After the incident in the kitchen Miss Grimm, Miss Bank, Mr McClary and Cook left George alone. Nothing was ever said about the monster and the kitchen was repaired without explanation. George knew that he should be happy, he was out of trouble. Not being punished was the best gift you could be given at Slaven Castle, but instead the young boy was disappointed. No matter how hard he tried, George could not bring back the monster from the kitchen, he had gone from having a wonderful magical talent to being an ordinary under privileged orphan again. George would sit on his bed at night and try to force the thing to reappear. He had tried clenching his fists and squeezing his head, holding his breath, making himself angry, jumping up and down. Nothing made the beast come back. When George had told some of the other orphans what had happened in the kitchen that night they had laughed at him. He couldn't blame them; he would have laughed too. For the first time in his life George realised he was very different from the others and it made him feel extremely lonely.
The summer turned into autumn, then into winter, and before very long George had turned ten. He wasn't exactly sure which day his birthday was, he had worked out it was probably around the first week in December. He picked the fifth, it didn't really matter anyway, non of the children's birthdays were celebrated at Slaven.
It was six thirty am and all the orphans were lined up outside in the castle grounds, their thin undernourished bodies shivering in unison in the cold frosty air. Dressed inadequately in threadbare uniforms they stood as close as they could to each other in an attempt to share body heat. This was the time of day that the children had their daily drill. The drill consisted of various exercises usually including sit ups, jumping jacks, planks and press ups, it concluded with a cross country run of seven laps of the castle. The child who came last was usually carted off and given some horrible form of punishment.
On this particular day, which was as I have mentioned before was the day young George had picked as his birthday, The orphan was feeling particularly somber and in need of some form of excitement. As he was passing the perimeter wall on his second lap of the castle the young boy had the idea that maybe if his life was in danger, like it was on the day the dog beast showed up, his powers would finally work again. Without hesitation George broke off from the pack to some curious looks from the other orphans. A few shook their heads in disapproval, wondering if they would all end up being punished for Georges stupidity. George began to climb the wall. It was difficult, and it made his fingers sore pressing them into the narrow spaces between the small red bricks, but the child was determined and he eventually climbed about ten feet up. This time he thought I've cracked it, the monster definitely appeared in the kitchen because I was so scared, and once again thought George I am definitely scared. George tried not to look down but ended up opening his eyes a slit anyway. The ground danced up and down in front of the poor boy's vision and it was all he could do to cling onto the bricks for dear life. He counted to three and then willed himself to let go, but his fingers remained stubbornly attached to the solid structure. He managed to hold on for a whole ten minutes, his survival instincts battling furiously with his curiosity, until he could not physically grip for one more second. George's fingers finally gave in and he fell for what felt like an eternity until he hit the hard flagstones with a bang collapsing and splitting his head open in the process. As he lay semi conscious on the cold stone floor the boy became aware of huge powerful arms lifting him up from the ground. As he looked up to see who had rescued him he was shocked to see the tangled hairy beard of the school grounds keeper. Panic rose in Georges chest, he was done for now. If the caretaker told Miss Grimm what had happened she would most definitely punish him, he was going to be sent to the dungeons for sure. George tried to speak but Mr McClary glared down at him with golden eyes that were almost animalistic in their odd colour with their strange shaped pupils. Maybe it's best to keep silent, thought George.
The hairy groundskeeper carried the young boy into the front door of the castle. Please don't turn right please don't turn right, thought George. That way led to Miss Grimm's room and then probably the castle dungeons. The caretaker turned left, George let out a huge sigh, he carried George straight to the castle's medical ward. The huge man lay George down in a bed next to a window. Before the young orphan could speak or thank the caretaker he had disappeared again through the exit doors and one of the nurses had arrived to FIX him. Fixing the children was a much more accurate description of what the nurses did in the infirmary. Taking care of the children was definitely not what the nurses did. The poor boy spent the next five days on the cold horrible ward. The monster remained elusive, and George had to endure twelve stitches without any pain relief for all of his efforts. He had however managed to avoid Miss Grimm and her terrible punishment so that was something.
George's stitches were healed nicely by the time Christmas Day arrived, but it was just the same as any other day at the castle. Father Christmas failed to visit the children as he did every year. Miss Grimm declared that they were too naughty and worthless to get presents. That night as they lay shivering in their beds underneath threadbare sheets, George and the other starving orphans wished to be far away from Slaven castle, in warm home's with people who cared about them. As they fell asleep the children dreamed of the families that they would never have. The families that they wanted even more than they wanted food.
In the middle of the night a huge clap of thunder woke George. The sound shook the rafters in the attic where he slept. Strange thought the small boy today had been bitterly cold, at one point it had almost snowed. Not really thunder conditions.
There was a dazzlingly bright fork of lightning.
George thought this was odd again. Surely the lightning should come first? Maybe I missed the first bolt whilst sleeping he thought. The young boy climbed down from his bunk, crossed the room and looked at the sky through a tiny crack in the attic wall.
"George," whispered a voice from on top of one of the bunks, "get back to bed before you get us all into trouble." George considered the request for a moment. It wasn't that he was naughty, it was just that curiosity got the better of him sometimes and he forgot about the rules.
"Yeah George," Called another. "if Grimm finds you out of bed again we'll all get punished. Do you want to end up in the dungeon?"
No thought the young orphan, I certainly do not.
He was just about to climb back into bed when a booming knock came from the front door of the castle five floors directly below them.
George ran to the other side of the dorm and found another crack. This one gave him a slither of a view of the front door. There was a tiny figure standing on the steps dressed from head to toe in a scarlet cloak, little red riding hood.
"What's going on George?" came a new whisper, the threat of the dungeon forgotten for a moment with this new and exciting development.
"What can you see George?" Asked another.
Someone opened the castle door and the red cloaked figure entered. There were voices inside the hall and George retreated hastily back up to his bunk.
Just in time.
Miss Bank barged her huge square form into the room. "If any of you creatures speak again I'll move the beds down to the dungeons and you can spend the night with Mad Lord McGuinness whispering in your ear."
The children all held their breath until their lungs almost burst, finally the door slammed shut and booming footsteps retreated along the corridor.
Miss Grimm was in her room, hiding underneath a feather duvet, trembling violently. The only part of her body visible was her crooked hand. She used it to stroke a stone carving of a dragon by the side of her bed. This was where Grimm spent passing storms, locked in amongst the treasures she had stolen from the castle. The ugly old bag itched and picked at the red rimmed skin around her dead slimy eye. Whenever there was thunder and lightening it prickled and tingled with heat, just as it had on the day of her accident. Every flash or bang made her jump a foot in the air. If she wasn't such a vile and disgusting woman one could have almost pitied her. This was George Adamson's fault Grimm contemplated in the dark black recesses of her cruel twisted mind. That horrible vermin had brought the storm with him when he had arrived nine years ago and now she was half the woman she used to be.
There was a knock at the door, Grimm regained her composure. "Enter." It was Bank. "Another child has arrived ma'am." She reported. Grimm acknowledged her with a nod.
The new arrival, a small girl of about nine, was unceremoniously removed of all her personal items and re-clothed in the standard St Slaven school uniform. Grey from head to toe with a grey embroidered castle on the left breast. Her Strange red cloak and clothes were taken away and stored in a large room on the second floor of the castle. They were in good company, this was where all the belongings taken from the other orphans over the years were stored. The newbie was shown up to the attic and bundled into her bunk. It happened to be the one beneath Georges. The other children remained completely silent and after a while the small girl could be heard sobbing. Nobody knew what to do, they stayed quiet and hoped that she would stop soon so that they could get some sleep. George reached his hand out into the gloom of the attic, down through the narrow bars of his bunk to where the sobbing girl lay. After a while he felt tiny ice cold fingers grip his digits and the sobbing stopped, at last the children fell asleep.
George woke at five am, freezing cold with a dead arm, he wiggled his fingers around for a moment and then peered over the side of his bed. The new arrival was awake. The smaller than average girl had huge dark brown eyes and dark black hair cut into a bob. A straight thick shiny fringe framed her delicate face. Her dark hair and eyes were in stark contrast to her very white skin. She was whiter than anyone George had ever met.
"I'm George Adamson." George introduced himself holding out his right hand.
The girl bit her bottom lip. "I'm Ruby Fortuna." She replied in a small but steady voice, gripping Georges fingers weakly and shaking them.
"How did you get here Ruby?" Asked the cheerful ten year old boy.
Ruby shook her head. "I don't remember anything." She answered, a confused look on her face.
Without warning Ruby's eyes glazed over and she looked through George as if he were transparent. Her irises had changed from mahogany to ice blue. George's breath caught in the back of his throat. She's magic he thought.
"Miss Grimm is coming for you." Ruby told George in a voice that sounded as if she were talking underwater. "Stand there." The strange possessed girl pointed to the corner of the attic.
George moved without hesitation just as Miss Grimm came barging through the attic door. "Where is George Adamson?" She screeched like a banshee.
The children remained silent and George stood stock still safely hidden in the horrible woman's blind spot. Ruby took up her position at the spindly bags' useless left ear. Run there George she directed, pointing to a spot just as the vicious viper turned her head. George moved, remaining in the old woman's blind spot. The other children stood in amazed silence.
"A piece of chocolate cake for the child who gives me George." Offered Grimm.
Again Ruby pointed and again George ducked out of the way, keeping on the blind side of the puckered old witch.
"Ok," The old woman rubbed her hands together and grinned. "two slices of chocolate cake."
Ruby turned around to look at a thin pale boy standing directly behind her.
"Charlie," She addressed him. "before you think of saying anything you need to be made aware. The cake she is going to give you will be made out of dog poo. It won't contain one gram of chocolate in any shape or form. If you shout out now she'll make you eat it all up in front of her. All of it!"
Charlie's mouth dropped open. How did she know his name? And how did she know he was going to tell? He decided very firmly to keep quiet.
Five more times Ruby pointed and five more times George avoided Grimm. Eventually the wrinkly old rattlesnake gave up and went in search of him somewhere else. George sat down on the end of Ruby's bed with a large sigh and then grinned at her with one of his award winning, super tooth, mega watt grins. "How did you just do that Ruby?" He asked, shocked but thankful that she had saved his skin.
Ruby shrugged and bit her lip, George's smile had given her butterflies. "I can see into the future." She replied simply. "I can only see a little way, I can't usually see much past a day. Sometimes though I get a vision of the distant future but that happens without me trying. Those visions come to me by themselves and I don't always understand them."
George carried on grinning, his christmas present had finally turned up. Ruby was magic like him and he couldn't believe it. The other children simply sat and stared.
George and Ruby managed to continue to avoid Miss Grimm most days for the rest of the year by using the odd girl's mysterious power. It never failed once. Ruby would stay on the mad old woman's deaf side and keep George in her blind spot. Without her George was sure that he would not have survived to see his eleventh birthday. Ruby saved George daily from the clutches of their evil guardian, but he saved her every second of her waking day with his megawatt grin. It was the only thing that made her want to wake up in the dreadful confines of the castle. Ruby was not sure who or what she had left behind on the night she arrived at Slaven, but a sadness that she couldn't explain followed her around no matter where she went, or what she did.
Witnessing Ruby using her powers daily and being able to summon them at will, made George even more frustrated that he could not control his own. When the young boy asked his best friend what she did to make her magic work Ruby shrugged. "I'm not always able to control it," She answered. " I feel something trying to get in and it's as if I just open the door and let it. If there's something or someone specific I am trying to see I think long and hard about that person or thing and my mind just seems to find them." George thought for a moment about telling Ruby what had happened in the kitchen. He was worried that she would laugh like the other orphans had. Sensing that he had something difficult to say Ruby touched the young boys arm reassuringly. "Go on George," She encouraged, "you can tell me anything, I promise I won't make fun of you." George explained what had happened to him in the kitchen the night the strange beast had appeared. Ruby nodded, "You will workout how to use your magic George." She reassured him positively. George smiled but he didn't feel confident. It had been over a year since the incident in the kitchen and nothing had happened since. He was beginning to doubt whether it was his power that had summoned the creature, or if it had been something to do with the creepy caretaker who had been hanging around that night.
With the addition of Ruby to his life George could finally stay ahead of all of the teachers. For the first time in his short existence the small boy had an idea of what freedom felt like. The duo would often wander the corridors of the castle at night using Ruby's gift to avoid any of Slaven's horrible staff. One evening the pair decided to try and get to the library. As cruel and as grotesque as Miss Grimm was she made sure that the children of Slaven were educated, and they were both able to read and write. George loved to read but had only ever been to the library once before and he'd only stayed for a meagre hour. To George the insufficient countdown of minutes while inside the vast book filled room remained the most wonderful he had ever experienced. There had been leather bound texts from floor to ceiling, some telling stories about children who had parents who loved them. Books about adults who were kind and not cruel. Books about the sea and different countries a thousand miles away from the desolate school. For a small boy with no memory at all of being anywhere outside the castle grounds the library had blown Georges mind.
Someone important had arrived at the school to open the new library that glorious day. George had had no idea who the important person was, he had been too busy hopping from one leg to the other in excitement, trying not to get into trouble for being too happy and desperate to get his hands on the books! The children had been scrubbed up and dressed nicely, they had been allowed inside the cavernous room and were even able to look through all of the new books. The smell of paper had been intoxicating and George had run around in circles for the majority of the hour, trying to decide which wondrous rectangular gift to choose first.
When they arrived at the library this evening the children both gasped in wonder. George thought that the magnificent room was as spectacular in real life as it was in his memory. The young boy slid a random book from where it had nestled unopened for years. It was covered in a thick grey layer of dust. A little of the dust made its way up Georges left nostril, but before it could begin its disruptive tickle a stick thin marble white wrist shot out from nowhere, and fingers pinched the bridge of the small boy's nose. After a few seconds Ruby let go and George beamed.
George recalled how Immediately after the important person who opened the library had gone, the children were herded back to their filthy dorm and the door was slammed behind them. The library was closed, the children banned from entering and for a while the horrible adults of Slaven succeeded in shattering the spirits of the miserable orphans.
Ruby plucked some books authoritatively from their dusty slumber at random points along sporadic shelves. She then grabbed a useless awestruck George by the arm and led him to a corner where they huddled down together with their paper treasures. Ruby tossed a large red book over to George, whilst licking a delicate index finger and opening a thick leather bound blue one. She flicked through the pages with purpose. George's book was an index book about mythical creatures. After a few minutes of searching he discovered an illustration of an Alphyn, nestled in amongst a long description about mermaids and a discussion on Minotaur.
"This is it!" He informed Ruby excitedly, the mega grin was back. "My creature was definitely one of these."
Ruby nodded, she had not a single doubt that her friend had transported an Alphyn into the castle kitchen that night just as he'd described. The small girl tore the page from the book with a long satisfied grin. George's mouth dropped open with shock at her ruthless destruction. A jagged edge of paper stuck up from his book like a wound where the page had been decapitated. Ruby shrugged. "So you can concentrate on it to see if you can bring it back. I'd love to see that thing bite Miss Bank on the arse." George burst into laughter. The young girl had managed to pick up some extremely vulgar language from the other orphans since being at Slaven and she was not scared to use it.
George and Ruby spent most of their evenings in the library after that first wonderful visit. They spoke about the things they read, their future and what they would do when they finally escaped the school. They discussed in detail the night Ruby arrived and the red cloak George had seen her wearing on the doorstep. Ruby tried in vain to remember her life before the school and her parents, but not even the vaguest impression of a memory existed of her life before she arrived at the castle, no matter how hard she tried.