and papers. “Just hang on another minute. Mr. Mannering, put a net under that boy right now, and hold it until we have him down. Mr. Jordan, I want a control ward as soon as you can have one up. Mr. Stepka, you handle the shield—I don’t want any backsplash hitting these other children.”
Papa kept talking, telling each of his students what to do while he laid out the spell that he’d be casting. Normally, I’d have been more than a little interested. Papa didn’t often work magic when the family was near to see. But right then, I was watching Lan and William.
Everyone else could see that Lan was tiring fast, and that when he ran out of energy, William would drop straight into the swift, treacherous water below. Everyone else could see how hard Lan was trying to keep William up just as long as he could, so that Papa and the others would have a chance to bring him down safely. That’s what they saw, but Lan was my twin, and I saw something else.
Lan was madder than a wet cat. That was where he’d found the energy to lift William twenty feet high and hold him there; he was feeding the magic with his anger. He’d used up a good part of his mad by then, but he was still mad enough that the angry part of him didn’t really
I wondered for just a second what William had said or done to make Lan so mad, but there wasn’t time to think about that. I looked up at William, and then down at the banks of the creek. There were plenty of people on our side to catch him, if he moved over a little and didn’t come down too fast; the whole street and half the college seemed to have collected in the few minutes we’d been there. I sidled over to Lan.
“It’s just old William,” I said softly, not like I was talking to anyone, especially not looking at Lan. “He doesn’t mean half he says, and the other half, he doesn’t know any better. It’s just old William. I bet he’s learned enough of a lesson.”
I felt something hot and angry wash across my skin, like the heat from a bonfire. I stayed where I was. “It’s just William,” I repeated.
Lan sighed, and William started to sink. Slowly. Someone on the bank yelled, and Papa shouted some words over the students’ muttering. William glowed blue, as if a soap bubble had suddenly appeared around him. Lan gasped and collapsed in a panting heap. William’s bubble swooped down to the bank, quickly but under control. The bubble vanished. The boys cheered as William dropped the last few inches onto the grass, safe and sound.
Naturally everyone started demanding explanations. First in line was Professor Graham, William’s father, who’d arrived in time to see the last few minutes. As soon as he was sure William had come to no harm, he demanded to know who was responsible.
“Lan Rothmer, Professor,” one of Papa’s students told him.
“Nonsense,” Professor Graham snapped. “He’s had no training, and he’s not even ten yet. He can’t possibly have done such a working.” He looked at the older boys who’d been on the creek bank when we all arrived. “Now, which of you cast that spell?”
Papa had been checking Lan over, the same way Professor Graham had been checking William, but he heard what the professor said and looked up. “It was Lan, all right, and you have my profoundest apologies, Professor Graham.”
Professor Graham’s head whipped around and his eyes narrowed. “How?”
Papa looked down at Lan with a rueful expression. “Lan’s a natural magician. I’ve been thinking that something would break loose soon, but I hadn’t expected anything quite so dramatic. Nor so dangerous.”
“A natural—you mean you’re a seventh son?”
Papa nodded.
“And
Papa nodded again.
Professor Graham blew out a long breath. “I don’t understand why you didn’t mention this before, Professor Rothmer. The training of a natural magician, especially one with such potential power—”
“—is a topic on which everyone seems willing to express an opinion,” Papa said a trifle sharply. “Sara and I consider it more important to train the man. Apropos of which—” He nudged Lan.
Lan stepped forward. He still looked pale, but he wasn’t shaking anymore. He wasn’t angry, either. He was scared. “Please, sir, it was me,” he said, and swallowed hard. “We were arguing, and—and I lost my temper, and it just happened. I’m sorry.” He put his chin up and looked at William, who was sitting on the ground, shivering. “I’m sorry, William. I—I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“I see,” Professor Graham said slowly, but he was looking at Papa. After a moment, he switched the look to Lan. “I will accept your apology, young man. And your explanation. I trust, however, that there will not be a repeat of the incident.”
Lan gulped. “I—I’ll try, sir. I mean, I’ll try not to. But I didn’t do it on purpose, and I’m not sure I know how to keep from doing it.” He looked a little sick as he spoke, and there was a murmur from the other boys on the riverbank. Some of them gave Lan wary looks, and Lan looked even sicker when he saw them.
“Teaching you how to keep from doing it is my job,” Papa said briskly. “And, no doubt, Professor Graham’s, if he will be kind enough to assist.”
Professor Graham looked startled, then nodded. “It will be my pleasure.”
“Now that your abilities have broken loose, it shouldn’t take long for you to learn to control them,” Papa said. “And after such a spectacular beginning, I doubt you’ll be capable of even lighting a lantern for at least a week. By the time you’ve recovered enough for another such performance, you’ll know how to avoid it.” He spoke to Lan, but loudly enough for everyone to hear, and a sigh ran through the crowd as people relaxed.
Professor Graham’s eyes narrowed again briefly. Then he said, “Let’s get these two home. And no argument from you,” he added to William, who hadn’t even begun to say anything. “If you aren’t exhausted, you ought to be. Come—your mother will be worried.”
Papa smiled slightly. “And so will yours,” he said to Lan, and took his hand. He and Professor Graham and Lan and William moved off toward the houses, with most of the grown-ups trailing along behind.
One of the boys who’d been with Lan and Robbie came over to me—Dick Corman, who’d been dragging the branch down the bank when we showed up. “You’re Lan’s twin,” he said.
I nodded.
“Is he really a double-seven?”
I nodded again. There was no point in denying it. Maybe there’d been a few people in the crowd who hadn’t put together what Papa and Professor Graham had said, but it wouldn’t be long before the ones who had figured it out enlightened them. By the end of tomorrow, everyone at school would know.
“Wow,” Dick said, looking after Papa and Lan. He looked back at me. “Does that mean you’re a natural, too? Because you’re his twin?”
I stared at him. “I don’t know,” I said after a minute. “Nobody’s ever said.”
“Maybe they don’t know,” Dick said, looking back toward the dwindling crowd. “They like to pretend they know everything there is to know about magic, but they don’t really, or why would they always be talking about research?”
I tucked that away in my head to think about later, and changed the subject before he started asking too many more questions. “What were you doing with that branch when we came up?”
To my surprise, he flushed. “I didn’t think Robbie would get back in time. I thought if William dropped in the creek, maybe he could grab hold of the branch and we could pull him out.” He looked at the dark swirling current. “I guess I wasn’t thinking too clearly.”
“At least you were trying to do something,” I said. “Everybody else was just standing there.” I paused. “What did William say to get Lan so mad?”
Dick started to say something, then stopped and looked in the direction where Papa and everyone had gone.
“What did he
“William lost his temper first,” Dick said slowly. “Over the puns. He said they didn’t have anything to do with real magic. And then he dared Robbie to float something bigger than that little stick he practices with all the time.”
“He dared
Dick nodded. “And
