The Magician's Sons

Chapter 4

There was only one day when The Imperial Bakery's doors were shut to business. On that day, for a rare occasion, everyone woke up early to get themselves ready for church. Sunday was always special for the Hannovers. They all got to wear their best clothes, and their daily bread was embellished with a little treacle which made all of their moods a little sweeter. But there was one little problem: for six days of the week, Charlie and Copernicus lived during the night and slept through the day. By the time Sunday morning came, they could barely pry their eyelids open.

The boys sat side by side on a church pew staring blindly and listening deafly to the inaudible hum of the minister's voice. In the middle of the sermon, Copernicus started nodding off to sleep. A sharp jab in the ribs from Charlie's elbow brought him back to his senses. He gave a start and sat up straight, making an effort to hold his eyes wide open.

I can't doze off now! he told himself frantically. I'd disgrace Mr. Hannover if I really fell asleep during church! But—gah—I'm so tired! I've gotta keep my mind on somethin', or I'll be sound asleep before long.

He threw a quick glance in every direction, searching the room for something that would interest him. He didn't have to hunt for long. There were so many people in that building; all of them captured the boy's mind in some way. With the poor folk sitting in the back pews and the wealthier ladies and gentlemen sitting up front, their clothes made a strange rainbow of colors from faded rags to vibrant silks.

The Hannovers were somewhere in-between those two classes. They weren't rich, not in any way, but they clung to an air of respectability and honor even so. Never would a Hannover have allowed himself to sink into a real grungy state of poverty. They scrimped on food and coal just to keep their clothes looking as nice and fashionable as possible. They were the Imperial Bakers after all! And if they didn't look regal, they at least looked very nice in their clean, stylish garments.

While Copernicus gazed at the other people, his eyes fell upon a rather familiar face. It was the face of Mr. Sterling. Copper had visited the man's beautiful mansion every morning, and the housekeeper was always faithful to buy a couple loaves of bread from him. But he hadn't caught a glimpse of the master of the house ever since that first day when Sterling had been so kind to him.

The boy felt a sense of calm joy as he stared. There was something about Sterling's grandfatherly face that was pleasant. Perhaps it was just the crow's feet around his eyes, but it seemed as if the man was always smiling. Why was that? What did he have to smile about? Was his life so jolly that he couldn't keep his joy from showing? At last, a possible answer came to the lad's mind.

Perhaps it's the minister's words he's smilin' about, Copernicus considered. If that was true, he suddenly realized that he was doing wrong. A sermon that could put such a radiant smile on Sterling's face was a sermon worth hearing, and Copper hadn't been paying attention to it.

With new interest, the boy looked at the minister and gave the man his focus. He was just in time to hear these words being read, "And, behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."

Clean. That word was always fresh on Copper's mind. He heard it spoken at least twenty times a day. No matter what he did or where he was going, it seemed to matter critically to his master that the boy looked as fresh and respectable as a poor apprentice could. Copernicus wondered why it had been so important in the Bible story that the man had become clean. He wondered what kind of filth "leprosy" must have been.