"Capital idea, coming into this loop." {Enoch O'Connor, pg 79 book 2}
The path that had ended at the wall picked up again at the top. It still hugged the cliff side and Millard worried about how they'd get Aurora across safely.
"The sign on the rope said Access to Menagerie. Do you suppose that's what's ahead?" Horace asked.
"You're the one who dreams of the future. You tell us." Enoch replied.
"What's a menagerie?" Hugh asked.
"It's a collection of animals." Emma explained.
"It's Cuthbert's friends!" Claire said excitedly before starting a coughing fit from both her mouths. "Do you think that's where the ymbryne is?" she asked when the coughing had subsided.
"At this juncture, it's best not to suppose anything." Millard said as he did his best to life Aurora by himself, to no avail. Enoch offered to carry her on his back and Millard could follow behind to make sure she didn't slide off.
"How is she?" Jake asked as he helped Millard lift Aurora onto Enoch's back.
"She needs rest and a good meal."
"Don't we all?" Enoch asked sarcastically as he took on Aurora's dead weight.
They started walking, all of their hope resting on the small chance that their was an ymbryne is this menagerie, that she could help heal Miss Peregrine and then they could all find a new safer home. The odds were weighing heavily on Millard's shoulders as was Aurora's health. He knew he should have made her eat something earlier but she'd adamantly refused. Now she'd gone and healed too much and passed out. He hoped she'd wake up soon, without her he was starting to lose faith, their whole situation seemed darker, the sun didn't seem to be shining as bright, and he desperately needed her endlessly positive attitude.
"Look! A house in the clouds!" Bronwyn cried as she stopped in the middle of the path and pointed ahead. Sure enough, there was a small house that seemed to be sitting on clouds. However, as they got closer they saw a tall thin tower made of stacked railroad pieces. As they reached the top of the hill they saw that the tower sat in the middle of a small field, there were other shacks around the edge of the small valley and further out a small forest. The quaint little oasis all sat nestled at the top of Cuthbert's mountain and Millard found himself itching to read Bronwyn's Tales. How ironic, he thought, having decades to read and re-read and annotate them all wasted because he believed them to be nothing but mere fairytales. He couldn't wait to find out what other peculiar secrets were hidden in their pages.
"Do you think it's the ymbryne's house?" Olive asked with Miss Peregrine hidden beneath her overcoat.
"Most likely." Hugh said, "Nothing to be afraid of."
Almost like fate heard him there was an instant growl that seemed to come from under the tower. A furry face appeared and snarled at them like a rabid dog.
"What in the name of Elderfolk is that?" Emma asked.
Whatever it was crawled out from the tower and leered at them. It looked like a man but it sat on its haunches and moved like an ape. It was dressed in rags and had dull yellow eyes and teeth, its hair a matted mess. It began to charge them when a new voice called, "Sit down and behave!"
The whatever it was obeyed and they all turned to see a dog with a pipe in his mouth and a pair of round green tinted glasses on his face. He trotted calmly in their direction.
"Don't mind Grunt, he's got no manners at all! That's just his way of saying thank you. That hollowgast was most bothersome. I hope you're not too offended. Grunt means well, but you'll have to excuse him. He was, quite literally, raised in a barn. I, on the other hand, was educated on a grand estate, the seventh pup of the seventh pup in an illustrious line of hunting dogs. Addison MacHenry, at your humble service." He introduced himself and gave a bow, as best as a dog could without losing his glasses.
"That's a fancy name for a dog." Enoch said unimpressed at meeting a talking animal.
"And by what appellation, dare I ask, are you denominated?"
"Enoch O'Connor." He said proudly, though Addison seemed unimpressed.
"That's a fancy name for a grimy pudge-faced boy." He sneered in reply, "I am a dog, yes, but a peculiar one. Why then should I be saddled with a common dog's name? My former master called me 'Boxie' and I despised it so I bit him and took his name. Addison: much more befitting an animal of my intellectual prowess I think. That was just before Miss Wren discovered me and brought me here."
"Where's Miss Wren now?" Emma asked with a newfound hope, "We've got to speak with her."
Addison looked up to the house on top of the tower, "That's her residence, but she isn't home at the moment. She winged off some days ago to help her ymbryne sisters in London. There's a war on, you see, I assume you've heard all about it. Which explains why you're traveling in the degraded style of refugees?"
"Our loop was raided." Olive explained, " and then we lost what was left of our things at sea."
"And nearly ourselves." Millard added stepping out from behind Enoch now that he was certain Aurora wouldn't fall from his back.
"An invisible!" Addison said in startled surprise, "What a rare surprise!" Addison said delighted and Millard felt his face heat up with his blush, he wasn't used to getting a warm welcome.
"Come, I'll introduce you to the others. They'll be absolutely fascinated to meet you. And you must be famished from your journey, poor things. Nutrifying provender shall be forthcoming!"
"We need medicine too." Fiona said, "The little one is very ill." She gestured to Claire who was clinging to her side struggling to stand up straight.
"We'll do all we can for her. We owe you that and more for solving our little hollowgast problem. Most bothersome, as I was saying."
"Nutrifying what?" Bronwyn asked.
"Sustenance, comestibles, rations!" the dog replied, "You'll eat like royalty here."
"But I don't like dog food."
Addison laughed, "Neither do I, miss."
oOo oOo oOo
One by one they were introduced to a parade of bizarre animals. There was the emu-raffe Deirdre, the only other talking animal who resided in the menagerie, a flock of armageddon chickens, a cadre of mice who continued to fade in and out – something Millard envied, to have the ability to be seen, if only for a moment. They laid Claire and Aurora in a patch of grass beneath the shade of a tree while Addison – with the help of Grunt's opposable thumbs- went to make an elixir Miss Wren used to prepare. Claire drank every drop before falling asleep again while Millard sat next to Aurora, keeping a silent vigil, occasionally brushing a few strands of hair away from her face. After Claire was tended to the other animals brought a feast of fresh bread, stewed apples and hard-boiled eggs. They ate with their hands, since the menagerie lacked plates and silverware.
Millard nibbled at a piece of bread while Jake ate next to him, after a moment of silence he asked, "Before this had you ever heard of peculiar animals?"
"Only in children's stories." He replied, Jake must have sensed his disinterest in the topic.
"I take it this doesn't happen often?" he asked nodding to Aurora's unconscious form.
"Never. She's never healed so much that she'd pass out." He answered, his voice cracking slightly.
"How does it work?"
"When she heals she's giving someone a bit of her strength, her life force or energy, normally after she heals a lot at once she'll get something to eat and take a nap to rejuvenate. But not only has she been doing a lot of healing recently we also lack food, water and haven't gotten any decent rest, I'm just worried that. . . that –"
"That she'll burn herself out? She'll heal too much, pass out and never wake up again?"
Millard nodded, though Jake couldn't see it, he swallowed in an attempt to clear his throat, "She has such a big heart, I know she'd never turn anyone away who needed her help, and that terrifies me, that she'd be so willing to give up all her energy to help someone."
The entire time his gaze had been turned to Aurora, she looked so peaceful, sitting in the shade, leaning against the tree. For a moment Millard imagined they were back in their loop, under one of the trees that surrounded Fiona's vast flowerbeds. Aurora would wake up and he'd give her a sweet kiss, watch her smile and her eyes light up with a love so deep he couldn't believe that an emotion so strong was all aimed at him. Then the reality of their situation darkened his thoughts and his worry grew with every passing minute Aurora didn't wake up.
"I can't make it without her Jacob, I can't. I'd give myself up to the wights, let them catch me and kill me because if I lost her nothing would matter anymore."
There was a long pause before Jake said anything, he seemed to be working up the courage to say what was on his mind.
"What does love feel like?" He finally asked. Millard was stumped by the question then he tore his gaze from Aurora to look at Jake, he saw him staring at Emma and then his question made sense.
"Perplexing." He answered and Jake turned to him seeming unsatisfied by the cryptic answer.
"How did you know you loved her Mill?"
"When I thought I'd lost her for good." He said remembering the day he thought she'd left with Victor, "I can't imagine a day without seeing her face. That's when I knew." He looked back at Aurora, watched her slow breathing, "It's odd how someone can add something to your life you never knew you needed, a part you never knew you were missing. Then when they're gone you feel so empty and you don't understand how you didn't notice how hollow you were before them."