Hello Fanfiction readers: ‎

Hello Fanfiction readers:

Happy Halloween/Samhain/All Saints'!

Here we are at the next-to-last segment of Cait's story. One more part to go! Be warned -- it's a long section, and probably ought to have been broken down into smaller subchapters. But I hadn't the patience. Happy reading!

AB

Chapter 7, Part 2 – DC

As Cait strode back to her room with the Farsight mirror hugged to her chest, Meg and Penny continued to snort and giggle.

"Chickenpox! Yeah, right. Bratty baby bro with paintbrush, more like," Penny said as they entered the room. Before Cait could put it down, the mirror began to vibrate, and a glow went up around it.

The glow caught Penny's attention. "Somebody wants to talk to you!" she said as she straddled her desk chair, arms leaning on the chair back. She kept her gaze fixed on Cait's desk as Cait propped the mirror up once more in its original spot. While Meg sat down at the foot of Cait's bed, Nini flicked her tail in annoyance and relocated herself to the pillow.

Silvery white swirls filled the mirror's surface, and the outline of Jessica's questioning face gradually took form. She was making only one sign, eyebrows drawn together, index fingers pointing at the trio, palms up, and then turning her hands over in unison. "What happened?"

Cait's retelling of the mirror theft and the spot hex set Meg and Penny off into a fresh round of hysterical giggles. Once Jessica vanished to go inform the Belfry Bats of this incident, Meg burst out in a torrent of chatter. "I can't wait to see other people's faces when they hear about this. She was going to pretend those spots were chicken pox? Ha! No way! I bet's she's never seen anybody have chicken pox in real life. But that stuff in her closet's wicked great; I can't believe she really made all that! She'd probably invent something to put over her face to hide the spots, or a hat or something and then pretend she's discovered a new fashion and then everyone in school will copy it and wish they knew where she got all her clothes. Hoo boy, but we'll make sure everybody knows it's really 'cuz she got hexed!" Meg paused for breath.

"We can't tell anyone!" fired back Cait. "We have a secret over her head, remember? A big secret." Cait smiled. "Us three will just happen to have a tiny little joke about chicken pox. You know, this is the first time I've ever been in on a private joke!" And Cait's smile grew broader.

While they ate supper that evening, a crow flew into Great Hall with a note from the Belfry Bats, requesting that Cait bring the Farsight mirror to the library, where it would now be housed, and that their Sunday-afternoon lessons would resume there. The note stated further that as a goodwill gesture, the Bats had decided to invite other members of the SWI community to make use of the mirror whenever Cait didn't need to use it herself.

Sure enough, there was an extra announcement on everyone's schedules the next morning: "A Farsight mirror has been installed in the circulation area of the library for use of the SWI community. Please be aware that it is set up to convey visuals only, but not sound. Remember to check its schedule when reserving time at this mirror."

It was now late March, and warmer weather had momentarily set in. Snowmelt and mushy mud lay in all the places the firstyears were instructed to watch for garter snakes emerging from hibernation. If they were lucky there was even a chance of sighting a cartwheeling Ourobouros or two.

"Zoomorphia, my eye," grumbled Penny as she got up to head to Great Hall for lunch. "All we've done this year is look at animals. When are they ever gonna let us start transforming? Wish I had a drying spell for these soggy shoes." She scuffed at the gravel underfoot, earning a nip from a hungry snake who mistook the movement for prey.

A motion in the sky caught Cait's attention; a gray dove whirred and fluttered towards her, carrying a letter from Gallaudet with her mom's scrawl across the envelope: "Hope it's good news! Love, Mom."

Inside it was a "certificate of congratulations" upon the entry of Cait's artwork into the Essay, Art, and ASL contest.

"But I want to know if I won or not," grumped Cait.

"Hey, at least we know it got there alright!" defended Meg.

"They're blind if they don't give you some kind of prize," added Penny. "All those doodles up and down your class notes look pretty darn good to me."

"How come you were looking at my notes?"

Penny shrugged. "Looked like you were doing something different, that's all."

"Doodling's just a way to keep me from being nervous about that spellwork contest Corwin just announced yesterday. How come they only gave us two weeks to get ready? Okay, closer to three weeks, but it's still not enough. I don't even know whether I'm supposed to do the spells VK-style or spoken or Belfry-Bat style or what."

Beside them, Meg scowled. "Never mind those old contests – they're just a ploy to get us to study. Let's run! I'm starved!"

"You'd win a Mindcasting contest easy!" protested Cait. "You're the best Mindcaster in class."

Meg flapped her hand dismissively and crouched, ready to sprint. "Race you to Great Hall!"

Fortunately, Cait didn't have long to worry about which spellworking method to use in a logocentric competition. As she sat down to her next lesson with Jessica, not one, but two faces beamed back at her. "Lesson – aside for the moment –" signed Jessica, as she turned slightly towards the white-haired and rather rotund women on her right. "Announcement special – for you!"

Then the white-haired women began signing, words appearing on the nearby whiteboard. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Myrna Felder, head of the Belfry Bats, and I am pleased to invite you to the annual Signed Spellwork competition at Ole Jim on April 5th. You will be one of four firstyear competitors."

Cait felt giddy with excitement as Myrna continued with contest and travel details. Was she really that good at signed spellwork already? Then it sunk in with full force – she was really going to Ole Jim and Gallaudet University. She didn't need that art contest to get there!

Cait grinned and signed, "Ready, ready. I accept!"

Felder smiled and signed, "April 4th —see you!" Then she swept an L-hand in Jessica's direction, "over to you," waved at Cait, and was gone, as Jessica and Cait delved into the lesson with extra energy.

As the lesson finished up, Cait realized with alarm that she had no idea how she was supposed to travel to Ole Jim. "Felder – told me – arrive how? When? What-to-do? If I don't understand people? All sign – fluent, fluent?"

Jessica answered, "Calm down – OK – that whole list of things – we think you'll remember? No! You'll get a note – all written down. Understand signing – don't worry. It'll be fine!"

Sure enough, as Cait finished her supper, a small, dark shape fluttered in the fringe of her vision, and a bat carrying a golden scroll now perched on the edge of her cup of hot cider.

"Woo, congratulations, you wicked smart spellcaster!" exclaimed Meg, leaning over Cait's shoulder as she read the note.

"This bat's almost as cute as Nicky," admired Penny as she fed it a piece of her gingerbread.

Cait nodded agreement. "Well, mice are cute, and bats are sort of mice with wings, aren't they? What's this portal permission they're talking about here?" Penny leaned in to read the scroll as well; she and Meg exchanged a look and shrugged – no idea. Time to ask a teacher. Cait put the scroll in her sleeve pocket and watched the bat, now stuffed with gingerbread, flutter its way haphazardly towards the nearest window, only to settle on the ledge and fall asleep.

"Penny, what if you fed him too much? The Belfry Bats will think I stole their messenger!"

"Nah, he'll be fine in ten minutes and ready to head back to DC. One of my mom's customers likes sending her orders by bat, and it pigs out so crazy when there's cookies in the shop. C'mon, we both gotta get studying – we got some contests to win!"

Spellwork class had become chaotic since Corwin announced the upcoming contest. Everyone wanted to compete, but there were places for only eight contestants per class. Pairs of students practiced sending spells back and forth as Corwin wandered around the room offering memorization advice to one student, and reminding another that, "no, hexes are never allowed during any competition." The classroom copy of The Grand Encyclopedia of Firstyear Spellwork was in constant motion from desk to desk, sometimes caught in tug-of-wars similar to that which Cait's Farsight mirror had recently undergone. A burst of paper in the center of the room startled everyone out of their spellwork – one student had the bright idea of attempting a Replicating spell on the book. Sheets of paper fluttered around the room, each of them a perfect copy of the title page of the Encyclopedia.

"There you have it, class," announced Corwin with twinkling eyes. "That's what you get when you try to Replicate books under copyright – your own title-page copy to take to the Margin Alley bookstore. Or to the library."

Cait sat with her Belfry book before her, cross-checking it against her classroom notes. She was excited, but also nervous enough to nearly back out of the Ole Jim competition – she hadn't even been using Belfry spells for two months yet! How was she going to know them well enough to actually compete against the other signing students? For all she knew, the other students might have been using Belfry spells all along! And she was so new to signing -- how was she going to understand everyone?

Amanda snickered as she peered at Cait's Belfry spellbook. "That one has her own special competion," she proclaimed to Claire while rolling her eyes at Cait.

Claire narrowed her eyes as if she were going to mouth off, but then changed her mind as Cait stared back and began to form the "spots" handshape. "Yeah, they probably had to send her off to another competition 'cuz everyone knows she'd win this one. I gotta practice. Let's do the Transformation spell again – rocks into glass on the count of three."

Cait allowed herself a smug smile and returned to the Belfry spellbook. As she read, it dawned on her that not all of the squiggles illustrated spells – some of the squiggles showed plain ASL. She turned to the front of the book – that was the sign for "Introduction". And under it – that whole page was all ASL; people could write books in ASL! She still didn't recognize all the signs that were written there, but look – there were the letters VK near the sign for "hearing" and "invent." And there was the sign for Gallaudet, and near it, "Sign" and "spell" together. Closing the book, she looked at the cover again: "Signed-spellwork – Rock-solid-true. Level One." She felt all happy and light inside. All in Sign – everything in Sign! No jumping back and forth between English and Hebraic-Aramaic and ASL and Signspell. No spoken language here at all! She still sat there marveling as the bell rang at the end of class, and a hand swiped the cap off her head.

"Aren't you going to come to lunch? I'm starving! You're clearly possessed by your own spellbook," proclaimed Meg.

All too soon, it was the afternoon of April 4, and Cait felt like her brain would burst if she sat and studied any more. She wasn't supposed to go to the SWI portal until sundown, but decided to go find it so that she knew where to go to when it was time to be there. Of course her parents had granted off-campus permission as soon as they learned of the competition, and Greatwood actually smiled as Cait presented the signed permission slip to her the day after announcement of the Ole Jim competition. "Most meritorious of you to be properly observing school rules and regulations this semester," she proclaimed. "You are setting a much better precedent than you did last semester. And you will, no doubt, convey the best of SWI scholarship as you represent this school in the competiton at Gallaudet University. I do not doubt that you will be an outstanding representative of this school after all."

To all this, Cait could only say, "Thank you. I hope so!" Greatwood talks like she's eaten and digested the whole SWI handbook. Does she ever talk like a regular person?

A light breeze now tugged at her robe as she left Partridge Hall and headed for Great Hall. Pulling the portal directions out of her sleeve pocket, Cait read, "The portal is located in the pool room under Great Hall, Southern Alcove." Finding the usual pool-room door unlocked, she went through it and descended the stairs. As she neared the foot of the staircase, she heard a splash – Andrea, maybe? Then there was the muddied murmur of two voices in conversation. And neither of them were Andrea's. The tone was playful, bantering – and the voices were of grownups, not kids. And then they were giggling. Grownups? Were they teachers? With a shock, Cait realized that of course, grownups dated and flirted and had crushes – but here? Around the students?

Now she was curious. Who were these two? Mind your own beeswax, girl, her conscience prodded. But Cait's curiosity was too strong.

Standing behind the nearest stalagmite, Cait sent out a tentative mindcast – her ears told her true for once, there really were two people here. Peering carefully around the stone column, she could see a flash of bright hair. Brunner! And who was the other person? Cait watched some more. There was a rhythmic motion nearby – Brunner ran a comb through her hair as she talked with that other person. The rise and fall of her hand – up and down – a soothing motion, a homelike motion, the motion of calmness, it felt like being at home, that rise and fall, stroke after stroke. Bits of light reflected from water to ceiling and sometimes off that hair. Rise and fall, feels like home … Cait could have happily watched Brunner comb her hair all day. The rhythm of waves, that was it, waves and beach, in and out, up and down.

The Portal no longer in her thoughts, Cait now wanted a better view of Lori Brunner. She took a step closer to the pool, and then another – and tripped over a budding stalagmite.

The voices stopped.

So did the comb.

Cait felt a push of air which felt like the "boom" of very large fireworks; it came from the direction of the pool. She then sent out another Mindcast – Brunner was the only person there besides Cait.

The teacher now got up and walked briskly towards Cait. Her face glowed red, and she fumbled as she tried to stuff her comb into a pocket that was still buttoned. "So, Cait, you're early! Ohn' Fleiss, kein Preis. Na, gut. Good thing the Portal is ready in advance, good thing. Nothing wrong with promptness, nothing at all." Cait had never heard Brunner talk so breathlessly before, nor look so flustered. And she had certainly never mixed up German and English in class! "Why not get there early, nothing wrong with that at all! Unlike travelling by broom, you don't need the darkness, and if you've never been to a place before, so much better to figure it out in the daylight. Oh yes. I hear that this is your first time going to Gallaudet."

Brunner now waved at Cait to follow her over to the canopied object she'd noticed during the first swimming class, the one that looked like a stone wishing well. As they walked around behind the "well," Cait could see a break in the wall just large enough so that one could walk through and stand under the stone canopy.

Brunner continued to speak, her voice now sounding more like her usual self. "Now, you stand on that stone in the center, and when I start the spell, you'll be on your way. This is also where you'll arrive when you return to SWI. I guarantee it'll be much more comfortable than your book-led trip west."

Damn. Does everyone in this whole school know all about my trip to Snohomish? Cait shook off the annoyance and concentrated on going to Gallaudet.

"Are you ready? Have everything?"

Cait pulled her hat securely on her head, checked for her wand and spellbook, safe in their respective pockets, checked for her billfold, very glad to have saved up her allowance, and remembered with relief that she had already made sure that Penny would cat-sit Nini for her.

Cait nodded.

"Good. Do us proud in the competition. Bon voyage!"

With a sweep of Brunner's wand, and a word Cait didn't catch, she was off, hurtling through the same breathless darkness as before, but now it was more like a pleasant underwater glide than the nervewracking trip of last November.

Just as the breathlessness became unbearable, Cait realized that she was in regular, three-dimensional space again. Reaching out, she felt cool cement walls on either side. A staircase was visible, rising up before her. Sunlight streamed in from the top of the stairs.

Now what was it that Jessica had told her to do? She had told Cait to first go up the stairs – but before doing that, to make sure that she would be Hidden in Plain Sight. This was, after all, a Muggle campus. There would then be a path, a bench, and a person there to guide her. Cait rubbed the hem of her robe between her fingers as she thought. What sort of a glamour could she pull off – and maintain – while roaming around a campus she'd never seen before? Let's see; a blue-jean dress could sort of look like robes, that would be a relatively easy illusion to keep up. Casting the charm, Cait double-checked the effect, and then ran up the stairs.

Boring – she was in a parking lot. That can't be right! To her right, a path sloped up a small hill, leading to a group of low brick buildings with black-mesh-enclosed walkways surrounding them, and a foundation of fieldstones underneath them all. She ran up the path, only to stand still before the cluster of buildings – the path split off to the right and left. Which way should she go? Cait stood at the junction and looked both around. To the right, was only more of that low brick complex. On her left, the hill sloped downward, and there were many more buildings off that way – that must be the rest of campus. And just up ahead there, was that a bench?

As Cait walked down the path, she admired the view, framed by the pines which grew on this slope. Off in the far distance was a familiar round white shape – the US Capitol! Well, she was in DC, duh! But nobody told her that Gallaudet had a view of the Capitol. A playing field stretched out at the foot of the hill, and Cait wished she were in the air, flying down to it. She had a better view of the other buildings now, but they all looked too new. Where were the old buildings? Nearing the bench, her stomach dropped; there was no evidence of anybody nearby. Not even a nearby squirrel or cat or crow which might be a transformed person. She must have arrived too early for her guide to be here yet. Now what was she going to do? How was she going to find Ole Jim?

Think.

Maybe if all the new buildings were here, there must be another part of campus where all the old buildings were. Time to start walking.

She followed the paved path with its buckled-up pieces of old, uneven, yellowed pavement as it sloped its way down the hill. A cement plaza now opened up below her. A shallow, stone-filled depression in the middle of it looked like it might be a pool or a fountain, had there been any water in it. Plain brick towers reached up on the left side of the plaza, one red, and the other one yellow. A two-story building stood on the right; its huge picture windows showed people sitting around round tables, signing away over plates of food – the cafeteria, apparently. A bright blue light in the middle of the ceiling began to flash, and the diners began to finish their conversations and pick up their trays and book bags. That's right! Of course they wouldn't use bells and buzzers when it was time for class and stuff. Cait grinned. Won't have to "listen up" here, that's for sure!

Cait tore her eyes from the dining room and continued walking. A flutter of motion in the distance caught her eye – a flag waved from a tower in the distance. It did not look at all like the modern buildings around her – was that one of the old buildings?

As Cait eagerly crossed the plaza, she had to fight to contain the excitement bubbling inside her. There were other students crossing the plaza in pairs and groups – and they were all signing! Older than she was, yes, some quite a bit older – they must be the college students. She wanted to jump and squeal – all this conversation all around her, all so easy to grasp, they all made it look so easy, so effortless! Unfortunately, whenever she tried to catch a glimpse of this comment or that conversation, she still couldn't catch much meaning – too fast, too fluent. But still – she was going to sign like that! She was!

But first, she had a building to find. The plaza ended at a spiral path that brought her to ground level and deposited her right at the foot of a very large, very red building which was still very much under construction; a road ran to the right and left before her. On the other side of the road, the path continued between this new half-built building and a large square brick building next to it, but a fence and sign sternly prohibited entry.

Now how was she going to get to the rest of campus?

Looking to the right, there was a dark overpass, and what looked like parking garage. Creepy.

To the left, newly-green playing fields beckoned, the same ones she had been admiring from the top of the hill; the road continued between these fields and the huge new building. Turning her back to the parking garage, Cait followed the road. If only she had a broom and could simply fly over the campus and find Ole Jim from the air! Plodding along in Plain Sight was no fun at all. Building after building stretched to the right.

Whenever it looked like there was a new building, Cait's heart would leap in hope that there would be a break between them. She wanted to get back to the direction of that tower she'd seen, but couldn't – all of these buildings were connected to each other, with no breaks or archways or underpasses. Occasional students strode by, but Cait didn't want to interrupt them with their fluent signing to ask in her clumsy sign where Ole Jim was. And she didn't see anybody else her age on campus; would those grownup students just shoo her away?

When she thought the procession of buildings would never end, there was at last a break between them – and these buildings did look old! They had the up-and-down shape of the houses from her hometown, not at all like the plain and spread-out buildings she'd just passed, and there was fancy brickwork around the windows and doors. Cait ran down the path between them; brick here, fancier brick there, stone back there with pointy windows – that one looked like a church! But where was half-timbered Ole Jim?

The path opened onto a grassy lawn. Across the way, a very old-fashioned house peeked through between two newer buildings – but there was still no glimpse of Ole Jim.

Ready to cry with frustration, Cait stomped her way over to a statue of a man who looked potbellied in his voluminous academic robes, and flumped down on the grass.

Nearby, a cluster of hackysack players bounced a ball around while a white-haired woman watched from a small bench.

What now?

There was the brush of someone's consciousness over the edge of her mind – Cait jumped up as if stung. She was being Mindcasted! Looking around the green, the cluster of hackysack players now stood still, a curly-haired fellow holding the ball as they exchanged glances with the white-haired woman, who now nodded, rose, and began to approach Cait.

But the hackysack players got to her first – Cait now recognized the coach of the Eagles; that girl who had finished all seven years of school; the curly-haired guy who gave her his cap – she was now surrounded in hugs and friendly thumps on the back. They were all now welcoming her, cheering her, and thanking her. Thanking her?

Coach clarified, signing slowly and making sure Cait could follow him. "You told the Bats about us – we all got in touch." Here, he pointed at two team members who grinned more widely than the others. "Two-of-them -- what are they doing? Go to school again – four more years – become full witches, wizards! How come? You!"

Cait couldn't imagine feeling any happier than she was in that moment. Even so, once the greetings slowed down, the white-haired woman was now introducing herself –Myrna Felder – oh, right, the one who'd announced the contest to Cait. Felder was now, however, giving her a lecture for showing up so early that there was no one ready to make sure she got from the portal to Ole Jim without breaking Plain Sight. Many of the signs flew over Cait's head, but her pulled-up stance, firm gaze, and emphatic signing left no doubt. Lecture done, she eyed Cait's "denim dress", which was getting blurry around the edges, and renewed the illusion for her.

Now a wave of her arm to the whole group – follow! They all walked between the buildings with the old-fashioned house between – there it was, just to the right – Ole Jim! Cait had been so very close, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was just as beautiful and grand as it had been in the picture, only now she could see that it was painted a beautiful, deep red, with two stories of multi-paned windows. Inside the door, a wooden staircase swept up to the second floor – but Felder led them right past it. Making sure that Muggle attention was elsewhere, she made a smart wandtap on the paneling under the staircase. A door opened, and another staircase opened up beyond it.

"Up, up" she waved them all on, reminding Cait of Corwin at Margin Alley on that first day at SWI. This staircase was a long one – Cait was sure that she had walked more than one story by the time the stairs finally bent to the left, and a lofty, light-filled room with thin metal rafters high in the eaves opened before them. Tall windows let in the coppery glow of pre-sunset light, which bounced off the newly-varnished wooden floor, while a light of a different sort drew her eye to the right. There, a brick chimney traveled up to the roof, covered in the flickering, flashing signatures and class years of countless Belfry-Bat alums.

"Stories – how many?" she signed to Felder.

"Illusion!" was the answer. A Thoughtwrite board was soon nearby, spelling out Felder's explanation that yes, Ole Jim was really a three-story building. But when it was being constructed a century ago, a master spellcaster had put a permanent charm on the third story so that it would be only accessible to wizards and invisible to everyone else. After all, finding future deaf magic-workers was important work, and the Belfry Bats needed a permanent home base to work from. But with so many deaf students now scattered among the mainstream schools, it was getting harder and harder to locate Deaf magical kids, and they were still figuring out how best to do outreach. Many Belfry alums wished to be back in the days when they could simply visit local Deaf schools and look for magic.

Enough history! Felder looked around. "Who's hungry?" she signed.

Hands went up all around the room. Cait now realized that there were many more people here than just herself and the Eagles. Snacks were summoned up, restrooms pointed out, and people's bookbags and cloaks stowed. The room filled with the festive hubbub of flying hands as people recognized each other and began conversations. Everyone seemed to know each other here!

For one brief moment, it felt like being back at public school where she was always the odd one out, with no friends.

Then Cait noticed with relief that some of the Eagles still chatted nearby, keeping Cait within their line of vision. As she caught their eye and picked up her hands, their conversation paused. "Everyone here – know each other? How?"

"Deaf world – small, very small!" shrugged one girl, as she began pointing out the people she knew from broomball games and her own Hedge-level years. Then she was asking if Cait knew the names of all the Eagles? No? Well, that's our seven-year graduate over there, Lillian…

Older people were now filtering in as well, some carrying boxes, others summoning up tables and decorations. Across the room, a familiar face hurried towards Cait, hands flying, "Sorry – arrive so late! No – early you! You – plans messed up – I waited, waited, waited at the portal for you. Shame! -- Whatever – whatever – great to see you!" and Jessica was now standing before Cait, hands on hips, with a mock-stern face which soon dissolved into a bear hug.

As at SWI, there was now a proper banquet with lots of food, some of which Cait had never seen before. The sweet-potato pie was her favorite. Least favorite were the greens – she could not bring herself to eat a second forkful of them. At first, she wondered if somebody might be in trouble down in the kitchen for overcooking them. Looking around, some of the students were slinging down those greens as if they were absolutely wonderful. The curly-haired Eagle saw her line of sight, grinned, poked at his own greens, and pulled a face. Pretty soon, it was quite clear that most of the Eagles had the same opinion as Cait; it was a real struggle to not burst out laughing because then they'd have to explain why, and what if they offended a local?

A blonde girl opposite Cait caught her eye, then asked her name in signs that hesitated and stumbled. Why, she was no more fluent than Cait herself had been half a year ago! "My name – C-A-I-T-L-I-N" she spelled back, being sure to keep her tempo slow. Then she asked, "Mainstream – you?" The blonde looked confused as her hands merged in the unfamiliar sign, imitating the sign Cait had used. One of the Thoughtwrite boards zoomed over to them and displayed the words, "Were you mainstreamed?" Soon, their conversation was off and running as enthusiastically as everyone else's in the room.

All too soon, a flurry of motion erupted around her, and all the Thoughtwriters hovering about the tables zoomed towards the front of the room. There, they combined to form a large screen, as waving hands throughout the room directed people's attention to Myrna Felder, who now stood waiting for stubborn conversations to finish and all eyes to be directed forward. A cluster of signers persisted in their chatter; the room went dark as all the glow-globes hovering in the rafters doused themselves in unison and re-lit themselves after a couple of seconds. Now nobody was chatting.

Speech time.

Cait was quickly lost among Felder's fluid signing, but it didn't matter; the words of formal welcome showed up plainly on the giant Thoughtwriter behind her. As Felder launched into a history of Belfry-Bat outreach, Cait's thoughts began to drift. This is so boring, why do I have to sit through all this academic yak yak yak? She leaned her chin on one hand and began to push pie-crust crumbs into decorative shapes on her plate. Then she put down the fork and grinned – hey, this was the first time she'd zoned out because the speech itself was boring – not because it was too much work to decipher!

Now the next day's schedule was being announced; the firstyears were the first to compete. Nervousness gripped Cait, then alarm, as she remembered the SWI term-begin banquet last September and the school bell which was so easy for her to sleep through. What if she overslept? How were they going to make sure everyone got up on time?

Speeches now done, the banquet tables morphed into study carrels, couches, and coffeetables. The giant Thoughtwriter broke apart and the small Thoughtwrite boards scattered throughout the room as conversations resumed.

Once people began yawning and ending their conversations, the hovering glow-globes dimmed to amber and Belfry Bats began shooing visitors towards the door.

Now there was something else going on. Myrna Felder stood in the center of the room watching Jessica, who was holding a wand and gazing down the center of the room, lips clenched in concentration. She nodded, then Felder signed, "Girls here – right; boys there – left!" and then nodded to Jessica, whose wand danced a series of arcs. Suddenly, a couple dozen hammocks hung at various heights throughout the room, all suspended from the rafters. With another sweep of the wand, a shimmering silver partition divided the room.

Felder waved for everyone's attention, then swept her hand towards the floor, "Brooms there – for everyone – choose a hammock. Sleep well! Good night!" and both she and Jessica vanished. Some students flew up immediately to the rafters to look more closely at the hammocks and settle in. As the rest queued up for the two small restrooms, Cait thanked the stars that she'd gone before there was a line.

Picking up a nearby broom, Cait looked about for a hammock that wasn't too far off the ground. And I was worried about waking up on time! What if I fall out of this thing? How am I going to sleep up there? A tap on her shoulder – Cait turned to see an older student, a girl with straight raven-black hair. "Not to worry – can't fall out – safety spell!" And she waved Cait upward. Legs shaking, Cait flew up to the nearest hammock. A small glow-globe hovered over it and a miniature hammock just the right size for books, hat and the small broom she rode. Cautiously rolling from broom to hammock, Cait felt embraced – that was the only word for the feeling of well-being that enveloped her as the hammock rocked gently beneath her. Even the flapping butterflies in her stomach were now calm, and she fell asleep dreaming of lots of new friends and lots of conversation where nobody missed out or got confused or couldn't keep up.

A cool breeze tapped her cheek, and a burst of light surrounded her. Cait opened her eyes to see the room full of sunlight – but not quite, this light was flashing and twinkling. Looking about, mirrors surrounded the room, flashing morning sunlight at her and the other hammocks which swayed in the cool breeze. But the windows are closed! Duh – it's a spell. A Deaf wake-up spell! Cait's stomach growled. Grabbing her things and pulling her cap on her head, Cait rode the broom back to the Belfry floor, where tables were set for breakfast and the partition no longer divided the room.

As soon as the last hammock was vacated, the breeze stopped, the mirrors faded into nothingness, and once Jessica's wand danced a reverse set of arcs, the room looked as it did before. But chatter was not flying around the room as it did before; everybody was nervously searching spellbooks, perusing notes, and practicing Belfry-style spells. All the same, a thrill filled Cait as she and the blonde from last night swapped glances and mimed nail-biting at the same time – so easy to understand each other here! This place really was designed for her, for all of them!

Two black-robed Belfry Bats now strode along the sides of the room. Stadium seating arose from the floor as the breakfast tables vanished and dishes were whisked away – to where? Other Bats were wanding banners into place, setting green plants here and there, sending glittering streamers to snake their way through the rafters in elaborate patterns.

People in fancy robes were now filing into the room and taking seats: stately alums, boisterous fellow students, beaming parents. The Eagles burst into the hall in a cluster, all heading for Cait, thumping her on the back and sticking a grandiose plume in her cap before taking their seats.

The raven-haired girl poked Cait and pointed to the far end of the room – time for competitors to take their places. Felder stood at a podium directly opposite the staircase where spectators still filtered in. Behind her were eleven seats; over them floated numbers which looked as if they were made out of blown glass in all colors of the spectrum. Cait was pointed towards the "'14" on the far left, which glowed in a fiery shade of red-orange.

Taking her seat, she smiled at a pale-faced boy already under the "'14", who looked even more scared than Cait felt. Don't get scared, she told herself. I can't get scared or I'll really lose it. Looking at the spectators instead, the festive flutter of all the conversing hands filled her with an effervescent happiness. This place was meant for her. How could she be scared here? A Mindcast tap at her mind – Lillian smiled at her, and then the whole Eagles team gave her thumbs up. Pride filled Cait as she grinned and waved at the team. With a pang, she wished Meg and Penny were there in the stands with them.

But now the blur that filled the stands was calming down as conversations ceased and all eyes turned to the staircase – a group of six colorfully-robed and tall-hatted witches and wizards stood there. In unison, this group filed into the room and took their seats at a table which stood before the left-hand bank of spectator seats. The judges!

Butterflies were flapping around again in Cait's stomach in full force. Felder stepped forward now – time for another speech, which was reflected in four large Thoughtwriters. One hovered above each bank of spectator seats, one above the competitors, and the last one hovered over the staircase, where the competitors could read it. After what seemed like an age, Felder put down her hands, then stepped back and swept a gesture at the row of competitor seats – time to begin the competition.

"Class of 2014!" she signed, and waved for the firstyears to stand. Cait could see that there were four of them. Too nervous to decipher Felder's signing, she read the Thoughtwriter instead. "Let's find out which of you is to go first. Each of you think of a number between 10 and 50, and when I do this" – Cait's eyes flicked back to Felder in time to see her arm make a grand sweep downward – "project it out for everyone to see, about this size." Felder checked to see that the competitors' eyes were on her and had finished reading the Thoughtwriter before her hands described a square of about eight inches. "Use whatever color you like best. They don't have to equal the ones overhead, don't worry. Ready?" Felder's gaze swept over them, eyebrows high in inquiry. They all nodded, shifted, and tried to settle their nerves.

Felder's arm arose – get ready!

Cait chose her number, visualized her favorite shade of green – that vibrant neon shade of brand-new leaves, right after budding – held the image of her number firmly in her mind, extended her wand at the ready, and fixed her eyes on Felder.

The arm dropped.

Four numbers flashed before judges and spectators. Cait was very pleased that her chartreuse "36" held steady. The pumpkin-orange "42" from the boy next to her wavered at the edges, and the purple "28" from the girl on her other side kept trying to fade to lavender. A yellow "14" at the far end of the group held steady. Wow, even that wobbly "42" is better than what the other folks in Corwin's class can do! marveled Cait. Maybe image-casting is easier for deaf people, the way speech is easier when you have all your hearing.

"Numbers 14 and 28, you are Team One; numbers 36 and 42, Team Two," announced Felder.

A cauldron now hovered before the Team One firstyears.

"The two of you will jointly pull out one slip from the cauldron," explained Felder. "Your task is to do what it says, using your spellwork skills and the objects which are in plain view in this room. Do not transport objects into the room from elsewhere; do not use items belonging to spectators. These rules apply to everyone in today's competition. Break them, and you will be immediately disqualified from competing. Are you ready? Now choose – but eyes closed!" The two students closed their eyes, reached into the cauldron, and pulled out a slip which Felder allowed them to read. Then she took the slip and signed to the rest of the room what it said.

The Thoughtwrite boards displayed the words: "Oops, two tables are left over from breakfast. Please relocate them to the back of the hall!" And sure enough, a white-draped table now stood before each of the two students, laden with china, silverware, food, and one vase of flowers apiece.

Lavender Girl's table successfully traveled the length of the room with only one dropped spoon and a shake of the flower vase. Wavery-Pumpkin's table traveled in stages – first the dishes flew to the floor, then the table zoomed to the other end of the room, tablecloth still fluttering as it landed, and the dishes flocked after it.

The judges now sat in a football-style huddle so that nobody could see what they were signing. After several long moments, they took their places at the table, and directed their gaze at Cait and Steady Yellow. The tables had now vanished from where they had stood near the staircase.

Time for Team Two.

Cait thanked the stars for the ClingSpell on her wand as her hands popped out in sweat. The cauldron was now hovering before them, and they reached into it in unison. As their fingers bumped among the slips of paper, an instantaneous tactile conversation emerged – "Nah, not that one, how about over here?" "Or maybe this one over here?"

Then their fingers landed on the same slip at the same time, and they drew it out in perfect unison: "Water the plants on the rafters," was all it said.

Plants? On the rafters? Cait looked up. Sure enough, among the glittering streamers and twining vines were two large terracotta pots containing palm trees, balanced where the rafters intersected above each bank of spectator seats. Near the stairs, where the breakfast tables had last been, were now two large copper watering cans.

All the eyes in the room were now on Cait and her team-mate.

Trying to ignore the judges' piercing scrutiny, Cait levitated her watering can slightly, gauging how much water was inside. She could tell that bringing the palm tree down from its perch would be awkward, what with the heavy terracotta pot and the ungainly foliage. Maneuvering the large watering can with its long nozzle would be equally tricky – it was not light, and holding a steady hover-spell while also keeping the nozzle where it needed to be would be difficult. Her Mayim spell would be easier than either of these options – but she had not used it for quite this much water before.

Here goes.

Visualizing the mass of water and the path it needed to travel, Cait gathered her intention and made the sign. The mass of water sparkled in the sunlight as it traveled upward on the path she'd visualized. Just as Cait allowed the water to cascade into the soil, there was a slight slip in her concentration – if only she could just let the water go! No, she could do it, just hang on a little bit longer and all the water will be there. She kept the remaining water in place by sheer willpower as it finished pouring into the soil, then dropped her wand arm with a sigh of relief, legs trembling beneath her. Was that a flurry of conversation among the stands? Cait wondered, as the motion caught her eye. Were people yakking like that with the first team? With surprise, she noticed that some hands were waving applause in the air. Yellow's empty watering can now floated down to the floor as he heaved a huge sigh; he looked tired, and Cait was glad to have chosen her own method for getting the water to the plant.

The judges were in a huddle again. Cait's nerves revved into gear – what if she was supposed to transport the water and the watering can? Would they disqualify her for moving only the water?

The judges were now back in their places, and the Thoughtwrite boards read: "Team One, now you water the plants." Whew, guess I'm still in! thought Cait with relief.

And if they're doing our plants, I guess we get to move breakfast tables now. Cait began to mentally rehearse how she'd move the loaded table with its fragile objects. Remembering Lavender Girl's wobbling vase, Cait tried to figure out why none of the things in Corwin's tea set ever wobbled. Of course! The Boh-Lekh-Na spell was addressed to all of the objects on the tray – and Lavender Girl must have told only the table to move. The watering cans vanished – the other team had now finished, and the relieved competitors sat down as the judges deliberated.

New confidence filled Cait as the tables reappeared and the judges directed their attention to her and Yellow once more. She could do this! The table was larger than Corwin's tea tray, but not much. Standing before her table, she formed the intended path in her mind, being sure to include every object before her: the tall vase with its top-heavy flowers, the spoon balanced across the top of a small bowl of berries, the narrow coffeepot which probably didn't need much encouragement to topple over. With a quick prayer, Cait sent the energy out to the table and watched it travel smoothly to the other end of the hall. Wow, nothing tipped, nothing fell! Were they done? Cait fervently hoped the firstyear competition was done – she was wiped out.

Thankfully, the secondyears were now being called up. Cait plopped into her seat to watch the more advanced students. For a while, she tried to figure out how they were doing what they were doing, but as the spellwork became more complex, gave up and simply enjoyed watching them. Once the thirdyears had finished, it was lunchtime, and Cait was surrounded by hugging and cheering Eagles.

Then it was time for the Above-Hedge competition, which she and the other below-Hedgies got to watch from the lowest bank of stadium seats, opposite the judges. These tasks were even more stunning. Then she realized with a start that not all the competitors had wands. Where were their wands? Were they really doing all that spellwork without wands? Cait's mind reeled at what she was seeing. Was she really going to be doing that in five years? No wonder Meg's so afraid of above-Hedge work. Cait watched a pair of wandless sixthyears create a pair of hanging gardens before their eyes, which grew from seedings to flowers to fruit. A tree laden with apples reminded her of the wand shop at Margin Alley. Wait a minute. My chestnut wand is supposed to see me through all seven years of study. But all these Belfry-Bat above-Hedge people are learning to go wandless. But then, nobody even does wandless magic at SWI! So what's Meg so afraid of?

The last of the seniors were now sitting down. What now?

Names began to appear on the Thoughtwrite boards, and hands were waving all over the room. Was that her name up there? Cait stared in disbelief as a judge motioned her up towards the judges' table where a set of crystal trophies sat.

"Firstyear First Place – Caitlin Leo," was indeed what it said. This was some wonderfully unbelievable dream, and she was going to wake up at SWI, saying some spell the wrong way as she fell off her broom. But no – the hands pushing her towards the table were all too real. Cait grinned as she shook the judges' hands and accepted her trophy. That old Erin Buckforth can keep all those awards and honors thought Cait, remembering public school. And it doesn't even matter if Amanda wins all the races at BWI. Cait had this, and she was keeping it.

Now a portly judge in a maroon hat was signing something to her – a Thoughtwrite board zoomed over to display, "Your innovation with the water was remarkable. We will be watching for you in future competitions. Congratulations!" No pressure, heh.

But she couldn't escape just yet – the judge laid a hand on her arm and pointed to a waiting photographer.

Finally, prizes were all awarded, pictures all taken, and people began drifting out of the hall. Not the Eagles, however – they had swiped a tablecloth, and now blanket-tossed Cait innumerable times up to the rafters to check on "her" plant, letting up only when the spectators and judges had all left.

As the lowered the blanket and let Cait step off, she could see people around her tapping shoulders and pointing to the front of the hall. Myrna Felder stood there, a row of brooms before her. She now announced, with sweeping signs, "Tour of campus before departure! Please choose a broom and be ready to follow me." Cait cast an anxious look at the windows; sunset colors streaked the sky. She'd be stuck trying to night-fly! Felder now motioned to her right. "Boats are reserved for those who cannot broomride after dark." Two trim little canoes awaited where a bank of stadium seats had just been. "We will be flying under the glamour of a flock of Canada geese. When I give the signal, follow!"

Felder now took her broom and flew up to a section of ceiling, which opened up skylight-style, as Cait took her seat in a canoe along with an elderly Belfry Bat and a thirdyear who walked with an unsteady gait; there were students filling the other canoe as well. Looking up, she could see a set of red and black streamers which flowed from the back of Felder's broom, making her easier to follow.

Now they were whisking through the roof and into the open air. Below the canoes and under each broom, Cait could see shadowy outlines of outstretched wings and long necks. A green lawn spread out below them as Felder waved them all into a hovering circle and began to point out buildings, their names hovering in the air, written in glowing light, which faded as soon as everyone had read them. "The Library. College Hall. Chapel Hall. Kendall School, the original one." Now they were on the move, up and over these old buildings, counting the eaves, admiring the fancy roof-tiles of Chapel Hall, and circling its famous Clock Tower. They're gonna think we're the weirdest Canada geese they've ever seen, Cait thought of the Muggles below.

Then they were leaving the old buildings behind and hovering again: "Elstad Auditorium. Field House. Student Union. Let's do a lap around the football field!" Then they were flying towards the hill Cait remembered and hovering once more. "Undergrad dorms. Dining hall. Hall Building. New building there – Jordan Academic Center." Why did Felder pull that face as she fingerspelled the name "Jordan"?

As they flew over that hill, Felder continued: "Model Secondary School for the Deaf – that's our middle and high school. Kendall Elementary School. Look over that way, behind you – US capitol!" The white dome was now glowing with light and much more impressive than it had been in the daylight. Cait turned away from the Capitol and suddenly recognized the walkway-surrounded building with the pines around it. That was where she'd walked out of the portal! She wondered what it would be like to go to school here, to be around deaf kids all the time, to never again have to "listen up" to anything. She'd miss Penny and Meg, though. And would they miss her, too? And would there be any teachers there as good as Corwin?

Now they were off again, cool night air brushing their faces and streaming their hair back as they flew over "Thornberry Building" which looked like a dropped ring, and "our hotel, Kellogg Conference Center," before following Felder's streamers back into the skylight-hatch of Ole Jim's roof.

Cait gathered her things reluctantly as Felder assigned departure portals and times to everyone. This time, Cait found herself following Jessica out to a building on the edge of campus which looked like a miniature brick house, complete with white-painted gingerbread trim.

"This place – I miss now!" she complained as Jessica held the door open for her. "Again put-up-with teachers - think I understand mumblemumblemumble?" Cait wrinkled her nose as her fingers fluttered in the sign for "incomprehensible speech."

Jessica shook her head. "No worry! You'll come b-a-c-k". She fingerspelled that last word for emphasis, then began listing things on her left hand. "Socials. Sports. Contests. Art, maybe!" Jessica grinned and waved Cait towards a flagstone in the center of the room.

"Ready?" Jessica signed a double "R" at Cait.

"No," Cait grumped with thumb and two fingers closing emphatically. Then she clutched her trophy tighter and thought of how much fun she'd have showing off to Meg, Penny, and Ms. Corwin. "OK – anyway -- I'll go!"

"See you, see you!" signed Jessica.

Then the breathlessness carried her back to Salem.