Magpie

•~•6•~•

I woke up to people not using their inside voices.
"Polite persons do NOT walk around in the nude!" Coming from Miss P. Then there was stomping and pouting coming from who I can assume, Millard. I sighed and stood up. Why can't Millard just cooperate sometimes.

I walked over to the dresser and pulled out a lovely black dress, the same one I had on when I ate my first dinner here. I smiled at my reflection and headed downstairs. "Millard," I say as I pass them. "Please put on some clothing. We are NOT barbaric in this household." Even though I can't see him, he looked speechless. I headed to the library and sat as Horace walked in. "Hello Magnolia." He says. I nod and smile as a greeting. "What are we doing today Horace?" I ask. "We're going to the beach." He says. My face lights up. I haven't been to the beach in a long, long time.

Later, everyone prepares for the event. I put on a black one piece bathing suit and tie up my hair into a bun. I join the others downstairs when I'm finished. We all walk out the front door and head to the beach. I help Miss Peregrine set up umbrellas and towels. Claire and Olive build sandcastles because Olive can't go into the water otherwise she'll sink right to the bottom. Bronwyn helps them build and makes sure they have sunscreen on. Horace, Enoch, and Millard splash around in the water. Hugh and Fiona walk up and down the shore in front of us, picking up shells. Emma is sitting under an umbrella alone, Alexander and I decide to sit with her. "What's up Emma?" I ask as I sit down next to her. She looks out at the water. "It's just..." She trails off. "Abe and I would always go down here and hang out." It looked like she was holding back tears. "Oh Emma." I give her a sympathetic look. She keeps going on about Abe, I've never even met him. She talks about how in love they were and that maybe, someday, he will come back for her. It's sad really. We all know the truth. "Why don't you go help the little ones build their castle?" I Suggest. She looks at them and smiles. "You act like an old lady, Magnolia." She chuckles. I smirk and roll my eyes. She gets up and finally joins the others. Now I can relax knowing that everyone is happy. I sigh with relief and pull out a book from my bag. "Aren't you going to play in the water or something?" Alexander asked. "Having fun isn't really my thing, sorry." I say, laughing. He also laughs. "Go play with the others." I say. He doesn't budge. "I can't focus on my book if you're starring at me." I protest. He rolls his eyes and goes to join the others. Peace at last.
Miss Peregrine eyes me though, great someone else interrupting my precious reading time. "Miss Williams," She says, looking at me. "Won't you play with the other children?" I shrug. "It's not really what I'm known for." She frowns at my statement. "Don't you want to have a social life?" She asks. I look up from my book. "If people want to talk to me, they can." She sighs and walks back to her umbrella.
A few minutes go bye and everything is peaceful, until I hear someone scream. I jump up and look to see who it was, Miss Peregrine does the same. "Is everyone alright?" I ask, worried. Then we hear it again, but it sounds more like a screech this time. I look up to see a Blackbird circling us. I change into my bird form and fly up to see what the commotion was. "Who are you?" I ask, obviously in the form of chirps. "Miss Bonnie Blackbird, are you with your ymbryne?" She asks. I turn my head to our headmistress. The Blackbird dives for the ground. I fly down and land on Miss Peregrine's shoulder. Our ymbryne holds a towel for the other woman, and she changes into her human form. I stay a Magpie. "Alma," Miss Blackbird said. "I have some news!" Miss Peregrine gives her a strange look. "You flew all the way from Italy to tell me something?" She began. "You could just write." Miss Blackbird shook her head. "It's important." She insisted. We all looked at her, but we didn't stare because she was wearing a towel for crying out loud. I sat down on Miss Peregrine's shoulder, I had a feeling this was going to take a while. Miss P carefully bent down to her bag and pulled out a bathing suit cover for Miss Blackbird. She held up the towel for her and Miss B slipped on the cover and thanked Miss P. "Now, you were saying?" Said Miss Peregrine. "Right, Miss Avocet is coming to visit you and your young ymbryne." She said, looking at me. I chirped. "Miss Williams?" She asked, looking over at me. Miss Blackbird nodded. My heart sank, what if she took me away from my family? I only just got here. I screeched at the thought. Miss Peregrine cupped her hands for me to sit in, so I did just that.
We headed back to the house, when I got to my room I changed back and put my dress back on. I started tearing up with the worry filling my head. I start to hyperventilate and Couldn't stop. Alexander walks in and sees me. He rushes over and hugs me. "Hey, it's okay." He says. "Calm down, it's going to be okay." My breathing evens out after a few minutes but Tears were still streaming my face. Then we hear a knock.

I quickly wipe my tears and collect myself. Alexander opens the door. Miss Peregrine, Miss Blackbird, and Miss Avocet are standing in the hall. They walk in and sit down on my bed. "Magnolia Williams," I say. "Nice to meet you." I hold out my hand and Miss Avocet shakes it. She smiles at me, I give a weak smile back. The worry still filling my head. "Miss Williams, since you are an ymbryne..." oh no. "I will be taking you to my loop for training." She says. Just what I was afraid of. "What?" I say, trying not to breakdown in front of these women. Miss Peregrine could tell that something is wrong because she gives me a worried look. "I said-'' I look over to my open bedroom door and make a run for it. "Magnolia!" My brother yells, trying to go after me. I'm already out the door and heading down the hill. "Miss Williams!" Miss Peregrine shouted after me.
Hot tears were streaming down my cheeks as I ran. I didn't stop until I hit the beach, there was nowhere else to run. "Miss Williams!" I heard Miss Peregrine shout only a few feet from me, the other ymbrynes following her. I changed into a bird and flew away. But unfortunately for me, peregrines are the fastest birds. "What are you doing?" She screeched at me. "I don't want to go!" I cried. Miss Peregrine seemed to understand. When we got back to the ground and put our dresses back on, she noticed my tear stained cheeks and hugged me. I sobbed even harder than ever before. "Shhh," She said. "It's alright." She looked down at me with a kind smiled. "You don't have to go if it's going to cause you that much pain." The other ymbrynes caught up with us, Miss Blackbird sweating and Miss Avocet gasping for air. "What on earth was that about?" Miss Avocet said, then she looked down at me. "Miss Williams will not be going to the academy Esmerelda." Miss Peregrine said, still hugging me. Miss Avocet sighed in disappointment, but understood. "Alright then." Miss Blackbird raised an eyebrow. "So both me and Esmerelda traveled all the way to Cairnholm for no reason?"
"I didn't have to travel far." Miss Avocet said turning to her. "And You didn't even have to come." She snapped. Miss Blackbird was taken aback. She transformed and flew away back to her loop. Miss Peregrine sighed, then laughed slightly. "I never really liked her." Miss Avocet smirked at her statement. She then turned to me and smiled slightly.

When we got back to the house, we sat in the parlor. I poured the tea. "Miss Williams, I understand why you don't want to go." Miss Avocet said sympathetically. "I'm ashamed of my outburst." I say, with my head down. "We understand why you were upset Magnolia. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Miss Peregrine said. I looked up. She never uses her ward's first names. "I will continue to train you." She says. I sigh in relief and smile at the both of them. "That's one of the best things I've ever heard." I say, Both of them chuckle. "No offense." I say quickly to Miss Avocet. She smiles.