During the midday meal at Limke’s, Jal and Sage Elvan talked about the dogs in Pencadick Rill. Jal was inclined to believe that the dogs were a problem, while the sage thought they were simply pets. Much like a domesticated feline, they provided companionship to families and small children. They could be trained to keep away animals. Jal shook its head, “No way. I don’t need a companion like that!”

Midway through the meal, Jal saw Eiske walk in. He was alone, and Jal waved him over. “Join us.”

Eiske looked tired and frustrated. He ordered food and took a long sip of ale. “Jal,” he said, “You are one lucky fellow. There has been craziness around here, and your parents have been in the middle of it. Be glad you live elsewhere.”

Jal wasn’t sure it wanted to know. “I’m hesitant to say it but tell us what you mean.”

In a low tone, Eiske began to explain that Geldou had come to him, begging him for help. “She told me that the Protectorate officials ordered them to build a new house. Since I work for the Protectorate, she thought I could say something and get them off the hook. I told her no. Of course, she was furious. Then, she asked me to loan her momey. She said that they just couldn’t keep their accounts straight.” Eiske shook his head. “I told her no. So, she went to our parents and asked. They told her no. She went to her friends. They told her no, and in turn, told me. Once again, the entire family is mad at me. You know she was sentenced to a year in lock-up for setting that fire but was released after five months because she was a model prisoner. Haerm was in lock-up for six days, then was put on probation for two years, for the physical attack on me at the community center. The boys are on probation for one year.”

He took a bite, chewed and swallowed. “I went to the bank this morning to make a deposit from my crop sales. I’m missing several hundred mu-toc from my account. When I spoke to the head of the bank, she told me that all the accounts had been locked.”

“All the accounts?” Jal asked.

“Yes. They’re doing an audit.”

Jal looked at Sage Elvan. “Master, my account is with this bank, isn’t it?” Sage Elvan stated that it was. “I’d like to stop in and check my balance.”

“Jal, you know that Geldou was accused, charged with, and found guilty of doing something with the school accounts, don’t you?” Eiske asked.

“I know,” Jal responded. It thought for a moment. “Did Grandpa do an audit of his books, Eiske?”

“Why would you ask that, Jal?”

“Geldou manages them, doesn’t she?”

“She wouldn’t do anything with those.” Eiske thought, “Or would she?”

“I just came from the machinery sales and parts store," Eiske went on. "I was in the parts department, and I saw Haerm hand Jop a huge stack of bills. So, they’ve got money,” Eiske nearly choked. “I’m sure they’d be able to set up some sort of payment system. Something’s odd, and I can’t figure out what it is. I need to rest my brain from it. It’s keeping me up at night.”

Jal told Eiske that they had just finished up the residential census of Pencadick Rill. Now they would do the businesses. “You’ve been tied up with this for several weeks, haven’t you?”

Sage Elvan made a noise of irritation. “Wasting my time. This isn’t why I went through years of university and training.”

Eiske nodded. “Yes. I can imagine how you feel. Sort of like driving a tractor down rows of the grain field after going through years of university and medical training."

“I’m ready to take some time off and do something else,” Sage Elvan said. “I don’t usually ask for time off. It’s not like the country is boring, it’s just that the conversations are not as deep as I’m used to.”

“You and Jal are welcome at my place anytime. I read as much news as I can get, study the local medical updates, and love to hear what’s going on in the city. Speaking of the city, I hear that the officials in Nik are holding a convention for wizards to come and help transport the pyricells back to the mountains in the middle of Nek.” He patted Jal on the back. “Good job!”

“We’re going to Nik in two days, Doctor. I need to check in at the office, and Jal will present its first projects to its mentors.”

“Mentors? Jal, I thought you were taking up herbology.”

“I am, Eiske. Herbology and pottery. The pottery is a lot of work, but I love it.”

“I’d like to see your work sometime.”

“Maybe you will sooner than you think.” A curious look came over Eiske’s face. “I’m taking a boxful to Tunne De Graf in a week or two to see if he’ll put my wares on the shelf. Don’t say anything to him. I want to surprise him.”

“My lips are sealed,” Eiske said with a grin.

***

While Sage Elvan worked at the office, Tarryn escorted Jal to see Avina, who owned an herbology shop in the downtown district. The bell on the door rang as they entered the store. “Master Avina, I’m ready for my lesson.” Jal bowed. “I’m here for my evaluation and new instructions.” Jal set its project on the table in the work area.

“Jal, I told you that the project needed to be in bags.” She watched as Jal set the box it carried to one side. “I’m sorry, I thought that was part of it.”

“No. Those are for my pottery evaluation.”

“Pottery? You have two crafts?”

“Yes. It's challenging, but interesting.”

Avina opened a bag, pulled out part of the contents, looked them over, had Jal identify them, then state their uses. After Jal finished the final bag, she told it that she was very pleased it had passed the first gatherer test so quickly. She looked at the herbology textbook, and as she assigned material, noted that there were notes in the margins.

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“Have you studied all of these?”

“No, this book was my aunt’s.”

“Aunt’s?” she echoed. “Everyone knows that Stafriez don’t have aunts.”

“It’s a long story,” Jal sighed. “Maybe we can talk about it another time.”

“I’ll see you next month,” Avina responded. “Then we’ll talk about how to do things inside over the winter months.”

Jal nodded and bowed. “Thank you for a good lesson.”

Taryn talked with Jal as they walked down the street toward the potter’s shop. “You did really well in there, Jal. You answered all her questions without any hesitation. That tells me that you know the material.”

“Thank you for helping me. You’re good in the garden and finding things in the meadow. Is Trazene like Nobela?”

“Somewhat. It’s more mountainous where I lived. The farmers there had grain fields but they also had sheep.”

“Sheep. Baa, baa,” Jal responded.

“You learned what a sheep was?”

“I saw the pictures. They make noise like a goat, but their coats make, they make,” Jal couldn’t think of the word.

“Wool.”

“And wool is made into yarn. Yarn is used to make clothing. There are sheep on Trazene near the mountains of Nek.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“There aren’t very many sheep on Trazene because of the limited gene pool. The herders are searching for similar animals in outlying star systems but aren’t having much success.”

“I wonder if they know that there are sheep on Nobela?”

“That’s a very good question.” They went into the pottery store. Jasper Neve sat working on the pottery wheel by the front window.

“Jal, I’m going to leave you here. Jan asked me to pick up a few things. If I’m not back before you’re finished, you can reach me on the communicator.”

Jal stood watching the potter form a pitcher. He carefully removed it to a tray, then created a handle for it. “Attach this,” he said to an apprentice.

“Good morning, Master Neve. I’m here for my evaluation and my next lesson.”

“It’s good to see you, Jal!” he said heartily. “Let me clean up, and then I’ll look at how you’ve done. Let’s see what you have today.”

Jal set his pieces on a clean worktable. Jasper picked them up one by one. “Good. You did this cup perfectly. The sides are all even and the same thickness as the bottom. This one has a thicker bottom.” He examined each cup and bowl for size, shape and color. “You didn’t leave your mark on them.”

“My mark?”

“Each potter leaves an identifying mark, so that if someone breaks it, and wants a replacement, they can come back to the person they bought it from.” He reached for one of his cups and showed Jal the JN on the bottom. “I like these plates. They are well formed, all the same thickness and shape. Nice even coloring. I would like to sell these for you.”

“I’m sorry, but those are spoken for.”

“Already?”

“Sage Elvan wants them and the matching cups.”

“I see. Remember, you are making them for other people, not for Sage Elvan,” he laughed. “He’s like any other parent.”

“Would you be upset, Master, if I sold my wares on Iragos Peninsula? There are no pottery stores there. I could build up a … What do you call it? A clientele?”

“Very good thinking, Jal. There’s no competition. No, I don’t have a problem with that.” They talked for a few minutes about styles and colors that the different generations might like, then turned to a demonstration at the wheel. Jasper showed Jal how to make two kinds of bowls, then set them aside. He demonstrated how to make baking dishes using slabs of clay, gave Jal a reading assignment on various types of clay, and a list of videos to watch from a community information center. Jal walked out with a list of things to do, that seemed to him, would take forever. Jal spoke to Taryn and she was there a few moments later. She looked at her timepiece. “I can take you to Jan’s office, and I’ll see you for the noon meal.”

“Thank you,” Jal said before Taryn whisked away, off on another errand. It carried the box of project materials into Sage Elvan’s office. The Sage was not around, but the message light on its communicator was blinking rapidly. Jal wrote down the messages, slipped in the back door to the meeting, handed off the messages, and sat down. A moment later, Sage Elvan passed a message back. Jal’s eyes opened wide.

“Oh, no!” Jal shook its head. "I don't know how to do that!” he thought. Sage Elvan nodded yes and motioned for Jal to go.

Back in the office, Jal returned the call. Jal knew nothing about the situation that it was talking about, so tried to listen carefully. It scribbled down notes as fast as it could and tried to think what Sage Elvan would say. As Jal hung up the phone, the sage entered the room. Jal finished writing, then recounted the conversation as best it could.

“Good, Jal. That was hard?”

“Very. I really didn’t know what I was talking about.”

“You did the best you could. The key thing is to listen. Another key is to take good notes. Let’s go to lunch.” Jal stood up. “Well, I guess I can tell what you’ve been doing,” it laughed. “You have clay everywhere. If someone asks, you can tell them what you’ve been learning!”

Over lunch that day, Sage Elvan complained to Victor that the census was a poor use of its time. It had now been assigned to enumerate the farmland in the Pencadick Rill Valley. This was a huge territory, and might take weeks to complete. “We might as well get it done,” the sage grumbled. “I asked for time off, but that didn’t work.”

Jal would run from farm to farm and Sage Elvan moved the speeder along. Several of the farmers had dogs, and Jal became nervous. During the second week of their work, Jal watched as a black feline crouched on the branches of a tree. It jumped and there was a scream. Jal knew that the feline had killed a rabbit and was eating it. Thankfully, it left Jal and Sage Elvan alone.

They had completed four weeks of work and the end was in sight when Sage Elvan received a communication that it was needed on Shifos. That night, at the meal table, Sage Elvan, Taryn, and Jal had a lengthy conversation. “I don’t really want you to be going from farm to farm on your own. So many things could happen.”

Taryn looked at them. “Don’t look at me! I can’t do your work.”

“The Director seems to think that you can finish this on your own, Jal.”

“She does?” Jal swallowed hard. “What do you think?”

“I think you’re quite capable of the work. The question is, how safe would you be by yourself?”

“I know how to use the speeder. I know how to use a rifle, and a wand.”

“Hopefully, you wouldn’t need the rifle. If you agree to take this on, you will have to wear the insignia and communicator of the Peace Foundation.”

After Jal’s schoolwork was finished the following morning, Sage Elvan and Jal went to Cappi Dal, the clothier. Both were fitted in the new uniforms. “What are these extra loops?” Jal asked later at the office.

“Those are for the sash.” Sage Elvan lifted one over Jal’s head and attached it on the shoulder strap of the tunic. “This crosses the chest and attaches to the service belt.”

Jal looked at itself in the mirror. “Ridiculous,” Jal muttered. “Who thinks of these things?”

“I don’t know. You don’t have to wear the sash unless you’re doing official business on behalf of the Foundation. There are a few good things about it,” Sage Elvan remarked. “Here is a name tag.” It attached it to the sash. “Here is a rank button. The Director is pleased with your performance working with me and your enthusiasm in the garden. You are now a Junior Diplomat.” Jal’s surprise caused it to step back. “Here are a Life-Saving Award for saving Marit Woker’s life in Dagmon and a special recognition for discovering a way to stop the pyricell attacks in Dagmon and Nik.”

Jal was speechless.

“You can be proud of what you’ve done in the past twelve months. I’ll send you your advancement paperwork, the papers granting you the authority to conduct the census, the reminder to sign the paperwork for the paid position in the garden, copies of your grade reports, and copies of you evaluations with your crafting masters. Is there anything else?” It looked at the desk. “Here is a gift from me to you as a thank you for being a hard worker, and a new bank card.”

“What?”

“Your old account has been given a new number.”

“What’s the reason the currency is gone?”

“An investigation is still underway. Eight accounts have been tampered with. The Protectorate is working to determine who is behind these activities.”

“Oh,” Jal said in a small voice. “They’re still trying to figure out who’s threatening me?”

“Are you still receiving threats?”

Jal didn’t respond right away. “I received one two days ago.”

“And you didn’t mention it?”

“We’ve been busy. It slipped my mind until now. I wonder who they’re from.”