"We're going out".
I stared at Chaim. I thought he was never going to say that. I lived with him for about a month now and we always stayed inside. It felt like forever.
"What are we going to do?" I asked.
"We're going to a nearby village to buy some new gardening tools".
He loved taking care of his garden so that sounded about right.
The idea of finally going out was pretty exciting. I changed my clothes and wore something more refined. I decided to try on my new blue coat. Vits bought it for me and since he was coming along, I thought I'd better wear it. Vits always seemed to be around, it was almost like he lived with us.
"You're not going out" Vits smiled. "Chaim was talking to me".
I smiled back. After a month, I started liking his jokes and now I could even tell whether he was joking or not. At least, most of the times.
The village was very nice and it had a couple of shops which I guess people might have liked, even though I wasn't really sure what they were selling.
Chaim and Vits rushed into a big shop and I followed them. They started looking around and comparing prices and details of some things that looked roughly like robots. I got bored pretty quickly and I went into the back room, even though the door had a sign that read NO ENTRY.
It turned out it was just a stupid warehouse. I was about to return to the main room, mainly because I didn't want Chaim and Vits to worry about me, when something else caught my attention.
Something in the far left corner was making whimpering sounds. As soon as I got closer, I noticed the thing looked somewhat like a bundle, except that it was shaking. Even though there was no light, it took me just a few more steps to adjust to the room and realize that I was facing something definitely human.
The girl looked about my age or younger, she was shaking and crying as she sat on the floor with her arms folded around her legs.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" I asked.
The girl dried the tears from her eyes.
"I could ask you the same question" she snapped back, her voice still broken from crying, but somehow defiantly.
She was looking at me suspiciously and I wondered what she was thinking.
I decided I liked her. I had liked her from the very first moment I had understood she was human, perhaps even before, when I had heard her crying and I had decided I wanted to go to her, even though I shouldn't even have been there in the first place.
"So... what's your name?" I tried again to start the conversation. This time my voice was softer and there was something in my tone that reminded me of the way Vits talked when he talked about Chaim.
"Timothea Lewalski" she whispered. "Everybody calls me Thea".
She crawled back on her feet and found a lamp, which she turned on. Now I could see her more clearly. She looked about fourteen years old and she had dark hair that covered part of her face, but not enough to hide some bruises. She was very thin but she looked quite good and she had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. They were a deep shade of blue.
"My name is Oliver Edens" I said. I was considerably taller than her, even though I wasn't extremely tall for my age. I noticed this made her uncomfortable and, after a few seconds, it was starting to making me feel a little self-conscious.
"Who hurt you?" I asked. I couldn't help but staring at the bruises on her face.
"There's this kid called Claude Boyd. He's a wanderer, like me" she blushed. "I am an orphan and many orphans join in gangs to survive. I don't really like it, so I try to stay on my own. But it gets hard, especially when you're hungry and there are kids who would be persuaded to share some of their food. Anyway, I shouldn't even try -- most of those other kids are just bullies and they like to pick on me. Claude hates me and he makes sure I understand that I'm not welcome in his group".
The story was moving and I wish I had some way to cheer her up but I'm not really great in this kind of things.
"That must be very hard for you" is what I managed to say.
"It is" she said.
"And the worst thing isn't even the fact that they beat me up". Her voice broke again. "The worst thing is this".
She handed me something and I could feel her hand was shaking. I took a look. It was a book and it was ripped to shreds. I still could see some parts of the cover - a picture of a nice looking young man with long black hair and expressive eyes. He was wearing a top hat. The title appeared to be something like Poems Written During A Stormy, Dark Night on The Beach and the name of the author (probably the man in the picture) was Andy Baker. I had never heard of him before but I could tell it meant a lot to my new friend, since she was so shocked.
"Did they destroy your book? That's awful!"
Suddenly, I had an idea.
"Look, why won't you come with me? We're not supposed to be here and you don't need to hide from those bullies anymore. I'm here with the two men I'm living with, I'm sure they could get you a new copy of the book".
I took her hand and carried her to the main room, trying not to look Chaim in the eyes. He was staring at me in a very disapproving manner.
"Here you are" Vits laughed. "We wanted to show you our new gardening tool".
The gardening tool was one of the robots I noticed before. He would have looked like a man, but he was made of a shiny silvery metal. Vits pushed a button and the robot started speaking:
"Good morning master. My name is Ewan Jackson and I'm at your service".
"They're all called EWAN" Vits grinned, "but each model has a different last name. This model is strictly for gardening, since it's the task that requires most of Chaim's time".
I was kind of surprised at this turn of events, but not as much as Thea was. She kept looking at Chaim, Vits, EWAN and me. It seemed she was at a loss for words. She looked out of place, like I guess I must have looked some time ago, when I had been fired, but she seemed stronger than I was. I've been told that I when I'm stressed I always look like I am about to cry while she definitely looked like she was just about to say something sassy.
"This is Thea" I felt the need to say after a couple of minutes of awkward silence.
"Which model is this?" Vits grinned.
Thea finally felt ready to speak up. She told some parts of her story, mostly about the gangs of wanderers and the bullies and then she showed what remained of her book.
"Considering the way you've been living in the streets, it's amazing that you care so much about reading" Chaim said . He probably knew more about wanderers than I did. "I would be glad to buy you a book any day".
We went out to look for a shop that sold books. Chaim and Vits talked to Thea and they cheered her up. I thought how my life would have been simpler if they had acted like that with me, instead of the way they did, like they had to keep me from finding out their secrets all the time. I couldn't help but think how much this would have made me jealous before meeting Thea, but now it wasn't like that. I felt like she deserved everything that's good in this world and I would have cheered her up myself if only I knew how to.
It took Thea almost an hour to choose between all the different titles that Andy Baker had written. If you haven't figured it out already, Andy Baker was her favorite author. Eventually, Chaim decided that he was going to buy Thea all the books she wanted, but Thea wouldn't have it because, according to her words, we've all been nice enough to her already. Thea chose a copy of a new book she hadn't read yet, but I decided that I'm going to make some money and buy her all of the other books for her birthday.
Thea was about to go, when I had a brilliant idea.
"I was thinking - since Thea doesn't have family or friends, she could stay with us and live at Chaim's castle".
Vits grinned. I kept calling Chaim's house a castle because it kind of looked like one, but technically it wasn't.
"That's a very fascinating thought" Chaim said, who, as I had found out, had the tendency to think every thing others said was much deeper than it actually was. But not in a foolish way, not at all. More like in an encouraging way.
"Actually" he added. "It would be nice to teach you sorcery".
Chaim and Vits decided it was the official term to refer to what I was being taught, since it included elements of alchemy, spirituality, magic and whatnot. I think that magic would have worked pretty well as a general term as well as one of the aspects, but it wasn't so official.
I was so happy about Chaim's proposition. The days in which I wanted to be the only kid in the house had soon ended when I started feeling alone and I liked Thea so much that the thought of being able to spend every day with her was thrilling.
Thea smiled. She accepted the invitation and she immediately pointed out how grateful she felt that she finally had something that resembled a family.
"Since you're staying with us now, we need to set up your room" said Chaim when we arrived at the house.
"She could use one of the guest rooms" I suggested, since almost every other room had a special purpose.
"Perhaps Aer Room, since it's the biggest and coolest" I blushed. "I mean, I think she deserves the best, since she's an apprentice and not just a guest".
I glanced at Vits "If that's alright with you".
He looked startled "What do you mean?"
"Nothing. I just supposed it was the guest room you always slept in".
"So, where do you sleep?" asked Thea.
Vits laughed "There are two questions you should never ask a person - where they sleep and who they're sleeping with".
This shut us up for a while and in the meantime Chaim and Vits set up a nice room for Thea in the Aer Room. We helped them with the task, especially gathering together all the stuff that Thea needed in order to study sorcery. There were always extra copies of books or multiple ingredients for potions, ampoules and whatever you needed, laying around. In fact, in the month I was living there I started noticing little things like that, that made me think Chaim didn't pick his students so casually, he was probably trying to start something like a school. Even when we talked, he tried to make me understand without giving too much away that I wasn't going to be his only student forever. And perhaps not even for a month. I wasn't sure of my theory and I lacked all the details necessary to work out what made Chaim (and Vits, I was sure he was somehow involved in this) choose their students. Whatever it was, I was extremely happy to be there and learn that stuff and I considered myself especially lucky that Thea could share this adventure with me.
Since Thea's new room had two big beds, like I mentioned in my room list, I decided to sleep in the bed that was in front of hers so that we could talk a little before falling asleep.
"I really like it here" whispered Thea.
"I'm glad to hear you say it".
I decided to explain to her my theory about Chaim and Vits setting up a school.
"I still don't know how they pick their students, but I am very happy they chose you".
" Thanks. However, I think I know. Well, we're both orphans. I think that's important for two main reasons. Number one, Chaim decided to locate this school in his house and I don't think many parents would let their children live here. Ever since the War, many people, especially the poor, need all the help they can get to keep the family and the business going. I guess you, like many other kids, went to school only for about a year, just enough to learn to read. And then, you started working in the family shop. Most families don't care about education nowadays, let alone sorcery education, if they believed that sorcery could be useful at all which is a big if. Furthermore, there are plenty of orphans in the Corporation Of The Kingdoms and most of their parents perished during the War, which ended not long after kids our age were born. And there's the second reason: the orphanages never tell anybody who their parents were, as you should know too. But Chaim and Vits are at least our parents' age, if not older. What I'm saying is, what if they knew our parents, or at least are trying to guess if we're from some family they used to know?".
"That's clever. They did mention the fact that they have heard of my parents, even though they quickly dismissed it before I could ask any question. However, I was told my parents were missing in action, so I hope they might be still alive. You know, somewhere".
"That might be true, maybe Chaim and Vits know something about that too".
It was nice to hear, but I didn't know if I could really believe in that anymore. Anyway, if Chaim and Vits knew something about my parents, why keep it a secret from me?
"Very good" Chaim smiled.
Thea's eyes were bright with joy. She was very good in all the subjects she had tried so far, but she had a special talent for history.
"How do you know all this stuff?" I asked.
She had just finished talking about the economic issues that raised after the War. Like she had mentioned the first night we talked, it was very rare for poor kids to get an education and I thought that, since she was a wanderer, it must have been especially harder for her.
"I just have a very good memory" she replied. "I used to read a lot of books back in the orphanage, all kind of books, but I really loved history ones. I wanted to know a lot of things about the past and about the War, since it's something that reminds me of my parents and what they went through".
For the first time, I felt that in some things we could be extremely different. I liked books but I read mostly fiction and the idea of the war taking my parents away from me made me suffer so much I could never bear to think about it. I would have never had the strength to research anything about that.
"That's remarkable" said Chaim.
Vits was cooking dinner in the kitchen, just a few feet away "I never thought I would hear Chaim say that of a student. Oliver, you should take notes".
I didn't pay attention because I knew that he loved messing with me, but it was in a friendly way. Thea blushed.
"I think that Oliver is extremely clever" she suggested.
I wasn't sure why she thought that of me, since I we hadn't been talking that much and I wasn't that good at learning either, but I could tell from the tone of her voice that she really meant it and I was very grateful for that.
"He is clever" Vits teased "but he's also extremely lazy".
Now it was my turn to blush. Maybe he could read my mind (I had no idea of what Chaim and he were capable of back then, so anything supernatural seemed appropriate) and he had found out I thought about setting up EWAN to do my homework. Well, I had actually tried but Thea was hanging around and she heard me trying to tell the robot what to do, so she jumped in to remind me he was strictly created to take care of the garden.
"Is the dinner ready?" Chaim was always very permissive regarding Vits jokes, but he also knew how to change subject quickly whenever he wanted him to stop.
"It is" Vits smiled.
We ate shakshuka, which is basically eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce. Vits just loved cooking recipes from his culture, which was Chaim's cultural background as well. We talked about our lessons and things were going great, until Chaim said he had forgotten to check if we had any mail. When he came back, he gave me a letter.
"This is for you" he told me. He looked slightly uncomfortable and I could tell he didn't know anything about it.
I decided to read the letter out loud. I felt like Chaim and Vits deserved to know what was in there too and I was going to share the content with Thea either way. Furthermore, I could already feel the girl pressing her hands on my back, trying to look over my shoulder.
Hello Oliver,
I am Marcel. I am sure you've already heard about me. If you haven't, well that's too bad. I am Shylock Bloom's brother. Sooo basically your uncle! Erm, I think we might have actually met a couple of times...maybe at family dinners? Anyway, I am aware that right now you live with some crazy man...erm, I mean, another person. Do you like it there? Is he good to you? I'm only asking because I think you can trust me. And if something's off with your new situation you can just tell me. The point is, I'd really love to spend some time together again and I think it would be nice if you could drop by sometimes. To tell you the truth, I was thinking of taking you in myself but I'm afraid it cannot be done now. But I hope that things turned out for the best.
Please write me back,
Best Regards, Marcel
I didn't know what to say. I noticed that everybody else seemed almost as confused as me.
"It doesn't make a lot of sense" Vits objected. "In the first lines of the letter it sounds like he thinks you can hardly remember him but then he starts acting like you're best friends and then he wants to take you in. And suddenly he's super concerned about your well being too. Do you know this man at all? And if you do, what can you tell us about him?"
"He's my foster father's brother. I have met him in a few occasions and of course I remember him. It would be hard not to, since the last time the Blooms invited him over for dinner he was caught stealing our bread, the one we prepared for the bakery. The thing is, he hardly ever talked to me, I just thought he didn't care much about me. This letter, like you pointed out, is quite strange indeed. He is a peculiar man and, as far as I know, he's always plotting some scheme to have some personal gain. But what does this have to do with me?"
"So, you're saying that he was very hard to forget but he implies that you might not know who he is". Thea was thinking out loud. "And you say that he obviously didn't pay any attention to you at all, but he says that he always liked you and he wants to spend more time with you".
"Yeah".
Thea looked thoughtful for a while, then her eyes lit up "Of course!" she whispered with excitement.
"You said that Marcel is always plotting something and I am willing to bet that that's exactly what he's doing now. He needs you, I'm not sure for what reason, and he's trying to win you over to his side, reminding you of how much he enjoys you, hoping you don't remember it's quite probably not much. And that's also why he's being sympathetic about you having to adapt to a new life and why it sounds like he dislikes Chaim".
"Well" said Vits "If that was his intention, he butchered it. He only managed to sound a little bit pathetic".
Thea shrugged. "Oliver said he was caught stealing bread for the bakery, I guess he's not the sharpest tool in the shed".
"Not only this makes sense, but it also seems the only possible option" I said. "But I do wonder what he might want of me".
"There's only one way to find out" I decided. "I'm going to reply to this letter and eventually he will tell me what he wants of me. But I'm still curious about something - how can he think that I don't remember him when our meetings may have been brief and rare but peculiar enough to be very clear in my mind?"
"The only possible explanation is one that might make the mystery of why he wants you even harder to solve" Chaim replied. "He wrote the letter trying to see your point of view, but he failed. He is only capable of understanding his reality of things - so the point is....he is the one who doesn't remember much about you".
"What do you think I should reply?" I asked.
Thea looked embarrassed. "I think you shouldn't reply" she said. "It might be dangerous".
"I never thought you would say that" teased Vits. "I thought we were all very curious about Marcel's motives".
Thea blushed. "I am, I just don't want Oliver to feel pressured. And I don't trust Marcel either way".
"You don't have to trust him" Chaim explained. "But it's essential for us to know what's going on here".
Then he turned to me.
"Write him back a simple and short letter, write whatever you want as long as it's kind, it doesn't give too much information away and it's enough to keep the conversation going".
That sounded a little tricky, but I tried to remember all the details in order to prove I was up for the task. I noticed something in Chaim's eyes. It was a new spark. I realized he was waiting for some information like whatever Marcel was going to tell me, whatever it was. It was like he was looking for me but didn't know why and now he found someone else who was doing the same thing and he could finally ask him some clarification.
I highly doubted that Marcel could know something that Chaim did not know, but it was worth trying. So I started writing.
Hello Marcel,
of course I remember you. I am doing fine, thanks for asking. We may not know each other so well, but I enjoy your company. I think we should see each other again, even though I have recently found a new accomodation, there's no reason why we shouldn't be friends, if we want to.
Well, I have to admit - I'm wondering why an adult thinks I'm cool enough for his consideration... I mean, I think you're cool and you might teach me something, but what about me? Why would you think I could be somewhat special?
Love, Oliver
I admit it wasn't the best letter ever but it was also the first one I've ever written. Plus, if it had gotten any longer...well, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say other than that. I asked my friends what they thought of that.
"I like the fact that you pointed out that you'd like to stay here" was the first thing that Vits said. But he looked strangely moved.
"We'd love it too" Chaim said.
"That's very good, but don't you think you shouldn't have been so explicit about the finding you somewhat special part?" Thea was her usual self - supportive but analytical.
"I thought so" I admitted. "But after all, that's also the fastest way I thought of making him tell the truth. And he's not exactly keeping it a secret either judging by the letter he sent in the first place".
"That's true" added Vits. "I don't know him personally but I guess that should work, he's going to tell you simply because he's not smart enough not to".
So I sent the letter. I knew it was going to take a while before I got his reply, so I just went on with my life and I didn't bother myself thinking about the mystery.
Meanwhile, the school that Chaim and Vits set up was going on, even though they had only two students.
Thea and I studied seven subjects, which was only fitting with the spiritual importance of the number seven. We learned that, according to Vits nothing is random in the Universe, so why should we be?
Thea was very clever and had no trouble in studying so many different things even though, as the lessons got harder, none of us was especially brilliant in most of the courses. We kind of hated P.E. which was only fair, but according to Chaim we had to exercise at least enough to remain healthy. However, he kept asking much more than that from us and the lessons started getting more difficult. I had the uneasy feeling he was training us for something - not to attack, of course, it wasn't in his life philosophy to hurt others. If it came to fighting, he was training us to be able to survive it.
We were doing push-ups when Thea groaned.
"Remind me why I said I loved being here".
Her dark hair was sweaty and her skin was glowing but what really lit up her face were her bright blue eyes.
I smiled. "You have said that over a month ago, you still didn't know what it was like to live here, I can forgive you". I was just teasing her, of course.
She pushed me and made me fall head first on the yoga mat I was using. I laughed and then she started laughing too.
In that very moment, Chaim approached us with a serious look in his eyes .
"I know you're having fun and I appreciate that - but now you go get ready, okay? We've got some work to do".
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