Jal sat in the driver’s seat of a small speeder. Jan had driven it out to a large open area. Jal started the engine and put the machine into gear. It rose, and when Jal hit the pedal, it jerked forward. “Easy, easy,” Jan muttered nervously. “Now, look at the compass. I want you to go forty-five degrees northeast.” Jal looked at the compass and adjusted its angle. After a few minutes, Jan gave it a new angle and Jal slowly turned. “You’ve done this before,” Jan remarked after they had gone several kilometers and through various instructions.

“No. But I sometimes looked over my brothers’ shoulders as they played games on their electronic pads.”

“I thought you couldn’t see well.”

“I couldn’t. But if they held theirs at a certain angle, I could see part of what they were doing.”

“It helped. Now, stop. I want you to let me out. Then I want you to make a circle, come back as close as you can to me, and pick me up.” A few minutes later, Jan walked six steps and climbed in. “Terrific!” After a few hours of practice, they went inside. At Jan’s desk in the sitting room, it took out some currency and handed it to Jal. “Solrio contacted me when you were out for your walk. “This is from the allotment that you’ll be receiving each month. Here is a card that you can use at a bank to get more if you need it.” Jan asked whether Jal had a way to track its expenses, and Jal told it about the accounting program it used. When they were finished. Jal went upstairs, took the backpack that it had filled, and went out to the speeder.

Several hours later Jal found Eiske out looking at the planted fields. “Jal, is that you?”

“It is! What do you think?” Jal held its arms and turned around. It had grown a few inches and was dressed in the green tunic and trousers. Gray boots completed the look. Jan had shown Jal a few different ways to handle its hair, and it was trimmed in a typical Stafriez style. The “birthmarks” that stretched from its forehead to behind its ears had developed into a row of raised blue circles. They were encircled by hairs that were, at the moment, a light red. On the top, Jal’s longer blue hair was slung to the right.

Eiske was surprised that Sage Elvan had let Jal use the small speeder but didn’t say anything. Eiske had been looking for a new recipe to try, and over the midday meal they considered Siedeske’s collection of recipes. “We could try to make a zunchi pie,” Eiske proposed.

“That sounds delicious. Is there a tree near here? Those fruits should be ripening. Here’s one for apple cake.”

“Let’s put markers on both pages.”

“Eiske, when was the last time you used the oven?”

“I’ve never used it. Remember, Siedeske did all the baking.” After they looked at the mess inside it, Eiske convinced Jal to take on the task of scrubbing it out.

“I’ll do it in exchange for letting me stay with you,” Jal teased. Eiske grinned at this; he was getting the better end of the bargain. After the meal, they began to talk about what Jal had been doing. “It sounds like you’re busy,” Eiske nodded. “That’s good. Thanks for the short messages you’ve sent. I appreciate hearing from you.”

When Jal asked Eiske how things were going, Eiske shrugged. “It’s been quiet around here. The usual. Broken bones, a few babies born, a leg caught in machinery that I emergency transferred to Nik.” After they cleaned up the kitchen, Eiske led Jal out to see the newest chicks. The older ones had lost their fuzz long ago and were spread all over inside the chicken run. “I’ve got fresh eggs every day. I’m taking them into the grocery at Pencadick Rill, but they’re not selling very well.”

“Maybe people don’t know?”

“That could be.” Eiske looked at Jal. “I know you weren’t here long, but I really miss you. I’m glad you’re here,” he said as he led Jal to the garden. The plants were big, and Jal suddenly realized that spring was almost over. “Here are the perennials that you started. I replanted everything that I could find. Some of the berry plants were decimated.”

“Those are easy to replace. I’ll go back to the patches and dig a few up. I can do that when I pick those fruits.”

“Is there anything you’d like to do?” Eiske asked. “You’ve got a speeder. You can pretty much go anywhere on the island.”

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“I won’t do that. I promised that I would be reasonable. I do need to go to the community information center.” Eiske raised his eyebrows. “I still have to figure out which craft I’m going to learn.”

“Have you narrowed the choices?”

“Not really. Taryn thinks I could be an herbalist.”

“That’s what you’ve been thinking about, isn’t it?”

Jal nodded. “I thought I’d do some research and see where that might take me. I’ll download a couple of books that you recommended and get information on the coursework and requirements at Shipman University. I really came to see you. I brought you some plants for your garden. Is there anything you’d like help with?”

“Always. I have a list of things I’m always working on.” He pointed to the corner of the sitting room where a huge pile of boxes were stacked. “There’s a huge collection of Siedeske’s dresses. A lot of them were not very worn, because she was always in old jeans and colored t-shirts. I’ve asked around, and no one is interested. Let me know if you think of something to do with them. There are brand-new pieces of fabric and a box of patterns. Those boxes over there are filled with old blankets, stuff that looks like it was from quilts, and tons of sewing supplies. I don’t need it. I’d like to pass it to someone who would use it. I’ve asked nearly all my patients, and they’ve declined.”

“Let me think about this. I’ll put these plants in and you can direct me to the first thing on your list.” Soon it was dressed in work clothes and digging holes. As Jal dug, it hit a pocket of clay as it placed the transplants it had brought along. When it was finished, the two cut down two trees that looked like they were going to fall on Eiske’s house. With a long rope tied to the middle of the tree, Jal pulled as Eiske cut through the trunk. Jal’s efforts were rewarded with a loud thunk that missed the house. They managed to land a second one safely. They sawed the trees into logs short enough for the fireplace before the power for the saw was gone. After stacking a bunch of the firewood near the house, Eiske had an idea. “Let’s roll these stumps to the enclosure for the goats.” Jal was puzzled by this but saw how the goats jumped happily from one stump to another. “They can age out here. Next year they’ll be firewood.”

They began to dig a root cellar. “Eiske, this is clay,” Jal said as they dug out huge chunks.

“Yes.”

“What’s the likelihood of me finding clay in three different places within only days? Last week, I found some by the creek near Ridali Farm. Today I found some more in your garden. Finding it a third time makes me wonder if there’s something useful that could be made from it.”

“There are lots of things. There are several pottery shops in Nik. But there aren’t any here on the peninsula.”

“Maybe this should be my craft.” Jal piled some of the chunks at the back door of Eiske’s house. After only a few hours of digging, they stopped. “Eiske, do you care if I put some of these chunks under the tree? That way they’ll be in the shade and not dry out so fast.”

“Do you remember how Siedeske used the pottery wheel to make greenware?” Eiske smiled at the memory.

“I didn’t know she did that.”

“There’s a wheel and a kiln in the shed. We could get it out.”

“I thought we were going to dig a root cellar this week.”

“We are. I thought we might go to Dagmon for seeds for summer planting and groceries. Maybe we could go fishing,” he suggested.

“Now you’re talking about good stuff! I loved those days that we fished together. I’ve been wishing I could go, but it seems like Taryn always has something for me to do.”

“I thought you were an apprentice and were going to be with Sage Elvan all the time.”

“So did I. But she has this list of things that we cycle through. Martial arts, schoolwork, working in the garden, physical training which involves a lot of running, and practicing magic. When Jan goes into Nik to work, I bring my tablet and do schoolwork between tasks that he asks me to take care of.” Jal told Eiske about the garden, and the look on Eiske’s face was one of disbelief.

“You’re handling plants from around the world?” Jal grinned. “And you’re being trained by a magician?”

“Yes. Wyrran Sarlana.”

“That old goat!” Eiske howled with laughter. “He was the best teacher for Potions Class, the other students said. I guess he caught his beard on fire a few times. He taught the first class that Siedeske and I were in. Is he teaching as part of a school, or has he retired?” Jal told him about their first encounter, and Eiske laughed at the mental picture of the teacher tied up in his own home. “He’s very, very cunning,” Eiske warned. “He likes to jump out at people from around corners. Wyrran was very good at mixing potio and transforming into crazy things. One day a student came into a class and sat down on her chair. Wyrran changed from the chair because the potion had worn off. The student was suddenly sitting on his lap and we all had a good laugh.”

“Was that Siedeske?”

“How did you guess? It was how we met!” He laughed at the memory. Jal shared the agreement that the two had made. “I have a bunch of her things that you can use if you’re going to continue studying with him.”

“That reminds me. I have something for you.” Jal went to its pack and pulled out the braided chain of hairs. Jal explained the colors and a pleased look came over Eiske’s face. “I’ll wear it without charms for now. After you begin to identify and study charms, we’ll attach them. It will be a good refresher for me.” Jal asked whether he was using the security charm. “Every night. Thankfully things have settled down.”

“I’m glad. That means the decision for me to leave was the right one.”

“Come with me, Jal,” Eiske said suddenly. “I have an idea.” Jal followed him out to the hovercraft and climbed in.

“Where are we going?”