Read Online The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Charlie N. Holmberg
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the doors locked.”
Ceony watched him disappear down the stairs and listened to the quiet padding of his shoes below. Fennel licked her sock.
Hurrying to the library window, Ceony peered outside to see Mg. Thane walk past the paper flowers in his yard and beyond the warded gate, down the dirt road. Did he have a buggy waiting for him?
Ceony didn’t realize she had her face pressed to the glass until her breath fogged her vision. The paper magician stepped out of her line of sight and left her alone in his cluttered, barely familiar cottage set in the middle of no-man’s-land.
Keep the doors locked.
Ceony’s heart drooped in her chest.
C HAPTER 5
P APIER - MÂCHÉ IS TRADITIONALLY DONE in two forms , Ceony wrote in her ledger with a tired hand, paper strips and paper mulch, to which is added either glue or starch.
Sighing, Ceony set her pencil down and stared across her bedroom to its single window over the bed. The sun cast leafy shadows across her pillow.
Would Mg. Thane return today? She didn’t have even a tenth of her latest homework stack completed if he did. Surely he wouldn’t penalize her for that, but Ceony had come to learn that the paper magician only sometimes did what she expected.
The house, its doors and windows still locked from last night, sat quiet enough that if Ceony held her breath, she could hear the library clock ticking in the next room. Fennel had taken to adventuring downstairs, and Ceony had shoved Jonto’s inanimate bones into a closet in the office and left him there. Now the place seemed . . . lifeless.
She glanced down. The words in the papier-mâché book blurred in and out. Yawning, she shut both it and the ledger and dropped them onto the floor, hearing a loud thunk in return. She pulled out Anatomy of the Human Body Volume II and flipped to her bookmark halfway through the chapter detailing the cardiovascular system. She stared at a picture of a dissected artery, turned the page, and stared at a diagram of a heart cut longwise to show its four chambers. She read a paragraph and shut the book again.
She heard Fennel climb up the stairs, pause, then climb back down. Eager to get away from her desk, Ceony abandoned her work and went downstairs.
She found Fennel sniffing about the door to Mg. Thane’s office, perhaps smelling Jonto, since Mg. Thane would never leave food sitting out. Ceony opened the door and the paper dog ran in, sniffing as he went. He stood on his hind legs to investigate the paper chains hanging from the window and, as suspected, trotted to the closet to smell after the paper butler.
Ceony glanced to the ivy-covered window. So quiet in the house. So irresponsible for a magician to leave his new apprentice on her own, wasn’t it? She should report it to Mg. Aviosky.
She lowered her gaze to the desk. Might as well take advantage of his absence before I do that , she thought.
The tiniest smile teased her lips as she sat down in Mg. Thane’s desk chair and began opening his drawers, none of which had been locked. She found nothing interesting—a few ledgers of conference notes, spare pens and pencils, a bizarre multipointed paper star that looked like it belonged on the end of a mace. A lint brush, a small sewing kit. Ceony made sure to leave everything straight and tidy before closing each drawer. She had no doubt Mg. Thane would notice a pen knocked a few millimeters out of place.
She reached for the wire note holder, running her fingers over the edge of the thank-you letter she had mailed out over a year ago. Fifteen thousand pounds.
She chewed on her lip, not wanting to dwell on that mystery for the moment. She thumbed through the other letters, reading off names, some preceded by “Mg.” or “Dr.” She spotted one that read “Alfred Hughes.” Thinking of the telegram, she pulled it free, only to discover it was an old Christmas card without a photo. Her memory tickled at her—she’d heard that name before. A Mg. Alfred Hughes sat on
Ceony watched him disappear down the stairs and listened to the quiet padding of his shoes below. Fennel licked her sock.
Hurrying to the library window, Ceony peered outside to see Mg. Thane walk past the paper flowers in his yard and beyond the warded gate, down the dirt road. Did he have a buggy waiting for him?
Ceony didn’t realize she had her face pressed to the glass until her breath fogged her vision. The paper magician stepped out of her line of sight and left her alone in his cluttered, barely familiar cottage set in the middle of no-man’s-land.
Keep the doors locked.
Ceony’s heart drooped in her chest.
C HAPTER 5
P APIER - MÂCHÉ IS TRADITIONALLY DONE in two forms , Ceony wrote in her ledger with a tired hand, paper strips and paper mulch, to which is added either glue or starch.
Sighing, Ceony set her pencil down and stared across her bedroom to its single window over the bed. The sun cast leafy shadows across her pillow.
Would Mg. Thane return today? She didn’t have even a tenth of her latest homework stack completed if he did. Surely he wouldn’t penalize her for that, but Ceony had come to learn that the paper magician only sometimes did what she expected.
The house, its doors and windows still locked from last night, sat quiet enough that if Ceony held her breath, she could hear the library clock ticking in the next room. Fennel had taken to adventuring downstairs, and Ceony had shoved Jonto’s inanimate bones into a closet in the office and left him there. Now the place seemed . . . lifeless.
She glanced down. The words in the papier-mâché book blurred in and out. Yawning, she shut both it and the ledger and dropped them onto the floor, hearing a loud thunk in return. She pulled out Anatomy of the Human Body Volume II and flipped to her bookmark halfway through the chapter detailing the cardiovascular system. She stared at a picture of a dissected artery, turned the page, and stared at a diagram of a heart cut longwise to show its four chambers. She read a paragraph and shut the book again.
She heard Fennel climb up the stairs, pause, then climb back down. Eager to get away from her desk, Ceony abandoned her work and went downstairs.
She found Fennel sniffing about the door to Mg. Thane’s office, perhaps smelling Jonto, since Mg. Thane would never leave food sitting out. Ceony opened the door and the paper dog ran in, sniffing as he went. He stood on his hind legs to investigate the paper chains hanging from the window and, as suspected, trotted to the closet to smell after the paper butler.
Ceony glanced to the ivy-covered window. So quiet in the house. So irresponsible for a magician to leave his new apprentice on her own, wasn’t it? She should report it to Mg. Aviosky.
She lowered her gaze to the desk. Might as well take advantage of his absence before I do that , she thought.
The tiniest smile teased her lips as she sat down in Mg. Thane’s desk chair and began opening his drawers, none of which had been locked. She found nothing interesting—a few ledgers of conference notes, spare pens and pencils, a bizarre multipointed paper star that looked like it belonged on the end of a mace. A lint brush, a small sewing kit. Ceony made sure to leave everything straight and tidy before closing each drawer. She had no doubt Mg. Thane would notice a pen knocked a few millimeters out of place.
She reached for the wire note holder, running her fingers over the edge of the thank-you letter she had mailed out over a year ago. Fifteen thousand pounds.
She chewed on her lip, not wanting to dwell on that mystery for the moment. She thumbed through the other letters, reading off names, some preceded by “Mg.” or “Dr.” She spotted one that read “Alfred Hughes.” Thinking of the telegram, she pulled it free, only to discover it was an old Christmas card without a photo. Her memory tickled at her—she’d heard that name before. A Mg. Alfred Hughes sat on
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