Ivy's Tangle (Legend of the White Sword - Book 1)

Chapter 5 - Digital Princess (Part 2)

It was still weeks too early for planting vegetables, so I'd hoped to duck into the forest for the afternoon to explore. By the time I finished showering, the heavy rainfall outside had dashed that hope.

Dinner is a formal meal at Gran's place, but breakfast and lunch are self-serve on weekdays. Ms. Mopat had set the sideboard with sandwiches and pot of soup. I don't normally enjoy soup, but on cold, wet days it has its appeal. I'd just grabbed a big plate of sandwiches and a bowl of soup, and had sat down for a quiet lunch, when Ivy set her own lunch on the table across from me. Neither of us acknowledged the other. We ate in sullen silence for a good twenty minutes.

"The mistress of the house informed me that you shall begin my instruction this afternoon," Ivy said.

I looked up from studiously ignoring her. Ivy's food was gone. If I hadn't eaten the same meal, I'd have concluded that the food was incredibly bitter, based on her expression.

"She didn't inform me," I said.

"I am informing you now, boy."

I felt my face go hot. Something about that miserable brat infuriated me.

"I'll let you know when I'm ready, Princess," I said through clenched teeth. I picked up my last half sandwich and ate it as slowly as I could manage. At the end of five painful minutes, I looked up to find Ivy staring at me. She spoke when I made eye contact.

"How did you discover I'm a princess?" she asked. She looked super intense.

Oh yeah, I thought, she's crazy. The conversation in the library came back in a rush as I remembered she was a few bricks short of a load. Then I briefly felt bad again for antagonising someone with obvious mental issues. Maybe she couldn't help being a miserable harpy.

"It seemed pretty obvious," I said. Was that the right answer?

"If a simpleton can discern my true nature, I must be more careful."

What?

"Whatever you say, Princess." I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.

"It's good you're learning your place, boy. You may begin my instruction now."

Damn it. Princess Whackadoo appeared to be taking what I said at face value. Military school was looking good.

"Gran doesn't have wireless, so we'll have to do it up in my room."

"That seems... improper."

Ivy gave me a glare loaded with suspicion. She stared at me like she wanted to peel the skin off my face with her eyes. Heck, I felt guilty.

"Come on," I said and headed to my room without checking to see if she followed.

Mr. Ryan and I lived on the third floor of Gran's house. Gran, Ivy, and Ms. Mopat lived on the second floor. As I said before, most of the place was vacant. My room was one of the smaller bedrooms, but it had two big windows overlooking the back yard and the forest. Mr. Ryan had a bedroom, a sitting room, and a bathroom to himself, but I used a shared bathroom at the end of the hall. It wasn't a big deal because I rarely had to share it.

I led Ivy to the antique writing table that held my laptop. Gran had no wireless and only a few rooms were wired for internet, which was how I ended up with that particular room. I carried a second chair to the table and set it next to the one I usually used. Ivy made a point of pulling them further apart before sitting next to me.

"How much do you know about computers?" I asked.

"Nothing," Ivy said. "We don't have such things at home."

No computers? Where was she from? The 1700's? I suspected Ivy was a new-age-hippy type.

"How do you get things done without computers?"

I was genuinely curious, but my question angered her.

"Very well, thank you," she said. She pointed at the laptop. "Is this a computer?"

"It's one kind of computer, a portable model."

"What does it do?"

"Computers do everything," I said.

Ivy looked incredulous and her little mouth narrowed into a frown.

"I find that hard to believe," she said. "Make it do something."

I was hardly a computer expert, and I'd worried about teaching Ivy, but it appeared I would have too much material.

"OK," I said, flipping open the screen and pressing the power button. "This is how you turn it on."

"Like the lights in this house?" Ivy asked, leaning closer.

"Yeah, don't they have electricity where you come from either?"

"Don't take that tone with me, boy. Just teach me how to use this computer and show me how it does everything."

"I said computers in general do pretty much everything. This one only does certain things. We should start with the internet." I figured even old people can surf the net.

The laptop finished booting up, and my home screen popped up, complete with its resident bikini models.

"Why are those women in your computer?" Ivy asked. "Who are they?"

I'd forgotten my home screen.

"It's just a picture," I said. "You can customise the screen how you want."

I felt my face flushing and turned back to the screen.

"Pervert," Ivy said under her breath, but more than loud enough to hear.

I decided it was best to push forward with the lesson.

"One thing that computers do is let you learn things by connecting you to databases around the world. They're like electronic libraries."

"How many books are in these libraries?" Ivy asked, peering at the screen.

"Tens of millions I'd guess."

Her expression said she thought I was pulling her leg.

"It's true," I said. "You can put in a question, or a topic, and the computer will help find the answer for you."

I opened the web browser. Ivy still gave me a suspicious frown.

"Tell me something you want to know about, and I'll show you how to do a search."

"Does the computer have maps, as well as books, in its libraries?"

"Yes, you can see pictures of the world too."

"The entire world?"

"Yeah."

"Show me," Ivy said.

I opened Google Earth and showed her how to navigate with the mouse. Then I found Gran's house, which was in one of the rare fuzzy sections of map you sometimes see. I let her try, and after watching her explore for an hour, I asked if she wanted me to show her something else. Ivy shook her head without looking away from the screen; I stretched out on my bed for a well-deserved nap and left her to it.

When I woke, just before dinner, Ivy was gone.

***

I rarely dreamed or at least rarely remembered my dreams before moving to Glastonbury Manor. I'd been having dreams every night since. They were vivid and real-seeming, but fuzzy at the same time. Now that I've told you, I realise that doesn't make any sense. My dreams were like that though—real while they were happening—and distantly unclear when I woke.

That night I dreamt of the forest; a dark shadow-filled nightmare involving me endlessly running, pursued by unseen monsters. Each time they came close to catching me, I woke. Each time I woke, Gran's cat purred, and I'd pet it until I fell back asleep. It was strangely comforting having the cat sleeping beside me. I had always considered myself a dog person, but I'd never had any pets, so that had largely been conjecture. Gran told me that the cat didn't have a name when I'd asked, and I thought maybe I should give it one. I fell back asleep before I could come up with a suitable name.