The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (13 page)

Dear Elijah,

I trust your summer has been a pleasant one.  I
hope you were able to spend some good time with your uncle and the Roddicks.

Seeing that you were not here at the beginning
of last year, you will be expected to come to Preliminary Orientation this
year.  This will start the first week of September, exactly three days before
Novice Orientation.

Please bring your training gear – jacket,
pants, boots, and belt.  Everything else will be provided.

Your schedule will be shown to you during
orientation.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Mr. Button

Elijah hadn’t realized how soon training was starting.  In
just four days, he would be traveling across the river once again to the
training barracks.  The thought brought both excitement and dread.  He couldn’t
wait to see his friends again and get into the swing of classes and elemental
training.  He loved the atmosphere.  The challenge.  Even the food.  However,
Elijah was not looking forward to the responsibility he had to bear this year. 
He had a lot of work to do in order to find the sphere, and he couldn’t talk to
his friends about it.

Elijah’s mind quickly became confused with all the things he
had to do.  He had to focus on just one thing at a time.  He needed to go to
Olivia’s.  He wondered if he could get a horse to ride to Olivia’s and back. 
By foot, he wouldn’t be able to get there and back to the Roddick’s before
nightfall.  A horse would ensure a quicker arrival.

Elijah climbed up the stairs into the loft, where the
Roddick girls slept, and found Mrs. Roddick still picking up after Lizzy and
Tirzah.  He began helping her.

“Thank you,” said Mrs. Roddick as she wiped some sweat off
her brow.  “People ask me how I stay so thin.  It’s picking up after these
two.”  She plopped down on a chair, out of breath and looking rather green.

“I need a horse,” Elijah said, feeling guilty about needing
to leave for Olivia’s.

Mrs. Roddick looked confused.  “I’m sure there’s a good
reason for this, but for the life of me, I have no idea what you would need a
horse for right now.”

“I have to go somewhere.  Today.  And I need a horse so I
can get back by tonight.”

“I’m afraid we’re fresh out of horses here,” Mrs. Roddick
said, still breathing heavily.  “But you can pay for one at the stables.”

“How much are they?” Elijah asked.

“Now why again do you—oh, never mind,” Mrs. Roddick sighed. 
“You’ll have to ask the stable hand.  It’s been a while since I’ve needed a
horse.  Although, I’d be happy to use one to haul off this mess,” she said.

“As soon as I come back, I promise I’ll help clean up around
here,” Elijah said.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” said Mrs. Roddick.  “I’ll
manage.  I always do when Glen’s away.”

Elijah gave her a sympathetic smile and climbed down from
the loft to retrieve his things, and then headed for the stables.

Now that they were bustling with business, the stables
reminded Elijah of a country fair.  Some of the wealthier Magi were there
looking over horses to purchase.  The stable hands showed them off and had some
of the horses walk around in a circle across the paddock.  Children were
petting ponies and some were even riding them.  There was a line to pay the fee
to use a horse for the day or longer.  Elijah stood at the back of the line
behind a gentleman who smelled like burnt garlic.  He was thankful when he made
it to the front, mostly to be rid of the smell in front of him.

The stable hand was a very pretty girl of about twenty with
short blonde hair and a very small, pointy nose.  She talked with a strange
lisp.

“What’ll it be, sir?” she asked.

Elijah had the urge to puff out his chest just so he could match
her confident mannerisms.  She stood tall, squared her shoulders, and leaned on
the counter with one arm as she stared her customers in the eye.  Elijah had
the feeling she could take him in a fight.

“I’d like to take a horse out for the day,” Elijah said. 
The crack in his voice didn’t help him feel better about his manhood.

“Sure,” she said.  “That’ll be two coins.”

Elijah handed her two of his last five coins.

“Do you have any wind coins?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, it’s no big deal if you don’t,” said the girl.  “It’s
just that I collect wind, and if you had any, I’d appreciate it.”

Elijah dug into his pocket and looked at the other coins. 
Sure enough, he had one wind and two fire left.  He gave her the coin with the
wind symbol—two small wave-like symbols facing each other.

“Thank ya, sir,” she said, returning his other coin.  “Come
around this way.”

The girl took Elijah down the stable hallway.  Halfway to
the end, Elijah spotted one of the horses he and Uncle Stan took to ride to the
train station.  Uncle Stan was right.  They knew how to get back.  Elijah
wondered if the stable hands were responsible for getting the horses back into
the stable or if there was some kind of route by which they returned.

The blonde-haired girl gave Elijah a brown horse with three socks
and saddled it up for him.  He was told that he had until noon the following
day to return the horse.  Elijah thanked the girl, and then kicked off toward
Olivia’s house to the north.

The weather was just as hot as it was the last time he
visited Olivia.  Even the horse was sweating on the ride, and Elijah stopped frequently
to let it drink from the river.

When he arrived at Olivia’s house, the late-afternoon sun beat
down ferociously, so he was thankful for the shelter of trees surrounding her
house.  He tied up the horse next to Olivia’s team of horses in the back, and
then he retrieved the giant book and cube from the pack he brought.  As he
walked around to the front, he was just in time to see a visitor leaving the
house.

At first, Elijah thought nothing of the visitor.  She was a
woman in her late thirties, maybe early forties.  She had light hair and a sad
expression, as though something had been draining the life out of her for many
years, and she had accepted it.  She was tall, but she slouched so much that it
was hard to tell.  After peering at her through the trees for a few seconds,
however, it struck him that this woman was quite strange indeed.  It was one of
the hottest days of the summer.  It wasn’t raining, and yet as she departed the
house, she covered her head with her overcloak, as would a widow at her
husband’s funeral.

Just then, as the woman passed, she caught the eyes of
Elijah.  He had a hard time looking at her, and wanted very much to look down
even though that would be rude.  She blinked three times, and each time Elijah
noticed her expression become more and more distressed.  Elijah wondered what
he could possibly have done to make this woman troubled.  Yet, as he looked at
her, he wished he could do something to make her feel better.  If it wouldn’t
have been weird for him to give a hug to a complete stranger, he would have
done it, just to give this woman some comfort.

Elijah looked at Olivia, who waved for him to come over.  He
took a last look at the woman and gave his best attempt at a courteous smile. 
She continued gazing at him, which made him slightly uncomfortable, but her
face never changed.  Then, she closed her eyes slowly and sulked away into the
forest where the trees became much thicker.

Olivia tried to hurry Elijah into the house, but he was
still entranced by the woman.  He continued to watch her disappear while he
walked through the front doorway of the Rose home.

“Don’t worry,” said Olivia, noticing Elijah’s concern. 
“These are tough times for everyone, and some are affected more than others.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Elijah asked.  “Is she okay?”

“I’m sure she would appreciate some privacy,” Olivia said in
a gentle voice.  “But I think it’s very thoughtful of you to be worried. 
She’ll be okay.  So, I see you have something for me.”  She looked down
excitedly at the large book Elijah carried under his arm.

“Oh.  Yes.  I guess that’s why I’m here,” Elijah said.  He
handed Olivia the book.  The second she took it, she slowly brought it to her
chest and clutched it as if she was welcoming home a dear friend whom she
hadn’t seen in years.

“Thank you, my dear,” Olivia said.  “With all my heart.” 
Elijah shifted uncomfortably.  “And the cube?”  Elijah handed her the glass
cube.  She took that as well, and they both sat down at the very same spots
they sat when Olivia first talked to him about the cube just a little over a
week ago.  Olivia handled the cube with intensity.  She turned it over and
over, examining every inch with precision.

“So how did it go?” Olivia asked, still transfixed with the
cube.

“Not the best,” Elijah admitted.  “I hope there’s nothing
left to get at the house because it might not still be there.  Plus, even if it
was, the Maliphists know we were there.”

“Yes, I know,” Olivia chuckled.

“Oh,” said Elijah.  “I just thought since you asked…”

“I’ve been more involved in your little adventure than you
think,” Olivia stated.  “As long as you retrieved these pieces unnoticed, and
you were unharmed, it was worth it.  Did anyone see you get the cube?”

“I don’t think so,” said Elijah.  “No one followed me—at
least, not that I noticed.”

“Hopefully you’re right,” Olivia said.  “And everything else
went well?”

Elijah nodded.

“The book didn’t ever leave your sight?”

Elijah shook his head.

“Good,” said Olivia.  “And you didn’t read it, right?”

Elijah gulped and swiftly shook his head.  He hoped Olivia
couldn’t hear his pounding heart.  It almost made him ashamed how quickly he
decided to lie.  But at the same time, he couldn’t see why reading the book was
such a big deal, especially if he and Olivia were going to go through it
anyway.

“All right,” Olivia said.  “I think we’re done here for a
while.  You’ve done a great service for the Magi, Elijah.  More than you’ll
ever know.  Now I don’t mean to be short, but I must be left alone.  I will
most likely see you next during our first training session.”

Elijah left feeling used.  He knew Olivia always had good
reasons for what she did, and if she needed to be alone, she needed to be
alone.  However, didn’t he also deserve a little bit more information?  After
all, without him, there wouldn’t be a book to look through.  And even though he
read just a small portion of the book, he could have read it all!  He couldn’t
help feeling angry as he started his ride back to the Roddicks’ house.  As much
as he trusted Olivia, he thought he deserved better than a quick “Thank you”
and “Goodbye.”

By the time he reached the city center late that evening,
the stables were already closed.  He tied the horse up by the creek just down
from where the Roddicks lived.  The area had plenty of grass, and just to be
sure, Elijah prepared an oat mix to feed the horse.

After Elijah had eaten a good meal, he sat down in the
living room—one of the few times it was not sporting a roaring fire—and reread
his letter from the barracks.  Mrs. Roddick came in with a bowl full of
chocolate candies.

“You look like you could use a few of these,” she said.

Elijah agreed.  He took a handful and began popping them
into his mouth one right after the other.  Usually, Miranda Roddick would have
scolded him to slow down.  But she said nothing as he shoveled in more
chocolate than Isaac at the marketplace.

It wasn’t long before Elijah felt rather sick and his
nervous energy needed another outlet than consuming as many calories as the
human body can hold at one time.  He looked at Mrs. Roddick.

“I guess this is where you’re supposed to ask what’s wrong?”
he said in an almost snotty tone.  But Mrs. Roddick kept calm.

“Is it?” she asked.  “I wasn’t aware I was supposed to say
anything.”

This made Elijah even more agitated.  “Well, you’ve been
sitting there watching me.  I know you’re wondering.”

“So I may,” she said.  “And you may be wondering why I’m not
smacking you for the way you’re talking to me right now.  Or have you even
thought about someone other than yourself since you’ve walked in that door?  If
you had, you’d have realized I have nothing to do with why you’re upset.”

Elijah couldn’t apologize.  He couldn’t even utter a sound. 
He just looked at the floor, embarrassed.

“Yes,” Mrs. Roddick said after she had gotten Elijah’s
attention. “I know you’re upset at something.  And yes, I would love to talk
with you about it.”

Elijah nodded, still looking down.  It took him a minute to
gather himself.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said.  “I’ve just been feeling
so…upset about things lately.”  Mrs. Roddick remained silent.  Elijah remained
thoughtful until he finally said, “I may have done something bad.  Or, at least
something I wasn’t supposed to do.”

Mrs. Roddick still said nothing.  Elijah looked for a hint
of shock or disappointment in her eyes, but there was none.

Elijah shook his head.  “I don’t even think it’s a big deal,
and I’m sure nothing will ever come of it, but I’ve been feeling guilty.” 
Elijah was sure this was when Mrs. Roddick was going to ask what he did, but
she didn’t.  “I did something I was specifically told not to do,” Elijah
admitted.  “I don’t know why I was told I couldn’t do it, but I did it
anyway—plus I lied about it.  I know the Magi are supposed to look for the good
in the world, and part of that is
doing
good, but I guess I’m just
confused.”

“What are you confused about?” Mrs. Roddick asked.

“I don’t know.  I guess I was just thinking about the
difference between good and evil.  Who decides which is which?”

Mrs. Roddick nodded slowly, following along with Elijah’s thoughts.