LeOmi's Solitude (10 page)

Since entering the mountain, she had searched
the faces for the familiar traits of her family. “I doubt if I
would even recognize them if I saw them. I suppose they are just as
busy as Bekka.”

The hallway wasn’t as crowded as it had been
earlier; everyone was probably at lunch somewhere.

As she rounded one corner she heard, “Give it
back.”

Chapter 5

Intimidation and Threatening Only
Work on the Guilty

LeOmi jogged to the next corner, just past
the bank and out the door onto the grounds. There were five boys
near the entrance. One of them was just approaching, he had a
hooked staff. She immediately thought of Moses,
“Let my People
go.”
But then she recognized the boy. She had dreamt about
him.

There was also a bigger boy that had a piece
of paper that apparently belonged to the smaller boy–the one that
stood by his self. The bigger boy was holding the paper over
smaller boy’s head. He reached several times to try to grab it but
there were three of them against the smaller one, until the boy
with the staff showed up.

“Here, you can have mine,” said the boy with
the staff.

The bigger boy said, “I know you. You’re Mark
Young. I dreamed about you. You don’t scare me.”

“That’s right. I am Mark Young. Who are
you?”

“My name is Ralph, Ralph Lawrence. I’m not
afraid of you.”

“Who are your friends?”

A tall ugly guy with a big nose and beady
eyes spoke as if prodded, “I’m Ricky Barns.”

“I’m Keith Richards,” shouted a shorter pudgy
guy.

At this point, the boy, Mark seemed to make a
decision. He smiled and twirled the staff over his head. LeOmi
heard the wind whistling from the force of it. She knew he intended
to kick their butts for bullying the smaller guy.

Ralph dropped the list and said, “Let’s
go.”

LeOmi followed the three bigger boys as they
left out the school entrance. It was almost as if they were a side
show at a carnival and they seemed out of place but they had seen
Mark Young in a dream, maybe they had answers to other things as
well.

Ralph apparently had seen her follow and he
waited for her to catch up.

“You said that you dreamt about him. What did
you dream about him?”

“I dreamt about you too. LeOmi ‘spiked hair’
Jones. You’re supposed to come with us.”

“What? What do you mean you dreamt about me
too?” They started walking towards the next entrance. She was
following them. “Wait. What…? Where are you going?”

They opened the door, the bright light and
heat flushed into the alcove. LeOmi caught the door before it
closed and to her surprise they started jogging towards the next
entrance.

“Wait.”

It was just a short way, but still, why
didn’t they just go through the cool corridors?

When they reached the entrance there was a
table set-up in the alcove with some food and water laid out, in
buffet fashion: bottled water, bread, luncheon meats and cheese.
The boys immediately grabbed the bottles of water. Then they dove
into the sandwich fixings.

A boy in the shadows stepped up to her,
“LeOmi, my name is Slone, Slone Voif.”

He was muscular and tall. Long black hair
pulled back away from his face. He had a sword that he used as a
leaning post, a beautifully made piece of craftsmanship, Spanish
Steel.

“I think you met Ricky, Keith and Ralph. This
is Adolph, Bruce, Albert Spencer; his folks are into the buzz cut
look, and Adolph, besides the name, he is all right.

He walked over to the table, “Have something
to drink, and get something to eat. We are just having a little
‘welcome to school party’ get together, and now that you are here,
we can begin.” He looked at her expectedly, waiting for a
comment.

LeOmi grabbed a bottle of water and drank it
down. She grabbed a piece of bread and piled some sliced turkey and
provolone cheese, on top and rolled it like a scroll. There were
some chairs over in the shade of the archway, just enough for
everyone. LeOmi chose a corner near the school entrance and stood,
munching on her sandwich.

Slone said, “Good. It’s best to hear who or
what is coming and going.”

LeOmi simply nodded at him.

“Well, we are finally here. I have been in
touch with a few of you throughout the last few years, but now we
are all together. Face to face. My counselor said that I shouldn’t
have arranged this meeting, that is why she is not here, but I
wanted to meet you all and to have you meet me. This is the
handpicked core group picked right out of our dreams. For some
reason, we are supposed to be together.”

Everyone looked at each other.

Adolph said, “But I haven’t dreamed of you. I
only dreamed of Mark Young and of the counselor accepting me into
The Seventh Mountain. She was in the dream too.” He pointed at
LeOmi.

There was a bit of talk amongst themselves.
LeOmi stood in her place still listening.

“Well I dreamt of you all,” said Slone.

“Ralph, I dreamt that you and I would be here
and that Mark Young would bully you.”

LeOmi stirred in her corner. “LeOmi, I dreamt
that you would be a key to our organization. It shouldn’t matter if
we look or act a little different. There should be a place for us
here, just like there is one for Mark Young.”

Everyone either agreed or quietly listened to
what Slone had to say.

“I know that some of you will have to work
your way through school, well I also have some ideas about how to
make the money that is needed to get through school.”

At that moment, a group of counselors
remanifested just outside the school entrance. Everyone except
LeOmi got up and started picking up food and packing things away,
as if it was some prearranged plan.

As Slone put the gathered food into his back
pack he said, “We’ll meet again. I’ll let you know.”

In answer, LeOmi turned and left the alcove
before anyone else was ready to go.

She pulled out her map and made her way to
the shopping area, in search of Bekka.

The shopping area was huge. There were so
many shops that LeOmi couldn’t keep track of all the different
specialty shops. There was a marquee that was on a short circular
platform that showed a map of the entire first level of the
mountain. The map boxes were numbered and color coded.

“I thought I might find you here.” Bekka
walked from behind the marquee.

LeOmi wasn’t surprised. This day held all
sorts of unexpected things and she just felt that she should
just—go with the flow. What else could she do? “I need to talk to
you.”

“Okay, let’s go get something to eat; I’ll
take you to my favorite food shop.”

Bekka started jogging. LeOmi fell in beside
her at an easy pace.

“It is the cheapest and best restaurant here
at The Seventh Mountain shops. They have cafeteria style dining.
They make just so much breakfast, lunch and dinner, and when it is
gone, it’s gone—but they make enough to feed an army. They also
gear it towards what is happening at the school. They are famous
for their comfort food. Most days they have fried chicken, unless
they run out. That’s their specialty. Then on Friday they have
Pizza, Sunday is Pot Roast, Tuesday is Pasta day. They have mashed
potatoes and Mac and Cheese every day...until they run out and
there is always grilled cheese, soup, ice cream, and chocolate chip
cookies and the best thing is that it’s cheap.”

They approached a small door, almost like a
slit in between a small appliance service and repair shop and a
book binding shop called Aesop’s Travels. They stopped out front,
Bekka pointed with her thumb. “This is where I have most of my
meals.”

A sign resembling the shape of a butcher
block said, The Quarters. Each letter was artistically shaped into
some type of food or tableware and painted in a very colorful
fashion. The outside of the shop was nothing to draw attention, but
the sign definitely was. There was also a mechanical armed cleaver
that sprung back and forth, as if it were on springs.

“There are fancier places, in fact our
meeting hall is The Oasis and you can order food from all around
the world, as long as there is someone with a store open, but I
like it here. It’s small, out of the way and homey. There are busy
times to avoid and as long as you don’t mind serving yourself,
well, it is good food. I’m sorry; I just keep going on and on.”

Bekka went inside and stood in line with a
tray to show LeOmi how it was done. She got LeOmi a dish of mashed
potatoes and a dish of Mac and Cheese for herself.

“So what has been going on? You look like you
have had a rough day.”

LeOmi explained everything that happened. She
told Bekka about the signet, Mr. Diefenderfer, Mark and his staff,
Keith and Ralph, Slone and then what Slone had said.

“You have had a very rough day. All these
things are highly peculiar.” Bekka took out her note book and began
making notations. “Do you remember your dream about Mark Young—the
boy with the staff?”

LeOmi shook her head, “Not really, it was his
staff that I remember more than anything.”

“All Magi have seen his birth...the horse
that tried to kill his mom, and the retrieval of the staff that he
carries. It is okay if you don’t remember, a lot of freshmen
don’t.”

Bekka reached over gave LeOmi’s hand a quick
squeeze.

“You do have your map? Of course you do.
Maybe you should head up to the sleeping quarters on the second
floor.” Bekka pointed up with her finger. “You have had a fun
filled first day.”

“Oh,” She put her hand on LeOmi’s shoulder to
stop her, “The thing about the signet. What do you think? It is
something you want your name on or was it just nice to have him
make it right before your eyes?”

LeOmi thought a moment, Bekka contemplated
her and said. “Just one word; that is all I need. Does it speak to
you at all?”

“Yes, but it is a mystery to me, the way he
did it, and why? The way he put it together.”

“The thing about a signet is that you just
can’t go into the shop and say—oh that is such a pretty one. I want
that. Or if you go in and ask how much it costs, he will send you
away and ask you to come back later—after…you
have…contemplated…your decision…” They both smiled.

“I suppose he was in a horrible
accident.”

“A battle, one that was both horrible and
tragic. LeOmi, as you have probably surmised, this is not an easy
life. There are dangers around every corner. You have to know who
to trust. Sometimes you just have to go by your gut. But most of
the time, people–all people, give you a reason whether to trust
them or not to trust them. I can’t make these decisions for you and
you wouldn’t want me to. You were right to tell me all of these
things.” She gave her shoulder another small squeeze. “I am your
counselor. But I also want to be your friend, if you’ll let me.”
She gave her a questioning smile, and LeOmi smiled back.

“Good. I have to report this. I will let you
know what the Council of Elders say about it. Don’t worry. You
haven’t done anything to get in trouble for.”

LeOmi felt the unsaid, “
Not yet
”
floating in the air about to hit her on the head.

“Don’t worry, and get some sleep.”

Bekka turned LeOmi to face the door. “I’ll
see you in the morning. I spend my mornings at the Olive Tree...you
remember, don’t you? Meet me there at daybreak and we can talk and
maybe run together, if you would like.” Bekka grabbed LeOmi’s map
and put a small X. If Ricky would have gone to the right instead of
to the left, they would have seen the Olive Tree.

“I’ll let the other counselors know that you
are going to meet me there at daybreak and, what shall I tell Mr.
Diefenderfer know about the signet?”

LeOmi nodded.

“I have to go and report this.” She held up
the notebook, “I’ll see you in the morning.” They exited The
Quarters and went their separate ways.

* * *

The common room wasn’t hard to find.
Everything was gray, and sort-of sad, but she should be happy.
Isn’t this what she had always wanted?

The sleeping area and beds were assigned.
There was even a sign, boys one way and girls the other.

The girls’ barracks were rows of beds,
separated by panels. If all the furniture were stacked in a corner,
the room would be massive.

Her trunk was in a cubby with a bed and she
found that the showers were the same type as in the schools back
home. There was little privacy, but the worse thing was that the
people were constantly talking, everywhere.

Everything in gray; another reason to get
your signet as soon as possible.

LeOmi listened to chatter all around her,
other girls, trying to get to know one another.

She showered and dressed again–in her own
clothes including shoes, not the gray pajamas furnished by the
school. She actually thought about getting up and finding another
place to sleep, but then she was so tired and she remembered
the…
Not Ye
t!…hitting her–no slamming her on the forehead–it
was going to be a long night.

She pulled out her old tattered copy of
To Kill a Mockingbird
,
and everyone
seemed to know that she didn’t want to be social and no one talked
to her. In fact, some of the girls clung to the other side of the
hall when they passed her cubby. They may have even been a little
afraid of her, and that was okay—just great in fact, because she
didn’t want to hear their girly gossip. The Seventh Mountain wasn’t
a social club.

* * *

Day break couldn’t come too fast. There were
lighted strips to show the way to the bathrooms and the way out of
the barracks into the common room. Every hall was lit after that
and the short jog to the school entrance was invigorating. There
were some counselors that nodded to her, and she nodded back.