"These people belong to the past, and the past can't be changed." {Millard Nullings pg 223 book 2}
Enoch led them through a labyrinth of narrow streets toward the cathedral. The further they got from the train station they saw more evidence of the bombs that had been raining down on London. Building fronts were pocketed by shrapnel, there were shattered windows, the streets were covered like it had snowed, everything coated in a layer of dirt, dust and debris. Then they came across a scene of such destruction they all had to stop and gape at it. A bomb crater stretched across the street like a wide mouth with broken pavement for teeth. Buildings were missing walls, debris still smoldered where it had landed after the blasts. Piles of bricks and splintered wood. Some buildings had fallen completely except for their bones, the framework the only thing left.
"Let's go. This place is nothing but a graveyard." Emma said as they continued to trudge along. They did their best to keep their eyes down but it was almost like the horror around them demanded attention. Like not looking at it was disgraceful to the people who had actually suffered through it. They passed other people every now and then, in various states of disarray. They all had the same expression though, despair, hopelessness. As the others continued Aurora saw something that stopped her dead in her tracks – a baby in a stroller, left alone in the street bawling.
MILLARD P.O.V.
Millard did his best to block out everything around him, the crackling of fire, the crashing of another wall falling into dust, the cries of an abandoned baby, the siren of one lone fire truck far in the distance. His feet stopped however, when he noticed the baby had stopped crying. He hadn't been the only one to notice as several of the others turned toward the carriage. His heart broke when he saw Aurora gently rocking the baby in her arms, a warm look in her eyes. When he looked around at the others he saw the same devastation in their faces as he felt.
"I'll take care of it." He whispered and began his trek toward Aurora. He took a deep breath preparing himself to deliver the terrible news. The closer he got to them the worse he felt, he could now see a small smile on Aurora's face and could hear her humming 'Run Rabbit'. He softly placed his hand on her shoulder gently breaking her out of her peaceful bubble. She didn't tear her gaze away from the baby.
"Aurora, we have to go." He said softly knowing that Miss Peregrine was running out of time and every second counted. She still didn't look away from the baby, he looked down and saw the baby was staring back at Aurora too. She had wisps of blonde hair and striking green eyes and was wearing a small white sweater with little pink flowers that was stained with soot and dust from the debris. She was old enough to hold her own head up and had a few teeth peeking through her gums. With another heavy sigh Millard continued, "She can't come with us."
Aurora finally looked up at him and the moment their eyes met he wished she hadn't. They were wide with shock and she looked very disturbed by what he'd just said.
"Millard no." she whispered as her eyes started to tear up.
"Aurora –"
"Don't ask me to abandon a baby, please."
"Darling, even if we took her with us it wouldn't make a difference."
"I don't care." She murmured.
"Aurora, it's how time works. If she's meant to live she'll live, if not. . . there's nothing any of us can do to stop it."
Aurora looked back down at the baby and kept shaking her head. The tears in her eyes had started falling down her cheeks and her breathing became irregular. He reached out to take the baby from her and she jumped back away from him.
"No!" she shouted and clutched the baby closer to her. He felt his heart break at the space she'd put between them as she kept shaking her head. Her quiet crying had turned into full sobbing as she held the baby close, very slowly he approached her again and wrapped his arms around her, the baby nestled between them. They stayed like that for a while until her sobbing had calmed down a bit. Then he began to pull away and he gently took the baby into his arms. The little girl had fallen asleep as Millard looked down at her then Emma came up behind him and rested her hands on Aurora's shoulders and led her back to the group. Millard made sure her back was turned when he placed the baby back in the stroller and joined the group himself. Emma made sure Aurora kept walking and didn't look back. Jake joined them heading to the cathedral, Olive was crying as Enoch rubbed her arm in comfort and Bronwyn was looking down at her shoes. Hugh had his hands in his pockets and Horace blew into his handkerchief. None of them looked back at the stroller as they trudged on.
oOo oOo oOo
They all hurried past the ruined blocks as quickly as they could, Aurora marveled as the streets returned to life around her. Just a short walk from Hell, people were going about their business, striding down sidewalks, living in buildings that still had electricity and windows and walls. The group rounded a corner and the cathedral's dome stood before them proud and tall despite patches of fire-blackened stone and a few crumbing arches. There was a small square close to the cathedral where several pigeons were pecking at the ground. They took turns trying to catch them but they had no luck – not even Millard who couldn't even be seen. Aurora didn't take a turn, she just sat on the cathedral steps looking at her feet, her eyes still red from crying. Eventually, it was Horace who was able to catch one but after presenting the bird to Miss Peregrine it became clear that none of the birds were peculiar. Their headmistress hopped toward the cathedral and flapped her good wing impatiently so they followed her lead and headed inside.
The cathedrals' interior was massive, the altar was buried under debris, a bomb had broken through the roof allowing sunlight to stream in and illuminate the altar's cove. Large statues of soot-stained angels looked down on them as they made their way down the center aisle.
"How are we ever going to search this whole place?" Jacob asked.
"One room at a time." Emma replied.
As they all fanned out and started looking in the cathedral's nooks an crannies Olive noticed that Aurora had made her way to as close to the altar as possible and knelt down at a half broken pew. She was praying for the baby. Olive made her way over to her and knelt down beside her placing one gloved hand on hers that were clasped in front of her. Then she led her to an alcove where the church had placed several candles for people to light for their loved ones. Olive removed her rubber glove and pressed one finger against a wick and the candle lit. She repeated this until they were all glowing brightly and she saw Aurora give a tiny smile. She wasn't the only one who saw the grin, from a distance Millard had watched the exchange with sadness before he turned to look at the statue that sat on the altar.
"God." He whispered so no one else could hear – not that he was embarrassed, he just always found prayer to be quite personal and wanted his privacy, "Protect my beloved. Keep her from pain and from harm. In this place, " he looked around the large cathedral still in awe at its beauty even after being bombed, "and every place. Now and always." He looked back at Aurora and hoped God would send his best angel to protect her because deep down he knew he wouldn't always be able to. And if he didn't make it through their journey he wanted to be sure someone would still watch over her. Then the quite moment was ruined by a blaring noise from outside – an air raid siren.
"The German's are coming!" Horace cried cringing.
"Since when are we afraid of a few bombs?" Enoch asked.
"Need I remind you these are not the sort of bombs we're accustomed to." Millard spoke up, "Unlike the ones that fall of Cairnholm, we don't know where they're going to land!"
"All the more reason to get what we came for and quickly!" Emma said.
"Let's find somewhere safe to hide until the bombing's through." Olive suggested.
"Nowhere is truly safe. Those bombs can penetrate even a deep shelter." Hugh said.
"They can't penetrate a loop." Emma said, "And if there's a tale about this cathedral, there's probably a loop entrance here too."
"Perhaps." Millard said speculating, "Hand me the book, I shall investigate." Bronwyn handed him the book and he began reading the tale, searching for any mention of a loop entrance. They all became more worried as the cathedral shook from the bombs but Millard continued to read.
"And to this very day, you'll find the cathedral they built standing on the tallest hill in London, the pigeons watching over it. The end." He finished as he closed the book.
"Yes, but watching over it from where?" Emma asked exasperated. Then another bomb fell shaking the whole building again only this time, from high overhead, came a fluttering of wings. They all looked up to see three frightened pigeons shoot out of their hiding place, fly through the nave and through a doorway. The group reached the doorway a few seconds later where it led down a set of spiral steps. They sprinted down the stairs until they came to a large dimly lit room walled and floored with stone. It was cold and damp and Aurora felt Millard wrap his arm around her for warmth. Olive pulled her glove off and sparked a flame in her hand so they could see the room. Stretching from wall to wall were marble slabs chiseled with written names and dates.
"This is no basement." Emma said, "it's a crypt."