I shook my head in amazement. Dean Blackstone was a known recluse. He was usually absent from most school activities, preferring to keep himself busy in his laboratory or off on one of his magikal adventures.
I myself had never seen the man before, although his fame superseded him everywhere he went. I wondered what the connection was between him and the Osiris twins.
"Whoa!" Simon breathed in amazement. "You work directly with the Dean? How come you never told us?"
"You never asked," Connor replied, matter-of-factly. "It's not as if it's a big secret or anything. And anyway, he's our great-uncle, so he just naturally took us under his wings when we entered the Academy."
I raised an eyebrow and turned to Corwin. "So what was that about when you said something regarding 'the preferential coddling of rich girls from influential families'? Weren't you given preferential treatment as well because you are the great-nephews of the Dean?"
"What are you talking about?!" Corwin's anger came swiftly. "The man took advantage of our family ties and worked us almost to death, the old fart!"
Corwin scowled, but then sputtered and went silent as he saw my teasing eyes. "Well, he did!"
Connor smirked into his sleeve as Simon rolled his eyes in disbelief.
"If we're done wasting time here," he drawled, "let's get a move on."
Simon beckoned us down the alleyway until it dead-ended into the hillside with a bright yellow sign painted with a large black double arrow, warning passing travelers to turn either left or right.
To go forward, as we were about to do, would be to smash into the hillside.
We jumped the guard rail and clambered onto the rocky slope, moving forward at a stoop, having to resort at times to using our hands to keep our balance on the steep incline.
The hillside was mostly barren of vegetation. Here and there were small clumps of greyish-brown scrub brush sticking out among the red-orange clay earth, growing where they could find a foothold.
The only bursts of greenish grey color came from the tattered foliage of several gnarled dwarf oaks, their deformed claw-like branches clinging onto the barren landscape with a fierce zeal for life, splitting boulders when they felt the need to search for liquid sustenance.
Shards of half-submerged red-veined white rocks jutted out of the red earth like bloody old dragon bones. Exposed to the gradual wearing away of wind and weather, their north facing sides were worn smooth by the passage of time.
This close to the source, Simon was not taking any chances. He kept moving back and forth, following the waves only he could sense.
I was next, clambering and crawling from rock to rock trying not to slip on the loose gravel. The twins followed behind me to make sure that I did not slip or tumble without some protective magik to catch me.
As we reached the first hillcrest, Simon paused and looked around.
"The signal seems to be coming from somewhere within this vicinity. It's not higher up, so there's no point in climbing any higher." He broke off a branch from one of the small scrubby trees and began poking at the ground.
Since I was not sure what he was looking for, I did not try to help him. Connor and Corwin came up behind me, gesturing and grunting to each other in that vague twin-speak manner that I could not follow.
I knew they weren't reading each others' minds, because if they did, there wouldn't be a need to grunt and gesture. They would simply be dialoging with each other via mind waves.
Since it seemed as if they were trying to be discrete with their communication and unwilling to share with me what they were discussing, I turned my attention back to Simon, moving closer to where he stood. He was perhaps a few yards from us when suddenly, he looked up.
"Hey, Nana, come here! I think I found the source of the disruption."
He grabbed the stick with both hands and began jabbing his stick with more force than seemed warranted at something he found on the ground.
"Right here!"
One second he was there, and the next instant, he was gone!
I cried and ran towards him, but there was no one to run to.
Simon had simply disappeared.
Corwin and Connor rushed to where I knelt on hands and knees, running my hands over the spot where Simon last stood, trying to find a trace of him, but to no avail.
There was not even a hint of his magikal aura. It was as if he had simply ceased to exist.
"Sorry, I was busy talking with Connor when he disappeared. What was he doing right before he vanished?" Corwin asked.
"He was stabbing at something, right here," I said, patting the red clay earth with my hand.
Try as we might, however, we could not find whatever it was that Simon had been fascinated with. The spot of dirt was just like all the other spots of dirt on that hillside.
My heart fell as I realized this was the dropped shoe that Corwin had warned about—third in the sequence of Troubles that always came calling in triples.
Connor sighed and rubbed between his eyes. "Simon's an Alchemist. He shouldn't have been able to disappear on his own like that. He doesn't have the training or the necessary cultivated mage powers to do a Teleportation."
Corwin huffed. "That kid did not teleport. Even if he knew how and had cultivated his powers to the point where he could do it, which I highly doubt, there's no trace of the usual explosive magikal signature that results from teleportation."
"Let me try calling him." I reached into my bag for my mobile phone but had to shake my head as I checked the screen. "We're outside phone range. I have no service."
I pursed my lips. If high tech did not work, it was time to try high magik. I dug around until I found my little pink Hello Kitty compact.
"You don't need any makeup. You look just fine." Corwin's deep blue eyes softened.
I covered the Hello Kitty pink compact with my left hand in embarrassment.
For once, Mother had a point. When I said that I didn't care what people thought about my choice for a scrying mirror, I didn't think it would include these two very good-looking guys.
"This is my scrying mirror." I said as I turned away, flustered.
Connor glanced at Corwin with an unspoken twitch of the eyebrow.
"At least she had the foresight to bring a scrying mirror." He reached out and touched my arm. "Try it and see if you can get him on scri-visuals."
I nodded and opened the compact, revealing the tiny round mirror.
Taking a deep breath, I thought about Simon and then spoke the Seek Command.
"Shunzaotahnren"
I focused my intent at the mirror as hard as I could, but nothing came up. The mirror remained just a regular old mirror, unable to locate his magikal aura. I sighed, feeling useless and inadequate.
"Sorry, I'm not very good at this."
"It's okay, Nana." Connor reached out and closed the compact, severing the scrylink. "I wasn't expecting it to work any way. It needs a magikal signature to link with, but Simon's signature has completely vanished."
We hung out around the area for another hour, trying various Return and Recall Commands that the twins thought might work but wherever he was, the Commands could not reach him.
With a heavy troubled heart, we descended the hill.
Once we were away from the hills, our mobile phones picked up the signals. I tried Simon's number again, but it rang and rang and finally went into voicemail.
As I was leaving Simon the latest of a string of messages, Connor made the call to the Dean to tell him what had happened.
I could only hear Connor's side of the one-sided conversation, and what he said was sparse, at best. Corwin, stood mere feet away, but he and his permanent frown was brooding away into the wild weeds.
"He wants to see us," Connor said, putting his phone back into his pocket. "All of us."
"Now?" Corwin scowled.
Conner shook his head. "He wants us to come by for dinner."
"What about Simon?" I wrung my hands nervously.
"The Dean has already been told about this, so it's out of our hands at the moment. If anyone can find Simon, it will be Blackstone himself."
I bit my lip nervously. "Okay. In that case, I need to get to work. I'm already an hour late."
"Don't worry Inanna. You'll get an excused notice from the Dean sent to Professor Morton," Connor reassured.
I breathed a sigh. "Thank you. So when do you want me to meet back up with you guys?"
"I'll pick you up at six this evening in front of the fountain." Corwin pulled out his board. "Want a lift anywhere?"
I nodded. "I have to go check in at Thaumaturgy Hall. Could you drop me off?"
He nodded and extended his hand. With his help, I levitated onto his board. I gave a quick wave to Connor and we were aloft.
The trip to the Thaumaturge Hall took only a few minutes. Once we reached Thaumaturge, Corwin slid to the ground and levitated me off before he rose back up into the air and took off.
I straightened my bag and headed for the faded blue doors of Thaumaturge Hall.
The darkened interior was tomb silent. It was ten in the morning and not a soul had arrived. Professor Morton was at the Primate Compound, but this did not mean his assistants had been given the day off.
It almost felt as if everyone had jumped ship.
I walked around to the back of the reception desk and sat down. My daily work orders had been submitted and delivered the day before so it was waiting for me.
First order of the day was Pomello yet again. This time it was plants, thankfully.