14. Hidden Rooms
Caspir had not forgotten about Charlie's detentions. On the Friday, Charlie had dragged his feet to Caspir's classroom after his all day core training. He was dreading what delightful task Caspir was going to give him.
Knocking on the door, he heard Caspir's voice deep within. “Come in!”
He pushed open the door, wincing as it creaked slowly. Caspir was sat at his desk, staring down at something in front of him. As Charlie entered, he looked up and his mouth twisted into a sick smile. “Ah, Mr Anderson. Glad you could join me.”
Charlie stood in front of Caspir's desk, feeling distinctly awkward. He fidgeted as thoughts of places he'd rather be surfaced in his mind. He tried to push them away and concentrate on what was being said.
“Today, as it is a punishment, you will not sit down. You will have a desk for writing, but no seat.” The sick smile widened. “Oh, and I almost forgot, I need a new copy of this textbook.” He held up a thick volume, leather bound with peeling gold lettering on the cover. It was at least three inches thick in pages alone. Charlie's heart sank. “The stockists are in short supply, so I thought it would be cheaper and quicker to get you to make me copy. You may not leave here until you have completed part one, diagrams and all.”
Whisking a desk in front of Charlie, Caspir threw him an ink pen. In front of him was the textbook and many, many blank sheets of paper. His limbs suddenly heavy, Charlie opened the textbook, locking his knees and bending over the paper. He raised the pen and looked at the first part to copy. It was a diagram of a pink berry under the title 'The Posiadac Berry'.
Lethargically, Charlie began to write. He wrote the title, and copied to diagram as best he could. It was a little lopsided and misshapen, but it would have to do. Next, all the writing about it. How could his hand be feeling tired already?
Posiadac berries... Nicknamed possession berries... Several stages of poisoning... Antidote... Oak bark... Moss... Wild mushrooms... Water... Blood of healer... Method - Grind mushrooms...
Charlie took most of it in as he wrote, muttering the occasional word under his breath as he scribbled. All the while, he could tell Caspir was watching him.
His back and legs were already aching by the time he had finished writing about the Posiadac berries. He flicked through the textbook to see how much further he had to go and almost gave up then and there. Another fifty pages, diagrams inclusive.
With a sigh of resignation, Charlie bent over the book once more and began to copy out the next page about a tree bark that kills with a touch, infecting the skin of its victims.
He slaved away in Caspir's horribly quiet room for hours, the only interruption of the silence being the scratch of Charlie's pen and the gentle drumming of Caspir's fingertips that was slowly driving Charlie insane.
Finally, at around seven o'clock, Charlie put the full stop at the end of his sentence with a feeling of elation that often comes with completion. He collected the papers together and took them to Caspir who cast an appraising eye over them. “I suppose I couldn't have expected any better, but honestly Anderson, this is appalling. It will have to do. But, next time, I will burn any shoddy work.” The sneer was evident in his voice. “Leave please.”
It was with no regret that Charlie sprinted from the room, breathing a sigh of relief as he was clear of the classroom. No more Caspir for the whole weekend.
Or Monday, it seemed. As they dragged themselves into their last lesson, they prepared themselves for yet more of Caspir's drawling, only to find that he was not there. In his place, Bren Addersmith stood at the front of the class.
