The Dark Sage (Chronicles of Kitirr Book 1)

Chapter 3

Morning came and Mandy hadn't slept for fear that that thing would come again. She kept the window covered and ducked out of view of the mirror in the bathroom when she went in to shower and use the loo. But most of all, she packed her bags. She skipped breakfast with the landlady because she was too wound up to bear being company to the other tenants and Mrs. Addison.

Dressed in a fresh and clean suit, she had her purse on one shoulder, her satchel on the other and her suitcase trundling along behind her. She walked down the street in silence. As a spur of the moment decision, she ducked into the McDonald's that stood on her way to the dig site and got a breakfast sandwich to go and stuck it in her satchel for the walk. In her free hand, she held a cup of coffee that she sipped as she walked.

The summer air grew steadily warmer as she made her way to the University campus where the dig site was. The sun was well over the horizon when she reached the lane that wound its way up to the sprawling University. She was considering stopping and taking off her jacket when there was a beep from a car down the lane behind her. Mandy stopped and looked back to see the Professor's car coming down the drive toward her. He pulled up next to her, a concerned frown on his face.

"You look like you've got everything you brought with you."

"A master of the obvious, you are," she replied leaning down to the window. "I was kicked out this morning."

"Not because of me, I hope."

"No, in fact, Mrs. Addison recommended I stay with you. It's a long story. Chat about it over lunch?"

"That would be lovely. Would you like a lift the rest of the way? You can leave your suitcase in the car."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

He stopped and unlocked the boot of his car so that she could put her suitcase down. She dropped her purse and satchel in the back seat before climbing in the passenger side. The rest of the trip was quick and she had the opportunity to take off her jacket and tuck it in her satchel as Professor Artrus pulled in to park. As they got out of the car, Mandy realized that they were not the first ones to arrive. Standing outside of the make shift door to the tent were a handful of students. One young man in a pair of khaki shorts and a dark blue polo gave a wolf whistle at them.

"Oooo! The Doctor and the Professor! Bow chicka bow wow!"

The other students giggled nervously. Mandy glared daggers at them.

"Say that again Carter and I will flunk you. The Doctor was walking here, and I was being a gentleman. That being said. Whatever either of us do in our private lives is not for you to discuss. Now get inside and start dating and cataloguing those artifacts." Professor Artrus looked none too happy with the lad. Carter seemed to know he had overstepped and quickly made his way inside.

The other students followed suit. Mandy got her satchel and purse from the back seat and the professor got the tome from the boot. She held the door open for him and followed him as he placed the box with the tome on the table. She donned her gloves and helped him extract the tome and then got out her notebook that she had been working on the translation in. Then she called over all the students that were working on studying Old English. Together, she led them through the steps of translating the original text to English. Reading the words off an ancient sheet of paper was much different than reading them off a modern text book, so she had each of them take turns looking over the work and doing their own translations of the first few pages. She was careful not to let them see the pages that had Echellin's name on them.

"What are these markings in the margins?" one girl asked.

"Those are ancient Kitirrian. Even fewer people can read that."