Valkyrie (Kate O'Hearn) - By Kate O'Hearn Page 0,36
wings. ‘Tell her she’s the weird one,’ he cawed irritably.
They found a private place to eat, but Freya was unable to sit on the ground. With her wings restricted uncomfortably in the coat, there was no way she could get down, let alone get back up again. Instead she leaned against the school wall as she ate her packed lunch.
‘What’s it like living in Denmark?’ Tamika asked.
Freya shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I don’t live there.’
Archie cleared his throat loudly. ‘What she means is she doesn’t live there any more, do you, Gee?’
Freya had forgotten her cover story. She smiled weakly. ‘Of course, I don’t live there any more. I live here.’
Archie finished, ‘But she told me it’s almost the same as here. Only the language is different. Right?’
‘Right . . .’ Freya agreed absently. She stood up straight and became distracted by something in the air. A feeling of fear. She scanned the direction it came from. ‘Wait here, I’ll be right back.’
‘Uh-oh,’ Orus cawed. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Can’t you feel it? Someone is very afraid.’ She started to run.
‘All I feel is trouble brewing. This is your first day at school. You don’t want to cause trouble.’
‘Gee, what’s wrong?’ Archie said as he caught up with her. Tamika was close behind him.
‘Someone is very frightened. They are being threatened. It is the same fear I felt from you, the first time we met.’
‘Gee, wait,’ Archie called.
But Freya couldn’t be stopped. The fear beckoned her. She couldn’t resist its call. When she rounded the building, she saw the same bullies who’d attacked Archie, pressing a boy to the wall. He was Archie’s age with a similar slight build. He wore glasses, but they were knocked to the ground. He was trembling with fear.
‘Come on, hand it over!’ the bully, JP, demanded. His right arm was in a cast from his first encounter with Freya’s breastplate. But he was still able to command his gang to hurt people. ‘Search him,’ he ordered.
Two gang members raced to follow his orders and rifled through the boy’s pockets. When they found what they were looking for, they shoved him to the ground and handed the money over to JP.
‘Gee, stop,’ Archie called as he caught her by the arm. ‘You’ll only make it worse. They will just take his money and then let him go. He’s one of the Geek Squad I told you about. They pick on him because he’s Jewish and wears glasses.’
Freya looked at Archie in disgust. ‘What does his religion have to do with anything? They have no right to attack him or steal his money. It’s wrong.’
‘Yes it’s wrong,’ Archie agreed. ‘But that’s just the way it is.’
Freya straightened her back and ruffled her wings under her coat. ‘Not as long as I’m here. What’s that boy’s name?’
‘Leo. Leo Max Michaelson.’
Freya lifted the raven off her shoulder and settled him on Archie’s arm. ‘Orus, you’d better wait here. I don’t want you hurt.’
‘Be careful,’ Orus cawed as she stormed forward.
‘Leo Max,’ Freya called. ‘There you are!’ She pushed between the bullies and reached for the frightened boy’s arm. ‘I’ve been looking all over for you. You promised to help me with Math.’
‘Hey, hey, hey, who are you?’ JP demanded, stepping forward.
‘She’s the new girl I told you about,’ one of the boys answered. ‘The one from my English class. What a freak!’ He put on a whiny voice., ‘She needs to sit at the back cos she’s got a bad hunch on her back. No one can touch her or she’ll get sick. She’s been hanging around with Daisy.’
JP approached Freya. He caught hold of her coat lapel with his unbroken left hand and leaned in close to her face. ‘No one can touch you, eh? No way. If I want to touch you, I will,’ he threatened.
If he moved a couple of centimetres closer, his cheek would touch Freya’s face and he would die. Then her mission would be ruined. ‘Back off,’ she warned. ‘Release me now before I lose my temper.’
JP towered over her and his eyes burned with fury. She could feel all the bad things he had done resting behind those dark, hate-filled eyes.
‘Are you threatening me?’ he spat.
Freya leaned further away from him. ‘I don’t make threats. This is a promise.’
‘Look, new girl,’ JP pressed. ‘It’s time you learned the rules here. This is my school and I run things. You’ll do what I tell you. Now, hand over your money and phone.’