by John Wallis
Hiding From Seagulls
I awoke from sleep and before I could remember where I was Jane's wing was pressed tightly over my mouth. Her beak pressed against my ear and she whispered"You're the last one to wake."
"The army are going door to door searching for you. I want you to get under that big pile of laundry."
I didn't question the owl and made for the giant laundry basket. I pulled as many of the hotel's bedsheets as I could on top of me. What I was left with was a tight squeeze but not at all an uncomfortable one and I did consider going back to sleep. I decided to look for a peek hole in the blankets. I felt that I needed a way to see out that would not give me away. I found what I was looking for in a threadbare area of sheets. Slowly I began to relax a little.
Looking round the room I could see that Rob and Simon had each clambered under the beds. With bare mattresses over the bed they were well hidden. I was confident we wouldn't be detected on a quick glance. But if the room was searched for more than that quick glance we wouldn't make it undetected. Then came the sound of the wings flapping. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of seagull moving at the same time. Through the windows I saw clusters of them dropping from the main flock to search street by street. The operation was as organised as any military march. There was a flapping by a window in one of the other rooms. Stuart rushed to let the seagulls in.
Jane was about to close the door behind her. Up until now she had seemed calm. But with the Seagull Army at the door the pressure was beginning to show. She was a twitchier owl than she had been earlier. Before shutting the door she took one last look around the room.
"You will be fine children, just please stay where you are, and please keep quiet. Absolutely silent, I mean it, don't even breathe.”
I did exactly as she instructed except the no breathing part. Before long I heard the flapping of wings and the patter of claws moving up the corridor. The Seagulls must be checking each floor of the hotel in pairs. Taking a deep breath I tried to keep my breathing as steady as I could.
"I hear that Fifteen saw them in the tunnels under the mansion," One of the seagulls said to the other.
"You mean to tell me he didn't report them?"
"Yeah he reported them all right. Though he didn't know what an unclassified was and besides who would have thought they would make it out of those tunnels anyway."
The voices were coming closer now checking the room next door.
"Fifteen has got to have it wrong. If they were lost in those tunnels they’re done for. The Duchess is probably doing all this for nothing. I don't know what she is afraid off."
"You ever seen an unclassified?"
"Nope, never, and I can bet you Fifteen hasn't seen one either."
The two Seagulls lanterns lit the room. I thought I saw one of them look directly under the bed which for a Seagull was almost at head height but he hadn't spotted anything. His friend was looking directly at the pile of sheets I was hiding under. I tried not to catch his beady little eyes but he waddled a little towards me and began tugging at the laundry on the top of the pile a little with his beak.
"What are you doing Twenty-Two?” The other seagull asked.
"I thought I saw the laundry move Twenty-Six. But it's clear there's nothing in here."
Then one of the seagulls did something unexpected. He made a noise like a seagull. I mean a real squawk. It was the first time in this place that an animal had made an animal noise rather than talk like a human. Somewhere downstairs another Seagull returned the squawk.
"They’re all clear downstairs too," confirmed the other Seagull.
With that Seagull Twenty-Two flapped up to the door and made his way out.
Much like with the search lights earlier none of us moved for what seemed like a very long time.
Then in seemingly no time we were downstairs having breakfast with the Owls. It reminded me a little of my conversation that night with Madeline. Things were drifting together in an odd way. A way very different to how time usually passes.
"We can't stay here," said Simon. His sceptic self from earlier now washed away by a very real fear.
"We haven't got anywhere else to go though have we?" Rob added also now feeling much less brave.
"Simon's right," I said thinking aloud. "She must know we're around here and it's only a matter of time before she sends the Seagulls round again for a more thorough search."
We looked at each other gloomily with each of us munching on toast.
“You are welcome to stay another night but if the Duchess wants you out your best trying to get home,” Jane the owl replied.
“That's always the goal isn't it,” Madeline added. “Going home will put us against the Duchess. She wants us gone.”
"If the Duchess doesn’t want us here I’m fine with that," Simon announced "I would like to go home anyway."
"She isn't going to send us home," Madeline said dryly. "She wants to classify us whatever that means."
"I think we all know what we need to do next. If we can't stay here there is one way we can go."
"To the bus stop," Rob said to everyone's silent approval.
"Raheam Akbar maybe a bit miserable but he brought us here and if anyone can get us home it's him." I said summing up what I think the others were feeling.
"So that's our plan. We wait until dark. Then we go to the bus stop and hope that Raheam shows up," Simon said. It sounded hopeless but it was the best plan we had, because it was the only plan we had.
It wasn't long before the sun was a half orange disc in the distance. It dimly lit the field with a dying orange light. The tops of the long grass reflected back in the light. I had been to caught up in getting back home to admire where I was. The muddy path to the bus stop lay ahead of us and although it didn't seem to be a large field it took us some time to reach the main road.
Once at the roadside Madeline leaned on a signpost that read Wise-Owl's Guest House. The flap on the sign had been turned from Open to Closed.
“I bet they forgot to change this,” she said turning the sign back round to read Open.
I took a look back across the field at the building that had been both wise owl's hotel and Edward's mansion. It reminded me of watching the school nativity play. Where the backdrop is used for both the innkeepers house and then the stable every year.
“Do you remember where the bus stop is?” Rob asked looking round at our blank faces. Simon was getting more impatient with every passing second.
“Look we know the hotel was on the bus route. If we start walking in either direction it should take us to the next stop.”
He began walking leaving no room for argument.
We had spent a bit too much time at the guest house. The sun was almost down now giving way to total darkness. Some of the houses were lit by lamplight much like the hotel. Some of the house windows were lit using oil lamp placed in the centre. This place was not like London. There wasn't a single satellite dish to be seen on this street nor the flickering light of a television set. I began to worry that if we didn't find the bus stop soon we would be lost in total darkness.
“Found it,” Simon remarked sounding quite pleased with himself. The bus stop's here were marked with only a sign at the side of the road. There were no built up shelters like London and so no protection against the wind and rain. Not that it was windy, or raining, it was just very cold. The weather seemed to have changed so fast to a mid December chill and darkness had fallen so early. Time again was playing tricks against us.
Weirdly I could not remember what time of the year it was. It didn't seem to matter here.
I asked Madeline what month we were in but she too could no longer remember.
“I would have remembered myself this morning,” I said defensively. “But so much has happened since then and I am...”
“Not the same,” Madeline finished my sentence, then continued. “But if you're not the same, the next question, is 'Who in the world are you?”
She had used t
he words of Lewis Carol but the point was clear. We were lost in a world that was not familiar with memories that seemed fragmented. Fragmented memories in a very fragmented world.
Too deep you think? People think odd things when they’re being chased by an Army of Seagulls whilst looking for a bus in a strange place at night.
I didn't have much longer to think however because the bus was here. It was Raheam Akbar and he looked as happy to see us as he ever was. By that, naturally, I meant he looked pretty darn miserable.