The Wonderground

37 - Back to Reality

The six sat squashed on a green iron bench in the fading daylight on the end of the North Pier. They munched and slurped loudly on double scoop ice creams. The seat did not fit them all, so Elliot was perched on Jack's knee. He was wearing a pair of pink knock-off Crocs, two sizes too big, that were all they could find to buy on the pier to replace his lost shoes. Amelia giggled and pointed at a blob of chocolate ice cream dangling from the end of Elliot's nose. He blushed and wiped his face on his sleeve. Isla fed the last of her waffle cone to two seagulls who squawked and flapped over the crispy treat before watching it roll over the pier edge into oblivion. They cocked their heads and looked imploringly at Isla. She shrugged her shoulders. "All gone," she said, holding out her open palms. The birds grunted with disappointment and took to the skies.

"Fish n chips anyone?" smiled Jack.

"Do you think of anything except food?" groaned Rose.

"I haven't eaten since the pigeon restaurant!" protested Jack.

"That feels like forever ago," sighed Amelia as she slid lower on the bench.

"How long have we been back?" asked Elliot. "In the Upworld? The real world. Blackpool."

"Couple of hours," calculated Charlie, looking at his watch. It was working perfectly again.

"Mrs. Marney and the class will have been back to normal for a couple of hours as well," sighed Elliot.

"Which means they know we're not there," concluded Rose.

"Which means we're in a lot of trouble!" moaned Isla.

"How do we get back to school?" panicked Elliot. "We're going to be expelled!"

"Nobody will get expelled," reassured Amelia trying to calm him down.

"Amelia's right," agreed Charlie. "We need to stick together. If we keep our stories straight, we'll get through this."

"How do you propose we get through this?" retorted Isla. "If you hadn't noticed, we are on a beach who knows how many miles from London."

"Two hundred, give or take," offered Elliot sombrely.

"Time to go home?" called out a voice from along the pier. A figure was seated on the next bench in the shadow of a disused doughnut stall. An attractive blonde woman was sitting perusing a pocket medical journal. She placed the book in her coat pocket along with her glasses.

Amelia gasped in shock as she recognised the woman. "Harriet?" she said in disbelief.

"What's going on?" asked Jack.

"Do you know this woman, Amelia?" added Rose.

"This is my big sister," gushed Amelia. "Everyone, Harriet. Harriet, this is everyone," she said sheepishly.

Elliot gave Amelia's sister a wide smile.

"What are you doing here?" asked Amelia.

Harriet stood. "I have been ordered...," she paused before continuing, "asked... to chaperone you back to school."

"How did you know we were here?" asked Isla.

"Your mum," replied Harriet directly to Isla. "She has a location tracker app installed on your phone."

Isla sighed and visibly wilted.

"The cat's out of the bag," said Jack resignedly.

Harriet laughed. "You did not seriously think you would be able to somehow sneak back to Blankrook without anyone knowing about your little trip, did you?"