The Fox, Red

018 - The Ace Student

I've been at this for an hour and I feel that I may not get it. I can get the lens to form and all three bonds to connect but they are just not working the way they need to. At any distance other than less than six feet to the ground. Any distance beyond that magnifies too much and flips. I may need to get up early and do more searching but until then I can't get into the house. After a certain time of night, I noticed that no one goes back inside. The doors lock and the night shift comes and takes over. I wonder if the only person left in the house is Madam Odette. If so, wouldn't it be lonely?

I stop and stare at her bedroom window. The curtains are closed but her light is still on. I see a few dancing shadows from a distance but not her. They occasionally flutter showing a slight glimpse of the inside walls but nothing more. I just kind of stare in the direction of her room. I wonder if she's looking out tonight from a different spot keeping an eye on me as usual. The quiet of the night begins to take over. The crickets chirp and the bats begin flying. And in the quiet, I'm left alone with my thoughts and ideas.

I bring the lens focus into my right paw and begin playing with it when something begins to click. I've kept my thumb and index together the entire time straining my eye to look through. Can I make the lens larger? I open up the grip and try and sure enough with not much more effort, I can bring the lens to different sizes. I then begin to think about the design of a telescope. That farther lens is always bigger to capture more light. I begin to focus again with my other paw, get the connections together and try to focus on the water fountain 30 feet away.

It's better. It doesn't flip but it's still blurry. I try and focus it but my wrist cannot twist enough to bring it into focus. I hear the joint pop from trying to twist so far. This is getting ridiculous at this point. I'm getting closer but it is just out of my reach. Is there a ratio wrong? Is there an additional connection? Wait, more? Would that work? I try with three evenly spaced apart and it seems to have helped a bit but it's too magnified again. I drop one and it goes back to blurry but right side up.

I can't twist my wrist enough to get it to focus. But... Can I turn the lens? Binoculars have the function to adjust but you have to turn a ring where the glass sits. I jump off the shed and look inside. I could have sworn that I saw something in there that would help me with this. There they are! There are some lids to some mason jars where the center can be removed. Until I can figure out how to do it on my own I'll have to use training wheels but maybe I can use these to help focus the sight.

I bring the lenses, connect them, and bring them to my eye. With my thumb on the far lens, I turn the jar lid keeping it steady as I do so. Slowly it begins to come into focus. After three turns and some fine-tuning, I can see, as clear as can be, the water fountain 30 feet away. I think I figured it out! I begin playing around and messing with the formulas. In just an hour I can figure out how to fine-tune it. The more connections the better the magnification is so fewer turns are needed to focus. The stronger the bonds the less correction needs to be done but the harder it is to get finite details to come clear. It's good for long-distance sight in a hurry but hard to control after that. I've done it! I made a spell of telescopic sight!

I begin playing with it more and more looking around and getting it to focus on different objects at different distances. I run about 100 feet away from the house and use it to look at the guard at the door. With fine-tuning, I can clearly see the color of his eyes. I'm not sure how far this can zoom or how clear I can get it but this is amazing. I can't wait to show Madam Delula in the morning.

I keep looking around when my eye crosses Madam Odette's room. Her curtains are now open and she is standing in front of the window looking in my direction. I'm not sure she can see me but I drop the telescope keeping the focus on it. From my distance, I can still see her shadow and she appears to be moving again but not from the window. Against my better judgment I bring the telescope to my eye again and there she is standing in front of the window letting her robe drop to the floor.