VI

VI

The days went by quickly and the lessons became more and more advanced. Fordge tried his best and barely scraped through till Gabriel told them they were moving on to another spell. Fordge had noticed that Cat and Janet had been coming into his room for a while, he found them out on their fifth night and told them off.

"Really! How indecent, what would you do if I was sleeping in here NAKED?" he demanded. After that they'd stopped coming and searching his room.

At least to his knowledge.

"There must be something here Janet!" Cat said throwing things from Fordge's dresser onto the floor.

"Don't do that! He might realize that everything's not put back where he left it! Oh! Look at this mess! It's awful! Eugh!" Janet cried in anguish.

They had reserved to looking for anything that might be suspicious during Fordge's lessons. Letters, anything he might be hiding from them, whatever.

"Hey! What's this?" Cat stood up suddenly.

Janet looked at it. It seemed to be a colored lantern. Something inside it was shining even though it was daytime.

"Genesis." Cat said suddenly looked at Janet with wide eyes.

"Oh my gosh! WE have to get to Uncle, quick!" they cleaned up with a restoring spell and left to go and get Chrestomanci. "Well, this certainly is interesting…" Chrestomanci said examining the lantern. "I wonder how he got an object from Genisis." He pondered out loud.

"I don't think he knows what he's carrying around." Janet said. "This object could be very dangerous!"

"I know, but does he. I'm sure that he's not so shallow as to carry around a magical object he knows nothing about for three years!" Chrestomanci said puzzled. "Should we ask him about this?"

"No, I think it would be better if we-" Cat started to say.

"Wait!" Janet said cutting him off. "It has a note sticking outside of it!"

They pulled it out and read the notes message:

"Sticks and stones could break my bones, but I could always kill you. For he is mine to twist like twine and carry where I want to. If you could find one glimpse behind the mask I wear about. I'm sure the life of all your soul would quickly flicker out. I am not where you are to day I may be in a week, but back to front with three times two will leave you tongue in cheek.*"

"Another riddle like the rest! I can't fathom what they can mean!" Cat groaned and slopped down onto a couch with his legs hanging over the arm.

"I can't either, maybe he can though," Janet suggested.

"And have him risk another breakdown! Janet I'm surprised at you!" Chrestomanci cried in horror.

"Well remember I can't plan dubious things like Gwendolen, so how in the world can I unravel them?" she said glaring at him.

"Well we can just try and put the messages together the best we can and see what they can mean." Cat said, getting the others they had received that strangely instead of being directed towards Fordge, was directed to the owners of the manor.

Fordge looked around at Bob and Elisa. They were trying to show them how to wish something to them. So far Fordge had summoned nothing and Darlah had made Bob made my summoning his underwear or socks.

"Stupid girl!" Bob screamed as he ran out of the room to go and change back into his underclothes once again. Darlah and Elisa giggled.

"Don't you think he over reacts a bit?" Darlah asked Fordge's straight face.

"Try summoning his lunch next time, then I might be thoroughly amused."

Fordge had fallen back into one of his depressions again. After he had been doing so well, something was bothering him. The next day though, he was perfectly fine! Darlah couldn't understand it. One day he was so observitive, and the next had more energy then usual.

"Oh, it's just I felt a little tired, something must have been wrong with what I ate or maybe I had a small case of the flu." Fordge said when asked.

The weeks went by, and right when Darlah was sure nothing bad could happen again, he would lapse into a depression. It had happened eight times before it had stopped.

"Fordge, are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course." He would say smiling. "Why don't we try summoning Bob's brain. If he has any we'll know that he's finally lost his mind."

"No," Darlah said after stopping laughing. "That might severely hurt him.

"Yeah, we could always just summon him and use the Hovering charm we learned yesterday and make him really angry?"

"OKAY!"
After a few hours of hovering "Bob" and then hiding from the furious man, it was time for sleep and they went up to bed and quickly fell asleep.

* There will be a letter at the beginning of every chapter from now on, starting with the first the receive and then going down in that order (we'll see the one here twice in other words)