13. Arnold
Things worked out even better than they had thought they might for Bren Addersmith. His travelling had given him impressive knowledge of plants and animals, and so Feriador had offered him the job position as gardener and grounds man. He was to keep the garden dome in a good condition and make sure that the grounds did not become overgrown. In with this, he would also be covering the occasional Biology or Healing lesson, and be helping Nurse Raymond in the hospital in his spare time.
Bren had accepted with only slight hesitation, and now had his own quarters and everything. They spotted him laughing a lot up at the staff table. Always, Caspir gave him icy glares, but Bren seemed to just ignore him completely, which was pretty funny to watch. Bren was the first person they'd ever really seen truly agitate Caspir, and for Caspir not to be able to do anything about it was even funnier.
The day after his appointment as gardener slash grounds man slash a lot of things, Bren invited Charlie, Peter, Jason, Phoenix and Emma to meet him in his quarters to have 'a bit of tea' as he wrote on his note to them.
They turned up at his door, number 57, at four o'clock after their lessons and core training had finished. It took a while to find the right door through the winding corridors of the teacher’s quarters, but they amused themselves by reading the plaques on the doors, which had the teachers’ full names. Cain Spyt Caspir, was one of many which they passed.
“Even his middle name sounds evil.” Muttered Peter.
“How do you even pronounce that? Spit? Spite?” said Emma.
They continued on, passing Merryweather’s door, whose middle name read Jude, and Maximus’ door, whose middle name read Andrew. Finally, they came to Bren’s door. He appeared to have no middle name.
Charlie knocked on the door and Bren opened the door for them, grinning widely and welcoming them in. Already, his eyes had become a little less gaunt and his face a little less haggard. He had shaved and was a lot cleaner than when they last met. All in all he looked a lot better, and a lot happier.
Welcoming them in, he sat them round a small coffee table with some soft sofas surrounding it. He offered them biscuits and tea, which he assured them were all homemade. Charlie eyed the burnt biscuits cautiously, but accepted anyway. At last, Bren sat down on one of the sofas.
“I guess you are wondering why I bothered asking you lot to come and see me.” Bren was smiling at them in a friendly way. “And the truth is, I wanted to say thank you. You might not realise it, but the fact that you stayed when I had finished with the bear, rather than running off screaming meant a lot to me. It’s been a long time since that has happened.”
“Why would we run away, Mr Addersmith?” asked Emma quietly.
“Because it is so unnatural for a human to be attacking a bear full on, the way I did. Usually people run miles and never come back, because they think I'm a monster.” Bren looked so sad when he said this. “And please, you lot can call me Bren.”
“But I still don't see... What you were doing doesn't seem like it would scare people off. Surely you're their hero?” Phoenix said.
“The world just doesn't seem to work like that.” Bren shrugged.
“The world is wrong.” said Charlie stoutly.
Bren grinned. “Thank you Charlie. Thank you, all of you. If you need anything, you know where to come.” He patted his chest. “View me as your Uncle Bren.”
