The Time Travelers' Club -- Chapter 95: Practice Time

The next morning, Sam got up as usual, groggy from being up so late.  However, he was excited about his first day of orb training.

“Sam, behave.  Do what Mrs. Steers tells you to do and don’t give her any problems.”  His Mom was firm.  She slipped on her winter coat, wrapped herself up in a pale blue wool scarf given to her by Mrs. Steers, kissed him goodbye, and was off to work.

Moments later, Sam was downstairs in the back parlor where Rose was reading and waiting for him.

“Good morning,” said Rose without looking up from her book.  She turned the page and kept reading.

“I’m ready,” said Sam.  “When do we start?  Are we going to practice here?”  Sam bobbed back and forth, anxious for his first lesson.

Rose continued to read her book. She didn't budge. 

“Well?”  Sam was growing impatient. “What’s the first lesson?”

Taking a deep breath, Rose closed her book.  Looking very serious, she stared at Sam.  “Your first lesson is to practice patience.”  Rose cocked her eyebrow and laid her book on the table.

Sam stopped moving and stood perfectly still, awaiting instructions.

Rose smirked.  “Very good.  Now stay that way.  Patience is very important to being a good orber.  You must be patient.”  Rose walked over to him.  “You will need it to control your orbs, otherwise there will be problems.  Concentration will be paramount if you are to take down your opponents in a competition or someday in real life.”  Let’s just hope you never have to use them to kill someone.”

Sam’s eyes widen.  “Do you mean I may…  Well…  Kill someone?  Have you ever had to…”

“No,” said Rose.  “I’ve never killed anyone, but orbs can be very dangerous.  And they can kill in the hands of a reckless person.”  Rose remembered her first experience with Sam and his orb-forming abilities.  His orbs were the whitest she had ever seen.  No one in the history of the Club had ever formed an orb as white as his.  She could hardly wait to see one again, but she restrained her enthusiasm.

“Today, we will be heading to the desert.  So, you can leave your sweater here.  We have an area that is very safe and protected from anyone trying to find it.”  Rose took Sam’s arm and the scene changed to sand and mountains.  "It's often referred to as Area 51."

“Is this a desert like in Africa?” said Sam, feeling the warm sand. The sun came and went as clouds floated by.

“No time for trivial questions.  Let’s get going.  I only have about thirty minutes for today’s lesson.  Here’s what I want you to do.”

Sam carefully listened to Rose's instructions.  "This time Sam I want you to just think the words of the incantation and form an orb."

"Okay."  Sam concentrated, reciting the incantation in his head.  He started to move his hands.  An orb formed, growing quickly to the size of a grapefruit.  Rose stepped back, amazed at what had just happened.  She had never seen a student form a large orb that quick.

The orb flew out of Sam's hand, soaring up into the air then spiraling towards earth, smashing into the desert sand eight feet about fifty feet from where they stood.   A mushroom cloud of sand burst upwards.

Wide-eyed, Sam moved close to Rose.  "Did I just do that?"

"Uh um...  Well...  I didn't expect that.” Rose gave Sam a sideways glance. “Let's try again, shall we?  Only this time when it gets to the size of a golf ball, throw it at that."  Putting her hands on Sam's shoulders, turning him, she pointed to a large boulder standing alone about twenty feet away.

"Okay," said Sam.  Rose grabbed Sam's elbows as he put his palms together. She began to guide his arms very slowly while Sam thought the words to the incantation.  Sparks snapped and crackled.  The orb grew slower this time.

"Now, throw it like a baseball."  Rose abruptly released his elbows and Sam tossed the orb.  It sailed towards the boulder and exploded, sending small flecks of stone in all directions.

"Very good," said Rose, impressed by the impact.  Her expression was both shock and awe.  "Now remember how slowly I moved your arms and repeat that motion."

The next attempt didn’t go so smoothly, nor did the third or fourth or fifth.   After the sixth attempt, Sam began to feel discouraged.   The orb had flown back at them, sending Rose and Sam to the ground to avoid being hit.  It corkscrewed across the sand and then fizzled out.

"Am I going to be good at this?" asked Sam.

"I'm not going to lie to you. You have very strong abilities… The best I've seen in years.   I've trained several other members, but none like you… if we can get them to go towards their intended targets."

Rose’s encouragement gave Sam a boost of hope.

“Have you read any of the research that Lottie gave you?”

“I started last night.  It's a lot to remember.”

“Did you read about the famous duel?”

Sam raised his eyebrows.  “I read some of it.  What do you know about it?”

Rose sat down on a nearby rock.  Sam sat on a stone across from her.  The desert breeze was warm.  It reminded of Ancient Egypt, only in this case, it was present day and New Mexico.  The cloudy sky helped keep the temperature down.

“Sometime in the 1200s, there was an orb duel to determine who would be the leader of the Tempos Servos.  That means Time Savers in Latin.”  Rose fanned away a bug.  “They say it was the first attempt to unite those who had the abilities to use the incantations and to formalize into what we now call The Time Travelers Club.”

Sam jumped in.  “How long have they been around?”  Sam wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

“We know for a fact that a scroll existed in Ancient Rome and another one in the Library of Alexandria in Egypt.  We’ve never been able to locate them. There is a locater incantation to find thing or people, and a counter incantation to keep people or things from being located.  Nobody in any of the clubs has ever got either one to work.”

“Where did they come from?”  Sam edged down from the rock and picked up a stone, tossing it in the air.  Rose fanned her face faster.

“We don’t know.  Maybe there’s something in the lost archives, if they still exist.  Yet again, maybe not.”

Sam tossed the plain pale stone up in the air then back down it came.  Then up.  Then down.  Rose hypnotically watched it.  On its way up, she noticed that it shone when the sun hit it.  Back down.  Then back up.

“So Sam, the other thing about the duel was that no one has ever been able to go back and watch it…”  Rose watched the stone fly up in the air again.  The sun came out from behind a cloud.  Sunlight flashed off the stone as it hit its height.  The stone glowed when the sunlight hit it.

“Some argue that it never happened.  Others say that the counter-time travel incantation was placed on the event to protect it from prying eyes.  We have only a brief description.  Rose stopped talking and watched the stone Sam was still tossing.  It was a bright shade of gold. Rose got up and grabbed the stone on its way down.  Clutching it in her hand, she cocked her eyebrow, gazing at Sam.

“What?” said Sam.  ‘What’s wrong?”

“Sam?” said Rose.  “Wasn’t this stone a pale color when you picked it up?”

“Yep,” said Sam, looking down at it.  “I…  Well…  Oh, so that’s what those words were.  I kept thinking them in my head.”  Sam’s face brightened.  “Now I remember.  Mrs. Steers showed me the book of incantations and I read the words to one that turned stuff to gold.”  Sam picked up the stone and rolled it around in his palm.

Rose looked at the stone in his palm.  “You remembered the incantation and you were just reciting it... I mean thinking it... and now you have a stone turned to pure gold.  No one has ever gotten that incantation to work.  Not in recent history.”

“Really?”  Sam got excited.  "Wow!"

Rose leaned into him.  “Listen to me, Sam.  You must be careful using the incantations until you have mastered controlling them.  That is the key to being able to use them.  Learning to control your emotions and learning to use them.”

Sam listened intensely to her, understanding and nodding without saying anything.

“It is very important that you not use them without one of us with you.  Some of the incantations can be very dangerous even when you are trying to use them for good.  Do you understand?”

Sam nodded.  “I do.  Can I try making an orb one more time?”

Rose smiled. “Sure.  Aim for that rock right over there.  Try for the center of it.”  She pointed at a nearby boulder.  "Let's see that orb."

Sam faced his target, took a long deep breath, slowly exhaled, and cleared his mind.   He focused on the boulder’s center.  In his mind, he recited the words.  Between his moving hands, sparks snapped and crackled.  Sam didn’t move his eyes from his target.  The orb grew to golf-ball size.  Ready to throw. He did.  It sailed in a beeline right to the target.  When it impacted, it sent shards flying out in all directions.

“Perfect,” whispered Rose.  “Absolutely perfect.”