The Magician's Sons

Chapter 12

The house had seemed perfectly quiet when Copernicus had woken up. But that silence didn't last for long. He was still sitting in Mordechai's bedroom listening to the man's stories when the distant whooping and shouting of children's voices made him jump.

"What's that about?" he asked fearfully.

Mordechai let out a jovial laugh. "It is a happy sound, Copernicus, nothing to alarm you. We have no dinner bell in this house, but we hardly need one. Your brothers are quick to discover when their meals are served and just as quick to proclaim the good news. I will leave you to get dressed, and then you may come to dinner. I'm sure you will have no trouble finding your way."

Copper felt a little uneasy at first when Mr. Dross left him. It was all so strange and new. He felt a bit out of place and nervous. But that would wear off in time. Someday, he would accept this big old building as his home just as he had accepted Hannover's cramped, drab attic.

After taking a few seconds to soak facts in, the boy started putting on his clothes. He thought it was funny that he was getting dressed for dinner and that in a few short hours, they would expect him to go to bed again. What would he do while all the other boys were snoring around him? He wouldn't be able to sleep. How was he ever going to adjust to this new life?

That wasn't his only dilemma. As he put on his green coat, he slipped his hand into his pocket and felt the smooth golden watch inside. He sighed in relief to have it in hand. For almost half an hour, he had fretted and wondered if he would discover that someone had stolen it. But whoever had taken his clothes had been honorable and had left his possessions alone.

What to do with it? he wondered, racking his brain. I won't let nobody touch it. It's mine! Aunt May said it was mine to keep forever and always.

A pocket was safer than stowing it somewhere in the house. But it wasn't safe enough. Some mischievous, curious hand could easily slip into a pocket and steal something out of it. There had to be another place.

Looking closely at his garment, Copernicus noticed that all of the coat's hems had been sewn very wide. It was also a very sizeable coat. Mr. Hannover had bought it large so Copper could grow into it. The lad's mind schemed and reasoned that he might make a new pocket of sorts. If he could make an opening in the seam, there would be ample space for the small watch to fit within the hem. There, it would stay safe and sound until he wished to take it out again.

The boy felt a tingle of guilt and fear on his spine as he started plundering in Mordechai's room for a tool. If he had been searching for anything more valuable than a pair of scissors, he would have been sadly disappointed. There was no money, nothing jeweled, and nothing costly in Dross's chamber. But Copernicus soon found the one object he wanted. A small pocket knife sat on the man's nightstand. Snatching it up, Copper carefully picked away at the stitches of his coat's hem until a small hole was created. Then he slipped his pocket watch inside, and it was safely gone.

His next challenge was to find the dining room. The boy was eager to do it. He had missed his supper, and he was starving.

How odd that I'm just now wantin' my breakfast, and the folks here are already havin' their supper! he thought, trying to wrap his mind around the change.

At the last minute, he remembered that he ought to wash his face and hands before the meal. The memory of Mr. Hannover's commanding voice was roaring in his mind like his own conscience. "You wash up, young rascal!" the man would have said. "No one wants dirty hands at the table!" But there was no water in the pitcher or basin in Mordechai's room, so Copernicus had to forget it.