The Seventh Mountain (17 page)

“Well, your thoughts are foreign to your
friends. I mean, they are not their thoughts; they’re yours. There
are other kinds of foreign thoughts too. For example, have you ever
had an idea for an invention or a way of doing something just pop
into your head and then sometime in the future see that same thing
being done by someone else? You thought that it was an original
idea, but it wasn’t.”

“Yeah! One time I had invented a new trick
on my bicycle. I didn’t show or tell anyone. Two months later,
everyone was doing it.”

“That’s it. You’ll learn about that kind of
thing in your communications classes. Okay, enough of that. What
would you guys like for breakfast?”

Shana took their orders and left. Mark
looked at his friends one by one. “That explains a lot of
things.”

Nick said, “Yeah… When you helped me with
Ralph, I thought it was me thinking what I would like to see you do
to him. But… you must have been thinking what you would like to do
to him. I liked thinking of him huddled on the ground with you
standing over him with that staff. He must have picked up your
thoughts and that was why he was so scared. He must have thought
that you were going to beat him ugly.” Nick paused and grinned at
Mark. “Not that he needs any help.”

“I guess he did. Do you remember his face
when I twirled the staff?”

“Yeah, I do. And about what you’re thinking
now. That doesn’t make you a bully, just because you scared the
crap out of him. He was the bully. It was three against one. If you
hadn’t of showed up when you did, well, I probably would have been
beaten up pretty good.”

Mark looked at Chenoa. It
was a little awkward, but he said, “Yes, Chenoa, I think you’re
pretty.”
He remembered the first time that
he had seen her sitting at the table waiting for Nick and himself
to show up. He remembered how the light had reflected off her hair.
Then he remembered seeing her mount that horse with such form and
grace, her hair in the sunlight. He saw her smile and blush
slightly. He knew that she was picking up his thoughts. He knew
everyone else was too, but he didn’t care at the moment.

He turned and looked at
Jamal. He remembered how Jamal told the story of how his
grandfather had instructed him on the importance of family. In his
mind he brought his fingers together, as in plucking an invisible
grape. Jamal made the same motion. Then he thought of something
that his dad had once told him. He thought,
Curiosity brings knowledge, knowledge brings understanding,
and understanding brings wisdom. Your grandfather has an
understanding of how important family is. You, accepting that
knowledge and sharing it with your friends; that is
wisdom
.

“It’s strange knowing other people know what
you’re thinking.”

Breakfast was solemn after that. No one
hardly said another word until it was almost time to leave.

Nick folded the cloth napkin that had been
in his lap and wiped his mouth. “I guess we had better get a move
on.” He tossed his napkin onto his plate, punctuating his
sentence.

 
* * *
 

The seventh level in the bookstore displayed
all kinds of optical instruments. There were display racks full of
binoculars, sextants, spotting scopes and all kinds of instruments
that Mark had never seen or heard of before.

Tim walked up to Mark. “If you see something
that you like, then you can take it out onto the balcony and check
it out.” Tim motioned toward the binoculars and spotting
scopes.

Mark looked at Tim as he took a pair of
binoculars off of the display. “Thanks. What kind should I
get?”

“It all depends on what you like. Myself, I
use a five to thirty power zoom scope. Anything over thirty power
is too hard to hold still. Although, you could use a tripod to hold
it still, but that kind of defeats the purpose.”

Tim reached in front of himself and then
slowly brought his hand back toward himself. A long spotting scope
appeared in his hand out of nowhere.

“This is it if you want to look at it.”

Marks eyes widened with surprise. “How’d you
do that?”

“How did I do what? Oh, you mean Aaron’s
Grasp. You will learn to do that this year. It is not hard. First,
you need to understand the connections between your mind, your body
and your spirit. I tell you, it is a lot easier than learning to
remanifest. Now that was hard.”

Mark motioned toward the spotting scope.
“Can I check it out?”

“Okay, I will go out on the balcony with
you.”

Out on the balcony, Tim handed Mark his
scope. “Here you go. I will be back in a minute. If I remember
right, you like lemonade.”

“Yes or iced tea.”

Mark surveyed the vista that stretched
beyond the wall. Three distinct and very different areas were
separated by walls that were as tall as the wall that separated the
school grounds from the rest of the world.

Off to the left was an expanse of green
grass as far as the eye could see. The binoculars showed it to be
rolling hills and sections of woods. Straight ahead was a jumble of
tans, beiges, browns and yellows that dominated the landscape
beyond the wall. This was the area that he had already seen. To the
right was a patchwork of farm fields looking very much like
pictures that he had seen, of farmland taken from high above.
Everything that was visible was too far away to make out any
detail, even with the binoculars.

Mark held the spotting scope to his eye. He
pushed the zoom lever to the maximum zoom position. He scanned the
wall in the distance. He knew that it was about a mile away. He was
looking for other places that could be doorways. He thought that if
there was one doorway that there were probably others.

The wall was too far away for him to notice
any subtle discrepancies that might indicate where another door
might be. He tried the binoculars. He couldn’t tell any difference
between the binoculars and the scope except that with the
binoculars he was using two eyes.

He scanned the wall as far around to the
left as he could, without moving, when a bit of movement caught his
eye. He steadied the binoculars on the balcony wall and saw that
the motion was Mr. Thorpe emerging from the doorway that led to the
game preserve. Mr. Thorpe was heading straight back to the school.
His stride was stiff and pronounced as if he were angry at
something and then he just disappeared, remanifesting to a
different location.

Tim walked back up. He was carrying two
drinks. They both had little umbrellas stuck in the top of the
glass. Tim smiled at Mark.

“Yeah, I heard your thoughts about the
umbrella drinks, too.”

He handed Mark the iced tea. “You and your
friends can watch the choosing from up here tomorrow. If Harmonious
Thorpe tries to run you off,

just tell him that I gave you permission. If
I see him before tomorrow, then I will tell him myself.”

“Why would Mr. Thorpe try to run us
off?”

“Well, I cannot tell you what I think of
Harmonious. It is not polite and it is quite improper for a
counselor to say anything about a teacher. But, at any rate,
Harmonious had this balcony built. You see, he owns the concession
on optical instruments here. That is part of how he wanted to be
paid for teaching here. He got tired of having to walk down seven
levels to The Oasis whenever he wanted something to eat or drink.
There was no place to put a concession up here for food or drinks
so he built the balcony. He lets teachers, instructors and staff
use it to watch flags matches and stuff, and they do since they can
buy food or drinks up here, and it is shaded. The roof is the
platform for the bleachers. He also lets students use it if they
intend to buy an optical instrument. Now, if you four do not happen
to find binoculars or scopes that you are pleased with today, well,
you can always come back tomorrow. And while you are up here, The
Choosing will be going on right down there.” He pointed to indicate
the place where The Choosing would take place.

“That’s downright sneaky, Tim.”

Tim grinned and said, “Yeah, I am not very
good at being sneaky. Never have been. But I figured that I could
do you guys a good turn since I knew what you wanted.”

“Well, I need to ask your advice on
something. I’m going to think about something that happened
yesterday. I want you to tell me what you think.”

“All right, have at it.”

Mark brought vivid memories of himself
encountering the lioness in the corridor to the front of his mind.
He remembered the entire incident until he left from the wall.
“Well, what do you think that I should do?”

“Well, Albert is sure in trouble. That
lioness should not have been anywhere near the school.”

“I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. I
just want to know if being able to talk to animals is normal for a
Magi.”

“No… no, Balaam’s Tongue is a very rare
ability. I should inform the Council of Elders at once. They are
trying to piece together what all this stuff about you means. Every
piece of information helps.”

“Does everyone need to know? I mean,
everybody already knows that I’m kind of strange and Shana has
already told Mrs. Shadowitz.”

“I will tell them how you feel about it. I
am pretty sure that they will keep it quiet if you want them
to.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, all right then. You
go back in and tell your friends what the plan is. And, by the way,
the best telescope to get for your group is the
Astrotron
, the twelve-inch model. It
is best to get one telescope to share. And one more thing, you are
right about there being other doors in the wall. I am supposed to
tell you that they are off limits to students. So, you will get in
trouble if you get caught on the other side of the wall. Do you
understand?”

Mark said, “Yes. Thanks,” and handed Tim
back his scope. He went back inside carrying his umbrella drink. He
put the binoculars back on the display. His friends weren’t hard to
find.

Back on the balcony he explained to the
group what had just transpired between Tim and himself.

Jamal smiled and said, “I think that telling
Tim and Shana about your ability with animals is a good thing.
Someone is bound to pick up your thoughts on it and figure it out.
Now, it won’t bother you.”

Mark said, “You’re right. It was a bad idea
to try and keep it a secret from the Council of Elders.”

Chenoa said, “You’re still thinking about
the wall, aren’t you? You want to explore the wall and map the
doors.”

Mark grinned. “A nice, leisurely horseback
ride around the wall can’t hurt anything.”

Jamal was shaking his head, “You’re asking
for trouble.”

Nick put his hand on Jamal’s shoulder.
“Where’s your sense of adventure. Aren’t you curious about what’s
outside the wall?”

“You know I am. But you know too, that once
we are out there, we will have to look through the doors. You can’t
be that close and not look.”

Mark said, “Okay… I’ll see if I can get
permission to just look through the doors.”

No one had noticed the lady dressed in a
black tunic with silver trim, standing just outside the door on the
balcony. When she spoke, it startled the group.

“That’s the right decision.” She was a tall
lady and overly thin. Her gray hair was done up in a bun with a
silver spike through it. The end of the spike had a largish, orange
stone on it. “Hello, I’m Theresa Shadowitz, Commander of Jasper
Tribe and Chief Elder of this school.”

Mark recognized the voice. It was the voice
that had spoken to him in the council chambers. Mark started to
speak but was cut off by Mrs. Shadowitz.

“Mark, Shana has told me about your
encounter with the lioness yesterday. I will inform the Council of
Elders only, of this ability, if that is your wish. It is customary
that I hear that request directly from you.”

“Yes ma’am. That is my wish, only except
Gerod. I think Gerod should be told. I think I owe him that, seeing
what he did to help my mother and all when I was being born.”

“Very well then.” She turned and started to
leave. She paused with her hand on the door. She had picked up
Mark’s thoughts just before he was about to speak. “No… you may not
have permission to look through those doors in the outer wall. You
must be accompanied by a teacher or school staff to do that.
Therefore… I will accompany you this afternoon at, shall we say,
two. I could do with a nice, leisurely ride. I will meet you at the
stables. I will bring a map with me and you can decide where you
want to go, from there.” She continued through the door without
having turned to face the group again.

This turn of events had taken the group by
surprise.

Jamal chuckled and said, “I just realized
something. So far, everything that we have asked for has been
granted in one way or another. It hasn’t always happened the way
that we might have expected it to; but it happened
none-the-less.”

Nick rubbed his chin and said, “I think
you’re right and it makes sense. This is a school. Everything that
we have done so far has been related to learning new things.”

Chenoa said, “It is kind of strange. It’s as
if every time that we were thinking about doing something, someone
has shown up and kind of guided us the right way.”

Mark shook his head. “Don’t you get it? It’s
because of me. They are keeping a close eye on me because I’m
different. They know what I’m thinking.”

Tim walked up to them from the door that
Mrs. Shadowitz had just left by. “That is true to some extent. We
are curious about you, not because of your abilities but because
there was no foreknowledge about what this is all about. AlHufus
Diefenderfer only sang about its happening, not what it was about.
You have not gotten any special treatment. All students are curious
and want to explore and do new things. It is natural. We
accommodate this whenever possible, even if it is inconvenient.
That is one of the most important things about being a Magi,
helping other people whenever possible. It is so important, that
you will start searching for people to help. Over the next eight
years you will learn why.”