Creative Commons – The Plainsrunner – Chapter Twenty

Continuing the serial release of The Plainsrunner under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license – (CC-BY-SA).

Sage moves into her room at the college.

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Chapter Twenty – A Room for One

Sage was sick of being stared at by the time they reached the university. No one tried to rob them this trip, but they weren’t shy about looking at her. At first she didn’t mind. She was wearing and carrying the same things as on her journey from her village to this city. She survived that, against all odds and predictions, and these things were the symbols of her success. But the stares weren’t acknowledging that. They weren’t about her accomplishments at all. The people were looking at her as if she were an oddity. They were turning her into something quaint and amusing.

She was fuming by the time they got there, and she nodded curtly at Digger’s friend at the gate. She didn’t even notice when he politely didn’t stare. All she wanted to do was get inside and go up to her room, where she could take this stuff off.

Unfortunately, they were again met at the door by one of the Professor’s students, and he made the mistake of sneering while he looked her up and down. After the silliness of walking all the way around the grass, feeling the eyes staring at her through the windows, this was the last straw.

She stepped up close so she was nose to nose with him and made him look her in the eye. She said, “Do you see something you like?”

He was speechless. He couldn’t think of what he could say that wouldn’t turn out badly. He looked around nervously, and tried to sidle around them to get out of there. She didn’t let him. She stayed in front of him and began forcing him deeper into the room. “I asked you a question,” she said.

He was getting panicky when Digger intervened. He put his hand on her shoulder and said, “Let him go, Sage. He’s just a kid. He doesn’t know any better.”

The boy didn’t like being called a kid, but he wasn’t about to complain. This looked like it might be a way out. He was trying to avoid the burning eyes of this crazy female when he heard his professor.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Is there a problem?”

“Not at all,” said Digger, stepping between the two youngsters and taking the boy’s arm. Walking him toward the door, he said, “Your student was interested in Sage’s necklace and she was about to explain it to him.” He squeezed the boy’s arm hard enough to make him stiffen. “Isn’t that right?” he asked him.

The boy’s mouth was moving but he couldn’t even stammer.

“Derrick?” said the Professor. “Is that right?”

Digger stopped him at the door and squeezed a little harder. He managed to say, “Yes, Professor Tailor.”

The Professor said, “Very good. I’ll see you next week, Derrick.”

“Yes Professor,” said Derrick, as Digger moved him firmly out and shut the door behind him.

The Professor was pleased. “I try to encourage curiosity in my pupils,” he said. Then he stepped forward and looked at her necklace. “So this is what caught his eye, is it?”

Sage was self-conscious now, her pique turning to sullenness. “Yes.” she muttered.

He bent for a closer look, but he kept his hands back and didn’t touch. When he straightened up and looked at her, he said, “I imagine there is quite a story behind that. I hope you will see fit to tell it to me some day.” He looked at her panniers and the spear with more talons on it. He glanced at the glider, then said, “We have much to talk about.” Then he moved toward the stairs, ushering her along. “But first, let me show you your room, and you can put down your burden.”

Digger and the Professor looked at each other, and Digger could tell that the older man knew perfectly well what went on between Sage and Derrick. He nodded his approval and said, “Sage, it looks like I’m done here. I’m going to go now.”

Sage stopped on the landing where the stairs took a ninety degree turn to the left. “Don’t you want to see my room first?”

Digger hesitated, and the Professor said, “Do come. After all, you are responsible for her being here.”

Digger laughed, remembering their last meeting and just how much credit he deserved for Sage’s success. “Okay, fine,” he said. “I’ll have a quick look.” He followed the Professor’s voluminous robes up the stairs.

It was a nice room, with windows on the side facing the rectangle of grass. The light brought out the gleaming wood and the polished metal fittings. There was a table to stand at for eating or working, a pallet with a padded mattress for sleeping, and a couple of pads for when she and a guest might want to sit on their haunches. The Professor was apologizing for how small it was, and with the three of them in there it was hard to turn around, but Sage assured him that it was fine. Compared to the dark storeroom she slept in last night, it was fine indeed.

The Professor led them back out into the hallway. “The washroom is just down here,” he said. He opened the door and Sage stuck her head in. “As you can see, it’s quite plain, but it has everything you need. Toilet, sink and shower stall. It’s pretty basic, but it’s just here for when I can’t get home.”

“Oh,” said Sage, “you use it? I don’t want to put you out.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t use it often. And anyway, you’ll probably want to get your own place before long. It’s quite restrictive here, you know.”

“Restrictive? It’s plenty big enough for me,” said Sage, picking up one of her panniers from the landing to take into her new room. Digger picked up the other one.

While they looked for places to put them down, the Professor said from the doorway, “I meant restrictive in other ways. For instance, there’s a curfew, when the gate is locked.”

Sage decided on the back wall for the panniers, between the sleep pallet and the wall communicating with the hallway. “That’s all right,” she said. “I don’t plan to be out at night.” She reached into her pannier and pulled out her medicine bag, then looked around for a place to put it. There was very little furniture, and what little shelving there was had books on it. She put the bag back and closed the pannier. She looked down and noticed her necklace, and took it off. She spied some hooks by the door and crossed to hang up the necklace next to the shiny black blanket already hanging there.

“Oh, sorry,” said the Professor, reaching in and taking the blanket down. Looking around the room, he said, “I can see we’re going to have to make some changes here. I’ll have a chest of drawers brought up, and I’ll take those books out.”

“No,” said Sage. “I mean, please leave the books.”

“Oh,” said the Professor, “can you read?” In the silence, he saw what he’d done. “Oh my,” he said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.” He looked miserable.

His misery helped Sage overcome her embarrassment. She put a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. I was hoping that would be one of the things you could teach me.”

Flustered, the Professor said, “Yes. Yes, of course. If I’m going to teach you, then you’ll definitely need to know how to read.”

Sage didn’t dwell on it. There had been no need to read in the village, so not learning how was nothing to be ashamed of. Now she needed to read, so now she would learn how. “Good,” she said. “So if you leave these books, I can practice on them.”

The Professor glanced at the titles on the spines. Advanced physics. Abstracts of experiments by other scientists in his field. Astronomy. “Of course,” he said. “Of course.” There didn’t appear to be anything else to say, so he said, “Well, I’ll leave you to unpack and settle in.” With a lingering glance at the glider atop her pannier, he backed out of the doorway.

Sage caught the glance, and after a brief but fierce internal struggle, she untied the glider and carried it across to him. “You might as well take this,” she said, “and get started on it.”

He took it with a wordless look of thanks and hurried downstairs with it. She called after him, “You’ll find that they vibrate when they get near each other.”

He stopped on the lower landing, looked at her, then at the artifact in his arms, and again at her before hurrying away even faster. Sage was sure she saw him grinning.

Digger broke her reverie. “I really should get going,” he said, moving past her in the doorway. “You certainly don’t need me any more.”

She grabbed his arm. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much. This is much more than I could ever have expected, and it’s all because of you.”

He grinned at her. “Not all,” he said. “You had a little something to do with it.”

She lowered her eyes. “But I would never have had the chance without you.” She looked back up. “I’ll never forget. When I get a place of my own, I’ll be able to begin to repay you.”

He patted the hand on his arm. “I know you will,” he said, and headed for the stairs. She watched him all the way down. When she heard the front door open and close, she went over to the window to watch him walk around the grass to the gate. He turned and found her in her window. They waved and he went out into the city.

Sage stood at the window for a long time.