The Clocks

Sunday September 04 in The Year 724 AF

The idea that Avellino had tried to kill someone in HER city still gnawed at her. No, if she were honest with herself, it wasn't that at all. Avi was dead and no longer a problem. It was the idea that someone else, anyone else, might try once again to interfere with the smooth workings of The CIty that was bothering her. It was abundantly clear that she needed to expand her information network. Until she figured how how to do so effectively, she knew that the constant irritation would color everything she did.

A possibility that she'd not thought of previously took root while she was out shopping for the promised books with Stavros and Consuela that morning. While they were "discussing" which of the books on their list they'd choose, given the number of new "points" they'd accumulated with the previous night's information, Miranda lazed near the front counter of the bookstore. Unlike them, she was at an age where she couldn't be at 100% after only 3 1/2 hours sleep.

The owner of this particular store, Patricia Garibaldi, knew the family well, so she completely ignored both the children and Miranda and went on about her business. Truth be told, Miranda was half asleep and not worrying about her work as she usually was even on family outings. That was why, instead of completely ignoring the discussions between Patricia and her customers, she absorbed their words very like one does when listening absently to someone in a dream.

Some few of the other customers looked pointedly at Miranda before completing their business, but were reassured when Patricia rolled her eyes and whispered to them, "Eldest daughter got married last night." Most of the customers chuckled or at least looked sympathetic, assuming, incorrectly, that Miranda had a hangover. Afterwards they completed their transactions and went on their way.

Soon enough the twins returned with a stack of books. They'd been promised six or seven books, but they'd brought out 12. They'd snuck two rather rare and expensive volumes into the middle 1/3 of the pile, hoping that their mother wouldn't notice as she winnowed down the number. They knew that the chance was less than 1%, but hope springs eternal and all that.

To their astonishment, Miranda merely glanced over at them and asked, "Finished? If so, let's be on our way. There's a lot yet to do today."

Patricia hurriedly tallied the prices. Sometimes Miranda spent enough that there was no possibility of carrying sufficient coin on one's person to pay for them, and it looked like this was one of those times. She'd send the bill to the bank, as she always did in such cases. The bank would then deposit the money in her account, which saved her a trip. All things considered, the total was about average for one of Miranda's sprees.

Even so, she was impressed in spite of herself, as she'd never have expected children as young as these to be aware of, much less to appreciate, several volumes in the pile.

Miranda headed for home, totally ignoring the rare absence of sound from the twins behind her. They were still reeling in shock, and speaking would be rather difficult, not that they desired to do so. Given some odd events in the past, they were even worried that she might overhear something they said in "twin." If Miranda "woke up," from whatever state she was in, she might make them take most of the books back. She was definitely focused on something, and they had no intention of upsetting the figurative apple cart. In reality it wasn't that she had other things on her mind, but, rather, it was that she couldn't quite figure out what it was that ought to be on her mind.

As always Mimi let them in when they arrived home. Miranda nodded absently at her then shambled her way to her office. Mimi gave the twins a sharp look, demanding an explanation. They shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads, denying any knowledge of what was going on.

Thought it was unexpected, Mimi realized that they were telling the truth. Most curious. Her attention was then drawn to the books in their arms. Oh...my....

Much as she hated mimicking human gestures, she felt both her eyebrows rising. However, falling on the floor in a dead faint was DEFINITELY not a human trait she would copy, no matter how much she felt like doing so at the moment. She pursed her lips in a silent whistle, composed herself, then said, "Once you've put your books away, you will write out a list of your purchases and take it and yourselves to the Cathedral of Whispers. You will request an audience with your sister-in-law and wait, quietly, until she finds time for you."

She smiled at them when they flinched. "No, you're not in trouble, anything but. At least this time....

"The reason you're to seek out Sara is that one of the volumes you brought home is probably the only existing copy of a work that was thought to have been lost more than a thousand years ago. There have been rumors of it existing, but it was felt to be a myth.

"Stavros, you are to stand very close to Sara when she reads the list. You'll need to catch her if she faints when she sees the title. Once she regains her composure, the two of you will have to make a choice. You may keep the book, after allowing a copy to be made for the library, or you may allow the book to be placed in the cathedral's spell-protected stacks and wait until copies are made.

"If you chose the former, you ought to know that the preservation spell currently on the book will fade completely within the next three or four years and will need to be recast. For a work of this age and condition, the cost will be on the order of 2,000 ducats.

"In the lattter case I shall be certain that you receive the very first copy."

She nodded at the mixture of excitement, shock, and disappointment on their faces. It was natural that they wanted to have something rare and valuable for themselves, but they also knew that they could never afford to pay for renewing the preservation spell.

Mimi caught their attention by clearing her throat. "Should you choose to donate the volume to the library, I'm certain that both Archbishop Comfort and Duchess Henrietta will be most pleased. Given your rather extraordinary ability to get into trouble, it might be handy in the future to have them kindly disposed toward you."

They grinned at her then sobered. 'Suela asked, "Mimi, just how much is the book worth? You haven't even told us which one it is."

She grinned back. "No I haven't, have I? As to its value, if you found the right collector, you could probably get a quarter-million ducats for it. Such a collector would, of course, not allow any copies to be made as it would dilute the value of the original. Also, as handling it could cause damage, nobody would be allowed to read it."

A shockingly large flare of pure, unadulterated greed radiated from the twins when they heard the value of the book. It was immediately followed, and extinguished by, an even stronger surge of indignation. Knowledge was meant to be shared, and locking up the contents of a unique and important book was, to them, a crime akin to murder.

Mimi wasn't sure she'd personally consider them equivalent, but she was more than pleased to see the twins firmly put knowledge ahead of money.

They put their palms together briefly to allow a private discussion without offending Mimi by, even temporarily, ignoring her. Decision made.

"Mimi, if you will please take the books and make sure that they are in a secure place? We'll just get on over to the cathedral and tell Sara that we wish to make a donation. Having a lot of money would be nice, but seeing the look on her face when she hears us recite the title of that book is going to be a rare treat! It'll be even more choice since we won't know which title is the one that's gonna make her pass out until we see her reaction. Bye."

With that they handed the books to Mimi, spun around and raced down the street. Fortunately, they remembered to use the door. Blinking to the other side at this time of day would have resulted in some very difficult questions being asked by those who saw them.

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

Luckily, since their almost non-existent patience was being tried to the extreme as they waited, Sara was just finishing a meeting with Archbishop Comfort, and she invited them in to be introduced before the Archbishop left.

The twins took each other's hands as they tried to control their glee. If Sara was going to pass out, they were almost ecstatic as they discussed what the Archbishop's reaction was likely to be.

First they bowed politely and murmured the appropriate children's responses to being introduced to an "important person." Before the Archbishop could excuse herself and leave, they spoke, "Mimi sent us over to tell you about some books we bought today. She said it was important that we tell you immediately."

That nailed the Archbishop's feet to the floor. Her curiosity was one of her strongest traits. There was no way she was going to leave until she heard the details. Maybe there'd be something she could tell her husband about at dinner.

They took turns reciting the names of the books, both watching the reactions of the others, waiting to see what might happen. Sara twitched when they got to fourth one, but that couldn't be the one Mimi was talking about. Sara'd probably done that because it was one of the ones that cost a lot.

When they got to sixth, they were still taking turns speaking, "It's really strange." "This next one we bought that is." "It's strange cause we couldn't read the writing." "No Stavros, it wasn't that. There are a lot of languages we can't read." "Oh, yeah, you're right. It was cause we couldn't even tell what language it was." "Uh-huh, but the writing was really pretty somehow." "That's right, I wish we could have read the title...."

They paused for several seconds then woodenly took each other's hand, turned to face Sara and the Archbishop, then spoke in unison, their eyes vague and unfocused, "The Compact. An irrevocable delineation of the rules of engagement for those fighting for control of the planet known as Earth IV and its analogs."

As the children fought off a sudden wave of light-headedness, they heard the ladies exclaim: "Lady Blue!" "Mist Maiden!" "Get your sorry ass down here RIGHT NOW!"

When their dizziness passed, Conseula and Stavros noticed that there was an intense argument of some sort going on across the room. Sara and Lucina were taking turns yelling at a third person who was floating in the air between them. Floating?

The rubbed their eyes with both fists, took the other's hand again, and looked closely. Yes. She was floating. They thought about it for a moment. Oh, of course. She was much shorter than the others, so she had to float else she couldn't be at eye level with them while they spoke. Problem solved.

Or not! What the heck was going on? How do you float in midair, and why in the world was she glowing? They did have to admit that it was a pretty shade of blue, but really! People don't glow. It isn't done. One isn't supposed to draw undue attention to oneself in public.

They continued their own silent conversation and, eventually, concluded that this really wasn't what one could call "in public" so the rule about standing out didn't apply. That was when they noticed it. Lucina and Sara were waving their arms and yelling, at least it sure looked like it. So why couldn't they hear anything?

The kids turned their attention fully outward. Nope. Not a sound. Every so often one of the others would turn and look at them. If it was Sara or Lucina the looks on their faces ranged from astonishment to incredulity. The little blue person's looks could only be described as self-satisfied smirks.

Then the true oddity of the situation struck them. They couldn't "read" a single word anyone was saying. That had never happened, not even once, since their ability manifested.

For just a second, the little blue person turned her head toward them and winked. Then she refocused her infuriating smile on Sara and Lucina.