Chapter Text
“Killing sheep?” Horace murmured, looking baffled. “That’s… odd. I can’t think of many predators on Cairnholm that would attack sheep, much less eviscerate them in such a fashion.”
Emma shrugged. “I got nothin’. Best I can think of is… maybe a bear? But there’s no bears on the island, unless somebody brought their own in the last ninety-something years.”
“That’s what I figured,” I replied, somewhat disappointed. Even if I’d expected it, I still wasn’t exactly pleased to hear that the peculiar children had no more answers than I did. “It’s just sort of weird, though, and I heard a lot of… muttering when I left town this morning. None of the townsfolk can figure it out, and I’m a little worried about what might happen if the mystery sheep-killer decides to strike for a bigger target.”
Fiona leaned in towards Hugh’s ear, and the boy spoke in her stead. “Fi and I think it might not be a normal issue. Or, well — not an issue the normals usually handle, I mean.”
“What, like a peculiar creature?” Millard’s tone was sceptical, the ghost of a raised eyebrow prevalent on his face.
Bronwyn shrugged. “Could be. Horace?”
He shook his head, still looking baffled. It almost seemed more confusing to him than it did to me, and I found myself wondering if we really should have bothered Miss Peregrine with the matter instead of hosting an impromptu meeting of peculiar children in the sitting room. “I’ve no clue what sort of creature would rip up its prey like that without even eating a morsel, neither a normal or peculiar one. Even peculiar beasts don’t kill without cause, and certainly not sheep. They’re idiots.”
“True. Sheep will starve even when there’s food right in front of them, just because they can’t find the trough on their own,” Olive told us sagely. We hadn’t exactly intended to have such a heavy conversation with Olive and Claire both present, but it didn’t feel right to leave them out. Besides, Claire was perfectly at home between Emma and Bronwyn, and Olive seemed to be doing well pressed up against Horace’s side with Millard leaning against her. If need be, I was sure that they’d be comforted immediately at the first sign of distress. And while Olive wanted to contribute to the conversation a bit, I doubted Claire would, as she seemed more content to listen and observe.
Enoch huffed from his place on the floor (which he had claimed despite there being a completely open seat on the sofa with Hugh and Fiona). “Does it matter if this thing’s killing sheep? You could’ve at least brought me a sheep heart for all this trouble you’re causing for my schedule. I’ve got things to do, you know!”
“No, you don’t, you haven’t a single responsibility in this whole house,” Emma retorted. “And besides, weren’t you listening? Jacob can’t bring you a sheep heart if it’s all mangled by the time anyone finds the body.”
“Fine, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Well, I don’t like it,” Bronwyn said. “It’s rather dangerous, isn’t it, Mr Jacob? Will you be safe if you go back to your town tonight?”
I hesitated, thinking of my father, but I quickly pushed the thought to the back of my mind. “Of course I will. I can’t leave you guys all alone, now can I?”
And I wouldn’t. Even if my father was worried about whatever was killing the sheep, he had always been more likely to confine me to my room because he was mad at me than because he was worried. If anything, I should have been more concerned about him grounding me than anything else.
But I wasn’t about to tell the peculiars that. They had enough on their minds already without me bringing up the weird sheep murders, and I refused to add to that by mentioning yet another personal problem. I couldn’t selfishly force them to contend with my issues.
“As long as you’re sure,” Bronwyn responded sagely, and the others nodded along, even Enoch.
“I still want a sheep heart,” he commented. “If you get the chance, try and steal me one if it’s still intact. I’ve got a jar you can borrow to put it in and everything, and there’s plenty of space for it since I’m all out of cow bits.”
Horace rolled his eyes at that. “Only because you decided to have a bit of ‘fun’ with them. It’s your own fault you’ve run your stock dry.”
“Did I say it wasn’t? Doesn’t change the fact that I’m out, you know.”
“I’ll let you know if one of the sheep comes out of this with its organs intact,” I promised, interrupting their argument before it could spiral. “But I don’t know that I can bring it back for you – I don’t think my dad would like it very much if he saw.”
“Then don’t let him see,” Enoch said bluntly.
Emma shot him a look. “We are trying not to piss off the adult in charge of Jacob, thank you, Enoch.”
“Language, Miss Bloom.”
Every one of us jumped at the sound of Miss Peregrine’s voice as the woman stepped into the room, looking just as graceful and poised as usual, though there seemed to be a slight air of tension about her.
She regarded each of us with mild bemusement. “Quite an interesting conversation for a parlour gathering. Is there any particular reason you’re having a clandestine meeting in the sitting room, children?”
A few of us exchanged glances before Olive spoke up. “A wild animal was attacking sheep in Jacob’s time and he was telling us about it, and then Enoch got gross and started asking for sheep guts–”
“Hearts,” Enoch interrupted.
“–sheep hearts , and Jacob said his father wouldn’t like a sheep heart, and Emma said we probably shouldn’t make Jacob’s father mad because he’s in charge of Jacob and he might get in trouble.”
Miss Peregrine nodded. “Thank you, Miss Elephanta. Would the rest of you like to add anything?”
“No, I think she said about all of it,” Hugh said, and we all nodded in agreement.
“I see. Well, Mr. Portman,” began Miss Peregrine, turning to me, “if there is in fact a predator in your time, I suggest you be careful when travelling to and from the loop entrance. The woods can be dangerous under the right circumstances, and I believe that all of us would prefer you wholly intact and unharmed.”
“I think I’d prefer myself that way too, ma’am.”
oOoOo
It ended up being Emma who walked me to the loop entrance that evening, much to my surprise. As far as I could tell, she was still upset over the thing with my grandfather, not to mention the unfortunate circumstances in which we’d met. It was sort of weird that she would offer to voluntarily be around me, given her opinions, but I certainly wasn’t going to complain.
We walked in silence for a bit, but eventually, Emma presumably became fed up with it and burst out with a question. “What the hell is your deal? ”
I stopped short, turning to her with a furrowed brow. “…Pardon?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” She frowned. “You just show up out of nowhere, tell us that Abe is dead, and now something’s eviscerating sheep? Even you have to admit that that’s a pretty weird coincidence. ”
The way Emma said it suggested that she did not, in fact, think it was a coincidence. I suppressed a wince. “Look, I… i don’t know why all this is happening at the same time, but I promise you, I’m not trying to cause trouble or start anything. I’m really sorry if I’ve been– been messing things up for you guys, or–”
Emma sighed through her nose, cutting me off. “You’re apologising? ”
“...Should I not? You seemed upset, so I thought– I didn’t mean to–”
“I don’t need an apology, Jacob,” she said flatly. “I want to know what’s going on . Is there something you haven’t told us?”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but–
There was something.
I hadn’t told anyone about it – about the monster I’d seen on the night of my grandfather’s death. It was so hard to believe, so hard to justify my assumption that the creature was real, even harder to explain a hallucination, and yet… even now, I still couldn’t get the thing’s emaciated, ashen visage out of my head.
Emma’s eyes narrowed at my hesitation. “There is something.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Nothing you’d believe. Goodnight, Emma.”
I didn’t look back as I stepped into the loop entrance, knowing that all I would find was Emma glaring even harder.
And maybe I deserved it.