by Donna Kunkel
With this, he signed the board next to the door and entered another hallway. The door they had come through had a Dirty Dog sign attached on the back where the door opposite had a sign Mall. To their left was a set of steps with a handrail on each side and one in the middle. As soon as Steve stepped on the first step, it started moving like an escalator. She explained, “Both sides go in either direction, but we always recommend that you only use the right.” She stepped on the other side and it also moved up.
“The second floor has several items of interest.” By now they had reached the top. “To the left is the walkway that connects to the parking garage and is where the arrival and departure booths are located.” They could see a door at the end with a Parking Garage sign. On the right side were about a dozen doors labeled Departures. The left doors were labeled Arrivals. “These will be explained at the end of this summer. Here, near the steps, is where you are to meet your escort on Saturday morning. Now, let’s head down the hallway on the right.” After going a few feet past a series of lockers, she said, “The lockers are available for use for several hours. You sign the chalkboard on the locker, and they will stay locked until you sign a second time. If you need to store something for an extended time, check in at the registration desk. Here is the registration desk for the rooms. We operate them the same as any other hotel would. If there isn’t anyone at the desk, ring the bell and a waitress will be up to assist you. If you call ahead with an estimated arrival time, we can see to it that there is someone here. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me or a waitress.”
Dana added, “The first level of the garage is usually for people staying two or more days and employees. There is a ten dollar fee for parking long-term, regardless of the number of days. The second level is for short stays. On really busy weekends, we usually make people park in the long-term unless they are only here for less than a day. Once the short-term fills up, you have to park in the long-term area. The entrance is across from where you parked. We’ll wait here while you move your car.”
Steve headed back down through the restaurant and back through the two hallways. He got in his truck and pulled into the garage entrance. After pulling in, he noticed a chalkboard where a ticket booth would normally be. Once he signed his name the gates parted, allowing him access. He headed to the first-floor area and pulled into one of the long-term slots. He unloaded his duffel bags as a man came out to greet him. The man performed a spell on the truck and it shrank until it was reduced to about five inches long. The man picked up the truck and entered a room next to the spaces. Then he returned with a numbered key and reminded Steve that he’d need to pay ten dollars when he came back. Steve took his bags up the stairs to the second level and noticed the door labeled “Dirty Dog - Please Sign in for Access.” He signed again and entered the second-floor hallway and quickly went back to where they were waiting.
Dana handed him a book and supply list. She added, “Go to Blue Columbine first for your school robes. It takes some time for hemming, then go to Glenda’s Fine Wands. I would then recommend that you pick up your books at The Dusty Tomes. After you know about a wand, go to the stores as indicated on your list. Don’t forget to pick up your robes before leaving. You’ll probably want to make several trips back to the car to drop off your supplies. Good luck this summer, and if I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to knock on my office door.” With this she shook his hand and headed back into The Dirty Dog.
“I don’t understand. She mentioned meeting someone on Saturday, taking my supplies to the car, and something about a wand. Aren’t I leaving today?” Steve asked.
“That’s probably the spiel she tells all the summer students,” Alex said. She helped him get his bags into one of the lockers, and they headed back to the first level. Finally, they entered the mall door. Immediately, a wave of floral-scented air washed over them with underlying scents of damp earth. The mall was impressive. All of the stores were made from the same old red brick that was on the outside. The aisle was flooded with brilliant light from a row of large skylights. The shops all had three levels, with large display windows on the first level. Several shops had also placed larger windows on the second level, some even had bay windows. The shop signs were very distinct from one another. Some were intricate wood carvings with the names painted or gilded. Others had only the shop’s name painted on their window.
Every so often there were tables with chairs in the middle of the aisles. Most of these were placed so that they were shaded by a tree planting. The plantings usually consisted of a couple of large trees with many different flowering plants spread among them. Usually fragrances from flowers would bother him. But because of all the wildflowers blooming in the meadow, he’d recently built up a tolerance to the smells. As they walked along, butterflies flitted among the plants. Various types of hummingbirds flew to and fro. The hummingbirds would almost hit Alex, they flew so close, but they gave him a wide berth.
Steve asked, “Which direction is the robe shop?”
“Blue Columbine, for robes, is three quarters of the way down on the right. The bookstore, The Dusty Tomes, is a couple stores back toward The Dirty Dog and Glenda’s Fine Wands is in the middle,” replied Alex.
They headed off for the Blue Columbine. This shop had a large window on the first floor where several drawings of robes were displayed. A sheer curtain hung over the bottom half of the window. As Steve opened the door an old-fashioned bell rang. A clerk immediately approached them and Steve said, “I need to get my robes for Aspen Glen.”
The clerk ushered him to the back, right side where a platform was in front of three mirrors. As he stepped up onto the platform the clerk selected two black robes to try on. The robes had a yoke with two pleats on each side of the back with an embroidered symbol on the left front. The embroidery contained a group of aspen trees complete with their white trunks and the branches had green and yellow leaves. The whole design was very intricate. “I believe that this will be the best fit for you, but I’d like to check the second one to be sure,” said the clerk. She was close, but the second one he tried on fit him better in the shoulders. The clerk quickly checked a length then added, “I’ll have two robes hemmed up for you. We also embroider your name below the school patch so please print it very clearly on the form. They should be ready to pick up within a half an hour.” Steve filled out the order form for the clerk and headed back out to go get his wand.
Chapter 30
About halfway down the mall, they came to Glenda’s Fine Wands. Upon entering, they were standing in front of a large counter that stretched across the front of the shop. The air inside the shop crackled with excitement. Behind the counter, rows and rows of shelves extended from the back wall of the shop to the front, reminiscent of the stacks in a library. Each shelf contained hundreds of compartments resembling a post office in the old west. Shelves with compartments also covered both side walls of the shop. All the areas were neatly labeled. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how many wands were in all of the different compartments. An elderly woman, with beautiful silvery white hair, approached. She was wearing a royal purple robe, and had her hair pulled back into a French twist, giving her a stately appearance.
She spoke in a confident voice, “Welcome to Glenda’s. I’ve been expecting you.”
With this, Steve moved toward the counter.
She clasped Steve’s hand between hers. She released his hand immediately. “Sorry about that, you startled me. I’ve never met a shape-shifter like you before.” She clasped his hand again and kept his gaze riveted to her misty blue eyes. Finally, she released his hand and added, “Welcome to a wonderful new world. I’m Glenda. I make the wands that are here. Hopefully we’ll be able to find the perfect wand for you. Each wand is handmade from wood and contains a unique magical core. Let’s start with some general cores and move on from there.” With this she pulled out and handed one of the wands to him. “Give the wand a slight wave.” He gave the wand a w
ave and nothing happened. She tried several more, producing the same results. She jotted down what wands she had tried in the binder that had been lying open on the counter. Then she pulled out another wand for Steve to try. Again nothing. She kept pulling out different wands and nothing appeared. This kept happening time after time after time as the page started filling up with notes. She kept muttering, “I know I’ll find the right one, maybe this one.” After trying what seemed like a couple dozen different wands, she remarked, “I know I have something that will work.”
Steve said, “When I touched Alex’s wand some sparks came out.”
Glenda looked at Alex, “May I see your wand?”
Alex handed Glenda her wand.
“Oh yes. You have a very unusual core. It came from a special bear that I knew a long time ago,” Glenda murmured.
Steve looked down and mumbled, “The bear may have been my mother.”
Glenda took Steve’s hand again and stared into his eyes. “Yes, yes, I see it now. You might be in luck. I still have a couple of wands left with that fur as a core.” She headed off to the very back of the room and returned with five more wands. “Let’s see if one of these works.”
Four of them produced a few stars, but one of them shot out a stream of stars. Glenda placed this wand in a box and handed it to him along with a sheet of paper. “Red Fir and Bear, an unusual combination,” she said. “But it suits you. The paper contains an additional list of books you’ll need, now that we know you’ll be able to do the magical lessons. I’m glad I got to meet you. Good luck.” Glenda was already making additional notes in the binder by the time Steve reached the door.
The Dusty Tomes was the best bookstore he had ever been in. The store had two check-out desks near the door where a clerk directed them to the second floor for his textbooks. All of the rest of the store was rows of book shelves from floor to ceiling. Through the middle was a break in the rows of books with groupings of big comfy stuffed chairs. There were stairways on both sides near the back leading up to the second floor. Up here were more rows of books, but at the front were large windows that let in a flood of light. In front of the windows additional comfy chairs were huddled together like a bunch of gossiping women. This would be a great place to sit down and browse through the wonderful selection of books.
He finally located the section where the books for school were arranged by year. These included new as well as used copies in various conditions. Some were so heavily marked that the original print was barely legible. He selected many of the used versions. He needed all the help he could get to learn everything. There weren’t any used copies of the cookbook so he got a new copy. The cookbook consisted of a whole package of pages along with a three-ring binder which turned out to be the cheapest of them all. He also picked up a marked-up copy of The Encyclopedia of Potion Ingredients. The script was clear and distinct, making it easy to read. This one was the largest and most expensive of all the required texts.
The stairs continued on up to a third level which was arranged like the second floor, except one wall contained a bunch of boxes. The labels on the ends of the bookcases indicated that these covered more advanced studies. He only spent a minute looking through this floor, just to get an indication of what was here. There was so much to learn. Would he be able to? He’d never been very good with schoolwork. He checked out and found Alex thumbing through one of the books.
As they headed back out to the mall, Alex looked at her watch and said, “Your robes should be finished by now. Why don’t we pick them up and store them in the locker? This way we’ll be able to handle the heavy and awkward packages.”
They headed back to the Blue Columbine. This time when they entered, the clerk led them up to the second floor. Whereas, the first level contained only finished garments, this part had row after row of fabric bolts. The clerk introduced them to the owner and went back downstairs.
The owner had them deposit their packages along the side and showed them to the back. “First year students have three sewing projects to complete this term. The first project is a simple bed quilt. I have many kits already made up for your selection. There are three designs to pick from and then you can select a kit.”
“So why do I need to learn how to sew?” he asked.
“The school believes that men and women can benefit from learning how to sew, cook, and do household repairs. These skills are becoming lost arts with everyone letting someone else do them.”
“That’s for sure,” he said. Since he had never sewn anything before, he let Alex pick the design. She selected the one with the fewest seams to match so he could easily finish. Then they looked through the kits. He ended up pulling out one that was very wintry. “This will remind me of you,” he whispered to Alex. “So did you learn how to fix stuff and sew?”
“It was fun. I especially liked woodworking,” she said.
He squinted at her. “Woodworking, I wouldn’t have ever guessed that.”
The owner continued, “Your second project is black pants. We already have some kits assembled.” He pulled out a package and added it to the other kit. She then said, “Your last project is a simple white shirt. I would really recommend using one of these three cotton fabrics. These are the easiest to use so you’ll get good results.” He got the white fabric cut. The owner pulled the patterns and notions and also handed him a basic sewing kit.
Finally, he had all his supplies, including a set of sheets, put into a large bag. His robes were already neatly folded in another bag. They took these bags, and the ones with his books, back to the lockers. It took several minutes to get everything inside the empty duffel bags.
Alex commented, “Why don’t we grab a bite?”
After eating a quick lunch, they headed to Merlin’s Mixes. Here he picked up a cauldron and a kit of basic ingredients. The ingredients were conveniently packaged to fit snugly inside the cauldron. He also had a list of additional ingredients that he added on top of the others.
The last shop on their list was Simply Samantha for office supplies. They picked up notebooks, 3-ring binders, paper, pens, and anything else he needed. The clerk checked Steve’s name against his copy of the student roster. “Ah, a new student! Congratulations on being accepted. I see you haven’t picked up any lead-lined bags. Don’t you need some?”
Steve asked, “Why do I need lead-lined bags?”
“For your electronics. You need a bag for every electronic device you’re planning on taking.” The clerk grinned at Steve’s confused look. “For your computer, phone, and computer flash drives.”
Alex told Steve, “You’ll want one for a couple of flash drives.” She showed him the section where the bags were hung up. She selected a small bag and a couple of simple flash drives and went back to check-out. The clerk cautioned him. “Make sure you get your devices fully inside and the bags tightly sealed. I would also highly recommend placing these items in the middle of your suitcase. You don’t want anything damaged on your trip to school.”
They found themselves loaded down with bags again. This necessitated another trip to the lockers. They pulled everything out and tightly packed it into as few bags as possible, making sure the flash drives were in his bags and buried in the middle. Then they spent a couple of hours wandering through the mall, killing time before they were supposed to meet Principal Vale at the traveling booths. Occasionally, he would duck into one of the shops to look at something, make a purchase, or to have a general look-see. A few minutes before he met Vale, they unloaded the lockers and hauled everything down to the departure booths. While the hallway was empty, Steve gave Alex a goodbye kiss.
They stopped kissing when a man behind them coughed. Vale said, “Sorry to interrupt, but we have to get going so we have enough time to get you settled and in the infirmary. We do not want you to wander.”
“Yes,” Steve said. “I don’t want that.”
Alex looked at Vale, “Take good care of him.” She turned red, “Now I sound like my mom. S
orry.”
“We know, you worry,” Vale said. “I will keep him safe.”
“I know…”
“You worry,” Vale said. “Say goodbye so we can get going.” He opened one of the departure doors and held it open for Steve.
“Take good care of Mandy and Anna Belle,” Steve said before taking his bags into the booth.
Alex had already promised to leave the next morning to make sure Mandy and Anna Belle were okay. Peter could watch them for a day, but he didn’t fare well doing the chores.
Steve stepped into a small room the size of an over-sized closet.
“Pile all your bags as tightly as possible,” Vale said as he closed the door. He wrote on the blackboard mounted on the wall. “Sign your name at the bottom.”
Steve signed the board.
“If you will stand on one side of your bags, I will stand on the other and drape my cloak around you. Stand still.”
Steve heard another voice saying something and Vale said, “Ready.”
Less than a minute passed when Vale unwrapped the cloak and said, “Here we are.”
Steve started to move and stumbled a little.
“Oops. Sorry. I forgot to mention that it helps to close your eyes.” Vale opened the door and stepped out into a different hallway.
“I don’t understand.”
“I feel this is one of our greatest benefits. Traveling booths, they take you to far-off places in minutes.” Vale grabbed two of the bags. “Make sure you get everything.”
Steve grabbed the rest of his bags and headed out of the building. A long, tall, stone wall stretched off into the distance. He followed Vale over to the ornate, wrought iron gate.
