A Storm in the Making

Chapter 40--Who is Marta, Really?

“Psst! Julius?” I whispered. I felt dumb tip-toeing around my room looking under the furniture, under the bed, and in the closet.

I even took a very quick look in the latrine, which is not something I would do except I was desperate to find him. Latrines here on this planet had proven to be a definite down-grade from the bathrooms on earth. I’m not even going to try to describe them. Trust me, Porta-Potties would be a great improvement and let’s just let it go at that. Anyway, Julius was definitely not in there.

I got down on my knees and crawled around the edge of the wall until I got to the curtain-covered window. There I found what I was looking for. Not Julius, but the next best thing. A mouse hole chewed into the window frame.

I pushed open a diamond-paned window. They opened from the center like a pair of small saloon doors. It was a romantic-looking window that would have made a great prop in a Romeo and Juliet movie. They could also be deadly if someone tripped into them. They opened outward. I looked straight down two stories to the straggly, needle-grass-covered ground and gripped the window sill harder as I tracked the mouse hole to the outside.

The entire side of the castle wall was covered in klak vines, which is the Dardarian version of ivy, except it will grow in deserts, which most of Dardara is, of course. The point is though; I saw how Julius got out of my room. He simply went out the mouse hole and down the vines to the ground. That was a relief. He was safe from Luther. He would probably have just translocated over the deserted outer wall from there.

I went over and unlocked my door so Luther could get back in whenever he wanted. I lay down on my bed. So much had happened today. The most astounding was the fact that I had an enemy. Someone meant to do me harm. Even thinking about it made me tremble inside as I recalled the feel of that alien entity touching me. It was just such a difficult concept to grasp. It was hard to accept that I, Storm Weatherly, the insignificant earth girl, could be important enough to threaten anybody. All of them, the Hermits, Dr. Spinner, Julius, were right to be so precautious. Where did Nigel fit into all of this? In fact, where did Nigel fit into my life?

The next thing I knew, Luther was sandpapering my cheek with his tongue. The room was midnight dark. I sat up, started to wave my arms around to get the lights going and then realized I didn’t need to anymore. I smiled in the dark. Not after last week’s spell-casting lesson with Natos.

I reached under Luther’s pillow and grabbed my wand—a Golden Leaf twig Natos had presented me with on my first day of class—and pointed it over my head. With a twist of my wrist, I commanded, “Luminosus!” and was delighted when the little light globes over my head winked on, brightening the room.

Maybe learning Latin was going to be worth it, I thought, still smiling as I slipped my wand back under Luther’s pillow.

I would definitely need something to help me. Even though I had worn this stupid necklace for over a month now, there had been absolutely no change in my abilities. Just thinking about the necklace, made it itch, and I reached up to scratch it.

It looked like I would be depending on spell casting for all my magical abilities. I mean other than the First Born talent, of course. That talent seemed to be more trouble than it was worth, so far and useless, to boot. I wasn’t even sure what was so great about having it yet. No one would actually tell me what it did other than letting every Tom, Dick and Harry through an open door into my mind. I felt like an unsecured internet connection.

You’d think I could at least do something cool like mind-reading like Luke, or healing, like Andrew. I was more than a little jealous of them both. Especially right this minute, knowing they were over at the mainland—a place I wasn’t sure I would ever get to go—exploring an alien marketplace. I could go for a shopping trip, too—even an alien one. I tried to imagine a girl’s night out with Chloe. With her personality, now that would be a night out to remember.