The Orchard of Hope (19 page)

“What
’
s
not to be happy about? I look beautiful all the
time.
”

“Then
I
’
m happy for
you,
”
Maggie
replied as they began walking to the register to ring up the
sale.

Roland paid for the memories, and
once the jars were wrapped and securely placed inside their
backpacks, the group stepped out the door and made their way down
the road. Soon they were out of the city through the gate on the
opposite side from which they had entered.

Kelsey was glad to be leaving the
place behind, but soon after entering the forest, they started to
hear howling and yipping noises in the distance.

“Oh, no,
”
Maggie said with
disappointment.

“It
’
s just the wolves. The howling
is sort of a battle cry, but they
’
re still far
away,
”
Kelsey
explained.
“
That means that we must be getting close.
”

“No,
”
Maggie said as she pointed to something behind
them.
“
They
found us again.
”
Kelsey turned around to see thousands of grim reapers
standing in rows like an army ready for battle.

“Holy Angel of Death,” she
whispered quietly as she put her hand on her knife.

Chapter

12

Scry and Spy

It had been difficult work, and
carrying Maggie’s flame had worn Nicholas out. He was exhausted for
the entire next day and, as a result, Moss had given him the day
off. Megan visited him to heal his sore muscles, and in the
afternoon Nicholas played chess with Newton. The chess pieces were
made of dark and white chocolate, and every time Newton captured a
piece, he ate it. He even ate a few of his own pieces after
Nicholas had captured them, after first asking Nicholas if he was
going to eat them.

“What do you do when all the
pieces are gone?” Nicholas asked.

“That’s how you know the game is
over.”

“It doesn’t work that way in
regular chess.”

“This is gargoyle
chess.”

“I don’t believe
there is such a thing,” Nicholas replied defiantly.

“Well, since you don’t know too
many gargoyles, you’ll just have to take my word for it,” Newton
replied with a twinkle in his eye.

“You’re very mischievous for
someone whose main purpose is to fight evil.”

“Evil and mischief are nowhere
near the same thing,” Newton replied as he tossed a dark chocolate
rook into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Newton won three games,
but Nicholas wasn’t trying very hard to defeat him. He’d had his
fill of chocolate halfway through the first game and was simply
enjoying the ability to do what he wanted for a change. The next
day, however, was another workday.

“Are you ready to get started on
your next lesson?” Moss said loudly as he entered the
room.

“I don’t need lessons,” Newton
replied.

“You know I’m not talking to you,”
Moss said. “I gave up on you years ago, anyway. This is an
important lesson, so I’ll need you to be quiet. Pretend you’re
still a statue like you were when I first met you.” Newton was very
adept at giving a lifeless impression, and he immediately dropped
into a resting position.

Nicholas studied
Mos
s'
pale
lavender shirt. One of the sleeves was missing, exposing
Mos
s'
skinny
but hairy left arm from the shoulder down. Nicholas glanced from
the bare arm to Newton, who discretely shook his head. Nicholas
decided to ignore the gargoyle’s warning and ask about the
sleeve.

“Excuse me, sir, but I believe
that one of your sleeves is missing.”

“Your beliefs are of no importance
to the lesson.”

“But your sleeve is gone,”
Nicholas said pointedly, as he studied the frayed edges where the
sleeve had once been connected. Moss glanced down at his exposed
limb and then waved the matter away with his hand.

“I just forgot to remove the other
sleeve. They had too much attitude and I didn’t want to deal with
them today.”

“Attitude?”

“They were hiding
something.”

“What?”

“My arms. Sometimes my arms don’t
like to be hidden because they have something to say.”

Nicholas watched Moss tear the
other sleeve off his shirt. When he did, Nicholas spotted a tattoo
that said in a swirling purple script, “Pay attention to your
lessons, Nicholas.”

Nicholas jumped
when he read his name on Mos
s'
body, but he quickly recovered and decided that
he should do what the tattoo was instructing him to
do.

“What are we
learning today?” Nicholas asked as he tried to focus on something
other than Mos
s'
arm.

“We’ll continue scrying,” Moss
answered.

“Still? I thought that after
helping Kelsey and Maggie that I had proved my
abilities.”

“It will be different this time.
You’ll be scrying someplace you’ve never been to see someone you’ve
never met.”

“Really?” Nicholas thought about
what he had learned so far. He knew how to find people he knew or
go to places he’d been just by thinking about them. The thought of
going someplace he’d never been was a challenge. It sounded
interesting, but it also sounded difficult. “How do I do
that?

“In this case,” Moss explained, “I
have a few objects that belonged to the person. This is a bit …
unconventional. However, given our current circumstances, it’s also
necessary. We’ll use these objects to identify and locate the
person. We’ll scry by proxy.”

“Will this person know that we’re
watching him?” Nicholas asked and then quickly added, “or
her?”

“It’s a ‘him’ and I hope not,”
Moss said as he stroked his green beard. “It should be completely
safe, since this person has no knowledge of your existence.
However, if you feel at all threatened, you may leave immediately.
You can stop at any time.”

“Why? Who are we going to
watch?”

“The sorcerer.”

“No!” Nicholas shouted. His legs
felt very weak at the thought of seeing the person responsible for
instigating the war and causing so much trouble. Up until now the
sorcerer had only been a story or legend. It was almost as if he
wasn’t a real person. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“You can.”

“What if I see his face?” Nicholas
said as he felt himself becoming short of breath.

“You won’t be able to see his face
— at least not right away. He has enchantments around him that
prevent anyone from seeing enough to recognize him. Even people
physically in the room with him can’t see his face. He’s very
cautious.”

“Why? He doesn’t trust the people
around him?”

“Would you, if you were in his
position?”

“No, I suppose not.” Nicholas
replied after a little thought.

“They don’t even know his name.
He’s very good at protecting himself.”

“Have you done this before?”
Nicholas asked. “Spied on the sorcerer?”

“It’s scrying, not spying,” Moss
said loudly, then added in a softer tone, “and I’ve tried, but I
can’t get through the enchantments. But even if I could, it’s too
dangerous to have someone the sorcerer has met scrying on him. He
could reverse the spell and learn how to watch us,
instead.”

“Then what makes you think that I
can do this without getting caught by him?”

“Because he doesn’t know you
exist. He can block me from scrying to see what he’s doing because
he knows me and knows how to protect his fortress from
me.”

“And it will be easy to leave at
any time?” Nicholas asked. He glanced up and down one of the deep
brown walls in the room, noticing every chip in the paint and crack
in the plaster.

“Yes. You simply push away the
scrying bowl and break the connection.”

“What if … ” Nicholas hesitated
and thought about the best way to ask the question without sounding
like a coward, but he couldn’t think of a way to do it. “What if I
can’t?”

“I’ll be here
with you,” Moss assured him, although given Mos
s'
odd nature, it wasn’t much of
a comfort to Nicholas. He rubbed his fingers across the smooth
surface of the table as he thought about the situation before he
responded. It sounded dangerous, but Nicholas didn’t know enough
about it to understand what Moss considered
dangerous.

“So, how does it work?” Nicholas
asked. The sooner they got started, the sooner they would be done,
and Nicholas was eager to put this lesson behind him.

Moss handed Nicholas a black
leather glove. It was soft and yet sturdy at the same time.
Nicholas held the glove and put it to his nose. It smelled like old
shoes and something spicy but sweet.

“Look it over carefully,” Moss
instructed him. “Examine how it’s been worn and think about what
sort of person would own something like this.”

Nicholas turned the glove over to
look at the palm. The fingertips were discolored and worn, along
with a small section on the palm.

“Do you have the other glove?”
Nicholas asked. He wondered if they were both worn out in the same
places.

“No,” Moss replied. “This will
have to do for now.”

“Do you have other objects?”
Nicholas asked.

“Yes, but we’ll start with the
glove. I don’t want you to be … overcome on your first
day.”

The choice of words made Nicholas
feel like his stomach had fallen to the floor. He wanted to reach
over, pick it up, and run from the room, but he knew the only thing
to do was to begin the lesson. He held the glove in his palm as he
began the scrying exercise and turned the basin.

“Think about the owner of the
glove. Think about what you know, and the rest will come to you,”
Moss said with encouragement.

Nicholas attempted this about half
a dozen times before he began to see something. It wasn’t much, but
it was an image.

“What do you see?” Moss asked
eagerly.

“Glass.”

“Drinking glasses? A
window?”

Nicholas concentrated. He leaned
closer to the water and inhaled the musty leather scent of the
glove.

“No,” Nicholas replied firmly.
“He’s got a laboratory. It looks sort of like the one I worked in
at the Academy of Miracles.”

There were bottles, beakers, test
tubes, and cylinders everywhere on shelves and racks. He saw row
after row of glass objects. On top of the nearby counter, Nicholas
saw burners, scales, and other equipment. There were also a number
of thermometers in different shapes and sizes.

“Is he trying to make a miracle?”
Moss asked quietly.