The Magician's Sons

Chapter 40

Copernicus rested peacefully in Sterling's house. But while he recovered from the wounds and darkness which Mordechai had put upon him, someone else was suffering more and more from the man's treachery.

In The Pearl of Britannia, life seemed wretched to Blair. His burns had formed deep, festering wounds which were slow to heal and which kept him in ill health. On top of that, he lived in paranoia, jumping at every sound. He pled and demanded that someone believe his story. But the more frantic he became about it, the more people concluded that he was out of his mind.

Charlie thought about Blair every day. Each morning, he woke up and told himself he would steal into the young man's room and play detective for a moment. But it never happened. He was kept so busy at his job that he hardly had a second to catch his breath. One day, he scarfed down his dinner in tremendous bites to buy himself some time. Then he ran upstairs and knocked on Blair's door. Unfortunately, it was answered by the doctor who smiled at the young janitor and shook his head.

"We have no rubbish for you to take, lad, and the room is perfectly clean. Thank you. Good bye." Before Charlie could say a single word, the door was shut in his face.

"How unfair! How rude!" he grumbled, stomping away.

Time passed on, and things only got worse for Charlie. Gregory was dismissed from The Pearl for doing what Mr. Jones called "a disgracefully negligent job at his tasks". Charlie was outraged. He knew that Gregory worked just as hard as anyone, and he thought Mr. Jones was being a persnickety perfectionist. Beyond that, the loss of a worker meant that Gregory's tasks were divided between Bert and himself. Now, to get everything done in a day, Charlie worked until eleven-thirty at night. The lack of sleep started taking its toll on him.

I'll go back to the bakery! he thought in exhaustion. It was better by one hundred percent compared to this! The bed really wasn't all that bad. When you're tired enough, who cares whether it's straw or flocking? I want to go home! I will make that bakery a success!

Three pennies a day wasn't tempting enough to keep Charlie slaving away with the hotel's rubbish. He made up his mind. He was going to quit the very next day. Mr. Jones would frown upon him for not giving two weeks' notice, but Charlie hardly cared. He was desperate to get away from that loathsome place.

That night, he crawled toward his bedroom with lifting hopes. Tomorrow, he would be free from this. He knew that meant he would either have to throw his back into kneading bread or seek work somewhere else, but he didn't mind. It would be worth it. First, though, he had to settle his mind about something. He had to try, just once, with everything inside of him, to find Copernicus's kidnapper.

As Charlie passed Blair's door at a quarter till midnight, he supposed the youth would be fast asleep. But a sound made him halt and listen. From inside the room, he heard restless moans and a voice murmuring. No one answered the troubled young man inside. No one tried to comfort him. Could it be that the youth was all alone? Charlie pressed his ear to the door and felt certain of it. He heard the injured man call for the doctor twice, and no response came.

Perhaps this is my chance, he thought. It would be unnerving to explain my business in front of the doctor anyway. Besides that, he was something of an errand boy, and that gave him a good excuse to see what the helpless invalid needed. He gave a quiet tap on the door and heard the bedsheets rustle as Blair gave a start.

"Who is it?" the young man cried anxiously.

"Charles Hannover," the lad answered. "I don't suppose you remember the name, but—"