by Noel Pogson
Zak and Tallion both gave Jenny a quick peck on the cheek as they said goodbye, and in Tallion’s case thanked her for looking after him for the week. Steven watched in surprise as Tallion treated Jenny as though she was his own mum, and then said goodbye with a grin on his face.
* * *
Once again, Steven’s determination to hide the truth about his relationship with Sartrina was somehow masking those particular thoughts from Zak and Tallion, but it wasn't something he was consciously doing, so he was at the mercy of fate as to how long the secret stayed hidden.
It was also very clear to the two powerful young wizards that Steven was distracted about something, and by the time they got to school, they both realised they weren’t hearing all of his thoughts even though they were hearing most of them.
Zak, I really don’t like hearing other people’s thoughts all the time; it’s like being forced to listen to private conversations.
Me neither, especially Steven’s! Father’s thoughts are very interesting sometimes, but I think we need to tell him about it soon.
Yeah, I agree, and Barty. I don’t know what they’ll do about it though.
There’s probably a spell you can use to shield yourself or something.
I dunno Zak, I’ve never even heard of anyone having this ability before, let alone anyone needing to shield themselves from it!
It must have happened before! We can’t be the first wizards that have ever been able to hear thoughts!
Tallion didn’t really answer, but his own thoughts and expression showed that he wasn't convinced. However, when they got into school and met Sam, the magical world they inhabited faded away, and non-magical school life took over. Steven forgot about his letter during PE, and because it was football again, Zak was completely engrossed in the lesson. The thoughts of the other students just merged with their conversations so that the two wizards couldn’t really follow anything.
They were a bit late for break after getting showered and changed, and Steven didn’t remember about his letter until they were heading to the library for their private study/reading lesson. He decided he’d try and read it during the session as Mrs Rigg didn’t really supervise what they were reading, other than a few spot checks to make sure it was related to their other lessons.
His unguarded thoughts finally revealed the existence of the letter to Zak and Tallion though, who glanced at each other with a grin. They still didn’t know who the letter was from, but they knew that their farming friend was going to read it in the library.
That must be the thoughts he was hiding from us in the car! exclaimed Zak telepathically to his friend.
Yep, but, he managed to hide them though! So there obviously is a way to mask your thoughts!
You think he did it on purpose?! This is Steven we’re talking about! He’s barely magical after all…
Okay, I know what you mean, but he must have done it on purpose by accident!
Zak almost laughed out loud at the answer, but managed to keep it just to a broad smile.
Are we going to try and get the letter off him then? Or at least catch him reading it?
Yeah, of course!
* * *
Zak and Tallion joined the queue at the library terminals and card indexes so that they could search for books to read, but Steven just walked to the farming section of the library and selected a random book about sheep farming. He quickly walked to an empty table in the corner of the library, and sat down with his back to the wall. He sneaked the letter out of his pocket and quietly ripped open the envelope while he glanced nervously around.
No-one would be able to see the letter unless they came to the shelves right behind him to get a book, and he’d get plenty of warning if that happened, certainly enough for him to turn over a page and hide the letter. He settled himself down to read, only glancing up for a moment as his friends came and sat down at the table.
He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he started to read though, he loved the way Sartrina started her letters…
Dearest Steven,
Thanks for your quick reply. I sent this letter straight to Zak’s house this time so I hope you got it no problem?
Life here at school is really busy. I seem to have no time to do anything other than study and do lessons. We had potions today, and were trying to make a headache cure. It looked easy enough, but you needed to concentrate quite hard to get it right. I managed fine, but nearly everyone else blew up their cauldrons!
We finish normal lessons at quarter past four each afternoon, but then we do stuff in the evenings too. Prep is from six to seven thirty, and if you do any clubs or activities then you can do them during that time, and right up to nine thirty. Each house can use the Balayage pitch for one evening during the week, and for Leo it’s Friday this week. As there are six houses and only five days, it seems to rotate with one house having a break each week. I think it’s trials tonight to select the house team for the year, or maybe the reserves, I’m not sure.
On either Thursdays or Fridays we have astronomy at ten pm in the observatory. We all have to take our own telescopes and do star charts and things, and there is a really big astral telescope there which allows mystics to see events written in the stars. Apparently we’ll all get a go using it, but we’ll only see anything if we have mystical abilities!
The letter went on for a page and a half about different things that Sartrina was doing in her lessons, and then started asking Steven about what he was doing at school in the dale and on the farm. The young farmer hadn’t made any effort to hide his thoughts from anyone, not knowing that he needed to, and as a result Zak and Tallion had heard him read out almost the whole letter.
He was so engrossed in it that he forgot he was in the library at school, and that he wasn't alone, and when the letter moved on to a more personal note, his thoughts were loud and clear.
I wish you could be here with me at the school Steven, I really do. I miss being with you so much. I keep remembering waking up on the sofa with your arm round me last Tuesday morning, and just wish we could be together again like that.
Please write soon, I love you very much
Sartrina
X X X
Zak and Tallion were having very different reactions to the letter, especially when Steven got to the end and saw the kisses under his girlfriend’s name. His mind ran back to the only kiss they’d shared the previous Tuesday, before they ran from the farmhouse to get Sartrina home in the early dawn.
Zak was surprised and a little bit embarrassed, and had closed his eyes. He was secretly very happy for his friend, although he was planning to pull his leg about it all something rotten! He was just starting to work out how to grab the letter without causing too much fuss when he became aware of his soul mate’s emotions.
Tallion was feeling sick in the pit of his stomach. It was only when he realised that Sartrina had a proper boyfriend that he finally understood his own feelings towards her. To say that he was now jealous was an extreme understatement! He might have been able to cope with finding out that they had a crush on each other, but finding out that they had an established friendship and had spent a night together the previous week, and then hearing Steven’s thoughts about their kiss and all his follow-on thoughts was simply too much for the heart-broken eleven-year-old.
Without saying a word he picked up the book which he’d laid on the table, and hid his face behind it, not wanting to talk with anyone, not even Zak. Moments later though, as Zak tried to telepath with him, he jumped out of his seat, went back to the shelf where he’d got the book and pushed it back in amongst the others. He then went to Mrs Rigg, said he was feeling sick, and ran out of the library as quickly as he could, ignoring Zak’s voice in his head and blocking him out. He just wanted to be alone.
“What’s up with him?” asked Sam as Tallion disappeared out of the door.
“I dunno. Maybe he’s feeling ill or something, he never told me if he was though,” answered Zak worriedly.
All thought of teasing Steven fled from his mind as he felt the distress in Tallion. The further away he got the fainter it all became, until he couldn’t hear his soul mate’s thoughts at all. He realised that Tallion must have deliberately gone to the far side of the school to get out of range.
Steven had now surfaced from his beautiful daydreams, and realised that Tallion wasn’t there.
“Where’s Tal?” he asked in a surprised voice.
“He just left without saying why,” answered Sam. “Are you so interested in sheep that you didn’t notice?”
“Eh? Oh! Err, well… Sort of… Umm…”
Steven’s cheeks went a bit pink and he closed the book with his letter inside and put it on the table. Just then Mrs Rigg appeared.
“What are you three chattering about?! You should be reading not gossiping. If you’ve finished with that book Steven, go and get another one and don’t distract your classmates!”
The librarian picked up Steven’s book, complete with Sartrina’s letter still inside it, and headed back to her desk. Steven looked horrified, and his mouth dropped open in worry. Zak couldn’t help a smile curling the corners of his own mouth as he heard Steven’s panicky thoughts about losing his letter, and at the same time saw him trying to hide the reality of the situation from them all.
“So go on then,” he whispered mischievously to his friend, “go and choose another book. Maybe you need one about marriage?”
Steven’s face was a picture of embarrassment, confusion and shock. He quickly jumped up, ran back to the farming section of the library, and hid behind the shelves for a couple of minutes trying to work out what to do.
“Umm, what’s going on, Zak?” asked Sam suspiciously.
The events of the last few minutes had not made a lot of sense to his sharp mind, but it was obvious that Zak knew more than he did. His friend frowned, wondering if he could tell Sam anything. On one hand he’d love to have a bit of fun with Steven about it, and he’d landed himself well and truly in this mess all by himself. However, he didn’t want to make it any worse for Tallion, who was radiating a lot of unhappiness to his soul mate from wherever he’d hidden himself.
“Well, I think Steven and Tallion both have a crush on the same girl,” he said carefully, “and they both just realised it!”
Sam grinned, and whispered very quietly.
“You’re kidding! I would never have expected either of them to want a girlfriend!”
“I don’t think either of them did, particularly,” whispered Zak back, “it just sort of happened!”
“So who is it? Not someone in our class surely?!”
“Nah, don’t be daft! It’s someone from the dale who goes to a private school.”
“Oh. Well that sort of makes sense for Tallion I guess, but not for Steven!”
* * *
Steven’s mind was racing. He desperately needed to get his letter back, and he needed to understand what Zak meant about marriage. Had he let something slip while he was reading? Zak had a very smug look on his face as he made the comment. The letter was most important though. He decided to go and ask Mrs Rigg for the book so that he could check something before he put it back on the shelf.
The librarian was sitting at her desk reading a book catalogue, and glancing round the restless library full of first years, keeping her eye on everyone. Few people realised it, but her desk in the middle of the room was strategically placed so that she could see almost all the tables between the bookshelves, and the ones that she couldn’t see directly, she could see through gaps between the books. She looked up as Steven approached with a helpful look on her face.
“Err, Mrs Rigg, may I have that book back for a minute? I’d just like to check something that I read in it, and I could put it back on the shelf when I’ve finished.”
The librarian’s suspicions were aroused immediately, although she didn’t show it. She’d been supervising children in the library for enough years to know the real reasons behind all their requests and actions. When a student asked to put a book back on the shelves, it was usually in order to hide something, often damage to the book itself.
She picked up the book and let the pages flick over quickly as she scanned for a torn page or some handwriting inside.
“Of course Steven, was there any particular page you wanted to look at?”
She almost didn’t notice the letter between the pages as it flicked past because she’d glanced up at Steven just as she got to that point. However, she stopped the pages turning, and glanced back at the book flicking back a couple of pages to the letter.
“Ahh, is this what you wanted to ‘check’?” she asked in a rather sterner voice.
Steven was by now bright red, and quite a few students were looking to see what was happening.
“Yes, miss.”
“So you weren’t reading the book, but you were reading a letter instead?”
“Err, yes, miss,” said the young farmer quietly.
“I don’t remember saying that this lesson was to be used for corresponding with your girlfriend, Master Robson, do you?” asked the librarian quite loudly as she scanned the letter.
By now quite a lot of people were listening, and there were a good few sniggers and nudges as people heard what Mrs Rigg was saying.
“No, miss,” answered the mortified Steven, who just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. Mrs Rigg wasn’t vindictive, but she did want to maximise the opportunity to exert a bit of discipline in order to discourage others from misbehaving.
“Well, your girlfriend has a very creative mind, judging by her letter, maybe she can pass some of it on to you. Here you are, I don’t want to know any more about your love life, but I do want to see you here for detention every lunchtime next week, at quarter to one.”
The librarian handed Steven the letter first, and then the closed book. She pointed at the bookshelf where it belonged, and made a dismissive gesture with her hand, shooing the scarlet boy away. She was sorry that Steven had been first to transgress, but she had to make an example of the first one to ensure the others toed the line.
Steven went and put the book back on the shelf and grabbed another one, a large one, which he could hide behind, and quickly went back to his seat. Zak and Sam were grinning at his discomfort, but he just opened the book and hid behind it, not saying a word, and feeling slightly sick!
15. Hard Graft
Tallion didn’t reappear before the end of the lesson, so Zak picked up his school bag and headed off to lunch in the dinner hall. His friend arrived a few minutes later, and sat down without saying anything.
“Are you okay Tallion?” asked Sam wanting to break the unnatural silence between them all.
“Yeah, I just felt a bit sick, but it passed. Maybe I ate something…”
I don’t want to talk about it Zak, please, Tallion telepathed to his friend.
We’re not going to have much choice mate. What happened after you left the library will be talked about for days!
What happened?
I’m sure Sam will tell you…
Less than fifteen seconds passed before Sam couldn’t keep quiet about it any longer. He related the whole story of Steven’s conversation with Mrs Rigg, almost word for word, and finished by asking him who his girlfriend was.
Steven, who’d sat there quietly with a resigned look on his face during Sam’s narration of the tale, suddenly looked worried again. Until this point he’d been comforting himself that at least no-one knew it was Sartrina.
“That’s private!” he grouched.
Sam wasn't going to be put off though, and started to goad their friend into telling them. Eventually he succeeded, and Steven looked fearfully at Tallion as he told his three friends who it was.
“She’s called Sartrina Whitestone, Sam, and she don’t go ter this school. She goes to a private school.”
Tallion was looking stony-faced at his uneaten lunch, and Steven with a sudden flash of inspiratio
n, realised that somehow he already knew! Sartrina hadn’t been kidding either when she said he’d be unhappy about it!
Zak was cringing, hoping that Sam wouldn’t make any comment about Tallion being in love with the same girl, all the time knowing that Tallion could hear it in his thoughts and already knew that he’d told Sam anyway!
The future baronet pushed his uneaten lunch away, and got up, feeling upset and betrayed.
“See you later,” he said simply, and grabbed his bag and walked away.
“Uh-oh,” said Sam with a smirk, “someone’s jealous! I think I need to meet this Sartrina to see why she’s knocked you two for six!”
“Not possible,” mumbled Steven. “She’s at boarding school.”
* * *
The frost between Tallion and Steven didn’t thaw over the next week, in fact if anything it got worse. To start with, Steven was concerned about it, and tried to make things right between them. Tallion refused to listen to his attempts to explain though, and eventually the young farmer changed his attitude and started showing off about having got Sartrina as his girlfriend.
He also became a minor celebrity amongst the first years because of the incident in the library, which didn’t exactly help. It had started out with a few people ribbing him, but Steven brazened it out, and in true Robson style turned it all to his own advantage. A few stories started circulating about what they’d got up to together, and who Sartrina was, and it was clear from the content that Steven had been talking, and embellishing the truth!
He didn’t seem the slightest bit worried about losing his lunchtimes in detention either! Zak spent one half of his lunchtime in the library with Steven, and the other half of his lunchtime with a very frosty Tallion.
By the end of the following week, the antagonism between them was so bad that they completely refused to talk to each other, or even sit with each other. Zak had become their only go-between, trying to be friends with both of them and suffering a lot of barbed comments in return.