The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (24 page)

When Master Graham finally showed, he took the four new apprentices
around the library and showed them around.  Of course, all four of them knew
the library quite well, but he showed them inside the office chambers and
explained the front desk and recording systems.  They were given instruction on
how to clean and file the books.  They learned the process of checking out,
returning, and cataloguing problems with each of the books.  Graham told them
they would be spending most of the time filing and cleaning, but every now and
then they would be asked for help finding certain books, so they were each
given a large list of hot topic books and authors to study so they could be of
service to a confused student.

Then, they were given their working hours.  They were needed
three nights a week and one night on the weekend.  Elijah signed up for Monday,
Tuesday, and Thursday nights.  Since everyone wanted Sunday night off, they
were told they needed to trade off, and on occasion would need to work both
weekend shifts.

“You’re starting at the bottom,” Graham told them.  “Older
Novices have first priority, so if they need time off, you’ll need to cover.”

Elijah really didn’t care all that much.  They needed to be
in before dark anyway, so working wouldn’t disrupt too much of his life.  Plus
he could use the extra money.

They trained for almost the entire shift, but for the last
hour, they were sent off on their own to work.  Hannah immediately shot off to
one side of the library.

Becca snorted.  “It’s a good thing we can’t feel the tension
between you two,” she said.

“Shut up,” Elijah retorted.

“I think I’ll go sort through the epic war section,” said
Becca.  “It’ll be a nice tension reliever after watching you two and your
obvious attempts to avoid each other.”  She strutted off looking very pleased
with herself.

Elijah walked back behind the front desk and grabbed a
handful of books to file.  He looked at the call numbers and then at the
section.  His first book had him climbing to the very top of the second level. 
It took him ten minutes to file the one book.

After he got the hang of things, Elijah began to lose
himself in his own thoughts, which he loved.  It had been a long time since he
had been able to lose himself.  He thought of Uncle Stan and what he would be
doing now.  He wondered if he had been getting any information on the sphere or
at least on any Maliphist activity.  He thought of Mrs. Roddick.  He looked
forward to tomorrow when he could visit her.  She probably had a ton of chores
to do, and with two little ones running around, was probably having a hard time
getting things done.

Then he thought of Master Roddick.  He thought again about
how odd his last meeting with him was.  To completely dismiss him and treat him
almost like a stranger was concerning to say the least.  Roddick never treated
Elijah that way.  Why would he suddenly go from a caring father-like figure to
someone who wanted nothing to do with him in less than a day?

Just when he really began to lose himself, Elijah noticed a
pair of eyes staring at him across the bookshelf he was currently filing.  They
looked familiar to him.  A comforting feeling came over him but he couldn’t
figure out where he had seen them.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” said a girl’s voice he remembered.  But he
still couldn’t place it.

She walked around the shelf and faced him.  Elijah
recognized her but couldn’t remember her name.  It was a girl he had met during
Preliminary Orientation.

“Oh.  Hi,” Elijah said as friendly as he could.  He was
afraid, however, that the tone in his voice gave away that he couldn’t remember
her name.

“It’s Ruth,” the girl said.  Apparently, she noticed the
tone.

“Sure,” said Elijah.  “I remember you.  Wait.  You had
glasses before.”

There was a sudden giggle behind him a few shelves away. 
Elijah turned his head to see two other girls bolt suddenly in a different
direction.

Ruth shook her head and rolled her eyes.  “So much for
inconspicuous.”

Elijah laughed.

“And yes,” Ruth continued.  “I had glasses.  Still do.”  She
pulled them out and put them on.  “There we go.  You’re much clearer now.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” Elijah kidded.

“Oh, trust me, you’re much better-looking without five eyes
and two noses.”

Becca walked by behind Ruth and looked at Elijah.  She stuck
her finger inside her mouth and pretended to gag.

“So the question still stands, what can I do for you?”

“Well, our teacher assigned us this essay on Aristotle’s
philosophy,” Ruth began.  “Now I don’t know about you, but I could care less
about Aristotle, and to be honest, I really don’t want to read a bunch of stuff
that I don’t understand by a guy I don’t care about.  I was wondering if you
had any kind of summary or really basic overview of Aristotle that I could sift
through so I can spend my weekend hanging out with my friends instead of
fantasizing about throwing this book in the fire.”

Elijah hadn’t realized his smile was so big until he started
to talk.  “I’m sorry.  This is my first day, so I really don’t know where
anything is.  Do you want me to walk you to the librarian to ask?”

“No way!” Ruth said.  “I’d get reprimanded for sure.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Elijah said.

“Well, I’m not willing to risk it,” said Ruth.  “I guess
I’ll just read the stupid thing, but if you get a pile of ashes in your return
box, you’ll know what it is.  I’ll leave that for you to explain.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Elijah smirked.

“That’s right.  You heard nothing.  Shh shh shhhhhhhhh.” 
Ruth winked as she turned and left the library with her two friends still
giggling.

Elijah eyed Ruth until she climbed up the massive two-story
staircase and out of sight.  Becca walked up behind Elijah.

“Okay, seriously, if a pile of ashes actually does come into
our return box, I’m ratting you out,” Becca said.

Chapter
12:

OLIVIA’S SUBSTITUTE

Elijah woke up before sunrise again.  He wanted to make the
dawn traveling group, which left exactly when the sun peaked over the eastern
mountains.  Every hour on Sundays, soldiers in training would escort groups of
students to the different parts of Savenridge.  One group would take students
north, some as far as the Northern Gates and the Upper Forest.  Some would go
south all the way to the Southern Gates and the marketplace.  The first group
left at sunrise, and the last group returned at sunset.  If students missed the
return group, parents would have to escort their children back themselves.

Elijah left with the first group and traveled to the
marketplace.  The escorting soldier released them right by the stone tower in
the center of the road and reminded the students that they needed to meet there
to be picked up when they returned.

It had stopped raining, but the dark clouds overhead still
loomed.  Elijah weaved through the shops and houses toward the Roddicks’
house.  He knocked on the door, and Lizzy opened it.

“Elijah!  Mommy, Tirzah, it’s Elijah!”  In her haste, Lizzy
slammed the door in Elijah’s face.  He could hear her still calling after her
mother and sister through the door.  He knocked again.  This time Mrs. Roddick
opened the door.

“I’m sorry, Elijah,” she said.  She looked for Lizzy who was
still screaming for her sister.

“No problem,” Elijah laughed.  Lizzy ran back next to her
mother, smiling ear to ear.

“Lizzy,” Mrs. Roddick said.  “You were rude to Elijah.  Do
you know that you shut the door in his face?”

Lizzy lowered her head, folded her hands in front of her and
leaned into Mrs. Roddick’s leg.

“What do you say?”

“I’m sorry, Elijah.  I did not mean to be rude.”

Elijah bent down face to face with her.  “I am so glad to
see you too, missy.”  He hugged her, and her embarrassment quickly melted away
as she flung her arms around him and bounced up and down on her tippy toes.

Tirzah took Elijah’s pack from him to hang up.

“So,” Mrs. Roddick said as she sat down gingerly.  “How has
the first week gone?”

Elijah grabbed some dried fruit sitting on the front table
and snacked on it as he spoke.  “It’s been okay.  There were a lot of meetings
at first, but everything’s pretty much the same as last year.  Oh, except for the
living quarters.  I didn’t know there was a whole new wing for Novices.  It’s
pretty cool.  Much better than last year.”

Tirzah walked in with two hot drinks and placed them on the
table next to the dried fruit, which was being devoured by Lizzy.

“Here you go,” said Tirzah.  “Would you like anything to
eat?”

Elijah looked at her in amazement.  “You’ve sure grown up in
a couple of weeks.  No thank you.  I’m not hungry at the moment.”

Tirzah looked at Mrs. Roddick.  “Mommy, would you like
anything?”

Miranda Roddick shifted in her seat and winced.  “A blanket
dear.  Thank you.”

Tirzah obediently walked into the back room and retrieved a
blue and yellow crocheted blanket and laid it on her mother.

Elijah watched in concern.  “Is everything all right?”

“Oh, I’ll be fine,” said Mrs. Roddick.  “I get a little run
down this time of year.  And with Glen being gone, it’s hard for me to find
time to rest up.  But Tirzah’s been a real help so far.”

“Well then let
me
help,” Elijah said standing up. 
“What do you need?”

“Oh, nonsense,” Mrs. Roddick said.  “You only have this one
day off.  Let’s talk.  Tell me about your friends.  How are they all getting
along?”

Suddenly, Elijah wished he was asked to clean toilets.

“They’re fine,” Elijah said abruptly.

Mrs. Roddick looked at him suspiciously.  “Doesn’t sound
that way.”

“We’re just having a misunderstanding.”

“Did your friends hit you?” Lizzy said scowling.  “Because
my friend Lilah used to hit me and it wasn’t very nice.”

Elijah smiled.  “No Liz, my friends didn’t hit me.”

“Oh, good,” she replied, and then shoved enough dried
apricots into her mouth at once that she gagged.

Miranda chuckled.  “Sounds to me like you have a little
soldier here to threaten your friends with if they get too out of hand.”

Elijah sensed the opportunity to change the subject.  “Have
you heard from Master Roddick?”

Miranda’s eyes looked heavy.  “No.”

Elijah immediately regretted asking.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t
mean to make you upset.”

“It’s fine,” Mrs. Roddick said.  “I’m sure he’s got a lot on
his mind right now.”  She clutched her blanket tightly and breathed deeply
through her nose like she was in slight discomfort.

Elijah stood up.  “Alright, I know there’s some things to
get done around here.  Either put me to work or I’ll start snooping through
things to clean.”

Miranda grinned.  “What a difference a week at the barracks
makes.  It was only a few weeks ago that I couldn’t
pay
you to do your
chores.”

“Well, I’m doin’ ‘em now so either give me direction or
leave me to my own devices.”

“The kitchen,” Mrs. Roddick said.  “Start there.  Oh, then
the loft.  And the laundry.  Oh, and if it’s not too much trouble, could you
weed the flowerbeds out back?  And front?”

Elijah counted on his fingers.  “Kitchen, loft, laundry,
flowerbeds.  Okay, I’ll get started.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Roddick said.  Then she curled up on the
couch and pulled the blanket up to rest.

Elijah worked until practically sundown.  He didn’t get
through all of the flowerbeds, as they were extremely unkempt, but he promised
that finishing them would be the first chore he would tackle the following
Sunday.  He did, however, help bathe Lizzy, who had gotten filthy trampling
through the flowerbeds, despite Elijah’s protesting and explanation that only
the weeds needed to be taken out.

As the sun began to set, Elijah rushed through his
goodbyes.  He wanted to take more time, but he also would have felt horrible
making Mrs. Roddick escort him back to the barracks, especially with her
feeling the way she was.  He hugged and kissed the girls and promised them
piggyback rides and rousing games of hide and seek when he returned.

“Take it easy,” he said to Mrs. Roddick as he bent down to
hug her.  “Leave whatever you can’t do for me next week.  Really.”

Mrs. Roddick teared up and hugged Elijah tightly.  “I can’t
even tell you how much that means to me.  Thank you.”

The three Roddick women waved until Elijah turned the corner
and he couldn’t see them anymore.  He wished there was something he could do to
help.  Was it always like this when Master Roddick was gone?  He remembered
talking with Mrs. Roddick last year about Roddick’s stay at Saint Phillip’s
Academy, and he remembered thinking it was hard on her.  But this seemed to be
harder than he imagined.  He wished there was a way Master Roddick could stay
and work at the barracks here in town.  But then, who would work at the
Academy?  Apparently, all good deeds required a bit of sacrifice.

During the next four weeks, Elijah felt the effects of being
without his friends.  He put on a strong front while he went to classes and ate
in the dining hall alone, or occasionally with Adam, but deep down, he felt an
overwhelming sense of isolation.  He took for granted how good it felt to be
able to tell someone about his day until he had no one to tell.

He and Paul continued to purposefully ignore each other,
even despite urgings from both Adam and Isaac to just talk and work it out.  It
sometimes took Elijah a minute to remember what caused their dispute, and as
soon as he did, he almost laughed at how stupid the original argument actually
was.  However, the longer Paul refused to speak to him, the more irritated
Elijah became.  He couldn’t understand why Paul just wouldn’t let it go.