The Emerald Forge (Pilgrennon's Children) Read Online Free PDF

smoking, swearing, graffiting, and using make-up during the breaks, and Dana never would use these toilets, let alone try to hide in them. She went to the farthest toilet from the door, against the wall. She pulled a piece of paper, a roll of sellotape, and a biro out of her bag. OUT OF ORDER , she scrawled on the paper. She pulled out a length of tape and bit it to break it, and taped across the sign, fixing it to the door.
    Inside the cubicle, she locked the door and tried not to touch anything. She supposed she would have to think of a way to pass the fifteen or so minutes of break. Some steel part of the school’s structure lay between her and the nearest wLAN, D2D, and the only signal she could find was distant and kept flickering off and on.
    The door to the lavatories opened with a crash and a twitter of conversation liberally scattered with expletives. Almost automatically, Dana sat on the toilet lid and picked her feet up, holding them out horizontally in front of her. Someone kicked in the door of the cubicle next to her, and it banged against the partition, making the whole stall vibrate. A shadow passed under the door. “No-one in there,” said a voice, and the shadow disappeared.
    “That’s ’cause it’s out of order, thicko,”
    Dana froze. That was Abigail Swift’s voice. The same Abigail who had attacked her in the toilets on her first day at school, the same Abigail who had hit Dana’s head off a sink and put her in hospital. That same Abigail that Dana had punched in self defence, and broken the nose of. Abigail was in the same year as Dana, but unlike Dana she was tall for her age and had a heavy build with thick ankles and wrists and a solid waist. She had a pasty face with small eyes and fat cheeks, and the crooked nose Dana had given her didn’t improve things. She was the kind of girl people called ugly, but only from a distance. Dana and Abigail weren’t in any classes together, but whenever she saw Abigail in a corridor or in the schoolyard, Abigail would glare at her, or whisper threats. Everywhere she went, Abigail was accompanied by two other big girls. If they realised she was here, the only chance Dana would stand of escape was if a teacher or a group of older pupils came in.
    At the click of a lighter, Dana put her sleeve over her nose and breathed through the fabric. A few seconds later she could smell the stench of the cigarette despite it.
    The girls had launched into a diatribe about some teacher called Miss Sullivan. Dana’s nose itched. She tried to hold it back, but her eyes started to water. It was no good. She tried to muffle the sneeze in her sleeves, and when she did the gulp at the start of the sneeze the smoky air went in her mouth and lungs and made it even worse.
    “What was that?”
    “I bet it’s that little runt Dana Provine!”
    There was a bang and the door shook. “I’m gunna kick the crap outa you, Provine!” shouted Abigail.
    Dana got to her feet and backed in between the toilet and the wall. They might kick the door in, or they might try standing on a toilet in the next-door cubicle and climbing over to get her. She had no idea what to do. Cold panic washed over her.
    The bang of the main door came again, and an authoritative female voice announced, “Right, girls! That’s enough! Give me that now. And the others.”
    “I’ve only got one, miss,” said Abigail’s voice.
    “Whoever heard of a smoker with only one fag? Empty your pockets please.”
    After much complaining and protesting, it sounded as though the teacher was satisfied.
    “Miss, but there’s someone in that bog, Miss,” said one of the girls.
    “It’s Dana Provine, Miss. She’s always hiding in a toilet, with all the other crap,” said Abigail.
    “Right, the three of you are on detention! For smoking, and swearing. Report to my room after school.”
    “But we think she should be on detention too.”
    “There’s no-one in that toilet. It says it’s out of order.”
    “Ya,