For the first time in his life, Wil fretted over what to wear. Fashion never mattered to him, or to much of anyone in Harper Valley outside of the bigger farmers who fancied themselves proper businessmen. But this was a meeting with the mayor. His new boss! If he didn’t make a good first impression then he was doomed.
Maybe it wasn’t that bad, but Wil couldn’t help his anxiety. His casual clothes were probably fine for actually working out in the fields with people, but wouldn’t do for a formal meeting. Neither would his school uniform. Wil imagined showing up, fresh out of school with his uniform still on looking like a damned child. His graduation outfit was an even worse idea. He pulled at his hair, glaring balefully at the clock above his bed.
In the end he decided on most of his school uniform without the jacket that had the patch that said, “Saint Balthazar’s.” It left him looking fairly nice, if not quite complete. Wil thought he looked good in just a vest and an undershirt, but was it professional enough? His eyes drifted over to the clock. It would have to do; he had to be there in ten minutes.
He ran down the stairs, each step like the rolling of thunder. Bob and Jeb were already working the fields, and Sarah and Sharon were at the kitchen table eating. Sharon looked up at Wil and smiled. “I made pancakes!”
“Sorry Mom, I’m running behind,” he said, grabbing a piece of already buttered toast and cramming it into his mouth. “I’ll be home for lunch though!” he said, or at least tried to. It came out more like “Ah be hmrf lunch” but it had to be good enough. A few seconds later, he dashed out the door.
Harper Valley was the largest of the towns in the region, settled up in a natural valley between peaks. It put them in a special position to be a trade leader between the north and south of the continent, and you couldn’t find a more fertile or varied part of the land.
Running through it in the morning was nice, if hot. He got to see the other farms he knew growing up already up for the day and hard at work. Wil passed by fields of wheat and corn on either side of him as the road led to the center of the town itself, down in the southeast pocket.
Maybe Wil would’ve considered Town Hall impressive when he was a child, but now that he’d grown up and seen the world a bit, it was a slightly bigger and prettier building than those around it. Nothing special, just big enough to house the mayor and the valley’s small police force and jail, along with the courthouse on the other side. And of course, the goofy statue. Big enough for a decent-sized town, but nothing after being at the Academy. That comforted Wil some. He stepped inside and was only five minutes late.
“Mayor Sinclair is waiting for you,” an overly made-up woman in her early thirties told him. The name in front of her desk said, “Mary Stamos” but Wil didn’t remember her at all. She looked down her nose and through her glasses at him like he was an inconvenience. “He’s been waiting.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Wil said, raising a hand and smiling as he went to the mayor’s door. Just to be certain, he knocked before the voice inside told him to enter.
Mayor Bartholomew Sinclair sat behind his desk, standing when he saw Wil. He had a too-big smile on his face and came around, grabbing Wil’s hand and shaking it enthusiastically. “There he is, our new resident wizard. A couple years later than expected, but I’m sure you’ve got your reasons!”
Wil felt like his hand was being shaken off. He pulled it back and smiled sheepishly. “I wanted to make sure I was good enough to represent the people who made it happen,” he said, hoping it sounded smooth rather than nervous. “I felt reaching the rank of master would reflect well on the town. I paid for the difference in tuition myself.”
The mayor was a man in his mid-fifties, balding with brown hair turning gray at the temples, but his eyes were lively and his lined face lit up. “That’s some good thinking, Wilbur! That’s a good dedication to the town and public service. You oughta be proud of yourself.” He ushered Wil over to his desk. Wil took a seat and then Mayor Sinclair sat in his plush chair.
“Not much to be proud of yet sir,” Wil answered, looking around the office. It was busy, with tons of pictures of Mayor Sinclair meeting with high-profile citizens in the town as well as several from festivals and fairs. A giant map of Harper Valley hung on the wall to Wil’s right. “But I hope to make everyone proud very soon. I studied hard and I think I’m ready for the job.”
“Fantastic, that’s just fantastic. Well, I have some good news and bad news, Wilbur.” Mayor Sinclair steepled his fingers together. “The good news is we got a whole pile of work orders ready for you. Once people heard you were finally coming home, they lined up with problems for you to solve.” Out of his desk, he pulled out a medium-sized box filled with form papers and slapped it down on the desk.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Wil leaned forward and peeked in. Filled to the brim. Dozens and dozens of multi-page packets of work orders, filled out thoroughly. He lifted one and gave it a brief scan. Mr. Anderson had an issue with his fences rotting or breaking. Well, that was easy enough. The hardest part would be Mr. Anderson talking his ear off. Another had a rat problem. No problem at all. He looked through a few more.
“I’m happy to get started soon,” said Wil, taking the box and setting it in his lap. “I’m going to need to make a plan for the order I tackle these and make a list of which of my tools I’ll need for each job. Do I have an office or something here at town hall?”
Mayor Sinclair grimaced. “Welllll,” he said, “that’s the bad news and something I hoped to clear up before you got here. Your house isn’t ready and won’t be for a week or two. It’s fallen into terrible disrepair and we’re working on it now.”
Wil blinked. “My house?”
“Yes, your house!” Mayor Sinclair laughed. “Don’t tell me you forgot about it. As Harper Valley’s resident wizard, there is a property assigned to you for as long as you hold the job. It’s a modest estate that’ll make a nice home. Your office is in there, and we hope to get it to you soon. For now, you could either use the jail as a temporary office or…I understand you’re currently staying with your parents?”
It took a while for the mayor’s words to penetrate. Wil was still stuck on having his own house. Of course, everyone knew the old wizard's residence. Before Wil left for the academy, the old place was nothing more than a ruin. Huge, but in terrible disrepair. It had been the previous wizard’s home, over half a century before. A properly trained wizard could write their own ticket anywhere. Not many wanted to be tied down to a farming town, no matter how prosperous.
“Yes,” said Wil, shaking his head. “I’m staying at home for now, but I…a house? I don’t even really have any furniture or anything to bring to it. If that place is as big as I remember, it’s going to be one empty house,” he chuckled.
The mayor leaned forward, grinning mischievously. “Then I guess it’s good that you’re receiving a damned fine salary. As a master wizard, you’ll get an annual salary of 150,000 zynce. Or, just over 12,000 a month. Paid directly by the state, so it didn’t even come out of our budget!” Mayor Sinclair laughed, clearly pleased. “And after paying your way through school, I gotta say, we’re relieved. You’re the second-highest paid civil servant in town after me!”
Again, Wil wasn’t quite sure he heard things correctly. He was not only getting a large house for his personal use, but a salary that would technically make him rich in a town like this? His father made more than that, but he also had an entire farm and family to look out for. The shock on his face must’ve been apparent because the mayor laughed even harder.
“I’m not doing it for the money,” Wil said, face heating up. “Honest. I really do want to serve the community and give back to people who’ve given me so much.”
“Sure,” said the mayor, “but getting paid well for it isn’t too bad, now is it? I’ve got high hopes for you, Wilbur. I nearly lost re-election when you didn’t come home on time, but I managed to buy some time. But with you working and showing that our good taxpayer money wasn’t misspent, I’ll be a shoo-in to keep my seat! You and me Wil, we’re going to do good things for this town and prosper.” He stood up and extended his hand.
Will stood up as well, awkwardly shifting the box of work orders to his left hand to shake the mayor’s hand again. His grip was tighter this time, not threatening but pointed. Wil squeezed back just as hard. They broke apart and the mayor motioned with his head towards the door. “If you want to use the jail for an office, Sheriff Frederick said he’s got a spare desk you can use.”
“I’m good, thanks,” said Wil, keeping the grimace from reaching his face. Sheriff Frederick made him nervous, like the man suspected everyone of doing something wrong or hiding things at all times. “I’ll go back home and get working on these. I might be able to do a couple today, but I’ll be through the box by the end of the week!”
“That’s the spirit,” said Mayor Sinclair, opening his door and ushering him out. “You and me, Wilbur!”
Wil had one stop to make before he went home. Not too far from there was the house the mayor talked about. Wil’s new house. The very idea made his heart pound. He walked on down the road, past Angus’ butcher shop and Angela’s bakery. He wondered if those two ever stopped dancing around each other. On to a spot right next to a creek, spillover from the nearby river.
His house sat on a hill overlooking a decent chunk of the town and the forest to the east. Big was a good way to describe it as it topped three stories and had a basement. The outside looked like crap, but even now a crew worked at repairing a hole in the roof and were in the process of replacing the windows of a rounded room on the side of the house near the front door. It would make a perfect office when it was fixed up.
His very own house, as long as he had the job. Which meant he had to be worthy of the job to be worthy of this house. Wil didn’t expect it to be easy. He expected hard work and was more than prepared to meet the challenge. With one last lingering look at the place, a thought entered his mind. Jeb was really going to hate him now.