The Seventh Mountain (27 page)

Mark said, “Thank you, sir.”

Then Mark turned and grinned at his dad. “I
can show you guys around a little. It’s a really neat school. And
you’ll get to meet my friends, Nick, Jamal and Chenoa. Maybe mom
would feel better about it if she understood it a little
better.”

Steve returned to eating his steak. “All of
this is a bit much to take in.”

Mark turned in his seat toward his dad.
“There are a lot of amazing things about the people at this school.
I believe Mr. Diefenderfer. Trust me. You should believe him,
too.”

Mark looked at Mr. Diefenderfer. “Sir, with
your permission, I am going to demonstrate something for my family.
I don’t want to do this to show off. I just want them to have a
little reassurance about the school and everything that is
happening.”

Mr. Diefenderfer nodded.

Mark looked back at his dad. “What I am
going to show you is something that I have already told you about.
People read what I am thinking in the front of my mind. They think
that it is their own thoughts unless they have been trained to
recognize foreign thoughts. Mr. Diefenderfer has given me some
exercises to help control it. I’m getting better at it. I can
control the range pretty well now. What you need to do is to relax
your minds. Don’t think of anything in particular. It works better
in the morning when your mind is naturally relaxed, just after
waking up. I’ll wait a moment, for you to relax, before I
begin.”

After a moment, Mark began. He recalled all
of the significant events of Orientation Week. He remembered the
confrontation with Ralph Lawrence and his crew, befriending Nick,
Ms. Vanmie trouncing Ralph and his comrades, meeting Chenoa and
Jamal, selecting the signet, the encounter with the lioness, riding
the horses, and the call to the Council of Elders. Then he
remembered the starting of classes. He thought about starting Mr.
Diefenderfer’s class, Mr. Thorpe’s class, Mr. Goodfellow’s class
and Ms. Vanmie’s class.

He showed his family some more of the
details of a couple of the classes. He relived the starting of
Charlie Goodfellow’s Astronomy class. Mark had learned that Charlie
Goodfellow was an Aborigine from Australia. He spoke with an
Australian accent. The class began with all first year students
gathered a bit away from a roaring bonfire.

“G’day mates. In the back of your textbooks
is a transparency of the night sky for September. Take it out and
hold it up like this.” He demonstrated by holding up a transparent
sheet. “Make sure you have it right side up. You should be able to
read the words.”

He waited a moment then said. “Tonight, I am
going to teach you a little about finding your way around the night
sky. See that group of stars there that looks like a lopsided w?”
He pointed east toward the horizon. “That’s Cassiopeia. It’s easy
to spot. Now hold your star chart up and line up the stars of
Cassiopeia on your chart with the ones in the sky.”

Hooded instructors made the rounds and made
sure that everyone was on track.

Mr. Goodfellow pointed to the horizon.
“Another good reference point is Orion’s belt. It’s not up yet, but
you can see it on your October chart. See those three stars in a
line, close together? That’s Orion’s belt. If you draw a line
through the belt and extend it, it will come close to two bright
stars, one at either end of the belt. On one side is a reddish
star. That is Aldebaran. On the other side is a bright star by the
name of Sirius. You can line your charts up on these stars as well.
Aldebaran is a magnitude one star. Sirius is a magnitude minus one
point five star. And for reference, a full moon’s magnitude is
about minus twelve point five. That means how bright they are. A
magnitude six object can just barely be seen with the naked eye on
a very dark night.”

Mark brought his mind to an incident in Ms.
Vanmie’s class. He was careful not to think about how inadequate he
felt in that class. The class was just about to start when Ricky
Barns asked a question.

“Ms. Vanmie, why do we train with swords? I
mean, aren’t they obsolete? Why don’t we just train with
firearms?”

Ms. Vanmie smiled, turned and looked at
Ricky. “Every year a student asks that very same question. They get
the very same answer.”

The second year students pulled back, as a
group, from their normal training places. It was as if they knew
what was coming.

“Ricky, follow me.” She led him to a wall
full of shelves. “These are weapons that I keep here for training.
There is a very large selection. The guns are all loaded with wax
bullets and squib charges. Pick the handgun of your choice and go
back to your group.”

Ricky went back to his group carrying a long
barreled revolver.

Ms. Vanmie walked up in front of Ricky. She
shouted, “Jerome, with your riotous, at your pleasure, advance and
disarm Mr. Barns, after I move.” She whispered to Ricky, “Jerome
was the worst student last year to actually pass. I will give you
one hundred points and the rest of this class off, if you can hit
him with a shot from that pistol.”

Ms. Vanmie took two quick side steps to get
out of the way.

The second years parted from around Jerome.
Jerome stood alone and faced Ricky. He smiled and saluted Ricky
with his riotous. Ricky raised the gun to take aim. Jerome ran
forward and ducked left then right.

POP. Ricky fired his first shot. Jerome,
still running, did a forward somersault.

POP. Another shot missed. Jerome came to his
feet in a full out run. He closed on Ricky and spun left.

Ricky fired a third shot. Jerome’s riotous
came up, seemingly out of nowhere, and struck Ricky’s wrist. The
pistol was falling from Ricky’s grasp when Jerome spun again and
brought his riotous to rest against Ricky’s neck.

Ms. Vanmie said, “You don’t have to reload a
sword either. Swords have their place. There are also places where
the sword is absolutely useless.”

Mark brought his attention back to the here
and now. “The thoughts that you just had were some of my memories.
The only thing is; you were seeing them as me. For a few moments,
you thought of yourself as me. That’s pretty amazing.”

The silence that followed was broken by
James. “I don’t have to think about it anymore. I definitely want
to go to school here.”

Steve chuckled. “Me, too!”

Mr. Diefenderfer spoke. “You are still….
feeling… Mark’s feelings… It will pass… in a few moments.”

Shirley said, “I feel it, too. I want to go
to school here.”

“You know now… how Mark feels… about this
school. It is… impossible… for you… Steve… to matriculate… here.
Your minds… I am sure… are… too far set… in what you believe… to be
reality. There is hope… for James.”

Mr. Diefenderfer looked directly at James.
“If you still… feel this way… after you have… finished your dinner…
then… I will accept that… as your answer.”

Everyone finished their meal in silence.
James spoke first. “I still want to go to this school.”

Mr. Diefenderfer nodded. “Very well. I
accept that… as your answer. I will… notify you… all… of the
decision… of the Council of Elders.” He stood up beside his chair.
“If you have… no further questions… or comments… I will take… this
opportunity… to say… farewell.”

Steve stood and offered his hand to Mr.
Diefenderfer.

Mr. Diefenderfer looked at the hand for a
moment and then took it.

“Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Diefenderfer nodded his head slowly. He
turned and walked to the door.

When Steve sat back down, Shirley leaned
toward Mark and said, “Chenoa is a pretty girl.”

Mark said, “You’ve only seen her through my
eyes. You’ll get to meet her in person soon. Wait ‘til then and
make up your own mind.”

Mark grinned. “Mom, Dad, do you guys want to
build a house on that land in Virginia? I’ll pay for it.”

Steve said, “I hadn’t really thought about
it. I guess so. Why not? I’m getting out of the Marines, anyway.
What do you think, hon?”

“That’s kind of sudden, Sweetheart. We
haven’t had a chance to talk about it.”

“What’s to talk about? I’m getting out of
the service. We need a place to live.”

Mark said, “Well, that settles it. I’ll set
up an account at the bank, so that you’ll have the money to build
it.”

“You don’t have to do that, son. I’ve got
some money. I can build the house myself.”

“Don’t be silly, Dad. I have to be one of
the richest people in the world now. If you want to build the
house, at least let me buy the material.”

“I’ll think about it, son.”

‘Well, let me put it another way. I want to
do something significant for our family. I want to say thanks for
all that you have done for me. Building a house is nothing compared
to you risking your life to save mom and me from that horse.”

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll start building the
house with our money. When we run out of money, you can make up the
difference.”

“Okay, just don’t be surprised if a few
extra boards and stuff just happen to show up.”

Venture is the heart of any journey.

The last Saturday in October brought the
second flags match of the year. Mark sat on the corral fence
waiting for Charlie Goodfellow to signal solar noon, the start of
the game. Nick, Jamal, Chenoa, LeOmi and Cap’n Ben were there with
him. Krisa, the Emerald Team captain, was giving last minute
instructions.

Mark looked at the crowd in the bleachers.
He knew that his family was somewhere up there. He just couldn’t
tell where.

Krisa rode back and forth and shouted so
everyone could hear her.

“Just a reminder for those of you that have
never played before. We function as a team. Getting the flag into
our corral is more important than who does it. If you see a chance
to pass to someone in the clear, don’t hesitate; do it.

“Keep up with what’s going on. Be ready when
it’s your turn to play. Remember, the order goes, first team,
second team, first team, second team, third team, first team,
second team, third team, fourth team. That’s one, two… one, two,
three… one, two, three, four, then repeat.”

Steve, Shirley and James were sitting in the
stands with Tim. Tim decided to use the stands for flags matches
instead of the seventh level balcony. He still hadn’t gotten the
bad taste out of his mouth since his run in with Mr. Thorpe.

“This is Mark’s first match. I think he is
going to do well. I have seen him at practice. He is pretty
good.”

Shirley gave a nervous smile. “I saw the
last match. It looks like it can get pretty brutal down there.”

“Yes ma’am, it can, but nobody has been
seriously injured in a long time. Besides, the healers here are
first rate, best in the business.”

“Will Mark be playing much?”

“I do not know. Krisa, the team captain, put
him on the fourth team. The fourth team, for Emerald Tribe,
generally plays every ninth flag. He might get to play three or
four flags.”

Mark, Chenoa, Jamal, Nick, LeOmi and Cap’n
Ben comprised half of the fourth team. That would remain so until
one of them showed themselves to be a better player than someone on
the other Emerald teams. If and when that happened, the players
would change places. It would be eight rounds before the fourth
team got to play. That meant that they had an hour to an hour and a
half before they rode.

Steve said, “So, he’s a pretty good rider,
is he?”

“Oh, yes, sir. He is a natural. He has a way
with horses. Remember, they talk to each other.”

The announcer began. “Ladies and Gentlemen…
welcome… to the second flags match… here at The Seventh Mountain…
for this school year. The competition is predicted to be tight
today…. The tribes of Ruby, Emerald, Diamond and Agate will be
competing. May the best team win.”

The occasion of the draw gave Ruby another
chance to play. The other two teams drawn were Agate and Diamond.
Mark had seen Ruby Tribe play. Not so the other two. Ruby had put
in their second team after five flags. Their second team played
four flags and then their first team was back in. That meant that
Emerald’s fresh fourth team would face Ruby’s tired second team.
Mark was doing this analysis in the front of his mind while he
pondered how he wanted to go after the bonus flag.

He looked at The Island. It was populated
with brown and black bears. He leaned over to Nick. “Know where we
can get some honey?”

“Not offhand. Players can’t leave the field
during a match.”

“Oh well, it was just a thought.” Mark gave
a slight motion with his thumb toward The Island.

“Oh, okay.” Nick shook his head. “I think
you need a better idea than that.”

“Yeah, me too. I think I’ve got it. I just
need to watch a couple of things, for a bit, to make sure that it
will work.”

“Noon.” The amplified cry from Charlie
Goodfellow signaled the beginning of the match. The first flag was
launched high into the air. All eyes squinted to catch its path
against the gray sky.

“Yah!” Every Emerald Tribe player shouted at
once when the flag struck the ground.

The announcer’s voice boomed over the field.
“They’re off. Diamond takes an early lead. Leroy is out in front
with Lloyd, for Agate, hot on his heels.”

Mark wasn’t following the action. He hopped
down off the fence and went to watch what was happening in the
other corrals. He watched as Ruby brought up the replacement mounts
for their first team. Agate tribe was doing the same thing. Diamond
had riders and mounts ready to go. He looked hard and couldn’t see
anyone guarding the backside of the three corrals. Ruby brought in
the first flag. Everyone in their corral was up front waiting for
the handoff of the flag.

Mark watched as six more flags were played.
No one guarded the backside of the corrals during play. He was sure
that his plan would work.