A Map of Days (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #4)(97)

“Okay.” Lilly took a sip of her coffee. Swirled it a little. “What’s she going through?”

I traded a glance with Emma. How much could we say? Even if we could trust Lilly, what would she believe?

“Something’s happening to her that she doesn’t know how to make sense of,” said Bronwyn.

“And she can’t go to her parents about it,” I added.

“Foster parents,” Lilly said.

“It might be affecting her body,” said Emma. “Changing it.”

“There could be people watching her,” said Millard. “People she doesn’t know. And it’s frightening.”

“You’re describing the experience of almost every teenage girl,” said Lilly.

“And,” I said, leaning toward her and lowering my voice, “she can do things other people can’t. Things that don’t seem possible.”

“Powerful, dangerous things,” Millard added.

Lilly was still for a moment. Then she said very quietly, “Yes.”

“We know what she’s going through because we’ve all been through it ourselves,” Emma said. “Each of us in our own way.”

And then we told her, one by one, the peculiar things we could do. She listened quietly, nodding, saying very little. She did not seem frightened. She did not run away.

Millard was the last to speak. I could sense his reluctance. That he liked this girl was obvious, and he didn’t want to let go of the fantasy he’d been entertaining for the last few hours, in which he was just a normal guy who maybe, maybe had a chance with her.

“And I, my dear—this is Millard speaking—I regret to inform you that, well, like my friends here, I, too, am not completely normal . . .”

Enoch shook his head. “Ugh, this is painful.”

“It’s all right, Millard,” said Lilly. “I know.”

“You do?”

“You’re invisible.”

I couldn’t see Millard’s expression, but I could guess at it—eyes wide, mouth hanging open.

“How—how did you—”

“I’m not completely blind,” she said. “A lot of blind people have a little bit of vision. I have about ten percent. Not enough to get by without this cane, but more than enough to tell when a voice is talking to me out of thin air! I gotta say, at first I thought I was losing it, but when you started asking me about Noor, it all began to make sense.”

“I hardly know what to say,” said Millard.

“I knew Noor couldn’t be the only one.”

“My dear, why didn’t you say something?” Millard said.

“I wanted to see if you’d admit it.” Lilly smiled. “I’m glad you did.”

“I feel so silly,” said Millard. “I hope you don’t think me a cad.”

“Not at all,” said Lilly. “You’ve got to be careful, I’m sure. But so do I.” She lowered her voice. “You’re not the only people looking for her, you know.”

“Who else is?” I asked. “Police?”

“No. I’m not sure who they are. They came to her house, and to school, asking questions.”

“What do they look like?” I said.

“She’s blind,” said Enoch.

“Yes, you keep pointing that out,” said Lilly. “They’re the people who came after Noor at school, after what happened with the lights in the auditorium. They cornered her in the bathroom, and she was forced to defend herself.”

My mind went right to the vice principal-ish man and his cold-eyed companion. Could they have been peculiar? Or wights, even?

“Noor says they drive SUVs with the windows blacked out,” Lilly went on. “They pose as authority figures. Cops, social workers, school faculty. She can’t trust adults at all anymore.” Lilly looked pained. “She’s the strongest person I know. And I’ve never seen her so scared of anything.”

“We were sent here to help her,” Emma said. “I think we’re supposed to protect her from those people.”

“So, you told me what you can do,” she said, “but who are you?”

“We’re Miss Peregrine’s peculiar children,” said Bronwyn.

“You know what,” said Enoch. “That doesn’t sound quite right anymore.”

“We don’t know what we’re called yet,” I said. “But my grandfather was in . . . sort of like the FBI, for people like us? And we’re taking over.”

“Oddfellows,” said Lilly. “The Oddfellows . . . League of . . . Defense.”

“It spells O-L-D,” said Bronwyn.

“Did she just make up a name for us?” said Bronwyn. “On the spot?”

“I like it,” said Millard.

“Of course you do,” said Enoch.

“If we can’t find your friend and help her, we won’t need a fancy name,” said Emma. “We’ll be back in the Acre getting punished for the rest of our natural lives.”

“Can you take us to her?” I asked.

“She’s in hiding,” said Lilly. “But I can send her a message to ask if she’ll meet you.”