Forgotten Ties (Ties, Book 3.5) | ✓

Chapter 11

A distant pop, pop, pop sound woke Nim. He lay still in his bed and listened as the sound repeated. Was that... gunfire? Outside their bedroom window, he heard the crunch of leaves under a heavy boot.

There was a knock on the front door.

As Nim got up, Skye sat up on the top bunk and rubbed his eye. Nim silently beckoned for him to follow, and Skye obeyed.

There was another knock on the door as Nim cracked open their bedroom door, this one heavy and pounding. Joanne, wrapped in her soft, blue dressing gown, passed by on her way to answer it. Nim wanted to stop her, but then what? He could hear all the little sounds from outside. They'd surrounded the house. There was no way out.

Nim crept down the hallway, leading Skye behind him, so that he could peer out and see the front door as Joanne opened it.

A man in full armoured camo stood on the other side, an excessively large gun held idle but ready against his chest. He handed Joanne a few stapled together sheets of paper. "We're here to collect the kids for processing."

Joanne barely glanced at the papers. "We weren't told about this."

"That was necessary for security reasons, ma'am," the soldier said. "Government orders."

Marigold had joined Nim and Skye in the hall and leant in close to whisper to them. "You two should go while you still can."

Nim shook his head. "House is surrounded. 'While we still can' has come and gone."

"Are we going to go with them?" Skye asked.

Nim hesitated. "I could try to fight them. At least distract them long enough that the rest of you might be able to run."

Marigold gave a firm shake of her head. "They have guns, Nim. They'd kill you. Probably us, too, if they saw us trying to get away."

"So, what?" Nim asked. "We just go along with them? We just let them take us?"

"I have kids to look out for, Nim. What else can I do?" Marigold stepped out into the living room and addressed the soldier. "Can I get some things together for the children to take with them?"

The soldier gave a shake of his head. "No bags allowed."

"Can I get them dressed, at least? Get their shoes on?"

The soldier nodded. "Make it quick."

Marigold quickly snapped into action, waking up any children who were still asleep and getting everyone started on getting dressed. A few of the kids began to get upset, but Marigold firmly quieted them down. By the time the last pair of shoes was on, even the youngest of the children seemed to understand that this was the sort of situation where you stayed quiet and did what you were told. They settled down even more as Marigold lined them up in pairs at the door and they got a good look at the guns the soldiers were holding.

"We're not going to have any trouble, right kids?" the soldier who had been talking to Joanne asked.

"They're just kids," Joanne objected. "You don't have to do this. They're not a threat to anyone."

"We have to process everyone, ma'am," the soldier said.

"And then what?" Joanne asked. "Will you bring them back?"

"That'll be up to someone else," the soldier said. "They seem like good kids. I'm sure nothing bad will happen to them. That's not what this is about."

"What if we gave you money?" Peter offered. "It's just one house. Nobody would notice."