Seventeen Stones (15 page)

The
inside was in slightly worse condition: on closer inspection there was some
termite damage in one of the drawing rooms, stonework was crumbling, paint was
peeling in three of the bedrooms, including the master suite, and all the
furnishings needed to be replaced or reupholstered.  The house had a number of
charming architectural details and lovely old hardwood floors.  It would take
time and skill to refurbish it, but it was well worth saving. 

She was quite satisfied when she left.  She tried to
concentrate on her work, but her mind kept flitting back and forth to the day
she’d just had.  She finally gave up and allowed herself to indulge in a few
minutes of idle thoughts.  Idle thoughts turned quickly to dreams, and she
rested her head on the seat beside her as the carriage traveled back into the City.

Three
weeks into the semester, Elementary Healing finally began.  The class had been
delayed due to Professor Randal’s demise.  Their professor had taken over Mrs.
Bennett’s duties in the infirmary while she settled the estate.  Mia was
concerned about the injured students she’d seen, but for some reason the
college was keeping it very quiet.  Even Vivian hadn’t heard anything…or if she
had she hadn’t passed it along.

Professor
Ronan was a man of middling years whose most defining features were a pair of
bushy, expressive eyebrows and an enormous stomach that entered the room well
before he did.  The class was very full, and for the first time since Sight, it
was largely populated by females. 

The
professor smiled as he walked in the room.  “All right class.  Settle down.” 
His voice was surprisingly gentle for such a large man.  “As I’m sure most of
you know our class was delayed by the unfortunate demise of one of the
teachers.  Even though we’ve had a late start we’re going to try to make it
through the syllabus as is.  I realize that this will be difficult, but better
to lose a few students than to send the rest of you on to intermediate healing
unprepared.  So! Let’s get to work.”

He
led them outside where a grove of potted shrubs were sitting in the sun.  Most
of the leaves were split and cut.  “We always begin on plants, then animals,
and finally my third years help in the infirmary two days a week.  For those
interested in healing as a profession, there are always a few apprenticeships
available with the Healer’s Guild, and more available with individual healers
around the City.”  He pulled out a long, dark wand, nearly as substantial as he
himself was.   

“Today
we’ll learn a simple mending charm, used for scrapes and scratches.  This is
more effective than using a gummy concoction to seal the cut.  Most wanded healers
use it if they have to remove a foreign object from the body by surgery.  I’ll
demonstrate.”  He took a tattered leaf in his hand and swirled his wand as he
uttered the charm.  The leaves mended themselves as they watched. 

Professor
Ronan smiled serenely at their amazement.  “Now, each of you, choose a bush,
that’s right, plenty to go around….”  He walked from student to student,
correcting their grips on the wands, wrist movement, and annunciation.  Mia was
holding her wand a bit too high, but managed the charm easily once he corrected
her grip.  Ella was saying the charm with a nasal twang, and Sarah was jabbing
her wand a bit more than she should.  Mia wasn’t even tired at the end of
class, but she was ready for a nice lunch when the chimes sounded.  Professor
Ronan called out a warning as the students grabbed their things.  “Don’t try
this on anyone yet.  Remember, you have two years of study before you start
practicing on humans!”

***

Over the next three weeks Mia visited the estate
twice.  She was informed by a blushing Mr. Dempsey that he would be married on
her third trip to the estate.  He didn’t spend long in the office with her; he
seemed grateful but severely embarrassed.  “He’ll get over that.” said Mr.
Smith indulgently.  “I expect you’ll want to continue visiting the estate on
rest days, and I encourage you to do so.  I have to spend the next two weeks on
a project my wife has had on her mind for some time, and since you’re up to
date…”  Mia grinned.  “I’m quite capable of sending for the carriage myself Mr.
Smith.” 

He smiled. 
“Of course you are my dear.  Now, just a note, please don’t try to open the glass
case in the library; there are some very valuable original books in that case,
and they have some of the most powerful protective enchantments on them that  I
have ever seen.  Several people have been hurt trying to open it, so I would
advise you against it.”  He piled a stack of paper three feet high and started trying
to shove it into his briefcase. 

He
looked at Mia as he sat on the case to shut it. “You know that the estates hold
mid-winter parties for the people in the area?”  Mia nodded.  Forestreach had
no Greatlady or Lord, so there were no mid-winter festivals.  Mr. Smith’s case
finally clicked shut.  He panted slightly as he said “We’ve held the general
festival every year, as your mother’s will indicated.  But we’ve left off the
grand ball for the local gentry, feeling it would be inappropriate for them to
continue without a member of the family in residence.  The Greatlord who leased
the estate for the past thirteen years certainly had no interest in filling in for
the family.  I doubt he had guests above five or six times in all the time he
was here.  Regardless, I think it would have been unseemly for anyone but a
member of the bloodline to host the celebration, however worthy he himself
might be.  If you are willing to come here for Mid-Winter…”  He meant it.  She,
Mia from Forestreach, she was supposed to hold one of the near-mythical
mid-winter parties.  She had dreamed that one day, once she was grown up, and
wanded, that maybe she might be invited to
attend
one. 

Not
all the estates sponsored the mid-winter festivities.  Only a few still held to
the ancient tradition.  It dated back before the foundations of the City were laid.  
Mia never guessed that her family was one of those few who still supported the
festivals. 

Most
people celebrated mid-winter at home.  They decorated their mantels with
evergreens and candles, exchanged tokens, and had music and a feast and
dancing.  She and Emma had found time to exchange tokens, but they were usually
busy treating colds and cases of overindulgence.  Forestreach didn’t have any
sort of village-wide celebration, but some of the bigger families had held
their own.  A few of the larger villages held celebrations, but she’d never
even gone to one of those.  How was she supposed to plan a party for the local
wanded?  Lords and Greatlords would be invited...

Mia
didn’t waste any time writing Emma.  Her letter was ready to post long before
the coach returned her to the college.  She wanted to make sure her guardian
could come to the party if she did decide to give one.  Even more than that she
really wished she could talk to her, have a warm hug, and be told not to
worry.  As that comfort was out of reach, she wrote a letter and hoped Emma
would reply quickly.

She
returned to the college late, and the others were asleep.  Mia shrugged and
took a short but thorough bath.  She’d have to invite the others tomorrow.  She
was asleep before her head hit the pillow. 

She
paid for not brushing her hair out properly the next morning; it looked like
some sort of bird had decided to nest in it.  Frustrated, she finally managed
to tie it up in a knot, albeit a messier knot than usual.  That made her late
getting down for breakfast, and she barely had time to stuff down a muffin
before they had to run to Botany.  The girls rushed into the greenhouse as the
last chime faded away.

The
professor gave them a stern look as Martin Ainsley smirked behind him.  “That’s
cutting it a bit close girls.  Try not to do it again.”  Mia muttered something
contrite.  The Professor turned his stern glare into a full frown.  “Class,
today you’ll be doing something I normally ask my second years to do, but as I
don’t have them until tomorrow, I’m asking you.  Over the rest day, greenhouse
seven apparently had an infestation of pixies.  If I catch the blighters who
let them in I’m going to turn them into fertilizer.  Today we’ll be catching
each of the little pink pests and putting them in jars.”

Professor
Cavendish led the class to greenhouse seven.  It was a disaster area.  Pots
were overturned, water was leaking out of the cistern (which was cracked in
three places), and pink fluffy fur balls were flying all over the place.  Pixies
were four inches tall and almost as round.  They were covered in fluffy, bright
pink fur, more like lamb’s wool than anything else.  Two iridescent wings
sprouted on their backs.  They were a type of rodent, but their general
cleverness and instinct for trouble had earned them their own classification,
like bunnies…except without the cute cotton tail.  Their features were largely
hidden in pink fluff, except their huge blue eyes.  They had large hind feet
like a rabbit, and clever little paws like a squirrel.  They used them in the
wild to open nuts, pick fruit, and dig for shellfish on the coast.  They could
catch and eat mice and even rats up to their own size, larger if they were
hunting in a pack.  They’d used those clever little paws in the greenhouse to open
boxes, eat fruit, and generally get into everything.   

Greenhouse
seven, it turned out, was where the fruit for the entire campus was grown, and
there wasn’t much that hadn’t been consumed.  The professor waved his wand at
the cracked cistern and indicated the box he’d levitated through the door. 
“Everyone take a net and a glass jar.  Pixies don’t have much in the way of a
natural defense, but if you get too close to them you’ll start sneezing.  They
throw handfuls of ‘dust’.  It’s a type of dandruff.  Humans are particularly
allergic to it.  Best tie a handkerchief around your faces.”    

They
left Botany an hour later with their hair messed up, their eyes and noses
dripping from the blasted pixie dust.  The pixies had been captured and
contained, but the damage to the greenhouse was impressive.  Mia decided that
even magic wasn’t going to get the handkerchief she was using really clean ever
again, and tossed it in the closest trash bin. 

About
half the Botany class was in Alchemy next, and Professor Ambrose regarded them
all with disgust.  “Anyone who is sick needs to go see Mrs. Bennett.  I have
absolutely no wish to spend another three weeks down with sirenitis or noodle-nose
ever
again.”  Their normally happy-go-lucky teacher was cringing behind
her desk.  Mia wiped her streaming eyes with a borrowed handkerchief and raised
her hand.  “We aren’t sick Professor.  We just came from Botany, and we were
trying to catch pixies.”  Professor Ambrose’s red eyebrows touched her
hairline.  “And Professor Cavendish didn’t give any of you an anti-allergy
brew?”  Mia shook her head.  The professor raised her eyes skyward.  “Blast the
man.  I’ll have to talk to him again.  Some days he doesn’t seem to think a
person is a person if they don’t have leaves!”  She administered the potion
(summoned from Mrs. Bennett’s stores) and they began class.

The
girls were walking back to the dorms for lunch when Mia remembered that she had
something to ask them.  She casually asked Ella what she intended to do for
Mid-Winter.  Ella shrugged.  “Stay here in the dorms I suppose.  It’s too far
to go home.  Still, it shouldn’t be too bad.  I think the City holds a festival
every year so I might go see what that’s all about.” 

Mia
grinned.  “I have to be at the estate over the holiday.  I was hoping that all
of you would join me.”  Ella immediately agreed, while the others said they
would have to check.  “I’m sure my folks won’t mind” chatted Vivian.  “We never
do anything much for the holiday anyway.  Mum and dad are always tired.”  Sarah
wasn’t as optimistic.  “I’d love to come, but we normally attend the festival
that my grandfather hosts at his estate.  I don’t know how I’d be able to get
away.”  She looked at Mia wistfully.  “Your party is bound to be more fun. 
Grandfather likes stewed prunes.”  She pulled a face.  Lizzy and Beth murmured
that they would have to travel to their grandmother’s estate, but they decided
to ask anyway.  There was a chance that the lady could be convinced.  She
didn’t host a festival; her estate was much smaller and more remote than Mia’s.

The
girls discussed the possibility of a ball while they bolted their food.  Then
Mia went upstairs and washed her face and redid her hair.  She felt much better
once she dripped some potion in her eyes to take the red out, smoothed her
hair, and changed clothes. 

Creation
was without exception her favorite class.  It was a thrill to learn each new
skill, and the focus which the subject required stretched her talent as nothing
else did.  She enjoyed all of the courses (except the mind-numbing Government
class and Transfiguration with the detestable Marshal), but nothing stirred her
imagination like Creation.

Today
they were learning about creating crystal.  “Making glass is the bread and
butter for many wand wielders: its first year creation, but a lot of students
never progress past this point.  Why is crystal so much more difficult than
glass?”  The Stubbs boy raised his hand before Mia could, much to her disgust. 
“Regular crystal takes more effort to produce than glass.  Chipotle’s Law
postulates that the harder something is to produce in a physical fashion, the
more difficult it is to create.” 

Professor
Fain nodded.  “I would add that though his law is accurate in the median level
of creation, it gets a bit dicey on the simplest and most complex ranges of the
subject.  That’s why it should be a theory instead of a law…but Vincent
Chipotle had a great publicist.”  The chimes sounded as he made his final
point.  “Next class I want a real world application of Butler’s Creation
Classification System!”  The students moaned as one.  Some stopped to write
down the assignment, others plodded out.  Mia finished jotting it down in her
notebook when he urged them to hurry up.  “You can’t make the professor late
for Charms!”