Chapter 33

The faculty gathered in the Entrance Chamber early the next morning for their rebuilding trip to Brusklyn district. Ms. Shadow—bundled up in a thick coat and hat—Eloise, Mr. Banner, and Ms. Snapdragon were all there, along with a small cluster of older teachers.

“Where to, leader?” Eloise said, snapping Alastair a mock-salute.

He unfolded the letter of instructions Samuel Lamkin previously sent him. “We’ll meet the mayor at the district’s bridge, and he’ll escort us in. And I want to stress that I’m not leading the trip today. Mayor Lamkin’s office is in charge. We’re just here to help out. We’ll do what we’re told.”

Eloise rolled her eyes. “Ally, relax. I was joking.”

“Right. It’s just, this is very important.”

“We all understand,” Ms. Snapdragon said warmly. “And you don’t have to worry about us, Headmaster Meade. We’re all here to do whatever’s required.”

“Excited, even,” Mr. Banner chipped in. “It’s long past time.”

Alastair led them out of the castle, through the magical district and the center of town, and toward the river that separated the poorest neighborhoods from the rest of the city. As promised, the mayor waited for them at the bridge marking the entry to Brusklyn. He looked wan and tired, as always, but he gave them a nod of approval as if he hadn’t truly expected them to show up.

“You’re early,” he said. “Early is good. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

“We’re so excited to meet you, Mayor,” Ms. Snapdragon said, leaning against the bridge and gazing out over the icy river at Watermere proper. “You do such good work here in town.”

“Thanks,” he said, looking a bit thrown by the praise. “Let’s go. This way, everyone.”

They met up with more staffers from the mayoral office—including the aide Alastair encountered on his visit—on the other side of the bridge, and all proceeded into Brusklyn district in silence. The scenery turned rough. Chunks of pavement were pulled up or cracked. Snow covered the plowless streets. And many shops and buildings were either abandoned or totally destroyed.

“Wait for it,” Mayor Lamkin said, taking note of Alastair’s surprised facial expression. “The worst is yet to come.”

They turned a corner and Alastair got his first glimpse of what the mayor was talking about. The street in front of them had been hit heavily by the previous month’s unrest, and many of the houses were nothing but burned-out shells—not unlike poor Jonny Pumpkin’s Haberdashery. The few people out and about in the cold were thin and ragged, and their eyes followed their small group as they passed. They didn’t exactly exude friendliness.

Alastair’s thoughts turned guiltily to the Yule feast they’d eaten the night before. Was there any food left? Was there a way to send the leftovers to Brusklyn?

“I think it all went back to the kitchens for the elementals,” Ms. Shadow said quietly.

Alastair looked stunned. “I wasn’t aware that reading minds was part of your resume.”

Ms. Shadow shook her head. “It’s not. There’s just no way any of us couldn’t be thinking the same thing.”

“What’s that?” Lamkin asked from ahead.

“We were all just thinking about how well we’d all eaten last night for Yule,” Mr. Banner said. “Seems a shame we couldn’t—”

“It’s alright,” Lamkin said, interrupting. “We’ve got a team on food distribution already, though if any of you wants to help them, you’re welcome to.”

“I feel like I could be of better use there,” Mr. Kerplunk said, speaking up for the first time. “Not many ways mathematics could help here.”

Mayor Lamkin nodded. “Right. Well, Jeremy can lead you there.” He nodded to his aide and they peeled off in the opposite direction. “The rest of us, we’re here to rebuild. So let’s get started.”

The people of Brusklyn eyed them with open hostility.

“Let’s go,” the mayor said. “Come on. Magic.”

Alastair cleared his throat. “Are you going to tell us which house, or—”

“All of them. We need to fix all of them.”

Alastair rolled up his sleeves. “Well, we have our work cut out for us then, don’t we?”

The rest followed suit, and they got to work, picking a building almost at random—a tall skinny thing with a caved-in roof, blown-out windows, and soot-blackened walls.

Ms. Shadow stepped up beside Alastair and slipped her hand into his. Alastair’s head snapped up in surprise.

“Close your eyes,” she whispered.

Close my eyes? This was no time for romance.

But he did, and immediately, a vision popped into his head.

A gang of men with torches rushing past the building, smashing windows as they went. Two of them hung behind and banged on the door, trying to summon its occupants out to join them. When their knocks met with no response they set the house aflame. It was made of cheap wood and went up quickly. Luckily, no one was inside, and nothing other than property was damaged.

“Wow,” Alastair said. “You are good. You didn’t even need a crystal.”

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“Keep practicing, and you’ll get the hang of it too someday.” Ms. Shadow smiled, though it faded hastily as she no doubt realized how inappropriate it might have looked to those around them. “It’s ugly but fixable. The structure, I mean.”

“Indeed,” Alastair said, realizing he was still holding her hand. He quickly let go, and looked to Eloise to find that, thankfully, her eyes were elsewhere.

“Your turn now, Mr. Elemental Mage,” Ms. Shadow said.

“Right.”

Fire could be convinced to undo what it had done. Luckily, he was a very good Elemental Mage. He reached out to Fire, trying to persuade it, finding it crabby and recalcitrant. He roped in solid Earth, flighty Air, ever-changing Water, all with the power to help or hurt Fire in its other endeavors. Together, they wove into a single braid of power and shot toward the ruined building. Energy rushed through him as he worked to undo the damage. It had been a long time since he’d done a spell so large, this strong. He felt like he was drawing on a great well of magic, that he could keep doing this forever and never run out of strength.

“Alastair. Alastair!”

Someone shouted his name from afar, as if they were at the other end of a tunnel. With effort, he peeled opened his eyes. To his surprise, he was sitting on the ground, Eloise bent over him, eyes wide with concern.

“How’s the building?” he said.

“Look,” Mayor Lamkin replied, stunned.

Through blurry eyes, Alastair obeyed.