Valkyrie (9 page)

CHAPTER TEN

I
t was deep in the night when Maya returned from dancing at Valhalla and retired to the room she shared with her younger sister. As she changed for bed, she noticed Freya wasn’t there.

‘Have you seen Freya and Orus?’ she asked her raven as she settled him on his perch.

‘Not since earlier,’
Grul said
.
‘I saw them talking to Loki.’

‘Loki? Why would they talk to him?’ Maya crossed the room and felt her sister’s bed. ‘It’s cold. She hasn’t been here.’

‘You know Freya. She’s probably gone for another long flight. Orus is always putting her up to these things and leading her astray. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.’

‘I hope so,’ Maya agreed. ‘We have another reaping to attend in the morning. I don’t want her to be late.’

Maya started her nightly procedure of combing out her beautiful, long flaxen hair and grooming her wings. She put fragrant oils on her feathers and preened them until they shone. As she climbed into bed, she looked over at her sister’s empty place. ‘Don’t be too late, Freya,’ she muttered softly. ‘You know how angry Mother gets.’

But even as Maya lay her head down, she knew she wouldn’t sleep. Freya hadn’t been to bed. Grul said he’d seen her and Orus speaking with Loki earlier that evening. But Freya had no business talking to that troublemaker.

She rolled over and tried to force herself to sleep. But it didn’t work. Thoughts of her sister wouldn’t let her rest. Freya constantly worried her. All her life, she had been different. Somehow lost and unable to find her way. She wasn’t happy being a Valkyrie and longed for more.

Though Maya tried her best to help, nothing she did could ease her sister’s loneliness. Freya was searching for something in her life. But no one seemed to know what it was
–
least of all Freya herself.

Finally Maya gave up trying to sleep. She rose and got dressed.

‘What’s happening?’
Grul said as he was roused on his perch.

‘I’m going to find Freya.’

‘Why? She’s probably just out flying again, just like she did on the eve of her First Day Ceremony.’

‘No, this is different,’ Maya said. She reached for her armour and pulled it on. ‘Last time, I could feel her and knew where she went. But now I feel nothing
–
as though she doesn’t even exist.’

‘Freya wouldn’t go anywhere,’
insisted the raven.
‘Orus may be incompetent and ill-tempered but he would never let her get into trouble.’

Maya shook her head. ‘I know my sister, Grul. Something is very wrong. Freya has always been restless, but she’s been worse since she reaped that soldier. She’s distracted. She goes off flying alone and has private conversations with Loki. Something is up and I must know what it is. I won’t be able to sleep until I know she’s safe.’

Grul made an impatient huffing sound, but flew on to Maya’s shoulder. ‘Why are you wearing your armour? You don’t need it here.’

Maya reached for her winged helmet. ‘Because I have the strange feeling that Freya isn’t here any more.’

‘Do you mean, not in this house?’

Maya shook her head as she leaped out of the window and spread her wings. ‘No, I mean not in Asgard.’

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I
t was the early hours of Monday morning and Freya was nervous for her first day at school.

She dressed carefully in clothes that Alma had made her. A slipcover for her wings and a lovely, long, chequered Steampunkesque skirt. She’d also given Freya elbow length, burgundy-coloured leather gloves so she didn’t have to wear Archie’s winter pair. Then she pulled on one of Brian’s altered frilly tops over her breastplate.

‘You are wearing your armour to school?’
Orus asked.
‘What are you expecting? And don’t tell me you are taking your sword!’

Freya shook her head. ‘Not my weapons, or my helmet. But remember, the bullies said they would get Archie today. I want to make sure nothing happens to him.’

Orus hopped across the bed and picked at a feather poking out of the duvet
.
‘You really like him, don’t you?’

Freya paused. ‘He’s all right, for a human.’

Orus cawed in laughter.
‘No, you really like him! I can see it.’

‘You don’t know what you are talking about.’

A knock at the door cut off further conversation and Freya was grateful for the interruption. ‘Come in.’

Archie entered. ‘I’ve got the papers folded and set to go. Are you ready?’

Freya nodded. ‘All set.’

They delivered the newspapers in record time and found Alma and Tamika waiting for them on their front porch.

‘My, my,’ Alma said as she looked at Freya. ‘You look lovely. Skirts suit you much better than those leather trousers. More feminine
–
and they hide all the right things.’

‘What things?’ Tamika asked. ‘Grandma, Greta doesn’t need to hide anything.’

‘Of course,’ Alma said. She focused on Freya. ‘Well, Angel, are you ready for your first day at school?’

Freya nodded. ‘I’m a bit nervous.’

Alma’s eyebrows shot up. ‘
You
, nervous?’ she cried. ‘Sweet child, there’s not a thing to be nervous about. Just follow Archie and Tamika’s lead and you’ll do fine.’

Getting Freya registered into the school was easier than everyone expected. No one questioned the falsified documents, and with Alma’s talent for telling sad tales about the loss of Greta’s family in Denmark and her long list of illnesses, by the end, the office staff were looking at Freya with great pity.

‘All right, Greta Johnson,’ the secretary said loudly and slowly as she handed Freya the school schedule. ‘I understand you speak English?’

Freya nodded, unsure why this woman thought she was deaf and slow-witted. ‘I do.’

‘Good,’ the secretary said slowly. ‘As your great-aunt suggests, I think it’s best if we keep you with Archie until you get to know your way around an American school. Will that be all right with you?’

‘Yes . . . it . . . will,’ Freya said with equal slowness.

Archie sniggered and nodded. ‘I’ll show her around.’

‘Will you be OK getting home, Grandma?’ Tamika asked as they walked Alma to the school entrance.

‘Course I will. God gave me two good legs and I’m going to use them.’

Freya felt great warmth towards this kind old woman. ‘Thank you, Alma, for everything.’

The old woman’s eyes fogged. ‘No, Angel, thank
you
.’

When she was gone, Tamika turned to Archie and Freya. ‘We have the same lunch hour. Want to meet up?’

Archie nodded. ‘Let’s meet at the old oak tree in the front yard.’

Tamika nodded and smiled at Freya. For an instant, Freya saw Tyrone Johnson shining in her face and eyes. ‘Good luck with your classes.’

When she was gone, Archie caught Freya by the arm. ‘Well, Gee, this is it. Math is our first class.’

Hidden from inside her coat, Freya heard Orus moan,
‘It would have to be, wouldn’t it!’

By the lunchtime bell, Freya’s head was spinning. Each class she entered seemed worse than the one before. Every time she and Archie showed the new teacher the note from the school’s office, explaining her strange dress and seating requirements at the very back of the room, the teacher would give her a curious look that suggested they would have found it easier to believe she had wings.

Once they got past the class introductions, there was her lack of comprehension of what was going on. Archie had tried to prepare her, but it hadn’t worked. There were four different classes in the morning, and although she had a perfect understanding of Geography, she was lost when it came to Maths, English and something called Humanities.

‘I don’t think I can do this,’ Freya said as the lunch bell sounded. ‘I’ve only been here half a day and already want to fly home screaming. This is nothing like my education in Asgard.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Archie said. ‘First days are always the worst.’

Freya leaned her forehead against her locker and sighed. ‘But it’s like I know nothing! I have lived over six hundred Earth years and yet I still don’t understand what Humanities mean. You are already human; why do you need a class to tell what it is to be human?’

Archie put an arm around her. ‘Humanities aren’t about being a human, it’s human philosophy, literature and language. It’s not really hard once you grasp it a bit more.’

‘But I’m not human,’ Freya exclaimed. ‘How can you expect me to grasp something I’m not?’

‘I know you’re not. I also know you don’t like us. Maybe in the Humanities classes, you will learn why you should like humans.’

‘I doubt that,’
Orus called from under her coat.
‘Now, will you please take me outside before I suffocate under here?’

Tamika was already waiting by the old oak tree at the front of the school. Freya opened her coat and released Orus as they joined her.

‘Why did you bring him?’ she asked, eyeing the raven skeptically.

‘I told you before, I go where he goes and he goes with me.’

‘Why? It’s really weird.’

Orus stretched and flapped his 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.’

His hot breath on her face was making her angrier. ‘And if I don’t?’

‘Then we’re gonna have a big problem.’

‘We already have a problem,’ Freya said. She snatched JP’s hand and wrenched it from her collar. She started to squeeze, using her Valkyrie strength.

‘You run this school?’ she repeated. ‘Not any more. Leo Max, Archie and everyone else in the Geek Squad are now under my protection. Do you hear me?’

JP tried to pull his hand free of Freya, but she only squeezed harder. ‘I have been trained in ways you could never imagine . . .’ Driving him to the ground, a pained look rushed to the bully’s face. ‘I could break you in two without a pause. So heed my warning. You and your gang of bullies are finished at this school.’

JP looked around desperately and called to his gang for help. But when one of them came within her reach, Freya swatted him across the yard with the back of a gloved hand. Then she kicked another away with her boot.

She turned back to JP. ‘Listen to me!’ she cried, squeezing until the bones in his hand creaked. ‘I was raised on the battlefields of war. You can’t win against me. Leave the children of this school alone or I might actually let you touch me – then you’ll discover the true meaning of terror!’

‘Gee, no!’ Archie cried frantically as he ran forward. ‘That’s enough. They get the message. Let him go.’

Freya looked at Archie in disbelief. After everything JP had done to him, he still felt compassion for the bully.

‘Please, Gee,’ he begged.

Freya gave JP’s hand one more warning squeeze before releasing the bully and shoving him backwards. ‘Remember they are all under my protection.’

The bully staggered to his feet as rage rose on his face. ‘This ain’t over, freak,’ he called, clutching his left hand. ‘You hear me? It ain’t over. You and that boy-loving Daisy are going to pay for this.’

Freya made a move as if to chase JP and he started to run away. She looked back at Leo Max. Archie was picking up his glasses and a small skullcap from the ground and handing it to him.

‘It’s over,’ Archie said. ‘I don’t think they’ll bother you again.’

Leo Max pulled on his glasses. He reached for the skullcap in Archie’s hand. ‘Don’t count on it. They’ve been picking on me for years.’

‘Me too,’ Archie said. ‘What’s that for?’

‘It’s my yamika,’ Leo Max explained as he pinned the small black skullcap to the top of his head. ‘I’m Jewish and I wear it as part of my religion. They’re always taking it from me, until today.’ His warm green eyes settled on Freya with nothing less than adoration. ‘Why would you do that for me? You don’t even know me.’

‘I don’t know you, but I do know their kind,’ she said. ‘I have watched others just like them for centuries. Brutalizing people and ruining lives for pleasure or personal gain. It sickens me.’

‘Centuries?’ Leo Max asked.

Archie quickly corrected, ‘She meant it
seems
like centuries, didn’t you, Gee?’

‘Of course,’ Freya agreed.

Orus flew from Archie’s arm to her shoulder. He gave her ear a soft nip.
‘If I didn’t know you better, Freya, I’d say you are developing a soft spot for some of these humans.’

Freya patted him playfully.

‘Wow,’ Leo Max said. ‘Is that your raven?’

Freya nodded. ‘I don’t own him. Orus is free to go where he chooses. But he and I prefer to stay together.’

‘Cool!’

‘So, how many other kids are in the Geek Squad?’ Freya asked.

Archie shrugged as he started to reel off names. Leo Max added a couple more. In total, including Archie and Leo, there were seven.

Freya considered. ‘That’s enough to start with. Leo Max, I want you to find everyone in the Geek Squad and anyone else who’s been picked on by JP and his gang. Tell them I want to meet them all right here tomorrow after school.’