The Thirteenth

Part 25

When the dust cleared and children stopped coughing the door to the room from the side of the chancel opened and an old man in priest's robe came out.

"Who are you, children?" He asked looking at the bunch of kids of different ages staring at him in surprise.

"Oh, I'm Mrs. Oren," Karen immediately jumped into the scene to give children some time to adapt. She approached the man and shook his hand firmly. "I'm the principal of the orphanage on Cairnholm. And you are Mr.?" She stood right in front of the man to hide some of the kids from man's gimlet eye. In her long lasting life Karen met a lot of priests and even worked with some trying to get rid of the vampire clan in Norfolk but this one she didn't like at first view. His facial features were similar to an annoying ferret, who sticks its nose where one doesn't belong.

"Father Donovan," he presented himself shaking her hand. "If you're searching shelter in our modest temple, you're welcome."

"Thank you, father." Karen smiled at him. Probably he hasn't seen Millard or the twins yet. That's why he was so welcoming. "Can you show us the room where we can stay at night? We had a very long day. Children are terrified. The best thing for them is to have a nice shelter where they can relax."

"It'll be my pleasure to show you the rooms. But first, I'd like to get acquainted with your fosterlings." He told politely not hiding his curiosity.

"My name's Emma," the blonde teenage in strange metal boots came forward followed by Jake, Fiona, Hugh and Horace.

"These are the twins," Olive presented two boys who wore sunglasses. Their skin was too pale to be normal, but the dust from stones played its role. So, the brothers seemed pretty normal. They both bowed not making a sound.

"Don't you think it will be more polite if you took of your sunglasses in presence of ladies? Besides, you're in the temple of God." The old man reprimanded.

"Unfortunately, their eyes are too sensitive to any kind of light. The doctor didn't recommend them to take their glasses even at night. Poor boys have to wear special masks when they are going to bed," Karen explained.

"What a strange disease. I've never heard about it," said the priest.

"It's a very rare one."

Suddenly Father Donovan spotted Millard who was sneezing behind the church bench. He took of his glasses, hat and kerchief that covered half of his face. His invisible face was partially covered in dust which made it look even more hideous.

"What was it? This is an evil spirit! Run out of here. There's a back door right behind the dressing rooms," he informed the company taking out his string of beads with the cross. "In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti…" The priest began the praying.

"I'm afraid it's also a disease, Father," said Enoch watching skeptically the old man.

"I'm Enoch and this is Millard." The teen continued.

"Here, drink this." Fiona gave the invisible boy her flask with water.

"Thanks," came the voice from partially dusty face.

Father Donovan stopped at the spot he was standing opening and closing his mouth still citing something but much softer. The hair at the back of his head stood on end.

"Yes, Father Donovan. Our orphanage is for children with various peculiarities. They are not like everyone else you know," explained Karen. She saw that the man was in such a shock that he could do any stupid thing now and he did.

He made a step back shouting: "Get back or I throw holy water on you!"

He moved fast to baptistery.

"It won't work either. I understand how hard it is to believe but they are as real as I'm." In one long jump Karen turned into cheetah ad landed on the chest of the priest whose hair became even whiter in some seconds. "Now listen to me carefully," cheetah roared. "Is there anybody in the church?"

"N…o-o-o," mumbled Father Donovan his old body trembling under the muscular body of the animal, who was sitting right on his chest.

"Nice! We'll stay one night here and go away in the morning. You will be under my supervision until we go away. Don't try to mess with me 'cause I'm not in the mood for stupid religious debates. Take us as you find us. If you have something against it, you may shove it up your ass. Got it?!"

The old man nodded. She let him go.

"Jake, find the rope and tie his hands. Olive and Enoch, search the rooms at the back of the church. Close the back door. I don't want any other guests. Emma and Horace, see if there are any beds to sleep or any comfortable place to put the sleeping bags. I want everyone to be sound asleep in an hour." Karen turned into her human self wraping over the folds of her ripped away shirt.

The night flew without any dramatic events. In the morning Karen asked Olive and Horace to cook oatmeal for 14 people. They had an enormous pot which the woman so thoughtfully asked to take as well as some food. Olive heated the pot with water. The boy poured a packet of oatmeal and added some dried pears and apples in it. Everyone enjoyed hot meal for breakfast even Father Donovan, whose hands were untied during the eating occasion.

"As you see, we are not as bad as you thought," Hugh commented taking a spoonful of porridge while his bees danced above the plate. He addressed to the priest, who also had a plate with the oatmeal in his hands.

"Don't waste your time on him, Hugh," told Millard to his friend. "For him I will be evil no matter what."

After breakfast Karen ordered children to collect their things and get ready to leave the temporary shelter. Enoch and Jacob accompanied the priest to the back rooms, where they locked the old man in one of the them.

"We can't leave Farther Donovan like that!" protested Bronwyn.

"Why, Mighty?" Karen turned to the girl.

"When other people find him, he'll tell them about us."

"And what will he tell that he saw an invisible boy? Or maybe he might tell about Claire's back mouth?" spoke Enoch folding his sleeping bag. "They will put him in a loony-bin the minute he touches upon this story."

"Enoch's right, Bronwyn. Normal people don't know anything about peculiars, or immortals, or vampires and witches. They think everything is imaginary." Karen assured the child. "Whatever Father Donovan might say, nobody's going to listen to him."

The woman went to an empty room and changed into a wonderful black and white dress with small flowery print on it. She put on makeup and changed into very comfortable shoes on heels but not too high. Her red lipstick, hair up and a small hat added to the new look. She was adorable. The boys gasped when she appeared with a huge suitcase in her hand.

"I thought we were going on a long journey not to a party," Horace stared at the woman satisfied with the look but also confused by it.

"Won't we go to the railway station?" asked Millard even more surprised.

"No, we won't," answered Karen. "Right now all the people of this town want to go as far as possible from here. That's why all the tickets will be sold by now. The only thing we can do is to find a vehicle to transport you. We can hire it or try to persuade the officers to lend us one until we get to the point. So, I would like to see your tidiest clothes and best expressions on your faces. Millard, please, use the make-up Eva gave you not long ago and please, put on the glasses and gloves. I know how you feel about it, but we need to be careful. Twins will wear glasses and I would like you to be quite silent in public places, if we don't want to frighten the normal people."

Even though children and teens didn't like the idea of doing the things Karen asked of. They understood that it was necessary. Firstly, the appearance of some of them can cause others a lot of trouble. Secondly, they didn't have to influence much the reality because the butterfly effect could lead to some unpredictable events in the future that already happened. They were aware of it and nobody wanted to make things even more complicated, so they agreed with the woman.

Outside was a mess. Half demolished buildings vomited their insides out in the street where stones, bricks and ruined furniture were mixed with cobblestone road. Desperate people were fishing out some belongings they thought would help them somehow in the future. Others were looting the abandoned houses while the owners were not at home yet. A woman was crying over her dead toddler, who was killed by the tile that fell from the roof. In this chaos Miss Peregrine's protégées seemed like exemplary children from the advertisement where a family was heading on holiday. All of them were wearing tidy clothes. Their boots were shining and each had a bag, a suitcase or a backpack in their hands or on their backs. They were shocked to see the small port town in ruins but Karen was in the head of the procession and nobody wanted to get lost. Even the youngest ones kept up with the pace of the blonde woman.

To their sheer disappointment Karen was right. The railway station was overcrowded. Groups of people came with their families, relatives and friends trying to flee from the city. The square in front of the railway was filled with people from all social categories. Children didn't stop at the point but went straight to try their luck at the nearest car hire which was as crowded as the railway station. Rumors about the next air attack went from mouth to mouth, which weren't unreasonable because Karen knew that they had to leave the town before evening. Another attack at 18:33 would tear the remaining building to tatters. Still, she didn't think it would be so hard to hire a car or a vehicle to take the kids as far from this place as possible. At midday they didn't manage to find anything appropriate. Enoch and Jacob also came with nothing after 3 hours of searching for an appropriate means of transport that they could hire. Little ones started to get tired from all this unnecessary walking and Claire complained that she can't make even a step anymore.

"Fine, there is a diner over there." Karen pointed to the opposite side of the street. "Emma, here's the money. Take everyone there and eat something. I'll try something else. Bronwyn, are you too hungry or you can come with me? I need some help."

"Sure, I'll come with you." The girl eagerly nodded.

"Great. Emma, buy us also some takeaway food. We eat when we come back."

They left others at the diner. Karen took just a small purse with her and took Bronwyn's hand in hers. It seemed they were luckier this time because Karen and Bronwyn returned in 40 minutes accompanied by two soldiers who were vividly talking to the woman.

"As you see here they are," Karen told the soldiers who were amazed to see other children. "Children, meet Mr. Grayson and Mr. Mullin. Their commander was so kind that they are going to evacuate us to a safer place."

"Yeah, and how are they going to do that by speed-marching us to the place?" Enoch commented not satisfied with the minuscule portion of fish and chips eaten 10 minutes ago.

"You should be more polite to your principal, boy!" said one of the soldiers. "We have a truck at the unit. We came to help you with bags."

"Let's go then." Enoch stood up from the suitcase which he used as a stool, grabbed it and went after the soldiers. Others followed.

To be continued…

It's quite a shame that I don't remember which animal Karen should turn into because I haven't written this story for a long while. So, if I made a mistake, please, tell me. Unfortunately, I don't have time to reread all 24 chapters again as I'm pretty busy.