5. Holly

They chose to go through Boston's door. 

Fake Manco Capac had said that Scar would be at London while Matteo would be at York. But London is big and they do not have her full name to look into it. Seemed like Fake Manco Capac wasn't really close of the only female member.

On the contrary, Fake Manco Capac had a lot to say about the leader of the Five. His name Matt is short for Matthew and he originally lived in London. But due to losing his parents at young age, he was placed with relatives in the suburbs where he started to go awry and become a delinquant. Although not as far as to go a juvenile centre like one Jamie Tyler did. However, his last stunt put him in some predicament where he's forcefully placed in the government LEAF project, supposedly the delinquant would turn a new leaf if he went through manual labor with townspeople. Matt was just unaware that evil witches had watched him from young age and were only waiting for this occasion to have a hand on him.

"Why do we get a sudden biography of our leader while hiding in the church? Of St Bostolph?"

Jamie squinted while reading the name of the church in the mind of the adult he mind controlled. 

Name's something like Mike Dolan. Or was it Mike Reade? Maybe he's mistaking him with his friend Simon Dolan over here who's on the lookout for them. 

"Well, if you remember well, when we got through the door, two white men started to scream calling us demons because of our skin color. So now we're waiting for the green light to get out of the village without creating bigger issue."

"They were flabbergasted because doors engraved with five point cross star aren't supposed to lead anywhere or used in anyway, but for you of the Five," Atoc explained, trying to be reasonable. 

Jamie and Pedro exchanged a look. 

"I guess there's that," must have what Pedro said as it was in Spanish. 

"That and having five poc getting out of the supposedly janitor room was a devilish sight to them, white people."

Atoc didn't find anything to answer to that and wished really hard for his brother to be back already. 

Jamie may have both Dolan and Reade under his control, Scott had to ask them first who's the chef of this village and mind control them to open a free path for the group. Micos was in for the ride because having a person of color holding a weapon could be quite persuasive too.

To say their fear of the United Kingdom was no baseless. Their people were racist and too Christians to their likings.

About another ten minutes or so, Scott and Micos were back with an old man by the name of Ian Ingram, the chef of the remote village. He's brainwashed and had the village in quarantine so no one would see them leave.

Just when they're about to step out of the isolated place, a little blonde girl came in and watched them with big blue eyes. By questioning sir Ian and the two doofus, they managed to have her identity. 

Holly. 

Jamie and Scott winced. Should they brainwash her too? 

"Hello, little girl. What are you doing outside of the village?"

"I was at the orchard, picking apples. Here, aren't they beautiful?"

She showed them her three green apples, resting too big in her little apron, with pride. Jamie's heart melt at such innocence but Scott picked up something real quick. 

"That meant she went with other people. Who are they?" 

Ian Ingram, still brainwashed, answered obediently. "The group that picked the cultivations."

When he started listing the names, Scott cut him out. 

"Are her parents in the group?"

"No, she's an orphan. Her guardians are Rita and John, who are like her grandparents." 

"Let's take her with us." 

They all looked at Pedro, gobsmacked. Even the three hypnotized men. Or especially them. 

"What? Why, why would you do that?" 

"Fake Jamie had a companion who traveled with him to Antarctica, it was Holly. Blonde, British with blue eyes and who could use a gun. She shot at Chaos as soon as she saw him, though it was useless. But it took guts and incredible reflex." 

"So? You said Fake Manco Capac wants you to act so you could change things, not make everything the same, which is what you're doing by taking her with us, against her wish." 

"We don't know if it's against her wish, though."

"Shut up, Jamie. How old is she even?" 

"Five." 

"I'm almost six." 

"

"In ten years, she'll be our age." 

"If we change things, maybe there won't be a need for those ten years thingy." 

"We could also change the fate of the village. Fake Jamie told Fake Manco Capac the village got destroyed after his passage, nuked, I think." 

He's mixing things, probably, not that anyone needed to know that. And if it's a great incentive to take Holly with them, why not push it. Pedro had a feeling that Holly was part of their aventure. 

Or was it just him wanting to mess with the world? 

"But if we're careful to not use the door to Boston, the village won't be concerned in this." 

"What if it still does, though? Are you ready to leave an innocent suffer the fate of the world, Scott?" 

"And you think by taking her with us will help?" 

"Adopting an orphan? hell yeah." 

"Let me reformulate. Taking the little girl with us while she's probably living a great life with her foster grandparents so us, teenagers of 15, could raise her instead?" 

"I mean, Holly agrees, right?" 

Holly smiled brightly at them, as if unaware she's being surprise adopted. She probably got the gist they'll leave the village and every 5 years old kids liked exploring the outside world. Also, since her legal guardians weren't blood relatives, her feelings mattered more than others. 

"Let's have Atoc adopt her like his brother adopted us." 

"Huh." Everyone ignored Atoc's hesitation when they're deciding things for him. 

Scott did glace at him but soon yield at both Jamie and Pedro, and Holly's, pleading look. 

"Where are her grandparents? We have to tell them we're adopting their charge."

"One of their charges. They're also raising a 9 years old boy by the name of Georges."

"Great. More works." 

They moved just in time to not be caught by the group coming back from the orchard. They had sir Ian welcome them for a short distraction before having him join them again while Dolan and Reade lead them to Holly's abode. There, Scott had the two ugly men forget ever meeting them but spread the words that Holly got happily adopted by travellers, as it's not that much of a rare occurrence to see strangers.

Then, way more gently than with any of their victim, Jamie and Scott had brainwashed Rita and John and Georges that the last member of their patchwork family found her kind and that fate only would put them on the same path again. They had to whitewash Atoc in their memory to make it more believable, but small loss, really. 

Nevermind that Atoc never agreed. 

In any case, having sir Ian look for them was the cue to leave the place finally. Taking a jeep they paid with pounds they exchanged in Italy, they left the village without a look back to head for York. The green apples tasted as great as they look.