The Power of Five Oblivion Read Free Page B

room.
    “A stranger?” John looked up from his porridge – or whatever slop he was eating.
    “I found him in the churchyard,” I said.
    “Where did he come from?”
    “I don’t know. He was just there.” I wasn’t going to tell them about the door. That still didn’t make any sense to me.
    “So who was he?” George asked. “What was his name?”
    “He said his name was Jamie. I didn’t talk to him much. He was just a boy about the same age as me. And he had a funny accent. I don’t think he was English.”
    “And you raised the alarm…?”
    This was the big question. Everyone waited for me to answer.
    “I didn’t have a chance to. Simon Reade and Mike Dolan found us together. They grabbed Jamie and they sent me home.”
    “They found you talking together? And you hadn’t raised the alarm?” Rita stared at me.
    I nodded miserably.
    “You don’t realize how much trouble you’re in. You broke the first rule of the village. The moment you saw him, you should have called for help.”
    “I know. But he was so young. And he was hurt. He was covered in blood.”
    “He’ll be worse than that when the Council have finished with him.”
    “You shouldn’t be angry with her,” George said. He had a way of talking, slow and deliberate, that always made you feel he’d thought very carefully about what he was about to say. “Holly didn’t help this boy come here and it wasn’t her fault she saw him first. And if he was hurt, it was only right she should try to help him.”
    “Simon and Mike won’t see it that way.”
    “They’ll try to make trouble. They always do. It makes them feel important.” George got up from the table and fetched the saucepan. “You’d better have something to eat,” he said. “We left you some stew.”
    “I’m not hungry.”
    “You should eat anyway.”
    I did as I was told. It was getting dark and Rita nodded at George, who got out a couple of candles and lit them. I would have preferred an electric light. The little flames somehow emphasized the darkness rather than illuminating it. I could feel the world outside and all sorts of unnamed troubles pressing in on me. But there was no reason to waste a battery. They were only kept for emergencies.
    There was a knock at the door. John went out and I expected him to return with Simon Reade or Mike Dolan, so I was relieved when it was Miss Keyland that he showed into the room.
    Anne Keyland was one of those people you couldn’t help liking. She was about sixty, but young with it, full of energy, striding around the place in her yellow wellington boots. She had lost a lot of weight recently and there were rumours that she was ill, but even if that had been the case, she would never have admitted it. She still ran the village school. She was also deputy chair of the Council. I guessed at once that was the reason she was here.
    She gave me a hug. “Holly. Trust you to get into trouble! A stranger in the village and you have to be the one who finds him. You’re going to have to tell me everything he said to you, my dear. How did he get past the watchtowers? What was he doing at the church? Where had he come from?”
    “I’ll tell you everything,” I exclaimed. I was just glad it was her. Whatever rules I’d broken, I knew she’d be on my side.
    “Not just me, I’m afraid. They’ve called a Council meeting. They’re going to talk to the boy and decide what to do with him – and they want you there.”
    “At the Council?”
    “Yes. You don’t need to be scared. We just need to know the truth about what happened.”
    “What will they do to him?” George asked.
    “That depends on where he came from and what he was hoping to do. If he was sent to spy on us…” She left the sentence unfinished.
    “I want to come,” said George. “I don’t think Holly should go on her own.”
    “I’m afraid that’s not possible, George. Rita will come as Holly’s guardian. And I’ll be there, so you don’t need to