The Seventh Mountain (30 page)

Mark was turned upside down with his arms
still pinned to his side.

“HEY! What are you doing?” Chenoa, Jamal and
Nick ran up and tried to free Mark.

Slone raised his hand and made a circling
motion with his finger.

Jamal, Chenoa and Nick were immediately
grabbed and turned upside down, arms pinned to their sides. All
four were shoved, head first, into nearby trashcans.

Mark thought,
That’s twice. You got me at
the moat and now this. If this is what you want, you asked for it.
Your time is coming.

The group managed to extricate themselves
with the help of passersby.

Nick said, “I’ve got an idea. I’ll tell you
about it after we get back from vacation. He’s not going to get
away with it this time.”

The days passed and the time for Christmas
vacation arrived. Christmas decorations had been up for over a week
now. There was a large tree in the common room. Manger scenes,
glowing stars, twinkling lights, wreaths and trees bejeweled all of
the halls and especially the mall.

Mark pulled the four boxes out from under
his bed. The statues were heavy, and each had been boxed in a
sturdy wooden crate with a rope carrying-handle. The rope was
removable, which made them easier to wrap.

He hoisted them up and carried them, two at
a time, down the hall and into the crowded common room, finally
sitting them on a table. On his last trip, he brought out a large
canvas bag that contained the presents for his family and a large
copper etching that had been framed and wrapped in plain brown
paper.

His friends had been making similar trips,
as had all of the Emerald tribe. Counselors had been popping in and
out, remanifesting their charges home for the holidays. It was
almost their time to go.

Chenoa handed them all packages. “Go ahead,
open them.”

Jamal got a book titled,
Ethiopia’s
Legends
. “You remembered!”

Nick got a book titled,
Magi Inventions
Throughout Time
.

Mark got a book titled,
Omar’s Exhaustive
History of Flags Strategy
.

Nick handed out his gifts to his friends.
They were walkie-talkie rings. “They’re keyed just to us. Look at
the crest, use a pen or something to push who you want to talk to,
and their ring vibrates, and then you can talk.” The crest had the
letters C, J, M and N. “They might come in handy.”

They put the rings on and checked them
out.

Jamal handed out his gifts. They were
scrolls of their family histories.

“Sorry, Mark. I didn’t have time to complete
yours. Your family history is traceable much farther back than
normal.”

Jamal turned to Chenoa, “Did you know that
your family is one of the very few pure Occoneechee blood lines
left?”

He asked Nick, “Should we call you Sire?
You’re the descendant of a couple of kings.”

“Did you all know that you come from a long
line of Magi?”

Mark said, “Thanks Jamal. You guys open your
gifts from me.” Mark pointed to the boxes on the table.

They started opening their presents. Mark
explained, “I knew from the start that we would be friends. The
pre-choosing sealed that forever. To me, you’ll always be my
friends.”

Shana popped back into the common room. She
would be taking them home for Christmas vacation, just as she had
done for the others. She was standing in for Tim.

“Good morning, Mark. You ready to go?” She
was carrying a very large, flat package, wrapped in brown
paper.

“Where’s Tim?”

Mark grabbed up the statue by the rope
handle. The etching was already in Aaron’s Grasp.

“He said that he had some last minute stuff
to finish. He asked me to take his students home for Christmas
vacation.”

Mark pointed at the package. “What’s
that?”

“It’s a present for your family. One of the
students in art class did a painting. She wants your family to have
it.”

“Can I see it?”

“Not yet. It’s supposed to be opened by your
family.”

“Okay. I’m ready.”

Shana extended her arm. Mark took it. She
vanished, leaving Mark standing there, alone. A few moments later,
she reappeared.

“What happened?”

“I took your arm and you just
disappeared.”

“You weren’t concentrating.”

“I didn’t know that I was supposed to
concentrate. Concentrate on what?”

“Goodness, how did Tim get you here in the
first place?”

“I don’t really know. It all happened so
fast. We were walking down the sidewalk. He started to hand me a
piece of paper. I went to get it. He turned around. I had to run to
catch up. I took the paper and then I was here.”

Shana spoke to the ceiling. “Very clever,
Tim.” She turned her attention back to Mark. “You were
concentrating on touching something that he had. You need that same
level of concentration to remanifest with someone. You also need to
be able to see the sky. Think you can do it?”

He looked out the window. “I can try.”

“Well, then. Let’s try again, shall we?” She
extended her arm to Mark.

Then next thing that he knew they were
somewhere else. “Hey, this isn’t my house.”

“Actually, it is. It’s your new house, in
Virginia.”

He looked around. A light snow blanketed the
landscape. He could see the Newsome’s house that was on the next
hilltop, about a half-mile away.

“How did they get it built so quick?”

“Actually, it took them longer than they had
planned. Magi carpenters hardly ever take more than two weeks to
build a house. This one took three. Did you know that there are
only two building inspectors for this whole county?”

“Magi built this house?”

“Well, yeah… Haven’t you learned anything in
Mr. Diefenderfer’s class? Magi are always looking for ways to help
people. You ready to go in?”

Mark paused to look at the house. Three
stories of bright red brick stretched toward the sky. Smoke gently
curled from the central chimney. Small balconies jutted from the
third story windows. The porch wrapped around the entire house. The
porch roof was almost flat, starting from just beneath the second
story windows. Railings hemmed the top of the porch roof forming a
second story deck, barely sloped so rain would not pool on it. Two
wooden swings, one at either end of the front, hung from the
ceiling of the first floor porch. The front door swung open.

Tim greeted the two. “Well, there you are.
Come on inside. It is cold out there.”

Mark ascended the seven stone steps that led
up to the porch. “Hi, Tim. What are you doing here? I thought you
were doing something at school.”

“Nah, not at school. I moved all of your
family’s stuff here. They should be arriving anytime now.”

Mark looked inside. Boxes and bags were
everywhere. “How’d you do that?”

“Remanifested with it. Must have made fifty
trips. Only took a couple of hours.”

“Thanks… I think.”

“Ah, nothing to it. You are welcome.”

Parquet tile glistened on the floor.
Built-in mahogany shelves lined the two facing walls in the front
room. The front wall and ceiling was textured like an orange. Two
narrow, open shelves, floor to ceiling, framed an opening into the
next room. Mark could see their tiny kitchen table in there and a
large fireplace crackling, releasing its warmth to all therein.

“Wow! Look at this place. This is like a
mansion. My dad had enough money to pay for all of this?”

“I do not know. He does not even know that
it has been built yet.”

“Who paid for it?”

“I do not know for sure. I suspect that it
was Mr. Diefenderfer.”

“How’d you know what to build?”

“Your dad and mom let me see some drawings
of what they wanted. We did the rest.”

“Why?”

“Well, it is a present from the Seventh
Mountain. Mr. Diefenderfer suggested it.”

“You guys shouldn’t have. I don’t deserve
this.”

“I beg to differ. The Council of Elders took
a vote. Every single one of them voted for it. What they say
goes.”

A horn honked outside. Mark looked out the
window. His family had arrived. He swung the door open and ran out
to meet them. Tim and Shana followed.

“Mark, I told you not to do this.”

“I didn’t, Dad, honest. This is a present
from the school. Magi built it. I didn’t even know about it ‘til
just a few minutes ago.”

“He is right, Mr. Young. We built this house
based on the drawings that you showed me. It is a gift.”

“I don’t know what to say. Wow! I never
expected this, not in a thousand years.”

“All of your stuff is inside. Moved it
myself, this morning, after you left.”

Shana crossed her arms and rubbed her
biceps. “Let’s get inside, out of the cold.”

Tim and Mark followed the family into the
house.

Steve said, “Wow, look at this! Inlaid
hardwood floors, built in bookshelves, textured walls, fireplace.
You guys are too much.”

Shana handed Shirley the package.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a housewarming gift, a Christmas
present from one of the students at school. She wanted you to have
it.”

Shirley opened it. It was a painting of the
sail-back ornathoptus erupting out of the moat around The Island.
The perspective was from high above.

Mark and Cap’n Ben were tiny figures below.
Shirley put her hand over her mouth.

“It was the most spectacular event that has
happened at the school this year. It’s been selected for the cover
for this year’s yearbook.”

Shirley didn’t say a word. Tim took the
painting.

“It will look good, right over the fireplace
mantel. I can hang it there for you, if you like.” He held the
painting up over the mantel.

Shirley didn’t say anything. She walked out
of the living room, through the dining room and into the
kitchen.

Steve said, “I think that she’s a bit
overwhelmed by everything.”

Tim said, “I understand. I think it is time
for us to leave.”

Mark said, “Wait.” He pulled the etching out
of Aaron’s Grasp and handed it to Tim. “Sorry, Shana. I didn’t get
anything for you.”

“That’s okay, I didn’t get anything for you,
either.”

Tim said, “What is this?” He pulled the
paper off. It was a copper etching depicting Ms. Vanmie sneaking up
on Tim and Tim poking her in the forehead, under his arm, with a
marker.

“Wow; that is great. Where did you get
it?”

“Vince did it years ago. He read my thoughts
about how I felt about you and gave it to me when I went to pick up
the statues that he made for me.” Mark pointed at his statue.

Tim bent down and lifted the statue out of
the box, holding it up in one hand. “Wow, this is beautiful.”

“Thanks. I had four made, one for each of
us.”

Steve and James looked at the little statue.
“That is something, son. That’s what you were telling us about, the
pre-choosing.”

“Yes sir. That’s it.”

Tim sat the statue back down into the
box.

Steve said, “Thanks for everything, Tim. I’m
sorry ma’am; I don’t know your name.”

“Sorry about that. I’m Shana, Shana
O’Riley.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss O’Riley.”

“Call me Shana, everyone does.”

“Okay, Shana. Thank you, again. Thanks for
everything.”

“Well, you’re welcome, I’m sure. We’ll be
off, now. Nice seeing you and your family, again.”

Tim and Shana disappeared.

Steve walked to the kitchen, pausing in the
dining room to admire the workmanship. Their kitchen table was
dwarfed in the room.

The kitchen was huge, too, as kitchens go.
Marble countertops lined every inch of free space along the walls,
with cabinets above and below. A movable island was in the center.
The pantry was off to the right. Shirley was looking out the rear
window that was behind the kitchen sink.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

Shirley didn’t turn to face him. A large
tear fell from her cheek and splashed into the sink. “That
painting. Something more is going to happen to Mark. Something
terrible. I just know it.”

“Sweetheart, he’s in the safest place that
he can be.”

“That won’t stop him. He wants Mark dead. I
can feel it. Benrah wants Mark dead!”

Someone knocked on the front door. James
looked out the window and then opened the door. It was Mr. and Mrs.
Newsome.

“Hi there, son. Are your parents here?”

“Yes sir–”

Steve hurriedly walked back into the living
room. “Mr. and Mrs. Newsome. This is a pleasant surprise. Come in…
Come in.”

“You boys, there’s two coolers in the back
of the truck. How ‘bout bringing them in for me?”

Mark and James went out to the truck.

“What brings you by?”

“Those fellows that built this place said
that you should be here by today. We made some food for lunch and
supper. We saw you pull up into the drive, so we came on over to
help you get settled in.”

“That’s awfully nice of you, but you didn’t
have too.”

“Nonsense. That’s what neighbors do.”

“Well, take your coats off and stay a while.
All of our stuff is already here, as you can see.” Steve pointed at
all of the bags and boxes. “All we have to do now is put it where
it belongs.”

James and Mark came back in, each carrying a
cooler.

James asked, “Where do you want these,
Dad?”

“Take them to the kitchen. Put the stuff on
the counter.”

Mr. Newsome’s eye caught on the painting
that was still sitting on the mantel. He walked up to it and said
under his breath, “Nice picture. Sail-back ornathoptus, if I’m not
mistaken. That sure brings back some memories.”

“How in the world do you know that?”

“Well, I wasn’t really sure when I met Mark.
He’s a Magi, isn’t he? Seventh Mountain if I’m right.”

“Yeah, but…”