Fantastic Schools, Volume 3

by Emily Martha Sorensen

  “Hold on tight,” advised Bounder in a shout.

  “I intend to,” screamed Yucky.

  But Clumsy was truer to his name, and he began to slip off. They were now crossing the wall that ringed the building and suddenly Clumsy fell. His fall was broken by the ladder that was still propped against the wall. It splintered and crashed down with him.

  The carpet saw it had lost one of its passengers and dipped to reclaim him. Clumsy was bruised and groaning, but he managed to roll out of the way. He called to the others to jump.

  They did so, and now the three of them stood unsteadily as the carpet dived down at them. “Beat it,” cried Clumsy.

  The rungs of the broken ladder lay scattered about.

  The friends grabbed one each.

  As the carpet came within reach, they lashed out and pounded it with all their might. Dust flew up in a cloud.

  The carpet was large and strong but lacked the nerve for this kind of engagement, and it rose and flew back to the house. Doubtless, it wanted to inform the headmaster of its failure and the escape of the prisoners. The friends began limping away from the scene. They intended to inform the police at the earliest available opportunity.

  A mighty rumbling noise behind them caused them to pause and look back. The mansion house was rising into the sky. They saw now that the soft springy grass inside the wall was in fact a huge carpet, probably the star pupil of the school, and it was ascending faster and faster towards the star pupils of the night, the actual stars.

  The headmaster had no desire to be arrested.

  The four walls of the enclosure collapsed inwards, and it was apparent now that they were skirting boards.

  “An enormous carpet,” said Clumsy.

  “Say farewell to our rugs forever,” sighed Bounder.

  “Good riddance to them!” cried Clumsy.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Would you really want a flying carpet in your house and run the risk of the thing tripping you up and knocking things over? It would be like a cat but worse, much worse.”

  “I suppose you have a point,” said Bounder.

  Yucky squealed and clutched at his head. His wig was floating up and chasing after the departing mansion.

  “It overheard the lesson about flying!” he wailed.

  “I suppose a wig is a rug,” conceded Clumsy, “so it makes sense.” He winced and rubbed at his bruises.

  “Come on, let’s go home and get some rest.”

  “That’s a very good idea.”

  A few days later, Clumsy was browsing in an encyclopaedia and saw a picture of a crimson bird exactly like the design stitched into the rugs of the flying carpet school. He learned that it was called a simurgh and was indeed of fabled eastern origin. Then he put the book down and went into the kitchen to make a nice cup of tea.

  Rhys Hughes was born in Wales but has lived in many different countries. He graduated as an engineer and currently works as a tutor of mathematics. He began writing fiction at an early age and his first book, Worming the Harpy, was published in 1995. Since that time he has published more than fifty other books, and his short stories have been translated into ten languages. He is nearing the end of an ambitious project to complete a cycle of exactly 1000 linked tales. His most recent book is the novel The Pilgrim's Regress, and he is currently working on Weirdly Out West, a collection of short stories, plays and poems. Fantasy, humour, satire, science fiction, adventure, irony, paradoxes and philosophy are combined in his work to create a distinctive style.

  Dorm Wraith Outrage

  by Becky R. Jones

  Michael Scaramucci is starting his second year teaching kinetic magic at The Academy Arcane. In exchange for agreeing to be an on-site faculty advisor for the boys’ dorm, he gets a rent-free apartment. He has to spend every other weekend on campus, but aside from making sure students follow the rules and keep their magical and non-magical pranks to a minimum, it shouldn’t be too much work, right? Right?

  This story takes place before Going Home, which appeared in Fantastic Schools Vol. 2. Michael has not yet met the precocious and talented Moira Donaldson. Right now, he’s just trying to get through his first weekend of on-site faculty duties unscathed!

  Dorm Wraith Outrage

  Michael dropped the last box of books in the middle of the living room. At least the movers had put the furniture where he wanted. Movers, what a concept. They made moving much less of a chore. He reached for his water bottle and gazed around his new apartment. Not bad at all. And when you considered that it was rent-free, it was positively luxurious.

  The headmaster of The Academy Arcane had offered the apartment in the boys’ dormitory to Michael when the previous resident faculty advisor had gotten married and moved into a new house with his new wife. Michael had jumped at the chance to live rent-free and enjoy a five-minute walking commute to his office. Of course, he would have to spend every other weekend on campus, but that seemed like a small price to pay.

  He moved to the window and gazed at the building, best described as gothic-inspired, on the far side of the gardens. Wilhelmina Solomons Hall housed the girls who boarded at Academy Arcane, while Godfrey Darrington Hall, the building in which Michael was currently standing, housed the boys. While most students at Academy Arcane were day students who either lived nearby or whose parents had the magical means to easily transport their children to and from school every day, about a third of the students were boarders. The combination of more-or-less-local day students and boarding students from farther away was considered to be a good way of insuring that students met peers from a variety of backgrounds.

  The two dormitories also contained two apartments each for faculty resident advisors who provided the adult supervision at night and on the weekends. Michael would be alternating weekend and evening duties with his co-advisor who lived in the apartment at the other end of Darrington. Glancing around his new apartment again, Michael sighed happily. He looked forward to starting his second year of teaching kinetic magic at Academy Arcane. Teaching energized him, and watching the students grasp the art behind kinetic patterns was one of Michael’s joys in life. Living with his some of his students would definitely be a new experience.

  A knock at the door startled him out of his reverie. The apartment had two front doors. One led into the main hallway of the dormitory and the other opened into a small walled garden with a deck, which overlooked the lawn and gardens separating the dorms. The knock was coming from the outside door.

  “Ah, Mr. Scaramucci, have you settled in yet? I do hope all your belongings arrived successfully?” Nathaniel Davidson, the headmaster, was a tall, almost cadaverous-looking man who loomed over everybody, although Michael had discovered last year that the headmaster was kind, extremely considerate, and thoroughly invested in the well-being of the students, staff, and the school. He too lived on campus, in a house that was one of the original school buildings.

  “Yes, thank you, Headmaster. However, I must admit, I’m tempted to avoid the process of unpacking!” Michael smiled.

  “Oh, I quite understand! But kinetics speeds up the process, does it not?” The headmaster laughed.

  “True, for some things it does.” Michael paused. “I know the boarding students will arrive the day after tomorrow. Is there anything I’m expected to take care of prior to that?” Michael was meticulous and liked to ensure that he didn’t leave any loose ends.

  “No, no. Just remember, you will need to be available to assist any students who may require it. Of course, as you know, I and other teachers will be here as well to help with move-in day.” Headmaster Davidson smiled. “And you and Mr. Noble will need to work out your weekend and evening coverage schedules. It’s best if that is taken care of before move-in day, so that the students and their parents have that information immediately. Perhaps you can find Mr. Noble today or tomorrow and start putting that together. And if you would, please leave a copy of the finalized schedule with my secretary.”

 
; Mr. Noble was Jonathon Noble, the other resident faculty advisor in Darrington. Michael knew that his co-advisor was not in today as Noble had made a point of telling Michael that he couldn’t help him move since he was visiting with friends from out of town. Michael hoped that ducking out was not a normal tactic, but no matter. He wanted to get unpacked and fully settled in as quickly as possible. Two days until the boarding students arrived and three days until the school year officially started meant that there was a lot of work to be done.

  The next morning, while strolling around the gardens surrounding the dormitories, Michael noticed that the exterior door to Jon Noble’s apartment was open. He walked briskly down the path, through the small private garden that mirrored his own, and knocked on the door frame.

  “Hello? Jon?”

  “Yes? Oh, hello, Michael. How are you? Get all moved in yesterday?” Jon Noble was tall, blond, and blue-eyed. Where Michael taught kinetics, the art of moving items via patterns, Jon taught elements, the art of controlling and utilizing the base elements of air, fire, water, and earth. “Sorry I wasn’t here to help. Old friends came into town at the last minute, and I haven’t seen them in a few years.”

  “Oh, not a problem. The headmaster paid for movers, so the heavy stuff was taken care of by them. But he did say that you and I need to figure out a schedule for the weekend and evening shifts. I thought, if you had the time, we could take care of that now and get it out of the way.” Michael smiled.

  “Of course. Come on in. You’re right let’s get this taken care of, and then we can worry about when the monsters…I mean students…arrive tomorrow. Did you talk with the headmaster about move-in day?”

  Jon led the way into his living room and gestured for Michael to take a seat in one of the comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace. This apartment was the mirror image of Michael’s and situated at the opposite end of the main hallway of Darrington.

  “He mentioned helping with move-in day but didn’t really give me any details,” Michael replied.

  Jon returned to the other chair with a calendar, pad of paper, and pen.

  “Well, let’s get this schedule taken care of, and then I’ll give you the general idea of what’s involved with move-in day.”

  They spent a comfortable hour creating a schedule for the weekend and evening shifts that covered the whole school year. Then Jon filled in Michael on what would happen with move-in day.

  “Were you here last year for it?” Jon asked.

  “No. I’d just gotten hired and was going crazy trying to put together lesson plans. The headmaster told me not to bother,” Michael responded.

  “Okay. Well, it’s pretty chaotic. The older students think they know everything, but always overlook something, while the younger students are still worried about leaving home…especially the youngest ones and those who are boarding for the first time. Most of the parents are pretty good, but there are always a few who seem to think we’re the housekeeping staff and not teachers. Or the ones who want to know where the ‘guest house’ is,” Jon made air quotes with his fingers, “so that they can visit Junior every weekend. Sadly for them, but luckily for us, there is no guest house, and the headmaster has already told them that visiting every weekend is discouraged.” He gave a wry smile.

  Jon painted a vivid picture of how the day would likely unfold, and of the boys and their parents who would all be arriving starting early the next morning. As Jon explained their role in the move-in process, Michael started visualizing the patterns that he expected to see the next day. Students arriving with their parents, unloading vehicles, carrying possessions into the dorm, avoiding collisions with other students, the ebb and flow of students and parents in and out of the dormitory.

  He had discovered his aptitude for kinetic magic when he started seeing patterns everywhere. The kinetic mage had to be able to “see” the pattern of movement necessary for an object to move through space. Most of the time patterns were fairly straightforward and didn’t require a lot of thought. Moving a box from one side of the room to the other was a straight-line pattern. But moving that same box say, up a staircase and around a corner, required more complex patterns, especially if you didn’t know what was around that corner. The complexities of patterns required for even skilled kinetics to move their child’s belongings over several miles, much less several hundred, would be exhausting and explained why even the parents who were kinetic mages found more mundane means to move their children into the dorms.

  Michael returned his attention to Jon and the details of move-in day. It didn’t sound too bad, and it didn’t seem like either he or Jon was expected to help with actually carrying in boxes and belongings. It would be a good chance to walk through the entire dorm and get a feel for the patterns that would develop once the students had settled in and the parents had left.

  After another hour or so discussing the details of move-in day, Michael left Jon to finish up his own lesson plans and wandered back through the main garden to his new apartment. He took his time and enjoyed the late summer day. The patterns created by the flowers and plantings in the garden caught his interest and he stopped to contemplate them.

  “Hello, Michael. What brings you to campus before classes start?” Julieta Ocampo walked down the path toward him. A small compact woman, she had long, black hair that she usually wore pulled back, but today was hanging loose around her shoulders, and skin that looked perpetually tanned.

  Michael pulled his mind away from floral patterns. “Hi, Juli. I’m now one of the resident faculty advisors in Darrington. I moved in yesterday. What are you doing here? Are you in Solomons now?” He had met Juli last year, when their afternoon classrooms were next door to each other.

  “That’s great! Yes, I just moved into Solomons yesterday, too. So, we’re neighbors now.” She smiled up at him. “Are you enjoying the garden?”

  “Yes, I am. I was caught up in the patterns when you walked up,” Michael explained.

  “You kinetics and your patterns. Try visualizing an entire scene.” She laughed.

  “Well, there’s a reason image mages are called imaginary mages…you only imagine things,” Michael teased her back.

  Juli laughed. “Okay, good point, even if it is an old joke!”

  Michael laughed with her and found himself visualizing patterns that would lead him on walks past Solomons.

  “Well, I’m glad we’re neighbors, but I need to go buy some food and get back so I can finish unpacking and work on lesson plans,” Michael said, wishing he didn’t have any pressing tasks.

  “Yeah, me, too. I’ll see you later,” Juli responded.

  She turned and strolled back the way she had come.

  Michael watched her for a moment before continuing back to his apartment. The school year was definitely looking up.

  Move-in day arrived bright and early. Michael was grateful he had made a point of unpacking and setting up his coffeemaker the day before. Students and parents would be showing up shortly, and he needed to be awake. Jon had mentioned that parents of younger students tended to show up earlier to make sure that their child was completely settled before they had to leave. Michael stared out the window overlooking the gardens, coffee cup in hand. A slight movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Did somebody just walk into the side door of the dormitory? He stared at the door but didn’t see any further movement. Glancing at the clock he had placed on the mantle of the fireplace, he moved back into the kitchen. Refilling the coffee cup, he made himself a quick breakfast of eggs and toast and wolfed it down.

  The day went by without any real problems, unless you counted the senior who joked that he didn’t want the haunted room, and the first-year student who overheard the senior and realized the room in question was his room. Trying to reassure an already nervous student and protective parents had been something of a challenge, but not horribly bad. Michael figured that if there were any actual ghosts in Darrington, Jon would have mentioned it to him yesterday
.

  The first week of classes flew by, and Michael gave in to the sense of relief late on Friday afternoon when he finally walked into his apartment. He would be on campus this first weekend since Jon’s friends were still in town, and he wanted to be able to spend time with them. That didn’t bother Michael as he was planning on working on the rest of his lesson plans in an attempt to ease some of the mid-year stress that always seemed to sneak up on him.

  He made himself dinner and indulged in a glass of wine before settling down to the lesson plans. Several hours of productive work later, Michael stretched his aching shoulders and considered calling it a night. He looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was even later than he’d thought. He decided to finish up the last lesson plan before going to bed. He could sleep in tomorrow.

  Loud pounding at the interior front door interrupted those thoughts. Michael sighed, marked his place in the textbook, and pushed back his chair. The pounding on the door became louder and more insistent.

  “Mr. Scaramucci! Mr. Scaramucci!” the panicked voice came through the door.

  “I’m coming!” Michael called. He opened the door to find a pale, shaking upper classman. Theo Denton was a sixth-year student who Michael knew to be calm, rational, and usually mature. Right now, he was wide-eyed and obviously frightened.

  “What is it, Denton?” he asked, slightly alarmed by the look of the student.

  “Mr. Scaramucci…th-there’s something on the third floor! It went into Tab’s and Hector’s room…and…um…tried t-to pull Tab through the window! Hector held on to him, and yelled, and the g-ghost, or whatever it was, vanished!”

  Michael stared at the student. If Denton was this scared, something had indeed happened. But Michael wasn’t quite prepared to buy into the ghost story just yet. First week shenanigans were common, and he suspected the students might be playing him. Nevertheless, Denton looked seriously frightened and Michael didn’t think the boy had the acting ability to carry that off.