The Blue Umbrella by Mike Mason

Author:Mike Mason
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Umbrella, Orphan, Magician
Publisher: David C Cook
Published: 2012-06-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Bins, Bags, Barrels, Boxes

Their mugs of hot chocolate drained, Zac thought his talk with Sky might be drawing to a close. But now Sky looked at him with a glint in his eye—a hint of merriment, even mischief. The very air seemed to echo his change of mood, the sun choosing that moment to spill through the room’s one tiny window.

“You asked me the other day about my umbrella,” said Sky. “About why I always carry it. I gave you a partial answer. I think it’s time to answer you fully.”

Plucking his umbrella from its stand and making for the door, Sky motioned Zac to follow. To the boy’s surprise he headed up the stairs, the ones that formed the ceiling of his tiny office, leading to the very place that had come to hold so much mystery for Zac. It all came rushing back to him—the strange lights he’d seen up there, the talk of haunting, the unknown footsteps and the shock they’d given him. Following Sky’s back up the narrow staircase, Zac felt a mixture of excitement and dread. Whatever was up there, would he now learn the secret? Was he about to meet Sky’s father?

At the top of the stairs they emerged into one enormous room without a single supporting pillar. It looked like a vast dance hall, the expanse of hardwood floor gleaming as if freshly polished. There were no windows, just three large skylights admitting the golden glow of late afternoon. From the moment Zac entered, he sensed something unusual, as though they’d passed into another world. The atmosphere itself felt different, the light limpid, almost sparklingly clear. It struck him that the entire space was so bright and airy that it did not feel like being inside a building, but like the great outdoors.

How could one room hold so much? The ceiling, crisscrossed with rafters, was high, majestic, cathedral-like—far beyond what seemed necessary or even possible for the hall’s proportions. And the walls were lined with the biggest boxes, barrels, bins, bags, and bottles that Zac had ever seen. They were just like the ones downstairs that held candy, flour, buttons, and so on, except these were many times larger. What could possibly be inside such immense containers?

Following Sky across the wooden floor, Zac listened to the deep echo of their footsteps, making it seem as though someone else were there too, someone much larger. Upon reaching the nearest container, a glass jar about ten feet tall and as big around as a redwood stump, Zac peered at its contents. Transparent, faintly blueish, the jar appeared to be filled with a clear liquid up to the brim. Sky stood beside him.

“What is it?” said Zac. “Water?”

“Yes. Rain, to be precise.”

“You collect rainwater up here?”

“Not exactly. This rain hasn’t yet fallen on the earth.”

Zac tried to puzzle this out.

“I know, it’s not easy to grasp at first,” said Sky. “Have a look at some of these other containers.”

There were about a dozen of the giant glass rain jars.

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