Seven for a Secret Never to be Told

Mia was looking forward to meeting Safi to see if he’d come up with any ideas about the icicle in her bath, her wet swimsuit or the crying she heard in the night. She was sat at her desk in class. There were 20 minutes to go before the dinner bell and everyone was reading quietly while Miss Shelley marked homework and checked everyone’s reading record. Mia liked Miss Shelley. She was firm but fair. She didn’t tolerate messing around or shouting out but was always willing to give everyone a chance. She had brown hair that fell around her pale face and delicate hands with nicely rounded nails that Mia always admired.

Mia was staring at the page of her book but her thoughts were far away. She began to think about the photograph of the boys. Mia had gotten Miss Jaggers to take a picture of it and send it to her brother in Spain with the pictures she’d taken of the talisman. Mia wondered if anyone else in the old photo was still alive. There was Miss Jaggers’ brother, Dennis Gregory and the twins, but who were the other three boys? They’d all be really old now she thought. She really hoped Miss Jaggers’ brother would remember them, would remember anything.

Mia sighed. She really wanted to talk to her mum about it all but Monday had been her last chance to speak to her before her mum went on manoeuvres for four weeks. They’d had a quick conversation on the phone at the weekend but Mia hadn’t said anything about the weird things that had been happening. She didn’t want her mum to worry. What she wanted more than anything was for her mum to hold her tight and tell her how much she loved her and that everything would be alright.

Her desk was next to the window and the warmth of the sun was intensified by the glass, making her feel muggy headed and sleepy. She could hear someone talking to Miss Shelley, but their voice sounded like a distant murmur, like a bee buzzing around a flower. The words on the page of her book looked blurry. Her eyelids began to feel heavy and she felt her head start to fall.

‘Bang!’ she jolted upright not quite sure what had happened. Everyone was looking at her, no, not at her but at the window next to her.

‘What on earth was that?’ Miss Shelley asked as she stood up and rushed to the window.

‘It was a bird Miss,’ a voice blurted from the back of the class. ‘I saw it, it flew right into the window.’ Miss Shelley walked up to Mia’s desk and looked out of the window, quickly followed by half the children in the class straining to see if there really was a bird. Mia could see clearly as she was sat the closest.

There on the ground outside there was a bird. A big bird and it wasn’t moving. Mia watched holding her breath, she thought it was dead.

‘Oh dear,’ Miss Shelley said. ‘Sometimes on bright days the reflection of the sky or trees in the window can make a bird think it’s flying through the air and it ends up flying straight into a window.’

‘Is it dead?’ someone piped up. ‘Shall I get the caretaker?’ Miss Shelley hesitated. She turned to Mia.

‘Did that give you a fright Mia?’

‘A bit…’ said Mia. It had certainly woken her up. She looked out of the window. ‘Look Miss, look, it’s still alive.’ Mia felt a great sense of relief. The bird quickly got up and flapped its feathers as if they were sticky. Shiny, black-blue feathers, laced with white. Mia was so glad it was alive. It hopped into the bush.

‘It’s just stunned. Imagine running into a brick wall,’ said Miss Shelley. ‘I think it’ll be fine.’

Mia knew there was something more happening than just a bird mistaking a reflection in a window for the clear, blue sky. Was someone trying to tell her something and if so, what was it?

‘It would have smashed straight into your face if the window hadn’t been there,’ said Jake.

‘Yes,’ answered Mia. ‘I think I’ve got the message anyway.’ Jake didn’t really know what she meant by that, but Mia knew. The bird that had smashed into the window was a magpie. One for sorrow thought Mia.