The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (48 page)

Mrs. Roddick finally released Elijah, as soon as he had
practically turned blue from being constricted by a strong, pregnant woman, and
waddled over to the couch.  Elijah remembered thinking the last time he had
visited that Mrs. Roddick was somehow hurt or sick.  He was furious with
himself for not picking up on the subtle clues, but this was quite literally
the last thing he expected.

“I guess I need to say congratulations!” Elijah said.  “I
had no idea.”

“You guess?” Mrs. Roddick replied.

“I’m sorry,” Elijah fumbled.  “I’m just so shocked.  How did
it happen?  I mean—er—when did it—um—what I mean is, when are you expecting?”

“Soon,” Mrs. Roddick replied, suppressing a laugh.  “At the
end of May, so just under two months.”

“Are you hoping for a boy or another girl?” he asked.

Mrs. Roddick paused.  “I’m not sure.  I love my girls.  But
a boy would definitely be a change of style.  And at least I know I’ll have a
lot of fun with him when he’s older, too.”  She smiled at Elijah who blushed. 
“Plus I’m sure Glen will want a boy.  But he loves his girls, too.”

“I’m sure,” Elijah said.

“Mommy’s been very tired,” Tirzah stated, sitting
cross-legged on the couch.  Elijah was almost as shocked at Tirzah’s
transformation as Mrs. Roddick’s.

“I can imagine,” Elijah said.

“Tirzah!” Lizzy called from the loft.  “I want a snack!”

Tirzah got up and went into the kitchen without hesitation. 
Elijah couldn’t help grinning.

“Well, apparently she knows who to ask for food,” he said.

“That she does,” Mrs. Roddick replied.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence between them. 
Elijah wasn’t used to silence being awkward in the Roddick house, but then he
remembered what Olivia said.  She told him that she would talk to parents and
guardians, and that probably meant the Roddicks too.  The natural question to
ask was where he had been, but apparently, that was off limits.  So, Elijah
decided to talk about something else.

“So, have you heard from Master Roddick?” he asked.

Had Elijah known that this question would have felt more
awkward than the silence, he would have kept quiet.  Mrs. Roddick burst into
tears, which Elijah rarely saw from her.

“Is everything okay?” Elijah asked.

“Never ask a pregnant woman anything without expecting
tears, Elijah,” she answered.  She tried to compose herself.  “No, I haven’t. 
He said he might be gone longer than usual this year, but I haven’t heard
anything.  I honestly don’t know if he’s okay.”

Elijah bit his tongue.  He wanted nothing more than to tell
her that he saw Master Roddick not too long ago.  A lot could have happened
during the time he was away, but at least it could help.  However, he wasn’t
sure how to explain why he had been to Saint Phillip’s Academy, so he kept
quiet.

“Does he know?” Elijah asked.

Mrs. Roddick dabbed her eyes.  “No.  I keep hoping to hear
from him so I can tell him.”

“That’ll be a surprise,” Elijah said.  “I bet he’ll look
pretty crazy when he sees you.”

Mrs. Roddick laughed.  “Couldn’t be any crazier than the way
you looked.  It was this way with Tirzah.  He didn’t know until he returned. 
Although he was back by this point with her.”

After a brief pause, Elijah took the opportunity to ask to
help around the house.  He could sense Mrs. Roddick was feeling lonely by
talking about her husband being gone, so he thought asking for tasks would be a
less stressful conversation for her.

Elijah tidied the house and helped repair the ladder to the
loft, which was missing a few steps.  He shoveled snow outside and trimmed the
branches of a nearby tree which were apparently tapping the window to Tirzah
and Lizzy’s room during the night, making them think there was an enormous
monster outside trying to get in.  He gave Tirzah a break from cooking and took
care of both lunch and dinner.  Thankfully, the longer he stayed, the more
things came up for him and Mrs. Roddick to talk about that didn’t have to do
with his trip to Spain or Master Roddick.  They talked about elemental training
and his friends.  Even though he tried to avoid talking about Hannah, Mrs.
Roddick somehow pried it out of him that he was interested in her.  He was
thankful she didn’t ask many more questions because he was still trying to
figure the situation out himself.

As soon as he had served dinner, he told the Roddick girls
goodbye so he could make it back to the barracks in time for his extra class
with Master Constantine.  He wished he could have stayed much longer because
Constantine’s class always bored him to death, and that evening’s extra class
was no exception.  He spent the entire time thinking about Mrs. Roddick having
a baby and how that would change everything.  He wondered if he would be
considered an uncle or just a family friend.  Either way, the prospect was very
exciting.

Elijah half-expected Olivia to call upon him to search for
one of the other two remaining cubes before the year was over, but it seemed she
was content to take a break.  So he consumed himself with his other things.

Now that Olivia was back to care for Phinneas, Elijah spent
all of his Sundays helping Mrs. Roddick any way that he could.  Usually, this
meant doing small tasks around the house or cooking lunch for her and the
girls.  He enjoyed getting to sit around the fire again, talking with Mrs.
Roddick.  And, as usual, she mothered him by making sure he was eating and
keeping up with studies and trainings.

There were times during his visits that Elijah was reminded
of little Anita as he watched Lizzy parade through the house without a care in
the world.  He wondered where Anita was and what she was doing.  He hoped one
of the families was able to explain things to her.  To raise her like their own
children just like the Roddicks had done with him.  Elijah considered giving
Lizzy the rabbit Anita had carried with her, but for some reason he couldn’t
give it up.  It seemed so stupid that he couldn’t let go of such a simple item,
but he couldn’t do it.  It was as if he refused to let that wound heal.  Maybe
deep down he related to Anita.  She had lost both her parents in a horrible
attack just like him.  He hoped to meet her again one day.  To tell her that
her father had saved him.  It hurt every time he thought about it, but he
wanted it that way.  It reminded him that he was human.

The accelerated trainings lasted until mid-April when Mr.
Button told Elijah and his friends that they were caught up and no more extra
sessions need be attended, which caused a great cheer from all of them after
they had just finished Constantine’s class one Sunday evening.

Mr. Button suspended all employment until they were finished
with their extra trainings, so as soon as he was told the trainings were over,
Elijah signed up for shifts at the library.  He was completely out of money,
which was proving to be a problem.  His friends seemed to have extra money even
without working, so they were able to go on outings to the city center and
purchase treats at the carts.  Since Elijah spent Sundays with Mrs. Roddick, it
usually wasn’t an issue, but on the few occasions he was able to spend with his
friends, it became a sensitive subject with him.  He didn’t want his friends to
have to buy things for him, which they offered to do each time, but he also
didn’t want to be the only one not eating chocolate covered cherries by the
handful.  He looked forward to the steady payments from working in the library
so he could finally provide for himself.

Elijah missed most of the heavy winter by being away, and
this winter seemed to be even shorter.  By mid-April, spring was definitely in
full bloom.  The grass filled in across the fields next to the barracks so the
lawn was thick.  Wildflowers began to pop up next to the tree line, and filled
the fields so that it looked like a sea of purple.  The leaves on the trees
looked full and healthy.  The temperature was still very cool during the day
and close to freezing at night, but the need for an extra blanket in the
barracks at night was gone.

On his first shift at the library since being on temporary
leave, Elijah and Becca renewed their game of people watching while filing away
old textbooks at the back shelves.  They saw a Preliminary boy picking his nose
by the fireplace.  Becca swore that she saw him lick his finger afterward which
made Elijah gag.  Elijah noticed two girls arguing across the room from them. 
He and Becca couldn’t make out the argument, so they made up a story about how
one of them stole the other’s makeup and used it to draw Martians on the
mirrors in the girls’ hall.

Toward the end of the shift, when the library had all but
cleared out and Becca was tired of people watching, Elijah found himself filing
alone at the very back of the library.  He had lost himself in a lengthy
daydream until he felt a presence around him.  He looked down from the top of
the ladder to see Ruth standing at the base looking up at him.

“Hello.  Can I help you with something?” Elijah asked
politely.

“I just came over to talk with you,” she said.  She played
with her hands in front of her and didn’t look directly into Elijah’s eyes.  He
climbed down the ladder so he could face her.  “Where have you been?” she
asked.

“Oh.  Well.  Um.”

“I’m sorry,” Ruth said sweetly.  “It’s none of my business. 
There’s talk going around that you were on some sort of safari with Olivia. 
It’s funny the stories they come up with here, but I asked just about everyone
where you’d gone and that was the best they came up with.”  She giggled.  “I
also got a story about you running away to join the common people’s circus.  That
one made me laugh out loud.  And now I realize that I’m just rambling on to say
something because you haven’t said anything and I’m feeling self-conscious,
but…I guess I just missed seeing you here.”  It was then that she looked Elijah
directly into his eyes, and the effect was well played.  He leaned in to give
her a friendly hug, a one-armed pat on the shoulder, but as he did, she turned
toward him, raised on to her tip toes and pressed her lips to his.  It was an
awkward kiss, like something she hadn’t planned but couldn’t help.  She held
his face in her hands for just a second before releasing him. 

Elijah’s stomach did summersaults and his heart pounded.  He
wasn’t sure what to do next.  She stood still and faced him almost waiting for
a response.  He knew the longer he waited the worse she would feel, but he
couldn’t bring himself to reciprocate.  Finally, when he thought Ruth was
completely embarrassed and wanted to run away, he thought of the perfect thing
to say.

“I missed seeing you too,” he replied.  He hoped that hit
the right balance between being too forward and too distant like he didn’t
care.  Elijah was thankful when she lit up.  She bounced on her toes and flashed
him a smile before she left the library.

Elijah spent the rest of the night thinking about Ruth and
Hannah.  He hated that he had come to this point so soon.  He enjoyed being
with both of them, but he knew that sooner or later someone’s feelings were
going to get hurt.  He thought about Hannah.  Since the first day he saw her over
a year ago, he liked her.  She was perfect in every way imaginable.  But he
still couldn’t read her.  She seemed to like him, but it wasn’t as obvious as
Ruth.  He wished there was some sort of tag that girls would wear that said
“Interested” or “Not Interested” when they walked by.  It would make everything
so much easier.  Ruth would definitely wear the “Interested” sign.  She was fun
to be around, and although he didn’t know her as well as Hannah, she seemed to
be cool.  But she wasn’t Hannah.  No one was.  He needed to find out if Hannah
was interested.  He tossed and turned most of the night thinking about how to
ask her.

After class Monday morning, Elijah decided to ask Hannah to
go to the library with him.  Even though he had been to the library with Hannah
many times before, this time Elijah could barely swallow properly.  Just asking
her to meet with him was an adventure.  He approached her after class and
tapped her shoulder.

“Hi.  Hannah.  Hello Hannah.”  He gulped.  “Haha.  That had
a lot of “H’s” to it, didn’t it?”

“Are you okay?” Hannah asked.

“Who me?  Yes.  Why?  I mean, I had a question.  Kind of. 
Well, I just…y’know…wondered if you…er…wanted to go to the library with me. 
Unless you don’t.  That’s cool.  Or if you can’t.  I totally understand.  I
think.  Did I say I was going to go there to study?  I didn’t.  I’m going there
to write that paper for Constantine’s class.  Man, it’s hot in here.  Are you
sweating too?”

“I’m actually kind of cold,” Hannah said, still confused by
Elijah’s behavior.  “But of course I’ll go to the library with you.  I’m all
done with my paper, but I’ll be glad to help you.”

“What paper?” Elijah asked.

“Didn’t you just—”

“OH!  Yeah, yeah.  That paper.  Yes.  Great.  Okay then.”

Elijah wanted to just evaporate into thin air.  One of the
things he loved about Hannah was how easy it was to talk with her, but that was
a complete train wreck.  He probably should have just thrown up on her to cap
it all off.

As soon as he got to the library, however, he calmed down. 
He held off asking her about being interested, which helped him loosen up a
bit, but the anticipation also made him feel like he had swallowed a gallon of
tar.  He tried to keep his mind off of his looming questions for as long as
possible by talking about other things.

“How’s training going?”

“Pretty good,” Hannah replied.  “I still can’t do what you
can.  And Paul too.  But I’m doing okay.”

“How’s your family?”

Hannah looked at Elijah curiously.  “They’re fine.  We got
to have Christmas when I got back.  It felt just like normal.  And my mom just
applied to be a marshal.”