle draggers on us with brick bats!"
"Not if we're less interesting than what's about to happen. I assure you, this is the best opportunity we'll have for hours." He explained showing Emma the page of notes in his book. She quickly scanned through it until she found what he did, "Oh Millard, that's brilliant!"
"And you said my studies were a waste of time."
"Would we be able to get a head start if we snuck out the back?"
"Perhaps but it'd be a gamble."
"With what's about to happen I'm in a betting mood."
Emma untied Jake and they made their way to the back door. Before they made it the front door opposite them was kicked in and the man in front yelled, "There 'e is!"
The men charged but a moment later Millard rushed into action. He threw mugs and plates, knocked over tables and threw buckets of water at the men. He sacked the men's heads with pillowcases and blankets and made a huge hullabaloo as Emma and Jake ran out the back. Then he heard a new voice shout, "Come on!" and looked to see Olive with one rubber glove in her mouth. Knowing he only had moments before the building was coated in flames he stuck a roasting pot over a man's head and dashed out the front door while Olive set the back door on fire.
He leapt into the horse and trap Olive had waiting outside and people rushed about, some desperate to put out the fire others looking to the sky in fear as a squadron of Nazi bombers flew over Cairnholm.