Jal finished up the census in the Pencadick Valley by itself. On the last day, Jal stopped in the village for a meal. Jal went to the community information center for two books. When it was finished, it went to the general store. Tunne De Graf stood behind the counter. “Hello!” his big voice boomed. “How’s the census going?”

“I’m finished in this area.”

Tunne looked at Jal. “This area? Do you mean there’s more?”

“Of course there’s more. I’m just hoping I don’t have to do it!”

After Jal picked up the items it had come for, Tunne asked. “Did you bring more dishes?”

“I haven’t been home to make more, Tunne.”

“Those sold like hotcakes. People really like them.” Jal was surprised when it learned that every item had been sold. “Can you bring more?”

“I can try. I’ve got a lot of things to catch up on when I get back to Ridali. Maybe I’ll be back in a few weeks. I’ll try to bring more then.”

Jal was surprised at the amount of currency Tunne handed it. “Keep up the good work. I’ll see you soon.”

When Jal was finished in Pencadick Rill, it stopped to see Eiske.

Eiske was glad to see it. “I found more stuff that I thought you might find useful, Jal. Did you find third and fourth level magic books in those last boxes?”

“There was a third level.”

“Here’s the fourth level book.” Eiske handed it to Jal. “Do you have any of the supplemental books?”

“I didn’t know there were any.”

“I have several. Would you help me finish emptying the attic today? There’s still a lot of Siedeske’s stuff up there. Whatever comes down needs to be gone over and disposed of, if we aren’t using it.”

“Sure.” They carried box after box down the steps and piled them into a corner of the sitting room.

“Where did all of this come from?” Jal asked when they were midway through the collection and came to a different kind of storage boxes.

“My grandparents. Here we go,” Eiske said. “Here’s what we’re looking for.” He began to pull books on magic out of a box. “Level three, four, and five. Good. Here are the supplemental activities. IpThey’ll be good resources for you.” Eiske made a stack. “Here’s three more bags of charms. Likely from other students. The ones who decided not to continue on, often gave their collections to those of us who were coming in. We were supposed to give them to the new students.“

They found a butter churn, and a linen chest. There were more boxes of kitchen goods, storage containers that Eiske could use and a lot of big buckets .Eiske took soap-making ingredients to the utility room; and took a hand-grinder and a bread making machine to the kitchen.

After fifteen more minutes of going up and down the steps, they were finished. “Do you want to sort this without me, Eiske?”

“No. You might find things that you can use, Jal.” They began to open boxes. They separated things into boxes for various people and added to the collection of boxes in the corner of the sitting room and another batch that could be taken to the village give-away spot.

“Eiske, I found a recipe box!" Jal took the recipe box and began to look at the recipes. Its mouth began to water. Trying to distract itself, Jal asked Eiske what it was going to do with all of Siedeske’s old dresses, and the boxes of fabric they had carried down.

Eiske took a deep breath. “I’ve talked to a bunch of area ladies that I knew were bored. They’re older and have plenty of time on their hands. I’ve been cutting off buttons, and removing the pieces around the necks, then rolling up the fabric like you can get at Tunne’s. The women I’ve talked to have agreed to turn the fabric into quilts, which can be given to people in emergencies.”

“They actually work together? No bickering?”

“Well,” Eiske drew out the word, “There’s a bit of that. But they stop when they’re reminded that they’re working toward the same goal.”

“You’ve turned into a diplomat, Eiske,” Jal grinned. “How can I help?”

Eiske handed it three small, decorated boxes it had found. “You can sort the stuff in these. We’ll create sewing kits for other people who want to help. Solrio said there were sewing machines in storage at the Enclave. If people are busy, they’ll be less likely to get into trouble.”

“I hope you’re right. We don’t need more trouble.”

“””

Jal returned to Ridali a few days later. It had kept up with schoolwork, but was behind in its crafting. Tarryn reminded it one day that it was due for a magic lesson. “Yes. I said I’d go to Ebenbell, too. And I haven’t been to the Peace Foundation office for nearly ten days. I need to take care of the garden.”

“Jan will be back in two days. You can do that then. Go for a magic lesson. This afternoon you can go to Ebenbell.”

At the wizard’s house, Jal took out its wand and Wyrran retrieved his. Wyrran looked at Jal. “Ont dek charms!”

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Jal could see the lights by its necklace, the light at its belt where it had tucked charms into a pocket, and several places around the room where Wyrran had forgotten he’d put them.

Without hesitation, Jal said, “Ont dek cups.” Lights appeared around the room, over Wyrran’s coffee cup by his chair, at the table, on the counter and at the cupboards. There were four in a stack by the cabinet.

“Now you’ve confused me!” Wyrran exclaimed. “I was going to explain how to end it quickly.”

“Verberg all!” Jal responded. The lights blinked off.

“You’re not supposed to be able to do that! Those are Level three spells!”

“I’ve only used four of the Level Three.” Wyrann asked it which ones. “Find, Hide, Reveal, and Fire Arrow.”

"How is it that you’re at this level?

“I’ve been practicing.”

“And you’re a Stafriez. That gives you an advantage. How many of the second ones do you know?”

Jal stared at the fire for a bit. “Seventeen.”

“There are only fifteen.”

“That’s not true. You listed the five most difficult level two spells in your volume of level three spells.”

“How old are you, Jal?”

“I’ll be six on the day of the winter double moon. Does it matter?"

“I guess not. Let’s see if you can counter mine. Vurbeg!” A fire started in the fireplace on the logs.

“Verbluss!” The fire went out.

“Ope deur!” A blast of cold air blew through the door.

“Sluit deur! Vergren!” Jal shut the door and locked it.

Wyrann pointed the wand at himself. He grew bigger, but still wasn’t as tall as Jal.

“I can’t counter that,” Jal admitted.

“The correct response would be what?”

“Toegrote.”

“Why didn’t you try it?”

“I tried it yesterday, but it didn’t work.”

“I see. How often do you try to do a level four?”

“Every other practice session or two.”

“You do multiple spells how often?”

“Daily. Usually in my sleeping room or workroom.”

“Are you tired afterward?”

“Yes.”

“What would you do if you were tired like this and cornered with no weapon, but had your wand?”

“I would jump as far as I could into a tree.”

“Here in the house?”

“I would have gone out the open door.”

“What would happen if you were somewhere, and someone tried to hurt you with a weapon?”

“You mean, if the other person had a gun or knife?” Wyrran nodded. “I’d kick it out of his hand.”

“You wouldn’t! That is a most ineffective defense!”

“Not for me! I've broken two people’s hands.”

“What exactly did the teacher say?”

“She told me to restrain myself while I was in class. She told me that I’m ready for some testing.”

“Over the next few days,try to do two level two spells, then add another,” Wyrran told it. “This will drain your energy but it will come back stronger.”

Wyrran told Jal to ask Taryn to use a spell on Jal, and then respond to it. “Don’t hurt her,” Wyrran reminded it. Wyrran went to the cooking room to get a teapot. When he came back, he poked his head around the door. The wizard threw an egg at Jal and hit it! Egg splattered everywhere!

Jal was looking at the spellbook and without thinking used a ‘confuse’ spell on Wyrran. Wyrran stood looking at Jal, trying to think. “Niez!” Wyrran had a fit of sneezing while Jal continued to look at the spellbook. “Hou op,” Jal said to Wyrran. The sneezing stopped.

Wyrran was not happy. “That was ridiculous! I was going to cook that egg and show you how to do multiple spells at one time. Now what am I going to do?”

“You threw the egg,” Jal pointed out.

“You were supposed to catch it.”

“Right.”

“Let’s work on potions. No, let’s work on charms. I’m presuming that’s why you filled the pockets of your belt.”

“I was hoping we would.” Jal dumped them into an empty container.

“Where did you get all of these?”

“Eiske had a bunch in his attic. They’re from his mother and my grandma. I found some in an old backpack.”

“The white one is for a minimal increase in strength, such as, for a fist fight. For it, you simply say, “Krach.” Jal did it and felt its muscles tighten. “Show me one that you know.”

“The light yellow is for a security or protective charm. It will secure your dwelling and property to a one kilometer diameter, at a level two strength.”

“And the words for it are?”

“Sacur abiaculu stu.”

“Let’s look at the other basic ones.” The wizard laid out the green agate. “This is what you use when you don’t know what a certain item, like a potion, charm, or weapon is.” He laid out a light red stone and asked Jal to tell him what is was for.

"That's a low level defense charm."

"How is it different from this?" Wyrran held a clear stone. "The red is a defense for a person. The clear one protects a person's belongings." It identified the light green one that healed minor injuries and an orange pebble that would extinguish fire. Jal had been reading the books, learning the easy charms. “You’ll want to put these on your necklace. As you begin to do the harder spells, you can remove the charms from these early lessons.”

“If I rub the charm, and don’t say the words, will they work?”

“No.”

“Can I use them over and over?”

“Oh, yes. That’s why we wear them. We have easy access to them. What other questions do you have?”

“What is this for?” It was a tiny trowel. “I couldn’t find it in any books.”

Wyrran examined it closely. “I have no idea. Where did you get this?”

“It was in my aunt’s charm collection.”

“I would guess that it has something to do with gardening or plants. I’ll look in my books and tell you next time you come.”

“And this one?” Jal held up a small grouping of cherries.

“That’s to help you find food in the forest.”

“Good.”

“Over the next few weeks, I want you to study the level three spells. Continue to practice multiple spells from the level two book. Now, did you tell me that you were studying to become an herbologist?” Jal told him that it was.

“Do you already have a collection of herbs and plants that you’ve dried?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like you to read the first section of the potions book. Look at the items on the first list, and gather as many as possible. Do you have any bottles for potions?” Jal nodded. “We’ll mix a few things and split the potions between the two of us. Bring the bigger bottles that you have.”

“I have something for you, Wizard Wyrran.” Jal opened a pocket on its belt and took out a necklace. “Thank you for the lessons.” Wyrran was pleased with it and said so. “I’ll see you in a month or so.”

“Wait! Wait, Jal!” Jal came back inside. “I want you to tell me something. Did you kill something using magic before you froze the pyricells?" Jal told Wyrran about the tiljeekik.

"You killed one of those?".

“With help from my friends.” Wyrran wanted to know how long it took to recover. “Two days.”

“What did you save from it?”

“I have the eyes, the pincers, and the skin. And the cleaned-up contents of its stomach.”

“Tell me about them.”

Jal told him about the backpacks, the swords, and the potions. For some reason, Jal didn’t want to tell him about the cloak, so it didn’t. “Thank you for the lesson. I need to be on my way.”

Wyrran closed the door behind Jal. “That child knows something and he’s not telling me. What does he have that he’s hiding?”

Jal went home for the noon meal. Tarryn and Jal ate lunch together at the small table in the sitting room. “It’s much cozier in here. I like the late fall best. It’s time for me to start making soups and breads. That’s what Sage Elvan likes in the winter.”

“What about fresh vegetables? You wouldn't stop serving fresh vegetables, would you?” Jal asked worriedly.

"I know you love them, Jal. You can help me plant in the atrium this fall. The lettuces and peas are usually ready around the winter double-moon.”