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Friday, November 27, 1998
The boys slept
in a little on Friday, then got up, dressed, and had breakfast before settling
in around the big dining room table to work on their homework.
The
three third-years took over one end of the table, and Vin and JD the other. Josiah
and Ezra took the open space in-between the two ends, but on opposite sides of
the table, so they could spread out their books as much as they wanted.
And they all stayed
right there until lunchtime, when Daniel called them over to the fireplace and
tossed a green powder into the flames, turning them the same shade.
"After you, boys," he said. "Our table is ready."
 Chris and Buck
grinned at each other and stepped into the hearth, and disappeared.
Vin gasped, his
eyes rounding with surprise.
"Fireplaces
in the wizard world are often connected on what we call the Hearth
Network," Josiah told the younger boy. "That green stuff is Floo Powder;
it connects one fireplace to another."
"It's
perfectly safe," Ezra added. "Mother prefers this mode of travel to
any other." He reached out and took JD's hand, then they followed after Chris
and Buck.
Josiah and
Nathan went next.
Kathy stuck her
hand out and Vin took it, stepping into the fireplace with her, his eyes
starting to squeeze shut as he did. He'd expected it to feel hot, but it
didn't and, a moment later – after a trip that looked like the Stargate team
traveling between gates – they stepped out of a large fireplace inside a small
restaurant. They walked over to join the other boys as Daniel arrived.
"We have
your table ready," called a waitress and the group went over and sat down,
each boy picking up the menu lying in front of him and looking for what he
wanted for lunch.
Vin frowned,
having left his glasses on the dining room table.
"I'm gonna
get a cheese burger and French fries," Chris said quietly next to him.
"They're really good here."
Vin nodded, his
expression grateful.
After a few
minutes the waitress returned and took their orders, using her wand to deliver
their drinks on the spot. Their food flew out of the kitchen on two round
serving trays, each plate spinning off and landing right in front of them.
"Wow,"
Vin breathed.
Kathy smiled.
"It is a little different, isn't it?"
Vin nodded. "But
it's cool," he added. He was sitting between Chris and Josiah, and he
attacked his cheeseburger with youthful abandon, glancing around to see what
kinds of magic he could see. There was a lot, but he had no idea what any of
it meant, except for a circle of silence around one of the tables in the back.
Once they had
all finished, they headed outside, where Vin immediately saw that he was
looking at lots more magical symbols than he usually saw at school – except in
the Defense building – and on nearly everything he could see.
The
Village was a small community, with one main street laid out in a large octagon
around a central park area where people in the community could come for meetings
and events. The entire octagon was lined with shops and businesses, the homes
of residents taking up the rest of the few streets that lay behind the square
for a few additional blocks in each direction.
On the far
eastern side of town were several traditional hogans, wickiups, and tipis, as
well as mud-brick homes, which was where many of the tribal members lived.
Kathy handed
each boy a small bag of coins, watching as they opened them and peered inside.
"Vin, do you know anything about wizard money?" she asked.
He shook his
head.
Daniel
grinned. "Well, in many places they use the Galleon, Sickle, Knut system,
but here in the US, and in Canada, we use Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles. The
symbols come from old cards, and the coins are made of gold, silver, bronze,
and copper. We also have what we call Scratch, which is kind of like a mundane
penny, but it's made of iron. It's pretty easy to remember the conversions,
too. Ten iron Scratch is a copper Pentacle. Ten Pentacles make a bronze Cup;
ten Cups is a silver Sword, and ten Swords is a gold Wand."
"In
England, Europe, and some of South America the system is more complicated.
There, twenty-nine bronze Knuts make a silver Sickle, and seventeen Sickles
make a single gold Galleon," Kathy told him.
"But that
way is way more complicated," Buck told Vin. "Stick to our
currency, then nobody can cheat you."
Vin nodded,
already more than a little confused.
"It's even
worse in Asia where they mix the two systems with their own historical one,"
Josiah muttered.
"So, you
all have your stipends or allowances. We'll meet back at the bronze basilisk
in the park in three hours," Daniel told them. "I suggest that you
stay together in pairs or small groups as much as possible. With the holidays approaching,
there will be a lot of pickpockets out and about."
The boys nodded
and headed off, chatting excitedly amongst themselves.
Kathy
and Daniel watched them go, then she glanced at her husband and frowned.
"Daniel, you didn't tell them to stay out of the Exploding Tuffet…"
"Oh,"
he replied, trying to sound like he was surprised that he hadn't remembered to
do that. "Uh, I guess I forgot…"
Her light brown
eyes narrowed. "Mmm-hmm," she said, shaking her head, sending her
shoulder-length brown hair dancing around her face. "Fine, but you're
going to clean up all the pranks this year."
"Okay,"
he said rather guilty, then grinned. "Hopefully there won't be a bubbling
mud moat in the basement this year."
She rolled her
eyes. "Boys," she moaned.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
As Vin made his
way toward the bronze basilisk at the center of the park with Chris and Buck, he
smiled. He had found presents for two of his friends, as well as ones for Ms.
Nettie, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Tiny, and Chris' aunt and uncle. They were all in the
same small bag that held what was left of his stipend. The bag, Chris had told
him, was a bag of holding, so they could keep their purchases safe and secret
until Christmas. And all he had to do to get the money out was put his hand in
the bag and desire the amount he needed. It appeared in his hand.
Vin hadn't
noticed at first that each bag had their name embroidered on it in gold and
silver thread, but he'd seen that when he'd fished into his bag for coins to
pay for his first gift. So now, when Kathy asked for their bags, he wasn't
worried that they'd get lost or confused when she placed them all into her
handbag, which had to be a handbag of holding, too, given that all their bags
fit easily into it.
The more he learned
about magic the better he thought it was.
 "Okay,
boys, we're off to visit Headmaster Travis," Daniel told them, leading the
way out of the park and down a street that had several large Victorian homes
spaced along it, all of them surrounded by big yards and trees. Vin knew this
had to be the rich part of town and he felt a little out of place being there.
They turned and
started up the walk toward one of the largest homes on the street. But before
they reached the front door, it was opened by Mary, who smiled and waved at them,
calling, "Hi! Come inside!"
Josiah hurried
ahead, holding the door open for the rest of them as he stood beside the pretty
blonde girl. Inside, Headmaster Travis waited for them. He smiled as he said,
"Welcome, and happy Thanksgiving."
"Happy
Thanksgiving, Headmaster," the boys chorused back.
"Why don't
we head out to the backyard? Dinner ought to be waiting for us, along with
some entertaining history."
The boys
exchanged glances, none of them sure what he meant by 'entertaining history.'
But once they stepped outside, into a protected bubble of light and warmth,
they saw what Travis had been referring to. There was a long table, laden with
food, and nearby an old, gnarled tree with a kindly face. Spread out at the
base of the trees was an abundance of fruits and vegetables.
Vin stopped
dead in his tracks, staring at the smiling tree, who met his eyes and smiled
wider. "Hello, young man," the old tree said, his voice a little
creaky with age.
 "Uh,
h-hello," Vin stuttered in reply.
"Come
on," Chris said, taking Vin's arm and leading him to the table, which was
laid out so they were all facing the old Tree Man, who had the entire other side
of the table to himself. And he needed it, too; he was huge.
After they were
all seated, Travis said a blessing and they began to eat, the Tree Man
occasionally popping a whole pumpkin into his mouth, or a handful of apples.
Travis waited
until the boys were settled and eating before he said, "It's important
that we hear and understand the story of the first Thanksgiving, which took
place a long, long time ago, in what we now call New England. "Hickory,
would you do us the honor?"
The Tree Man
nodded. "It will be my pleasure," he replied in the same creaky
voice. "I don't know if this is just the way it happened, but I do know
this story is true… In the long, long ago, new men and women came to these
shores from England and other places in Europe and the world. They had learned
to do things in their own particular ways, based on the places that they had
come from, and they tried to do the same things here…
"But
this was a new land, and the Land here did not know the ways of these new men
and women…
"They
tried and they tried, and they failed and they failed, again and again. And,
as Autumn began to give way to her brother, Winter, these newcomers began to
realize that they would likely starve, as the Land had not yielded her bounty for
them.
"They
had not been able to grow enough food to survive the winter, even though some
of the people living in this Land had tried to show them the proper ways to
plant, but they had dismissed them…"
The boys continued
to eat, but their attention stayed focused on the Tree Man and his story.
"But the peoples
here knew the truth. They had become good friends of the Land. They did not
want to see the newcomers die, although some among them thought this might be
for the best…
"The
people here knew that there were some among these strange-looking newcomers who
were magical folks, just as they were. They reached out to these people, revealing
to them the wisdom of the animals, and of my people, and of the Land herself,
which we had taught them in the longer long, long ago…
"Now, Old
Man Winter did not like this, as he had hoped to kill many of them as he could.
He did not like the way they treated his Mother, you see…
"The
peoples here heard him muttering his plans to himself, and they knew that when
the pale-skinned ones felt the first cramps of hunger, and the first real bite
of Winter's cold, they would be more willing to listen to what they had to say,
and so they waited…
"And
when that time finally came, as they knew it would, they carried baskets full
of their harvest into the villages of the newcomers, who were much amazed by
the bounty set before them.
"Some
among them realized that they had been wrong not to listen, and they took the
food and they prepared it, inviting those who had brought it to them to join
them. And the people did.
"And
those among the magical folk came as well, and they all gave thanks together
for the bounty of their Mother, the Land, and for friendship, and for the gifts
and talents each of us carry, and, of course, for magic…
"But over
the years since the long, long ago the story has changed, and those who had
been helped began to think that they were the ones who had known the
truth all along, that they had helped those who lived here first, but they are wrong.
"It
was the wisdom of the Land, and the cooperation of the people who saved those
pale-faced settlers that cold winter in the long, long ago. And so we come
together here, now, to celebrate that ancient wisdom, kept alive now by the
wizards and the witches, and the mundanes who have the wisdom and the open
hearts to hear it and know it as their own.
"This
is the way it happened, in the long, long ago, when we all sat down together as
one family. Keep it in your hearts, and feast on it, and you will grow in
wisdom."
"Thank
you, Hickory," Headmaster Travis said, bowing his head to the old Tree
Man.
Hickory smiled
and dipped his head in reply, then popped another pumpkin in his mouth and
crunched it happily.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
After they had
finished eating, Headmaster Travis and the two adults went inside for hot,
spiced cider while the boys stayed outside to play with Hickory, who used his
twig-like fingers to grab them and toss them into the air, catching them again
before they hit the ground.
When it grew
dark, they used the big fireplace in Headmaster Travis' home to return home on
the Hearth Network.
Once there, the
boys settled in around the dining room table once again, working on more of
their homework before being sent off to bed.
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"Chris,
why don't you take the boys down to the basement," Daniel said. "We've
set up some bunk beds for all of you down there."
Daniel
used his wand to put the carving set to work, slicing up the turkey and
delivering those slices to each empty plate. Before long they were all eating
and talking, although the boys remained on their best behavior with Professor
Wells at the table.
After
they ate, they walked out and waited for a magical taxi to pick them up. Vin
thought it looked more like a minivan made up to look like a taxi, but it was covered
with magical symbols and able to weave in and out of traffic, unseen by mundane
drivers.
The younger
boy quickly snapped his mouth shut as he continued to take it all in. There
were even a few Tree People, like Hickory – one of them apparently taking a nap
– and several other kinds if magical folk Vin recognized from his books, and
many more that he didn't recognize at all.
"Can you
by chance blow a Knowing Bubble?" she asked him.
In Cyncarrabba's
Crystal Emporium Vin found the perfect Christmas gift for Kane – a tiny pewter
dragon whose tail was wound around a tiny pillar on top of which sat a small, round,
multi-faceted crystal, that reflected the sunlight streaming into the shop into
hundreds of tiny rainbows. The dragon had his wings open, looking as if he
were protecting his crystal. It even kind of looked like Kane.
A
little over an hour later, all of the boys had made it to the Soda Shop where
they were now enjoying a drink of their choice. Most had opted for the Shop's
famous "Volcano," a float made with orange sherbet in ginger ale,
with a touch of magical fireworks.
They
took breaks from the obstacle course to ride other attractions and grab
snacks. And after ten times around the course, they called it a day, returning
home where the boys showered and changed, then ate dinner.
Vin
closed his eyes, too, thinking about the bracelet, Chris' family, the stones,
and the purple path. He felt the familiar tingle and, a moment later they were
all three standing on the purple path, surrounded by purple flowers that curled
among the bushes growing under the pines.
"Maybe
we can find out next month."