Huge thank you's to WillowTree1221 and 12ScooterBear74 for reviewing! You guys are truly my most loyal followers, I love seeing your reviews on each chapter, they're so inspiring that I've actually been able to write up to chapter 57! I'm almost halfway done with HC and so far I'm really pleased with how everything is turning out, I can't wait for you all to read it!

So keep the reviews coming, the more I get the more motivated I am to update often and like I said I have plenty that's ready for posting! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 48

"I think we're being punished." {Horace Somnusson, pg 57 book 2}

At dawn they all woke with their stomachs begging for food. Their muscles ached and looking around the forest was no easier to navigate than in the pitch black darkness. But they did have a few things going in their favor, the day was warming and the rain had stopped, the sound of men and their dogs had ceased meaning they'd either evaded them or they were too far to be heard. Claire had run a fever in the night and was now curled with Olive who was trying to help her chills.

All of the eldest peculiars Jake, Emma, Enoch, Millard and Aurora, Olive excluded as she sat with Claire, had gathered apart from the younger ones to discuss their next move.

"Aurora, can you do anything for her?" Jake asked her referring to Claire and her worsening condition.

"I – I'm not sure. I've only ever healed wounds, I don't know if I can heal an illness. But I can do my best." She shrugged.

"Our first priority is finding our way out of this accursed forest." Millard said.

"First we should eat." Enoch countered and their stomachs all rumbled in perfect synchronization. "Let's eat and discuss our options."

"What options?" Emma asked, "Pick a direction and we'll walk in it. Any one's as good as another."

As they started searching through what little they had for food Aurora approached Olive and Claire.

"How is she doing?" she asked the red head.

"She's feverish. She needs medicine."

Aurora nodded, "The others are working on breakfast, I'll take it from here."

As she took over watch of Claire the others passed around breakfast, rusted tins of congealed meat fat was the only thing they had salvaged.

"I packed five salted game hens and three tins of foie gras with cornichons and this is what survives our shipwreck?" Horace said bitterly as he scooped up meat fat with his fingers. Aurora couldn't bear to watch the others eat, much less eat herself, instead she got Claire to wake up enough to feed cubes of fat to her backmouth. Secretly she always thought the backmouth looked a bit beasty, with the sharp teeth and all, but now Aurora envied Claire's peculiarity. The backmouth certainly had the appetite of a beast and munched the gelatinous blobs with pleasure, Claire also had the advantage of not having to look at the disgusting excuse for food. Millard, sitting beside her, noticed that Aurora wasn't eating.

"Darling, you need to eat." He said.

"Claire needs it more than I do." She replied.

"Here, have some of mine." He said tilting his can in her direction. She only shook her head not even looking at the food. "Aurora, you need something -"

"Millard, if I try to eat that I'll only end up yacking it up again. And with what little we have I'm not going to waste it like that, you eat it. I'm fine."

"Darling – "

"I can go a bit longer, don't worry about me."

"I'll always worry about you." He said reluctantly finishing what was left in his tin.

When they had finished they buried the empty tins and prepared to go. Then Hugh burst through the bushes and into their makeshift camp, he was out of breath and had bees circling his head.

"I found water, through the trees, this way!"

"We're trying to get away from the sea, not back to it." Olive said.

"We must have doubled back on ourselves in the night." Enoch said placing a hand on her shoulder. Nevertheless, they followed Hugh back the way he'd come, Bronwyn had her trunk, Aurora had Claire and Miss Peregrine sat on Fiona's shoulder, giving Olive a break from Bird watch and she walked beside Enoch holding his hand. After about a hundred yards they came to a wide body of water.

"I don't hear any soldiers." Emma observed, "Don't even hear the ocean."

"That's because it's not the ocean." Enoch said, still holding hands with Olive as he dragged her forward. He was right, it wasn't the ocean, it was a lake. Ringed with firs with a light mist over its smooth surface, and a large rock formation jutting from the shallows.

"It's the giant from the story! It's Cuthbert!" Claire shouted and pointed excitedly.

There was something eerie about the rock, Aurora thought the more she looked at it. It did look like a neck and head sticking out of the water, she could see a nose, and even an Adam's apple, and trees were growing out of the top like hair. Even the position of the head, thrown back with it's mouth open like how Cuthbert had turned to stone while calling for his friends.

"And that must be Cuthbert's mountain!" Bronwyn cried pointing at the rocky bluff in the distance.

"Let's not jump to absurd conclusions." Enoch grumbled, "The Tales are just tales and nothing more."

"Real or not it's an incredible coincidence." Millard added, "To have been reading that story just last night and then happen upon the very bit of geography that inspired it the next morning? What are the chances?"

Aurora gave him a look that said, Like you don't know the exact odds. And swore she heard a small chuckle from him.

"I don't think it's a coincidence." Emma said, "Miss Peregrine opened the book herself, remember? She must've chosen that story on purpose. That means the Tale was important." She said walking into the water without further explanation.

"Where's she heading?" Millard asked and Jake only shook his head just as confused by her actions as the rest of them.

"We've got wights chasing us! We're desperately lost! Claire's fallen ill, and we have no food! What on bird's green earth are you thinking?" Enoch shouted after her.

"I'm thinking peculiarly!" Emma shouted back.

oOo oOo oOo

Jake followed Emma into the mouth of the giant and after waiting several moments the others followed them as well. Bronwyn made it to the top first and leaned into the mouth.

"Hellooooo, I hear you down there! What have you found?" she called down to them.

"I think it's a loop entrance!" Emma called back. "Tell everyone to jump in and don't be afraid – Jacob and I will meet you on the other side!"

One by one the others all dropped into the cavern, Millard held Aurora's hand when they reached the top and she immediately had an odd sense of déjà vu from when they had to slide down the roof to escape the hollow. But this time they didn't have to squeeze through a window, there was enough room for both of them.

"Together." Millard said holding her hand tighter and together they took the plunge. It was a long fall then they hit water so cold Aurora could feel all her muscles constrict. When they broke the surface and looked up they saw there was no way out of the giants mouth, she prayed Emma was right otherwise they were all trapped.

"Only one way to go now." Millard said still holding her hand as they each took a deep breath and dove underwater. They kicked toward a person sized hole in the rock where a hint of daylight was coming from, Millard let Aurora swim ahead and he followed behind her. The shaft was about ten feet long and let out into the lake. When they reached the surface she could see the dramatic change, the grey water was now a clear blue, the weather was hot and muggy now, and the dim light of dawn had changed to bright mid-afternoon sunshine. Emma and Jake were already there and several of the other children's heads popped out of the water as they passed into somewhen else too.

"Do you realize what this means?" Millard said as he looked at their new surroundings in awe, "It means there's secret knowledge embedded in the Tales! I can't wait to analyze and annotate them!"

"Don't you dare write in my book, Millard Nullings!" Bronwyn cried.

"But what is this loop? Who do you think lives here?" Hugh asked bobbing in the water beside Fiona.

"Every loop has an ymbryne." Emma said, "Even mystery loops from storybook tales. So let's go and find her."

"All right. Where?" Millard asked taking Aurora's hand again underwater.

"The only place the story made mention of aside from this lake was that mountain. Who's ready to do some climbing?" Emma said taking the lead.