The Hunt

Chapter 2

  “Are you packed? Have you got your toothbrush and some toothpaste? Enough pairs of pyjamas?”

  Lynsey rolled her eyes. This wasn’t the first time they had gone over the Sarah list in the last thirty minutes. But on the other hand if she had forgotten something… she chewed on her Weetabix checking everything off again on her mental list. Uh oh. No, it’s OK. Wait, what about the pink nail varnish? Wouldn’t she need that more than the purple? Swallowing and chewing with a rapid notion she finished her Weetabix and sprinted up the stairs one at a time but then changed to the rhythm of two.

  Which suitcase was it? Blue, green or pink? Green. Tear open. Grab and pull. Found the nail kit. Take out the purple. Lynsey ran to her ensuite and raked around in it till she found the hot pink. Hmmmm. Does it deserve to go better than the purple? Glancing back, there was the purple lying abandoned on the floor. Erm. Yeah, it was a hard choice but it was made. Still, she painted on the being left behind one as an apology to it.

  Bored…bored…bored. There Lynsey sat in the black leather with a crisp white shirt tucked neatly into a grey tartan skirt with purple nails glistening in the sunlight. The drab grey cardigan and jumper were stuffed into the blue suitcase. Each of the suitcases had the same Hawaiian flower pattern but in different colours.  The blue, green and pink made the perfect trio. The suitcases were carefully slotted into the boot and quite unreachable unless you unstrapped your suitcase and twisted around. It really hurt your arm though. That was why Lynsey had a purplish starry night sky rucksack with all her electronics, a few notebooks and two pencil cases.

  Finally they turned off the normal roads to a narrow road which drove through a stretch of woods and towards a barrier asking something that Lynsey couldn’t hear.

  Sarah was talking softly but Lynsey managed to catch three words. Well, two of them were names, but still. Shira, Lynsey and hunt. What the hell were they meant to mean?

  The barrier lifted and let them pass. The car sped on the drive up to a large Victorian house with ivy crawling over grey stone. There was a front lawn (which was manicured perfectly), woods, woods and woods as far as the eye could see.

  “Hello Lynsey, welcome to Hunter’s School. I’m Mrs MacRath, the Headmistress. I’m so pleased to meet you”

The lady had brown hair and wore a grey skirt with a white blouse and had electrifying blue eyes.

 “Pleased to meet you Mrs MacRath, but I’m afraid that Mr Nesville and I have to leave immediately, we’re booked into a hotel and we need to get there before nightfall”

Lynsey turned and stared at Sarah. Their eyes met and she hugged her tightly and then Henry.

  The three large suitcases were heaved out and dumped on the drive.

“Remember that whatever happens, Henry and I are always ready to pick up the phone when you need comfort”

   Lynsey watched as the shadow sped out of the drive and back through the woodland.

“Okay Lynsey here are the rules” said Mrs MacRath.

Great, thought Lynsey.

“No hoods are to worn during the school day and that includes outdoor activities. School starts at 8:30 sharp and bedtime is at 9:00 for all pupils, unless you have homework in the library which you can do up to 9:30 and absolutely no makeup allowed except on special occasions”

Lynsey smiled at her, but thought indignantly in her head that her usual bedtime was 10:30 and the thought of wearing no makeup! Horrible!

“Let’s go inside shall we?”