My Perfect Bird

Chapter 3-Chaotic Day

You looked at Alma questioningly. She seemed to think it over for a moment. "I suppose. But only if you actually follow my rules this time."

"Great! I'll meet you both outside." She said before running off. The two of you quickly finished the rest of the dishes then went outside to meet the children. Okay I'll go over the rules for those who have never joined us." Emma said as everyone gathered around. All except for Enoch who'd refused to play. "Always keep your clothes on, Millard. No use of peculiarities is allowed. No moving spots, once you find somewhere you stay there. We're not allowed in Miss Peregrine's room or study. And Enoch says he'll kick anyone out if they enter his room. No going anywhere dangerous such as the roof and stay on the property. You may hide inside or outside. The seeker with count to thirty before looking. Now who wants to seek?" She said, finished.

"It's Olive's turn to seek from last time!" Bronwyn said happily.

"Darn it, forgot about that." She grabbed a blindfold from Emma and tied it on. "Okay, I can't see." Emma looked skeptical and pretended to hit Olive in the face, stopping right before her flat hand touched her nose. When the red head didn't move she nodded satisfied.

"Alright, everyone go! Start counting Olive."

"One... two... three..." And with that, everyone started running. You and your wards hadn't gotten a proper tour yet so you each stuck by someone in particular. Ellie ran off with Claire, who she was the closest in age too. Aaron had ran away from the group with Hugh. And you got pulled into the house by Alma grabbing your hand.

"Come along, I have an excellent hiding spot." She said with a smile, bringing you upstairs, never letting go of your hand. "In here." She said, stopping at a door. When opening it, it was revealed to be a closet. "There's a small hiding spot in the back, I think we might both be able to fit."

You nodded as she hid you away in the back, behind a bunch of hanging coats. She then entered the closet and closed the door before moving to stand next to you behind the coats. You were both pressed up against each other. You looked away from the taller woman who's chest was pressed against your own. But at least the dark did well to hide your blush. "And you're sure they won't find us here?" You whispered to her, trying to figure out about how long you'd be stuck against the wall with her pressed against you.

"They won't. I rarely play with them and this is a new spot. I've observed them play before and they've never bothered to check behind to coats." You nodded, then realized she couldn't see you and hummed instead.

You stood there for a few minutes in the silence looking around as your eyes adjusted to the dark. You looked at Alma only now noticing she was studying your face intently. You then realized that she was a bird of prey, you however were not. Her eyes were much sharper than yours and she could've probably seen just fine from the moment she'd gotten in here.

The closet door opened and light flooded the small room. Olive didn't bother checking behind the coats and shut the door soon after. You let out a slight sigh of relief and tilted your head further to rest against Alma's shoulder. She hummed and brought up a hand to rest on your back. You weren't sure how long you stood there, leaning against her before footsteps began running around the hall.

The taller woman pulled you just a bit closer as the door opened again. Someone double checking to make sure no one was in there. "This isn't fair!" Millard said as the door shut again. "Where'd they go? I bet they turned into birds and flew away together or something!"

"Eh, maybe Miss P killed Miss G."

"Enoch! Why would you say that?!" The invisible boy gasped from outside the closed door.

"Think about it! Miss Peregrine is a diurnal bird of pray. Miss Grandala is in the Turdidae family. Meaning in the wild peregrines would eat grandalas if given the chance. So if they both turned into birds, with Miss P's speed and razor sharp talons, she could technically make an easy meal of Miss Granala." He paused for a moment probably deciding weather or not his next words were wise. He probably figured they weren't but spoke anyway. "But I'm sure Miss P would rather eat her out instead." You couldn't see his face but it was likely smug. You heard what sounded like a slap. "Ow, Millard what the heck."

"Not only was that whole killing Miss G thing not at all funny. But Miss P would instead kill you for that last comment. Keep your mouth shut man!"

You wrapped your arms around her neck, trying anything to further hind your now red face in her shoulder. She said nothing but now wrapped her other arm around you, holding you tight against her as she rested her cheek on the top of your head.

"Have either of you seen Miss Peregrine or Miss Grandala? Everyone else has been found. They won." Olive came walking down the hallway.

"No." Millard and Enoch answered at once.

"Well come on then, everyone's outside, help us search."

The three of them left, going downstairs and out the front door. Once sure they were gone Alma pulled away from you and went to open the door. "Come along. We've already won and if we leave now than we can use this spot again." She had reasonable logic and you followed her out. You both went downstairs and ended up sitting on a couch in the parlor, waiting for the children to come inside and find you there.

You sat right next to Alma, leaning your head against her shoulder as she read a book from one of the many shelves. It didn't take long for a small group of the children to come back inside to look through the house once more. Fiona walked into the parlor and noticed the two of you before you saw her. "There you are!" You sat up straight upon hearing her, inching away from Alma a bit. "We've been looking everywhere! You guys won."

"We're well aware Fiona, that's why we've come out of hiding. Please alert the others that they're to come inside. We can play again another time. It's almost time for our walk." Miss Peregrine spoke smoothly, not even looking up from her book. Fiona did as asked, leaving the room again.

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I'm practically a bird expert with all the damn research I've been doing