Some of the children let out a scream, which only caused others to join in. Victoria, however, was anything but scared. In fact, she was peeved. Maybe if she hadn't just escaped from being charbroiled and gassed, this minor inconvenience would have been frightening, but now it was just a nuisance. She knew better than to call out to her sister who she was sure had already disappeared—presumably into some hidden passage to laugh at her sister's expense. And even if Victoria had believed that Morosia was within spitting distance she would not have called out to her. That would have given Morosia the satisfaction of having to rescue her little baby sister, something Victoria was determined to avoid at all costs. So, in a tone eerily similar to her mother's, the child known as Steam Girl barked a command.
"Quiet!"
To her great surprise, it actually worked. And though she could still make out a smattering of whimpers, enough order had been restored that she could hear herself think and begin formulating a plan.
"First things first. Is anybody hurt?"
Victoria allowed a short pause to hang on her question. Though the whimpers continued, there were, she noted, far fewer and thankfully no one had answered her question in the affirmative.
"Good," she continued in as soothing but firm a voice as she could command. "Because nothing will be accomplished by standing here and crying. It seems pretty obvious to me that this is some sort of test and if we don't keep our wits about us, we may be in serious danger of failing it."
Victoria paused for a moment to let her words sink in. Everyone had worked hard to make it into the Magistery. To blow it now, after having come so far put a greater fear into them than the prospect of facing whatever it was that might be lurking out there in the dark.
"So let's just be quiet for a moment and think," she continued. "What would be useful right now?"
"Light," came the quick reply from a number of voices. Victoria could discern no more whimpering. It had, at least in the voices that had answered her, been replaced by determination.
"Good," she said. "Now if anyone has anything that will cast light, please bring it out now."
In short order, two glowing dots appeared from within the huddled mass. They each began to move rapidly as if the holders were attempting to scratch their signatures with light on a jet-black board. Seconds later, the dots became elongated sticks throwing off enough of a glow to cast the two youthful faces, one boy and one girl, in shadow.
"Well done, you two," said Victoria. "Now, nobody else move, okay?"
There were enough grunts of agreement that Victoria felt confident in continuing.
"The two of you with the crystals, what are your names?"
"Amy" answered the girl.
"Leo" answered the boy.
"Great. I want you to walk in opposite directions...slowly away from the group and toward the walls. Can you do that?"
Both heads nodded silently.
"We need you to begin looking for a door or a window or any way out of here. Go slowly as there may be something...in your way."
"Something?" asked Leo. "What kind of something?"
"I have no idea," answered Victoria barely containing the frustration she felt at so ludicrous a question. "I didn't make up this test. If there's anything, it certainly won't harm you. This appears to be a test of doggedness, not survival."
"But you can't be sure," said the Leo.
"No," answered Victoria, "I cannot. Would you like to give the crystal to someone else?"
Leo shook his head vigorously.
"Very well, then. Now, the rest of us need to stay put and not get in their way."
Nobody moved except for the boy and the girl with the glowing crystals. Though they set out in opposite directions, they both arrived at their destinations simultaneously and soon began making their way along the walls.
"I found a something!" shouted Leo a moment later. The sound of a door pivoting on its hinges echoed through the room. "It's a door...not locked!" The excitement in his voice was palpable.
"Don't do anything until Amy reaches you," commanded Victoria. It didn't take long till the two crystals were side by side.
"Now," continued Victoria, "open the door and tell me if you can see anything that might be able to help us."
"Like?" asked Amy.
"A light switch for starters," answered Victoria without a hint of the frustration she was feeling. The rest of the children, though, thought she was joking. A point made obvious by their giggles.
In the glow of Leo and Amy's crystals, Victoria saw the door swing further open. It was accompanied by the sound of hinges in dire need of oiling. The lights were soon swallowed up by the darkness as Amy and Leo explored further.
We're in a hallway," shouted Amy, "I don't see a light switch or gas jet or anything.
"It seems to go on a ways, though," added Leo.
"Okay, you two. Don't move. I need to get the rest of us there without tripping over one another. Can one of you work your way back here?"
"But you just said not to move," added Leo.
Victoria sighed. "Ok. Right. One of you don't move. The other come back."
After some hurried whispers, Amy answered. "On my way!"
Her glow stick floated across the empty space like a thin, luminous ghost. Moments later Amy was standing in front of Victoria with confident grin.
"So what's the plan, boss?"
"You'll lead us back to the door. Leo will take us down the hallway. When you're sure the last of us are through, you'll bring up the rear."
Amy nodded. "Got it."
"Okay then. Listen up, everyone," said Victoria. "Nobody runs, nobody even moves fast. We all go slow and we'll all get out of here together. Is everybody ready?"
The group grunted an unconvincing yes.
"Sorry," challened Victoria. "I couldn't hear that. So let's try it again." Her voice now rose to a fever pitch, " I said, is everybody ready?!"
"Yes!" came the children's full-throated reply.
"Good. Leo?" called out Victoria.
"Ready!" All could see the faint glow of his crystal marking the spot where the doorway stood and the group would now be headed.
"We'll need to form a line," said Victoria. "I want you all to put your hand on the shoulder of someone in front of you."
In short order a line was formed led by Amy's glowing crystal, which she would shake every once in a while to increase its luminosity. She stopped at the doorway and ushered the students through as Leo took over. As the last of the children passed by, Amy checked in on Victoria. "Are you the last one?"
"Yes," answered Victoria.
The two girls began ambling down the hallway just as the children ahead of them began to sing Old MacDonald. But the lyrics were not as Victoria had remembered. This was the more popular Charles Webster version.
Charles Webster saw the Land
Eee-I-Eee-I-Oh
And on this land he took a stand.
Eee-I-Eee-I-Oh
He did not quit and he did not give
On this land we all do live
Charles Webster saw the Land
Eee-I-Eee-I-Oh
Douglas Webster saw the Land
Eee-I-Eee-I-Oh
He made it great and made it grand
Eee-I-Eee-I-Oh
And on and on the song went telling the story of the Bay Area Confederation's founding and of the Webster family's pivotal role in that great struggle. Victoria was glad for it. The tune kept the children's minds off the dark, unknown ahead. The floor did begin to curve slightly upwards but as to where it might end up was anybody's guess.
Then that great big zeppelin flew
Eee-I-Eee...
The singing stopped suddenly, replaced by series of hushed whispers.
"What's going on?" asked Victoria.
"A light!" shouted Leo. "Can you see it? Up ahead!"
Victoria strained to see but even on her tippy toes, she wasn't all that tall.
"Move towards it," she ordered and the group did. But the singing had stopped, replaced by a mixture of curiosity, excitement and dread.
As they moved forward, it quickly became evident that what they were seeing was a thin wisp of light leaking out from between two large doors. Leo was given the go ahead to push them open and push he did—with gusto.
The children tumbled out into a massive room and were just as quickly overwhelmed by the roar of applause from both staff and student body of the Magistery of Chemistry and Steam—all dressed in their finest. The cheering mob stood alongside rows of tables piled high with food.
Victoria and Amy emerged last, blinking and shielding their eyes from the gaslights but smiling along with all the rest. The test was over and now all their eyes, all everyone's eyes for that matter, seemed to say, "Let's eat!"
But before anyone could move, a man began walking towards the new recruits. He didn't look all that imposing, though his deep-set eyes and gloomy face were tightly drawn into an expression of intense attention. The hushed silence and bowed heads that followed in his wake told Victoria everything she needed to know about him—this must be Nicolas Watt, the Magister of the entire island, distant relative to the inventor of the steam engine and, in keeping with that legacy, a man known for having revolutionized modern steam technology.
He stood before the group with his probing eyes as if gathering their worth. And then very slowly his lips curled upwards.
"Marvelous," he said as the curl grew into a full-fledged grin. "Absolutely, brilliantly, marvelous. Do you know we haven't done the tunnel test in years?"
On the children's blank stares, he laughed at his own question.
"Of course you wouldn't, but rest assured, we have not and I know of no incoming class that has performed as well as you. Well done!"
"A test," Leo said with a lopsided grin.
"Yes, my dear boy," answered the Magister. "The first of many, I can assure you.
The Trial of Adversity is one of the most sacred of the Magistery of Chemistry and Steam."
"Well, that explains why I could never get anything out of my brother," said Leo, more to himself than those gathered around.
The Magister nodded gravely. "There are many secrets about the Magistery unknown to the world at large. You will learn most of them and all in good time. But," he said scanning the huddled children, "what I would really like to know is who was the girl in charge?"
"It was pitch black," answered Leo, realizing he'd become the designated voice. "Once the lights went out, it was just a voice."
"Of an angel," added one of the children.
"Yes, of course," answered the Magister. "Does this angel have a name?"
"Amy was the last one in the tunnel," Leo said. "She should know."
As all eyes turned towards Amy, who saw Victoria give her the slightest shake of a head. Amy paused then took her time looking around. "I really can't say," Amy answered half-truthfully. "It was, as you know, very dark and I was just counting bodies. It could have been anyone."
"Maybe it was Steam Girl," boomed a voice from the other end of the hall. It came from a professor sitting at a long table with other members of the faculty. Even from behind the table and covered in the flowing, resplendent robes of academia, this man could not hide his large size.
"No," squeaked Victoria, "it wasn't."
In the dark with no one to judge her, all self-doubt had been erased. That Victoria had been confident, commanding and decisive. But somehow now in the open, with all eyes on her, this Victoria was terrified; at the prospect of being revealed for what she really was and at what that might mean for her and her family.
"No," agreed the Magister, "that does not sound like her at all. So then, who was it?"
He looked expectantly at the children but no one came forward, no voice or hand was raised. His left eyebrow inched slowly upwards and then stayed there. After a moment he clasped his hands and smiled. "Wonderful, a mystery to solve."
Before he could utter another word, a young boy in a tightly pressed school uniform ran up, and getting to his tippy toes, whispered something in the Magister's ear. The school head listened and nodded gravely.
"The sub-Magister is absolutely correct," he said, looking back at the faculty table to a woman with thickly braided graying hair, a well-wrinkled forehead and a pair of bright hazel eyes that seemed all business and little charm. "We have delayed the banquet of greeting long enough. Time to eat, relax and be welcomed."
____
Eytan and I have always maintained—and many of our stories reflect this—that someone born to be great can't help but be that way, even if they don't want it. Victoria has the weight of the world on her shoulders and unfortunately a mother, in Malfea, who's always keeping her down. But still, Victoria manages to rise above her circumstance to help those in need. So here's this week's question:
1) Do you think Victoria should have claimed thecredit for her actions? If yes, why? If not, why?