Read Online Worldweavers: Cybermage by Alma Alexander - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Alma Alexander
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hand it to Thea. “I’ve got hot tea coming. With plenty of sugar. In the meantime, take a sip of that.”
Thea flushed as her fingers brushed Rafe’s; he didn’t notice, or pretended not to. Thea took severallarge gulps of the water, dropping her eyes from the concerned expression on Rafe’s face. She saw Terry biting his lip; glanced at Magpie, who had tears in her eyes; saw the apprehension that hovered on Tess’s and Ben’s faces—saw the concern, the fear, the open questions in both Humphrey May’s expression and Mrs. Chen’s.
She drew a deep breath, her hands tightening on the armrests of the chair.
“Something’s very wrong,” she said.
5.
“M AKES SENSE,” HUMPHREY MAY said. “By all the accounts I’ve seen, Tesla was given the opportunity to go to Colorado and pursue his work there after his New York workshop was lost to fire, and when he eventually returned to New York from Colorado he was…changed. Different. Some even say marginally insane. The things that had interested him before suddenly didn’t anymore. It was as though some of his most extraordinary achievements in Colorado—had diminished him.”
“But how does a dead pigeon diminish him?” Magpie asked.
After the five Academy students had returned from their journey to the inner spaces of the white cube, Humphrey suggested that they adjourn for an early dinner at which they all discovered that they were hungrier than they thought. Now they were backin the professor’s office after dinner. Any ordinary room would have felt crowded, but the Elemental house seemed to have taken care of that problem. The room, which definitely had not boasted so many chairs before, provided a comfortable seat for everybody present, and Thea could have sworn that the room had somehow gotten bigger since the last time she had been in it.
“Well, he did go a little nuts for pigeons later, when he returned to New York,” Humphrey said. “Apparently he fed them for years. Until the day he died, actually.”
“He was looking for his dead pigeon? In a different state ? In a great big city?” Ben said, frowning.
“How long do pigeons live, anyway?” Tess asked. “Surely if he was looking for any specific bird it would have been long gone by the time he died?”
“He was in his early forties when he went to Colorado,” Humphrey said. “He was nearly ninety when he died.”
“No way a pigeon can live fifty years,” Ben said.
“Did Tesla?” Thea asked unexpectedly.
“Did Tesla what?” Humphrey said.
“Live. Really live. Or was he just marking time?Maybe he wasn’t looking for a specific bird, but instead…”
“Yes?” Humphrey said when she petered out in midsentence.
“I don’t know. I thought I had something, but now I’m not sure.”
“Well, that’s more than enough for today. We might all get a few more ideas if we take a rest and think about it. Margaret, do you want to take them all back to the school tonight?”
“No!”
That was a chorus of four: Thea, the twins, and Magpie. Only Ben said nothing.
“We’ve only just started to figure it out,” Thea said. “Maybe we could try—”
“The computer angle,” Terry said at the same time. “I could try and track down—”
“You can deal with the computer stuff back at the school,” Ben said. “That’s a Nexus too.”
“I thought maybe we could go back into the cube at some point,” Thea said. “If we could find out how to control the flying, perhaps we could stand still long enough to actually talk to Tesla. Find out if he really is in there.”
“That would be valuable information,” Terry chimed in.
“Uh-oh,” Magpie said. “We’d have to skydive again?”
“You have classes in the morning,” Mrs. Chen said.
“We can make the work up,” Thea said. “It’s just another day.”
“Cutting school, eh?” Humphrey May said, with a grin.
“I’d have to clear it with Principal Harris,” Mrs. Chen said. “And if he okays it, it’s
Thea flushed as her fingers brushed Rafe’s; he didn’t notice, or pretended not to. Thea took severallarge gulps of the water, dropping her eyes from the concerned expression on Rafe’s face. She saw Terry biting his lip; glanced at Magpie, who had tears in her eyes; saw the apprehension that hovered on Tess’s and Ben’s faces—saw the concern, the fear, the open questions in both Humphrey May’s expression and Mrs. Chen’s.
She drew a deep breath, her hands tightening on the armrests of the chair.
“Something’s very wrong,” she said.
5.
“M AKES SENSE,” HUMPHREY MAY said. “By all the accounts I’ve seen, Tesla was given the opportunity to go to Colorado and pursue his work there after his New York workshop was lost to fire, and when he eventually returned to New York from Colorado he was…changed. Different. Some even say marginally insane. The things that had interested him before suddenly didn’t anymore. It was as though some of his most extraordinary achievements in Colorado—had diminished him.”
“But how does a dead pigeon diminish him?” Magpie asked.
After the five Academy students had returned from their journey to the inner spaces of the white cube, Humphrey suggested that they adjourn for an early dinner at which they all discovered that they were hungrier than they thought. Now they were backin the professor’s office after dinner. Any ordinary room would have felt crowded, but the Elemental house seemed to have taken care of that problem. The room, which definitely had not boasted so many chairs before, provided a comfortable seat for everybody present, and Thea could have sworn that the room had somehow gotten bigger since the last time she had been in it.
“Well, he did go a little nuts for pigeons later, when he returned to New York,” Humphrey said. “Apparently he fed them for years. Until the day he died, actually.”
“He was looking for his dead pigeon? In a different state ? In a great big city?” Ben said, frowning.
“How long do pigeons live, anyway?” Tess asked. “Surely if he was looking for any specific bird it would have been long gone by the time he died?”
“He was in his early forties when he went to Colorado,” Humphrey said. “He was nearly ninety when he died.”
“No way a pigeon can live fifty years,” Ben said.
“Did Tesla?” Thea asked unexpectedly.
“Did Tesla what?” Humphrey said.
“Live. Really live. Or was he just marking time?Maybe he wasn’t looking for a specific bird, but instead…”
“Yes?” Humphrey said when she petered out in midsentence.
“I don’t know. I thought I had something, but now I’m not sure.”
“Well, that’s more than enough for today. We might all get a few more ideas if we take a rest and think about it. Margaret, do you want to take them all back to the school tonight?”
“No!”
That was a chorus of four: Thea, the twins, and Magpie. Only Ben said nothing.
“We’ve only just started to figure it out,” Thea said. “Maybe we could try—”
“The computer angle,” Terry said at the same time. “I could try and track down—”
“You can deal with the computer stuff back at the school,” Ben said. “That’s a Nexus too.”
“I thought maybe we could go back into the cube at some point,” Thea said. “If we could find out how to control the flying, perhaps we could stand still long enough to actually talk to Tesla. Find out if he really is in there.”
“That would be valuable information,” Terry chimed in.
“Uh-oh,” Magpie said. “We’d have to skydive again?”
“You have classes in the morning,” Mrs. Chen said.
“We can make the work up,” Thea said. “It’s just another day.”
“Cutting school, eh?” Humphrey May said, with a grin.
“I’d have to clear it with Principal Harris,” Mrs. Chen said. “And if he okays it, it’s
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