"Miss Peregrine kept her eyes trained on the slate gray sea. They were hard and black and contained unutterable sorrow. They seemed to say: I failed you." {Jacob Portman, pg 31 book 2}
They got to shore just as the sun was setting, they had maybe an hour before dark. There was no sand on the beach, only small pebbles but it still made Aurora look around in awe. She, and many of the others, hadn't been off Cairnholm in a lifetime and after everything that had happened part of her was still amazed to be alive.
"Emma you're blue!" Olive shouted when they'd reeled the girl down. Immediately the red head passed Miss Peregrine to Bronwyn and quickly embraced the shivering girl, rubbing her back in addition to using her peculiarity to warm her up before she caught her death of cold. Fiona and Horace left to find some driftwood to make a fire while the others began salvaging what remained of the supplies in the boats.
Most of their things had been lost at sea, what remained was the clothes on their backs, a small amount of food in rusty tins, and Bronwyn's trunk which held her three volume set of Tales of the Peculiar. Aurora frantically tapped the pockets of her coat and found, still safely tucked in an inner pocket, the one item she held dear. It was Millard's notebook, all forty-seven years of his research; and tucked in between the pages of his notes where the photographs and drawings Noah had sent her over the years.
Everything else was gone, including both their maps, the small one Emma had been using and Millard's Map of Days – his most prized possession. When he realized it was now lost on the ocean floor he began to hyperventilate.
"That was one of only five extant copies! It was of incalculable value! Not to mention it contained years of my personal notes and annotations!"
"At least we still have the Tales of the Peculiar. I can't get to sleep at night without hearing one." Claire said trying to look on the bright side.
"What good are fairy tales if we can't even find our way?" Millard asked her and the small girl looked down at the rocky shore. Aurora put her hand on Millard's shoulder trying to comfort him when she realized his bandages were gone.
"What did you do to your wrapping?" she asked.
"I threw it away." He muttered, "It was tied in such a complicated manner that I couldn't remove it quickly. An invisible must always be able to disrobe in an instant, or his power is useless!"
"You're even more useless if your dead, you stubborn mule." she scolded in a light tone, she didn't have the energy to be really mad at him. Millard leaned in and gave her a sweet peck on the lips.
"You patched me up quite well, darling."
"Olive helped too." She shrugged.
"I know." Millard said somewhat sourly and Aurora noticed from his drenched shirt that he was running his hand over his scar.
"No one's going to see the scar, Millard." She said trying to lift his spirits.
"Still, I know it's there. It can still be felt."
She took his hand away from his wound and held it in her own, "You know, many women think scars are attractive." She said and he instantly perked up.
"Really?"
"Definitely." She kissed his knuckles, "Especially battle scars. They show how brave a man is, and how much he's willing to sacrifice to help someone he cares about."
Millard kissed her again, "Thank you, Aurora."
She smiled back at him, "I'm sorry about your Map of Days."
He shrugged, "It's alright."
"But you cared so much about it."
"I care about you more. I'd rather have you here with me and the book at the bottom of the sea than the situation be reversed." He said as he pulled her into his arms, "I almost lost you, for a horrible moment I thought – " he didn't finish the sentence instead he held her tighter.
"I have something that might cheer you up." She said pulling away from him and reaching into her coat. She pulled out the old leather bound book Millard had kept with him for so many years. He seemed stunned.
"You kept my book? Out of everything in the house, you saved my book?"
"You worked so hard on it. I couldn't bear the thought of the bomb turning it to ash."
Millard was speechless as he turned the book over in his hands, "I love you Aurora." He said and Aurora could hear the smile in his voice before he kissed her again.
oOo oOo oOo
"There's no wood anywhere!" Horace shouted as he and Fiona ran back down the beach toward them.
"Did you look in the woods?" Emma said pointing at the dark line of trees behind the dunes.
"Didn't have time, we found something else." Fiona spoke up.
"Shelter?" Emma asked
"A road?" asked Millard.
"A goose to cook for supper?" Claire asked.
"No. Balloons." Horace said as everyone exchanged confused looks, "Big ones in the sky, with men inside." He explained further.
"Show us." Emma demanded.
They followed Horace and Fiona back the way they'd came and soon found flying in the air miniature zeppelins. They flew low in zigzag patterns as Jake herded their group into some tall grass to drop them out of sight of the pilots.
"They're submarine hunters." Enoch said, Millard might be top notch at books and maps but Enoch knew everything military. "The best way to spot enemy subs is from the sky."
"Then why are they flying so close to the ground?" Jake asked him, "And why aren't they farther out to sea?"
"That I don't know."
"Do you think they could be looking for us?" Hugh asked.
"But the wights are with the Germans. They were on that German sub." Olive said.
"The wights are allied with whomever it suits their interests to be allied with." Millard explained, "There's no reason to think they haven't infiltrated organizations on both sides of the war."
"I don't like the way they're flying. They're searching the coastline, not the sea." Enoch said and Aurora turned and saw a calculating look in Emma's eyes.
"Run when I say run." She hissed, "We'll hide the boats then ourselves."
The next time the balloon zagged away they all tumbled out of the grass and ran for it. Aurora felt her legs and lungs burning as she ran, hand in hand, with Millard by her side.