The Clocks

Thursday, September 1st in The Year 724 After the Founding; 3 p.m.

Kaho had given them precise directions to her preceptor's home. The house they led to was a bit to the east of the South Road, and just about 50 meters north of the Ring Road. It was a very odd structure. For starters it was only two stories high and in an "L" shape, with the long part paralleling the road. There was also a tall wall behind the building with incredibly old looking apple trees espaliered against it, something Genie had never seen before. On either side of the building were gardens. Small on the west side, but much larger on the east, though even the smaller one was huge for inside The City.

There was a low stone wall all across the front, and it was covered with several kinds of vines, some of which were blooming in spite of it being early September. There was a 20 centimeter high by 50 centimeter wide name plate on the left hand pillar supporting the entrance gate. In all capital letters it said, "KASTNER."

When she saw the nameplate, Genie froze for a good 10 seconds. Immediately thereafter she ran back and forth along the front of the property, peering over the wall, and standing on her toes to see as far toward the back as she could over the ancient shrubs scattered about the gardens.

When she came back to the gate, Mario saw tears in her eyes. She was mumbling over and over, "It can't be. It can't be. But...but...it is. It has to be!"

He looked at her and tilted his head, inviting an explanation.

"I'm so sorry. I forgot for a moment that you weren't born here. If you like, I'll tell you all about it, but later please. It'll take about an hour, and we need to get you in for your treatment. OK?"

"Sure honey. I'm on an enforced vacation right now, so I have plenty of time."

Genie opened the gate and helped Mario limp up to the door. Before they could knock, a tall, slim man with gray at his temples opened the door. He glanced at Genie then looked Mario up and down. He spoke in a dry, professorial voice, "I see my patient is here. Come on in. You probably don't want to stand any longer than you need to."

They found themselves in a large room, with a ceiling that was lower than was the current custom. There was a small fire burning in the fireplace in spite of it being the tail end of summer.

Their host gestured them to seats. Without appearing to do so, he watched every single move Mario made. Once they were settled, he began, "Well young man. I understand from Kaho that you have just recovered from a rather horrific injury. Tell me about it."

Mario suddenly looked extremely embarrassed, but he steeled himself and recited, "It happened when we were attacked by bandits. They only outnumbered us by about two to one, so it was hardly much of a fight. After I'd skewered the last one, I looked around to make sure that there weren't any more of them. Well, frankly, I should have paid better attention. As his carcass fell forward, his sword was still in his hand. The point caught in my trousers and ran itself a few centimeters into my leg, just above the knee.

"Master Hiroshi has already chewed me up on side and down the other about how careless I was. To tell the truth, I think he's not finished with me yet. He's the best teacher I've ever known, or even hope to know, but if you make a mistake, he's all over you like a bear that finds an unattended bee hive."

Their host chuckled. "Well then. I guess that since he's already done it, I won't have any need to repeat how stupid you were. Oh, forgive me, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Josef Kastner."

Eugenia jumped to her feet, and bounced on her toes. "I'm sorry! It's just that I'm so excited. To think that there was still someone like you in The City. "Oh my god, I must look like an idiot. Please forgive me cousin. I'm Eugenia Donetti."

Josef made no reaction other than to swivel his head and peer at Genie, much like a wise owl. "Indeed. Lily or Raven?"

"Raven sir. Through my mother's side. Her maiden name was Kastner."

Mario was watching with evident interest and a touch of confusion. He had no idea what was going on, but he could almost feel Genie's excitement.

Josef stood and extended his hand. "I see. You're Josephine's and Ignatius' granddaughter then. Well met cousin. I'm sure that there are a number of other members of our extended family in The City, but very few are aware of their ultimate roots."

Turning to Mario he added, "Eugenia and I can talk about our mutual ancestors some other time. Today it's your turn.

"Kaho has reported her assessment of the damage to your leg to me . Now, if you please, come with me to an examination room, and I shall see how well she did and what yet needs to be done.

"Eugenia, please stay here if you will. I shall support him as need be."

"Yes sir. I will."

Josef nodded, then followed Mario to the back of the house, taking his elbow now and then when he began to overbalance.

..........................

Half an hour later they returned. Mario was walking slightly better, but there was still a noticeable limp. There was also a faint sheen of sweat on his face.

Josef was speaking, obviously continuing a conversation that had begun earlier, "You will do those exercises four times a day, no more and no less. In time you will find that your range of movement improves and that the pain will decrease, probably a great deal."

He looked over to Genie who had stood upon their reappearance. "I understand from Mario that you are engaged and will be married in two days."

Genie nodded.

Using the same, dry voice as before he intoned, "You have my congratulations. Now, back to work. "There has been permanent loss of approximately 30% of the lateral part of a muscle in the distal thigh that is called the vastus lateralis. It helps stabilize the knee and also is involved in extending the lower leg. I'm sure that you can appreciate that there will be some weakness as a result. As this muscle is also involved when one stands from a squatting position, you will likely need to lean somewhat to the left when you do so, in order to allow the left leg to take more of the burden.

"Given time, especially if you dutifully follow the exercises I have prescribed, I forsee that there will be no more than a 20% permanent loss of strength."

Swiveling his head, he focused his attention on Genie. "However, should your young man not be rigorous in his rehabilitation, there could be as much as a 50% loss. Which it will be is entirely up to him. Even so, should he neglect his exercises, feel free to remonstrate with him as vigorously as you like. Given your, our, family traits, I expect that you'd much prefer being known as a nag to being known as the wife of a cripple."

Genie answered firmly, "Indeed. You have the right of it sir."

Then she bowed. "We shan't take any more of your time, unless of course you have any further questions Love?"

She turned to see Mario's response.

"No dearest. I believe that we've discussed everything pertinent. I've also been informed that Kaho will assess my progress weekly. In addition, I suspect rather strongly, that Master Hiroshi will be more than willing to pass along his observations as well once I'm cleared to resume my training."

Genie winced. As Mario had implied earlier, the one thing a student wants less than anything else in the entire world is for Mr. Macklin to be angry with her. In the fight where Jason had slightly injured his wrist, he'd made only the tiniest of mistakes, and look at what he was putting Jason through now. The idea of what he'd do if a student made a more serious error absolutely terrified her.

Mario nodded. It was clear that they were thinking along the same line.

They turned and bowed to Dr. Kastner, then let themselves out, and made their way to where they could hail a cab. It was getting on to lunch time, and Mario was finding that he needed to eat at least four times a day or risk unexpectedly falling on his face.

Doctor Kastner had assured him that it was quite normal given that he'd been half-starved for almost three weeks. He'd also explained that the body needed substantially more food than normal when one was severely injured or ill. The combination was responsible for his voracious appetite.

Genie took advantage of the cab ride to get in some snuggling. It wasn't much, seeing as they had such a small distance to travel, and were in public, but right now she'd take whatever she could get. With the wedding only two days away, it was possible that the only time she'd see him for more than a few minutes between now and Saturday would be at some of their meals.

---------------

The rest of the day for Mario was a repeat of the previous days. Eat as much as possible, soak for half an hour, then off to bed for a nap lasting up to two hours. Genie would awaken him at 6:00, so they could be on time for dinner.

As soon as Mario was positioned properly in the bath, Genie strolled out the door then hiked up her skirt and sprinted down the hall toward the kitchen. That was the most likely place to find Mimi at that time of day. She skidded to a stop about two meters inside the door. Mimi was sitting at the table directly facing Genie. She raised her head with an inquiring look, showing no surprise at Genie's precipitous entrance.

"If you would Mimi, please let Mrs. Fukui and Yoko know that I need to see them. I've made an exciting discovery that I'm sure will be of great interest to both of them. Also, will you offer my profound apologies to Mrs. Fukui that I'm not coming to her. It is more than unseemely that one of my age should ask the she come to me rather than the other way around but...."

She gestured vaguely in the direction of the bathing room.

Mimi nodded, set down the book she'd been reading, and left.

Genie barely had enough time to get Mario settled for his nap before Mimi sought her out. "The ladies are in the conservatory. I shall prepare tea should your meeting take longer than you expect."

As always, Genie's "Thank you," followed Mimi's rapidly receeding back down the hall.

She straigtened her shoulders and headed for the conservatory. She hoped that this would go well, but it could also be a disaster. That would depend on how ticked Mrs. Fukui was.

The first person she saw was Yoko. She was bouncing on her toes. Every third or fourth bounce she rose several centimeters in the air. Genie swiveled her head, finding Akane sitting primly on a chair that was surrounded by plants on three sides with the late-afternoon sun highlighting her lovely blonde hair. As always, given Akane's Japanese ancestry, Genie was momentarily surprised that it was her natural color. Fortunately she didn't look too upset, she hoped.

Genie approached timorously.

Akane was struggling with herself. She'd thought that she'd put aside her previous, rigid self, but she'd just now discovered that it had merely lain dormant. Her attitude vacillated between fury and dismay, mixed with intense curiosity. She KNEW Genie. She'd taught her for over two years now. One thing she wasn't was intentionally rude. Accidentally? Yes, and still all too often, but never, ever on purpose.

It was very likely that there was some compelling reason for her sudden message. However, if it proved that there were not, she intended to have words with Miranda about her daughter's behavior.

Genie decided to start out carefully rather than blurting out her discovery, no matter how much she wanted to join Yoko in bouncing. She bowed deeply. "Mrs. Fukui. I deeply appreciate your taking time out of your busy day to respond to my request. Please believe me that if it were not that I am currently confined here by my need to tend to my fiancee's wounds, I would have come to you."

Akane was very much mollified by Genie's approach. She had learned from Kaho and Jason that Mario has almost died after sustaining a grievous injury. Other than that she knew nothing other that that he was recovering at the Donetti home. Kaho refused to say anything more citing something called "Physician-Patient Confidentiality."

Genie began, "This morning I took Mario to see the physician who will be overseeing Mario's treatment."

Akane almost bristled at her. Hearing about Mario was NOT why she was here. However, she firmly stamped it down. She'd spent years with Jason beginning a conversation with odd tangents, and, as she had just recalled, Eugenia had a touch of the same problem.

Oblivious to Akane's inner struggle Genie continued, "Upon our arrival we discovered that the name of the doctor is Josef Kastner."

Akane's inner alarm began to tingle. Perhaps this might be interesting after all.

"I could hardly believe my eyes, but, once inside Doctor Kastner confirmed it. He is descended in the direct line from Johann and... odd, he didn't say. Anyway, when I tested him by calling him 'cousin' his response was most interesting. He said, 'Lily or Raven?'

"He KNOWS the lines of descent. I didn't have time to determine if he has any records that we haven't found so far, but he did sorta invite me back to talk about it later, after Mario's treatment is complete."

Akane, most disturbingly, found herself twitching, as if she were also about to start bouncing. She ruthlessly supressed the urge. A lady does NOT bounce. A myriad of questions she wanted to ask Dr. Kastner flashed through her mind, but it seemed that Eugenia was not yet finished.

"And...AND.... I can hardly believe it. But it's true. I swear it. I've seen a description in one of the histories, so I can't be wrong, can I?"

"Wrong about what child? Get on with it!"

"Oh, yes, sorry Mrs. Fukui. Well, it's this. Dr. Kastner is in all likelihood living in the ancestral Kastner home. It still exists, and it's barely more than half a kilometer away from us!"

Akane crossed her hands on her chest and took a number of deep breaths. The house is still there! What wonders could it contain? It wasn't just that it was one of the most important buildings in the history of The City either. If this Doctor Kastner would allow it, and she'd do her best to be very, very persuasive, an incredible amount could be learned by examining it and determining how homes were built seven hundred years earlier. Everything from the stonework to how the rooms were laid out was important. Much could be learned about a culture by knowing how they put their homes together.

She stood and gave Genie a big hug. Which of them was the most surprised wasn't clear. Then Akane pushed herself back a ways and apologized, "My dear child. Please forgive me for doubting, even for a moment, that your summons was truly important. I've learned today that I'm still lacking in understanding."

"Not at all. Not at all. I suspect that, were I in the same situation, I might have felt the same way, which is why I had an escape route prepared." She pointed to the half-open door.

Both of them laughed. They'd been so caught up in their emotions that neither of them noticed that, upon hearing the news about their relative, Yoko's bounces had reached a full two meters high.

When Genie announced that the Kastner home still existed, Yoko had lost all control. Her acrobatics had taken her from one side of of the conservatory to the other, then up the exposed iron work all the way to the peak, eight meters in the air. Had anyone been watching, her flips, twists, and spins would have enthralled a watcher nearly as much as Kaho's lightweaving had.

As it was, the tall plants surrounding the chair in the alcove where Akane was sitting blocked the view of the other two.

By the time Yoko got herself under control again, Genie was just finishing up, "I think we can take time off from school to visit him whenever he says he has free time. I know that I'll find something to write a paper or two about, and you'll probably find enough material to publish at least one book, maybe more."

Akane shook a finger at her. "You're a wicked girl, talking about cutting class. But, one of the things we try to teach our students at Ingvold is when and how to take the initiative when an opportunity presents. Far be it from me to quash a student who is merely doing what we've encouraged all of our students to do."

They both laughed heartily, then Akane continued, "I believe that next week I shall have Kaho introduce me to Dr. Kastner, and I shall feel him out. We don't want to overwhelm him. If we do that, he might refuse us further access. We need to take it slowly. Perhaps spread out over the rest of the school year."

She held up a hand as Genie started to protest. "No child. We'll do this my way. No arguing or I'll exclude you. The house has been there nearly seven hundred years. It's waited this long, and we can wait a few months more to uncover its secrets."

Genie was disappointed, but she had to agree. Agents were trained to be patient, or at least to act as if they were. If she thought of this as part of her training, it might make the waiting easier. She doubted it, but at least it was possible.

She nodded, then said, "I'm sorry to just dump this on you and run, but I have my final fitting to go to."

Akane was thoroughly upset with herself. She'd been irritated that Genie had interrupted her day, which, truth be told, had been fairly quiet thus far. She'd totally forgotten that in addition to taking care of Mario, Eugenia was to be married in less than 48 hours.

"Of course child. I should thank you for taking time to speak to us of this when you're already so incredibly busy."

Genie felt a tugging on her sleeve, and looked down at Yoko, who said, "Yeah. Me too. Thanks."

Genie bestowed smiles all around then scurried away. As always, Mimi appeared and escorted the guests to the front door.

Once they had parted, all four found themselves thinking that it had been a most interesting and profitable day.