Alex was about to shout a curse at Anna, but from the corner of his eye he could see Victoria’s perpetual smile replaced by something else, a look that he hoped she never directed at him. The air around Anna and the other Mad Mages crackled with electricity, cutting the caustic girl off in mid-sentence and tossing them all backward in a blast of electric blue light.
“Miss Radcliff!” Principal Gillette shouted from behind them.
Victoria’s face suddenly melted from fury to horror as she realized what she had done. Dillon and his cohorts were sprawled on the ground looking dazed, their hair flying in all directions from the fading electricity that still flickered around them.
“Flaming Fairy Farts!” Daphne exclaimed.
“That,” Ben howled, “was awesome!”
“You’ve definitely got my vote for membership,” Rafael said as he looked down at the Mad Mages shaking their heads and trying to get to their feet.
“Oh goodness,” Victoria said to Dillon and the others, her hands at her mouth. “I’m terribly sorry. Centaurs don’t have to speak the spells out loud, you know. Sometimes spells get cast if we think about them too hard.”
“Don’t worry,” Alex said. “They deserved it.”
“And it was hilarious,” Nina added, putting a reassuring hand on Victoria’s arm.
“Hmm, I hope Principal Gillette thinks it was funny,” Clark said, jerking his head to indicate the heavyset principle as he ran up to them, followed by Mrs. Peterson, the English teacher, and Mr. Fallowtooth, the teacher for Principles of Magic.
“Miss Radcliff,” Principal Gillette huffed, catching his breath, “we do not use magic on fellow students.” Principal Gillette was of average height, but exceptional girth, and his run from the school door had left him panting.
“Sorry,” Victoria said. “I’m very sorry.”
“In fact,” Principle Gillett continued, wiping the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, “if it has not been explained to you yet, there is a law in this town prohibiting all citizens from using magic on each other, with the exception of healing.”
“Was this action unprovoked?” Mr. Fallowtooth asked, an innocent look on his face. Mr. Fallowtooth was a tall, thin man with a narrow face and long, wispy mustache that always looked like it might blow away in a strong wind. He was a firm disciplinarian in his classes and he was fanatical about seeing that justice be applied to all parties equally.
“Dillon and the others were teasing her about being a centaur,” Alex said quickly.
“Is that true?” Principal Gillette asked Dillon.
“Well…” Dillon began before Anna cut him off.
“We shouldn’t have to defend ourselves against raging magical creatures that are better kept out of town,” Anna said, brushing her hair from her face.
“All fully sentient magical creatures are equal citizens,” Mrs. Peterson said, sounding like she was reading from the Runewood Constitution.
“That doesn’t make them equal to us,” Anna said, tossing her head back proudly. Dillon was noticeably silent. Alex knew that Dillon felt the same way as Anna, harboring a deep hatred for non-humans, but since his father was Mayor, he couldn’t be heard spouting prejudicial epitaphs.
“I think detention all around is what’s in order here,” Principal Gillette said, staring down Anna until she dropped her gaze and glared at the ground. “While magic is not a substitute for verbal discourse, inflammatory language and narrow-minded intolerance are no replacement for sound values. You will all join me in my office after school. Now off to class! Everyone!”
Principal Gillette pushed them bodily toward the school doors. Alex had a moment to lean over and whisper to Victoria, “You were great.”
“Not the impression I was hoping to make on my first day,” Victoria said, still mortified at having lost control of her magic.
“Their heads made a nice impression in the school lawn,” Alex said and laughed at the memory of the look on Anna’s face as the lightning had knocked her off her feet.
“Yes, they did, didn’t they?” Victoria said with a small giggle. “Nasty people come to a nasty end, my mother always said.” Then she sighed and added, “Daddy will be so disappointed when he finds out.”
“I don’t think he’ll find out,” Alex said. “Principal Gillette hates talking to parents. He likes to handle problems himself. He almost never rats us out to our families.”
“Oh, that’s frightfully good news,” Victoria said with a swish of her tail.
The rest of the school day was painfully uneventful for Alex. Fortunately, he had most of his classes with the rest of the Guild, his sister, Nina, being the exception because she was younger. The school was composed of a series of small buildings added on to the original one-room schoolhouse that still stood after several hundred years. Each building housed a different classroom and each school grade was composed of between fifteen and thirty students, each year taking essentially the same classes, taught by the same teachers, rotated throughout the day, at progressively more difficult levels. Alex had taken writing and reading from Mr. Wilkes since the first grade, just as he had taken history from Mrs. Peterson and math from Mrs. Kim. Alex’s favorite class, not surprisingly, was Mr. Fallowtooth’s Principles of Magic.
Because rune-tongue, the language of magic, was remembered by each mage differently, it could not be taught like other languages. Pronunciation could differ so much that the words for air and water spoken by two people might sound like the word for sky to a third person. This meant that teaching magic was largely impossible. The most one could teach was a sense of how to will and manipulate magical energy for different spells. And, of course, the foundational principles upon which magic functioned. This was the purpose of the Principles of Magic class.
Because magical abilities did not tend to develop until age ten or eleven, it was also a class that was only taken by older children. Nina had only just begun taking the class this year herself, although she had learned a great deal by hanging around with Alex and the Guild. That was how most people really learned magic, from friends and family members. That was also one of the main reasons Alex and his friends had formed the Guild, to learn more magic by doing it rather than studying principles and precepts.
After school, Alex met up with the Guild and Victoria in the schoolyard and told them that he and Nina would meet them all at the Guild House in an hour.
“Where in the name of Poseidon’s pimples are you off to without us?” Daphne asked with a frown.
“We have a little mission to accomplish at the library,” Alex said.
“You’re taking Nina on an adventure without her begging?” Daphne said incredulously.
“We’re going to the library,” Alex said. “I need someone to keep Mrs. Yaaba busy while I sneak into the restricted section.”
“I’m your girl for distractions,” Nina said enthusiastically. “I could distract you right now if I wanted to. I’m more distracting than anyone I know.”
“You certainly are,” Rafael said.
“Distractions?” Ben said. “We can cause a distraction.”
“Yeah, like that time at the Town Museum,” Clark offered with a deep chuckle.
“I don’t think we need to burn the library down,” Daphne said.
“Smoke,” Ben said with a pout. “There was only a little smoke damage.”
“We’ve got this covered,” Alex said, laughing at Ben and the memory of the Guild trying to extinguish the flames in the Founding Families exhibit before the museum curator could smell the smoke.
“What book are you looking for?” Victoria asked.
“Not more books about dragons, I hope,” Rafael sighed.
“I’ll explain later,” Alex said, glancing around the schoolyard to make sure no one was close enough to hear, especially none of the Mad Mages. “It’s about the cave and the voice.” Silent stares greeted that statement. “We’ll meet you at Guild House. Come on, Sis.”
The library was
nearly empty, with the exception of Ms. Mapledown, the local carpenter, who sat paging through a large book about Roman architecture on the main table near the wide front window. Mrs. Yaaba sat at the front desk, her mass of curly black hair streaked with gray, a hint of age at odds with the wrinkle-free skin of her dark African features. Alex had always wondered exactly how old the librarian was. She had been the librarian as long as anyone could remember and his father had assured him that Mrs. Yaaba looked just the same, agelessly suspended between youth and antiquity, when he himself had been a small boy.
The door to the restricted room was behind the main desk. It was slightly ajar and Alex eyed it surreptitiously as he and Nina approached Mrs. Yaaba. She had a reputation for being as sweet as an apple pie, but as tough as an old leather shoe. She smiled broadly as Alex and Nina stepped up to the desk. Alex suddenly remembered the time she had tossed four older boys out the front door by the scruff of their necks for laughing at a smaller girl struggling to read and whispering the words of a picture book while pointing at them with her finger. Alex desperately wanted to see if the restricted room held the books he had read about, but he certainly didn’t want to get caught by Mrs. Yaaba trying to do so.
“How is my favorite reader and her brother today?” Mrs. Yaaba asked. Nina loved to read and, as the book collection in their house only had a handful of books of interest to an eleven-year-old girl, she was a frequent visitor at the library. “What sort of book are you looking for today?”
“I’m not sure,” Nina said, cocking her head in mock consternation. “Something with adventure and magic, but maybe a little romance or maybe something that has horses and knights in it or maybe something about the Outside, like something that Outsider kids read, or maybe an Outsider adventure. I don’t know.”
“Well, let me see if I can suggest a few things,” Mrs. Yaaba said, standing up and walking around the desk. “And what are you looking for, Alex?”
“Nothing in particular,” Alex said, trying to seem casual. “I’m just here to keep Nina company.”
“Well, aren’t you the gentlemanly older brother,” Mrs. Yaaba said with a look that took a little too long to leave Alex’s eyes for his comfort. “Follow me, Nina.”
Mrs. Yaaba led Nina on a tour of the library shelves as his sister continued to spout possible suggestions as to what she might like to read. Alex stayed near the front desk, pretending to peruse the books shelved there, but no matter where Mrs. Yabba led Nina through the shelves, she always somehow managed a direct sightline of Alex. He got no closer than a few feet to the door of the restricted room and, after twenty minutes, he conceded that Mrs. Yabba was on to him somehow. Maybe he had misshelved a book in the restricted room when he snuck in before. Maybe she had seen him sneaking out. Whatever the case, she wasn’t going to allow him anywhere near it that day. Alex’s reward for failure was carrying home the stack of books that Nina had checked out.
“You’re sure you couldn’t have taken just one more book?” Alex asked as they walked along the sidewalk of Tulip Street.
“She kept recommending really great books,” Nina said, shifting the pile she was carrying.
“You’re a book freak,” Alex said, meaning it as a compliment.
“Everybody thinks I’m a freak, anyway,” Nina said, suddenly sullen. “I might as well be a book freak.”
“Nobody thinks you’re a freak,” Alex said.
“Only Ellen and James and Karl and Larry and Dan and Sybil and Jesse and Carla and, well, it’s not everybody, but it’s enough,” Nina said, kicking at a stone on the sidewalk.
“Why would they think you’re a freak?” Alex asked, surprised that anyone would think his sister was freakish. A bit odd, maybe…
“Because I hang out with magical creatures instead of humans and I read books and I’m not interested in clothes or sports or talking about boys all day and a thousand other things,” Nina said. Alex realized for the first time how isolated his sister was at school and in the town. It occurred to him that she didn’t really have any friends outside the Guild. How had he not noticed that?
“Well, if you’re a freak, then what am I?” Alex asked, trying to make Nina feel a bit better.
“A bigger freak,” Nina said seriously. Then her face brightened. “That’s kind of cheerful, actually, knowing that you’ll always be a bigger freak than me.”
“Anything I can do to help,” Alex said with a frown.
“So, how do we get into the restricted room now?” Nina asked, changing the subject.
“I’m not sure,” Alex said. “I’m thinking about it.”
“I thought I heard the sound of gears grinding,” Nina said. Alex stuck his tongue out in response. “I wish I knew that spell,” Nina added, looking across the street to where Mrs. Splintwich, the town healer, was walking along with a bag of groceries floating behind her.
“I’m so stupid!” Alex exclaimed.
“You’re not stupid,” Nina said sweetly. “Just a little slow for your age.” Alex stuck his tongue out again. “And you have poor communication skills.”
Alex ignored his sister, pausing for a moment as he focused his mind and will and spoke the words for the spell he had used to raise himself and his father out of the cave. After a moment of concentration, the books in his arms floated up and followed him as he resumed walking home.
“That’s not fair!” Nina said, rushing to catch up with him. “I don’t know all those words yet!”
“Now who’s slow?” Alex teased. He made Nina carry the books another block, but was finally worn down by her constant pestering and added her books to those floating along behind him.
They dropped the books off in the kitchen, got a kiss from their mom and a plate of chocolate chip cookies to share with the Guild, and then headed out to the backyard. The Guild House was really an old horse stable that he and his friends had converted into their lair.
“Iridescent Snot Sandwich!” Nina said with a giggle as they stood before the door. As a concession for not being allowed to be a full voting member, Nina had been granted the responsibility of coming up with the weekly password that would allow them entrance to the magically protected doorway of the Guild House. She preferred the grossest possible phrases.
Inside, they found Rafael and Daphne lounging on the old leather couch the Guild had salvaged from Ben’s grandparents’ basement. Ben and Clark were sitting at an odd-shaped table playing a game of chess. The table had been assembled from scraps of six old tables found in various places around town, the legs as mismatched as the chairs that surrounded it. Watching over the chess game from above stood Victoria, the horse half of her body filling the open space near the old potbellied woodstove that heated the Guild House in the winter months. Alex grinned when he saw her. As he stepped into the room, he noticed Clark paying more attention to Daphne than the chess game.
Clark had a powerful crush on Daphne. Only two weeks past, Alex had come to the Guild House and accidentally overheard a conversation between the two. Alex had been about to speak the password to the Guild House door when he’d heard voices from within.
“Hmm, so what’d you do?” Alex had heard Clark ask.
“I punched him,” Daphne had said, her tone defiant.
“Well, why’d you do that?” Clark asked.
“Because we’re not allowed to use hexes on people,” Daphne said.
“Mmm, yeah, but he was only trying to be nice,” Clark said.
“Nice!” Daphne nearly yelled. “I’ve told him a hundred times not to call me pretty.”
“Yeah, well, but he probably meant it in a nice way,” Clark said. “I mean, you are pretty...sort of. I mean, at least I think...That is, if I were going to…What I mean is…”
“I don’t want people to think of me as pretty, Clark,” Daphne said in a near moan. “I hate being pretty. Because that’s all anybody ever sees. All the pretty girls spend their time trying to remind people that they’re pretty, until one day they wake up and the
y’re old and no one is telling them how pretty they are and then what do they have? I want people to see how smart I am or how talented or, or…” Daphne’s voice cracked and she sniffled.
“Or how brave,” Clarke said. “You’re the bravest person I know. Even Alex isn’t as brave as you. You always volunteer for the crazy things he comes up with and you’re never afraid.”
“That the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Daphne said. “But I am afraid sometimes.”
“Hmm, that’s okay,” Clarke said with a laugh. “I’m afraid of you sometimes, too.”
Daphne had laughed as well and Alex had known that was the moment to finally make his entry. They were still laughing when he entered the Guild House, Daphne seeming happier than he had seen her in ages and Clark seeming suspiciously shy about his laughter. Alex could tell by the look on Clark’s face that he was deeply smitten with Daphne. And he could tell from the look on Daphne’s face that she was completely oblivious to Clark’s affections. Two weeks and hundreds of subtle stolen looks from Clark later and Daphne was still unaware of how Clark so obviously felt. Alex wondered if it was as obvious to everyone else. Then it occurred to him to wonder if anyone had noticed how often he looked in Victoria’s direction. It was a thought that snapped his attention wholly back to the present.
“Cookie?” Alex asked, offering the plate to Victoria.
“Oh yes, thank you,” Victoria said, delicately selecting a chocolate chip cookie from the plate. Alex noticed how precisely she picked the cookie up and wondered if she, like Clark, was constantly aware of her movements, trying to make them small and exact to compensate for her size.
“How was detention?” Alex asked, taking a cookie and passing the plate to Ben and Clark, who each snagged cookies before handing it off to Daphne and Rafael.
“It would have been fine if I hadn’t been stuck in the room with the Moronic Mages,” Victoria said. As Alex and others laughed, she continued. “That monstrous Anna girl kept glaring at me the whole time we were supposed to be writing sentences and that Dilbert or Dillweed, or whatever his name is, kept shooting spitballs at my hindquarters. It was all I could do not to think about blasting them all with a bolt of lightning again. At least I’m getting better at controlling my magical thoughts. How was your trip to the library? Did you find the book you were looking for?”
The Dark Shadow of Spring Page 9