Thanks to WillowTree1221 and Lexi1245 for your reviews! Sorry it's a bit late but here's the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 53
"Every moment that ticked by felt like another nail in Miss Peregrine's coffin." {Jacob Portman, pg 126 book 2}
They all looked to one another with the same silent question: fight then run or play normal? Then dozens more appeared from their wagons and circled them, many holding knives of their own and any chance they had to fight vanished. The men all wore layers of knit clothes while the women behind them wore bright scarves and flowing dresses.
Jake was next to hop off the wagon and stand next to Emma, then Horace, then Hugh. Soon all of them were standing like herded sheep, all but Millard who had slipped away unseen to lurk nearby, waiting and watching. As much as Aurora knew it was the logical and best decision a part of her wished he'd stayed beside her, she always felt so much better when she had him close.
"Who are you? Where do you come from? Where are your elders?" The first man – Aurora assumed was their leader – began asking in rapid succession.
"We come from the west." Emma said calmly, "An island off the coast. We're orphans, as I already explained. Our houses were smashed by bombs in an air raid and we were forced to flee. We rowed all the way to the mainland and nearly drowned. We have nothing." She sniffled and managed to produce some crocodile tears, "We've been lost in the woods for days with no food or water. We saw your wagons passing but were too frightened to show ourselves. We only wanted to ride as far as the town. . . "
"Why were you forced to flee your island after your house was bombed?" The leader asked studying her closely, looking for holes in her story, "And why did you run into the woods instead of following the coast?"
"No choice." Enoch spoke up, "We were being chased." Emma gave him a sharp look that said: Let me do this. Aurora hoped the leader didn't see the exchange or he'd know they were keeping information from him.
"Chased by who?"
"Bad men." Emma said resuming her role.
"Men with guns." Horace added, "Dressed like soldiers, though they really aren't."
"If soldiers are after them then they're trouble we don't need." A woman said, "Send them away, Bekhir."
"Or tie them to trees and leave them!" Another man said, the leader looked them all over again with a cocked eyebrow; they hadn't gotten pity from him like they had hoped, only peeked his curiosity.
"We'll do nothing until we find out who you are, and what your worth."
oOo oOo oOo
Ten men holding knives led them to a flatbed wagon with a huge cage mounted on top.
"You're not going to lock us in there, are you?" Olive said in horror.
"Just until we sort out what to do with you." The leader said, "Go on, get in, all of you!" he roared as they piled inside, their feet shuffling through the rotten smelling hay that covered the floor. After the leader had locked them inside the gypsies began setting up their camp, pitching tents and starting fires to cook their dinner. Soon the smell of cooking meat and stew filled the air, Aurora's stomach grumbled in desire, her hunger now growing. She tried to distract herself by listening to the others quarreling.
"Hear that?" Enoch asked.
"What?" Bronwyn replied.
"The sound of Miss Peregrine's life slipping away!" they all continued to argue in hushed tones while Aurora kept to herself in the corner. She looked around the campground looking for footprints in the dirt, the branch of a shrub moving without wind, anything that would give away Millard's position to her but she saw nothing. Of course she wouldn't, Millard had mastered his invisibility decades ago and in a situation as dire as this he wouldn't leave anything to chance.
"Then maybe you should let me decide for everyone." Enoch replied to something Aurora hadn't heard.
Hugh snorted, "We would've been killed ages ago if you were in charge."
"Look it doesn't matter now." Jake said taking charge, "We have to get out of this cage and make it to that town. We just need to come up with a way to escape." They all began to think, Olive couldn't burn through the floor, it was too thick, Bronwyn couldn't bend the bars without them being spotted. Aurora leaned against the bars, she wrapped one hand around the thick, cold metal and gave a heavy sigh. Then she felt a hand wrap around hers but saw nothing, she couldn't help but grin ear to ear.
"We need to sneak out, not break out." Emma said.
"Have you all forgotten our advantage?" Aurora asked turning away from the bars and to the others.
"What advantage?" Enoch said rolling his eyes and leaning back into a pile of hay.
"Me of course." Millard said and everyone's eyes lit up with a newfound hope. "Did you all forget about me?"
"Millard!" Emma said with excitement. "Where have you been?"
"Getting the lay of the land, as it were. And waiting for things to calm down."
"Think you can steal the key for us?" Jake asked, "I saw the lead man put it in his pocket."
"Prowling and purloinment are my specialty." He said with confidence, "I'll be back soon darling." He whispered to Aurora before giving her a quick kiss between the bars and slipping away.
oOo oOo oOo
The minutes crawled by, soon half an hour had passed, then an hour and the others started to get agitated. Horace had begun pacing the length of the cage, while Hugh had a bee circling his head.
"Aurora, your boyfriend is all talk." Enoch grumbled.
"Give him a chance!" she replied.
"I've given him an hour! What's taking him so long?"
"Millard will come through." He will.
"If he doesn't come back soon, I'm going to start tossing eggs." Enoch grumbled again and Olive moved closer to him rubbing his leg and talking him out of his mood in a sweet tone.
As the night went on the camp became more and more alive, the gypsies talked and laughed, a makeshift band began to play with horns and fiddles. People paired up and danced, those who couldn't find a partner danced in large circles laughing and smiling. During the fun one gypsy boy snuck toward their cage and held a half eaten loaf of bread through the bars. Hugh grabbed it and began tossing pieces in his mouth as the others watched the boy cautiously.
"All right, I done something for you. Now you owes. So tell me – what crime did you do? You're thieves' aincha? Or didja kill someone?"
"We didn't kill anyone." Emma said.
"Well you musta done something. Why else would they have a reward out for you?"
"There's a reward?" Hugh asked through a mouthful of bread.
"Sure as rain. They're offering a whole pile of money."
"Who is?" Jake asked and the boy shrugged, "Are you going to turn us in?"
"Dunno if we will or we won't. The big shots are chewing it over. Though I'll say they don't much trust the sort of people who's offerin' the reward. Then again, money's money, and they don't much like it that you won't answer their questions."
"Where we come from you don't question people who come to you asking for help." Olive said still nestled next to Enoch.
Just then a tremendous bang went off in the middle of the camp, the boy lost his balance and fell of the ramp leading to the cage. Pots and pans went flying and a woman started running around screaming as her skirts caught fire. One man doused it with a horse's drinking bucket and while the gypsies were distracted by the chaos the peculiar children heard footsteps pounding up the ramp.
"That's what happens when you try and make an omelet from a peculiar chicken egg!" Millard said, out of breath and laughing.
"You did that?" Horace asked.
"Everything was too orderly and quiet. . . bad weather for pickpocketing! So I slipped one of our eggs in with theirs, et viola!" Millard pulled a key out of thin air, "People are much less likely to notice my hand in their pockets when dinner's just exploded in their faces."
"Took you long enough." Enoch said, "Now let us out of here!" But before Millard could get the key in the gypsy boy stood up and shouted.
"Help! They're trying to get away!" but in the confusion from the blast no one noticed his shouts. Millard twisted the key in the lock but the door wouldn't open.
"Oh, drat, perhaps I stole the wrong key?"
"AHHHH!" the boy screamed looking with wide eyes at the spot he'd heard Millard's voice come from, "A ghost!"
"I beg your pardon!" Aurora shouted, offended.
"Will someone please shut him up!" Enoch hollered and Bronwyn reached through the bars and grabbed the boy by his arms, pulling him up off his feet.
"Haaaaalp!" he screamed, "they've got mmmfff –" she slapped her hand over his mouth but it was too late a woman nearby had heard him shout.
"Galbi! Let him go, you savages!" Gypsy men rushed toward the cage bringing out their knives.
"What are you doing?" Millard shouted at Bronwyn, "Let that boy go before they murder us!"
"No don't" Emma contradicted, "Free us or the boy dies!" she shouted, "Stay back!" she called to the armed and angry men, "Just let us go and we won't hurt anyone!"
One of the braver men ran at the cage and in the blink of an eye Olive had pulled off a glove and instinctively threw a fireball which landed between the man and the cage. He skidded to a stop as others watching gasped, their eyes wide.
"Guess it's time to show them who they're messing with." Enoch said with a grin. Bronwyn was first to put on a show, she held the boy with one had while she bent a few of the bars with her other. Millard kissed Aurora's hand, which was still clinging to the side of the cage – a silent promise he'd return - before running off. Hugh stuck his face between the bars, opened his mouth and let his hive fly free which gave Millard time to run into the center of the crowd where he began shouting.
"And if you think you can contend with them, you haven't met me!" he cried as he launched another egg into the air, it landed in a nearby clearing and made the dirt shoot as high as the treetops when it hit the ground. Unfortunately, the noise of their display had gained some unwanted attention as they all turned and saw lights heading their way from the main road. A canvas topped military vehicle came into view and they soon heard the soldiers shouting and dogs barking.
It was the wights that had been hunting them, and now they'd found them, trapped in a cage with nowhere to go, unable to even run. Bronwyn dropped the boy and Olive put her glove back on, extinguishing the flame. The gypsies fled to their wagons or the woods but the leader instead strode toward the children.
"Open the cage!" Emma begged.
"Hide yourselves under the hay and don't make a sound!" the man ordered, "And no tricks, unless you'd rather go with them." They didn't have time to question his actions, the last thing they saw were two gypsy men dragging a tarp over the cage. Aurora's last thought was how Millard was now out there, alone, with the wights.