The Unicorn Quest by Kamilla Benko

Author:Kamilla Benko
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

CHAPTER

16

A stern voice rang through the thick steam in the classroom. “Have a seat, Abigail,” the teacher said. She was squinting, her glasses fogged. With her tight topknot and gray gown, she looked exactly like a pin Mom used when she sewed.

After a second, Claire realized the teacher was talking to her. She had mistaken her for someone else. Before the teacher could realize her error, Claire dropped her rucksack down and plopped into the closest chair, which happened to be directly under a wall display of wicked-looking spearheads. The weight of the other girls’ eyes and whispers pushed her farther down in her seat.

Looking around, she saw each girl was equipped with a notebook, hammer, and what looked like a large pair of tweezers. Claire reached her hand into her pocket and clung to her pencil, trying to calm her nerves. At least she had a hammer.

“Who are you?” a girl whispered nearby. “You’re not Abigail.”

“Quiet,” the teacher said. “Please turn your attention back to our practical review. I will ask each of you a question, and you must demonstrate the answer in the central forge. Everyone, form a line.”

There was a flurry of scraping and jangle of hammers as the girls hurried toward the far wall, Claire a beat behind. Nerves turned to a strangling panic as she fought to keep her breath steady. She was going to have to do Forger magic in front of everyone.

Or rather, not do Forger magic since she had no magic to begin with.

Claire’s grip on the pencil tightened as the first student took her place at the forge.

“I am thinking of a number between one and five hundred,” the teacher said. She threw something small and shiny at the student, and the student caught it one-handed.

“Tell me exactly which number I am thinking of.”

Next to Claire, a girl in braided pigtails murmured to her friend, “Hazel lucked out.”

“I know,” her friend whispered back. “We’ve been able to do Penny for Your Thoughts for ages.”

Standing in front of the forge, the student, Hazel, sorted through a pile of objects on the stone table. She selected a tapered candle, and lit it with a spark from the forge. With thumb and forefinger, the girl held the penny over the flame.

One minute passed, then two.

Claire clenched her fingers into a fist, wondering how the Forger was able to keep her bare hands next to the fire for so long. When Dad took Claire and Sophie camping, Claire always had to have an extra-long roasting stick for her marshmallows.

The coin began to glisten, then drip, melting like ice cream. Suddenly, the penny flared red. Hazel let out a yelp and dropped it into a bucket of water. A second later, she plunged her hand in. Opening her fist, she displayed a copper 22 to the classroom. The others clapped politely.

“Not bad,” the teacher said. ‘But you forgot to keep your body temperature at the same heat as the metal, didn’t you?”

The girl nodded, looking sheepish.

“Had

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.