I realized too late that I didn't close the quote of Darlah's letter in Chapter Four. Forgive me, I'm always technical like that.
-AW^M
V
"L
"Darlah, she isn't Gabriel." Fordge said quietly to her.
"Yes she is! She told us so!"
"Darlah, her name is Janet, and she only did that to impress us," he snapped. "Besides, the real Gabriel will be teaching us magic today."
"You just made up that her name is Janet!" she pouted. "I hate that horrid name!"
"We're Irish Darlah, it's inherited from the family to hate that name." Fordge said without looking up at her.
It was Friday and they were getting in a day of work before the weekend really did start. They were arguing all through breakfast about anything that came to mind because it was tradition, and their family strongly believed in tradition.
"Well, anyway, I know she's Gabriel." Darlah said as if that settled the matter.
"Have you stopped to think of why she has a boys name?" Fordge asked.
'Her parent's must have christened her before realizing that she was a girl." She said reasonably. Fordge rolled his eyes.
Cat came and sat down next to him suddenly, helping himself to some coffeecake. He looked very tired and seemed to struggle to stay awake.
"Are you all right?" Fordge asked him. "You seem to look as though you've been up all night."
"I have been." He said, resting his head in his hands. "And trust me, the night insisted on being long."
"I'm sorry, why were you up so late?" Fordge asked curiously. Cat smiled and started eating some of the cake and drinking some hot tea.
"Oh. I see. You were doing something about me." Fordge bit his lip and nodded. "You don't have to, I'm feeling perfectly well now." He smiled.
"You seem a lot more open, not so shut up." Cat observed, now ignoring the cake and eating some beautiful sausages.
"I do? Well, I guess I feel a lot more relaxed because I didn't get anymore letters." He said.
Cat's fork fell to the floor in a piercing clatter.
"Letters?" Darlah asked. "What letters?"
Cat and Fordge exchanged a look. Cat tried to look innocent.
"You didn't tell her?" Fordge asked in a hushed voice.
"Chrestomanci advised us not to!" he fired back.
"Well that's great! Now she has no idea what's going on!" Fordge said matter of factly.
"What letters Fordge?" Darlah demanded again. Cat shot Fordge an evil look. He flung his arms up in the air showing his defeat.
"All right, all right." He mumbled. "Darlah, I can't tell you just now, I'm dreadfully sorry, but I can't." and he and Cat started to eat Casually again, as if nothing ever happened.
"You two!" Darlah said in exasperation. She then stood up and left the table.
"Humph," Cat mumbled through his food.
Classes were rather different. Along with Gabriel (Darlah was crushed to find she was wrong) there were two twins the same age as Cat (who was there also) helping out.
"We won't tell you our names," the girl said.
"You'll have to learn a revealing charm to find out." The boy said.
So, not knowing to call them but boy and girl, they made up names for them. They called the girl Elisa, and the boy Bob.
"BOB?" he demanded. "What a horrible name!"
"Well we can always call you Janet." Fordge offered.
Elisa and Bob were very helpful with the lessons, demonstrating on how to move objects, and one of their favorite spells that they taught was a hovering charm. They performed it with a mirror and showed how it wouldn't go back down unless they preformed the opposing charm: a descendent spell. Darlah had the most fun sliding all around the classroom while Gabriel yelled at her in horror while the mirror was still levitating.
Cat was fun to work with also because he was friendlier towards them, maybe because he had come to live at the castle when he was young, so he related things with them.
At the end of the day Darlah could hardly wait for Monday.
"And think, we'll be here forever!" she smiled happily."
Fordge climbed into bed and tried to fall asleep. He liked the people here, but he couldn't see how they could help him.
But then again, he told himself, he really wasn't as locked up as he was the day before, or the years before that.
Maybe someday he would remember what it was like to be happy again.
Then maybe he could go home and live life the way he had lived it before.
A few hours later while he was asleep, Cat and Janet came in again. There was no letter.
"Look," Janet pointed to Fordge, who lay there quietly. But this time there wasn't a horror there.
"It seems so unnatural to see him smiling." Cat agreed.
And they left the room, and went to get the sleep they'd lost the past two nights.